Meet Xiaotong!

Hey everyone! This is a picture of me and my "tong wu", aka roomate in Chinese. Her nickname is Xiaotong and she's a design student from a nearby art school (yay RISD). All the local roomates moved in 2 days ago and we've been having fun getting to know them and hanging out with them. I'm especially excited because my roomate has already invited me to go to her house for a special meal on the last day of Chinese New Year, sometime in the beginning of March.

Today is the last day of orientation, which has been a big blur because they keep us running around all day. Yesterday, we were sent on a scavenger hunt throughout Beijing to find things such as restaurant menus, visa forms, and clothing prices from specific places so that we could acclimate ourselves to the area. I started getting familiar with the ditie (subway) system and also took my first bus ride. At night we went out again to Nanjie, which happened to be near the theater where the Brown orchestra performed in January. Today we got our class placements and met our teacheres. I've been placed in the 300-level class, which is the second highest and really quite intimidating, as I've forgotten so much reading and writing. We already have homework that we need to prepare for tomorrow which is also rather scary - tonight I have to memorize 30 characters and read a chapter!

Right now we're about to have lunch with our teachers at a nearby duck restaurant...yummy! After that I plan to go buy a dictionary at the bookstore so I can survive classes tomorrow, and then go running with some people and maybe one last shopping trip before it's officially study time.

I finally got a cell phone! Calling from the US, you dial 011-86-10-13810781092. Also, I'm going to try to use Skype soon. Username Twasy120.

Lunchtime, I love you all!

Mom, I'm alive

After almost 24 hours in transit, I am finally sitting in my dorm room in Beijing! It's currently past 1 AM, 16 hours ahead of California and 13 ahead of the east coast. I arrived with the group flight late last night after a delayed flight from Tokyo to Beijing due to foggy weather. Orchestra buddies, I must say it felt strange to walk through the Beijing airport without 89 other kids holding instruments and fighting for places to store it on the bus :) Anyway, I'm living in the Beijing Institute of Education, which is a tiiiiiny campus on the western side of town near the zoo. There are many study abroad students here who were also on the same program last fall and continuing to the spring, which is nice because they can show the ropes to all of us newbies. This morning, we had the beginning of our orientation as well as a 2-hour placement exam that made me realize I really forgot lots of Chinese. In the afternoon they took us shopping at Ganjiakou mall, which is much too overpriced. Unfortunately, other stores were all closed due to Chinese New Year, so I couldn't buy many of the things I need like a laundry hamper and big towel. At night I went with some other students to Hou Hai, which is a really cute little area with a small lake surrounded by bars and restaurants. We had fun hanging out at a jazz club and then a lounge, and also got our first taste of Beijing outside the campus. Tomorrow our local Chinese roomates will move in, which should be very exciting. Sunday is the official beginning of the language pledge (no more English!) and Monday classes will start. I will keep this entry short and end it here, as I am extremely tired from not sleeping last night due to jet lag.

Here is my contact info for anyone who wants it (send me presents!):

Victoria Tseng
CET Academic Programs
Beijing Institute of Education
West Building, Room 309
2 Wenxing Street
Xizhimenwai, Xicheng District
Beijing 100044, PR China
Dorm phone (calling from US): 011-86-10-6830-0576
Email: Victoria_Tseng@brown.edu

No cell phone yet, but I'll post it once I have it!

I miss all of you!!

My first real post!

Hi everyone! So I'm not actually in Beijing yet, but I've been on break for so long that I've forgotten how to use a pencil, and therefore have decided to start playing around with this site and figuring out how everything works. Hopefully I'll be updating this regularly after I get to China for everyone's procrastinating pleasure.

I'm officially leaving on a jet plane on February 20th (right after Chinese New Year), meaning my winter break is over two months long and starting to feel like summer vacation. Overall, my long hiatus from school has been a very relaxing and fun time. It started with a tour with Brown's orchestra to China (surprise), giving me a nice preview of what I'll be experiencing for the next semester. We visited and played concerts in Dalian, Shanghai, Ningbo, Suzhou, Changzhou, and Beijing, and were basically treated like royalty everywhere we went. Even in the span of two weeks, my Mandarin speaking skills improved drastically just from talking to cab drivers and ordering food at restaurants. However, I also came to the sad realization that I can barely read a word of Chinese, which will hopefully change by the end of the semester. After getting home at the beginning of January, I spent some time catching up with friends who were still home, skiing in Lake Tahoe, and taking a nice warm vacation with my family in Acapulco, Mexico. Other than those exciting things, I've basically been sitting around being lazy and getting very friendly with the couch, my computer, and the TV remote. Here are a few pictures from my break to make all of you jealous (and for me to see if the photo upload really works):


Brown orchestra in Beijing


Lake Tahoe

Acapulco sunset

Mi familia en Mexico

So, what am I actually doing in China? I'll be participating in a study abroad program through a company called CET. The program is language-intensive, meaning I'll basically spend my whole semester learning Chinese and nothing else! I'll be living in a dorm in the Beijing Institute of Education, which I hear is on the western side of the city, which is the area where there are many colleges. My program is focused on immersion in Chinese culture, which means a few things: 1) There is a language pledge, so none of the students are allowed to speak any language to each other except Chinese. 2) I'll be living in a dorm with a local Chinese roomate! 3) We'll have chances to take elective classes related to Chinese culture, such as erhu lessons (a traditional Chinese string instrument), Chinese cooking, and traditional brush painting. In addition to participating in all the CET classes/activities, I hope to be able to get in touch with my grand-aunt who lives in Beijing (whom I have not seen for 10 years), get involved in a church or fellowship, and (on my mom's insistence), try to sneak into the Cisco Systems office in Beijing and have a video conference chat with my parents in their Cisco San Jose office.

Anyways, I'm already starting to miss everyone incredibly...please keep in touch and send me updates throughout the next four months! I'll post my contact info in China once I have it-I plan to get a cell phone and use Skype, and of course there is always email and AIM. Hopefully the next entry on this thing will come from my room in Beijing. Zai jian, wo ai all of you!