Charlie Beske (Phi/North Dakota 2017) had always wanted to visit China, so this summer he took the opportunity to do a Study abroad there.
“I chose to study abroad in China because I had taken three years of Chinese language during high school, and during that time I learned a lot about the culture, “said Beske. “It has been part of my college goals to visit, and I finally did. I went with an NDSU (North Dakota State University) group, and we were only there for two weeks, and visited three cities: Shanghai, Beijing, and Xi’an,” he continued.
“Before the trip we watched a few videos and saw articles about China culture in a class I was taking at NDSU’s College of Business, which is where the study abroad was through,” said Beske. “While in China we visited a total of five companies, some were American based and some Chinese. At the visits, we learned differences about doing business in China as compared to the U.S., how the government affects business, cultural business differences, ethical differences, and things along those lines. When I returned from the trip I had to write a summary about what I had learned from the business trips, along with my own research. For the research aspect I chose to write about China’s censorship laws and how that affected daily life and business there,” he said.
“So, while we were there, we didn’t actually have any classes. We stayed in hotels, and had guides that were constantly with us guiding us throughout different activities,” said Beske.
Beske was able to do some sight-seeing while he was there.
“We were able to visit a ton of historical and cultural sites,” said Beske. “For example, we saw the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Jade Buddha Temple, and many others. My favorite was our visit to the Great Wall. I was able to climb up to it, about 1,000 feet, and then walk all along the wall and take amazing pictures. It was a great experience,” he said.
Beske says he had to branch out as far as his eating habits were concerned.
“The Chinese food that we eat here in the U.S. is nothing like real Chinese food. The meals consist of a lot of different meats, generally pork, beef and chicken, lots of vegetables, and of course, rice. The meals were much lighter and the portion sizes were much smaller,” he said.
What was it like being in a Communist country?
“I honestly didn’t feel like it was that much different from the U.S.,” said Beske. “Aside from not being able to access a lot of U.S. technology on my phone, there wasn’t much that I couldn’t do. Everyone I met was generally not concerned about the government involvement because that is just what they are used to,” he said.
What is something about your study abroad that you will never forget?
“I will never forget how different the streets are in China. Here in the U.S. everything is so orderly and people follow all of the rules. In China everything is what I would call controlled chaos,” said Beske. “There are driving rules, but many don’t follow them,” he continued. “But, they do it in a way that everyone else knows what they are doing! I don’t remember seeing any accidents, which is amazing considering the number of people and cars,” he added.
Would you recommend a study abroad experience to your Theta Chi brothers?
“Absolutely,” said Beske. “It can be a truly life-changing experience and would recommend it to everyone.”
