Trip to Brighton

An important decision I made is about going to a summer English camp in Brighton, England. In 2007, In order to practice my English skill, I took part in the camp for 3 weeks rather than go travelling to the Hainan Island. It was my first time to a foreign country beside China which made me really excited and nervous. After more than a 13-hours flight, I arrived at the London Heathrow Airport. The trip obliged me to stay with British people for nearly one month. I did everything with native people such as eating, running, taking the bus and so on. During that period, the course taught me not only just English itself but also western life style. I am sure that I tried a completely different way of living there. The sightseeing was awesome. In that small town, I found people looked peaceful as the breeze in Brighton. My home stay was nice and she always asked me: “Would you like the lovely dishes I prepared for you?” and I always gave her the positive answers. Instead of having conventional Chinese dishes, I had French fries, fried fish, sandwich, pasta, salad and some other western foods. Without doubt, I missed my Chinese food very much yet trying something new is not a bad thing. Chinese always try to do something cautiously while the Brighton people do their job in a causal style. Hence after that short trip to Brighton, I decided to change my life by studying abroad. It limits my creative ideas if I remain in China all the time. There will be no improvement to me except becoming lazier and more unable to work. Having education in a completely different world changes people’s characteristics entirely. To immerse in a totally distinct culture has absolutely expand my way of viewing the world. In my opinion, the American teaching style is not the same as the style of British. My father told me: “America is an active country while Britain seems gentler. You should not be an introvert but an extrovert.” The destination you decide to go influences your development deeply. I finally chose my goal to the US for better communicating environment and educating quality since the American style is more diverse and modern while the British one inclines to a single traditional method. The Brighton Summer camp contributed to my decision to go to the U.S. and made me aware that bordering my viewpoint from a strange place is necessary. Therefore, after applying university of my bachelor degree, I entered CPELI for my ESL study. The trip to Brighton made me like a big boy to make another important decision to the US. I am confidenct that my decision to here brings me another breakthough point after the Brighton decision.