Classes Have Begun

Practicing #1-10 & vocab in Chinese

As Bucknell kids are laying on the beach for spring break, my classes have finally begun. My schedule is hectic, and I am positive that all of my classes will be challenging. My Chinese language class meets Monday-Thursday for two hours and each class begins with a "preview quiz," testing you on the material that you will be learning that day. On Monday, we signed something called the Language Commitment Pledge, stating that we can only speak Chinese to all the professors and students in the classroom. The staff takes this pledge very seriously and if they hear you speaking English on 3 different occasions they will deduct 5% from your total language grade and contact your home institution. The language class is extremely face paced and difficult, but I am confident that with this level of rigor my language skills will progress very quickly.

Lunch in the "caf"

I have attended two of my elective classes, both taught in English. My three elective courses meet once a week for three hours and they all have a substantial amount of outside work usually totaling a combined 300+ pages of reading per week. The three hour class period is definitely long and hard to keep focused for, but all of the professors are extremely passionate about their subject so it helps the time pass quickly. Now that I have a more regimented schedule, my days are passing by much faster. After I complete the class, I usually have to spend about 3-4 hours on Chinese language homework and an additional 2-3 hours on reading/writing assignments for my electives. The workload can certainly be daunting, but I think my brain has missed some exercise after a long winter break. I look forward to learning more about China through the lens of professors who were born and raised here.

Yummy dinner

My jetlag is finally getting better. I can usually sleep through the night and get around 7-8 hours of sleep (thanks Melatonin!), which helps me to be more energized and alive during the days. I have found that Chinese students don't really drink coffee, but I purchased some packets of instant coffee to help me through the day. Slowly but surely I am finding my staple meals here in China. I eat a lot of noodle bowls, dumplings, rice, and my personal favorite sushi! Sushi is the most expensive food in our cafeteria...totaling around 4-5 USD. In fact, they consider it to be so expensive that I need to enter in the last 6 digits of my passport as a security precaution when purchasing it. Admittedly, not all my meals have been delicious, and I've certainly had some stomach trouble...but authentic Chinese food has surprised me in a very positive way.

The best noodles I've had in Shanghai

One shock I have not gotten over yet is the bathroom situation in China. Most spots on campus and public facilities do not have toilet paper or traditional "western" toilets. Their toilets are called "squatters" and consist of pretty much a hole in the ground. I have been told that this sort of system exists because China's sewage is not yet advanced enough to handle toilet paper being flushed down, so instead there is a wastebasket in every stall for all trash. I love you China--but I haven't totally grasped this idea. It confuses me how a country with high speed bullet trains and flawless subway systems cannot figure out how to properly engineer a sewage system that can handle toilet paper. I guess that will remain a mystery to me for now...

Now that I am finally caught up with sleep, I am hoping to do some good traveling/sight seeing this weekend--encouraged by the weather forecast of 60 degrees and sunny! Stay tuned...