Classes

So, today was the first day of classes!  Which for me meant one class that started at 1pm.  So a nice, easy way to start the school year.  Oh, and I also must mention that I only have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday =D  At least for the first half of the semester.  Once I'm halfway through, I'll start two more classes for a total of four and have class every day.  So I must utilize my first half of the semester well to make the most out of all my free time.

My first class today was financial management.  For those of you back in Carlson, it's pretty much the class after FIN 3001 in ICore.  It seems ok so far.  There are only two homework assignments, a group assignment, then the midterm and final.  So it'll really depend on how much I'll be able to motivate myself and study on my own because I won't have consistent homework to keep me up to date.  What I've noticed about the classes in Beijing are that they are only one day a week for about three hours.  So I'm guessing a lot of the learning will have to be done on my own to make sure I understand the material.  The teacher for my finance class seemed really nice and she is actually a graduate of the Carlson school at the U of M! What a small world, right??

On a completely different note.  I bought a bike!  The main way that students get around on campus is using a bike.  They are literally all over the place;  sidewalks, dorms, streets, EVERYWHERE.  Especially after being here for a while, I've realized that Tsinghua University is fairly large.  Walking from one end of campus to the other would probably take about 30 minutes.  While bulging leg muscles sounds great, a nice, short bike ride around campus sounds even better =D  The bikes here are fairly cheap (like many other things in China) and around $40.  The lady selling me the bike originally price it at 280 RMB but I was able to bargain it down to 250 RMB with a bike lock thrown in.  Not too impressive on the bargaining skills haha.  That is one thing I've realized coming here.  I am not good at bargaining.  But I'm really happy with my bike.  It's so cute!

My bike

Bikes lining the street

Another interesting thing I've learned here is that Pizza Hut is a fancy restaurant! Apparently they are trying to become a place where people can have a business lunch or dinner.  A couple of the international students and I went to go try it out and we were pretty surprised with what we saw.  They have a ton more options on types of pizza along with appetizers like calamari and chicken wings, along with salad, dessert, and drinks like coffee, hot chocolate, tea, fruity things, etc.  

Pizza hut menu

Seafood pizza .... yum?

Yesterday, I was able to take a tour around campus led by some of the Chinese students at Tsinghua University.  While I didn't really see it when I first go to campus, Tsinghua is a gorgeous campus.  Some parts of it even remind of the U of M.  It's also not as loud around campus as I thought it would be.  Apparently Tsinghua University is somewhat far from the heart of Beijing, so it isn't crowded as much as other areas of Beijing. 

Tennis courts!!! I should have brought my tennis racquet :/

Northrop Mall area look alike

Main gate

So, I've realized this whole post was filled with pretty random things, but that just kinda shows you how scatter brained I can be sometimes andddd just the different things I have been experiencing.  Hope you guys have enjoyed reading this.  More to come soon! :D

To add to the randomness, I had to share this picture before I go.  McDonalds, and KFC deliver in Beijing! Guys ride around in bicycles to deliver the food.  You can see in the picture below what they drive around in.  I was pretty amused when I saw it myself haha.

Because eating fast food isn't lazy enough... some people have it delivered