HBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HBA officially started on the 17th of June, 2007....................

(But on June 15th, I moved into my dorm. I was expecting something really shabby and crowded, but we actually got to stay in a hotel within the university. It was really nice to have my own room with an attached bathroom (with an actual toilet that's not a hole on the ground!) and AC - I did not have AC in my grandparents' home and boy, was that miserable! - and a TV and a fridge for ice cream. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with my dorm except the shower thing is kind of weird and now my bathroom is flooded every time I shower. Apparently that's way it is in this hotel so oh well....)

June 17:
8AM - placement test - oh dear, we had to write an essay, need I say more?
2PM - orientation - We had an orientation welcoming us to Beijing University of Language and Arts, or BULC, and signed the language pledge. The language pledge basically means you cannot speak English unless you are talking to your parents or if you are about to die....
4PM - meeting - we met our teachers and our language partners. I am in 5th year, and my teacher is a really young professor from Harvard who loves to joke around and slip papers (announcements) under your room door. My language partner is a really friendly Chinese girls who's majoring in teaching Chinese. I will meet her this Sunday to practice for two hours!
9PM to 1AM - HOMEWORK! Oh dear, we have soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much homework everyday. I have never had so much in my entire life. Every night, on top of homework, we have to review next day's lesson and memorize all the vocab (over 50 or so per night) and the next day, we will have dictation test. Every Wed. we must write an essay on top of previewing and doing homework, which must be 600 words and turned on Thurs. Every Friday, we have a three hour test with 2 hours of written and an hour of oral. I am speechless......

June 18 - First Day of Class !!!

8AM to 10AM - lecture class with the eight other kids in 5th year. We went over the academic article we read last night and all the vocab words. It was really hard because it's not normal Chinese, it's extremely formal Chinese with lots of good sounding terms but I have no idea what they mean....
10AM to 12AM - seminars with 4 kids total in my class. We worked on those good sounding terms and they are beginning to make sense.
LUNCH! - we went to cafeteria #2 inside the university, and for 5.5 yuan (less than a dollar) I got a plate of vegetables and meat and a bowl of rice. It actually tasted really good and it was extremely cheap.
2:20 PM to 3:10PM - one-on-one oral practice with my seminar leader. It's basically her asking questions and me answering (or attempting to) .
3:30 - 5:00 - Erhu lesson! I signed up to take Erhu lessons; Erhu is like a Chinese violin or cello with only two strings. It's a really pretty instrument but boy, was it hard! But I am going to continue it because I think it's really fun!

Then I did homework for the rest of the night.......(sigh)

June 19 - I am already really tired...
Basically the same thing as the 18th, except for I was sleep deprived as we had so much homework. I also took a Wushu class (Chinese KongFu), and it was really fun as well. We will learn around 20 WuShu methods, and I am excited about it!

Then I did homework for the rest of the night.....................(sigh...sigh....sigh....)

June 20 - I am kind of dying....
Basically the same thing, but in the afternoon we has a scholar who's one of the few people who study the Great Wall as a career and he gave us an amazing introduction of the history of the Great Wall and description of the section of the Wall that we will visit this Saturday.

Then I did homework for the rest of the night......(sigh) and then wrote an essay.....(tears....) until 1AM. I then woke up at 4AM to preview the lesson and memorize vocabs.....





So anyways, I do not give you the wrong impression that HBA is all hard work and no fun or that I am not enjoying myself. In fact, I really like the articles we are reading and I think the topics we are discussing in class are really interesting especially with different students looking at them from different angles. I love hanging out with the kids in my class (3 from Yale, 1 from UV, 5 from Harvard) and I absolutely adore all my teachers!