I'm in China

Rewards of Documentation

2007-11-09T13:44:00.000+08:00

I'm not in China anymore. I feel bad that I didn't write about my last couple of experiences, but if I do it now, they won't be in the same spirit as the rest of these writing. What I want to mention right now is the feedback I got from this blog.

I wrote about my time in China for several reasons. I wanted a personal record of my time. I wanted to keep friends and family updated on what was going on with me in a way that would make them feel connected to me. I wanted to have something to which my professors could refer other students potentially interested in studying in China. Most of all, however, I wanted to make a reference.

When I was in the preparation stages for my trip, I could not find any information. I'm pretty decent with technology and the internet, and I could not find information about the school I was going to attend. Being overseas and wondering about basic things like where you will live in a place where you're not really sure you can talk is stressful. Couple that with going totally alone with no guidance, and you've got a real mess on your hands. It's not everyday that you run across something the internet is missing, so it's good to take your opportunities.

I'm so glad that I wrote as much as I did. Truly, even now, over a year after my return, I am still hearing from people who are going to Beijing, even to the school I attended in some cases. I decided to revisit this spot on the web tonight because I had someone contact me tonight. People have found this through several methods - google, flickr, facebook - and I hope that people continue to find it, and find it useful.

I've gotten the chance to correspond with many people because of this blog, and that's probably the most rewarding part of having kept it. So everyone, continue to feel free to get in touch with me. It's great to hear from you and find out who's interested enough in China to actually get themselves over there.

Chinese Herbal Cough Medicine

2006-07-09T15:35:00.000+08:00

I'm still sick, and my cough is beginning to sound particularly ugly. I get this every so often, so it's not that big of a deal. I still haven't found a way to make it go away quickly, though, and right now I'm particularly desperate for it to stop. I want to be healthy this week because most of my friends are leaving at the end of it, and I want to hang out with them. So, today, against my usual course of western power-antibiotics, went for some Chinese medicine. I usually think it isn't going to be strong enough since my body is used to western medicine, but I really don't like taking the codeine cough medicine I have from the international hospital. It's overkill.

I went to a pharmacy today and bought Chinese herbal cough medicine called Nin Jiom Pei Pa Kao (It's from Hong Kong). So far, I like it. It tastes good. It's really thick and syrupy, so it was a little weird to have in my mouth and to swallow, but I got over it quickly. My mouth and throat feel pleasantly cool, I don't have any real desire to cough right now. My voice is also back because my throat is coated. It seems to be working pretty well.

Ingredients:

Tendrilleaf Fritilliary Bulb
Loquat Leaf
Fourleaf Ladybell Root
Indian Bread
Pummelo Peel
Platycodon Root
Prepared Pinellia Tuber
Chinese Magnoliavine Fruit
Snakegourd Seed
Common Coltsfoot Flower
Thinleaf Milkwort Root
Bitter Apricot Seed
Fresh Ginger
Liquorice
Almond Extract
Menthol
Honey
Maltose
Syrup

So good. I kind of wish I had candy that tasted like this. Anyway, I'm pleased so far. The little bit I am coughing now doesn't hurt, so that's better than I was doing.

Exams Are Over!

2006-07-07T15:23:00.000+08:00

Today was my last exam. It can only be described as brutal. It was the one for my reading class, and did I ever get more than I bargained for. The first part of the exam was the fast reading section. For that section, we were given 15 minutes to go through 7 pages, reading and answering questions, and then it was taken away. The second section was handed out following that, and we were given about an hour and a half to finish the remaining 18 pages of the test. Granted, reading comprehension wasn't my strongest suit when I was taking English tests as a child, but wow. I thought I might have improved at least a little. Apparently reading comprehension is my weak suit in language.

Regardless of that how absurd the test may or may not have been, it's all over! I don't have to take any more tests. My friends and I are going to go out to celebrate tonight. I probably shouldn't because I'm not over my cold yet, but I don't care. Today marks an amazing day for me - I got through a year of Chinese school and exams. That makes me very happy.

In the coming days, I'll be buying a ticket for Inner Mongolia (Nei menggu) so I can hang out in the grasslands and the desert, living in a Yurt and traveling on camels, so long as I'm not allergic to them as my mother believes I might be. (Don't worry, I'll bring Benadryl.). I'm looking to dancing around a giant bonfire with the people who live there, and of course to taking tons of photos.

