My Itinerary

January 9, 2008: I arrive in Beijing almost 2 weeks before classes begin. I'm arriving early so that I have time to get familiar with the town before I have to deal with intense classes. On the agenda: explore Beijing public transit, visit museums for initial research on my Yale senior essay about ancient Chinese art, and find the nearest Subway restaurant.

January 17: Language pledge begins. Along with the rest of the students and teachers, I'll pledge to speak only Chinese until May 2. This will be a little scary at first- I've only studied Chinese for 6 months. But even though it's inconvenient, I'm committed to learning Chinese. I actually think it will be a fun challenge to try to overcome. But I'm sure that at times it will be frustrating too, which is why I'm lucky to have this blog, Skype, and Facebook as outlets for my English.

January 21: Classes begin. I'll have four hours of class everyday, and about four hours of homework every night. I'll be busy, but I like the intensity of studying Chinese. Plus, it will be totally worth it when I'm fluent. It'll be lots of work, so I'm looking forward to getting involved in some extracurricular activities like Tai Chi and learning how to cook.

February 6-10: Chinese New Year break! 2008 is the year of the rat. Ironic, because 2007 was definitely the year of the rat at the apartment I had in my fraternity house.

March 1-7: Field trip! I haven't been on a field trip since 6th grade. I don't know where we're going yet. I'm hoping it's the zoo.

April 2-6: Spring Break! I wonder what Spring Break is like in Beijing- maybe we all fly to Thailand and party on the beach. Then again, we probably all just

May 2-June 21: BIG BREAK! I'm free for 7 weeks between Spring and Summer semesters. Other than my mom and sister visiting for 2 weeks, I have no plans yet, just some ideas:

-Eating fresh sushi in Japan,
-playing Starcraft in Seoul,
-meditating in Tibet,
-exploring Shanghai, Yunnan, and the rest of the world's 4th largest country,
-and maybe even lying on a Thailand beach with a special someone.

June 22: Back to class.

August 8: The Olympics start. My dad is coming to Beijing, and we've got tickets for 5 nights of track and field. I can't wait to experience Beijing during the Olympics.

August 22: I return home to Toronto.

That's the tentative itinerary. Throughout the trip you can reach me by email at bill.hatch@gmail.com .