After landing in Harbin, I rode from the airport to the school with two CET classmates who were on the same flight. Even though we were all exhausted, we were excited to be in a new place and got to see some of the city as we drove through. One of the things we saw was beautiful bush sculptures along the highway. They were huge, covered in flowers and other plants, and some were even currently being created. It was a nice welcome into the city!Harbin Institute of Technology is considered to be one of the top engineering schools in china, and in the world. HIT is know for its strong academics, its association with China’s space program, and it is the home for the CET Harbin program! The campus is beautiful and there are many opportunities to explore around the school and the surrounding area.On the first night when students started arriving in Harbin, a group of us headed to the cafeteria (one of the 10!) to eat dinner together. We got to spend time chatting and getting to know each other and trying some new foods.At the movie theater is a great way to spend a rainy day. A group of us took the metro from the school to a nearby mall to go see the film 最好的我们 (also known by its English title: My Best Summer). Watching Chinese movies is a really good way to practice your language skills and to help increase your understanding of Chinese culture.So far, I love the weather here in Harbin! Even though it can be somewhat unpredictable and we have had a few days of rain, most of the time it has been warm and sunny. Having good weather definitely has made these first few weeks more enjoyable because it makes you want to go out and explore! Me and my classmates have often chosen to walk rather than take public transportation so that we would be able to see more of the city we are living in.Harbin is currently working on expanding their tourism industry. As part of that, they are developing their metro system. There are only 2 lines open as of right now, but it is already very easy and convenient to use. One of the lines goes right to the HIT campus so you can take the metro to different parts of the city such as different markets, malls, and museums.This is the Harbin general store, or as it is called by HIT students, “the black market” and it is full of seemingly endless different options for food. Even though it can get very crowded, it is a great place to meet up with friends and try different foods from all over china!As an avid reader, I love going to Chinese bookstores and seeing translations of all of my favorite books. I think that it is really cool that the books I love so much are also adored by people from all over the world who read the stories in many different languages. I find that reading translations of books is also a good way for me to enhance my reading skills. Since I already know the stories, I can focus on how the language is being used to express that story.Since we all came to CET to study the Chinese language, the best way to improve is of course to put your skills into practice! This week, we spent one of our classes actually at a market with our teachers where we had to buy fruit from local vendors. It was fun to see that we are already improving after one week and that we can successful go out and talk to people that aren’t our classmates or our teachers. And we also got fruit!One of the reasons that I chose CET Harbin is because we get to live with a Chinese roommate. I really like talking to my roommate and getting to know her because I learn a lot from her and we get to talk about the differences in our cultures. Also, having a roommate who is a student at HIT is great because they know where all the best hang-out spots are and where the best food is. This week my roommate took me and my friend to the black market to try duck blood soup
