Hello Harbin!

Hi Friends,

I'm in Harbin, China now! It's definitely a little bit cooler than Beijing's weather (think of Autumn weather). I just finished my first week of classes and am about to commence my second week. Please check out some of my pics below that highlight some of the unique/interesting findings I've come across:

HARBIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (HIT) CAMPUS:
哈尔滨工业大学校园

HIT students' dorm (not foreign students)

HIT foreign students' dorm

You can tell from the pictures above the inequality between our dorms. In contrast with HIT students who have to share an 8 person room and a floor bathroom, foreign students live in 2 person rooms that have private bathrooms (suite bathrooms, 2 rooms in a suite).  Moreover, foreign students even get 24/7 access to electricity! 

HIT Library 

Rainbow = Good luck? If you look really closely you can see a hint of a double rainbow 

Here are some guys working out using the outdoor equipment:

ROOMMATES:

我跟董知见
With my Chinese roommate Dong Zhijian

EXPLORING THE CITY:

Saint Sophia Cathedral

These birds kept on encircling the cathedral

在中央大街, Central Street (Shopping street)

No Chinese adventure is complete without the GREAT MAO!

This guy was straight up swimming in the polluted water...LOL

Over 1,000元 ($163 USD) for this shoe...worth buying? NOPE!

 Concluding Thoughts:

     I think I'm hitting that point of mental isolation ("I want to go home to USA"). 

I love Harbin and I love China but sometimes it's hard and I miss home and I miss riding my bicycle, breathing clean air, and eating a variety of American cuisines. I think the surface adjustment was my time in Beijing and I can only hope that as time goes on that I will enter the Integration/Acceptance stage here in Harbin. 

    

    The academic stresses here are much more intense than those of the Beijing program and it creates a lot of pressure on my end. However, I view this challenge here in Harbin as a good growth opportunity for me. Now is the time for me combine the elements of Luck, effort, and ability to surmount the high academic stresses and environmental stresses and I am looking forward to overcoming this challenge successfully. Greater things are yet to come, and my time in Harbin is a training of sorts to further develop my patience and perseverance.