On Tuesday, I went with three other students and one of the fourth year teachers to Yonghe (Lama) Temple, which is a very important temple to a specific sect of Buddhism. The road to the temple was lined with small shops selling incense (to be used in the temple). We bought a box. The temple consists of five halls and five courtyards each with different shrines. There are large fires burning outside to light the incense, then you pray and then throw the incense into the fire. The place was quite fragrant and smoky, but very interesting. there were a few real monks, but most everyone were tourists. After progressing through the five halls and courtyards, we had used up the box of incense. ( There is a rule that if you use five sticks of incense in the first courtyard, you must use the smae amount is each successive courtyard, or else bad luck.)
After visiting the temple three of us went to Ditan Park (地坛公-temple of earth) for the Spring festival festivities. Honestly, I think it was the most people I've ever seen in one smallish space. there was hardly room to walk and if you were seperated from your family/friends, there was no hope. We didn't stay long because it was so cold and crowded, but it was fun to look at the over the top decorations, all red of course. they had many of the games one would find at a circus, with large stuffed animal prizes and cotton candy. Also the river nearby was completely frozen, so people were walking on it.
As a side note, I heard (from Chinese person) that it hasn't percepitated here in three months!
And: the fireworks are still going. still. during the daytime and night time; it almost sounds like the city is under attack.

The fireworks display was most amazing around 11:30-12:30 on New Year's Eve. We tried to climb up on to the roof of our dorm building to get a better view of the city. However it was locked, so instead we climbed up the library next door and stood on the fire escape to get a better view of the fireworks. I think it was about 13 stories up so the view was quite good (even though many of the surrounding buildings were still taller). The sky was lit up in every direction because of the massive amount of fireworks and the air grew hazier as the night went on, collecting the smoke from the explosions. It was like nothing I've ever seen before; quite an experience. The celebration is a little like the 4th of July, except that the fireworks are launched from everywhere instead of a single location, they last for hours and anyone in the city can buy them and set them off anywhere they like (like on the sidewalk or in the road). To be honest, I'm a little surprised the whole city hasn't burned down yet. (I also heard that fireworks were banned for a few years a few years ago, so people are still excited about being able to set them off again.) I have been hearing fireworks explosions since I arrived here and I can still hear them occasionally as I write this.
I took some pictures and a few videos: http://s591.photobucket.com/albums/ss353/klebling/

Today is the eve of Chinese New Year, which is equivalent to Christmas Eve in America (except everyone in China celebrates it and there are three times as many people in China as in America). I spent most of the day with a very generous family whose daughter goes to Wellesley college and knows my neighbor at home. She and her father came to pick me up at my dorm and from there we went to her apartment which is fairly near the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube from the Olympics. At the apartment, we picked up her mother and the four of us went to an very fancy restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is especially famous for its Peking roast duck (kao3ya1) which is a specialty of Beijing. All the waiters and waitresses were dresses in traditional Chinese clothing from the Tang (?) Dynasty and each table had a specific server who would linger and refill tea or take away empty dishes (or in my case, teach me to properly eat the roast duck). In addition to the roast duck (which is generally eaten in a type of small thin flour tortilla with cucumber slices and sauce) there was also fried rice, spicy duck tongue salad (!), fruit salad (cubed watermelon covered in mayonnaise), some sort of pork, duck hearts and so on... In general, the Chinese are very polite and will continue to give you more food until you strongly refuse. So, trying to the a polite guest I was cajoled into eating a duck heart (something I would never dare to eat in the US) and part of a duck tongue and of course the roast duck, which was actually quite good despite the fact that I try to avoid meat.
After the meal, we went to another of their apartments (I gathered that they were in the process of moving into this new apartment, because neither apartment looked completely furnished). There, Weiye (the Wellesley student), her father and I cleaned the place and put up New Year scrolls and decorations. This apartment seemed to be very newly built. It was on the 27th floor of a sort of apartment building village. Everything in the apartment was very new and shiny and modern looking. We also watched some of the New Year's celebration on CCTV. It was done by the same people who did the opening ceremony for the Olympics, so it was extremely bright and colorful and over-the-top and all of China's famous figures were there. After a few hours it was time to eat again. We drove back to the first apartment and ate dinner there. Weiye's mom had made a very large meal with fish, duck, dumplings (both fried and steamed), mushrooms, salad (which they made for me as an American dish), sausage, leeks, etc. There was also sea cucumber soup with live sea cucumbers in it(!). I did not know they were live until later (I was not brave enough to eat them, so I just drank some of the broth). Then we watched more of the New Year's celebration on TV. Then they drove me back to the dorm.
Fireworks are a big part of the New Year and since I've been here, I have been hearing them every night. However, tonight was the biggest display yet. Unlike the 4th of July where people all gather and watch the fireworks for an hour or so while professionals set them off, in Beijing, everyone buys their own fireworks and sets them off when ever and where ever they like. So, on the drive back to the dorm, the sky was lit up in all directions. On every street corner people were setting of sparklers and fireworks (real ones-the kind that launch 100 feet into the air and then explode). It was quite amazing. It has been going on for hours, and the biggest display is said to be at midnight tonight.

