Ni Hao! My name is Yue Hou and I come from Changsha, China. I am a junior at Grinnell College majoring in Economics and Mathematics, and I have a concentration in Global Development Studies. Before coming to Grinnell, my friends and family were worried that I would be stuck in the cornfields, but this small college in the middle of nowhere has actually opened the world to me. I enjoyed cooking authentic south Asian food with my friends from Pakistan, discussing about the political situations with my friend from Myanmar, learning Spanish songs from my friend from Columbia and watching the Super Bowl with my American friends. Last summer when I got extremely interested in the microfinance programs in Bangladesh, Grinnell has supported me financially so I could do an internship with the famous Grameen Bank in Dhaka. And right now I am participating in an off-campus study program based in Freiburg, Germany. I am learning about the politics and economics of the European Union, and the field trips arranged by t he program have taken me to more than ten different countries, from Latvia to Slovakia. I cannot wait to get back to Grinnell, though! I guess I miss the sound of the train at one in the morning. But seriously, Grinnell never gets boring; it just gets a little cold!

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