Summer Study in China 2009
Recent Postings
After classes we had lunch at the cafeteria. The food was not bad and they also had bananas, so I took one for tomorrow’s breakfast. Then we did the drills and practicum, both on campus. We played pingpong between classes and whenever we could. And the Internet finally worked in the dorm rooms and classrooms! Everyone was so happy. We made it to get on facebook also. This weekend–if I’m right–we are going to move to our host families’ houses where we will stay for the rest of the camp. Actually I’m looking forward to meet my host family even though I’m a little worried about some communication difficulties that my host family and I will have. I think it’s going to be fun, at least I hope so.
你好！这个经历玩儿。我认识了同学的美国人和韩国人。我们星期一去房间。我不期待了差别可是我适应了。我喜欢老师 和去了墓田峪。 我喜欢中国饭可是我也喜欢其他的食物。我的同学和老师好。我想念家庭可是学习中文有重要性。 我希望改进。
The first week of being in Beijing was an experience. I’m looking forward to seeing my progress in the Chinese language. The teachers are pretty fast but keeping up with them is a challenge that I enjoy. I liked the food but sometimes I’d get tired of eating the same things everyday. The variety of people here keeps this program more interesting. I love their personalities, humor and they seem like very intelligent people. I’m looking forward to meeting my host family this week. I wish to enjoy this last summer before going to college.
The adventure began as soon as we landed in Beijing. I managed seat 42C, an aisle seat, which helped me endure the 13-hour flight. It did not help, however, when Mrs. 42B was recorded to have a fever by the flight’s medical staff. As thoughts of weeks of swine-flu isolation by intimidating white-suited medics raced through my head, a second temperature recording cleared the flight for disembarkment. It wasn’t the thick air, solid ground, or Chinese people everywhere that struck me first. Rather, the fact of being in Beijing, 13-hours away from any close contacts, was an empowering realization.
In the first week of the trip I have gotten to know everyone incredibly well. We have already toured the Great Wall, visited China’s top 2 Universities, and gone to an architectural museum together. Any time available between activities and classes is passed by pouring every last ounce of energy into scores of ping-pong matches.
Next post I will hopefully be settled in with my host family.
Giacomo Melegari
梅家莫
－ 我很喜欢住在北京！
My mom, dad, and little sister Lauren dropped me off at the China Institute building on Sunday at 8:00. I waved goodbye to them as the shuttle sped off to take us to the airport. The airplane got delayed twice. We ended up leaving later than I expected. We got magazines and head pillows from Hudson News. Once arriving in Beijing, I learned my roommate was Emily Fitzgerald. We got over jet lag pretty quickly, and started having classes the next day. After taking the placement test, I was put in group 2. A typical day in China Institute Summer program consists of breakfast at 7:30, Mandarin class, lunch, individual learning, a practicum, and then dinner. We have taken many fun trips, such as a trip to the Great Wall of China, Peking University, and Bei Da University. At first we stayed in the Beijing International Language and Culture School and then yesterday we moved into Yucai High School dorms. It is a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to meet my host family.
第一个星期:
我们在北京语原大学到了以后就去给我们的老师介绍一下。我很喜欢全老师们尤其喜欢我们三班的老师。我们每天吃的饭都很好吃，可是服务员来得真么多菜，所以每一次有一点剩饭。我们每天上的可很难可是很有意思。我们每天晚上得好好学习，省得老师们会生气。这个星期，我们去清华大学，北京大学，长城，孔庙和一场农场做农活。舒了北京大学最有意思，长城有最优美风光。
The First Week:
After thirteen hours of movies and music in the sky we arrived in Beijing. The air was musty, the sky overcast and I was excited to be back in my father’s country. After getting on a shuttle to Beijing Language and Culture University I quickly drifted out of consciousness. Shortly thereafter I woke up as our bus pulled into the campus. Bamboo shoots and other plants and trees gave the campus a comfortable feel despite the slightly worn appearance of the buildings. The number of foreign students on the campus made most of us feel as if we hadn’t quite arrived in China yet, but the hard beds and the necessity to decline alcohol at our local cafe reminded us that we weren’t quite in the United States.
