我常常忘我的生词。

I currently have free moment between tutoring and modern Chinese history class.

Chinese classes have been fairly intense. I've quickly realized how little Chinese I know. Over the course of the week, I currently am taking 19 hours of Chinese, as well as two hours of tutoring and many, many hours of studying. Both of my Chinese professors have been educated or teach at Beijing Language and Culture University. So they know what they are doing...it's just that I don't.

At least I have a few classroom phrases down, such as "is this word similar to this one?" "Can one say this?" and "I've forgotten this new word." The phrase that I've gotten the most milage out of, however, has been "I'm sorry, I don't speak Chinese very well." When the language barrier is too large, I just try to endear myself to the server/cabby/pedestrian and hope for the best. So far, things have worked out well.

I'm feeling more at home here...maybe "at home" is not quite correct, but I at least feel confident in the area surrounding Beida. The discovery of the century has been a couple of coffeehouses in the neighboring commercial area called wudaokou. It's helped immensely to have a quite place to study, particularly with cappuccino in hand. Of course, it's a very Western experience, with Western prices to boot.

This is currently my life: class, coffeehouses and studying. Not a bad life, I suppose. This weekend, however, I hope to discover more of Beijing, including Space 798, a factory/warehouse turned modern art venue. It's the epicenter of a SoHo-esque movement in it's district of Beijing, in my understanding. I'm particularly excited to see it.

Everything is different here, from the food to the old people on their bicycles to the endless pedestrian/auto warfare to the smog that's been hanging in the air lately. I wish I had the ability to communicate the way in which Beijing feels so very "other," yet also so familiar at the same time. Perhaps with time I'll be able to communicate this more adequately.

But enough pontificating.

君宁

photothoughts.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to take many pictures thus far. Between dead batteries and a busy schedule, the photographic opportunities are yet to be fully explored. So here are a few quintessential photos from the program's day visiting Jingshan Park, Tiananmen, and the Forbidden city. Walking towards South Gate, Forbidden City.
Character carvings in bamboo, Jingshang Park.

Forbidden City.

你好，北京。

Greetings from China.

I have only few moments in between classes, but now that the internet is finally up in my room, I thought I'd write a little bit and let people know that I'm alive.

I am alive, you know.

Beijing is...massive and overwhelming and confusing and dense and many, many things. I've now been here for a week, and aside from some obligatory sightseeing (Forbidden City, Tian'An Men, and the Summer Palace) I've stuck fairly close to the Beida's campus...with 14,000 students, it has a semester's worth of places to explore alone.

I've already had a variety of memorable experiences including good food, many offers for language help, curious looks, misunderstandings, and discoveries. every day is certainly a new adventure.

I'm getting acclimated, slowly but surely...I already feel more comfortable here than I did a week ago...and I hope that as my language skills improve, this will continue at a faster pace.

Off to Modern Chinese History...I'll write more soon.

君宁

another adventure

Well,

In a few days (seven days, to be precise), I'll board a plane to Beijing. Next semester, I'll be participating in the Beijing Program of Asian studies (see link to the right).

I'll be taking 15 credits of immersion Mandarin. This looks like 6 hours per day of class time, including an hour of one-on-one instruction. The goal: to become functional (or something like it) in Mandarin.

Make no mistake, I have no definitive plans or clear understanding of the role that this trip may or may not play in my life. Who knows what the semester will bring, who knows whether my career path and China will intersect. The only thing that I do know for certain is that I'd like to learn a language to some level of competency. Two years of high school French and one of Koine Greek have not developed into much of anything, and after three semesters studying Mandarin, I'd like to do something meaningful with it.

What do I expect? Well, who knows. I'll be living in foreign student housing on the campus of Peking University (again, see link at right for the site, in English), located in northwest Beijing. Travel plans include places like Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Lhasa (Tibet). But beyond that, I don't know what the semester will bring. South Africa was a completely different sort of trip, one that was Gordon-operated and included familiar people. I must have had some expectations going into that trip...however, I find the idea of striking out on my own (with little expectation) to be refreshing.

So I suppose there's very little to say as yet. But I imagine things will be quite different as I land in Beijing and discover and experience.