Love, family and friends. Getting together with relatives, laughing, and making dumplings are all part of the Chinese New Year celebration. Watch this video from our Campus Reporter Sophia B!

Alexander M., from the Harvard-Westlake School in California, writes about his experiences this year at SYA China, and learning to walk on his own.

Watch the latest video from Campus Reporter Sophia about how Chinese and American cultures are intertwining at SYA China.

SYA China students celebrated Thanksgiving Chinese style, with duck, pumpkin pie, and their SYA family.

The banging, dragging, and screeching noises in my brother’s room did not necessarily convey the festive mood of Zhong Qiu Jie, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, which I expected.

It is nearly impossible to describe the look that Chinese students give you as you carve a pumpkin. It’s a mixture of fear, awe, and disgust:

by Kyle Laracey CN’12

Life in America is BORING. At least, for me it is....How can anything here possibly compare to the other-worldliness of where we were for the past year, be it Spain, France, Italy, Vietnam, or China?

by Michael Chavez CN'13 (Albuquerque Academy)
Reprinted from The Advocate

My suitcases gape at me like starving mouths, screaming the words “what if” at me every time I glance at them...

China Radio International recently filmed SYA China students at school and around Beijing as part of a series about the experiences of SYA students throughout the year.

SYA is pleased to welcome our new Assistant Directors of Admissions!

Three administrators from Beijing Normal University High School #2 recently stopped by School Year Abroad’s Home Office.

Becker served as Interim Resident Director for the 2011-12 academic year and was a history teacher at our school in Beijing for the preceding 10 years. She also was the Director of the 2011 SYA China Summer program. A fluent speaker of Mandarin, German, English and Japanese, Becker has lived in China on numerous occasions during the course of her career.

I never imagined that I would be here with SYA. At times, the adjustment has been difficult, but through the obstacles, the awkwardness, and the hilarious times, I have come to love Beijing. The best part about living here is being able to speak the language, and seeing the surprise and shock in locals’ eyes when they register that yes, we are foreigners, and yes, we can speak Putonghua (the standard dialect).

The slice of the mangosteen that embodies my current situation is the largest of the five, even though it represents just one year living abroad in Beijing. I have chosen the biggest, most bulbous piece, as this year abroad is the biggest risk I have taken my entire life.