Highlights: An experience which I will always remember is camping on the Great Wall. Normally if you visit the Wall, instead of experiencing its wild and desolate beauty, your photos are scattered with tourists in anachronistic fluorescent wind cheaters posing along its length for their own holiday snaps.
We, however, spent the night sleeping under the stars, snuggled around a campfire in abandoned guard tower. We got up before sunrise, quickly threw on some coats and shoes, and climbed a few hundred metres to the highest point from which we saw the sun peak over the horizon, illuminating the surrounding landscape and highlighting the Wall which wiggled like a piece of string across the mountain. It really was a special moment.
Morning: I am studying the Beijing University of Language and Culture which is located in the middle of Wudaokou, Beijing's student-central. The university itself is set out over a large campus with its many buildings interspersed with basketball, tennis, and volleyball courts, a 400m running track, an artificial full sized football pitch, and linked together by wide, tree-lined avenues. These are features, however, which I frequently fail to absorb as I swerve on my bike in and out of pedestrians in a dash to make it to my first class at 8am.
The great thing about attending such an internationally focused university is that not only do you meet Chinese students, but also those from every corner of the world. My class has Brits, Americans, Norwegians, Germans, Koreans, Russians, and Malaysians to name but a few. Not all of them are 'students' either, a fair number combine working for a company whilst studying Chinese. This gives the class quite a mature attitude meaning that we are all making rapid progress.
I have four hours of class everyday, so I finish by 12 noon. As painful as an early start may feel some days, it means that you always feel that you have had a productive morning and get a lot done by the time you eat lunch.
Afternoon: My afternoons routine varies enormously. I have tutoring from 1 pm until 2 pm, which really focuses on the speaking element of my Chinese. Every other day, I tend to go to the gym on the university campus - keeping fit is more important than ever as with all the wonderful food in China, it's all too easy to gain weight.
I will often do a few hours of independent study to brush up on my 'Hanzi' or Chinese characters. Usually I will meet with Chinese friends or other foreign students at one of the many cafes in the area. Coming from a small town and knowing all the places to eat, it is a delight to know that there is always another tucked-away coffee shop lurking around the next corner.
Weekends are dominated by catching up with friends and meeting some of Beijing's bars. My stay here has been organised by a company called China Study Abroad who have helped organise everything from visas to housing. They offer many trips all over Beijing as well as across the rest of China. I have made it my aim to go on as many of these as possible which so far has involved overnight trains, mountainous hikes, and more temples than I can count.
Evening: I tend to return back to my apartment between 4 pm and 6 pm. I am living with a homestay family which was set up for me by China Study Abroad. Living with a family has a number of significant benefits, foremost, that I get hours of free language practice every evening. In addition, I eat my evening meal with my home-stay family allowing me to sample some authentic Chinese cooking as well turning my own hand to preparing Chinese dishes, some of which have been successful.
I have also gained unique insight into Chinese attitude and culture. It has been a shock to see my 'Chinese Dad' leave the apartment at 7 am everyday to go to work and not to return home until 9 pm, a routine which he sticks to seven days a week. This industrious attitude appears to pervade all areas of Chinese life, I am no longer surprised when I hear construction work begin at dawn on Sunday morning. Yet, above all, the Chinese people value their family and friendships and will go out of their way to help each other out.
After eating I will either do a bit more work, meet up with some people, or just Skype and email friends and family back in the UK. After just over two months in Beijing I cannot believe how fast I am learning Chinese or how fast the time is flying by. I fear that this year will be over before I know it.
