![Michelle Zhang](/img/default-banner.jpg)
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Michelle Zhang
United States
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2017
Exploring topics that interest me :)
UPDATE: BACKPACKING CHINA
After one long month of no new videos, I’m back and live from the road!
Backpacking China has been full of surprises and I’m here to share with you guys some of them. I also talk about roughly where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing but more details will be coming in future videos because it’s too much for just one! Stay tuned ;)
Backpacking China has been full of surprises and I’m here to share with you guys some of them. I also talk about roughly where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing but more details will be coming in future videos because it’s too much for just one! Stay tuned ;)
มุมมอง: 1 170
วีดีโอ
COLLECTIVISM IS EVERYWHERE IN CHINA
มุมมอง 8K5 ปีที่แล้ว
In each update video I vaguely reference “independently learning about China” which maybe has you wondering what exactly I’ve learned. Well, here is a small slice of this newfound understanding I have of the part of being “Chinese American” that I wasn’t so familiar with before...
UPDATE: PLANS TO BACKPACK CHINA FOR 3 MONTHS
มุมมอง 6245 ปีที่แล้ว
I’m hitting the road again, and this time it’s for 3 months to backpack as much of China as I can! I’ve been living in Shanghai for 2 months now... learned a lot but it’s time to venture out to the rest of this vast diverse country my family calls the motherland. So check out this sick route I figured out and will be (roughly) following!
EXPLORE SHANGHAI WITH ME! (people’s square, french concession, food market, bund and nanjing road)
มุมมอง 2.5K5 ปีที่แล้ว
Continuing last week’s adventures around Shanghai! This time we’re checking out the areas formerly colonized by the British and French, visiting Tianzifang, a food market, and the city’s most famous view.
EXPLORE SHANGHAI WITH ME! (metro, pudong, yu yuan, propaganda, shikumen)
มุมมอง 3.2K5 ปีที่แล้ว
Let me take you around Shanghai and explain everything I’ve been learning about it for the past month! In this first part we go on the city’s busiest metro line, explore the contrast between new and traditional neighborhoods, spot government propaganda on the streets, and morrree :) Stay tuned for formerly colonized neighborhoods, food markets, and the bund in part II next week...
LET’S GET HONEST ABOUT TRAVEL
มุมมอง 8245 ปีที่แล้ว
Especially for those who travel for a longer period of time and have a tendency to stray off the beaten path, travel isn’t always the glamorous adventure social media makes it seem like...
WHAT IS REAL CHINESE FOOD?
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China is famed for its food but the Chinese food in other countries are usually inauthentic... So what’s real Chinese food then? For the past month and a half I’ve been thinking about it with my mind and stomach and I think I’ve learned enough to give you guys a rough idea now!
UPDATE: LIFE IN SHANGHAI, CHINA
มุมมอง 1.4K5 ปีที่แล้ว
A month ago, I landed in China with a one way ticket and zero plans.... Here’s the update on how the past month living in Shanghai and going with the flow has been!
A GUIDE TO SOLO BACKPACKING ON A BUDGET
มุมมอง 3745 ปีที่แล้ว
A lot of videos out there complicate things when really travel is just this easy and cheap. Backpacking for me means realizing what really matters to me, living a simpler life, and going with the flow. So if you also want to travel for the adventure, for meeting new people and new experiences (but you're a weee broke), then this is for you!
MINERVA ASCENT WEEKEND // FIRST IMPRESSIONS
มุมมอง 8K5 ปีที่แล้ว
I’ve got some teaaa for you guyyss! On the second leg of my trip I went to San Francisco to visit Minerva for the first time! Ascent is Minerva’s admitted students weekend where we get to experience everything the school has to offer in 2 jam packed, intense days. Hope you enjoy this inside look and my first impression thoughts on the school!
VISITING NYC // WHAT I MISS ABOUT NYU
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I visited NYU for the first time since I left and the distance made me realize some things I appreciated about the school :)
6 weeks in: learning Chinese as an ABC/Chinese American
มุมมอง 7655 ปีที่แล้ว
I spent 6 weeks with my mom re-learning to read/write Chinese using old Chinese school materials, faced the bane of 10 year old Michelle's existence, and got kind of literate!!! Hopefully this is enough for when I go back to China in 2 weeks! Stay tuned for that :)
WHY I'M GOING TO MINERVA COLLEGE
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A breakdown of everything I know about Minerva (so far), why I applied, and how I got in. SOOO excited for admitted students weekend in two weeks and to start this adventure with the Class of 2023 in the fall! Keep an eye out for new video updates :)))
6 REASONS WHY I DROPPED OUT OF NYU
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EVERYTHING IS MY PERSONAL OPINON AND BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE I was in Gallatin School of Individualized Study, which was actually one of the best parts of NYU, and I loved the majority of my classes and professors. My main issues had to do with the bigger picture and institution. I'm really not trying to trash the school. There were definitely things I liked but the negatives outweighed...
4 weeks in: learning Chinese as an ABC/Chinese American
มุมมอง 7K5 ปีที่แล้ว
Y'all there are so many of us ABCs (American Born Chinese) out here struggling with Chinese, but no one talks about it. Then when other people ask us it's like.......... Really good short article on heritage speakers: www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/life-bilingual/201203/portraying-heritage-language-speakers The ONE other video I found about this topic: th-cam.com/video/CAIyLQqX4Jg/w-d-xo.html
WHAT LIVING IN GUATEMALA TAUGHT ME AT 18 // Gap year experience
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WHAT LIVING IN GUATEMALA TAUGHT ME AT 18 // Gap year experience
Gap Year Association Voices Project | Michelle Zhang
มุมมอง 3016 ปีที่แล้ว
Gap Year Association Voices Project | Michelle Zhang
Application Video For Travel Access Project Grant
มุมมอง 8097 ปีที่แล้ว
Application Video For Travel Access Project Grant
Lets remember that Innovation REQUIRES a Competitive culture that loves to outdo EACH other for the sake of self gratification; which is essentially how we evolve progressively.
