Summer Palace

The Summer Palace was literally where the imperial family went during the summers to relax. It is huge, very calming, beautiful, and spacious (I even had space and that is rare in Chinese tourist sites) location far from the city center. When you walk in, the first thing you see is the stone of longevity. I got my picture taken with that stone fore sure! Long life indeed. After that, we went on Kunming lake – we rented two pedal boats for an hour and floated. It was so soothing. We later walked around the Palace admiring the sites and climbed the Tower of Fragrant Buddha. I was a little disappointed because you could not see very far thanks to the wonderful pollution. Nevertheless, the Summer Palace was very beautiful. After spending about three hours walking around we had lunch in THE restaurant were Empress Dowager Cixi would listen to musical and theatrical performances. The theatre is still there, but they converted the adjacent rooms into dining halls. It was a nice Chinese lunch and then we were all tired and went back to the dorms. Luckily, the Summer Palace is an only about15 minutes away from my university so I can go back whenever I want and spend the whole day when the weather is not as hot and hopefully when there is not as much pollution.

Marco Polo Bridge and Peking Man

On Monday, September 13, the fourteen PKU and Yale Students (7 from each school – 10 girls, 4 boys) along with some teachers went on our first group excursion. In the morning we went to the town of Wanping to see the Marco Polo Bridge. Before the bridge opened, we went to the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. My roommate walked around with me and read and translated for me. We worked together – I learned a lot of new vocabulary. The museum was very interesting. It had pictures, explanations, artifacts, etc. It was the first war museum I had been to in China. Outside the museum the soldiers were singing. Before coming to China, I had never realized the significance and importance of the Japanese invasion of China. I know this is very ignorant of me, but this is interesting for me as I’m learning what type of relations China has with other nations in the world and this war is still very fresh in many Chinese people’s minds. After the museum, we went on the bridge. Marco Polo did not cross this bridge, he simply described it in his diary. Whether or not you believe that Marco Polo came to China is up to you, but you can’t deny that the bridge is a piece of art. There are over five hundred lion sculptures on the bridge. Each lion has a different position and its unique characteristics. Although there is no water under the bridge because of a dam that was constructed, you can try to picture what it would have been like many, many years ago. After the museum and the bridge, we headed off to lunch. Yes, you guessed it – Chinese food. It was fine – rice, vegetables, meat, and the pancake-like things they eat in the north of China that I love. After lunch, we headed to Peking Man Site at Zhoukou dian. This is where in the beginning of the 20th century the Peking Man-was discovered – Homo erectus pekinensis. Once you see the skeleton and sketches, you can still see the traces of ape/animal in him. Through the process of evolution, you can see the human race. I had never heard of Peking, which dates back to 250,000-400,000 years ago. You can see some skeletons of both “humans” and the animal fossils they found at that time in the museum. You can also walk around the caves and hike a little along the mountains. Overall, that Monday was very adventure-filled; I visited three new places.

Peking University

Peking University (PKU) - not only one of the top universities in China, but also my new home for the next year. For my sophomore year, I've decided to study in this special Yale-PKU Undergraduate Joint-Degree program. I will be taking classes in both English and Chinese, maybe even French. We will have Yale professors teaching us, and we will also have the opportunity to take classes at PKU with the local students. Classes start tomorrow and I still haven't finished picking my classes... everything will be fine (well at least that is what I keep telling myself).
I've been at PKU for about a week now. Last week I moved into Building 42. My building is the residence for all male Master Degree students. However, Yale made special arrangements so on part of the first and the second floors Yale and PKU students can live together. It is two to a room: one Yale student and one PKU student. My roommate is from Shanghai, yay! She is very nice. I've been a little sick with a cough and she sort of acts like a mom. Before she clung to me like glue, but now she is giving me my space and realizing that I can manage Beijing and PKU on my own. I appreciate that because I really like my own space, especially in China where you can barely breathe. My room is much better now after I decorated it with plants, rugs, a chair from Ikea, even a cactus, my things... before it was plain and the bed was just a wooden plank - prison style. I bought a mattress and added my Memory Foam and now I can sleep just fine. My room does not have AC so we have a fan. On my desk you can see a blue lamp - this is not just any lamp - this is THE lamp. The electricity, starting tonight, will be shut off from midnight to six am Sunday through Thursday. I'm so used to doing my homework late at night and working past midnight, I don't know what I will do. I have a rechargeable lamp that will help me survive but this will be an experience. Besides the electricity and the prison-like beds, the rest is just fine. Our bathrooms are modern and western. We have a common room that does have electricity 24 hours a day so I might be going there a lot at night. The common room also has a TV, computers, printers, and a fridge.
Overall impressions of PKU - it is a really beautiful campus. It has a mixture of both modern and traditional architecture. There are few cars on campus, so you mainly see bikes. Ha - you can see me on a bike now as well. I bought a used, dirty-looking bike yesterday with two super locks so hopefully it will not get stolen. Yes, I'm becoming more Chinese by the second. So far okay. I'm feeling a bit homesick because I miss my food, my friends, my family. The time difference is doable, but the food is getting annoying. I have a meal card for the cafeterias on campus (there are a lot of places to eat here - dumplings, noodles, western food, regular Chinese food). The food is fine; I'm just getting tired of it. There is a Carrefour that I can bike and walk to - I buy cereal and western things sometimes, but because we don't have a kitchen it is hard to prepare my own meals. Some days are better than others. Besides the food, which gets me down, the campus is really lively. There are street vendors on campus all the time selling fruit, books, flowers, and things you need in your dorm like lamps, rugs, buckets, etc. The Yale-PKU program is quite special because we live separate from the other international students. I'm trying to get to know them so I have more friends. This week there was an organized trip to IKEA, bless IKEA, I love that place. I met a few new international students, but not enough or well enough to say I made new friends. On the topic of IKEA - those Swedish meatballs tasted better than anything I've had in a long time - yes, Western food makes me very excited these days. Ikea was lots of fun; I think I might make it a weekly field trip just to eat there. I don’t think I made this clear before, PKU is in the suburbs in Beijing. It takes me about 1.5 hours to get into the city (it is so freakingly far - trust me, I tried it yesterday). The metro system is amazing, but I am still far away from the city. It just takes time to get used to it.

So a recap of the main things I wanted to tell you all about: the bike, my dorm, PKU, how far away I'm from the city, I'm homesick and foodsick, and that I will survive. ooo and I met my cousin yesterday so at least I have family here. Everything will work out. Rosh Hashanah is this week so I'll be going to the Jewish Community Center a lot this month (ie, I will be with foreigners, I will eat Western food, and I will be in the city). PKU is new to me, and it will take me some time to figure it out, but I will get there. Plus, it’s quite something living with Chinese students.

Before and After

Official Opening Ceremony Dinner

PKU buildings, library, our common room, a noodles cafeteria, a bunch of Yale and PKU students eating together