Thunderstorm

This past Wednesday we saw "Thunderstorm" Cao Yu, a famous Chinese playwright. Both the second and third year students impressively kept up with the plot line, full of incest, dishonesty, and complex blood relations.

Bus Tour

For our second weekend outing, we went on a bus tour of the city, stopping at the Olympic Center (Bird's Nest and Water Cube), the Ming Dynasty wall, and Qian Men (a pedestrian street that combines the beauty of ancient China and the innovation of modern-day China). Along the way, we saw Tienanmen Square, the Peking Opera House, among other famous sites.

That evening, we attended a Mongolia music concert. Though many of us were exhausted from a day of adventuring, the expressie music was the perfect ending to a long day.

Mooncakes & Moonbeams

This past Wednesday we celebrated our first Chinese holiday, the Mid-Autumn Festival that falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. This holiday, much like Thanksgiving, values spending time with loved ones.

We spent our time meeting Chinese college and grad school students. Though some of us discovered that mooncakes look better than they taste, all of us discovered that Chinese students have more in common with us than we thought. Despite a minor language barrier, we successfully communicated with them in Chinese. Not only did we get to practice our Mandarin on such an auspicious Chinese holiday, we made many new friends.

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting

This term our FSP's special culture class is a GongFu class taught by a local BNU student. Held every Tuesday and Thursday, our laoshi has us working hard. We're learning everything from the basic horse stance to complex leaps.

All our GongFu training skills came in handy when we had to climb the Great Wall this past Saturday. The part of the wall we visited, Jin Shan Ling, is known for its beautiful scenery, steeper steps, and peaceful atmosphere. We climbed for about three hours, continuously awed by our surroundings.

So far, everyone on our trip has been relatively healthy. The food takes a little getting used to, but we've become quite good at ordering our staple Chinese dishes-- gong bao ji ding, yu xiang qie zi, hong shao niu rou...For the most part, the food is delicious, though once in a while, we pander to our Western food needs by eating a McDonald's or going to a pizzeria.

Birthdays & Acrobats

We had the pleasure of celebrating our first FSP birthday on Tuesday September 14. Even though Mike couldn't be home for his 21st birthday, we celebrated with cake and singing.


The next day, we attended our first Wednesday night cultural activity: the acrobats show. Everyone was amazed by the flexibility and strength of the performers. They dazzled us with plate spinning, and Chinese yo-yo tossing. We saw ten young women elegantly fit themselves on a bicycle, various young men jump through hoops twice their height, and a man juggle ten balls while simultaneously tap dancing. Needless to say, our jaws dropped at the talent of these acrobats.

Though we've been here for less than one week, XinSong GongYu is starting to feel like our home away from home.

Beijing Welcomes You

After over a day of traveling all eighteen Dartmouth FSP students arrived safely at Beijing Normal University on Saturday September 11. We wasted no time getting ourselves getting acquainted with the beautiful, bustling city. Sunday Mao Laoshi treated us to our first formal Chinese meal at the "Yama's" of Beijing.

Although there was mild to extreme facebook withdrawal, we already started forming an FSP family. Thanks to our program veterans James Kordahl and Mike Cooper who studied at BNU this past summer, we found our way around, exploring new restaurants, shops, and streets.