The first week in Beijing was incredibly nerve-wracking, yet extremely exciting. Arriving in Beijing, there was a lot to get used to. Besides the jet lag, smog, and culture shock experienced in the first few days, we also had to quickly adjust to China’s lifestyle and traditional customs. No longer could we drink tap water or use an excessive amount of electricity—which we learned when the hot water in our shower turned off—but it wasn’t long before we were accustomed to daily life in China. Another major change was the transition into eating Chinese food everyday. Navigating a Chinese restaurant, let alone the cafeterias, was extremely challenging, as all of the menus were not only comprised of unfamiliar foods, but they were also written in Chinese characters. After a few days of pointing at different foods that looked good, we each found a few favorites we could rely on finding everyday in the dining hall. After receiving a tour of the campus and dorms from our teacher and our future language partners—Chinese students at Peking University—we were prepared to start our first classes at Peking University. 

It also took a few days to get into the routine of daily classes and activities at Peking University, but within a few days we had a general knowledge of our host university, our dorms, and how to navigate our way through Beijing. The first week was both exciting and nerve-wracking, in that it was our first opportunity to use Chinese in our day-to-day lives. After signing the language pledge on the first day of class, we were required to speak only Chinese for the remainder of the program, and this forced us to use our Chinese not only in class, but also in our interactions with native speakers on a daily basis. While we all had prior experience with the Chinese language, this was quite a humbling experience, in that we quickly learned how much we didn’t know. From ordering food at the dining halls and restaurants to navigating public transportation, dorm life, Chinese banks, and shopping centers, we began practicing our Chinese in everything we did. The rest of the week progressed as we attended our daily morning classes, afternoon one-on-one sessions, and evening office hours. The rest of our days we filled with extra individual study, exploration of Beijing, and time getting to know one another. 

On that Friday afternoon, we finished our first week of classes with a scavenger hunt intended to introduce us to different aspects of our host university’s campus, and after completing this scenic and interesting hike, we were given a demonstration of Chinese calligraphy by one of China’s most famous artists. After finishing our first week of classes, we got up on Saturday morning to depart on our first day trip—our hike of the Great Wall of China. While I had seen pictures of the wall in the past, I could never have imagined how truly amazing it truly is. After arriving at the wall, we began our ascent up roughly 6 levels of stairs, and though the roughly 100 flights of steps we climbed left us exhausted, the view was definitely worth it. The Great Wall was like nothing I have ever seen before.

The end of the week was comprised of a trip to the mall, which we soon discovered housed stores and restaurants from all over the world. Besides places to shop and eat, the mall includes a movie theater—with English movies and subtitles—and even an outdoor park to explore. This was a good end to the week.

My plane ride to China best symbolizes what I expect my experience in China to be. I expected my United Airlines flight to be like any other long flight: watching movies on the mini screen in front of my seat. As I arrived at my window seat, I was in utter shock and horror because guess what? There was no mini-TV! Even better was that I couldn’t watch Zootopia like everyone else because my earphone cord didn’t work. The one thing I do when I’m stressed is sleep. So, naturally, I slept. When I woke up, there was an old Asian man who looked to be about 70 years old sleeping on my shoulder. I spazzed out and woke him up. He immediately started speaking Chinese to me, and I could only make out one of the things he said; “Are you Chinese?” “No, I’m American.” And that’s how the plane ride went from depressing to interesting. I barely reviewed Chinese before coming to China, and it definitely showed during our conversation. As he talked to me in only Chinese, I had my first taste of what China was going to be like (which involved using a lot of my Chinese-English dictionary). This is what some of the conversation looked like:

 

I had a huge headache the entire plane ride and felt like a 3 year old child trying to talk to Albert Einstein. But throughout my terrible Chinese, I learned that his son is a professor at Penn, a story about a man named Wu Song who killed a tiger, and (after holding up the flight attendant for several minutes) how to say red wine in Chinese. Long story short, my plane ride was my first taste of China: and it tasted weird but interesting.

I noticed a lot of things that I took for granted in the States. For example, TOILET PAPER. Public bathrooms here are not only holes in the ground, but they also don’t provide toilet paper, so we have to carry these little packs of tissues. Ice water is also huge. Restaurants here don’t provide us with ice water, so we have to drink hot water. But it’s ok. Everything is really cheap here and the people are really nice (except when they’re driving: it is terrifying).

NDiB is pretty challenging, in both the academic and cultural sense. We have a lot of work to do and I still don’t know how to say napkin in Chinese but it’s aight. My classmates and I suffer together, but we also have fun together hahaha. We went to a few “cultural excursions,” 比方说 (for example) we went to the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square. The Great Wall was super sick. There were a lot of foreign people struggling to hike the Great Wall, but the view was incredible. 8/8 would highly recommend. Tiananmen Square is cool too, but there were a lot of people there, which made me feel pretty uncomfortable. There were a lot of Chinese people taking pictures of us because we were American (well mostly my caucasian friends), so we felt like celebrities.