And once more for good measure...

Yay! Exams are over!!!

Earthquake Update

2006-07-06T09:28:00.000+08:00

Just to prove I'm not crazy, check out this article my dad sent me from the Khaleej Times.

BEIJING - An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale shook a large area of northern China close to the cities of Beijing and Tianjin on Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. continue...

Exam Update

2006-07-04T20:32:00.000+08:00

I've taken three exams so far. The first was the speaking part of my listening and speaking class. For the most part, it went well. The only trouble with it was my story-telling section. She said in class that the stories shouldn't be long. Because we are in the room for the previous person's test, I gauged the time my teacher had the other student talk and told a story accordingly. However, when I was done, she said, "So short?" I might mention that this teacher is my one, "I'm watching you," teacher this semester. So I said back, "Oh, I can tell you more. Let me tell you about my birthday presents," and kept on going. I made some mistakes after that, though, so I was a little irritated. On the whole, though, it went well enough.

My second test was for my main class. I'm pretty sure I passed. I screwed up the dictation, but that's nothing new, and it was only 10% of the test. I'll consider any points I may get from that section to be a bonus to my score. Did you notice that I said passed in regards to this exam? This semester, my classes have been difficult. Having one test determine my grade is still an absurd concept to me - it tests how well you can cram, especially given the very limited opportunities we have to use the kinds of things we learn in class. So, realizing all of this, I decided that my main goal is to pass. Getting a 90% on your test here actually enables you to skip a level for the next semester. They are not expecting grades like that.

This leads me to the interesting issue, however, of how my classes and numerical grades are going to transfer back to IU. The grading system is really quite different. The number you get doesn't matter as long as you pass the test. That means that a 61% is fine for a score. The numbers don't actually mean anything. Classes are pass/fail. If you pass, you're good. If you don't, you don't move on. While a 61% may be fine here, however, back at IU, I think that means I won't get credit. I need some way of explaining this to whoever is processing my credit transfer. I don't know how much they've dealt with transfers from a Chinese university, but my guess is not much. Any suggestions?

My third test was for my grammar class. I think it's safe to say that there is no way I will be able to transfer credit for that course. I can say with very little doubt that I did not pass that exam. Strangely enough, I'm okay with that. Taking the exam, I know that there was no amount of extra study I could have done to make it better. I just need more time to practice and use what I learned in that class. It all hasn't completely sunken in. I think it will, it just hasn't happened yet. I'm sure small children continuously make mistakes with what I learned in that class this semester, and they have had years to keep trying it out. I had one semester and my brain is old. I don't really feel bad. I learned a ton from that class, even if it wasn't enough to pass; so I still consider having taken it a success.

I've talked to some Chinese students about not passing exams. They said it's a semesterly occurrence for them, and that I shouldn't worry about it. It happens all the time. It's strange, though, not passing a class. This is a new experience that China is providing me. I am humbled.

Speaking of new experiences, I apparently was in a small earthquake today. I didn't realize that's what it was at the time. When I got back from class today, I talked to a few of my friends and they asked if noticed it. I said, "Well, my chair did start shaking during the exam, but I thought the person behind me was kicking my chair." Stefanie replied, "Yeah, I was sitting at my desk and though Kate was kicking my chair, and then I realized she was across the room and it was moving on its own." Kate had been talking on the phone to our friend Oanh, and they both felt it at the same time. I've seen away messages of people around Beijing mentioning the earthquake. So, that was weird. I think it must have just been a tremor or something. However, that makes me a little glad to be heading back home. The idea of earthquakes kind of freaks me out.

Winding Down

2006-06-27T13:13:00.000+08:00

My time here is quickly coming to a close, and I haven't written much because I've had quite a bit to handle as of late. Today was my last day of class, and my first day of exams. The next two weeks will be spent studying until my eyes are dry and cracking into dust onto the pages of my books. Honestly, I don't know that I will pass this semester's courses. My entire grade in each class rides on one test for each. All of it. The Chinese testing system really knows how to put the pressure on. I'm going to try not to worry too much about this, though. I know I've learned so much this year, even if it isn't immediately apparent.

Originally, I was kind of heartbroken about returning to the states, but now that the heat and exams have settled in, I guess I can deal with it. Besides, it isn't China that I'm going to miss the most; it's my China-fam, as we've been calling it. I have met such amazing people here. Now isn't the time for writing a reflective piece because I have to go study, but there might be one in the near future. Until then, I am in studying hermitage.

