Okay gotta keep this short but really have lots of things to talk about but but going to climb the Great Wall of China with my new PiB friends tomorrow morning so so so, yeah.
First of all, just to clarify, my stop after San Francisco was Hong Kong, and I spent a good seven days there catching up with my family. (oh, and I met an old friend from BLCU too!) Hong Kong is heaven. Good, good food, cheap, cheap prices. (well, Beijing's prices are definitely lower than HK's but at HK you can eat without worrying about your stomach's wellbeing) I also didn't do anything productive; I talked, ate, shopped, slept, and repeat after me.
I flew to Beijing on June 20th, and was immediately greeted by the Beijing warmth (and kouyuER) as I endured a two hour taxi ride from the airport to Beijing Normal University. Ahh. Beijing never fails to make me happy. I have finally caught up with my old friends (Hello Indira, I'm talking to you!) and made some new friends from the program. I was lucky enough to bump into a bunch of Berkeley kids, who I look forward to spend more time with.
How is the Chinese class, you ask? I guess Princeton in Beijing is called 'Prison in Beijing' for a reason.. I am actually in the middle of a language pledge right now, so in the presence of my fellow PiBers I can only communicate in Chinese. I have just survived the first week, and in a week I had four small quizzes, an exam, an oral presentation, a debate session, and covered around 700 new words in Chinese. Damn, son. Also, within this past seven days I have been to Wudaokou four times. It seems that I don't quite miss Beijing; I miss Wudaokou instead. ;)
And lastly, I did have a good birthday. Although no one from the program knew that my birthday was three days ago, my parents sent me flowers and chocolates, and my old Manggala (Buddhist Youth Group) threw me a surprise party and bought me cake. How ironic, they are telling me how much chubbier I am compared to last year and they still buy me cake? I know I am in good hands. But really though, I am glad to have friends to celebrate my birthday with although I am in a foreign country! I look forward to spending more time with my old and my new friends! And thank you for the birthday wishes!
Ok, gotta go now!
-Truly Indonesia's Finest.
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