Yesterday, the nine NSLI-Y students in Beijing and our RD had the rare privilege of entering the US Embassy in Beijing. The US Embassy in Beijing is the second largest US Embassy in the world, second to the US Embassy in Baghdad. The embassy had walls surrounding it on all four sides, and guards stationed at each entrance. To the right of the entrance, a sizable number of Chinese citizens stood taking pictures of the framed American flag from behind a fence. It seems that the US Embassy itself was a tourist attraction.
After having an extra hour to sleep in, we boarded a bus that took us the US Embassy at 8:30 in the morning. When we arrived at the gate, our RD, who we call D, spoke with the Chinese guard and showed the guard his passport copy. The guard took a look at the group of American students behind D and requested to see my passport. It should be noted that of all the NSLI-Y students, I am the only "fully" Han-Chinese descendant of all of them. That isn't to say we don't have an incredibly diverse group. Of the nine students here through NSLI-Y and American Councils, one of them is of Indian descent, another is half Taiwanese and there is also one who is an eighth Native American and a descendant of a Mongolian. The rest look as any Chinese national would expect an American to look, like Caucasians. That being said, I was the only student that looked like a Chinese national, which is why only my passport had to be checked and no one else's. Once we were inside the gate, we went through security in which we had to take out all our electronics, including cameras and USBs, which I never really considered an electronic device. We were then led into the main building of the Embassy.
The Embassy building was, frankly, refreshingly clean, simple and quiet. The air smelled different inside, compared to outside, and the other students said it was because it was likely filtered. Either way, the Embassy felt like America more than any other place I'd been to in China had, which only makes sense because it was the Embassy.Inside the Embassy, we were led to a room where we met Thomas Hodges, a Public Affairs officer at the US Embassy. We each introduced ourselves and explained what influenced us to apply to NSLI-Y. From there, we were given a security briefing reminding us not to go to jail or get into trouble. They also explained how to get married in China, although, D reminded us on the way back that we were, in fact, not allowed to get married on this trip.
All in all, the Embassy visit was fun. I wish I had been able to take pictures, but we weren't allowed to bring electronics in. I still find it odd how I look like the majority of the people here, whereas I'm used to looking "different." So far, China has been a most interesting experience and I still have eight more months of it to look forward too.
After having an extra hour to sleep in, we boarded a bus that took us the US Embassy at 8:30 in the morning. When we arrived at the gate, our RD, who we call D, spoke with the Chinese guard and showed the guard his passport copy. The guard took a look at the group of American students behind D and requested to see my passport. It should be noted that of all the NSLI-Y students, I am the only "fully" Han-Chinese descendant of all of them. That isn't to say we don't have an incredibly diverse group. Of the nine students here through NSLI-Y and American Councils, one of them is of Indian descent, another is half Taiwanese and there is also one who is an eighth Native American and a descendant of a Mongolian. The rest look as any Chinese national would expect an American to look, like Caucasians. That being said, I was the only student that looked like a Chinese national, which is why only my passport had to be checked and no one else's. Once we were inside the gate, we went through security in which we had to take out all our electronics, including cameras and USBs, which I never really considered an electronic device. We were then led into the main building of the Embassy.
The Embassy building was, frankly, refreshingly clean, simple and quiet. The air smelled different inside, compared to outside, and the other students said it was because it was likely filtered. Either way, the Embassy felt like America more than any other place I'd been to in China had, which only makes sense because it was the Embassy.Inside the Embassy, we were led to a room where we met Thomas Hodges, a Public Affairs officer at the US Embassy. We each introduced ourselves and explained what influenced us to apply to NSLI-Y. From there, we were given a security briefing reminding us not to go to jail or get into trouble. They also explained how to get married in China, although, D reminded us on the way back that we were, in fact, not allowed to get married on this trip.
All in all, the Embassy visit was fun. I wish I had been able to take pictures, but we weren't allowed to bring electronics in. I still find it odd how I look like the majority of the people here, whereas I'm used to looking "different." So far, China has been a most interesting experience and I still have eight more months of it to look forward too.
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