Hotel Construction

2006-06-04T15:13:00.000+08:00

The hotel we moved Andrew into after the end of the shortened lease has become an old standby. He Jia Binguan is a pretty good, pretty cheap place to stay in Wudaokou, for only 158 kuai per night. Previously, all the rooming had been done in the main building, but this time they utilized the second building. I'm not entirely sure why they decided to do this, but I've learned that it's better to just not ask questions for some things.

There's alot of construction going on in that building, however, and it starts at about 6 in the morning. Today, it was particularly bad. I walked into the room, and the first thing I said was, "Wow, they've got quite the team of unskilled monkeys working around here, don't they?" because that's what it sounds like. It sounds like they've given monkeys hammers and let the banging commence.

We joked that there's actually a team of seals and babies working with them, too. Because of how Beijing businesses contract construction workers, however, a reasonable number of workers (5 monkeys, 6 seals, and 2 babies) would have to have give way to something ridiculous (30 monkeys, 20 seals, and well over 200 babies). That explains the noise.

I went to the desk and got the room changed this morning. I don't mind a seal in a hard hat even so often, but you've got to consider sleep quality sometimes.

Thievery

2006-05-30T12:51:00.000+08:00

It finally happened after 8 months in China - I had something stolen. First, let me explain that this was very upsetting to me, not because I was particularly attached to the item stolen, but rather because I have never been pickpocketed or had anything stolen from me prior to this, and it was a blow to my feeling of being aware of my surroundings. The whole ordeal left me feeling very un-spy-like. I think I'm going to be even more alert that I used to be from now on.

That said, my cell phone was stolen. I realize that this happens all the time, but the way in which it happens in Beijing is particularly agonizing. On a college campus in the US, if you lose your phone, there's actually a fairly good chance that you can call it and get it back. Sometimes, even if it's been stolen, this will work. In Beijing, though? There's a very special process that unfolds after you realize that your phone is gone. This feeling of mine was confirmed the next day as I serendipitously came across an article about precisely this subject in the back of That's Beijing, the magazine I'm working for.

The loss of a cell phone usually begins in a cab or in a club. If you're in the cab group, the phone's usually fallen out of your pocket or bag, and you realize it after you close the door. If you're in the club group, you've either left the phone unattended somehow for a minute, or you have it tucked into a pocket that isn't quite deep enough to keep it from sticking out of the top. I fell prey to the latter situation. You have to understand that two things were working against me in this situation: 1) that phone was a bloody monster. It was huge, and it had a giant antenna sticking out of the top of it. 2) Girls' pants' pockets are notoriously shallow and basically useless. I want all of my pants to be cargo pants so I never have this problem again.

So I checked to make sure my cell phone was still in my pocket throughout the whole night. My friend Stefanie and had been dancing and talking, and eventually (around 3) decided that we would get going. She came over to where I was dancing so we could get going, and I checked my pocket again. My phone was gone. I had checked it not three minutes ago, and it was gone. We looked around on the floor and asked people around us if they had seen it.

This is where the second stage of cell phone loss comes in. Everyone does this. Stefanie got out her cell phone and called mine. It rang! We waited for someone to answer as we kept looking around. No one answered, but the music was loud, so maybe they just didn't notice it ringing. We waited another five minutes and called again. Nothing. No answer. The same thing happened on the third try, but with every ring, we thought someone might pick up. We looked around for someone agitated by a phone. No one.

On the fourth phone call, the third stage of cell phone loss kicked in. instead of a ring, we received a power off message. The person who had my phone turned it off so we wouldn't bother them with calling anymore. This is how we knew for sure that someone had it instead of my having just lost it. At this point, I gave up. I resigned myself to having lost my ridiculous looking phone, and told Stefanie we should just go home.

I sent a text message to my phone from Andrew's phone the next day that said in both Chinese and English, "If you found my phone, please call Andrew or Stefanie." Of course, we received no reply. I realized that I was going to have to buy a new phone. Luckily, having read the That's Beijing article about losing phones, I was armed with the knowledge that I could get my old number back. I went to China Mobile and purchased the cheapest phone they had. That phone isn't even on display. They showed me a 500 kuai phone, and I said, "I know you have a cheaper one. It's a Motorola. Where is it?"

