At the beginning of October China has their national holiday, and everyone gets a whole week off. After lots of visa troubles and indecisiveness, I finally came to the conclusion that the best way to spend my week would be to head back to Taiwan.  (more…)

So last week I headed to the English corner. It was a bit of a mob. I’d start chatting with someone that I wanted to get to know better, then have a crowd swarm me and pepper me with questions about America, and the Chinese student I was actually having a conversation with would give up and wander off. That happened a few times before I finally actually got to know a couple of Chinese girls. So— I finally know some Chinese people in China! Totally a success.  (more…)

China is crazy, chaotic, and confusing. But once you spend a bit of time here it starts to make a little bit more sense.

A few things for you to keep in mind if you ever head over: (more…)

It was a rough start in Beijing. But things did begin to improve. My host found a nice hotel for me (and then I never spoke to him again. Trust issues, and all that). This place had an actual lobby, security cameras, and clean rooms. Those three things are wildly under appreciated, I think. So I lived in the second hotel for a week. I spent my time apartment hunting (a challenging feat when you barely speak Chinese) and registering for classes. (more…)

Beijing didn’t start very well.

I got off the plane at around midnight and was picked up by a host from the university. He was there to take me to a hotel, then help me adjust to life in China in the following weeks.

We drove for about an hour to get into the Haidian district, near Renmin University. We pulled up to an alleyway at 1 am. It didn’t look much like a hotel, but this was a man sent by the university. Surely I could trust him? (more…)