Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my blog!

My name is Alessandra Cianni, and my Chinese name, given to me by my first Chinese teacher nearly six years ago, is Chi Yaling (池雅玲).  In English, the title of my blog is “Alessandra in China.”

I just finished my second year at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where I am pursuing a major in Chinese and a double minor in Philosophy and Professional Writing.  In one week, I will be leaving California to spend my third year of college in Beijing, China, where I will be studying at two universities and participating in an internship through UCSB’s Education Abroad Program (EAP) Freeman Foundation Internship Program.

My first immersion with the Chinese culture was in the summer of 2008.  At the age of 14, I flew to Taiwan by myself for a two-week study abroad program at Chang Gung University near Taipei, where I studied the Chinese language and mentored Taiwanese children at a summer camp.  The following summer, I went to mainland China to continue my pursuit of this passion, and this time, I spent six weeks in the beautiful country.  I studied the Chinese culture and language at East China Normal University in Shanghai and participated in a three-week homestay.

I hope you all enjoy my blog, and I look forward to submitting my next post from the other side of the world!