Who's going to BNU for 07/2006?

[adrianlondon]

Class 100 for you

thanx... see u there! haha...

You wish! Class 102 for me. I'm actually scared because I know two people who've got into 102 and they speak so much better than me. I think because my grammar is good I managed to get answers to some of the questions by clever guessing. Oh well. Changing down is very easy but we';ll see how it goes. I'm in 102-11 and have 3 classes starting at 8am tomorrow. Yeuch.

The BNU book says it's not possible to switch classes within the same level, but I think that's just to stop certain classes getting full if one hears about a particularly good teacher. If you want to be with a friend you may be OK.

[Erikssc]

Haha, I only need to get up for the 8:00 classes two times a week. That will suit me very well.... unless I have to change of course. I'm in 202-07, and from the names on the list I would guess that my class mates are 4 Koreans, 1 Japanese, 1 German, 1 Russian, 1 Polish, 1 Indonesian and 1 from Hong Kong. Tomorrow I will find out how good I am at name guessing...

[ABC_79]

I'm up for checking out the martial arts class in Wangfujing. I also saw something about the school offering Wushu as an elective. Hoping to find out more about that, but the BNU website doesn't seem to be too helpful. I've done some Karate and TKD back in the States, so it would be interesting to see the Chinese version. My bf and I also brought our tennis racquets, if anyone else is interested in a game.

Wish I found this site earlier but not sure if people really wanted to hear me gripe. I've been here since early July, did the summer session with my bf. We've been traveling around Southern China the last few weeks, so we're pretty tired and happy to be back "home". We stayed at dorm #2 when we first arrived, a week before the summer classes started, and didn't really care for the small rooms and the "kitchen". So we found an apt through a friend/broker "JoJo" and we're quite content. Let me know if you guys need help finding a place, "JoJo" is great at it!! She's been more than just a broker, she's our angel! Once, she even waited in line with us at the bank, for over an hour!! She even helped another of our friends buy linen. I could go on and on about her...

Anyways, see everyone in class tomorrow...I'll be in 101.10

[Jamoldo]

the only complaints I have as a student in 101-15 is that I will have classes Friday Afternoon, which is not cool at all. Can someone say, switching?

[adrianlondon]

My. God.

Serves me right for doing well in the test. I'm in 102 (11). First day of class and I had an 8am start. 报刊 : newspaper reading.

I didn't understand a word. I think everyone else in my class (maybe everyone else at the 102 level) has either studied previous semesters at BNU or has studied Mandarin formally elsewhere. I haven't. I think I spoke very clearly in my oral exam and cleverly guessed the multiple choice questions.

I'm going to try the 101 classes this afternoon.

[Jamoldo]

I am in 101 and i understood 5% of what the laoshis said. The others in the class are either on the same page as I am or only understood 10%. The teachers seem to know it too...

[adrianlondon]

101 was better. I had "ting li" and I understood the subject of what was said. I didn't catch a lot of the words, but then I think everyone else in my class (all Asian) were there because they had studyed 100 at BNU. So they knew the format and the type of language used.

My teacher in London was Taiwanese and they don't use the same idioms.

However, 101 for me is good. 102 was too hard. At least changing (down) was easy!

[KungFoo]

I was wondering where you were Adrian!!!!!

We had Tingli in the afternoon and it wasnt TOOOO bad, it was 85% understandable. The teacher was very nice too. It was about 30% easier than that Baokan lesson in the morning.

Kungfu finders, theres the electives in Wushu coming up after a few weeks. That will probably have less martial aspects of martial arts and more a showy dance which is OK modern culture wise. I went to the Wangfujing place last night, I think its too stressful to go there in the evening regularly, also wasnt the best class. There is another place towards the north, about a mile and a bit Id say. Heres their site, I am going there tomorrow. If its good I will be purchasing a bike to make the trip there.

http://www.ywjudo.com/

[Erikssc]

I went down to room 305 in the main building (right wing) today to ask about electives. They said it will be posted in a day or two on the boards outside room 305. They will probably have wushu, calligraphy and so on.

[KungFoo]

Thanks for the info, I am interested in learning calligraphy.

[Jamoldo]

Anyone have any ideas on what they are doing for this weeklong bliss in which we don't have any classes? I'm personally thinking of going someplace (relatively) close by, like Dalian or Qingdao, both of which I have heard great things about. I was thinking of visiting friends in Seoul or Tokyo but flight tickets seem too expensive (ditto for flights within China).

[KungFoo]

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but classes started yesterday, 12/9/06.

[adrianlondon]

Jamoldo is talking about the week off we get over National Day, 1st October.

[ABC_79]

I've heard ALL of China is a CRAZY place to be during the National Holiday week since practically EVERYONE in China has that week off, and that's a lot of people!! You'll have to make plans early and expect things to be at "peak season prices". For me, I'll be heading to HK. To make things more affordable, I'll be flying to Shenzhen and then taking to a train to HK. A friend is taking a train the whole way back, if you have the time, taking a train can be cheaper. Just remember to book early! I've attached some info my friend sent me.

Otherwise, Lonely Planet was pretty useful when my boyfriend and I were traveling around China the few weeks before classes started. Also, hostels can be pretty helpful in suggesting places to go, like Lotus Hostel. C-trip and E-long are supposed to be China's version of Travelocity, etc. Pretty decent deals. Remember, never pay full price when staying at a hotel, you can bargain!!

Not sure if you guys noticed the train ticket place just north of the bridge on the East gate, but note that they're not the friendliest people in the world...at least the ones we tried to talk to. There are alot of other places that sell train tickets too but prices can vary from place to place.

Otherwise, there's the small travel kiosk in the building where we bought our books that has some relatively decent packages and some other travel agents around campus if you don't want to deal with the hassle of arranging transportation and hotels.

Good luck with travel arrangements...they're never fun, especially in a different language!!

Beijing_Schedule_Mar2006_.doc

[ABC_79]

Did you guys get a chance to check out the club tables by the Southwest gate? I'm thinking about joining the TKD club, it'll be a great chance for me to practice my Chinese and get some exercise. They seem pretty friendly and they do have at least one person who speaks English so I won't be completely lost!!

I couldn't really figure out what some of the clubs did...but from what I could tell, there were a lot of sports clubs like hiking, soccer, badminton, and something with Bruce Lee on the poster, to name a few.

I also did see an English club, not sure if they'd be interested in having us in exchange for helping us practice Chinese. Would be easier/cheaper than paying for one.

Let me know if you guys are interested in the TKD, sounds like they have a demo on Mon night.

=)

[Jamoldo]

Are the club tables on tomorrow? I will have to check this out since I would love to join a club and meet some Chinese that way...

[crow610]

Anyone here in 102-9?

[KungFoo]

Hey ABC, I was thinking of joining the TKD too. I was at the fayre today for a bit, I signed up for the nunchaku class, thats the Bruce Lee one. How long is it on for? I want to swing by and put myself up for the TKD tomorrow. Just had a martial art class now, up further north and my hands are quivering from all that punching, Im sure my legs are going to be dead tomorrow too, that stretching was horrificly painful and Im fairly flexible already.

[Jamoldo]

Anyone up for the football (soccer) club? where exactly is the fair? Is it outside/insied or what

[KingKitega]

Hey Jamoldo - let me know if you find the FOOTBALL club table - I wanna sign up too.

As for the National week holiday in October - the Qingdao/Dalian trip looks good. Maybe take train to Qingdao, then ship to Dalian, then back to Beijing.. Maybe visit some other places on the way too..