They went to the storeroom and got it for me. It was only 388 kuai. It's actually a nice little phone, too. Getting my number back on a reprogrammable SIM card was only 20 kuai, also. When I turned on the phone with the SIM card inside, I received the text messages I sent to the thief. That means the person never turned the phone back on.

What happens when the phones get stolen is that the thief/phone collector turns it off, trashes the SIM, and then takes it to a vendor for resale in illegal stores. The stolen phone vendors have huge stockpiles of phone accessories in their shops, too, so it doesn't matter that the thief didn't steal the charger. How do I know this part? Because my friend who had his phone stolen on New Year's Eve went to one of the shops to replace his.

The unfortunate thing about doing that is that the phone you're buying are either a) stolen, or b) fake. How can you have a fake phone? I wondered the same thing, but when my friend's phone stopped working, I went with him to shops to try and get it repaired. Every shop's repair person said the same thing.

"The main board is fake. You see this here? This is obviously fake. The board should be blue, not green. And look at how they wired this together. Plus, it has three boxes, and it should only have two. We can replace the board, but the entire phone is fake, too. The faceplate, the LCD screen, even the buttons."

The phone looked like a Nokia. It was perfect looking, and it was all fake. China can counterfeit anything.

So, I guess, in conclusion, watch your phone here. Watch where you buy it, watch where you use it, and watch where you store it.

Sign in Dorm

2006-05-17T12:38:00.000+08:00

I walked into my dormitory after class today to find a small chalkboard with the following written on it.

Tonight from 12.15 - 1.15 the power will be out.

This happens with water all the time in my friends' dorm. It never fits within the time they say, though. It's usually much longer. Yay! No electricity!

Update

2006-05-16T10:53:00.000+08:00

I haven't blogged in almost a month. I'm terribly sorry. Many things have been happening lately, and I haven't had much time at the computer. I've had even less time at the internet. Allow me to give you a brief summary of recent events.

Wuyi: Wuyi is what we call the week-long break I had the first week of May. Wu stands for wu yue, which is May, and yi stands for yi hao, the first of May. Wuyi is International Labor Day. There were also several holidays within that week in China, such as Youth Day. During this week, Andrew and I hung out a bunch in Beijing. (He got here on April 30th.) My biggest triumph in this time was facilitating Andrew's cell phone purchase. I feel much more confident about my Chinese every time I have to do something real-world like that.

Andrew is going to be here until June 10. He's studying Chinese at PRC Study in Wudaokou. I checked it out ahead of time for him, and it seemed pretty legitimate. He started yesterday, and seems pretty happy with the program so far. I'm interested to see what four weeks of Chinese does for someone who starts at zero-level.

Apartment: I searched for and leased an apartment for Andrew's time here. Apartment hunting in Beijing is a real pain when you only want the place for a month. Keep that in mind if you're coming here. No one wants to lease for less than 6 months, and it took a lot of arguing for me to work this out. Luckily, the place is pretty nice, and not too expensive. The downside is that there is no internet because of the short lease period. No, let me correct that. The downside is that there has been terrible communication on the part of the woman leasing me the place on behalf of her friend, and that I was extremely angry for a while.

The day before moving things over to the place from the hotel, I still didn't have the key. I was supposed to have the key a week prior to that day. I couldn't get a hold of the leasing woman. I started to panic a little and called my teacher, the person who told me about the apartment. She gave me an alternate number to try the leasing woman at, and so I finally got a hold of her. When I did, she said that my teacher will have the key for me to pick up. (Did my teacher know this ahead of time? Of course not.) And then she said (and I translate):

Oh, Ding Mei, there's one other thing. Sorry to bring this up, but, well, I talked to my friend a while ago, and I originally thought the leasing dates we agreed on were fine, but it turns out that she's leasing the place to someone starting on June 1. So... that's how it is.

I couldn't really start screaming on the phone when she told me that. I mean, yes, she unapologetically tore 10 days off of the lease we agreed on without any alternative and without offering to lower the price, but at the same time, this is Beijing. I've come to expect problems, and take them as they come. Furthermore, I would be ruining some guanxi (roughly: relationship. It's more complicated than that, though.) with my teacher by yelling at this woman, so I had to bite my tongue and be reasonable. I'm going to approach this like I approach the market. I'm telling her the price to be paid now, and that's all that will be paid. If one month was 2000, ten days less will be 1600. The end.

