Old Beijing Blog

I hacked together an old blog page a few years ago to publish my experience studying Chinese in Beijing. I just finished moving all the entries over to blogger. (I used the Atom API, a perl script, and multiple calls to wget). Maybe a new crowd will find these entries and think they are interesting.

Good luck to anyone wanting to studying Chinese in Beijing. It was a great experience.

Here I am. Outside of Beijing. In Tokyo...

Here I am. Outside of Beijing. In Tokyo right now. For anyone who has been in the Narita airport waiting a five hour layover, you should know where I am right now. I'm in the free Yahoo Internet cafe. There are probably 100 laptop computers in here. All I have to do is let them scan my passport. I wonder what Yahoo is going to do with my passport.

I have another picture flying over Mount Fuji. This one is much better. I like that my trip begins with a picture of Mount Fuji, and ends with another one. Now I just have to make sure I take no more new pictures.

It's sad leaving Beijing. I'm going to miss a lot of people. Fortunately, when I come back in February many of them will still be there. I'm also happy to be going home. It's a feal mix of emotions.

Last day in Beijing! I turned in my application,...

Last day in Beijing! I turned in my application, but of course I forgot the copy of my diploma and passport. Stupid me. Fortunately it didn't matter. They already have an old application on file, so I guess it wasn't important.

Next, I had lunch with Jane from my class. It was really nice. We talked a lot in Chinese. Her Chinese is much better than mine, but she speaks slowly and knows the same words I do. After talking to her, I felt like I really have improved since being here for three months. After lunch, we checked out a couple of stores for x-mas gifts, and then took a look at this private Korean school that teaches Chinese. It cost half as much as the BLCU, which in turn is about half as much as Worldlink charges. But the price isn't really the issue. The issue is that if I move to the B class next semester, then I will spend the first month reviewing 8 chapters we already went over in my A+ class. And I really don't think I am good enough to move to the B+ class. Maybe I could handle the grammar and characters, but my listening is way behind. Another reason is that I'm already very familiar with the teaching style of our book, and I know what to expect at ever new lesson. At a new school, it would all be new. Maybe better, maybe worse, but at least it will be new. So I think I will come to Beijing a few days early to check out the other school, before the BLCU starts and I have to pay the tuition.

Next, I did some x-mas shopping. I got a few more gifts. Some were gifts for people in China, and some were for people back home.

Finally, Nadine and I together had a joint fairwell dinner. Although many people have already left, a lot of people are still around a came to our dinner. It was a nice time. Unfortunately, my stomach didn't completely agree. I guess that is appropriate for a last meal in China though...

So many things to do. I only have a...

So many things to do. I only have a couple days left. Mainly I just need to pack, buy some gifts, and turn in my application for study next semester. Instead, today I added all the photos to my website, and collected all the photos I could find from friends at Worldlink and also added them. Which is also an important thing to do. I've put a lot of work into this website. There are over 500 pictures. I think I'm really going to enjoy looking back at this. Well certainly that would be true if me coming to Beijing was really a once in a life time experience. But I hope it isn't. I want to have more experiences like this. That's why I'm coming back. So maybe that makes this experience a little less special and unique in my mind, but really that's not at all the point. Even after the specialness and uniqueness of Beijing wore off, I still really enjoyed myself.

Went to the Pearl Market to try and buy some...

Went to the Pearl Market to try and buy some gifts. Most stuff just feels kind of crappy. And I really don't know what to get people or if I will have room to bring it back in my suitcase. I did buy a few things, but I'll still have to do most of my x-mas shopping back in the US. The market was interesting. Pretty touristy, but I still liked walking around and looking at all the stuff and all the people trying to sell me stuff.

Went to Propaganda tonight. It wasn't as much fun as Mix last night. It's a much smaller club near the campus. Seemingly there are lots of people to dance with, but it just wasn't that kind of night. We did have a lot of drinks and then stubbled home making lots of noise.

Geeze I cannot rememeber what I've been doing lately. ...

Geeze I cannot rememeber what I've been doing lately. I think since I haven't been having class, I've been staying out late, and maybe it's hurting my memory. I also have a lot of other things on my mind right now, packing, gifts, shopping, getting my application in order for next semester.

Today I do remember that I went out to Mix. It's really crowded on Friday night. I had a great time. I think everyone had a good time that night.

Oh right. Today was the real last day of...

Oh right. Today was the real last day of class. We haven't done anything this last week. We've been watching movies in listening class, and just talking with the teacher in the grammar class. She's been telling us what China is like. What it was like in 1960. What it is like for the people in the country side. The kinds of jobs people have. How much money they make. Apparently a bus driver is a really good job. Certainly my experience in Beijing isn't a typical Chinese persons experience, but of course I knew that. I wish I understood more of what my teacher was saying. I only understood about half.

I had a little panic today, because I thought for a second I had to move out of my room today. I'm no where near ready. I haven't even opened my suitcases yet. I was planning to maybe move to the Xi Jiao hotel for a couple of days. Especially since Worldlink wants me to pay $35 a night for the room I'm in. The room should only cost $15. I ended up getting it for $15. So now I can procrastinate on packing for that much longer.

Had a good bye lunch and dinner for a few people who just finished their 12 week program. My 12 week program is also finished, but I had planned earlier to stay a few days afterwards, so I leave on Tuesday. I'm feeling anxious. I'm looking forward to being home again for a while. Sleep in a soft bed again. Eat something besides Chinese food.