Starting today, we have five days off from class because of Chinese New Year (Chun1jie2). It is China's biggest holiday of the year and people typically have lots of time off from school or work and most go home to spend the holiday with their family. After our weekly test this morning, we had a "competition" in which all of the ACC students participated. We were divided into seven teams (there are 48 of us total) and we had to do things like move as many round chocolates using chopsticks, while simultaneously answering questions about answering Chinese trivia questions. There was musical chairs, jiaozi (dumpling) eating contest, trying to blow out candles by saying aspirated chinese syllables. My team came in second place so we won some M&Ms. We were originally going to go out and do some more educaitonal, but it was deemed too cold, so we stayed inside. (It's -3F with the wind chill.)
After the contest we all went to a restaurant for zhong1wen2 zhuo1zi (Chinese table). We had entirely too much food, as usual. During Chinese New Year they traditionally eat fish and will put the entire animal on the plate (the wor for fish is yu2, which sounds like the word for abundance and riches, and it is traditional to serve the entire fish). The teachers at my table also said eating the fish's eyes is very good for one's health, so they proceeded to poke the eyeballs out and eat them. It's also (apparently) good for your health to eat the chicken's head and skin, so those were eaten too.
Despite the extremely cold and windy weather, the air has been much cleaner these past few days (due to the wind) so it has been much nicer to breathe outside.

On Sunday my roommate and I and a friend of my roommate's who it doing a CET program in Beijing (another chinese language program in Beijing) went to 798 which is Beijing's art district. It was originally just one factory building that held artists' work, but since ethen it has expanded to a fairly large area with nearly a hundred galleries and small cafes and shops. Since we went on Sunday, many of the galleries were closed, but we managed to visit a few.
Since then I've been going to class every day and strugglisng to finish all the homework every night. I think all af the teachers (there are 18 in third year, I think) know that we have almost unmanageable amounts of work and yet they don't try to make it more manageable. I think they have a strange pride in knowing we work all afternoon and evening.
Since last might was Obama's inaguration, many of the students went to a bar to watch the ceremony on TV. But, since we are in China, it began at 1:00 AM and they didn't get back until after 2:00AM. Needless to say, people were very sleepy in class today and it's very hard to hide in a class of 8, 4, 2 or 1 student(s). In my largest class of 8, three students were noticably nodding off and since the class depends on knowing the answer because you may be called on at any time it was quite obvious. The teacher even began throwing chalk at one of the students.
The teachers will also often aske when we went to sleep the night before. If I say I went to sleep before 1:00 AM they think that that is great and that six hours of sleep is sufficent. (I do not agree).
The pollution has also been quite bad lately. I tried to take a few pictures, but it doesn't really capture whgat's it like.
Next weekend is China's biggest holiday- Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival. Everyone has work or school off and millions of people go home to be with family. We also have a few days off to go out and see the city, which will be nice.
Photos: http://s591.photobucket.com/albums/ss353/klebling/

