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In the last few months, I have talked a lot about the fact that I am going abroad to Beijing to study for the 2010-2011 academic year. But I haven’t really discussed why I am going to Beijing, or what I will study there, or why I am studying there for a full year rather than just a semester. Seeing as I am departing for China soon, I figured now is as good a time as ever to explain everything, as obviously my experiences abroad will influence what I write about in this blog.

When it was time for me to start figuring out my junior year study abroad plans, I didn’t really know where I wanted to study. I had a French and Chinese language double minor at the time, and all I knew is that I wanted to go abroad for a year. However, I ended up dropping my French minor, so that wrecked my plans for a semester in Paris. I thought about going somewhere in Europe for the fall and Beijing for the spring, but that idea didn’t really sit well with me as I wanted to spend a year in one place, not two. Since I still had my Chinese language minor, it made the most sense to spend a year in China. My school happens to offer a top notch program in Beijing, so on paper, that was why I chose to study in Beijing.

In reality, though, I also chose Beijing for a lot of other reasons. I visited mainland China two summers ago and loved it there; there really is no place like it in the world. The energy, the food, the people… it’s a really great place to choose for a year of study. Not to mention that ethnically, I’m half Chinese, yet have spent my entire childhood (minus the first few years of my life) growing up in Western countries. I felt that it was finally time to go and get in touch with some of my roots.

In Beijing, I am enrolled in an intensive Chinese language immersion program for the fall semester. I will be taking only Chinese language classes and will spend both my mornings and afternoons in class five days a week. The intensity factor is a little daunting, and I’m a little wary of spending my nights up to my ears in Chinese homework, but I’m also really, really looking forward to it. The best way to learn a language is to completely immerse yourself in it, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing with Chinese. It also helps that I love learning languages and learning Chinese in particular. Not to mention that one of my really good friends is enrolled in the program too (and also studying abroad for a year in Beijing, just like me), which eases some of my nerves.

For the spring semester, I will still continue studying Chinese but in a non-intensive, non-immersion setting. I will also be studying other subjects. I’ll be able to take courses such as Sino-American Relations from a Chinese perspective. Since I’ve taken a similar course from an American perspective, I’m really interested to see what the differences in the perspectives will be. I will also (hopefully) be interning twice a week at a yet to be decided location. That’s going to be a great work experience, and it’s going to be so awesome to say that I’ve interned in Beijing before!

That, in a nutshell, is the 411 on why I am studying in Beijing and what I will be doing there for a year. Even though I’m a little nervous (and who wouldn’t be nervous at the prospect of studying abroad in a country for an entire year without returning home during the school breaks?), I’m sure Beijing will be everything I hope it to be and more.

In other news… it’s my birthday today!! I have officially left my teen years and entered my twenties. Eek!

Yesterday I had a small blast from the past in the form of hearing several stories about a boy I used to be really good friends with. It’s a consequence of being back in the place you graduated from high school in; you hear these kinds of stories whether you like it or not. It’s especially common when your high school is as small as mine and everyone knows everything about everyone. Anyway, news about him got me thinking about all the good days back when we were good friends, even best friends, and what things were like before life got in the way and we just naturally grew apart.

As I was lying in bed last night, thinking about all of this, I started reminiscing about all the friends I’ve gained and lost over the years, those that I’ve gotten closer to and those that I’ve drifted apart from. The friends who I know I couldn’t live without; the friends who I no longer see but will never forget; the “friends” who I question why they got the title of “friend” in the first place. The friendships that were damaged, battered and ended because of a boy; the sexual tensions between myself and various guy friends; the friendships that never took off because there was too much romantic history to be able to put it all in the past and move forward.

Friendship is a funny thing. It has a fluctuation/turnover/retention rate like nothing else in life. And while there are many days where my friends drive me up the wall, I know I could never live without them. I also know that it’s my friendships with the people in my life, both past and present, that shape who I am today. So, while it was sad to hear about the news in my high school friend’s life from someone other than him, it was good to hear that he is doing well all the same.

(Then I began to wonder if people felt the same way about me as a friend and if those I’ve fallen out of touch with remember me. Thankfully, I fell asleep before I got too insecure/neurotic/paranoid about any of this. That’s a danger of thinking about all of this late at night on your own when you’re walking the line between staying awake and falling asleep!)

In other, far less philosophical news: many thanks to Aleida, Karin, Melody and Tess for awarding me with the Sunshine Award; I wrote a guest entry on Krissy’s blog about the wonder and beauty of Kurt Halsey’s artwork; an article about my scholarship win is on the front page of my university’s website; I have made absolutely no progress on building my professional digital identity; and I am breathless with anticipation for tonight’s Hawks vs Flyers hockey game (Game 4 in the series, 2-1 Hawks).

Imagine my shock, horror and shame when I was alerted to the fact that my school has been sending out emails to prospective students with the following subject line: What do the college search and Justin Bieber have in common?

Think that’s bad? Oh, it gets better. This is what the body of the email says:

What’s it like to be so popular? You have every university chasing you like prepubescent girls going after Justin Bieber (it’s okay, we don’t get the appeal either).

But we aren’t just another university. We actually want to know about you before we tell you anything about us: [link to school website]

This isn’t such a bad position to be in. You worked hard, you earned it. And hey, being pursued can be nice, sometimes.

The only redeeming quality about this email is that Admissions admits that they don’t get the Bieber mania/fever that seems to have swept the world. Still, I don’t think that is a big enough factor for me (and all other students, alumni, faculty and staff and anyone remotely associated to my university) to recover from this horrible, awful shame.