My experience as a Beijing Language and Culture University student (2011-12)
27 September 2011
China came into the picture when I was in 6th grade. This is when dad’s work had him travelling across China. One fine day, he decided to move us there to see what it was like, living together was the main idea. Me, my brother and my sister were sent to Beijing Hai Dian Foreign Language School (北京海淀外国语实验学校) which for us, was the first taste of the chinese people, chinese food, the language, culture, everything. I have a whole diary consisting of my escapades but this blog is not about that time or the others times I’ve spent in China. This time I find myself in Beijing yet again, pursuing a diploma in mandarin at an university called Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) (北京语言大学).
Class of 2011-2012 @ BLCU with Zhang Laoshi
BLCU friends
The population in Beijing is exploding, but ironically you wont find the streets of Beijing littered, or cars jumping red lights, or cars trying to take over other cars. They have traffic jams, yes, but lined-up traffic, completely civilized.
Food and Culture
Food plays a very significant part here in China and thank God it does! Its an understatement that I love Chinese food, whether its the half fried cabbage dipped in traditional sauces or the famous hot pot or SiChuan dishes and the list goes on.
The thing about Chinese food is that there is literally no end.
WangFuJin is one famous place where you’ll find street vendors selling everything from fried cockroaches to scorpions on sticks. Recently a friend of mine told me that she heard snake meat is delicious and that we should try it …Riiight. There are hundreds of restaurants, one after the other and please note none of them will ever be empty and so I think to myself – A restaurant business in China can never fail. Having your meals in a day is not just eating to stay alive for the Chinese, its an event.
You go to a restaurant, you get a menu (read: book of options), you order dishes (soup, cold dishes, hot dishes, beverage, finally, dessert anyone?) and relish the most amazing food culture in the whole world.
Its amusing what the waiters at the door say when you’re leaving the restaurant – ‘man zou’ (慢走) which means go slowly, wishing for us to get home safely. Its actually very cute and I don’t think they have that anywhere else in the world.
Putting aside the phonetics involved, the Chinese language is essentially different because little do people know, but the characters are derived from pictures (Chinese Pictography). That’s unlike any other language. This is one race that decided to do it differently.
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ha ha. enlightening :p … and a nice touch of humour. Am sure u must be looking forward for many such trips across the great wall 🙂
This is quite insightful. I think it’d be incredibly interesting for a Chinese person to read about how his country appears to a relative outsider.
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Thank you guys 🙂
shud have read it mch earlier…bt its nvr too late…trully speakin reading dis waz lyk u narrating it infrnt of me…wid humor n expressions!!!! good prachi…u different n do things differently!!!!! kp it up!!!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ha ha. enlightening :p … and a nice touch of humour. Am sure u must be looking forward for many such trips across the great wall 🙂
This is quite insightful. I think it’d be incredibly interesting for a Chinese person to read about how his country appears to a relative outsider.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Thank you guys 🙂
shud have read it mch earlier…bt its nvr too late…trully speakin reading dis waz lyk u narrating it infrnt of me…wid humor n expressions!!!! good prachi…u different n do things differently!!!!! kp it up!!!
Thanks for your feedback Rashmi! 🙂