going to BLCU? Introduce yourself here!

[babygodzilla]

where is everyone gonna be living? is there anyone living in the Conference Centre? does anyone know how much it costs for students to live there?

[pete]

godzilla,

i've booked a room in the conference centre hotel just for a few nights while i look for something better/cheaper. It costs 107 RMB per night, and that's for a single with private bathroom. Their phone number is 0086 10 82303778.

Pete.

[Zoolander]

Hi everyone,

First name: Dom

Age: 22

Location: Australia

Program: One Semester program (beginners intensive)

Arrival date: 9th September

Why chinese: I'm Chinese Australian and have been brought up in Aust for most of my life. I'm looking for personal and career development and have a mate who's been studying at BLCU who's had a ball!

I'm looking for an apartment to stay at near BLCU... please let me know if you can help out.

Cheers,

Dom

[mikejewison]

Name: Mike

Age: 24

Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA

Hmm...seems like there are quite a few interesting people studying at bclu this fall. Why go to China? It's a great chance to learn about one of the oldest cultures on the earth. Plus as a recent grad i think I need to break out of my comfort zone a little. I myself have never been to China, but I have heard from people it is a great experience! I am doing the 20 week intensive, and I have really no Chinese background except for the Chinese that I have been trying to teach myself prior to leaving. I am going to Hong Kong on the 7th of September, then Beijing on the 11th. If anyone is going to be in HK before going to Beijing, drop me a line.

Ciao,

Mike

[minipig]

i am currently based in hk and will be moving to beijing in mid-october. i'm taking the 12 week course beginning 31 oct but may extend for a further 12 weeks if i like it. would love to make some new friends.

[Locke]

Hi everyone,

First name: Mathias (Mat)

Age: 23

Location: China/Beijing

Program: Bachelors Degree 4 years

Arrival date: 2 years ago

Hello, I'm swedish and have studied in BLCU for 2 years. If anyone needs any help or have any questions then you can email me at huoshanren@yahoo.com, add me on MSN: masiasu@hotmail.com or call me: 13691264882 but first make sure to send me an sms before calling since I rarely pick up calls from people I don't know.

PS: When you are at the airport don't take anything else but the normal taxi. It should not cost more than 60-70 RMB (chinese currency) to get from the Airport to BLCU. It doesn't matter how much the people at the airport yell, pull or bite, you should never under any circumstance take anything but a normal taxi. The "black" taxis will always try to trick you into paying stupid sums of money to get you from the airport to any place in Beijing (this is their living). As soon as you step out of the airport building all they see is a prey waiting to be striked at. You should never pay more than 80 rmb to get from the airport to BLCU that includes the 10 rmb toll fee. If you are paying more than 80 rmb then you are getting tricked. The normal taxis might be able to trick you for 10 rmb (because they can't go around in circles forever), but the "black" taxis sets a price before you get to your destination and I have heard people who have paid more than 300 kuai which is more than 3 times than what you should have paid in the first place. This not only effects you but it has a devastating effect on all foreigners living in Beijing, because getting tricked by them only makes them believe that all foreigners are equally as gullible and you have to spend alot of time fending them off. In other words TAKE A NORMAL TAXI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[greenberg]

Mat,

What is normal taxi and how do we know which one?

Thanks

[puja]

The normal Taxis have little red signs with a price between 1.20 and 2.00 kuai on them.

Puja

[greenberg]

Many thanks Puja

Sorry for the question,

What kind of Color is the taxi and where is the sign?

Thanks

BTW When you stay at Xi Jiao, how much was the rate and at which building ?

As I was quoted RMB 420 for a standard room, in building 3

[puja]

The Taxis can have different colours, but the most usual are red and those new two-coloured yellow-lilac or yellow-green ones. Just look out for the signs with the price on it.

I paid 290 for a standard room in Building No 2 which is just like No 3. 420 is the normal price though. I got my reservation through http://www.beijingservice.com I think. Also you can bargain yourself with them.

Puja

[Locke]

Thanks Puja for answering the question about the colour. I just want to add some stuff.

The Normal Taxi's will all have a taxi-meter which all of them start at 10 kuai (once the taxi starts moving and the driver pulls down the "available" sign). One other important detail is that normal taxi drivers won't come up to you and ask you if you want a taxi, they will be waiting in their car or outside their car for someone to approach them. There is a special lane for taxis so you will see alot of them bunched together (I don't know if there may be some times when there is not alot of taxis at the airport atleast there has always been atleast 4-5 at the same place when I have been there).

There is 10 kuai tollfee that needs to be paid, so don't be surprised if the meter says 60 but they ask you for 70 or it says 70 and they ask you for 80.

One more thing. Their will be people at the airport that seem to want to help you with your luggage, always REFUSE. This is just a way for them to try and trick you into using a "black" taxi or try to trick you into giving them some money.

