HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR FIRST WEEK IN BEIJING
Beijing is going to be intimidating, AT FIRST. Larger than any city in the United States, there’s a lot to be learned. Don’t fear, this blog post is here. Get ready for the time of your life.
STEPPING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE
China has always been on my places to visit list, but I know I couldn’t experience the full Chinese culture that I wanted to if I went on a short vacation. The opportunity for me to come to Beijing and study abroad was a bold one because I was born and raised in San Francisco. I have never left the city or stayed away from home for more than 3 weeks. Knowing that I was going to be a semester abroad, half way across the world, was very scary.
THE FIRST TWO WEEKS IN BEIJING
When I left Chicago a lot was going through my mind. I was going to a country that I had never been to before, and one that not very many American students wanted to study abroad in, at least compared to places in Western Europe. After the fourteen hour long flight was finally over the plane landed at about 4 PM Beijing time.
THE GOODBYE POST FROM LENNY
I am Lenny, TBC’s marketing intern since this past June, and today is the last day of my internship with TBC. I want to take this opportunity to talk about something a little personal today, something that I’ve had a complicated history with and still struggle with from time to time. Today I want to talk about goodbyes.
VENIR HASTA EL FIN DEL MUNDO | COME TO THE END OF THE WORLD
I found myself at this moment on the other side of the world, writing to you about my adventure here in China. If you ever have the opportunity to travel, do not hesitate, because I promise when you cross the ocean, a magical world full of wonders to discover will be waiting for you, and it will be something you have never seen before. Where I can start? Maybe first I’ll tell you a little bit about where I come from; I’m Catalina Gonzalez, and I was born in Bogotá D. C, in the heart of Colombia.
HOW CHINA HELPED ME UNDERSTAND WHO I AM
“Where are you from?” is a question I constantly dread. It is one of the most basic sentences we employ when meeting other people, and it can usually be answered with a simple: *insert country of origin here*. However, if I were to respond to my interrogators with a simple “Venezuela”, this would not come close to describing who I am; it would not paint the full picture of my identity.
OUR DAYS IN BEIJING
Since coming back from both the Silk Road and from whatever adventures we planned for ourselves during the Chinese National Holiday, all of us have been quite busy with schoolwork. We’ve come to the middle of the semester now. I’d be lying if I said that the semester hasn’t been flying by since the National Holiday. Midterms are this coming week, and many of us are spending this weekend preparing for them. As for me, I am a chronic procrastinator, so here I am writing this blog while my to-do list for this weekend stares mockingly at me.
THE CITY THAT TOOK MY SEOUL
Dear Mom, I’m still alive, and I’m back in Beijing. Last week, during China’s National Holiday, I and five other TBC students flew to Seoul, Korea. I’ve wanted to visit Korea ever since high school when I befriended Korean foreign exchange students who studied at Bishop Miege. Not only did I finally get the opportunity to go, but I also reunited with one of them, Monica, for the first time in four years!
ON A SMOGGY BEIJING DAY
Dear Mom, I’m still alive, and although I’ve only been back in Beijing for a couple weeks, I’ve already gone exploring. One of the cool parts about living in one of the world’s oldest, largest cities is that there are always more things to do. This past Saturday, I got to visit two more major cultural sites in Beijing. These two famous icons represent both China’s long history and its contemporary prominence. They are the Temple of Heaven and the 2008 Beijing Olympic complex.
CHENGDU: HOTPOT, PANDAS, AND OLD PALS
During my time in Beijing, there was one destination I knew I needed to go to: Chengdu. Why you might ask? Well, there are several attractions within the city of Chengdu that suit all kinds of people. The most famous attractions are the panda parks. Chengdu is known across China for hosting the most renowned breeding grounds for sustaining China’s prized animal. Additionally, Chengdu is an up-and-coming city with thriving streets and night-life. The main streets are home to fashionable stores and lavish restaurants; however, alleys leading you off the main roads guide you quaint mom-and-pop shops where you can find authentic trinkets and dishes.
BUDDHISM AND I
I grew up in a Buddhist Vietnamese family. As a child, I went to the closest Buddhist temple to my house every Sunday to sit and listen to the morning chants and teachings alongside my family before attending Vietnamese school for a few hours. I grew up wearing necklaces with little Buddha carvings and prayer beads around my wrist. I was raised with Buddhist traditions, and I was told that whenever I felt unsafe, unsettled, or just not right, I should pray to the Buddha. Doing so would calm my rapid heartbeats and my noisy mind. So it was natural for Buddhism to become the belief that I would call my religion for a good part of my childhood.
AN AMERICAN GAY IN CHINA
In its online ads, The Beijing Center promises to take students to the China they weren’t expecting. That has certainly been true for me as an openly gay man studying abroad in Beijing.
‘LOST’ IN THE MOUNTAINS
I had an expectation, when I decided to study abroad in China, that I was going to travel all over Asia. It was unrealistic because I neglected the fact that I was a part of a STUDY abroad and that I had classes during the week. However, I didn’t want classes to hinder my desire to see as much of China as possible. Also, the Beijing Center purposefully schedules classes Monday-Thursday and gives you three days off for travel and internships.
CONCERNS COMING TO CHINA
The decision to study abroad is not always easy. There is more to it than applying to a program. You are faced with the reality of being immersed in a culture that differs from your own. Maybe the language is different, the food, the style, the etiquette…
SEOUL SEARCHING
By Alexa L., Stonehill College, TBC Fall 2018 Student
In China, the first week of October is the National Holiday. Many businesses and schools close for the week. Given this free time, some of my friends and I planned a 6-day trip to Seoul, South Korea!
Step 1: LOGISTICS
LIVING WITH AMERICANS
When I first saw the recruitment article for Chinese Roommates (CR) by The Beijing Center (TBC) in my WeChat Moments feed, little did I know that it was going to be an experience that would completely change my college life. TBC’s semester study abroad program provides its students with the option to live with a local Chinese Roommate, an experience which I’m proud to say in most cases, ends up becoming the student’s favorite part of their semester in Beijing.
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL: A FREE WEEK TO TRAVEL!
The first week of October is the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, a national week-long holiday.
Our TBC students utilized this period to explore distant destinations across Asia. In the end, our TBCers settled in 5 locations: Bangkok, Tongling, Shanghai, Seoul, and Palawan & El Nido. A member from each expedition describes the logistics of their travels below.
AVENTURA EN LA RUTA DE LA SEDA
Este semestre tuve la oportunidad de viajar por una parte de la gran Ruta de la Seda, viaje incluido en mi intercambio a China con The Beijing Center. Durante los siglos XIII y XIV DC, esta ruta fue la principal de comercio entre oriente y occidente. La ruta empezaba en Xi’an, y terminaba en Venecia. Es increíble haber caminado por esa misma ruta, 700 años después dehaber sido la única conexión por tierra entre estos dos hemisferios del mundo.
你好北京! (HELLO, BEIJING!)
Hello, everyone! Welcome to my blog! For the fall semester of 2018, I am participating as a student in the Beijing Center (TBC), a study abroad program based in Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics, or UIBE for short. I’m so excited to bring all of you along with me through this amazing experience studying abroad in Beijing, China.
DEAR MOM, I’M STILL ALIVE
SILK ROAD TRIP, PART 1
Dear Mom, I’m still alive, and I’ve been in China for more than three weeks! Sorry I haven’t been posting, but I’ve been very busy – for the past two weeks, I’ve been traveling with my study abroad program across western China, following the path of the ancient Silk Road.