Pictures II

Picture of all the girls taken at the Forbidden City (There is a 1:3 ratio between guys and girls on our trip). 

Picture of some new friends at Yuan Ming Yuan. From left to right: Me, Li Cheng (My language partner), Kathy (My friend Erica's language partner), Kenneth (Another W&M kid, we both have Li Cheng as our language partner).

Side Note: Found this interesting article browsing CNN today. Hasn't happened to me yet! 

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/29/china.rent.white.people/index.html?hpt=C1&fbid=DtlxmwLiemF

Great Wall Pictures

Pictures!

Here is a picture of me at Tsinghua's on-campus garden and me and my snazzy bike!

Reverse Culture Shock

I know this might sound strange... but I think I am experiencing "reverse culture shock". William and Mary was the first international student summer program to start at Tsinghua University (Go Tribe!) and for the past two weeks I have become very used to being a minority. AND now all the other summer programs are moving in and I have to say its weird to see other white people again. Its weird to hear english walking down my hall and it was definitely nicer to not have competition over the Western toilet. Not that its a bad thing that more and more Americans are here learning Chinese, I just was enjoying being part of a small minority of Waiguoren (foreigner or literally outside country person)

Thats my mini tangent for the day! 

PS. I finally figured out how to post pictures! So I have included a random assortment above (hopefully).

Time Flys When You're...

... trying to keep up with that Chinese work ethic, exploring Beijing, researching, oh AND having fun!

I am ashamed its been almost a WEEK since I last posted. But it has been a very VERY busy week!

I have been working hard: two tests and a ton of dialogs under my belt, a couple essays too! I can now more or less go through our Taichi routine without major problems, and we consistently draw a decent crowd of gawkers that watch us. I have been speaking lots of Chinese, meeting lots of friends here! The W&M kids have even gotten into a habit of speaking "chinglish" with each other. We are gearing up for Midterms at the end of this week, then we only have 3 weeks of class left!!!

I have seen a lot more of the city. I went to the Forbidden City, it was very big. But seriously, that place is actually a city in itself. So many courtyards and buildings. It was very impressive, but I have to admit a tad repetitive. The garden was amazing though, a typical Chinese garden full of oddly shaped rocks and old tress. I went to Yuan Ming Yuan, the old summer palace from the Qing Dynasty that was destroyed by the French and British troops during the Second Opium War in 1860. It was beautiful! All the structures have been destroyed but the gardens and lake/ponds are breathtaking. The Chinese never do anything small, its always extravagant and overwhelming. I visited the old part of Beijing to one of the last remaining Hutongs. A hutong is an alleyway between two old courtyard style housing full of little shops and vendors. They are really only found in Beijing and have been rapidly disappearing to new construction. I found lots of fun souvenirs there and the boys on our trip ATE SCORPIONS there! I declined the invitation to try one, but they described them as salt and crunchy, almost like a potato chip. I also  experienced my first bit of Beijing Opera... its unique but it was actually really interesting! You should all look it up on Youtube (oh how I miss youtube).

Eating here is always entertaining. We have found some really good restaurants, we finally know more or less what to choose at our cafeteria AND we have even sampled some street food! I know it goes against my policy, BUT you can't pass up a fish shaped waffle filled with chocolate, especially for 2RMB or 29 cents. 

I think that is all for now. I will try really, really hard to post again soon! 

PS. Thanks to everyone that has sent me emails, I enjoy hearing from you!  

The Wonderful World of Street Vendors

你好大家!

So I have had some time to settle in and learn the lay of the land by now and I think one of my FAVORITE things to do is shop. You can certainly find some interesting things to buy on the street, and I am not including food in this statement. But speaking of food I have a very strict policy of not eating from anything that is mobile, for example the street vendors that bike around food stalls. It just doesn't seem like a good idea. 

BUT back to the main point: Several times we have seen street vendors selling small adorable animals like bunnies, hamsters, and mice, standard pets like fish and birds, and scary pets like snakes and scorpions BUT by far the most unexpected animal has been chipmunks! Thats right. One night we were coo-ing over the cute bunnies and in the cage next to them were like 4 chipmunks! Of all the things to sell as a pet. Also where in the world do you locate chipmunks in Beijing?!? The only animals I have seen in the wild here are stray cats and the occasional bird, but they are rare. Needless to say we didn't buy any animals.

My favorite stands are the book vendors! (Surprise, surprise I know) The have all these knock off books in Chinese and English. Some of which haven't even come out in the US yet. I was hesitant to buy one because they come shrink wrapped and I was afraid it would be in Chinese when I opened it or be a different book entirely. But then I saw Super Freakonomics! I really wanted to buy it in the States before I left but it was still in hardcover and kinda expensive at $30. At the stand it was only 10Renminbi which is only $1.50. So I risked it AND no problems! It is obviously photocopied, but printed fairly well. Not fabulous quality but for a buck fifty I think its well worth the money. I will have to stock up before I come back!