How to behave at the airport

When looking around never look directly at people, always look as if you are looking through them and don't even try to communicate with them (to show that you are not even noticing them). The only thing you need to say is "bu yao" and just walk towards a normal taxi. If possible try to say "bu yao" as fast as possible(to show that you are impatient and won't give them any time).

[elli]

whats up people!!!

To those adjusting to life in Beijing, how has your experience been? Anyone have to squat to use the toilets ?!!?

As for me, I'm coming from California and arriving in BJ on the 14th. I'm excited/joyful/happy/ecstatic to live in BJ and to meet all of you. And at the same time wary of being swindled

Let's get together and pre-party before school starts!!

Peace

Elmer

[roddy]

About a month after you all started arriving - thought I'd bump this up to the top in the hope of hearing how you're all doing . . .

Roddy

[Harvey]

Hopefully most of them are still alive...

[shadopup]

I live in building 1. I did absolutely no research on this place before I arrived mainly because I'm lazy but also because I only found out that I would be going to BLCU at the end of this past July. I arrived around August 28 at BLCU.

are what I have felt like doing on many an occasion. So far I like my main class a lot, the teacher is quite good. Yes there are a lot of foreigners here and unless you make an effort, you won't meet any Chinese people (especially if you look or are Chinese like me). If you don't look Chinese, you actually might have an easier time (apparently other non-Asians I know said they were simply approached by Chinese people wanting to do a language exchange). Consequently, you may feel like you are learning more about every other country except China.

I didn't really come here with any expectations but it can be difficult to get used to the way things work here. I still haven't gotten used to it myself after almost two months here. Once you jump over the initial hurdles (and trip and fall over and jump over them again a few more times) everyday tasks become relatively painfree to accomplish and you'll be learning Chinese in no time. I'll be studying here for one year and am currently in Elementary Level 2 Xia. Will be starting Elementary Level 3 Shang book in a couple of weeks.

Feel free to say hello anytime.

Davie

[puja]

Hi,

most people I know are still alive, I think

after beeing here a little more than 2 month now, I would say I'm quite used to living in beijing now.

As David already said, it's not that easy to get in contact with real chinese as most students on campus are everything but chinese. Only as a foreign looking person you get approached sometimes, but that's only for languagepartnership, which sometimes can be a little bit too much on the english side than you would like to.

Also you get to know people from all (and I mean ALL) around the world here at BLCU, which is great

Next week are midterm exams for the longterm students so we're all having a stressfull week now, trying to fuxi all the things we learned in the past 6 weeks. And about everyone else i know is busy with something, too, so don't expect anyone to write a lot here

Best regards,

Puja

[adamjunid]

Hello!

Thank you for the helpful advice. I'm in BLCU's 5 week program from Dec 2005 to Jan 2006, and I'd like to return for longer programs.

My first name's Adam, Chinese name Ya Dang or Ju Xiansheng. I can't remember how the characters are written or how to key them in. Am 32, from Malaysia, currently studying at UNSW. I've been wanting to study Mandarin for ages to communicate with Mandarin-speaking students and people I meet who mainly converse in Mandarin. If there are good Cantonese programs you know of, do post them!

Best regards.

[etcetera24]

Hi Roddy,

Thanks for your concern, to echo Puja and Dave, most of us have settled in quite nicely to Beijing and BLCU life. The forums have helped the process and quite a few of my friends here are actually people I first met on these forums. Classes are going well and I am quite happy with my BLCU class - corollary being that I have good teachers (luck is involved here), good classmates, and it's not important to me to practice speaking in class since I'm here primarily to learn reading and writing.

A language partner is necessary if you really want speaking practice. Even if you aren't approached by students everywhere you go, there are plenty of notices for language partners posted around campus (especially outside the Friendship Store). Teachers may unexpectedly help out too, such as mine who randomly asked if I wanted a language partner one day.

Like Puja, I am busy with studying for midterms. I also just secured an english tutoring job with a 15-year old kid for 2 hours each week; it is nice to have some cash coming in instead of going out!

All is going well

cathy

[han-han88]

Hi guys,

My maiden post on this forum. Just wanted to introduce myself. By the way, any other students enrolling in BLCU for the September intake, that are currently in Melbourne, Australia, please feel free to contact me by PM on this board so we can get together and share stories / plan the trek there. I'm friendly and don't bite! =)

first name: Hans (Chinese name is Lee Han Shang, only Chinese characters I know to write)

age: 26

where are you from: I'm Dutch Chinese, currently completing dual degree honours at Monash University, Melbourne, AUS.

are you in the 12 week program or one year program: I'll be starting with the 12 wk program first, and see how we go from there.

why are you studying chinese: I am Chinese, but my parents didn't teach me their dialect (though I can understand it), and I wanted to learn Chinese because I felt that it was just something I had to do. (Weird?)

[jrsam]

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