Gap Year Programs After College in China

I spent 1 month in Hangzhou, China as an au pair. It was a wonderful experience and this agency and Mars helped me from the start until the end. It was a life changing experience getting to experience the life in China from the perspective of a native. Getting to teach English was a rewarding experience as it also showed me what I needed to improve on as well. I would recommend this agency as they were so lovely to me the entire time, for instance from helping me set up mobile apps to the visa application.

My experience abroad was a six-month immersion in the rhythm of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was a lesson in learning to dance to a different beat, both literally and metaphorically. I went expecting to improve my Spanish and see tango shows. I left with a new understanding of community and time. The porteño rhythm is unique. Days started later, with cafes filling up past 10 AM. Dinner was an event that began at 10 PM and stretched into the night, filled with laughter, shared plates of steak and Malbec, and passionate debates about football and politics. The most profound moments happened in the in-between spaces. It was the weekly practice at a local milonga (tango hall), where my two left feet were met with infinite patience from elderly Porteños who believed everyone could dance if they just listened to the music closely enough. They taught me that tango is a conversation, not a performance. It was in my shared apartment, where my roommates, a Colombian artist and an Italian chef, turned our kitchen into a United Nations of flavours, arguing good-naturedly over the correct way to make pasta or the perfect ratio of ingredients for ajiaco. I learned the city’s geography through its protests—a common occurrence where streets would suddenly flood with people chanting for change, forcing a detour and a reminder that civic engagement is loud and alive. I learned the humility of making constant linguistic mistakes, and the incredible warmth that comes when a local gently corrects you and then buys you a coffee for trying. I returned home not with a checklist of sights seen, but with a new tempo in my heart. I learned that home isn't just a place you're from; it's a feeling you can create anywhere with open-mindedness, a willingness to listen, and the courage to step onto a dance floor, even if you have no idea what you're doing. The world feels smaller now, but my place in it feels infinitely larger.