CLI Perspectives #18
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The second installment in this month’s, University of North Florida themed, CLI Perspectives is courtesy of Maria Khalaf and Robyn Haywood. Aside from its people, one of Guilin’s most memorable features is its beautiful landscape. Maria and Robyn use the medium of poetry to share how Guilin’s natural scenery shaped their experience studying in China.
Li River
By Maria Khalaf, CLI Study Tour student
The peaches waving daringly in the blistered hands,
A day’s wait for the passersby to earn a day’s worth,
Oh Li River, you provide all.
The peaks beyond atmosphere form an unyielding prison wall,
All trekkers trapped in your relentless bosom
Unable or simply afraid to imagine your arms open wider.
The remains of our belongings tossed aside to make way for new bait.
Let me stay here, oh Li River.
Gladly will I be swallowed in pieces to be whole again
Where your nauseating green smell churns the innermost organs.
I feel like I’m falling, oh Li River.
No longer significant,
My past and my future as far apart as your banks allow.
If there is a center, a place where life meets death casually,
Where thoughts and words are unwelcome,
Where the urge to leap overrules reason,
It is within you, oh Li River.
Maria enjoying China's natural beauty
It is within you, oh Li River
By Robyn Haywood, CLI Study Tour student
It is within you, oh Li River
Proud mountains and tall trees
Stand firm against the wind,
Constant yet impermanent.
How strange nature is.
Robyn posing in front of a replica ancient Chinese coin
The Chinese Language Institute (CLI) is a center for Chinese language and cultural studies based in Guilin, China. Founded in 2009, CLI has hosted over 5,000 students from more than 50 countries and maintains a 4.95 out of 5.00 rating on GoOverseas. CLI's team includes Chinese language educators, program managers, and China specialists holding advanced degrees in Chinese studies, teaching Chinese as a foreign language, education, and related fields. Articles published under The CLI Team draw on the collective expertise of this group, informed by years of experience designing and delivering Chinese language immersion programs in Guilin and across China.
