CFAU has grown on us

There is no doubt that our first post was a little pessimistic about CFAU…perhaps a little sarcastic regarding the facilities, the food, and Beijing in general. However, we must say that over the past two weeks we have grown to appreciate the university and what the city has to offer much more than before.

1. Total focus – Both of us are thoroughly enjoying our Mandarin classes and are working quite hard at it. We are able to push each other a little bit as it isn’t easy to slack off when the other guy is doing his homework. We can now read and write some simple sentences with Hanzi (Chinese characters) and can even have some simple conversations with the locals. Additionally, our teachers are excellent and provide us with a wonderful learning environment. Well, for the exception of one teacher who seems a little insane – but has a fantastic “comb – over”  which at least provides us with a morning laugh.

2. Networking opportunities are endless – David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary was recently on campus giving a speech as part of his visit to Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart. They wouldn’t let us meet him but he was still here so we must give some credit to CFAU for being able to bring in the heavy hitters.

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband at CFAU

The other day we were watching CNN and a live interview was being done with a professor at CFAU. Just so happens that he is an expert on China –  Canada relations and was staying in one of the diplomatic rooms in our international student building a few floors above us! Jesse made contact with him and went up to talk to him and he will be a great resource for both of us while writing our dissertations. He is part of the China Institute at the University of Alberta and will return to Beijing in late April to teach a basic politics course at CFAU.

CFAU is currently hosting “African diplomats from English-speaking countries.” haha – yes that is what was flashing across the electronic notice board in front of the International Exchange Center. Although the sign is ridiculous, we hope to engage with these individuals over the next few days.

The University of Kent is having an Alumni Reception in Beijing in mid April and we were invited by the Vice-Chancellor. A former alumni of Kent is the former Chinese Ambassador to the UK and a current Vice Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was a former student of John Groom (our Foreign Policy Analysis Professor) and an invitation has been passed on to her in hopes she will be able to attend. We are certainly looking forward to speaking with her.

We are also meeting with First Secretary Xing Yuchun from the Department of North American and Oceanic Affairs within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later this week! We hope to get a tour of the MFA and gain valuable insights regarding Chinese foreign policy and politics in general.

Finally, we are meeting with Da Wei – who is the Deputy Director of the Institute of America Studies in late April as he as offered to answer our questions regarding our dissertation topics.

3. Western Food Please? As can be imagined, we develop a craving for something other than rice and noodles once in a while. Amazingly, McDonald’s has a 24-hour delivery service available in Beijing (and a few other major Chinese cities) and we have taken advantage on a couple of occasions. And we’re not the only ones, we see the same guy on his electric bike at least once a day, carrying the box-like container as a backpack. Neither of us are huge fans of McDonald’s, so luckily it’s not a regular thing. Otherwise we might come back several pounds overweight.

Both of us, however, would love to get a sandwich of some kind. There is Subway, but a good french baguette with lettuce, tomato and some sort of meat would probably make us the happiest people in the world.

4. Weekend Activities. Last Friday we were invited to a party by several other foreign students studying at CFAU. The theme was a White Party and is one of 4 themed parties put on by a group every year. We first went to the student area near Beijing University, which was full of expats, before heading to the giant warehouse building that was housing the party. Apparently not everyone got the memo about it being a white party, as a good number of people showed up in whatever it was the wanted, but the atmosphere was great.

Dressed in White

The Yellow Dust. As you may have read in the news recently, Beijing was hit with a horrific dust storm, courtesy of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. A regular occurrence in the spring, the dust forced the closure of the airport and forced most people to stay indoors. It also coated everything in a fine layer of yellow dust and forced its way inside our room, leaving our computers, the tv and our floor with a distinct hue.

Capital Museum. CFAU offers cultural activities every now and then to the international students and earlier this week we were taken on a tour of the Capital Museum, a collection of artifacts from several dynasties (Ming and Qing included) housed in a modern building, enhanced by the architecture that derives from traditional Chinese shapes. It was quite interesting, though with 5 floors of exhibits, it was way to much to look at in just a couple of hours. With a civilization that is over 4000 years old, China has a wealth of culture that was clearly exhibited in the vases, jewlery, statues, tapestries and everything else. Future trips include one to the Great Wall, so we look forward to more of these outings.

Gold and jewel encrusted Qing Dynasty artifact

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