My first days in Beijing...
Being an international student, my first impressions of Beijing were of the airport. After a very long and sleepless flight, I arrived at Peking International Airport with another student from the UF in Beijing summer program. The architecture of the airport struck me as unusual because I was expecting a facility with a combination of modern and ancient designs. Instead I found a modern- leaning towards futuristic building with high domed ceilings and exposed metal finishing. After clearing customs and collecting my belongings, I began to realize just how much I would need to rely on my Chinese language skills when trying to exchange monies. If the tellers at the airport who interacted with foreigners daily did not even know general English phrases, it would be difficult to find others in the country who did speak English. I was introduced to the madness of Beijing traffic on our drive from the airport to the Tsinghua University dormitories. Not being accustomed to all the honking, tailgating, and high-speed driving that are commonplace to China made me quite the nervous passenger.
Arriving at Tsinghua University did not afford me the opportunity to see any of the campus because my dormitory is on the edge of campus, just inside the gates of the school. I found the typical whitewashed apartment-style buildings to be drab and depressing, even in the darkness. This feeling of disappointment for a lack of traditional architecture in Beijing would last for another two days. My dorm room reminded me of one of the living options in the University of Florida residence halls. A small room with a single bed, desk, armoire, with an attached bathroom and shower was where I was assigned to live for the next three months. The most shocking thing about the dormitory was the bed. American mattresses are supple, plush, and spring-loaded to offer a focus on comfort while the dormitory bed was a wood plank topped with a thin pad and sheets. At first I was horrified at the thought of sleeping on a piece of wood because I have had corrective back surgery so getting comfortable and not tossing and turning in the night is often a feat. The first night I slept surprisingly well, yet I am still doubtful as to whether it was caused by my exhaustion from traveling or that I actually found the accommodations comfortable.
My first whole day in Beijing proved to be as disappointing as the previous night had been. I had arrived to the program a day early in order to have a little more time to acclimate myself to my new home. After having a late breakfast, a classmate and I began exploring the campus and went shopping for essentials that were not necessarily worth bringing from home (ex. hand soap, clothes hangers, school supplies). The campus map we received upon arrival only highlighted main roads and buildings and my classmate was hesitant to stray from the map for fear of getting lost so we only walked along a main road to another campus gate. Everything I saw on my nearly hour walk was barren, dirty, and the buildings, in modern style, seemed to be very rundown. Was the China that we learn about in America with its lush landscaping and traditional or “Old China” architecture only reserved for the touristy temples and monuments? I could not believe this was true but I had yet to be proven wrong.
That night the rest of the students arrived to Tsinghua to discover that there were not enough single rooms available in the building I was currently living in along with the other students who arrived early. With the exception of five students, all of the students were living in suites one building over. I was very confused and began to be bitter towards the program staff because they had a habit of excluding information or give misleading information. When I checked into the dormitories the front desk staff promised that all twenty-five students would be living together. We were not told that the air conditioning in the bedrooms would not be working until a government approved date. We were never told when classes would be starting, and to the surprise of many students they started two days after their arrival and one day after orientation.
With many of my experiences in Beijing being disappointing thus far, I started to become homesick. I have been away from home every summer since I was in fifth grade, and this was the first time I have genuinely felt homesick. I wanted to be living with the other students so I could be a part of the spur of the moment activities and not secluded away from them. I wanted some more time to get to know my surroundings before I had to focus most of my attention to schoolwork. And most of all I wanted to be able to speak with my friends and family from home without worrying about whether they were awake or asleep because of the time change. China was not what I expected it to be and I wanted to return home to where I felt comfortable.
