Harbiiiiin

Hello, Band!

So, I'm going to be going to Harbin, China this summer with funding from a Light Fellowship. Harbin is the capital of the northwestern most province of China - sandwiched between Russia and North Korea. I picked this program mostly for its location, to be quite honest. Because it's so far north, the summer temperatures aren't crazy hot & humid like most of the rest of China, and I figured being in a smaller city would force me to use my Chinese more than in a more cosmopolitan place like Beijing (I also wanted to escape the notoriously difficult-to-understand Beijing accent). However, I'm also really excited about the fact that with this program I'll have a Chinese roommate to get to know and to help me with my studies. Aaand on top of that, we got to pick a subject to study in addition to our basic Chinese classes - I chose comedic dialogue, because I thought that the tongue twisters and cultural references involved would bring my Chinese to another level.

Harbin, being so close to the northern border, has had a lot of Russian influence. On the other border, with all the junk North Korea's been up to recently I've been a little worried that a travel advisory might go up and my funding might get rescinded (like all those poor souls who were planning on traveling to Mexico this summer...travel advisory = Yale can't legally fund their trips). So far it seems like everything's going smoothly, though, so hopefully I'll be there in a few short weeks.

I leave on the 14th, even though my program doesn't start until June 17th. I'm going to visit John in Tokyo for about 48 hours before I head to Beijing for orientation (thank you for agreeing to take me in, John)! I love Japan, and I love Japanese food. Harajuku is the only place I absolutely need to go: Jangarra Ramen + the most delicious crepes. Other than that, it'll be an adventure!

I really ought to crack my Chinese books again sometime before I leave. It's amazing how quickly it all slips away. Anyway, bedtime for me. I hope everyone's summer is going beautifully so far :)

For the record, I'm keeping a fellowship blog here.