Carrie Feyerabend dances with Shuixiu, literally Water Sleeves, one of the most skillful stunts in Peking Opera, during a rehearsal at Binghamton University (BU) in Binghamton, New York State, the United States, on Nov. 15, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
"I DEFINITELY WOULDN'T BE WHERE I AM"
"Me personally, I definitely wouldn't be where I am without the Confucius Institute," Carrie Feyerabend told Xinhua, recalling her unbelievable journey of learning Mandarin and Peking Opera since 2010.
Brought up in Skaneateles, a small town deeply locked in New York State, Feyerabend studied Peking Opera in Beijing and now serves as an assistant to the director of the Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera (CICO) at Binghamton University (BU).
Despite her major in Spanish at BU, Feyerabend chose to learn Chinese, because it was a difficult language and she wanted to challenge herself.
Given her excellence, CICO picked Feyerabend to participate in Chinese Bridge, or the Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students.
The second time she participated in the beginners round in the United States in her sophomore year, she won first place and gained the opportunity to go to China to study Peking Opera at the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts (NACTA) in Beijing for a semester.
She is now a superb Peking Opera singer and dancer with Shuixiu, literally Water Sleeves, one of the most skillful stunts in Peking Opera.
According to Feyerabend, learning the Chinese culture has not only facilitated her interaction with Chinese people, but also helped her associate with people from all over the world.
"I personally try to live by a guideline that you can't judge a book by its cover. You never know what's lying underneath," she said. "The only way to know what's lying underneath is to have conversations with people, get to know their story and get to know their background."
The Confucius Institutes in the United States are a fantastic resource for students to go beyond the classroom, interact with Chinese teachers and learn about different aspects of Chinese culture, she said.
OLD GENERATION SOWS, YOUNGER GENERATION REAPS
Scholar, Dychtwald and Feyerabend are among hundreds of thousands of young Americans that seek golden opportunities as a result of China's reform and opening up in the past four decades.
As an ancient Chinese proverb goes "one generation plants the trees in whose shade another generation rests," the younger Americans as well as Chinese are benefiting from the tremendous dividends of the mutually beneficial bilateral ties.
Reflecting on his own story, Scholar encourages more young Americans to explore the outside world to gain a more fulfilling life experience and he strongly recommends Shanghai and other booming Chinese cities to young entrepreneurs and artists.
In his opinion, young people of both countries could play an essential role in promoting bilateral ties by studying in each other's country and developing "real mutual understanding between youth culture."
"My kids will probably end up speaking Chinese, and a lot of young Chinese people will say, 'my parents studied in the United States,'" said Scholar. "I really like to think that America and China will develop a very strong relationship."