My feelings toward Tsinghua University and Beijing started to change on Sunday all due to traffic congestion. When I arrived to Beijing, I was assigned a language partner, a university student to help accommodate my initial needs, purchase a bicycle, and most importantly allow me to practice speaking Chinese with a native speaker. I met my language partner, Sophia, that morning at the program orientation in the Chinese language department building. Sophia and I agreed that having a bike would be the best form of transportation to get around campus. We were to meet at the same building, a twenty minute walk from my dormitory, later that afternoon. As I was approaching the building, I received a message from Sophia that she would be half an hour late. Instead of sitting in the lobby for thirty minutes, I decided to explore the west side of campus. I was immediately taken aback by the beauty of my surroundings: trees and flowers were placed with thought and purpose, small tables tucked away for students to relax, eat, and enjoy the scenery, a park where everyone from young children to old men stood flying kites while watching a game of pickup football. I continued walking and found beautiful traditional buildings and brick buildings that are so prominent on most American universities. I eventually found a rose garden which entirely changes my belief that there was no beauty in Beijing except for in tourist areas. Winding paths cut through squares of pink, peach, and purple roses and two stone bridges crossed the tributary running through campus. In the distance, a stonewalled astronomical observatory looked down onto the garden as if it was the keeper of the garden, knowing its secrets, the tales of the lovers sitting on the benches to the side, and a guardian of the children brought by their grandparents.
Arriving at Tsinghua University did not afford me the opportunity to see any of the campus because my dormitory is on the edge of campus, just inside the gates of the school. I found the typical whitewashed apartment-style buildings to be drab and depressing, even in the darkness. This feeling of disappointment for a lack of traditional architecture in Beijing would last for another two days. My dorm room reminded me of one of the living options in the University of Florida residence halls. A small room with a single bed, desk, armoire, with an attached bathroom and shower was where I was assigned to live for the next three months. The most shocking thing about the dormitory was the bed. American mattresses are supple, plush, and spring-loaded to offer a focus on comfort while the dormitory bed was a wood plank topped with a thin pad and sheets. At first I was horrified at the thought of sleeping on a piece of wood because I have had corrective back surgery so getting comfortable and not tossing and turning in the night is often a feat. The first night I slept surprisingly well, yet I am still doubtful as to whether it was caused by my exhaustion from traveling or that I actually found the accommodations comfortable.
My first whole day in Beijing proved to be as disappointing as the previous night had been. I had arrived to the program a day early in order to have a little more time to acclimate myself to my new home. After having a late breakfast, a classmate and I began exploring the campus and went shopping for essentials that were not necessarily worth bringing from home (ex. hand soap, clothes hangers, school supplies). The campus map we received upon arrival only highlighted main roads and buildings and my classmate was hesitant to stray from the map for fear of getting lost so we only walked along a main road to another campus gate. Everything I saw on my nearly hour walk was barren, dirty, and the buildings, in modern style, seemed to be very rundown. Was the China that we learn about in America with its lush landscaping and traditional or “Old China” architecture only reserved for the touristy temples and monuments? I could not believe this was true but I had yet to be proven wrong.
That night the rest of the students arrived to Tsinghua to discover that there were not enough single rooms available in the building I was currently living in along with the other students who arrived early. With the exception of five students, all of the students were living in suites one building over. I was very confused and began to be bitter towards the program staff because they had a habit of excluding information or give misleading information. When I checked into the dormitories the front desk staff promised that all twenty-five students would be living together. We were not told that the air conditioning in the bedrooms would not be working until a government approved date. We were never told when classes would be starting, and to the surprise of many students they started two days after their arrival and one day after orientation.
With many of my experiences in Beijing being disappointing thus far, I started to become homesick. I have been away from home every summer since I was in fifth grade, and this was the first time I have genuinely felt homesick. I wanted to be living with the other students so I could be a part of the spur of the moment activities and not secluded away from them. I wanted some more time to get to know my surroundings before I had to focus most of my attention to schoolwork. And most of all I wanted to be able to speak with my friends and family from home without worrying about whether they were awake or asleep because of the time change. China was not what I expected it to be and I wanted to return home to where I felt comfortable.
