First Week of School

Hi All:

So this post is actually a post where I have no pictures, but I'll answer a couple of questions that generally have come about as well as talking about my first week of school.

Let's start with my thoughts of school, since it's a big one....

My first week comes to a close tomororw. I'm taking three classes: Hanyu (Intensive Chinese), KouYu (Spoken Chinese) and TingLi (Listening Comprehension). Next Semester, I should be able to take elective courses, but that's another story. I'll focus on the three classes I have now:

Hanyu: I like my professor. She's very helpful and she'll use some English to explain the concept, but most of the lesson is taught in Chinese. It helps because you have to be on your toes and pay attention or you'll miss it altogether. However, she seems that she's very intersted in making us learn.

Kouyu: Our professor is also good here. She's determined to make most of us lose our accents and speak like a native speaker. It's tough because we're not native speakers, but she explains the concept as best she can without the use of English. Most of the time, I get it. Others, I try to ask in Chinese and get it. In both classes, though, there's people that understand the concept, so I get it regardless because they'll explain it in English.

Tingli: I actually can't really formuate an opinion of this class just yet, because it's only twice a week and we're repeating off a tape words from a book. However, the professor is really strict here with regards to tones. I'm more interested in this class because tones are my weakness.

I've made a couple of friends this week, too. I'm really happy I got to meet them and chat with them. One lives in ChaoYang, near the Communications University of China, which is an hour via subway. I'm glad that now I have someone to practice Chinese with and just learn about culture by watching the TV and asking question. Another lives in SuZhouJie, which isn't far from here....about 10 minutes tops. The last one lives in LongZe, near the subway station, which is a 15 minute subway ride from the more "poppin' " WuDaoKou. I've never been north of WuDaoKou, so this was quite an experience. Nonetheless, I'm happy I got to meet them. Hopefully, I can continue to make friends and build long-lasting relationships while I'm here.

As for my CSUIP friends, we're all still pretty chill. The cliques have started to show themselves, though. Hopefully, our trip to Inner Mongolia may change some things, but not all of them. I just hope that as time goes on, we develop a better relationship with one another.

Now...part 2: Q&A. I'll answer a couple of things that have come up.

1. What's the weather like? Are you used to the humidity?
For the most part, the weather right now is pretty comfortable. The humidity can catch up with you and you're pretty much relegated to showering after walking just about anywhere. Autumn tends to be the best season to visit China, and the weather right now has been alright. Sunshine, not too high humidity, light breeze. When I first arrived, though, the humidity was HORRIBLE! It was the end of the summer, but it's still not a comfortable feeling. Regardless, I'm more accustomed to it now than I was 3 weeks ago.

2. How's the food?
As you can see from the pictures, the food here is quite good. It just all depends on where it's made and the like. I haven't really had any "street food" with the exception of roasted chestnuts or chicken wings, although on more than 1 occasion, I've been tempted to try different things.

3. And the people?
The people here are quite nice. Being a foreigner, you will have to get used to the occasional stares from people, but for the most part, it's not too bad. Most people are quite friendly and make an attempt to communicate, in English if possible, but they'll try regardless.

Those are the main three questions that have been asked. If you have any more, please comment and I'll add a second entry with all of your questions!

Until next time!