Scholarships: Barring the apartment hassles, time has been quite good lately. Back over winter break, I applied for a scholarship at IU that I forgot about, and then I ended up winning it. Many thanks to the College of Arts and Sciences for awarding me the Abels Scholarship. Furthermore, a couple of weeks after that, I received an email from the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture to inform me that they were awarding me the department's Uehara Prize. I am greatly honored, and very thankful to EALC. They've been wonderful to me throughout my undergraduate career.

Internship: On a whim, maybe a month ago, I sent a sample of my photography to That's Beijing, local arts and entertainment magazine, for review for a freelance position regarding an upcoming city guide. I forgot about that because I knew nothing would come of it. I just thought it would be good to put myself out there. However, about a week later, I received an email from the editor of city guide informing me that although I had inquired about a photography position, he felt that they had a different project that I would be perfect for. We corresponded via email about it, and I ended up being hired as an intern in a writing position.

I'm going to be working with another girl, and we're going to be writing a 4-page spread for the Insider's Guide to Beijing regarding Chinese language instruction at universities in Beijing that have high foreign student enrollment. This means we're going to be going to those campuses and interviewing students, administrators, and teachers, and eventually coming up with a profile for each of about 5 schools. I'm really excited about this. I met with everyone yesterday in Chaoyang, and the people who are providing the support for the project are really great. We've got a kind of tight deadline of less than a month, and that makes me extremely happy. I love working with deadlines like this. I think this is going to be a good experience.

Again, I apologize for the lack of updates. Homework on top of everything is making my life very busy. I'll be sure to try and get better about this.

More about Sandstorms

2006-04-19T14:11:00.000+08:00

Apparently there's worldwide coverage of this year's sandstorms. I can see why. They're pretty bad. I forgot to mention before some hearsay I heard: on the first night of the sandstorms, a train traveling in China had its windows blown out. The passengers all huddled together waiting for the storm to stop. I bet that was completely terrifying.

Today, I read a bit from a Yahoo news article my dad sent me. Joe McDonald writes:

BEIJING - Beijing will use artificial rainmaking to clear the air after a choking dust storm coated China's capital and beyond with yellow grit, prompting a health warning to keep children indoors, state media said Tuesday.

Read more here.

I'm without a doubt wearing my sick mask now. I'd say about half of the people I see on the street have them on now, too. I'm reminded of another time when a massive amount of people were wearing sick masks in Beijing. That time is the time of SARS. I hadn't thought about SARS in a while, but today in the building I have grammar class, I looked at announcements behind a glass window. I found a particularly interesting one from 2003. The basic gist of it was that 4 deaths from SARS had occured in Beijing thus far, but everyone could be assured that the campus of BLCU was safe and sanitized. What a time it would have been to be here. All I have to deal with is sandstorms.

Spring Arrival

2006-04-18T14:10:00.000+08:00

According to my reading comprehension teacher, spring has officially arrived in Beijing. The trees are flowering, the little patches of grass that there are have grown back and are green, and the birds of prey are flying around again. These reasons, however, have nothing to do with why my teacher made her declaration. The sandstorms have arrived.

The color in this photo is not wrong. This is what it looks like outside. The ground is covered with sand. When I went outside yesterday morning to head to class, I was disoriented by the overpowering amount of yellow I saw everywhere. I didn't know what had happened, but in my still sleepy state, I figured that it had just rained dirt the night before. That may sound strange to you, but I've come to not be shocked by strange things in Beijing now. If it had rained dirt, I probably would have just accepted it.

There's a good covering of sand on almost every surface outside. Getting on a bicycle that didn't have the seat covered with a plastic bag before the sandstorm can't be too fun right now.

Beijing is probably in the most ridiculous location for a city that I can think of. Okay, well, that's not fair. There's always Atlantis. All day today, I've been expecting to see tumbleweeds coming down the street. The outside brooms of Beijing are probably the closest thing I'm going to get, though. The brooms are huge and constructed of a bunch of tiny sticks tied together. The workers around campus used them to sweep leaves into piles during autumn. Now, however, they've decided to sweep the sand about. That, of course, has resulted in even more sand in the air, and parades of gagging students before and after class.

I have this solution - sunglasses and a surgical/sick mask. I hope this makes it so I can see and breathe with a little more ease. I'm even coughing in my room because the air seals on my windows are nonexistent, and the sand has come in here. There is no escaping it.

