Ni Hao

Today I have begun mastering Chinese.  I know a hand full of words including Ni Hao, which means hello.  On this morning we had our first lecture with Professor  FANG Zhaohui. FANG discussed the Chinese culture and gave us a general overview of China. I found this lecture very interesting. He covered some of the Dynasties and explained the Chinese culture.  

After the lecture I met my tour guide Mountain. Mountain is 27 years old and will receive his graduate degree studying law within the net two months. He took myself and one other student to lunch in one of the dining halls.  This was a pretty good meal. I had rice, some type of pork and vegetable dish. After lunch Mountain took us on a campus tour. The Tsinghua University camp is gorgeous. Mountain explained that Tsinghua was originally a garden and that there was a Summer Palace near the campus that was burn down by the 8 nations.  Mountain read me a poem for Tsinghua University that was on a rock near a lake. He also invited us to see what his dormitory room was like.  It was about the same size as a dormitory in the States, but it also had a balcony.

The Banana Leaf – This was an eventful dinner. I ended up trying a whole fish on a stick. This includes the scales, eyes and bones in the fish. It was a different texture, but it tasted pretty good. At this restaurant there was a group of entertainers that invited us to dance with them and sing American songs like Achy Breaky Heart . They taught us some interesting dance moves.

After dinner a group of us went out to Ho Hai, which is an area in Beijing with a bunch of restaurants and bars on a lake. We ended up taking two taxis and neither of the drivers knew how to get there and we ended up getting lost and then losing one another. Luckily, we managed to find the other car right outside of one of the Karaoke places. We went inside and watched two Chinese women sing a couple songs including a Britney Spears song.  When they were finished a couple of Tahitian dancers showed up and Spencer and Tyler showed them their moves.  From there we ventured into a couple other places before returning home. 

The flight and arriving at Tsinghua

 I made it to China and lucky to Tsinghua University without knowing how to speak any Chinese. The plane ride was pretty good. Although, I am glad that I haven't seen many movies in the past couple of months. On the flight from San Francisco to Beijing I watched Bride Wars, Grand Torino, Frost/Nixon and another movie that I do not know the name of. 

Upon arrival in Beijing, it was not difficult to go through customs, get my bag and find a Taxi. I had a map of Tsinghua and luckily the driver took me to the right place. From there I checked in. I ran into a girl from North Caroline who pointed me in the direction of a shopping center. I took the 15 minute walk to the Lotus Center and bought a towel and some water. Although, it was not quite as easy as it sounds. I as yelled at in Chinese by three people because a plastic bag costs half an RMB, which isn't even a penny USD. I did not understand and finally after  minutes another customer came over and translated what they were telling me. 

I made it back to the dormitory, which is very similar to the one I lived in freshman year in Earhart. The bed is another story though. I have been adjusting to the wooden mattress. It is a normal bed with a 1 inch think padding over it and then a comforter. Another interesting thing is the bathroom. Here they do not think that a regular toilet is very sanitary, so the bathroom has a hole in the floor and you squat. You also need to take toilet paper with you when you go to the bathroom because there is not any in there (we haven't figured out the reasoning for this). 

That's all for my first evening!