Lu Laoshi had the first of his lectures this semester and it was on Intercultural Communication. Honestly speaking the first time I heard this term I thought it was going to be someone clearly stating …
Mary Bechtol
New Hair, New CIEE, New Internship, Final Semester
With about a week before the new CIEE kids got here, I decided to switch up the hair from my orange/blonde extremely unnatural cheesy (as in it actually looked like I had Mac’n’cheese powder in …
Dinner With the Chinese Version of My Family
I met a really nice Chinese student during the Government and Politics forum our class had last semester with Beijing Foreign Studies University. Just recently she invited me to her house for lunch and to …
Year of the Dragon!!!!!! …. Wait Where Did Everybody Go?
One would think that a city of millions of people wouldn’t be able to clear out in a few days. To all the non-believers: IT CAN HAPPEN. My family left on the 18th of January …
The Bechtol’s in Beijing!
During my heinous 31 hour train experience I often visualized the moment when I would see my family coming out of the airport gates and arriving in the flesh here in China. Knowing my family …
Harbin: the Closest We Ever Got to Narnia
Well it turns out all I needed to buy the train tickets to Harbin was my student ID number! In order to stay at a hostel or hotel here in China you have to present …
Never Thought I’d Call It Home
After a two week long journey to Innter Mongolia, Gansu, and Xinjiang, and going directly from the train station to a Christmas Even dinner at my friend Gabi’s amazing house I got back to my …
Oh, the things I’ve seen
I don’t really remember what I thought of China before I actually came here. I know in America we think of Chinese food, chopsticks, the Olympics, and the Great Wall, but daily life in China …
How do I memorize all this?
I have officially settled in to my dorm and tried to settle in my new life. Class started last week and we also just chose our electives so tomorrow (Monday, September 19) will be my …
Sorry for the wait…
你好大家！(Hello everyone!) I greatly apologize for this taking such a long time to post. After about 27 hours of non-stop traveling, limited Internet service, and lots of orientation, it has been a bit of a …