In conclusion, even though there are some things that I don’t care for in Beijing (air quality, dense masses of people, and 90+ degree Fahrenheit weather), overall I really love it here. The people are chill, my classmates are fun, the teachers are awesome, and the city is bumping. See you guys next week!

 

The past two weeks have truly been both an overwhelming and exciting adventure. Living in a foreign country, I felt as if I turned five years old again. As soon as I arrived at Beijing International Airport, I took in my surroundings with child-like curiosity, but the harsh reality of traveling to a different country hit when I struggled with my basic Chinese language skills to hail a taxi and check into my dorm. As soon as I got to Peking University, I climbed in bed and thought, “Wow, I am a big 19 year old baby trying to navigate my way through China.”

At first, I felt terrified and insecure of the weeks ahead. However, now that I am entering the third week of the program, I have noticed my confidence grow exponentially. Every day, my interactions with other students and local residents involve a lot of charades and guessing games, but the small wins are really what fuels my confidence. For example, I learned how to bargain in marketplaces, ask and give people directions, and order food at restaurants. Although each conversation is very short and seemingly insignificant, it makes a world of a difference for me as I continue to embrace my vulnerability and use it as a strength.

Throughout the week, we spend most of the day learning new vocabulary words and sentence structures in class and over the weekends, we have the opportunity to apply what we learn outside of class. Our first excursion was to the Great Wall of China and although the hike up elicited blood, sweat, and tears, the view was simply unforgettable. Growing up, I learned about the Great Wall and marveled at the pictures in my history textbook; however, in person, it seemed so unreal and I reached a newfound appreciation and respect for the rich culture and history of China.

In class, we learned the phrase, “???? ”, which means “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” My goal is to live in China, not as a tourist, but as a temporary resident, and correct the preconceived notions that I had before coming to Beijing with a more educated and insightful perspective. Every single day in Beijing is full of adventures and hard-earned lessons; I can’t wait for what tomorrow and the next day will bring.

After the second week in China, I feel like I have a good feel for what daily life is going to be like.  There is still not a whole lot of free time during the week just because of the workload, but its manageable.  Our first trip was to the Great Wall, which was beautiful.  There were quite a few other people there, but it wasn’t too crowded.  It was a bit of a walk to reach the wall itself, but once there the view made it well worth it.  The amount of effort and resources that it must have take to construct it is unimaginable even today, let alone hundreds and hundreds of years ago.  It was also something to consider how many people must have died making it.

We have Friday activities that I’m not too much of a fan of, but it’s not the worst.  They generally consist of familiarizing ourselves with Chinese culture in some way or another, whether it be talking to random people about the college entrance exam they have there, or just exploring campus.  On the weekends Wudaokou is generally the place to hangout, it seems like its kind of tailored to college students.  I also went to an area called Tuanjiehu with a lot of expatriates, where you can get some fairly authentic American food, just definitely more expensive than the dining hall.

Good news: I’ve survived another week! Barely.

But more seriously, week two proved to be a new challenge in itself. While I wouldn’t necessarily admit I experienced a wave of culture shock, the simplest tasks still seem overwhelmingly difficult to manage using only my limited vocabulary. In particular, ordering meals at restaurants, the dining halls and at street vendors’ booths has been a nearly insurmountable task, especially because there is no Chinese version of: “just sound it out!” So far I’ve been able to actualize my gustatory preferences by pointing to already prepared meals or pictures on menus followed by either the Chinese for “that!” or “the same as theirs,” but never without the accompanying humiliation. But every setback just serves as inspiration for a new language goal to blog about wanting to achieve. For now, the surprise factor has been a source of excitement and a bit of a game, trying new dishes first and then translating the name afterwards. I like to believe this way is fundamentally better and is conducive to being adventurous in adding new tastes my pallet I wouldn’t have tried otherwise.

The strangest feeling arose when this past weekend while a few of us visited the Beijing Zoo where we watched a toddler, who could probably count the months he has been alive on his fingers and toes, rattle off names of animals and topics more advanced than I could understand. Similar experiences occurred at the Forbidden City, in the Houhai neighborhood and elsewhere. Usually followed by a picture or a comment about a foreigner from a local.

As if to alleviate the extremely narrow range of ideas I can express in Chinese, our textbook was designed to introduce us to the topics that would be most useful to one living in China, as we are temporarily. Strangely enough, I am glad to see the increasingly complex topics in our vocabulary because discussing the double-sided effects of the mandated One Child Policy in Chinese makes me feel more worthy of studying in China’s most esteemed university, while learning to introduce myself makes me feel like a three year old. Speaking of the One Child Policy, I feel that if you would like to have an opinion on the matter, you should be forced to visit China before commenting. Maybe I am only experiencing the strains of living in the world’s third largest city, but witnessing traffic patterns and the sheer volumes of people at nearly every location made me reevaluate my automatically negative opinion of the policy for a much more balanced perspective.

