Hutong School is in the exclusive SOHO area of Beijing, in the 三里屯 district. (三里屯 is pronounced "sanlitun", or in Beijingese "sanlitur," because they slur their R's after just about everything. You have to be careful exactly how much you imitate some of the teachers. I thought everyone was saying "Senator" and I had no clue what anyone was talking aboot. "Senator? Wtf?")
There are 2 busses from my apartment that I can take - the 117 (which I take) and the 406 (which I don't, because it's a double-decker bus and the ceilings are so low I can't stand up straight - I posted a pic of me on this bus a couple of days ago).
(As an aside, I tried to tell a joke about this in class - "406路公共汽车我受不了，因为太低了，然后不可能站。" Get it? "I can't stand taking the 406 bus because the ceilings are too low and I can't stand." It's a bad pun in English but I guess it doesn't really translate properly. However, Chinese offers lots of opportunities for bad puns, so that's my goal for next week is to come up with one!)
The school is in a modern building on the 15th floor. There are a bunch of classrooms, and a sweet view of SOHO.
(As another aside, there are two banks of elevators, one goes from floors 1-15, and one from 15-(top of building). Being on the 15th floor we can take either. The last time we took the "Milk Run," and I found out that none of the European students (who all speak English) knew the phrase "Milk Run". I explained the meaning and found out that in Holland they call it a "Sprinter" (because it sprints from stop to stop). I also taught them to say "Let's blow this popsicle stand," and I'm looking for other proper English expressions I can teach to the "laowai" (foreigners). PS they make fun of my Canadian accent ("How do you say "route"?" just like everyone else in the world.)
That's it about the school. I have 4 hours of class per day, most of the students are Europeans (I am the only Canadian, I've met 2 Americans, 2 Columbians, one HongKongian (not sure what they're called) and that's it). The staff is all super friendly and helpful, and we have lots of out of class activities. Next week we're doing Chinese Painting which I'm really looking forward to!
你好！
ReplyDeleteI've registered to spend a month with the Hutong School this coming June, and I was wondering about the experience. I've been to China before, but only on scholarship programs that have a lot of rules and plenty of supervision; I'm 18 now and will be 19 when I go and am both nervous and excited to be able to participate in a program designed for adults. In general, did you find the the Hutong School staff were helpful and supportive if you or any other students needed something? Were there a lot of young students my age, or were most students older? And I guess the most important question: Did you enjoy yourself?
Also, most of the articles and other information I have found online about the Hutong School is positive, but I did come across one blog post on another site claiming that they're a scam. Judging by your multiple blog posts with pictures that indicate all is well, that other claim must be false! Yes?
Thank you so much for your time! Your blog is so interesting, and I hope I can travel around the world like you when I grow up!
Evangelista
Hi!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my blog! Hutong is a very excellent school and definitely not a scam. The teachers and staff at Hutong are very helpful with learning Chinese and also with daily life around Beijing. I would definitely reccomend Hutong School based on my experiences. There are a lot of young students, I think most were around college age (I had 4 roommates between 19 and 22) as well as some older students. I had a terrific time and ended up extended my time at Hutong for an extra week beyond what I originally planned. I'm sure you'll have a terrific time!
Ian