Today was very interesting and exciting. We had our first lecture from Claudia and what I thought was going to be incredibly boring actually turned out to be very interesting and informative. I definitely want to check out some of the other landmarks she mentioned during our free time.
The welcome lunch was very eye-opening. The style of eating is very different than here in America. I was surprised at how much food ended up on the table and how the table had a built-in spinner to better access the food. True to form, I tired everything (except for the bean curd). I was surprised to find that some of the foods that looked the strangest actually tasted the best. It is very disconcerting to try a food that you have no clue what it is. I found that the best tactic was to just jump in feet first and just go for it. An interesting thing that stuck out to me at lunch was how the Chinese won’t eat a fish unless it is served with the head and tail attached. It was odd to have your food watch you while you eat it, but the fish was delicious.
I really enjoyed the Tsinghua campus. In many ways it looked like a typical college campus in the U.S. A lot of the buildings were in a western style. My favorite part of the tour, however, was the traditional Chinese garden and the buildings that had more of an eastern flair. Chinese architecture is gorgeous, and it makes me wonder why a lot of the more modern buildings have western architecture. The fact that there were literally thousands of bicycles around campus blew my mind!
Going to the U Center for dinner was fun. I definitely want to go back there in my free time. I also found my staple food: dumplings. Now if I’m not feeling adventurous I know what to eat! I’m really pumped to see Tian’anmen Square tomorrow and I’m planning on taking lots of pictures!