Upon arriving in Beijing, I immediately realized I had a bit of ways to go in terms of language progress. Asking people for directions at the airport and on campus, I never completely understood what anyone said.  As far as adjusting to the life at Peking University, there wasn’t anything too difficult.  Class is a little overwhelming, not necessarily because of the difficulty of the course (though it’s not easy) as much as the sheer amount of time it takes in the day. I do wish there was a little more time to go exploring, but I’m sure I’ll be able to better manage my time for this in the future.

The food situation is interesting.  There are many things that we’ve been warned against, such as cold dishes, fruit, and food carts on the side of the street.  The dining halls and restaurants on campus are very reasonably priced, it’d be hard to eat more than .  A lot of the other students complain about the food but I actually like it hahaha.  Once late at night everything was closed and I was pretty hungry so I bought something from a kind of dicey looking place.  I wasn’t really sure what I was eating, but I survived!  The wifi is a little tricky and you have to use a vpn for some sites, but so far everything’s gone pretty smoothly, and still excited to be here.

大家好！

Last Friday, I arrived in Beijing to begin my Summer Language program for Notre Dame.  The program is dedicated to the immersion of students into the Chinese culture and language, and that immersion is swift to say the least.  As soon as I got off my flight, I exchanged my USD for some Renmenbi, and hopped on a van to Peking University to begin my experience. 

Driving into Beijing, I was first struck by the traffic.  I knew Beijing is one of the world’s largest cities, yet the sheer immensity of the population struck me.  Arriving at Peking University （北大as it is known here), I settled in and got ready to begin classes.  Monday marked the beginning of the program, and meant my full commitment to immersion into Chinese culture and language.  Before class began,  I signed a language pledge, promising to only speak Chinese for the next two months.   My classes run from 8am-12, followed by a 40 minute individual session and culminating in study hours in the evening.  This is accompanied by 3-4 hours of preparation every day for class and our daily quiz (小考）.  In third year Chinese, we are beginning to study more interesting topics then just the basic communications of how to giver directions or order food.  In our first week we considered what traits are desirable in a role model, and discussed the implications of “freedom” in different countries.  It is fascinating to hold discussions in Chinese the same way as I would in English.  I am really excited to continue exploring relevant political, social, and cultural topics, so that I will be able to fluently discuss current and historical events. 

While class at Peking University is exciting and challenging, the true immersion is during our “free time.”  Everything from a trip to the convenience store to visiting the Great Wall requires students to push themselves.  I am consistently out of my comfort zone when I walk around Beijing, yet I know that every time I hold I bargain at the Pearl Market or ask for directions to a restaurant, I am learning.  Last weekend, our program went to visit the Great Wall.  The climb was steep;  at some points you had to use hands to pull yourself to the next stair.  Yet at the top, the exertion was worth it.   The view from the Wall was awe-inspiring, and painted a much different picture then the bustling urban hub of Beijing.  For miles around, mountains and trees and lakes painted a scenic landscape.  It was inconceivable that a  city with 12 million people was just an hour away.  This weekend, we are planning a trip to the Forbidden City.   These weekend excursions are a great break from the classroom, and are also a very effective way to practice our language skills with native speakers.  While it is often a humbling experience to converse with people in Beijing, everyone has been very patient and encouraging, and every conversation is more fluid than the last. 

Learning Chinese in Beijing requires dedication.  Everyday is a struggle to understand and to communicate, yet everyday I can feel my proficiency increasing.  It is a remarkable experience to be able to recognize my improvement day to day, and I am excited for what the next six weeks bring me. 

I arrived in Beijing last Friday and I can’t believe a week has gone by already but it somehow feels like I’ve been here for a while. The minute I got to the airport and got to my gate I was already being immersed in the Chinese language. The airport attendant speaking Mandarin, which I could not understand at all, gave me a reminder as to why I am doing this program, to significantly improve my Mandarin language skills. When I arrived at the Beijing Capital Airport I was warmly greeted by one of my soon to be Chinese teachers and then driven to Peking University and my dorm for the next eight weeks. At this point I was quite tired as I had just sat on a plane for 13 hours and the 12 hour time difference back home proved to get the best of me. The first couple of nights I found myself waking up in the early hours of the morning but after about 3 or 4 days my body was used to it.

