International Student Center

Ya que Echeverría se anda quejando de que no escribo suficiente, les paso un artículo que sobre mi dorm y mi universidad que escribí para una clase online que estoy tomando a través de BC. Ojalá les guste... así por lo menos se enteran de cómo es mi vida en Beijing!


Con Juan y Ernesto--el grupo latinoamericano de TBC en su totalidad



Ana María y yo en nuestro cuarto! Nótese nuestro finísimo tendedero de ropa... jeje.. fuera de bromas nos tocó un cuarto súper grande... de puras suertudas



As a non-Mandarin-speaking foreigner with no previous experience in China, I find Beijing extremely intimidating. I never know where I am, I cannot read the signs, nor can I ask people for directions. Fortunately, my living arrangements are comfortable, homey, and convenient. Because of this safe haven, the chaotic maze of chatting pedestrians, insistent street vendors, disorganized traffic, and massive buildings becomes an exciting adventure, not a source of stress.

The city’s geographical and political center is Tiananmen Square--the rest of the metropolitan area sprawls around it in five concentric rings. UIBE (the University of International Business and Economics) is located in the north-eastern Chaoyang district between the third and fourth ring roads, less than eight kilometers away from the center of the city. The International Student Center (my dorm) and TBC (The Beijing Center, where I take my classes) are both housed in this university’s campus.

I share a room in the fifth floor of the International Student Center building with Ana María Perez, my Ecuadorian friend from Boston College. Because water in China is not safe to drink, the thermos TBC gave us has proven to be a lifesaver. There is a kitchen in our floor where we can get boiled water--we pour some into bottles which we store in the fridge and keep some warm for tea and coffee. Hot water is central to the Beijing experience; people serve it to you at restaurants and Chinese students pay to fill up their thermoses and then carry them around all day. I like it, but Ana thinks it will get really annoying in the summer months.

At first Ana and I were not happy with the shower; it is just a hose, so we expected the bathroom to flood every time we showered. Fortunately, it doesn’t. I figure this type of shower saves water and it is the least we can do in a country with water shortages, especially if we have been provided with a Western toilet. Chinese toilets are just holes in the floor--they consume much less water, but they tend to be a bit uncomfortable and dirty. There are the occasional bugs, the gym is ‘minimalist,’ and we only get hot water at certain times, but we consider ourselves very lucky. We even feel a bit ashamed sometimes because our Chinese classmates live in 10,000 people dorms, six people to a room, with outdoor bathrooms, and an 11 pm curfew.

The ISC building houses almost all the TBC students, as well as some students from Korea, other international programs, etc. Most of the TBC students are Americans from Jesuit universities, but there are two girls from Barcelona, a French student from Fordham, a Portuguese Marquette student, and two Latin-American boys from St. Louis and Fairfield. Students enrolled in intensive Chinese courses can room with a Chinese student, so there are also some locals in the building. Although living in international housing is a little alienating from the culture, it is very comfortable and has allowed me to befriend TBC people very quickly. I figure I will get my share of cultural immersion when I go to the south-western province of Yunnan this Saturday and stay in villager’s houses. Also, since most UIBE students study English, some are eager to make friends to practice the language. I have already gone out for lunch with a girl I met at a neighboring restaurant and my Chinese tutor.

Because we don’t know the language, it is very difficult for us to get around in Beijing. Living on campus cushions this limitation--we have a three-floor cafeteria, a restaurant, two grocery stores, a copy place, a coffee shop, dry-cleaners, several ATMs, several food stands, and a school-supply store all within campus. Right out of our school’s gates we have a huge array of restaurants, two banks, a supermarket, the post office, a nice river to walk by, a travel agency, a wi-fi Western coffee shop, beauty salons, etc., etc. Also, TBC gave us a set of index cards with places of interest written down in English, pinyin, and Mandarin, which we use to communicate with taxi drivers. Chaoyang is the largest urban district in Beijing and relatively close to the center, so most bars, restaurants, sites, and tother places we frequent are close enough for a cab ride. Ana and I took the subway once; there is a station walking-distance from school and we thought it was very efficient and cheap.

There is nothing that I can say I really miss about my living conditions in Boston or home in Lima. TBC and ISC make a very conscious effort to make us feel comfortable and at home. Some things are not up to the standards I am used to; but in most aspects I feel really pampered. I wanted to come to a different culture and be uncomfortable, but to a certain extent I need a safe haven to be psychologically at ease and thus be able to appreciate the culture calmly. If I were staying for a longer period of time I would probably want greater immersion. For less than six months, I can’t afford to spend half my time dealing with excessive culture shock. One of my classmates applied for a home stay and had to return to the dorm because he couldn’t deal with the intense cultural differences; I am glad I am not in the same position.