Beijing Adventures

I’ve been in Beijing for about a week and a half now and it has been a bit of an adventure at times. When I got to Beijing from Japan it was pissing down with rain and it was an all around miserable night. The flight was late as well and I had no clue where I was going, I just hopped on the bus I thought I had to catch. I was completely exhausted in the bus, and was not looking forward to having to find a cab in the rain. Yet my heart lifted a little because in the bus we drove past the Bird’s Nest, the architectural centerpiece of the Beijing Olympics. It truly is a magnificent structure, and I have yet to go back and discover it some more.

After one night at a dodgy but convenient hostel, I made my way to the Beijing Language and Culture University (BCLU), where I am now living and studying for the next few weeks. The campus itself is pretty simple, but quite convenient. There are a number of Chinese restaurants, Western restaurants, a fantastic Muslim restaurant run by people from Xinjiang, different types of shops for phones, etc, and a nice wee place we call the Friendship Café because it’s easy to make friends there. That, and a big pint of beer costs about 75 cents.

I share my dorm with one other guy, a young student from Thailand. He is quite nice and easy to live with…doesn’t make a mess and isn’t loud. My dorm is also pretty simple. It has a desk, light, hard bed, Western toilet, and a hot shower with water pressure.

I went to the Great Wall last week and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I was expecting it to be very hazy and busy based on pictures I’ve seen from other friends. Yet it was a fairly clear day, with very few people on the wall. As well, I got to know 3 Italian girls quite well, their Chinese is about the same level as mine so we practice chatting quite a bit. It was also just a lot of fun, and I took some great pictures.

I also discovered the underground music scene here in Beijing. I was treated to some Chinese ‘post-punk’ music, though I’m not quite sure what that means. Nonetheless, it was an interesting experience. One of the bands was all female, and quite eclectic and unusual sounding. I took a video of it because it was so weird. As well, the second band was amazing and I’d quite like to buy their CD.

Chinese classes have been quite good but very intense. I think my level is below most of the other people in my class, but I quite enjoy it still. The classes are taught entirely in Chinese but I can handle most of it. I think I’m learning a lot but I still can’t help but feel a little stupid and useless when I get in some conversations. This was highlighted for me last night when I went to a club in Sanlitun and I tried to talk to people. Four more weeks of class, and hopefully I will be able to have some kind of meaningful conversation other than about the weather and traffic.

Other than that, life is pretty good here in Beijing. The air quality was fine for the first week I was here but over the last couple days it has been gross. The traffic restrictions are working though I have seen a couple cheaters. The most annoying thing right now is the security, and all the excuses for why things don’t work or aren’t happening. Clubs get shut down, gyms are not being used, no seafood in town…this is all because of the Olympics apparently. Security is a nightmare and overly excessive. Beijing recruited over 400,000 volunteers for these Olympics. I wondered what they were going to be doing with so many volunteers. Unpaid security essentially. We need to show our student cards all the time at the gates, non-students aren’t allowed on campus…it’s all a bit much, and it’s like that all over the city, albeit I am situated right by the Olympic Villiage.

Oh well, it will be interesting to see what action comes to town in the next couple of weeks. Apparently they are allowing protests to happen in 3 parks. Should be interesting, though I’ll try to stay out of trouble.

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