Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Visa




Early Tuesday morning, my sister and I took the train to Chicago. I had to go to Chicago to apply for my visa. We made our way over to the Chinese consulate and waited in line. I tried my best to interpret the chinese being said around me. I could pick out a few words here and there, but they talk so fast. Sometimes it sounded like the Chinese people were angry, but it is just because it is a "tonal" language. They have words that require hard sounding tones, which in our culture can come across as aggressive and negative. I waited in line for about 5 minutes and they told me my visa would be done in about 4 hours.


My sister and I took off towards Michigan Avenue and got some coffee. We saw a cool blue Aston Martin on our way down the street, pretty cool. We stopped at Nike, Apple, and Gap on our way to the Millennium Park.

The picture on the right is of a crazy orb in Millennium Park, that reflected the surrounding skyline and interested spectators.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Sneak Peak of Beijing

Here is a little video, so you can all familiarize yourselves with the city that will be my home for the next 5 months.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

China Briefing

I am starting to prepare for my semester long study abroad in China. I will document this experience through daily postings. Right now I am just trying to get everything organized for my trip.

I have been studying the Chinese language now for three semesters at Elon. In China, I will be studying at the Beijing Center. I will live in a dorm with other international students. I am taking 4 classes. Two of those classes are language study, the other two are martial arts and international business. I am starting my stretching now, so I can be the next Jackie Chan.

Arrival in Beijing on January 14th

Classes begin on January 17th

Arrive back home on May 19th