Photos taken by Kalina Sabala Montes (Yale University), Student Correspondent for CET Beijing, Summer 2025
Although I’ve been learning Chinese for the past five years, my first week in Beijing has changed my perspective on everything I knew about the language. Learning Chinese in a classroom taught me the fundamentals of the language, but relying on it for everyday life has been an entirely new experience.
Before I get into my first week at CET Beijing, let me introduce myself. My name is Kalina, I’m from Queens, New York, and I’m a rising sophomore at Yale University studying Cognitive Science and Film. If you’re wondering why I decided to travel to China this summer with CET Beijing, I was hoping to be fully immersed in the language and culture of China—and I have not been disappointed.
The first few days of the program were spent setting up everything that we needed to survive in Beijing. We learned how to use apps such as WeChat and Alipay which are vital to everyday life in China, meet our CET classmates and CNU roommates, and settle in with our new friends. During the mornings, we were preparing all of our necessities for the program, but during the afternoons, we went out to explore. In our free time, my friends and I visited places such as the Summer Palace (颐和园), Beihai Park (北海公园), and Sanlitun (三里屯).
The last day of our orientation was dedicated to a scavenger hunt, which took us around Capital Normal University’s campus for international students as well as the main campus. Guided by our CNU classmates, we were able to discover the place we would call home for the next two months. We ended up chasing some wild cats (and cosplayers!) to score as many points as we could for the scavenger hunt, but our hunger ultimately got the best of us, and so we took the opportunity to get hot pot together.
Our very first class at CET Beijing began bright and early with a full time language pledge, and suddenly we were completely restricted to speaking in Chinese. Although the pledge was intimidating at first, knowing that I was learning alongside my classmates made it easier to adjust. For every class, we learn a new topic as well as new vocabulary and grammar structures that we then review during our larger lecture classes and smaller drill classes. Currently, we’ve learned about a variety of topics concerning Chinese society, ranging from anti-corruption campaigns to cultural development to ancient folklore.
Today, after completing our weekly oral and written tests, we all went together to Chinese Table (中文桌子). During this activity, teachers and students try out a new restaurant every week after exams and eat different types of Chinese cuisine. For this week’s Chinese Table, we went to a restaurant with a revolving table where we were able to try a variety of local dishes. Although it led to a few mishaps involving some comically large noodles, we were all able to come together and enjoy a meal after a long week of classes. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s adventure, where we’ll be traveling to the Great Wall of China (长城)!