Today we went to the Forbidden City, which is next to Tian'anmen Square in the center of the city. It is an extremely large complex of buildings built in the 1400's, in the center of modern Beijing. It was the home of the Emperor during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and consists of nearly 1000 different buildings. The buildings are all very ornately decorated and very beautiful. From the center of the city, the temple like buildings in Jingshan Park can be seen. Even though the day was extremely cold and the air was very hazy, there were many, many people there. I heard people speaking english for the first time since coming here.
Even though there were many foreigners at the Forbidden City, people came and asked to have their picture taken with us at least a few times. Once, an entire group of small school children wanted their picture taken with us (there were seven of us). They got very excited and their parents were very eager to take their picture with us. Quite strange.
Photos: http://s591.photobucket.com/albums/ss353/klebling/

Photos from a hotpot restaurant we went to yesterday and photos from the Forbidden City.
http://s591.photobucket.com/albums/ss353/klebling/

We had our first lesson test today, which covered four lessons and over 450 new vocab words. We have tests every Friday at 8AM and they last two and a half (!) hours. It was quite an exhausting experience. And to make it even more exhausting we immediately had to roam the streets of Beijing and find three people to interview (we were given a sheet with pre-written questions). We had to find one waitress (fu4yu4yuan2) and ask them about their restaurant's atmosphere and best dishes, etc. Then we had to find any type of person and ask them about their family- how many kids, living situation, job, if they are willing to be friends with foreigners (wai4guo2ren2). Lastly, we had to find a person who sells stuff on the street and ask them why they sell things on the street, how much things cost, if they were willing to bargain, etc. Most people are fairly polite and willing to help, but some people are quite rude and will not talk to foreigners. For example, I interviewed a woman who sold newspapers on the street who said she was not willing to make friends with foreigners because it is tai4ma2fan (too much trouble). I also interviewed a worker at the local supermarket. As I was aking her questions, a bunch of shoppers stood and watched- we foreigners draw a tlot of attention especially if we can speak Chinese.
After the interviewing we had to present our findings to the rest of the third years. Then we finally got to go to lunch. On Fridays we always have zhong1wen2zhuo1zi (chinese table). We go to local restaurants with the teachers in groups of three or four and have lunch. It is nice because we don't have to pay. Today I also go to try nai3cha2 (milk tea or bubble tea) which was quite good.
Lately, the pollution has been pretty bad. There is a constant haze in the air- buildings that are very close by have smudged appearance. Many people wear face coverings to keep from
breathing the air.
We will also be meeting host families tonight. Each host family has two ACC students. I am sharing my family with a fourth year student who was here last semester.
Lastly, a quick complaint: Every time I go to restaurants to eat (which is pretty much every night for dinner) my clothes come out smelling like smoke and food and it is horrible. I don't like to wear the same thing twice because it absorbs such strong food and smoke smells (also every restaurant has signs that say smoking is forbidden, but people still do it and the fuwuyuan don't to anything). So, to clean my clothes I tried to do laundry for the first time yesterday. However, Chinese washing machines are not a good as American ones. I apparently put too much clothing inside so it couldn't clean effectively or drain any of the excess water. So I ended up with dripping wet clothing that still hasn't dried yet. zaogao!

