If you follow the news for any period of time, you will undoubtedly hear reports concerning China at some point. The powerhouse nation has been growing in power during the last several years due to its economic and political influence. This can even be seen at UTSA.

    Senior English major Omar Quimbaya spent February through July of 2008 in China. Omar cites many reasons for his desire to visit the country.

“I started studying the language three years ago, and that is what sparked my immediate interest. I had many friends here who are Chinese encourage me to go. I also wanted to challenge myself and gain experience by going to a country not many Americans go to.”

   Among college students, especially at an institution as large and diverse as UTSA, culture plays a big role in everyday life.

 “Obviously, the biggest differences between the US and China are going to be the culture and language,” Quimbaya said.

“China's culture is heavy with context, which means that there is a more internalized way of understanding the ways things are communicated.”

    To address this culture gap here UTSA’s, East Asia Institute seeks to “build an important educational, cultural, and business bridge between the Orient and San Antonio,” according to the organization’s mission statement.

The East Asia Institute, located in the Main Building, provides students with information on studying abroad opportunities that would help students learn the language, and just the culture of not only China, but  also Asian nations as well.

  Studying abroad as Quimbaya did is something the East Asia institute provides a lot of information on, and something Quimbaya identifies as being a great and important experience.

“We could learn so much from China, but we can also learn so much from different countries from around the world. I often encourage my peers to travel abroad and find something that interests them. He said.

 “As Americans, I believe we should be more global in terms of the way we think, not just stick with a single set way of thinking.”

 Quimbaya acknowledges that China is changing as a result of  Western ideas, but some things may never change.  “The aspect of being an outsider always stayed with me while I was in China, and foreigners all have to accept that”. Regardless, Quimbaya recognizes his experiences with the Chinese people as being a positive one. “Chinese are very hospitable, so they are more likely to strike up a conversation with someone from the outside as opposed to someone in the United States striking up a conversation with someone within one's own city.”

  The Chinese language is a difficult and can be seen as an obstacle for anyone who would otherwise be interested in traveling there. 

“From a Western perspective, it is seems impossible to try to learn all of the characters and speak at least one dialect, but once a person actually goes to China, he or she will find that there are many dialects spoken, over 100 different dialects all distinct from one another” Ouimbaya  said.

“These are the initial things students from abroad would have to face in trying to learn more about the country and culture, which seems daunting, but in reality, it just takes time and patience and plenty of effort to really get a strong feel of the language.” 

UTSA offers courses in Chinese every semester, in Elementary and Intermediate Chinese.

The presence of The East Asia Institute as well as continued study abroad programs continue to push the university to grow in its global outreach. “I think it is great, and I encourage UTSA to continue reaching out to other countries around the world to give UTSA students the opportunities necessary to stay competitive in this global community” Quimbaya said.

“I want students to be as open and kind to people from outside of the USA as people were open and kind to me while I was studying abroad Quimbaya said. With that kind of feeling and way of thinking, I think UTSA and San Antonio will be more appealing to international students.”