Written by Emily Peng (Yale University), Student Correspondent for CET Beijing, Spring 2026
I expected a lot of things from my first week at CET Beijing, but let me tell you about the things I didn’t expect. First, it’s actually a little weird writing in English, even though it’s only been a week since signing the language pledge (which you can read more about below…). I’m amazed at how much my Chinese has improved in just a week, which makes me incredibly excited for what I’ll be able to accomplish in three months!
Second, our classes are super well rounded and our teachers are so incredibly talented, kind, and supportive. I’ll talk more about our classes in a future blog post (our afternoon classes haven’t started yet as of writing this blog post), but just know that they’re going very well.
Third, I didn’t think I’d have this much to write about in just one week! Not only do we have classes, we have a plethora of activities that we get to attend if we wish to. It was hard to pick just a few things to talk about, but I think I did a good job at picking the essentials.
The Language Pledge
To be honest, this was something I was both extremely apprehensive and a little eager about. If you didn’t know, CET Beijing has a beautiful, double-edged-sword called the language pledge. My classmates and I signed the pledge on our first day of classes, and after that, we haven’t been allowed to speak in English. (But fear not, we’re still allowed to converse in English with family in private).
I’ve already run into a few situations where I’ve either forgotten or don’t know how to say something in Chinese. It’s a little awkward and a lot funny, especially if you’re stuck trying to explain to your teacher what “you met me at a very Chinese time in my life” means during class. The good thing is that everyone here—classmates, roommates, and teachers—are all very kind and, more importantly, very patient and willing to hear you out, even if it takes a minute or two.
A valuable reminder that my teacher told us is to 慢慢来 (màn man lái), which means “take it slow.” I know my Chinese will become better and better, and abiding by the language pledge will help me in this endeavor. I will say, it does get frustrating sometimes to speak Chinese when there’s a misunderstanding or when I’m tired, but it’s in these situations where I know it’s even more important to speak Chinese! But because my classmates and I all know we’re in this together, the language pledge becomes a lot less daunting. So, if you’re thinking about CET but are wary about the language pledge, I think you should take the leap. I promise it’s more exhilarating than it is scary!
New Friendships
Even with the language pledge in place, I’ve found it surprisingly uncomplicated to make friends. We had about two days of English-speaking time before signing the language pledge, and I’m happy to report that even after the language pledge, it hasn’t stopped my classmates and I from getting to know each other, joking with each other, and making fast friends with each other. We laugh with each other in class, eat our meals together, and go out and explore Beijing on the weekends together. My classmates have been an invaluable support system during the first week of being in Beijing, and I know we’ll lean on each other for the rest of the program.
But not only have I leaned on my CET classmates, I’ve come to realize that our Beijing Capital Normal University (CNU) roommates are an amazing support system. In fact, it’s been an absolute joy getting to know our CNU counterparts. We’ve already spent countless hours in random discussion, including countless rounds of UNO (and countless rounds of me losing). I never imagined I’d become so close to my CET classmates, let alone our CNU counterparts in just a week. I’m looking forward to the future adventures we’ll all have together as the spring semester of CET Beijing progresses!
Lantern Festival at Yuanmingyuan Garden
In fact, CET has already brought us on our first adventure. One of the best holidays that we get to experience during the spring semester of CET Beijing is the Lantern Festival, also known as 元宵节 (yuánxiāojié), which marks the end of the Chinese New Year. This semester, we got to go to on a CET excursion to the Old Summer Palace, 圆明园 (yuánmíngyuán), to see the Lantern Festival! We went with our CNU roommates where we admired the view, talked about the origins of the lantern festival, and enjoyed some wonderful food.
Chinese Calligraphy and Tangyuan Tasting
In addition to visiting the Old Summer Palace, we also had a Chinese calligraphy class, called 书法课 (shūfǎ kè). I knew going in that I was going to create something decidedly not beautiful or majestic, but I gave it my best shot anyway! We practiced writing 龙 (lóng), which means dragon, and 春 (chūn), which means spring.
After about two hours of practice, we wrote these characters on red signs to hang up in our dorm rooms. These signs are intended to welcome in both the new year and the start of spring!
Our calligraphy class was shortly followed by tangyuan tasting. On the Lantern Festival, 元宵节 (yuánxiāojié), Chinese people will get together with their friends and family to enjoy 汤圆 (tāngyuán), also known as 元宵 (yuánxiāo), which is a glutinous rice ball with a sweet black sesame filling. We all squeezed into the CET activity room to share bowls of 汤圆 that looked like persimmons. By eating these 汤圆 together, we hope to welcome a harmonious, productive, and fun start to the CET Beijing spring semester!
This week has been filled with a lot of firsts and a lot of (happy) surprises. Studying abroad is challenging, no matter what angle you look at it from, but it turns out that there’s a lot more serendipity hidden in the creases and crevices of the study abroad experience, right where you least expect it. I’m looking forward to discovering more of what Beijing has to offer—I’ll make sure to keep you all updated!
