Di Yi Xingqi

So, my first week in Beijing is nearly drawing to an end. How was it, you say?

COLD

Freaking cold. I think today is struggling to reach its maximum of 1 measly degree. It snowed Friday night and most of Saturday. Now it is just cold. So cold in fact, that the little pond in the middle of BLCU (my uni) has frozen over. (This may not surprise many of you, but I've never seen it snow apart from a couple of flakes on a freak Canberra winter day, and I've never been so cold in my life.) At what temperature is hypothermia a risk?

Apart from getting my Uni enrolment in order, Mum and I went shopping (really, no surprises here) at the Silk Market where I purchased a slightly *cough* fake *cough* Prada bag and a Chloe wallet. Both I had been considering buying in Melbourne, so really I saved about $5000 (the bag is worth just over $4000... limited edition, only one in Melbourne). We also wandered down Wangfujing Dajie, which looks like no other street in Beijing. Seriously. It looks normal. Clean.

We also took (for lack of a better word) a rickshaw ride through the Hutong between our hotel and Tiananmen. Hutong are basically a maze of very narrow alleys, with peoples houses jutting off. Our "guide" (he pedalled, we sat back and relaxed) explained that some of the Hutong are going to be demolished before the Olympic Games, because apparently they're not something you want a foreigner to see. Which is understandable, as they're filthy, with little to no drainage/rubbish/plumbing/sewerage facilities. The government has already started moving people from the Hutong to adjacent appartment buildings, but it is quite expensive.

So... Uni! I took the placement test on Friday, which to my shock was actually the HSK (anyone who has learnt Chinese will know that this is a very difficult exam). Clearly I didnt do very well, as the class I've been placed in is slightly below the level at which I was studying at ANU. But this suits me, because it is more similar to my level of speaking, which is terrible compared to my reading. Today, in our first class, we met our fellow students (I am the only whitey, there is one Khazakstan girl, a few Indonesians, two girls from HK, a few from Japan, and one girl from Brazil --- yuep we're a mixed bunch). Today was basically "Hello my name is ... ", nice and simple, but the teacher refuses to talk in English, but I managed to catch almost everything. Also, i was guilted into volunteering to be one of the two class monitors... We have to collect/redistribute homework and classwork books, and basically look out for anyone struggling with the work. I also get the pleasure of calling out "qili" when the teacher enters the room, and everyone stands up. I have the power!

So, starting tomorrow, class is from 8.30am until 12 noon, Monday to Friday. You cannot leave the classroom during that time either, so it's probably best that I dont drink too much then. (Actually, having seen the uni "facilities" I dont think I shall be frequenting them too often anyway.) We get given homework every night, and more on weekends.

This sounds more like high school than university, doesn't it?

I must run, it is lunchtime and we're off to get lunch at the 24 hour restaurant down the road (Almost everything is 8 - 10 yuan, or AU$2)

XoXo