It’s incredible to think how much we’ve done during the past 48 hours. I suppose keeping a blog has its benefits when you can get a sense of just how much you’ve done.
We ventured out into the city for lunch on Wednesday morning and soon came across side streets littered with irregularly-built shops, cafés and market stalls, giving the impression of being far-flung from our modern hotel building and the University. People were curious about us; I’ve read that Chinese people can stare at foreigners, but I didn’t expect to be stared at quite so much.
I didn’t mind, though. A few of us found a street stall selling noodles, which I quickly ordered and gobbled up- a bargain for about 70p. The nice noodle lady even put them into a bowl for me and sat me down when she realised I was finding the concept of eating noodles from a carrier bag difficult. You don’t get that kind of courtesy often for what is after all cheap fast food.
Back at the University we met for an orientation and then got a chance to go on a tour of the campus with some Chinese students, with whom we talked about everything, from education and aspirations to more sensitive issues like the one-child policy. The two students our group was with had only been learning English (their major) for one year, yet their enthusiasm for Britain and their fluency was incredible. What’s more, it was quite saddening that they had not yet had the chance to visit Britain; they could go and study there for a year providing that they teach back in China for 10 years. If I’m honest, if it was the same choice for me I would think long and hard about my future year abroad for my language degree.
For the evening we decided that a karaoke bar would be the best way to spend our first proper night in Beijing. Travelling by taxi was a good way of drawing closer to the centre with the Vegas-esque neon lights of new, big buildings giving the impression of a city embracing the future. The karaoke bar itself was spectacularly lavish, and even though I couldn’t get as enthusiastic about the music played as other fellows it was a great way of spending an evening.
Yesterday we woke early for our opening ceremony, all uniformly white-clothed in our BNU t-shirts for our group photo. We started our language lessons as well- mainly reviewing the basics which we’d already learned, but nonetheless they were enjoyable, and the teachers were very friendly. Already I want to continue learning about China and the Chinese language.
We were presented with a unique opportunity yesterday evening of getting to visit the British Embassy, where the Ambassador hosted a welcome meeting for us all, complete with a huge framed picture of the Queen, Victorian furnishing and a massive piano: just what we expect of a far-flung British outpost. Talking to people there was an incredibly informative and exciting experience, and left me feeling convinced that we need to see eye-to-eye with China more in the coming years
Talking to one Chinese guest in particular, involved in Corporate Social Responsibility was very interesting. Amongst many things he made the point that he hoped we would go back to Britain and view China in a more positive light, and to not simply believe the line taken by the media about his country, a point which stuck with me as he explained that above all else he considered China a forgiving country, bearing no malice for the wrongs done to it in the past by western nations. I believed him.