I have finally arrived in Beijing! Today is my fifth day in Beijing (I can hardly believe this), and in less than 24 hours I will be taking my language pledge: 从今天开始，从现在开始, 到课程结束我只说中文，我不会说英文—From this day forward, from now on, to the end of the program I pledge to only speak Chinese, not speak English.

It seems that I am still victim to the vice-like grip of jet lag, or 时差 (shicha) in Chinese. My Chinese roommate has noticed this, too, since she asks me every night: “You look very tired, do you still have 时差?” My program places each American student with one Chinese roommate: an ever-present and unfailing language partner (or expert of the city, depending on how you look at it). I’ve learned a lot in these few days about Chinese culture from co-existing with my roommate. For example, she often buys me snacks, bread, fruit, or—even better—milk tea, 奶茶 (nai cha). She’s introduced me to some of my new favorite kinds of milk tea (I’m a huge fan of 四季玛奇朵 with 仙草), and I’ve also tried a new slew of teas by just saying “I want what they have,” (including a warm rose milk tea!). On our first night, we shared some watermelon over a broken Chinglish conversation—trying to get to know each other better. We discovered that, oddly enough, we both love some of the same video games, brands, and foods. My time with my roommate thus far has been immensely helpful and eye-opening; from being introduced to some of my new favorite Chinese dishes by her, to having greater appreciation and thankfulness for the act of gift-giving. While not a widely practiced nor largely appreciated tradition in the U.S., I have begun to find more ways I can give back to my roommate and extend the same courtesy to her.

Of course, Beijing has had its fair share of difficulties, too. My Internet, WiFi, and VPN have had equal trouble working and connecting properly, making calling home, staying connected with my classmates, completing homework, and writing this blog even a little difficult. I also don’t have a Chinese phone number or bank account, which makes even a foreigner’s short stay in the country a little 麻烦 (mafan), or inconvenient. However, I’m learning to face these adversities with the help of my roommate and classmates. 

We went to see a kong fu show performance at Beijing’s Red Theatre which told the story of Chun Yi, a new, young pupil at a Chinese temple who had to “leave everything he once knew and all of his life’s comforts behind.” As I watched the show, I felt as though I could relate to Chun Yi; I have chosen to leave behind a lot of my life’s comforts in the United States, whether that is something as trivial as being able to flush toilet paper or have the AC running all day, or something more serious like the freedom to speak English as I please or the ability to walk around outside and not draw eyes from everyone I pass. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to the challenge this program has put forth, both in terms of cultural assimilation and academic difficulty. 

As I’m writing this blog, I already find that my mind is resulting to use Chinese having used it occasionally for the past few days, which is great news I guess! I’m excited to see how this will affect my blog writing throughout the rest of the semester. I hadn’t anticipated that the switch between these two languages would be so difficult, but as I said before, I am up to this challenge. 加油！

As a fun ending note to my blog, here are some of my favorite things I’ve done/had so far: