Now that I am settled in Tsinghua ...
The last week has been pretty hectic for me in Beijing. I can now give you a guys a play by play of the last week since my friend has graciously let me use her computer in the foreign students dorm.
The first day I arrived in Bejing I was able to get to Tsinghua without a problem. Since it was late in the afternoon I really only had time to get to the IUP office at Wen Bei Lou. After I checked I went to the hotel on the east side of the Tsinghua campus. Since there was no gate on that side of the campus I had to take a little bit of a winding path. This path took me down an interesting road. It is just about the same as a two lane road in America, but it had some special characteristics. Specfically there were no sidewalks, just some dirt on the side of the road. On top of having no sidewalks to keep traffic and pedestrians separated there were quite a few cars and lots of people on bikes. There seemed to be little order to was supposed to go at intersections, but after a few days I have realized this is the order. People just sort of go. One person is brave at first and steps out, then a couple follow. Eventually there are enough people to stop traffic. Then they can cross. Anyways after I made my way to my hotel room I read all the paperwork that IUP gave me. After I was done with that I went to a local cd shop and bought some cheap music and then went to the hotel and ate some instant noodles.
The next day I was able to take all my stuff from the hotel to the apartment where I was staying. I had to go to the IUP office first. When I was carrying my shoulder bag and two backpacks lots of people would walk by and then say something along the lines of, "wow his stuff is heavy". I would turn to look and they would still be amazed at it's weight, but since there were backpacks it was quite comfortable. Along the way a couple people on bikes asked if I wanted help, but I figured it was a ploy to make money, so I declined their offers.
Later that afternoon I was able to find a room in an apartment in the southwest part of the campus. I am supposed to be living a retired professor. She is 73 years. The only reason I say that I am supposed to be living with her is that right now she is travelling in France, so I am living by myself. Everyone once in a while her friend or her daughter will come over to stay the night, but most of the time we just talk on the phone and I tell them how I am not having any problems and everything is fine. It is pretty nice to have the place to myself. It has a refrigerator, bathroom, washer and everything. It might be odd when the lady I am living with wants to return because I might be used to living on my own by then.
After a few days of settling into my place and doing various IUP related activities the weekend came. With some of my new friends I went to a party that another IUP student was having. It was fun, but at the same time odd because I had not spoken any English until that night. I got used to it quickly because it was much easier than using Chinese.
During the days before class I was also able to buy a bike and a cell phone. When you buy the phone you also pay a certain amount of money to add time to your phone. Once your time gets low you have to recharge the phone, so you can keep using it. On the second I had my phone I spent all my money calling Eric and Sandra. I was only able to talk to them for like 15 minutes too! I hear that it is a lot cheaper for people to call me from America. I am going to go to http://www.pincity.com to investigate. If there is anything good I will tell you guys how to call me from America.
Last week Janny, Tammy and I went to Tiananmen Square and Wangfujing. Right now Tiananmen Square is not so nice looking. People are busy putting up a lot of decorations and trees for an upcoming festival. We decided that we go back later when the square was less busy. I didn't seem to feel the impact of the historical signifigance because there was so much other stuff going on, like biulding fake mountains. After we went to Tiananmen Square we went to Wangfujing. This is a shopping area that sort of reminded me of Japan. There were a lot of American stores along the road. There was also a street where you could walk down and eat all sorts of snacks. You could get these snacks from small carts on the side of the road. These carts are sanctioned by some sort of local government, so it is alright to eat there if you are worried about getting sick. Most everything was sold on a stick. For example you could get chicken, beef, lamb and fruit on a stick. On top of that there were some carts which were definitely catering to tourists and the stereotypes they might have by selling odd things like bugs and lizards on a stick. Needless to say we didn't try any of those.
Today I went to a Wal-Mart like store to buy a clothing rack to hang my clothes on as well as some other little things. I bought some coffee from starbucks and then came back to my friends dorm. Now it is time for me to head back to my place to put away the stuff I bought. Afterwards I am going to a classmates house to eat dumplings with the family he is staying with. After we eat we are going to go to a party.
I miss you guys a lot. Feel free to email me because even though I should be having a great time, sometimes I am not and it is nice to hear what you guys are doing in the states.
This past week we started classes. Everyday I start at 8:00 am and end at 2:00 with 2 hour long breaks. I use these breaks to either prepare for my upcoming classes or get food. There is a cafeteria right near the building with our classes where I can get lunch for less than 8 kuai, or $1 American. It is great! The classes are kind of difficult, since I am getting used to studying in general. Shifting from two weeks of travel to studying was a little hard. A few times last week I woke up 6:00 am to study, so that I would be prepared for class.
