Dust Storms, School, and Badachu

The weather has been surreal lately. Yesterday the campus sky was filled with white puffs that looked like cotton balls. I think they came from some kind of willow trees, but I have yet to find the source. Then this morning I went outside and thought the color of everything looked strange. There was a thin layer, a film of yellow sand or dust over everything. It looked like a dream. Even the air had a yellow tinge to it. I surmised a sand storm had come in the night. I've heard of them, but had never seen the consequences of one.

I will soon submit my application for a two year scholarship from the Chinese Government. I had to get a lot of paperwork in order to apply including my transcripts, diploma, letters from professors at ASU, other certificates, create a study plan, and get medical clearance from a hospital in Beijing. I went to a hospital in downtown, it was fast, clean and friendly. I was happy not to have any problems. I felt like a car when they did the ECG test, because they hooked up so many wires to me. I guess they wanted to make sure my heart was beating, I really don’t know. They drew blood, had me do a physical, and took x-rays.

I told them I will pick up my results rather than have them send it to me. I have had at least two people send me things I have never received, so I was hesitant to trust the hospital to send me the results by mail. I will submit my full application soon after I pick up the results. I should find out if I get the scholarship sometime in June or July.

Finally, I will get some rest. Classes will be canceled Thursday and Friday. There will be a super large school athletic competition during those days. The field is near my school building. The noise will be so loud, the school just canceled classes on those days.

Anyway, I will be participating in the athletic competition. I volunteered for the 100 meter run, the 400 meter relay with other International students, and the shot-put. I do not have any running shoes except for my old sneakers I brought over last summer, but I am not going to go out and buy any for this either. Good shoes here that fit me are hard to find and expensive.

The last pair of shoes I bought were fakes and only lasted only about 2 months before the soles and insides turned into mush.

I take the HSK exam this coming Sunday at Beijing Language and Culture University. HSK is short Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, or Chinese Proficiency Exam. This will be the first time I have taken it for real. I can use the results to present to companies and such to show my Chinese ability as well as enter a Chinese University to take regular classes if I want to.

Its funny to see my roommate get so worked up about the upcoming World Cup. I have never cared a day in my life for them, but his enthusiasm has rubbed off on me and I am sure I will watch them a bit. However I will not be up at 2 AM in the morning watching! Only if the games are on during the day.

Last Saturday I went to a new park on the outskirts of Beijing I had not been to before called Badachu or "8 Big Places". The big places are actually Buddhist temples on a mountain. I really liked it. The wind was strong that day and cleaned up the air a bit. I could see pretty far and enjoy looking at the trees and temples.

I really liked the giant stone carving on a wall inside the compund. It was so huge and well designed that I felt like I could look at it for hours and still discover lots of interesting details and surprises.