The first weekend in Beijing we mainly got settled and started preparing for our intensive Chinese language courses. We have class every morning from 8-12 and then a 30 to 40 minute individual session with a teacher in the afternoon. I am taking 2nd year Chinese right now and plan to take 3rd year when I come back to campus in the fall. Because we are doing a whole year’s worth of language in one summer, the classes are long and the studying is a lot but it is still manageable and still have free time on the weekends. We also signed a language pledge where we are only allowed to speak Chinese throughout this program. After the first couple days my brain was already being stretched to the limit from the amount of Chinese I was speaking but I can already tell that my pronunciation and grammar is improving so I can’t imagine how I will be able to speak after eight weeks and not just after one.

Hearing natives speak the language also drives me to study the language more by knowing how proud of myself I will be if I can get to a level where I can communicate fluently in Chinese. So far, I have been able to communicate with Chinese people at varying levels of success but I found that many people will start talking to me in English even if I am speaking Chinese just because I am an obvious foreigner. Another cool thing we have here are language partners that are students at Peking University. We met them the third day we were here and were very friendly; they even took us on a tour of their campus. I am hoping they can help me with my language skills as well as showing me other places to go and things to do in Beijing.

During my first weekend after starting classes in Beijing, we went to the Great Wall. This was not my first time going to the Great Wall but it was still a great time and one thing I can say is that I didn’t remember how tiring climbing the wall really is. We went to the Mutianyu section of the wall this time, which is famous for its beautiful scenery. We got lucky and went on a day where it was quite sunny and were able to take a lot of nice pictures. The next day some of us went to the Hongqiao pearl market which is basically a giant five story store with various street vendors throughout. While at this market, bargaining with the sellers is a must because they start off at ridiculously high prices but if you are persistent enough you can buy a lot of cool things for quite cheap which I was luckily able to do. Overall, my first week in Beijing was memorable and I am looking forward to the rest of the time I am here.

 

你好 from Beijing!

As I expected, life in the “Northern Capital” has been completely the opposite of what I have expected. Tucked in the northwestern corner of the rectangular-planned city, the neighborhood’s steely high-rises seem to suggest I’m in smack-dab in the middle of Manhattan, rather than in the rocky ledges of rice terraces and paper lanterns I expected. The population of 21.7 million Beijingers (almost exactly two million more than that of New York, for reference) speak in a rapid-fire accent notorious for inserting “Rs” into words to transform their pronunciation completely on occasion— for example, warping the tame “wan,” for to play, into “wanr,” whose pronunciation is just as challenging to tackle as the spelling suggests. Within the first full week I’ve tried to manage the jungle along with my classmates, I have noticed that cab drivers have presented me the greatest obstacle for understanding with their barrage of “wanr-s” and “huanr-s.” Accordingly, I have adopted the language goal of being able to communicate with a cab driver without turning red in the face before politely smiling and resorting to writing a character down on my phone. Luckily we are situated in a dormitory complex devoted to international students, so the shopkeepers nearby and maintenance crew are typically very slow-speaking and understanding of my fumbling vocabulary.

Elsewhere, I’ve met the warning that previous students of this program offered me that “you’re going to feel like a baby because you don’t know enough to express yourself.” This easily flustered me the first three binding days of the language pledge, but yesterday one Beijinger approached me to, presumedly, ask me directions to somewhere on campus and this was a success for two reasons. First, some stranger thought I, a very clearly out-of-place foreigner, seemed to know what I was doing and where I was going. Second, I could confidently and fluently answer this man to tell him that “对不起我的中文不好。我不可以帮你.”  “Sorry, my Chinese is not very good, I can’t help you.” It’s the small victories.

This Saturday, the program went on our first venture beyond the dining hall and the College of Chinese as a Second Language to the Great Wall. Chairman Mao Zedong famously said, “He who does not reach the Great Wall is not a great man.” In the fashion of great men (and women) we bussed to the site at Mutianyu for a day hiking up the sides of mountains in a part of the wall built in the mid-6th Century. While I expected a touristy site that was very overhyped and slightly underwhelming, my expectations were surpassed by the spectacular scenery and the centuries of history associated with the area.

The following day during one of the first periods of downtime, I joined a few classmates in paying a visit to the Pearl Market, famous for its knockoff goods and incessant haggling. This was the first time I have actually felt proud of my Chinese speaking ability, as vendors would recoil in seeing a touristy American visitor able to express that their prices were rip-offs in a manner able to counter their persistent shouting and calculator-thumping. Immediately upon discovering I could rattle off my numbers and basic phrases like “too expensive,” “forget it,” or “I don’t want this fake good and you are trying to rip me off,” the vendors would halve and even quarter their prices on the spot. Similarly, I have started to think first in Chinese for many of these interjections and short sentences. Apart from the immensely important tones, my biggest difficulty in synthesizing sentences on my own is remembering that locations and times go before the verbs, while I usually think to include these details as an afterthought slapped on the end of a sentence. In good time, with good practice.

Until next week!