This week the Fourth Year class schedule was changed, partially in response to student opinion and partially to work on our speaking skills in addition to reading skills. Now it looks like this:
8-10: 小班课 (Pre-prepared debates and grammar review for yesterday's text)
10-12: 大班课 (Lecture on today's text)
1:30-3:30: 单班课 (Drill of today's text)
Homework: Short essay and two outlines for debate topics, homework exercises, preview tomorrow's text, memorize tons of vocab... definitely more than in the past.
Weekend: Long essay, interview report, preview Monday's lesson, memorize tons of vocab... again more than in the past since we used to write the essay Thursday night, which they changed because we also have cumulative tests on Friday. So now we have more time to study for tests but less time to enjoy the weekend (booo).
On one hand I can definitely see how the new system is more conducive to achieving the aims the teachers had in mind, but on the other hand we also have more homework now and it was kind of annoying readjusting our work/learning pattern after just getting used to the old one. You would think by the 3rd year of a program they'd have a working system and not have to keep experimenting, but I'm also appreciative because this adjustment reflects how much they care about improvement and what students think.
Peking University:
On Friday I asked my language partner to take me to Peking University (aka Bei Da 北大） so we could chat while strolling around. Peking University and Qinghua University are usually considered the two best colleges in China, the former being older and more humanities-based school while the latter is wealthier and science-based. We happened to go when Bei Da was having graduation, so lots of students were milling around in graduation robes and taking pictures. I didn't get to see very much so I wasn't super impressed, especially since I find it ironic that the first established universities in America are older than the country itself, but their counterparts in China are only a hundred or so years old compared to 5,000 years of Chinese history. Regardless, Bei Da definitely earns its reputation, and its god-like status in the eyes of the Chinese just goes to show how much of a priority academic success is, especially in a country with so many people that the competition to get ahead is beyond imagination.
(The Water Tower)
(Me and my language partner)
(Taking a rest by the lake)Summer Palace:
HBA planned for us to go to the Ming Tombs 十三陵 on Saturday, which I definitely was interested in seeing, but in the end I opted to deviate along with a few other HBA students and go to see the Summer Palace 颐和园 instead since we had heard the Ming Tombs can be a bit dull and we have to plan our limited weekends in Beijing wisely in order to get around to seeing more interesting sites. I don't regret the decision at all because the Summer Palace was amazing. We spent 6 hours there and still didn't get to see everything or learn about everything (unfortunately we opted out of a tour guide to save time and money). Even though it was ridiculously hot/humid and we were having serious trouble breathing at the end of the day (that's how horrible pollution is), the scenery and bonding time was completely worth it. It was an unusual change of perspective for me to see a Chinese palace after years of European castles, especially since almost every sign in the Summer Palace read "after being burned by the Anglo-Franco forces..." And in many ways, scoping out the Chinese population milling around was just as entertaining as the magnificent structures and scenery.
(The five of us who deviated in front of the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity)
(View of Kunming Lake and the Temple of Buddha in the background)
(The Seventeen Arch Bridge)
(The Marble Boat)
(On the steps leading up to the thing on top of Longevity Hill behind the Buddha Tower... I'm lame and don't actually know what it's called =/)
(Suzhou Street)
(The Tower of the Fragrance of Buddha, affectionately nicknamed "Oh, that Big Thing!" by an ignorant yours truly)
(View of Longevity Hill complex from the Temple)
(View of willows and lakes from the little paddle boat we rented)
(The Jade Belt Bridge)Host Family:
Today my host family invited me to their home for lunch and to see how middle-class Beijing families live. They live with the son's grandparents to take care of them in their old age, but actually have two other homes in Beijing because they're government employees and get benefits like that. The grandparents are really adorable, originally Shanghainese octagenarians who fed me herbal cough meds because my throat is itchy (hopefully from yesterday's pollution and not a cold...). The flat was very typical of what I imagine a Chinese home to look like, although apparently bigger and more modern versions are really common nowadays. It was a huge relief to have a home-cooked meal, and I suppose any opportunity to practice my Chinese with natives is a good thing. Conversation can get frustrating when I don't know how to describe things or awkward when Mao gets brought up, and sometimes I feel like they try a little too hard to prove that Chinese are more Americanized than we think, but otherwise it's refreshingly eye-opening to note what matches my expectations and what doesn't.
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