This week went significantly better than last week. I finally feel as if I’ve settled into Beijing and have found a healthy routine to which I can keep myself anchored. This week in classes, we won’t over art and commercialization, a crisis in trust in contemporary China, and music. I was especially excited to study the chapter on music as I felt my vocabulary on the topic was previously lacking. Now, I can at least discuss the basics of music (structure, melody, genres, etc.) and its purpose in society. Beyond classes, I have also really been enjoying my activities outside of classes. This week, I went to the zoo with a group of HBA students and 2 BeiYu student volunteers. While I really enjoyed seeing the animals and spending time with my friends at the zoo, I was pretty unsettled by the way the zoo treated the animals. For instance, some of the tigers were kept in glass cells smaller than the size of my dorm room here at HBA. Also, they had an outdoor polar bear exhibit. As the temperature at the time was nearing 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it was pretty evident how miserable the bear was. But I digress.
All in all, Beijing is growing on me and I am truly enjoying my experience here at HBA. I’m looking forward to what the weeks ahead have in store.