Florida International University Tianjin

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Its been about a month since I have been here in China and everyday I make a new friend in the University and outside of it aswell. The people are so nice and willing to help with anything. My two new best friends are Stephanie and Vivi which of course are their english names. They are the sweetest girls that accompany me to go shopping, we go out for lunch, and strolls around the university. They tell me stories about their families and their intentions of their future for when they finish school and about their hometowns. The majority of the students in this campus are from inner Mongolia, which was one of the main spots I wanted to visit while my stay in China. However, right now it is extremely cold and I have my Thailand trip coming up. Maybe I can leave it for my next trip to China, because there will be another, somewhere in the near future. Today we went to celebrate a birthday and we all went to eat at a donkey restaurant. Yes you read correctly, “donkey meat” is what we ate. Donkey sandwiches is the specialty in this restaurant and I must admit it was quite delicious. We made a huge banner for the Joe (the birthday boy) and bought him a cake that we had waiting for him when we came back. We also sang him happy birthday in every language we possibly could. Tomorrow I am off to Thailand and I am really excited to get my feet into some sand. Miami is such a beach city and living there I make sure to go to the beach at least every two weeks. It has been difficult not to be able to lay out in the sun,due to the pollution, but in Thailand I will make sure to get in some vitamin C. Yesterday was the university bar b q to celebrate the school of hospitality in the courtyard. It was really fun, there was dj, hamburgers, chinese hotdogs, potato salad, and lemonade. We volunteered to help out and give out the burgers. I had a great time and the day was beautiful. Some chinese students prepared a hip hop dance that they performed and one boy even sang. Check out the pics.

Miranda Parvis

Ni Hao, My name is Miranda Parvis and I am a junior at Florida International University, Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. I am a student as well as employee in The Honors College at FIU. This fall semester of 2011 I was given the opportunity of a lifetime, to be able to study abroad in the Tianjin University of Commerce (TUC) an FIU cooperative school in Tianjin, China. Having overcome numerous obstacles throughout my life makes this study abroad experience even more fulfilling. Some years back my family was separated indefinitely, I was working full time in order to finance my education and going to school full time. I moved to the US when I was 5 years old from Argentina along with my family and since then have been living in Miami. I have an older brother and sister with whom Iโ€™m very close. Being an immigrant is difficult but I believe that it gives you certain training that no other experience can give you. You learn to adapt. For this reason traveling and studying abroad is extremely important for not only my career but my personal growth. During my time in China I plan to visit places like Beijing, Xian (the largest city in the northwest), and the Great Wall of China amongst many other places. I also intend to soak in as many Asian traditions and culture differences as possible. As a major country in the forefront of hospitality; I believe China will be an important stepping stone for me. The Asian culture and language is a huge part of not only the world, but the tourism industry as a whole. Learning about the differences that exist between modern day China and old traditional ways are essential in truly learning what traveler's expectations and needs are. I honestly couldnโ€™t be happier to be the student chosen for the scholarship.