Individualism is ESSENTIAL to innovation. Having the confidence that you as an individual can change the world. Having the courage to stand against the collective crowd and break the status Quo. Do you understand now why it's hard for them to innovate. Copying/Manufacturing established designs does well under collectivism NOT for innovation. Hence, China's current stagnation/low quality products.
@Michelle Zhang great video! I really want to go check out the last place you showed - the real Shanghai - would you mind sharing the name of the neighborhood? Thank you!
Hi, very impressive indeed. Somehow I need to learn mandarin. I think it is awesome language to listen too. I'm currently watching Cdrama shows😊. Some words I've picked up from tv show😂 I liked your video.
I like this new term -heritage speaker,it's beautiful
I love this!!
1
Can you please elaborate on the setting your hair on fire part?
I think one of the worst side effects of extreme collectivism is that it suck out the creativity out of many people. I've heard stories from western people teaching in Chinese schools. For example younger kids being completely puzzled when they could draw anything but they couldn't come up with any idea and didn't even seem to understand the task. The teacher repeated that they can draw anything, anything they would like to draw like a house or a leopard or really anything. And of course every single one of them ended up drawing a house or a leopard....
Congratulation for your decision. I should have done the same thing 9:12 long time ago and I didn't do it. I can tell you NYU is overrated and you can find the same education and some other places for less money.
I hear you Michelle. I did an NYU "Pre-College" program the summer in between my junior and senior years of college -- it was ok, but the competition to get admitted to the program + register for the classes was INSANE! NOT even CUNY classes were that nuts to get into. 😱🤮 I also did two free Tisch "Emerging Artists" 14-week programs also during my junior and senior years (once again, INSANE competition to get into the program/courses), AND, then promptly left NYC to go to college in Massachusetts. 🤣 Nearly EVERYONE I went to high school with in Brooklyn went to NYU, I was OVER IT. I had a MUCH better undergraduate experience at the small LAC I went to, versus my friends from high school who went to NYU. They were ALWAYS complaining about their experience, while I was pretty happy being up in New England, surrounded by nature, and having PLENTY of arts and culture around me, WITHOUT all the distractions of NYC (on top of NYU itself) to annoy me. Besides, I'd gotten QUITE ENOUGH of that growing up in Brooklyn. 🙄🤪 Good for you following your instincts. You should NEVER settle for being less than COMPLETELY happy on your academic journey. I'm 100% positive I would have dropped out of NYU myself had I gone there, ESPECIALLY as an undergrad. 👍 I myself returned SEVERAL years later to NYC to do post-graduate work @ NYU/Steinhardt, but by then, I wasn't as concerned with what attending NYU would be like, as much as I was just doing it to further my career so I could teach. BESIDES, it was a THOROUGHLY different experience as a post-graduate student for me @ NYU. I wasn't AT ALL invested whatsoever in campus life, I was just trying to complete post-graduate work, and NYU had the best program for it in my field, so c'est la vie.
i’m a junior who has been on my knees to go to NYU and after this I don’t know, i’m lost and im confused because i’ve kind of put all of my eggs into one basket, which I know was not a good idea, but i thought that NYU, based off the things i heard and read, was the best school for me. if it isn’t NYU it’s going to be community college, and I’m worried i’ll end up hating it there because of things listed here in this video and the comments. help!!!😊
Well I wanted to go upstate but even with my minor stats NYU gave a full scholarship for tuition and half for room and board. I live in the Bronx. I just finished the college process and it was a very high and low process. I was originally going to Albany University
I like your insights!! Glad you left!! You sound too smart for NYU!
Hello Michelle it's Alyan I agree that NYU is mad expensive that's why I plan transferring to Hunter college
Are you an ABC?
I went to MInerva College, it sucked. I left and went to NYU
I agree
Reason 1 was a good enough reason for me to laugh when I was accepted. I was like y’all are crazy if you think I’m going to pay this.
Charming. But naive. However, she's a thinker. That means there's hope for her.
It’s so much easier being white learning Chinese because I can just ask for help without sounding stupid.
Lots of your story parallels mine with Spanish. Believe it or not, I also used to say that I spoke "like a three year old." Although, I was second generation. Like my pronunciation was always on point but I used to say things that made me cringe. Edit - and I gotta say, people who fall along the lines of heritage speaker have a HUGE advantage. Looking back, Spanish was easy for me to learn. I had a sense for it already. Now I'm learning Mandarin and it's like my head is spinning.
I’m a first gen and in my 60s. I understand Mandarin but speak now at an elementary school level and frankly very regretful. My parents speak to me in Chinese but return them in English since they both are fluent in English. I was fortunate that my mother taught me to pronounce Chinese well even with a slight Shanrung accent. Chinese would think I great at Chinese but after a minute conversing then they realize my sentence structure is messed up. That’s my bucket list to be more fluent for what’s left of my life. TH-cam vids and google translator helps and when I am stumped, I ask my friends more fluent than me to help out.
China is not a collectivistic system. In actual collectivism the collective itself decides on the rules that govern the collective. In China there is a very small subset of the collective, the party, that decides the rules for the collective. Maybe Chinese people are collective oriented but that is abused and distorted by the party. China is greatly advised to get rid of it and become an actual collective without a ruling class. Like bees or ants. ... But that than is a locally operating democracy. Which does not exists on this planet currently Besides any functional collective needs unconditional freedom of speech to even see the solution space to any problem they face. Since China does not have this the collective can not even see optimal solutions let alone decide on them.