Good Qi, Bad Air

The past six days in China we have had great weather, with blue skies and decent temperatures, but we all watched in trepidation this morning as a giant haze of smog descended upon us and basically took over the whole city. Welcome to Beijing, the only city where the response to the question "Do you smoke?" is "Only when I'm breathing."

We are currently in the process of gathering materials to DIY our own air filters for our rooms, and our student development office has handed out masks for everyone to wear when we walk outside, so don't worry, with a some precautions I think we will survive the airpocalypse this week. I do miss the blue skies though...

In other news, I have almost finished my first full week of classes here at TBC. Each class is only once a week, but for three hours at a time (except Chinese which is every day). I am going to have an incredible attention span by the time I get home. I met with a professor to discuss my research project today, so I am gearing up to start part two of my research and hopefully see some Chinese schools. Here are some pictures of our study spaces:

The Library, complete with good qi

The main hallway has its own terra cotta warrior replica

The "Hall of Harmonious Encounters"

More feng shui going on in the library

Ordering food continues to be an adventure, but I am getting much better with chopsticks, and I have had some really tasty dumplings and noodles since coming here. Authentic Chinese food is definitely different than American take-out; mostly it is a lot more spicy! I'll be sure to document anything particularly strange that I may sample while I'm here.

And so my Chinese life is moving along. Soon, I think a lot of the things that seem strange to me are going to appear just ordinary parts of everyday life, and I won't even look twice at that random fish drying outside of a restaurant on a clothes hanger. I'll be sure to let you know when that happens. For now, enjoy this fantastic English translation:

The bathtub did what now?

Chopsticks 101

Sixteen hours after leaving America, and being folded up in an airplane seat for about 14 of those hours, I was sitting at a Chinese restaurant eating my first traditional family-style Chinese meal and trying to figure out how one is supposed to eat corn using chopsticks. I have yet to achieve mastery with chopsticks, which I think is going to be one of the first skills I will pick up here since there is not a fork to be seen anywhere! Luckily, our new Chinese roommates who were sitting with us correctly demonstrated the proper techniques for using them, and I didn't have to resort to eating the corn kernel by kernel or the rice grain by grain!

So far, this is how much of my Chinese experience has been going; The campus staff tells me to go somewhere, I have no idea where I'm going, who I'm talking to, or what I'm ordering, and then the Chinese roommates swoop in and save the day. I think this is intended though - they want us to try new things and see what we can do on our own, but they also want to make sure we're not too lost while we're doing it!

I'm surprised at how much I like Beijing. I think I came in expecting to dislike it at first, just because everything is so different, and I think it's more typical to hear about the bad things in China rather than the good; but so far I've been enjoying everything! We are staying at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, which is about the size of Loyola Chicago back home. I really like the campus so far - we get to meet tons of native Chinese students and join in their activities and student life, so I feel like it's much more immersive than Rome was, back when we had our little Rome Center American bubble. I have a Chinese roommate named Cathy, and have already met many other Chinese students who have been subsequently coming to my rescue ever since. The Chinese students are some of the absolute nicest people I have ever met in my life, and they are amazingly helpful and accommodating. I'm afraid to even casually mention that I need something around one of them because then they will immediately stop what they're doing and go out of their way to help me get whatever I need! It's really fascinating to talk with them and hear about their experiences growing up, their hometowns, and everything they know about China.

One crazy thing did manage to happen to me at the airport however: It turned out my luggage didn't make my flight, and was stuck in Chicago for a few days. I've been borrowing clothes from friends for the past three days, and the status of my luggage has been a topic of interest among everyone here, with all my fellow classmates constantly asking my if I recieved my luggage yet. When one of the Chinese roommates knocked on my door this morning with my suitcase in hand, I was so happy I wanted to hug him and my bag! And everyone cheered when I told them I finally got my luggage!

Our time has been taken up with orientation activities this week, and we start classes Monday. I will try to post more about China soon, I feel like I have a lot of good stories already! And I will also start taking pictures now that I finally have my camera (which was in my luggage) and post them as well!

My room at TBC

My desk, complete with a stock of bottled water

Adventures Part 2!!

My bags are packed, my textbooks have been ordered, and I braved the -14 degree weather today to go downtown and get my visa from the Chinese Consulate, so I am ready to begin part two of my junior year abroad! I am leaving tomorrow on a 13 hour non-stop flight from Chicago to Beijing. I'm super excited, but I also have no idea what to expect from China, so we'll see where this semester takes me. I plan to keep using this blog to report on my experiences in China, so stay tuned for Jenny's Adventures Part II: China edition!

I found a stowaway in my suitcase

Textbooks for China!