Angela Tam is a 4th year Graphic Media student who is currently studying abroad in Beijing, China for her fall and winter quarters. She stated about her traveling,  “Since this is my last year at RIT, I decided to take the chance to go study abroad and experience a totally different culture. My main focus is improving my fluency in the Chinese language, and being in Beijing helps a lot by forcing me to speak the language to get anything done!” Angela will be writing about her adventures in China over the next weeks. So come and read about her experience!

Unfortunately, there is not much of an update this week, because classes are beating me up. For the most part, classes are now officially in full swing, and surprisingly, the work is somewhat knocking me off my feet! I feel like there’s not enough time in a day for me to finish all my work, and I’m always waking up early the next morning to review my Chinese for our recitation and daily quiz. Not to mention all the reading I have to do for both my Foreign Policy class and my Sociology class. I really wonder where all the time goes, I have absolutely no idea. But somehow, I just don’t get my work done!

We took a trip to the hutong this past Saturday. It was an interesting experience, and I learned that the outbreak of SARS actually helped developed this area. This place was bustling with people. There were plenty of traffic disasters just waiting to happen, with all the cars, rickshaws bicycles, and people just colliding on the street! The hutong is one of the older areas of Beijing, basically translating into “alleys.” This is how life used to be back in the old days, with several families all crammed into one little house, and then everyone just living in close proximity to each other. I felt like taking a trip to the hutong was like taking a trip back in time. It was easy to imagine what the old neighborhoods would have looked . Of course, the whole feel of it is destroyed when you see a car rolling up the street.

Speaking of which, something that amazes me about Beijing is how little people care about traffic signals here. I always fear for my life when I’m crossing the street, and I’m from New York City. At least people in the city follow the traffic signals! I feel like even when the light turns red, cars just keep going through, pretty much ignoring the pedestrians’ crossing. The streets of Beijing feel so dangerous, and then there are  so many bicycles to watch out for too! They just roll along with the traffic on the street. It’s like a game of what do you want to hit on your bike today, cars or people? It is so dangerous walking around Beijing, you always have to keep your head up. It amazes me that there is someplace with crazier traffic than New York City.

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