Inside Student Blogs

Anne Ciccarelli Beijing, Spring 2012

Anne Ciccarelli is a junior at Northwestern University with a major in Asian Languages and Civilizations and minors in Linguistics and Asian-American Studies. She is from Palo Alto, California, and does not like Chicago winters. However, she gets through them by participating in the Northwestern University Marching Band, Chi Omega, and Dance Marathon in addition to spending quality time cramming for midterms. She has never been to China, but has been to Japan and Canada, and all over the United States. While in Beijing, she hopes to become more fluent in Chinese and impress her friends with insider knowledge of Chinese culture, politics, and food.

Anne's Posts

• Bye, Beijing

  5/30/12 • (1)

  I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to Beijing, but I will certainly always thank it for the interesting four months it gave me.

  Beijing, China, reflection, Shanghai, Study Abroad, suzhou, Travel

• Tibetan Studies: Riding the Railway

  5/09/12 • (1)

  The Qinghai-Tibetan Railway, which opened a few years ago to both applause and protests, is a big factor in Lhasa’s recent urbanization and expansion.

  Beijing, China, lhasa, railroad, tibet

• Tibetan Studies: Living in Lhasa

  5/07/12 • (0)

  Lhasa is a city of many sides, booming with economic activity due to the increased flow of people and suffering from poverty, tense cultural and political situations, and a climate that doesn’t always agree with entrepreneurship.

  Beijing, China, lhasa, Study Abroad

• Tibetan Studies: Unveiling Ütsang

  5/07/12 • (0)

  While Lhasa showed us where Tibet might be going in the next five or ten years, seeing the tiny villages and open space showed us where the region came from, and some of its roadblocks to modernization today.

  Beijing, Camping, China, lhasa, tibet

• Everything About Bells

  4/13/12 • (2)

  We figured that there would be at least one rather large bell – we had no idea that the entire temple complex was completely devoted to bells.

  Beijing, bells, big bell temple, China, dazhongsi, history, IES, Study Abroad, Temple

• 

  Private Enterprise in China

  4/05/12 • (0)

  While the buildings were beautiful, extravagant, and profitable, the retail areas seemed to have more empty storefronts than actual shops.

  Beijing, China, Economics, IES, SOHO, Stone, Study Abroad

• An Exercise in Imperfection

  4/04/12 • (1)

  I had no grade dependent on my calligraphy performance, so I was able to try without fear of failure, appreciate the art form, and loosen up a bit.

  Beijing, calligraphy, China, IES, Study Abroad

• 

  Spring Snow

  3/21/12 • (1)

  Overnight, as the temperature dropped to below freezing, the rain turned to snow, and we got to wake up this morning to a snow-covered Beijing.

  Beijing, China, IES, snow, Study Abroad

• 798 Art Zone and Block 1

  3/12/12 • (2)

  Seeing their opinions through their art really helped me understand a little more about China’s complicated past hundred years, and more importantly, how different people feel in reaction.

  798 art zone, Beijing, China, IES, modern chinese literature, Study Abroad

• 

  The Other Beijing Parks

  3/08/12 • (1)

  For the past two weekends, some of the other IES students and I managed to get to two parks that stay mostly off foreign to-see lists.

  Beijing, China, fragrant hills, IES, Study Abroad, yuanmingyuan

• Welcome to Europe

  3/05/12 • (1)

  In five or ten years, Tianjin would probably be a pretty cool place to go be a tourist.

  Beijing, China, Study Abroad, tianjin

• 

  Longqing (is) Gorge(ous)

  2/16/12 • (3)

  It felt kind of like Disneyland, except made out of ice and without rides.

  Beijing, China, longqing gorge

• Notte prima degli esami

  2/09/12 • (3)

  When I told my tutor that I had my test tomorrow, he just stared at me, nodded, and said “jia you” – good luck.

  Beijing, China, chinese, exams, Study Abroad

• 

  The Not-So-Forbidden City

  1/25/12 • (2)

  Overall, it was a gorgeous day, and being able to see the Forbidden City gave us more of an appreciation for China’s cultural legacies, and how its history plays a part in today’s modern society.

  Beijing, China, Field Trip, Forbidden City, its, jingshan park, photography, Study Abroad, tiananmen

• 

  The Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall

  1/24/12 • (2)

  We were able to walk over pictures of the “suburbs” of Beijing to find the IES building and the Haidian streets we were starting to get to know. We were able to appreciate the sprawl of the giant city and see things in the big picture. Most importantly, we were able to see where the city came from and where it is going.

  Beijing, beijing planning exhibition hall, China, city, IES, museum, Study Abroad, urban planning

• 

  BRB, In China

  1/13/12 • (2)

  Instead of spending time packing, I walked around Palo Alto and took pictures during the days leading up to my flight to Beijing.

  Beijing, california, China, Pre-Departure, Study Abroad Blogs