Andrea in China: 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.