[08.24.11]
Well, the plane ride to Beijing wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it could be. I flew directly from O’Hare, Chicago, to Beijing International Airport. It took roughly 13 hours (plus a twelve or thirteen hour time zone difference, not 100% sure which one yet…). I was awake for the first half, doing some reading, some writing, looking out the window at the Canadian landscape and watching the on-flight movies. The first I didn’t listen to but tried to read the Chinese subtitles, as some preparation. A few problems: I had never seen the movie before, the characters were in traditional form (繁体), and the subtitles move way too fast to read all of them. Despite these hurdles, I think I got the gist of the movie anyway.
There were four of us from the Alliance that met each other before the flight and then met up afterwards to proceed through customs and baggage together. Both went smoothly. We found the rest of the Alliance participants and took a bus to our host university in Beijing, Beijing Languages and Culture University (BLCU). The university is literally in the midst of the city, though our dorm is mainly surrounded by other dorms, apartment buildings and houses. There are some busy streets with shopping nearby, too.
The rooms are small, like any dorm room, but the “least American” part is the bathroom. It is very small, and the shower does not have any sort of tub to contain the water; there is only a paper-like shower curtain that separates the shower section from the toilet and sink! So the area right outside the bathroom door is always a bit wet, which unfortunately is by the front door…
But this is a minor inconvenience. I mean, it’s China – of course things will be different! It’s been a lot of fun so far just reading all the signs and understanding them (or most of them) and hearing all sorts of people speaking Chinese. There are mostly only other foreign students here and the Chinese students will primarily be moving in later.
But this is a minor inconvenience. I mean, it’s China – of course things will be different! It’s been a lot of fun so far just reading all the signs and understanding them (or most of them) and hearing all sorts of people speaking Chinese. There are mostly only other foreign students here and the Chinese students will primarily be moving in later.
[08.25.11]
Sleeping was an interesting experience. The beds are somewhat hard, and I didn’t realize that the blanket rolled up by my feet could double as a makeshift mattress. I discovered this around 3am and did enjoy the extra comfort. Unfortunately, we didn’t know we had an air conditioning unit in the room, so we left the window open to keep the room cool; however, some residents were enjoying the night rather loudly until about 6am.
We had some basic orientation today; I also got to explore some more of Beijing. I got to an ATM and withdrew some cash. Right next to the ATM was a McDonald’s, so of course we had to go inside and see what is was like. The interior wasn’t too different, though the menu looked very different – did you know they have curly fries? Also, there is a “drive-thru” window outside the McDonald’s that opens up to the sidewalk, since the buildings don’t actually abut the road. Above the window read “甜品站” which I roughly translate to “Sweet Stuff Stand.”
There are also large bike lanes further inward than the sidewalks, but somewhat regularly cars may drive in those lanes, often to park in spaces on the sidewalk. That took some getting used to. Their supermarkets are literally “super” markets --- they sell just about everything. We had our first lesson in proper etiquette after being told we couldn’t take pictures in the store (one of the girls wanted a picture of her pretending to read a Chinese book). After dinner, we also did some wandering around Beijing. We found an enormous mall and some more interesting shops. It’s been an enjoyable first full day here and a lot of the people on the trip are all blending together and mixing well.
I did get to practice my Chinese a little bit, though I still am a little hesitant and uncomfortable engaging people in Chinese. Right now I'm much more comfortable providing phrases or words to other students with me; hopefully I can embrace the opportunity and not be too embarrassed when I screw up.
We get to see the Forbidden City tomorrow, so hopefully there will be some good pictures! [Pictures will be added once we get to Xian and have better Internet connections.]
