What I think they're saying....

Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. It's a proper medical school in the middle of Beijing with a compact campus where the sidewalks are crowded with bicycles and the benches outside the classrooms are actually small red chinese pavillions (very charming).

And then there's me - that girl - that international student who runs around campus and looks quite out of place. Hordes of student walk past me every day, and if I could listen in and actually understand their Chinese, here's what I think they might be saying.....

Girl A: "Oh, there she is - that poor international girl. She must be having a hard time adjusting."

Girl B: "I know. Have you seen the clothes she's been wearing? They're all so plain - no buttons, sequins, bells, or bows!"

Girls A: "We should be nice to her, maybe she doesn't have much money and just can't afford to have bright purple sequins around her neckline or in large butterly patterns."

Girl B: "That must be it. If she had money she would surely buy shirts with sayings on them like "grandma's little helper" or "you preserve to harv more, much zhyang." Or maybe it's that she can't find clothes to fit her. She's pretty fat, like most Americans. I bet even XL's would be a tight squeeze for her."

Girl A: "And what about her shoes? They're like something out of the jungle (my chacos) - they look like tire treads tied to her feet. She doesn't even wear pantyhose socks with them!"

Girl B: "Yeah, but she'll learn. Look, she already has a pink tea mug like the rest of us instead of that nalgene water bottle she carried around at first. Give her a few months and her whole wardrobe will be hello kitty."