January Term

Unsurprisingly, winter break passed by really quickly.  I returned to Beijing for the month of January, studying Chinese with the same program as last semester.  Again, I only took language classes, except this month we had more class hours and less free time.  I met some nice people, but I really miss my friends from last semester.

Fortunately, I had an awesome roommate.  She is a graduate student at 首都师范大学, majoring in translation.  I spent a lot of time with her, and another Chinese roommate and her friend.  Last semester, I spent the majority of my time with other Americans, so it is nice that I got to learn more about Chinese students.

Because I was already used to studying Mandarin with CET, I made a conscious effort to do some new things.  Most notably, my friend and I took a weekend to go to Harbin.  We initially chose to visit Harbin after hearing about the spectacular annual ice festival, but upon arrival discovered how beautiful Harbin itself is as a city.  Even though it was 22 degrees below freezing, we still enjoyed walking around the Russian Quarter and visited St. Sophia’s Cathedral.

Also in the spirit of trying new things, I did the following:  went ice skating at Houhai, learned to make dumplings with classmates, made a reservation at a restaurant using Chinese, got a massage, ate hotpot with new friends, and went to the National Museum and Olympic Park.

After January Term concludes, students have a break before the next semester begins on February 17.  I am really lucky* to be spending mine in Europe, traveling to amazing cities and visiting friends studying abroad this spring.  Following my two weeks away from China, I will be flying back to Beijing and then taking a fast train to Shanghai, where I will begin the new semester.

I recently found out I will be interning at JUCCCE, a nonprofit organization working to create a livable China.  The other interns and I will be helping with outreach, research, and development.  We will be focusing on their New Way to Eat campaign, which also includes running workshops at local schools.  I was originally very unsure as to whether I was going to stay abroad the full year or return to campus.  However, now that I know more about the internship, I am glad I decided to stay in China both semesters and am already looking forward to starting the new semester mid-February.

*Check out this song:  “Lucky Day” by Hunter Hunted

C 班做的饭

哈尔滨

Is this even China?

Six months plus in 中国 skate

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