As the week went by we absorbed Chinese through a mix of lectures, group drills, individual drills, practicums and interactions with cashiers and waiters. On Thursday we visited Qinghua university, Friday we visited Beida, Saturday we did community service on a local organic farm and on Sunday we visited the great wall. So far China has been great and I’m looking forward to more fun in the near future.
The city of Beijing has altogether eighteen districts and counties, and eight of them are considered urban districts. Among the eight, Haidian District (海淀区）and Xuanwu District（宣武区）are two historically and culturally distinct ones from each other.
Haidian District（海淀区）, located at the northwest of the city of Beijing, was named after the large wetland that originally existed – as you can see, Hai（海）means “ocean”, Dian（淀）means “shallow lake”, and both charaters are equipped with the “氵” radicle representing “water”. Haidian District prospered during the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) as the imperial family built its famous “three mountains and five gardens”, including the famous Summer Palace（颐和园）and the ruins of the Old Summer Palace or the Garden of Perfect Brightness（圆明园）. Today, Haidian District is called by many as “University District” and known to host the largest concentration of colleges, universities and research institutes in Beijing and even in China, including the renowned Peking University, Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Chinese Language and Culture University, the oldest and the best known university for teaching and training teachers to teach Chinese to non-native speakers.
Xuanwu District（宣武区）, located at the south of the city of Beijing, was historically the most vibrant district in the old city of Beijing. It existed right outside the city wall that surrounded the Inner City where the imperial family members, officials and servants resided and was rich in traditional arts and culture. Today, even with many traditional hutongs and architectures demolished by the modern development, it is still home to many landmark temples, museums, opera houses and tea houses. It also has a large concentration of Beijing’s muslim population, including the famous Cow Street（牛街）.
Chinese surnames appear before given names. Surnames have one character mostly, two occasionally, and very rarely more than two. Surnames were originally derived matrilineally in the matriarchal society until the Shang Dynasty (1766 BC – 1122 BC). It is why the character 姓 (surname) has a 女 (female) radical. Historically, they originated from various sources including mothers’ names, animals, kingdoms, towns, places, titles, ranks and professions etc. Among the most common 100 surnames used by 87% of the Chinese population, there are 19 (李、王、张、刘、陈、杨、赵、黄、周、吴、徐、孙、胡、朱、高、林、何、郭、马) that account for more than 1% each, and 3 (李、王、张) that account for more than 7% each.
Chinese given names traditionally have two characters, with the first one being shared by all siblings and even cousins with the same paternal grandfather, but many have just one character nowadays. Names tend to use characters referring to nature, e.g., 天、地、山、石、云、峰、松、柏、路、林、江、河、海、洋、春、夏、秋、冬、竹、兰、梅、菊、风、雪、雷、雨， characters implying certain virtues, qualities or talents, e.g. 德、才、艺、智、文、华、威、伟、美、丽、芬、芳、香、俊、爱、慈、恩、乐、喜、欢、力、灵、正、义、君，characters suggesting ambitions and wishes for health, luck, prosperity and longevity, e.g. 康、健、丰、发、兴、昌、达、志、成、顺、祥、富、贵、寿、安、平，characters indicating “largeness” or “humility”, e.g. 大、小、巨、微，and characters with 钅(metal)，木 (wood)，水 (water)，火 (fire) and 土 (earth) five radicals to balance the Five Elements (五行) within the person, e.g. 钢、杨、洪、煌、地.
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Welcome to china360 “2010 Summer Study in China Program.” This section of the site is meant to serve as a blog for the participants in China Institute’s 2010 Summer Study in China Program. Here you can share your experiences and thoughts about the program and also stay in touch with your family and friends in the U.S. and China. We encourage you to use the blog not only while in Beijing but also before and after. The blog — together with the other features of china360 — will help you stay connected with one another, with us at China Institute, and with the larger community of students, educators, and others who are interested in Chinese language and culture.
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China Institute Education Department
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