Assignment Three: Katie Chen

I've lived in the same house, in the same neighborhood, in the same city my entire life. But, I have traveled a number of times throughout the years. Although I've never been west of the Mississippi River in the United States, I have visited Canada, China (on multiple occasions), most of the Northeastern part of America, and most recently, France. The Canada and Northeast visits I remember vaguely, with only pictures and tacky souvenirs to help spur my memory. I do remember that the trip felt rushed, seeing as we went with family friends and a travel touring group and they tried to pack visits to Boston, Philadelphia, D.C., New York, Niagara Falls, Quebec, and Montreal into just ten short days. I was only 11 years old at the time, and even though it wasn't my first time traveling out of the country, it made me realize that our world is so big, and I've seen so little of it.
Definitely the most influential of my travels are my multiple trips to China to see my extended family. These trips led to me finding an identity, and embracing my Asian heritage, and being proud of my cultural background.
Most recently, this past summer, I participated in the Lexington-Deauville Sister Cities Exchange, where I stayed with a French student in France for three weeks, and then she stayed with me in Lexington for three weeks. Those three weeks in France were some of the most culturally enriching experiences I have had. Not only did it drastically improve my French speaking and listening skills, it also taught so much about a country I didn't know much about. Staying with a host family, rather than just going to the touristy places, enabled me to experience a whole other side of a foreign country, and it only furthered my interest in French language and culture.