北京

I am no longer an unproductive member of society skiving at home but a student! I am currently enrolled in the Language Class in ×××. I am a Lone Ranger in the class as my classmates are all from Korea, Indonesia and Turkey! It is quite embarrasing having studied 中文 for 12 years however my standard is way below theirs! A couple of them even have the BJ Accent! I am hoping that at the end of the 15weeks programme I will have a slight accent! The only means of communication I have with my classmates is 汉语! One good thing about being in the class is that I am 'forced' to use my Mandarin. A drawback of being the ONLY Singaporean there is that I have only my shadow to keep me company during lunch breaks! The school is too tiny to have a SSA unlike Beida. The locals and foreigners are extremely cliquish among their own nationalities so it is extremely hard to weave my way into their tightly knitted circles.


One thing which I dislike about school is that smoking is allowed along the corridors during break. The students are Heavy Smokers! It is quite sickening because the Smoke will drift into the classrooms and will linger inside for a long time. It gives me a huge headache!


To my utter dismay I have a 5 days school week. I have 3 full days and 2 half days! My half day is equivalent to one lesson for 1h50mins! The Lessons are similar to our secondary school Chinese lessons. We have 课文听写, 作文, 听力 &口语, additional to that we have Business Chinese基本商业课 & 中国文化课! Gag me! I am interested in the last two modules, the remaining modules I find them a little too dry!




Standing in a Sardine Packed Bus ranks high on my least favourite list here! I hate being jabbed as they try to squeeze their bodies past you without a word of ‘请让开’ or ‘对不起’! There is something which I cannot comprehend logically. It is Mid-Day and the bus is stifling hot, yet majority of the beings in the bus refuses to open the window, even if the bus is filled with a sourish over choking smell of smelly sweaty bodies! They ‘enjoy’ sitting in a stuffy bus in the morning than let in the cool morning breeze! When my friend tried opening the window, the person sitting next to the window gave her a chilling dagger glare!


I anticipated cool weather when I packed my suitcase. I didn’t pack in any shorts. Upon arriving I realized that the cool weather will only set in a month later! I am suffering in my jeans during my afternoon sessions because the School is weird! Ever since they installed Aircon into all the classrooms, they disconnected the fans! They did a slipshot job, they cut the wiring of the fan but left the fan there! To save on their electricity bills, they do not switch on the Aircon even when the classroom feels like a greenhouse! I am melting in the classroom!

A thought crossed my mind. I wonder what are the China student's thoughts towards foreigners flooding their school?

I admit defeat – I am a Lousy Domestic Goddess! I have a high tendency to undercook my vegetables. I only know how to stir fry vegetables! It has only been a week and I am sick of my own Chinese cooking. I need to find new vegetarian recipes. I am trying to come out with more westernized dishes! Last week I ate Tuna Fish Pasta! I ‘forced’ my housemate to eat it! Once every month, she has agreed to eat fish with me! Can tomatoes are very expensive here, I resorted to making my own tomato base! This week I will be making tofu burger. Will update about its taste and load up pictures of it(:



Weekends are deeply treasured! My second weekend in BJ has ended and I have yet to discover the city! Will be spending Golden Week in BJ, hopefully I can do more sightseeing then!