A Glimpse of UIBE

For over a month now, I've been mentioning the University of International and Economics over and over in my blog entries, as it's the university that TBC is based out of. Finally though, after all these weeks, I realized an important, undeniable fact - whenever I mention UIBE, no one knows what in the world I'm taking about. So finally, I've managed to get around to posting a slew of photos I took on an unusually clear day to hopefully provide a somewhat decent glance at one of Beijing's "smaller" universities.

The sign that marks the West Gate, the main entrance into the university. 

A statue that sits near the  field....oh cripes, I seriously have no idea at all what it's supposed to represent. Sure is impressive, though. 

There sitting prominently in teh background one can see the largest dorm on campus, and without the the most gi-normous dorm I've ever seen in my whole entire life. I've been told that this all girls dorm houses 6,000 students, and I've also heard it houses 10,000. Either way, that building holds more than the entire student body of Fairfield University.

An average dorm on campus. Note how everyone hangs their laundry outside, as we have no dryers here whatsoever to speak of. 

The International Students Dorm, AKA my current home away from home. 

Here's Sarah from FU standing in front of the Stadium Convenience Store, located just several yards away from the dorm, where they sell anything ranging from snacks, school supplies, socks, underwear, shower sandels....when it comes to necessities, basically, it beats the FU bookstore hands-down.  

Here's all the work-out equipment located right next to the stadium convenience store, and thus also across the road from the International Student's Dorm, which several of us have nicknamed The Prison Yard. 

Even more pictures of the International Student's Dormitory, for no apparent reason at all. 

This here is the Circle Diner, the on-campus restaurant, where although the food is good, I think it costs too much to eat there regularly (then again, I'm a total cheapskate).

Like most of the buildings on campus, I have no real clue what this monstrosity is for, though I think it might be for classrooms. 

This building houses the main cafeterias, with one on the first floor, and one on the second floor. The food there is okay, depending on what you get. It ranges from decent (like the sweet-and-sour chicken which I like to get there) to dishes you vow to never even look at ever again (such as a dish with fish chunks that turn out to be more bone than anything else). 

Here's one of the more interesting structures on campus - it's basically little more than a gigantic bird-cage full of all sorts of birds. Why it's there, I have no idea whatsoever.

There are bicycles galore here, and to accommodate them all, they have bike racks that seem to stretch on forever.

Another one of the more interesting buildings on campus - I think it's a storage shed, or something of that sort, but I don't know for sure, like with most buildings on campus. It seems to be quite popular with a type of local bird here.

I think it's some sort of pigeon, and a very, very affectionate sort pigeon, at that. 

Here's the Ningyuan Building, where the TBC offices, classroom, and library all occupy half of the fourth floor. 

Yikes, I thought the Bannow Science Center back at FU was a reasonably large building....they have structures that are like small skyscrapers here. 

Here's a bird that I find everywhere on campus. Not sure what it's called, but it sure is a welcome change from all the turkeys back home, because these little guys won't attack you if you get too close.

Here's perhaps the oddest institution on campus - the goat pen. According to my tutor, it was put here more or less for the sake of making things at UIBE more interesting, at least as far as I can understand. Goats are pretty interesting I guess, though they can be a bit loud at times, which certainly makes my Chinese classes quite an experience. 

There's certainly nothing like trying to study your Chinese vocabulary with these things crying out  hungrily at the top of their lungs outside.