Mid-march, spring brings along warm weather, up 20 degrees Celsius, or about 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Flowers buds are occasionally spotted, sprinkled across naked tree branches. A blanked of grey covers the campus. I try to …
Tsinghua University
Making use of the time at Tsinghua
To best utilize time at Tsinghua, don’t focus on the courses here. Using UW Madison as a standard, the coursework at Tsinghua doesn’t come to par. It’s the connections with the people in Beijing, in …
Day Two of Celebrating the Holidays in Beijing
The holidays in Beijing have begun. We call it Chinese New Year’s, Lunar New Year in the States. China it’s the Spring Festival or simply New Years. Traditionally, it’s a two-week long celebration, running from …
How to eat noodles like a Guangzhouvian
Guangzhouvian: [ˈɡwɑŋˈdʒo: vɪrn] A person from Guangzhou Guangzhouvians admire food. For them, there is a process to eating and drinking tea that is slowly fading away. But fear not! I found some locals that still …
Net Café > Net Bar
网吧 （ｗǎｎｇ ｂā）： Internet Bar 网咖 （ｗǎｎｇ ｋā）: Internet Café The last time I met my cousin Fran, we found out that we both played League of Legends, a popular online game in the states and China. We had …
The Wonders of Tiananmen and September Third
My cousin, Korina, flew into Beijing a couple days ago. When I was in elementary School, I went to her house just about every weekend. She will be studying in Beijing for a semester. My …
Arriving in Beijing
If we’re talking nerves, I didn’t have them when I first arrived. I had everything packed, twice. Before I left the states, my parents gave me an old SIM card from a Chinese phone carrier …
Parents and Departure
7/30 This summer, during the few months before my departure, I went back home to Greendale. Sterling, my older brother, his departure to Singapore overshadowed my return home. You see, my parents run a restaurant. …
My China Away from China
7/15 A couple weeks ago, I went to Chicago to file in my visa request to study abroad at the embassy. I visited my grandma after. She lives in a senior-community apartment complex on the …
Ten Things I Am Looking Forward to in Beijing
Over the past few years of researching online, interviewing past China study abroad participants, and grilling professors about their experience in China to plan this opportunity abroad, I have collected a few nuggets of insight: …