The first day I arrived in Bejing I was able to get to Tsinghua without a problem. Since it was late in the afternoon I really only had time to get to the IUP office at Wen Bei Lou. After I checked I went to the hotel on the east side of the Tsinghua campus. Since there was no gate on that side of the campus I had to take a little bit of a winding path. This path took me down an interesting road. It is just about the same as a two lane road in America, but it had some special characteristics. Specfically there were no sidewalks, just some dirt on the side of the road. On top of having no sidewalks to keep traffic and pedestrians separated there were quite a few cars and lots of people on bikes. There seemed to be little order to was supposed to go at intersections, but after a few days I have realized this is the order. People just sort of go. One person is brave at first and steps out, then a couple follow. Eventually there are enough people to stop traffic. Then they can cross. Anyways after I made my way to my hotel room I read all the paperwork that IUP gave me. After I was done with that I went to a local cd shop and bought some cheap music and then went to the hotel and ate some instant noodles.
The next day I was able to take all my stuff from the hotel to the apartment where I was staying. I had to go to the IUP office first. When I was carrying my shoulder bag and two backpacks lots of people would walk by and then say something along the lines of, "wow his stuff is heavy". I would turn to look and they would still be amazed at it's weight, but since there were backpacks it was quite comfortable. Along the way a couple people on bikes asked if I wanted help, but I figured it was a ploy to make money, so I declined their offers.
Later that afternoon I was able to find a room in an apartment in the southwest part of the campus. I am supposed to be living a retired professor. She is 73 years. The only reason I say that I am supposed to be living with her is that right now she is travelling in France, so I am living by myself. Everyone once in a while her friend or her daughter will come over to stay the night, but most of the time we just talk on the phone and I tell them how I am not having any problems and everything is fine. It is pretty nice to have the place to myself. It has a refrigerator, bathroom, washer and everything. It might be odd when the lady I am living with wants to return because I might be used to living on my own by then.
After a few days of settling into my place and doing various IUP related activities the weekend came. With some of my new friends I went to a party that another IUP student was having. It was fun, but at the same time odd because I had not spoken any English until that night. I got used to it quickly because it was much easier than using Chinese.
During the days before class I was also able to buy a bike and a cell phone. When you buy the phone you also pay a certain amount of money to add time to your phone. Once your time gets low you have to recharge the phone, so you can keep using it. On the second I had my phone I spent all my money calling Eric and Sandra. I was only able to talk to them for like 15 minutes too! I hear that it is a lot cheaper for people to call me from America. I am going to go to http://www.pincity.com to investigate. If there is anything good I will tell you guys how to call me from America.
Last week Janny, Tammy and I went to Tiananmen Square and Wangfujing. Right now Tiananmen Square is not so nice looking. People are busy putting up a lot of decorations and trees for an upcoming festival. We decided that we go back later when the square was less busy. I didn't seem to feel the impact of the historical signifigance because there was so much other stuff going on, like biulding fake mountains. After we went to Tiananmen Square we went to Wangfujing. This is a shopping area that sort of reminded me of Japan. There were a lot of American stores along the road. There was also a street where you could walk down and eat all sorts of snacks. You could get these snacks from small carts on the side of the road. These carts are sanctioned by some sort of local government, so it is alright to eat there if you are worried about getting sick. Most everything was sold on a stick. For example you could get chicken, beef, lamb and fruit on a stick. On top of that there were some carts which were definitely catering to tourists and the stereotypes they might have by selling odd things like bugs and lizards on a stick. Needless to say we didn't try any of those.
Today I went to a Wal-Mart like store to buy a clothing rack to hang my clothes on as well as some other little things. I bought some coffee from starbucks and then came back to my friends dorm. Now it is time for me to head back to my place to put away the stuff I bought. Afterwards I am going to a classmates house to eat dumplings with the family he is staying with. After we eat we are going to go to a party.
I miss you guys a lot. Feel free to email me because even though I should be having a great time, sometimes I am not and it is nice to hear what you guys are doing in the states.
This past week we started classes. Everyday I start at 8:00 am and end at 2:00 with 2 hour long breaks. I use these breaks to either prepare for my upcoming classes or get food. There is a cafeteria right near the building with our classes where I can get lunch for less than 8 kuai, or $1 American. It is great! The classes are kind of difficult, since I am getting used to studying in general. Shifting from two weeks of travel to studying was a little hard. A few times last week I woke up 6:00 am to study, so that I would be prepared for class.
posted by Jon Keto at
4:05 PM
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