Today was the second days of classes. Each day, we have four classes beginning at 8AM. The first class is called da4ban2ke4 (large class) and has 8-10 students. It moves extremely fast (taking notes is not allowed because it slows you down too much) and covers the new grammar and sentence patterns in the lesson text. The next class is at 9AM and is called xiao3ban1ke4 (small class) and has 4-5 students. This class also moves very fast and drills the students on the information covered in the da4ban1ke4. Next is the dui4hua4ke4 (dialogue class) which consists of two students and one teacher. This class is slightly slower and more relaxes and generally covers yesterday's homework relating to the lesson subject. The last class is dan1ban1ke4 (single class) and is one student and one teacher. It is also fairly relaxed- generally a discussion of the lesson relation to China and America and oneself. Between the third and fourth classes, I have and hour break for lunch (11:00-12:00).
Today's lesson was on rock and roll and the "father" of Chinese rock and roll. Each lesson (for third year students) has between 80-120 new words each lesson as well as a lesson text. To make sure you know the new words and the lesson text, there is a ting1xie3 (listen and write) every day where the teacher will say two new words and two sentences form the lesson text and you have to write what is said.
It is a fairly exhausting schedule, designed to improve language skills very quickly. We will also have weekly tests on Friday and weekly essays as well as a semester long independent project, but those haven't started yet, because it is only the first week.
On Sunday, we went to Jingshan Park and Tian'anmen Square. It was extremely cold and windy, so we didn't stay long at either place, but they are very close so it is easy to visit again in the future.
I am continually surprised at how cheap things are here. I went to fa1bao3, which is a small supermarket across the street form the university and bought a bunch of fruit, bread, peanut butter and jelly, oatmeal, a plate and bowl and spoon and knife and some candy all for less than $20. Generally meals cost around $2-$3. If a meal is more than $4 it is too expensive. I also usually don't finish the meals because they are often times too large.
Some photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/klebling/

Everyone signed the language pledge today, beginning four months of only Chinese speaking (e-mialing non Chinese speakers is permitted). So far, it has been more enjoyable than I anticipated. But classes haven't stared yet either. Today we had a three hour meeting discussing how to study and how to deal with speaking only Chinese, etc., then we had another meeting with our specific grade level when we received copious amounts of textbooks and homework. There are around fifty students in the program and over thirty teachers so it's almost a one to one ratio.
After the meetings and a reception, one of the returning students (who was in Beijing with ACC last semester) took a few of us to Wal-Mart (wo4 er2 ma3) to buy some food and things for the dorm room that are very very cheap. There are also many smaller stores close to the university to buy more authentic Chinese food, which I go to more often.
Yesterday, another one of the returning students took a few of us to a massive market in the western part of the city. It is six floors and has more items and people squeezed into a small space than I've ever seen before. It was also my first experience bargaining (nothing really has a fixed price and they generally try to charge westerners more money so it's useful to bargain).
In general, I've found most people to be very nice and encouraging toward my (and others') attempts to speak Chinese. They will usually smile and sometimes laugh, because we definitely do stand out, especially in groups.

Some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/klebling/

Hello All,
I have successfully made it to China and am currently in my room at the Capital University of Economics and Business, which is close to the center of the city. The flight went by faster than I expected (it was almost thirteen hours) and there were wonderful views flying over the Arctic and Siberia. After landing, another girl I took the subway to a stop near the university. Both the airport and the subway are very new and shiny looking and quite clean. It also costs only twenty-five cents to ride the subway, which is convenient.
My room is in the foreign students area of the campus and setup like a hotel room. All the rooms are doubles, so I am sharing my room with another girl from Arizona. There are university workers who come every other day to change the sheets and towels and make the beds (lots of cheap labor in China).
Today we had a short tour on foot of the area around the university. There are many, many restaurants, although not all of them can be trusted for cleanliness, so it's best not to try new places more a month or so, until one's stomach has adjusted to different food and bacteria (as I was told by one of the teachers). All the teachers are very nice, but very serious about only speaking Chinese. We have not signed the language pledge yet, so everyone is trying to squeeze in as much English as possible before then. After the tour we went out to lunch at a tiny restaurant. They had tanks of frogs and fish at the front if you wanted to order those off the menu (we did not).
This afternoon, we had written and oral placement exams which were long and fairly difficult. They will place us into one of four levels in a few days.
About the pollution: When flying into Beijing, the first thing I noticed was how gray everything looked. Now, it is winter, but things looked especially bleak. It was difficult to see more than a few thousand feet because of the particulates in the air and all of the trees look kind of sad. The bushes around the university are covered in a thin film of dust. It was pretty clear today and the sky was blue, but the air pollution is still evident even though it wasn't as thick as the day before. Many people wear face masks when walking around the city.