Fabiana in China: Beijing Welcomes You!

January 14, 2015

北京欢迎您 , 像音乐感动你。。。！(translation: Beijing welcomes you, our hospitality will move your heart)

That was the background song I kept on singing over and over once I stepped in Peking University (北京大学). I couldn’t believe I was going to attend the same university as Mao Tse-tung did, or be surrounded by walls that once influenced the birth of China’s New Culture Movement. I was standing on what many call the Harvard of China—what a dream come true!

It’s been exactly a week since I left home and honestly I can’t better resemble my experience than with a roller coaster ride—tough Fabiana cried herself to sleep the first three days, made really interesting friends, got lost using Beijing transport, bought really good tea, (mistakenly) ordered pig leg soup for lunch on Monday, bought a bike on Tuesday, and today feels her Chinese is only improving.

On Sunday, the “fearsome” language pledge took place. After the clock turned twelve the apartment suddenly got very quite, we weren’t allowed to speak a word of English until 5pm on Friday, and if we did, a warning would follow us home the first time, and the second time we would be kicked off the program. We were even told that if we got stopped on the street by foreigners we should tell them “对不起，我不会说英语”(translation: Sorry, I don’t speak English). The struggle just got real.

Day Three under this pledge and today I broke the rules (sorry Mom&Dad). You should have seen the face my teacher made when I said “literal translation” in class when wanting her to explain some grammar structure. I had reached to the point where I got so frustrated trying to explain my question that I just had to say it! My guess is that she’ll let this one pass, but for the record I understood the grammar structure right after.

So far my experience with the program has been much better than I expected, I have class from 8:30am to 4:20pm everyday. My day is divided between a spoken Chinese class, a one-on-one with my own personal tutor, a one-on-one pronunciation class, a grammar and vocabulary class, and finally a drill/practice class at the end of the day. I receive so much attention from all my teachers—I honestly feel I’ve already improved my Chinese so much! Little by little, I am starting to get more comfortable with conversations in Chinese and also explain more complex ideas. 我非常愉快！（I am very happy!)

Although I keep on waking up at 4 am because I am too tired to study after my lessons, I love in experience in Beijing so far. I came in knowing the program would be tough, so I now need to adjust to the workload and organize my day so I better my sleep schedule. I look forward to the next few months here!

Campus Snapshots

Campus Snapshots

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Immersion Class Warriors

Immersion Class Warriors

Pig Leg Soup

Pig Leg Soup

Living the Pollution to the Fullest

Living the Pollution to the Fullest

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Fabiana in China: First Day

January 12, 2015

“Why is it this hard?” I asked.

“What is?” he answered.

“Leaving. I knew I was going to leave the minute I got here. So why is it this hard?”

“Maybe it’s because every time you leave somewhere that’s important to you, you leave a part of you there.”

He was right. Parting Bolivia always meant leaving a part of me. Painful, but in my eyes, necessary.

I left home when I was sixteen because I felt limited. Bolivian youth was bred under the idea that we could not change the reality of our country, they set boundaries between what was “do-able” and “unreachable” and with that limited our possibilities.

I was lucky enough to be able to build the path I was eagerly looking for and become someone that now realizes that taking roads less traveled are difficult but essential. The innumerable experiences and qualities I found along the way have taught me that my horizon must not be full of dreams, but also actions.

The feeling I get after leaving Bolivia reminds me of the work I’ve started and still have left to complete.

2 days, 13 hours and 10 minutes.

That was the insane amount of travelling it took for me to get from Bolivia to China. It took only 1 minute however, to forget about how tired I was as soon I saw Lang 老师 (Jun Lang) and a sign that read “Chinese Studies Institute.” I couldn’t believe I was that happy to see a familiar face.

Lang 老师 (“lang laoshi” which stands for Teacher Lang) was my Elementary Chinese teacher back in Richmond. She was the one who encouraged me to apply for the program and since then, never left my side. She hugged me and put us both in a cab on our way to my new apartment.

I was the last one to arrive to the apartment where I and 5 other girls would be sharing it with a teacher. The apartment was quite fancy for Chinese standards, it was pretty big and clean, and seemed to have covered the basic necessities. Ma 老师 (the teacher I would be living with) showed me around and introduced me to my beautiful and exotic roommate, Ble. Ble is from Madagascar and attends Wooster College back in the States. She was warm and friendly, so we started on the right track.

It’s getting late now and I should be heading to bed. Tomorrow will be a big day.

Taking a taste of home with me: Trimate Tea, a mixture of anise, chamomile and coca leaf tea.

Taking a taste of home with me: Trimate Tea, a mixture of anise, chamomile and coca leaf tea.

Defrosted in Chicago

Defrosted in Chicago

A bed I'll call my own for the next 4 months

A bed I’ll call my own for the next 4 months

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Fabiana in China: Before Departure

January 5, 2015

Luckily, “studying abroad” has been a familiar phrase in my life.

Born in Bolivia, raised in both Bolivia and United States, finishing high school in Hong Kong and attending college at the University of Richmond somehow contributes to this perpetual “studying abroad” state. In a short period of time however, I’ll be able to add Beijing to this whirlwind – and add another study abroad experience on top of my study abroad. How incredibly lucky I am!

As an International Business and Chinese Studies double major I thought that going to the Chinese Studies Institute at Peking University would be a great opportunity. I would be finally getting over any insecurity I have with my Chinese language, and get to see China with more mature eyes. I decided to take the “immersion track” offered by the Institute, meaning that during my four months of study I will devote myself to Chinese language training full time. With 27 hours of in-class instruction per week, according to the program’s website, “it is a perfect opportunity for those who want to challenge themselves and test the limits of their courage, endurance and excitement.”

For those who know me, know that in face of challenge I like to recycle the quote “If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough.” Oh yes. I am scared, but surely excited. I am aware that high achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.

So I shouldn’t be that scared right? I mean, I’ve lived in Hong Kong for two years and I sorta-kinda know Chinese, so why am I this scared? Could it be the language pledge I have to sign? Or arriving at the airport and being expected to be fluent in Chinese? I’ve heard horror stories about “immersion track” students barely talking to anyone during the first two weeks. I guess I’ll just have to experience it all by myself.

Luggage, saying good-bye, being fully independent again. It’s all coming back to me.

With five days left to my departure, all I want to do at this point is enjoy home, family and my boyfriend.

Days should go by quickly.

Fabiana

Ever since I started studying abroad I realized that I was gaining so much more than education, I was building myself with bits and pieces of everything I saw, touched and tasted. The friendships I’ve made, the places I have seen… they were all the result of my choices. We are our choices. I can’t wait to add more pins to this board.

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