By maxleo43
It’s funny; I remember thinking about China before I left and wondering what the society would be like. Would the communist government’s rule of law keep everyone in check? Would I have to be worried about accidentally committing a crime because of obtuse laws?
I arrived and found nothing of the sort. While China, and Shanghai, have many of the same laws as the U.S. that govern day to day life, there is still a lot of freedom and lee-way. For example, it is pretty much acceptable to ride a bicycle anywhere. The bike lane, sidewalk, and even a busy road are all allowable places to ride a bicycle. While this may seem rather minimal, there is something pretty fantastic about riding a bike down a main road in Shanghai and passing luxury sports cars.
This sense of freedom has pretty fully inhabited my life while here in Shanghai. I have class three days a week, Tuesday through Thursday, but I get out of class at noon on Wednesday and don’t start until 1:30 on Thursday. This leaves me with a four-day weekend and a lot of time to explore. On any given day, I can wake up, ride an OFO bike to the metro, hop on and end up in any part of the city. I can spend the day searching for the best dumplings in Shanghai, studying at a café in the French Concession, exploring the location where the Chinese Communist Party was founded, or getting my hair dyed blonde (I did this yesterday).
I am not trying to be the cliché study abroad student who goes abroad and discovers their true self. However, I will say within in my situation, I have had a lot of time to pursue any project that I am interested in. I can spend hours walking around, taking photographs and eating the best street food this city has to offer. This freedom is something truly special and the reason that I would recommend all students to pursue a semester abroad.
I understand that I have been lucky enough to have a school schedule that allows this, a public transportation system that can very easily get me around the city and country, and a great group of friends to do this with. However, for the first time in a while, I have started making decisions because they are something I truly want to do. I am not worrying about how it will affect my professional appearance (my hair). I am not worrying about American politics (this is amazing). I am not stressed about assignments that are due in a few weeks (I have a few weeks). I am taking advantage of my time to do things that I want to do, and I am doing this because of study abroad, and that’s pretty cool.