Week 1: Classes and Jing Shan Park

Have no fear, I will soon forget what week it is, but as of right now I am still slightly amazed that it was only a mere six days ago that I took my first steps in Beijing (ok, fine, technically that's a lie since I've been here twice before, but first for this trip).  In any case, we are starting to get into the swing of things with classes, which means my life is starting to look like this: every morning at 8am sharp we have Da Ban Ke (大班课) which is 8-10 students and we go over the lesson/text (课文).  Afterwards we have Xiao Ban Ke (小班课) which is 4-5 students and we do grammar/usage drills really quickly and really loudly, pretty sure this is the class that makes everyone the most anxious (让大家紧张).  Next is Tao Lun Ke (讨论课) where 3 students and a teacher have a discussion relating to the text (i.e. today we tried to decide whether ACC should hypothetically donate money to Haiti earthquake relief, a house/center for people with AIDS, or a welfare institution for the handicapped). Last is Dan Ban Ke (单班课) which is a one on one session. Like everyone else here, this one is probably my favorite since there's a lot more flexibility in what we talk about it (and if you're sneaky you can get away from the sometimes mundane text examples and into things relating to you and your teacher's personal lives/experiences).  Sometime around 讨论课 my stomach starts to grumble so when the schedule allows I get lunch right after class (usually bao zi (包子) or noodles (面)).  Next week the schedule will change so I might not have time between 讨论课 and 单班课 in which case I am going to have to figure out a way to snarf down some food in one of the 10 minute class switching breaks.

Ok, on to more interesting things.  Since I'm finally (almost) adjusted to the work load and today's homework/lesson preparation was not as long as the other day's I decided to take a study break in the afternoon and go to one of the public parks.  Originally I was going to go to Bei Hai Park (北海公园), but instead ended up going to Jing Shan Park (景山公园).  Both are really close to the Forbidden City and just a single (granted fairly long) bus ride away from where I live.  Although Google Maps says it only takes about twenty minutes to get from ACC to the parks, since traffic is absolutely ridiculous, it ended up being more like an hour travel time each way, but it was worth it to get a reminder that I'm in Beijing.  I mean, it's a huge city with so much to explore and lots that I haven't seen before, but as former ACC students have already attested, you can easily end up spending too much time in the dorms and forget to take advantage of your location.  Anyways, Jing Shan was really beautiful (even if hot) and when you climb to the top of a hill (more like mound of stone) there is a great view of the grounds of the Forbidden City.  And on a clear day you can also see the Drum and Bell Towers to the north, but since the weather was more akin to Beijing's usual hazy, I could only see one of them.  Walking around the grounds, heard the familiar whir of old men playing Chinese yo-yo (what's the action verb for Chinese yo-yo anyways? I think I just made up that it was play...), saw tons of locals playing cards (I have yet to figure out what game it is, but it seems to be very popular since everyone seemed to be playing the same game), and also witnessed some really stellar Chinese hacky sack (look it up, they're pretty different from American hacky sacks - the biggest thing being that they have feathers).  Unfortunately I completely forgot to bring my camera, but I'm sure I'll go back since it's a nice place to just sit and relax for awhile as long as you can stand the commute and the heat.  Actually, funny thing about the pavilion at the top is that you can't take pictures of the Buddha inside of it, but right next to the Buddha are three or four vendors selling Beijing souvenirs (postcards, silly hats, the like) - seems to me that selling stuff inside (when there is plenty of space, and even more vendors outside) is equally egregious to taking pictures, but hey, I don't make the rules, I'm just trying not to get arrested here (for now, we'll just call it capitalism meets tradition: best friends for life).  Anyways, there's also a fairly large peony garden and to top off your pleasant visit, the very site where an emperor (Chongzhen, the last Ming dynasty emperor) hanged himself.

And on that happy note, I'd better get back to reviewing all the characters I need to memorize for tomorrow!

The Actual Beginning

Well, I have arrived safe and sound in Beijing. By sheer, slightly strange, but fortuitous coincidence, my dad was here doing business the first night that I arrived so I ended up staying with him in a five-star hotel and meeting up with a family friend that evening for a yummy Indian dinner. And being in a nice hotel means a nice breakfast (most of the time anyways) and this one certainly was delicious (and eaten at 6:30am due to that wonderful thing called jet lag). But such cushy living inevitably had to come to an end, so I downgraded to my dorm and moved in later that morning. I spent lunch time wandering around the surrounding area and got some street food to munch on (think scallion pancake, dipped in egg batter, filled with sauce, and folded over with a piece of Chinese cabbage inside).  Lucky for me, just as I was about to go get a cell phone SIM card I ran into a large group of people doing the same program I am (ACC) and we spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out phones and banking before heading out to Wang Fu Jing for dinner.  I didn't bring my camera this time, but Wang Fu Jing as a main street is neon the way Times Square is and the Xiao Chi alleyways (literally translated as small eats) is where those stands of fried scorpions and starfish you've probably heard about/seen picture of are. Grabbed some pork on a stick for dinner, had some candied unidentidied pitted fruit for dessert and wandered around with friends for a couple hours.  Late night, we subway-ed over to San Li Tun, a heavily ex-pat area thats relatively close to school to watch part of the World Cup games going on (although ended up talking getting to know people more than watching...figures, especially since we only get to do this in English until Saturday when we take a Language Pledge). Anyways, met my roommate finally when I arrived back to the dorm and then today taking a placement test and not sure what else I'll be doing.  Probably all of my updates won't look like this, but since I woke up really early today I have some time, so you get to read lots.

The Pre-Beginning

Like most journeys, this one starts with packing. Okay, technically, it began with a long process of attempting to answer the question of "What are you doing this summer?" with a bunch of options and a chronic case of indecision. How I got to where I got is a rather long-winded story involving calculations of language, length of stay, number of places I wanted to visit, and enough other variables to baffle the most adept math whiz. But to cut to the chase, I am heading off to Beijing, China in five days and I will be there until mid-December studying Mandarin Chinese intensively for summer and fall terms at Capital University of Economics and Business (首都经济贸易大学). So for now, I am getting a last glimpse of home, family and friends, and trying to figure out what to pack (as in, not too much...need to leave space for buying stuff there)!