By Heather Cigas
When I came to China, I was under the impression that I would have a lot of free time to take random trips throughout China and to explore the city. What I did not realize was that Beijing itself is a city that could take months on it’s own to explore if you really wanted to explore every nook and cranny, that travelling in China is not like it is in Europe because China itself is a huge country and is not as cheap, and that my classes last way longer than they seem (the reality of having class 950-1220 and 130-415 is a lot longer and takes up a lot more of your day than you might think). All to say, my expectations were completely changed as soon as I realized this, and I’m glad it has.
When we were on our 2 week trip through the Silk Road, I got a text from our Academic Director who was forwarding over an internship opportunity at the Beijinger, a magazine geared towards foreigners living here in Beijing. As an exercise science major, I never considered an internship in anything other than exercise science and physical therapy – until for some reason I was like why not apply.
After going in for an interview and taking the position, I became an events intern for the magazine. That’s the cool thing about China is that you can find so many internships from working for the American Chamber of Commerce to working for the World Health Organization to working for start ups of English as a Second Language companies. Because we cannot legally work here for money, without getting deported, as part of our VISA’s, getting an internship is a great way to explore the city and free up some free time.
My internship is so cool because I get to write blogs for the Beijinger as well as explore restaurants and write reviews of them. Last Saturday, the Beijinger held the annual Pizza Cup, which is this huge food festivals where Pizza Vendors from all over can come and sell their pizza in food stands. I got to volunteer at the pizza cup as well as I got to eat all this delicious pizza (a nice reminder of what I’m missing from home). While I love the food here, I still have yet to find a good brownie if a brownie at all and some cheese and goldfish (so send those care packages!!!).
So why do I say a blog about a blog? My first published piece for the Beijinger I actually wrote Guide for Foreign Students Studying abroad in Beijing. So if you want to read another blog I’ve written with actual advice about studying here … check it out! (http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2016/10/20/guide-foreign-exchange-students-coming-study-beijing)
Until the next blog, find me curled up in my room because it’s starting to get chilly here and China hasn’t turned on the National Heating yet.
Peace.
The past few weekends have been some of the most exciting of the entire semester, full of trips to the zoo, mountain hikes, ancient parks, and more! Our first trip out of many was a visit to the Beijing Zoo. I had mentioned earlier in the semester that I wanted to see some pandas, since I was in China after all, and our TBC friend Andy made it happen.
Spending a whole semester in Beijing, I knew I had to make the trip down south and check out Shanghai, and the city certainly lived up to the expectations. Everyone describes Shanghai as this super futuristic metropolis, and after spending a weekend there I understand why it has this reputation.