Before heading off to China for the semester, I find myself in a strange limbo between vacation and school. All my Babson peers have already begun classes or flown off to their study abroad destinations. However, my program does not begin for nearly another month and I'm attempting to fill the time with my measely 15 hours of on-campus work and attending biweekly Mandarin language classes at Babson. Despite the "calm before the storm," my excitement and anxiety are slowly building. Chelsea, my Sigma sister and close friend throughout our travels in London, England last summer, studied in Shanghai last semester. I've been attempting to pick her brain and extract as much information as possible about her experiences in China to facilitate my own cultural learning curve. To my dismay, my latest discovery included her concession
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