BUT my ALL TIME FAVORITE PURCHASE, to date that is, is a FAB T-Shirt that reads "Free the Beatrice" in big bold letters. So yeah. I don't really get it, but I think its the complete randomness that makes it so good. 

Anywhoo its off to bed for me, I have Taichi at 7am tomorrow! But I will update you on anymore fun finds!

 

Chang Cheng

So I survived my first week of class! It was a bit rough around the edges, but I think the get up at dawn to bed by 10 thing is starting to work for me. It was only a 3 day week though :D We moved our weekend to thursday/friday for a Chinese holiday. But that means next week is a 7 day school week! Wooohooooo. Its gonna be rough. 

BUT over our "weekend" we went to the GREAT WALL OF CHINA! It was pretty spectacular. It is SO old and so intricately made and it goes on FOREVER! So many sets of stairs and towers. But the views were worth it. The mountains in the states seem pretty lame compared to these. They are all around you and in the far off distance you can see shadows of MORE mountains. There will be pictures to come, I promise! 

The only other "news" is the thunderstorms here are pretty insane. They come on really fast and are HUGE. They make for exciting bike rides let me tell you. 

Hope I survive this week! Hope everyone else enjoys there weekend! Think of me sitting in class...

Chinese Work Ethic

Its no joke. In China you have to work hard or get out of the way. 

I had my first day of classes yesterday! I have 4 hours of Chinese language class everyday starting at 8am. A reading-writing class and a speaking-listening class, then an hour for lunch then back to the class room for a tutorial review session. Some days we have a Chinese culture class after our tutorial session and other days we have free time to work on our independent research projects. AND when thats done its time to do homework! They don't kid around here, study abroad means STUDY and then study some more abroad. I might sound like I am complaining (okay I am a tiny bit) but its actually really good. The professors are great, the classes are so small we get so much one-on-one attention and it will really help improve my Chinese. Which was the point of studying abroad, I think :D

OH Did I forget to mention Tai-chi? Tuesdays and Thursdays we get up SUPER early and have a Tai-chi class at the lovely hour of 7am. My favorite part is that our class is held on this huge public field in front of several academic buildings. So its really just public embarrassment class. Today we had a crowd of about 5 people standing and gawking at the waiguoren or foreigners attempting Tai-chi, which is usually an activity for those over 60. 

Its really a strange experience to be a minority and be openly stared at. The other day we (the group of W&M students I am with) went to Tiananmen Square to do some touristy stuff and one lady followed us around for about 15 minutes taking pictures of us. None of us have been asked to take pictures with people yet. I hear that after the olympics people got more used to foreigners. 

Well thats all for today. Homework time!

Bad Habit

Hey all! Sorry I have gotten in a bad habit of not posting. Ahhhh I will post a BIG one tomorrow, I promise! 

But here is a quick update: I have not died of time difference, stomach problems, or culture shock. Big surprise I know! 

But I have learned (and will never forget) the Chinese word for Watermelon (long story) AND I purchased I fabulous Chinese bicycle (in chinese 自行车 or zixingche) for the high price of 140 Renminbi, or $22. Its really great, I have only had to fix it once in 2 days!

Okay more tomorrow. I still have to finish my homework!

China

From door to door my journey to China took 26 HOURS 32 MINUTES 13 SECONDS AND 3 MILLISECONDS. It wasn't as awful as it could have been but I don't exactly want to spend another 12 straight hours on a plane anytime soon. 

First impressions: I have NEVER seen so many bikes in my life. I swear around each corner there are hundreds more lurking. The traffic on campus due to cars is basically nothing, but there is always a steady flow of bikers. Speaking of which, I will become one of the hundreds tomorrow when I venture off to purchase one. The decent ones that include a basket and lock run about 130 Renminbi which exchanges to about $19. The last bike I bought in the states was about 400 times that amount. And don't worry Ma I will wear my helmet.

First authentic Chinese meal was very tasty! Seriously. I tried everything, except for the eel, including a dish a black flaky things with an interestingly chewy texture that turned out to be tree fungus. They say its very healthy for you. Everything else was more or less normal looking and tasting. 

Gate S8

It has been 11 HOURS 20 MINUTES 25 SECONDS AND 9 MILLISECONDS since I left my house.

I have read 384 pages of the book I have been reading. (I recommend Watership Down by Richard Adams if you're looking for a good book to read)

Currently sitting in the Seattle Airport at Gate S8 as you might have guessed. Only ONE more flight to go! Its only 11 plus hours...

First incidence of culture shock: I found my gate because all the passengers were Asian and speaking Chinese. So far I am the only white person sitting at the gate.

AHHHHH I AM SO EXCITED.

T-2 Days

The To-Do list is dwindling down... only about 50 more things to do! Getting excited/nervous! Thinking I maybe should look at a Chinese textbook for the first time in a couple weeks. That way I can procrastinate on packing some more :D