Dry Cough In Beijing

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Hi Everyone!

This may have been one of the worst weeks in Beijing so far..  My week started off with coughing and skipping classes, and on top of that I lost my purse! :( I think my sickness may be due to the air because I’ve only gotten this dry cough in Asia. Fortunately, I only had 3 days of school because we have a week break of school from October 1st-October 7th! This public holiday is called National Day of the People’s Republic of China. During these few days I was able to replace the items I lost and of course rest up. Right now, it’s Saturday and I’m feeling better now, but I still have my dry cough.

On the brighter side, during the holidays I hung out with a couple of girls I met a few weeks ago at the American Embassy. I volunteered at an event for the American Embassy, and they asked me questions about studying in the United States. We really got along and we exchanged contact information. We decided to hang out on Thursday night and they actually took me to the same Nanjing restaurant I went a couple weeks back, but just in a different location. The food at this restaurant was delicious! I tried porridge my friends ordered, and surprisingly it was sweet. A lot of Nanjing dishes are actually sweet, compared to dishes from Sichuan, which is spicy.

 

Yummy.. this is the sweet porridge I tried!
Yummy.. this is the sweet porridge I tried!
Me, Yiyi, and Tina! :)
Me, Yiyi, and Tina! :)

-Jen

Jennifer Au

Ni hao! My name is Jennifer Au and I am a fourth year Biology major at the University of California, Irvine. During Fall 2015 I have been given the amazing opportunity to study at Beijing Normal University for four months to learn Mandarin. I chose this program because it was the one option that included an intensive Chinese language program. I want to learn Mandarin so I could better communicate with other individuals including my family in China. It has always been my dream to reach in and discover the culture of my ancestors and who I really am and through this study abroad program, I will be able to incorporate academics and social development with cultural cognizance. My deep rooted desire to study abroad in China as a Chinese American may seem a little predictable, but this desire mainly stems from my upbringing in a predominate Latino neighborhood, in which I assimilated more with the Latino community and felt significantly displaced from my own culture. Iโ€™m looking forward to meeting the locals and practicing Mandarin with them everyday and trying authentic Chinese cuisine, like Peking duck! I also hope to use my Chinese acquisition as a physician assistant to communicate with patients who may speak Chinese.