My feelings toward Tsinghua University and Beijing started to change on Sunday all due to traffic congestion. When I arrived to Beijing, I was assigned a language partner, a university student to help accommodate my initial needs, purchase a bicycle, and most importantly allow me to practice speaking Chinese with a native speaker. I met my language partner, Sophia, that morning at the program orientation in the Chinese language department building. Sophia and I agreed that having a bike would be the best form of transportation to get around campus. We were to meet at the same building, a twenty minute walk from my dormitory, later that afternoon. As I was approaching the building, I received a message from Sophia that she would be half an hour late. Instead of sitting in the lobby for thirty minutes, I decided to explore the west side of campus. I was immediately taken aback by the beauty of my surroundings: trees and flowers were placed with thought and purpose, small tables tucked away for students to relax, eat, and enjoy the scenery, a park where everyone from young children to old men stood flying kites while watching a game of pickup football. I continued walking and found beautiful traditional buildings and brick buildings that are so prominent on most American universities. I eventually found a rose garden which entirely changes my belief that there was no beauty in Beijing except for in tourist areas. Winding paths cut through squares of pink, peach, and purple roses and two stone bridges crossed the tributary running through campus. In the distance, a stonewalled astronomical observatory looked down onto the garden as if it was the keeper of the garden, knowing its secrets, the tales of the lovers sitting on the benches to the side, and a guardian of the children brought by their grandparents.
Purchasing my bicycle was my first insight into the world of heavy negotiations before any purchase. Sophia haggled with the shop owner for several minutes until we came up with my best option of renting a bicycle for three months as opposed to purchasing one. With my new bicycle, I started exploring campus some more on my own, but not for too long because we had a group dinner in WuDaoKou. WuDaoKou is the neighborhood just outside the Tsinghua University and Peking University gates filled with shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs all catering the nearby students. A classmate and I shared a taxi ride to the restaurant. We showed the cab driver where on the map where we wanted to go, but he did not know where it was so we called the program director to give the driver directions. The driver either did not understand the directions or just did not listen to them because once we got to WuDaoKou, he pulled up to another university building and said that the restaurant was close. Neither of us knew where we were, it was our first time leaving the Tsinghua University campus. Luckily, there were students from the spring semester program joining us for dinner, so when I called the program director to tell her we were lost she sent one of the American students to come find us. We were not too far away from the restaurant, but we would never have been able to find it on our own.
Due to our tardiness from getting lost, there were no more seats with our new classmates, so we sat with the spring semester students which proved to be equally helpful in becoming acclimated to Beijing. The students had just come back from spring break and some traveled to Yunnan, Guangzhou, Inner Mongolia, and even to India. Hearing all their travel stories made me very excited for the opportunity to go out with my new classmates to travel and explore the rest of China. The meal that was served was equally interesting and diverse. There seemed to be an endless number food platters streaming from the kitchen. My favorite foods were taco style Peking duck, a noodle dish, vegetables, and duck pancreas. Yes duck pancreas, along with the various other “strange” foods I ate including deer antler cartilage, cuttlefish, and cow stomach. When dinner was over, I went home and prepared for class the next day.
Even though I am in China, I did not expect my language class to be taught solely in Chinese, yet it was. The first two days of class I felt very lost and confused because not only was I adjusting to my new teacher’s style, I had to learn it with her speaking Chinese. I was also having a difficult time focusing because the language classes at the University of Florida are for one hour each day but here we are in class for three hours each day. After the first afternoon, however, the group dynamic of my classmates all seemed to come together as we sat in the courtyard between our dormitory buildings to work on the very extensive and lengthy homework together. Finally, after day three of classes, I began to feel comfortable in the classroom and I picked up on most of what the teacher was saying. Hopefully I will be able to follow along in class for the rest of the semester as my language skills progress and I become more fluent in Chinese.
2 comments:
>>>>Even though I am in China, I did not expect my language class to be taught solely in Chinese, yet it was. <<<<
Oh, good- then you've learned how to say "sweet potato" already!
Love you, miss you Sweet Potato!
XOXOX, Caryn
you ate deer antler and cow stomach?!? haha sounds like your first week was tough but i'm sure it has gotten easier... i'll continue reading, but keep posting! miss you a ton, xo alyssa
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