The First Two Weeks

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but I have been busy China-ing around since I have been in Beijing.

I have finally gotten settled in Beijing and as of right now I love it.  It is taking me a very long time to get used to the time change and this has caused me to go to bed at 5 PM and wake up at 8 AM randomly.  I really should try and get a normal sleep schedule; however, it is so hard to get on a normal schedule when there is just so much to see and do around China.

I’ll start by talking about actually being in school again.  After a two-month hiatus from all things school, it is taking me a while to get adjusted to having work and projects again.  I had a lot of trouble registering for classes because class times were changing and classes were closing and being cancelled and overall it was a huge mess.  In the end I have registered and am taking Marketing Research, Human Resource Management, Doing Business in China, Service Marketing, and a Chinese language class.  I have heard that the classes I am taking here will be fairly easy but such has not been the case in my first week of class.

I have not gotten a real chance to travel around the city a lot but I have seen some really cool things.  However, the thing I enjoy the most is meeting people from all over the world and listening to their stories.  I have met Israelis, French people, German people, Australian rugby hooligans, British backpackers, a Dutch man who works in a catering firm in Shanghai, a man from America who is fluent in Chinese and teaches kungfu in addition to being a translator and student, and many other random people that are a lot of fun to talk to.  Perhaps the craziest person I met was a Chinese magician who supposedly studied under David Blaine.

The biggest adjustment for me has been trying to communicate with people.  One would think that after taking a couple of years of Chinese in America that my Chinese would at least allow me to order food and get around the city?  My Chinese language skills are proving to be… less than awesome.  I am relying on my roommate and other people I meet to speak for me; however, I am beginning to understand more and am becoming more comfortable with speaking (I can now direct a cab to take me home even though I don’t know my address).

As I had stated in an earlier post, I am not the most adventurous eater.  That has changed.  Since being here I have eaten: Donkey, Cow Tail, lots of lamb, yak (including Yak jerky), eggplant dumplings, meat-on-a-stick, and even shrimp that had the head, skin, and legs still attached.  Most of the food (including the donkey) has been amazing and I can’t wait to continue trying more of the food.

 

I’ll post more random stories that I have in later posts but suffice to say that China is way different than America, but is still the coolest place I have ever been to.