I got to Beibei on Monday (9/5) evening. My first impressions of Chongqing/Beibei are that it is beautiful (Chongqing is in the mountains) and that is really hot and humid (it was over 100 degrees Farenheit for a lot of the summer)! I thought we would be staying in dorms, but we are actually staying in a hotel that is on campus. I am really thankful for the rooms that we have, but I also feel really spoiled and kind of guilty because I know the Chinese students' rooms are not as nice. I am rooming with Kia, and our room has two single beds, two desks, a tv, a small fridge, a closet (that we share), two chairs in a small sitting area by the window, and a bathroom (with a western toilet and a bathtub!) We also have AC, which is my favorite thing about our room!
We got our Chinese language partners yesterday. My partner's (English) name is Olivia, but I really don't know her very well yet at all. We also got access to the internet yesterday, which was an interesting process because we were in a computer lab where very few of the computers actually worked, so we had to take turns. In the evening, we had a banquet with some of the professors and administration at a hotpot restaurant. Chongqing is famous for its spicy hotpot, which is basically a boiling pot of oil with spices in it that you put different kinds of food in (meat, vegetables, dumplings, etc). I was really thankful because they also had a smaller bowl that wasn't spicy. There wasn't room for everyone in one room so we were separated into three. I was in a room with three other students from my trip, the caligraphy teacher, the kung fu teacher (who are both still students), and another Southwest student who is Sam's helper. I thought it was kind of funny because I am not taking the art class (which consists of caligraphy and kung fu), so I won't have either of those guys as teachers.
After the banquet, Kia and I went to the supermarket near our hotel/dorm (which sells all sorts of things- including clothes and shoes). My dress shoes were making my feet hurt so badly (it turned out that one of my heels was bleeding), so I bought a new pair of shoes/sandals for about 15 US dollars. It actually wasn't too difficult even though the lady helping me spoke only a few words of English. We also bought some fruit for the next day (today).
Yesterday, I also found out what my schedule looks like:
Monday- Chinese (language) 9:40 - 12:00
Tuesday- Chinese Literature 9:40 - 12:00, Chinese History & Culture 2:30 - 4:50
Wednesday- Study Abroad Seminar 2:30 - 4:50
Thursday- Chinese (language) 10:30 - 12:00, Chinese History & Culture 2:30 - 4:50
Friday- Chinese (language) 9:40 -10:20, Study Abroad Seminar 2:30 - 4:50
Today is our first day of class, but since it is Wednesday, I don't have class until 2:30. After class today, I am going with Kia and her language partner to buy cell phones (because right now, I can't get ahold of my own language partner).
That's it for now, but I will upload some photos of Beibei as soon as I take some!
