Two weeks have past since I started the Public Health program in Beijing and already so much has happened. I expected a greater amount of culture shock but I found that Beijing is similar to Chicago- albeit much larger and much busier. The local food is amazing. I ate at so many resturants my first couple weeks here. I tried dumplings and bao zi and even street food like jianbing.
We have reached the halfway point of the first “quarter” of classes. As someone with no previous knowledge of Mandarin Chinese, the Chinese classes seemed daunting at first. But as the classes went on I found myself understanding more and more, and have even been able to have (very basic) conversations with some locals. I am excited to learn more of the language and be able to communicate better.
My favorite part of the program is the weekly excursion. Our first week here we got to go to the Forbidden City. The architecture was so beautiful and colorful. We learned a lot about the history of the Forbidden City as well. Then, the second excursion we went on was to the Great Wall. It was the one I had been looking forward to the most. We hiked the Simatai section of the Great Wall. After I climbed the wall I had never felt so exhausted and so accomplished at the same time- and then I unashamedly took the cable car down.
I am excited for the rest of the program and I cannot wait to see what new things I get to do and learn.
