Inside Student Blogs

As the semester nears its end I can’t help but remember all the things I’ve done here in China. Three and a half months went by so fast, but it feels like an entire lifetime since I’ve last been home. It’s finally started hitting me that this is my last day in Beijing and I don’t know how I feel about leaving. I haven’t finished packing yet and my flight leaves tomorrow morning. To help me through my China withdrawal process I’ve put together a list of all the things that I am going to miss:

Chuaner 串 (meat on a stick) and the Chuaner guy right outside our dorm

Midnight chuaner study breaks

Chinese roommates cooking in the kitchen

Yelling fuwuyuan! (waiter!) in restaurants

Not having to tip

Random waiguoren (foreigners)

The back streets behind east campus filled with restaurants and Bubble Tea!

Exploring Hutongs

Small shops with cute trinkets on every street

McDonalds delivery at 3am

Late night studying for tingxie quizzes and preparing last minute presentations.

Hot Pot

Eggplant (Chinese people really know how to cook their veggies)

William’s Bakery right outside the IES building

Pomelo

Not being 100% sure if what I just ordered was beef or pig nose cartilage. It has happened…

Pearl Milk Tea

All the amazing flavors of tea, ice cream and snacks that you just don’t find in the USA.

The way the cities come alive at night.

Sharing meals with people.

Seeing cute children running around in the streets with no pants on.

Using vpns to get around China’s great firewall

Conversations with taxi drivers

Random conversations with people just because I’m a waiguoren

Chinese television with its strange commercials

Sanlituaner and Wudaokou (two fun hang out places in Beijing)

The thrill of finding a Starbucks

The ridiculous size and number of women’s shoe stores.

Dumplings

KTV karaoke

Hiking up mountains and through grasslands.

Hanging out at the red coke umbrellas.

The little dogs and cats everywhere (who disappear when you actually need them)

The Beijing subway (and maybe the buses)

Pyro’s Pizza, best pizza in Beijing

Beijing Duck. Yum.

Xidan shopping center and the Silk Market

Bargaining with crazy vendors

Crossing the 5 lane streets with oncoming bikes, cars, carts, and buses.

Huoches (sleeper trains) and bumming around China through hostels and hotels.

How amazingly cheap everything is!

Smelly squat toilets.

Having hot water dispensers everywhere.

Getting really good massages.

Speaking Chinglish (this will be tough to give up).

The Beijing –er!

Sweet potatoes cooking on every street corner.

Swapping QQs with new people you meet.

The crazy air pollution.

Obamao T-shirts and paraphernalia.

Hopping a ride on the back of a friend’s bike to get to the train station.

The crazy traffic jams.

The way people gather to dance and play games in public parks.

Our awesome RAs

All my Chinese teachers and my Chinese tutor.

All of my friends, American and Chinese.

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