Ni Hao from a frosty Beijing. Jordyn and I have been here now for almost a week, and are already plotting how soon we can return to this city of smog, street stalls, unbelievably cheap shopping and hectic classes.
We have set up base in an apartment just a few minutes walk from Beijing Yuyan Daxue, our university for the next five weeks. We aren't home much, except to enjoy the children's channel of CCTV (which is still way too fast for me) or a steaming glass of jasmine tea.
From tai chi on a chilly morning to basketball and basking in the afternoon sun, our university is beautiful to meander through with a steaming sweet potato in its skin for lunch, or to race through at 7:50am to class grasping an apple or a stick of sugar coated sour berries (of which i have consumed large amounts). Avenues lined with winter bare trees wind through teaching buildings, a four storey (!!) dining hall, a fitness centre and numerous domitory buildings. Most of the students are Korean, which means my hair and Jordyn's height still draws the open stares, double takes and nudges to friends that accompany us everywhere we go.
Shopping is a whole new ball game, with malls filled to the brim with warrens of stalls everywhere you turn. Bargaining is expected, and could be deemed an extreme sport: rapid fire chinese and feigned 'I'm leaving, no, I'm really leaving' results in exhaustion but seriously cheap, quality goods.
Food is a new adventure everyday- the four storey dining hall mentioned above should hint at this, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Choose your own hotpot adventure, steamed corn on the cob from a street stall, an amazing lunch with a friend from Australia's Chinese grandparents, mystery pastry parcels and amazingly sweet, dense 'mooncakes', China is certainly proving a culinary tour of awesomeness. At night the bicycle fruit stands, chargrills and savoury pancake stalls come out of the woodwork and set up in the middle of a small road just near our apartment. The atmosphere at these chilly night markets is welcoming and a haven of yummy goods at the end of a long day- barbequed eggplant, tofu, mushroom... the locals recognise us as fixtures now but still laugh at our enthusiastic and well-meant but stilted Chinese.
Only in China would you be able to go skiing when there has been no actual snow fall yet this winter: yep, an entirely artificial ski resort embodies the Chinese attitude of being able to do anything they want. However, the 'real artificial' snow as it was dubbed proved great skiing, and we had an exhausting but exhilarating time skiing until the moon was high in the sky. Highlight: Jordyn taking on a black run, but then falling off a slow-moving conveyor belt leading up from a green run. I laughed so hard I almost joined her!
Reality set in with our placement tests on Monday, conducted entirely in Chinese. Class began today: 8am -12, then 1-3pm private tutoring. Class is also all in Chinese, as are our books, the notes on the board... quite a shock to the system, but we will certainly improve quickly- we are doing the equivalent of one week of class back home per day.
Between hilariously bad Chinese to English translations on signs, 6 hours of class a day plus my self-professed 'god of homework' of a teacher, $2 dinners, joining in with fan dancers outside our apartment, meeting awesome people from all around the world, we are quickly and happily adapting to life in this unbelievable city.
Lots of Beijing love,
Zaijian,
Lu Fei.
We have set up base in an apartment just a few minutes walk from Beijing Yuyan Daxue, our university for the next five weeks. We aren't home much, except to enjoy the children's channel of CCTV (which is still way too fast for me) or a steaming glass of jasmine tea.
From tai chi on a chilly morning to basketball and basking in the afternoon sun, our university is beautiful to meander through with a steaming sweet potato in its skin for lunch, or to race through at 7:50am to class grasping an apple or a stick of sugar coated sour berries (of which i have consumed large amounts). Avenues lined with winter bare trees wind through teaching buildings, a four storey (!!) dining hall, a fitness centre and numerous domitory buildings. Most of the students are Korean, which means my hair and Jordyn's height still draws the open stares, double takes and nudges to friends that accompany us everywhere we go.
Shopping is a whole new ball game, with malls filled to the brim with warrens of stalls everywhere you turn. Bargaining is expected, and could be deemed an extreme sport: rapid fire chinese and feigned 'I'm leaving, no, I'm really leaving' results in exhaustion but seriously cheap, quality goods.
Food is a new adventure everyday- the four storey dining hall mentioned above should hint at this, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Choose your own hotpot adventure, steamed corn on the cob from a street stall, an amazing lunch with a friend from Australia's Chinese grandparents, mystery pastry parcels and amazingly sweet, dense 'mooncakes', China is certainly proving a culinary tour of awesomeness. At night the bicycle fruit stands, chargrills and savoury pancake stalls come out of the woodwork and set up in the middle of a small road just near our apartment. The atmosphere at these chilly night markets is welcoming and a haven of yummy goods at the end of a long day- barbequed eggplant, tofu, mushroom... the locals recognise us as fixtures now but still laugh at our enthusiastic and well-meant but stilted Chinese.
Only in China would you be able to go skiing when there has been no actual snow fall yet this winter: yep, an entirely artificial ski resort embodies the Chinese attitude of being able to do anything they want. However, the 'real artificial' snow as it was dubbed proved great skiing, and we had an exhausting but exhilarating time skiing until the moon was high in the sky. Highlight: Jordyn taking on a black run, but then falling off a slow-moving conveyor belt leading up from a green run. I laughed so hard I almost joined her!
Reality set in with our placement tests on Monday, conducted entirely in Chinese. Class began today: 8am -12, then 1-3pm private tutoring. Class is also all in Chinese, as are our books, the notes on the board... quite a shock to the system, but we will certainly improve quickly- we are doing the equivalent of one week of class back home per day.
Between hilariously bad Chinese to English translations on signs, 6 hours of class a day plus my self-professed 'god of homework' of a teacher, $2 dinners, joining in with fan dancers outside our apartment, meeting awesome people from all around the world, we are quickly and happily adapting to life in this unbelievable city.
Lots of Beijing love,
Zaijian,
Lu Fei.