Excuse Me, Sir.

2006-04-13T18:48:00.000+08:00

Yesterday my teachers announced that our schedules were going to be changed for today. Instead of our normal 10 minute break in the first class, we were going straight through (8.30 - 9.50). After that class, we would have a 20 minute break, then attend our next class. Our next class would conclude at 12, instead of the usual 12.30. None of them were really sure why we were having the schedule change.

The first class today was a little agonizing. I realized that I really need that 10 minute break to bring myself back to sanity during class. During the 20 minute break, everyone I talked to was a little loopy. That break flew by quickly, and I arrived to my next class in the process of my teacher calling attendance. I knew I was late because no one was in the hallway. She didn't seem too mad about it, though, and she started class as usual.

I was unclear as to whether or not we were getting a break in the second class, but our teacher gave us one anyway around 11.00. I was the only person to get up and go outside. As I walked through the door, I saw that there was a huge group of people in black suits in my way. I politely walked through them, nodding and slightly bowing the entire time. I noticed that there were people with cameras (still and video) and microphones. I had no idea what was going on, but I'm not one to stand and gawk.

I proceeded to the stairs nearest my classroom. There I met with a worker in pink, guarding the door. "Excuse me, please use the stairway down the hall. You're not allowed to use this one." I gave her a weird look, but conceded. I've had weirder things happen to me in China, I really wanted to have time to get water, and so I didn't argue with her. I proceeeded to the next stairway.

There I was met with two workers in pink. "Where are you going?" one asked. "I'm going downstairs."

"To do what?"

"Um, to buy water."

"You can't take this stairway. Go down the hall."

At this point, I started to get a little irritated. I knew that the reason I couldn't take these two stairways had something to do with the people in the suits, but it was ridiculous nevertheless. This was the only day the workers were working, too. Nevertheless, I was very thirsty, so I headed further down the hallway.

Halfway to the next stairwell, I was met by an official-looking woman from my school. "Where are you going?" she asked. "I'm going downstairs. I want water. I am very, very thirsty. Which stairwell am I allowed to take?"

"The one furthest down the hall."

I thanked her for the information and walked the rest of the way down the hallway. I went downstairs, purchased water, and then stood overlooking the empty rest area. "Why is no one on break right now?" I wondered. I started to wonder if my teacher didn't really intend to let us go, and that I had misheard her; so, I went back upstairs via the stairway furthest from my classroom.

On my way back to the classroom, walking past the two-worker station I mentioned above, the last woman who interrogated me stopped me. "Where are you going? You're not allowed to be up here."

"Um, I'm..."

"Are you going back to class?"

"Yes."

"What room are you in?" she asked gruffly.

"Um... Eight hundred... eight hundred... two," I said, struggling in Chinese because I was getting nervous.

"Alright, hurry along."

Well, excuse me, crazy lady. You saw me come from class. I can't help that your memory is failing you. I headed back toward me classroom, and thus back toward the hoard of suits.

I reached the group of people, and started politely maneuvering my way through them again. All of the sudden, a man walked out of the classroom neighboring mine, and almost straight into me. We both stopped abruptly before running into each other. "Sorry," I said, bowing slightly and looking at the ground. I nodded in apology to the other people, and made my way to my class. In those few seconds, though, I realized that the man who nearly plowed into me looked a little familiar. I had no idea why. I think that alot about people, though, so I disregarded it.

When I got back into my classroom, I asked if anyone knew why all those people were out there. The Singporean woman who sits next to me in class said, "Oh, it's a delegation from Singapore. The former Prime Minister of Singapore is here."

And then I realized who the man was. I had seen pictures of him in my Government and Business in East Asia course with Professor Kennedy. It was the former Prime Minister of Singapore.

Only in China, I say. This place is so surreal sometimes.

"You are an Italian, non-student..."

2006-04-07T18:06:00.000+08:00

Spring is here, and that means that the advertisers are here, too. They are all over the campus when it's warm, looking for foreigners. Some of my friends have recently taken modeling jobs, and other some television commercial jobs. Since I've been in China, I've been of the opinion that the most prized form of advertising here must be blatantly lying, because products definitely do not do what they report to do, nor could they ever realistically do those things. Now, however, I have confirmation of the lies.

My friend Pablo recently took an in-store modeling job with a French student from here. They were modeling suits by an Italian designer based in China and handing out/receiving business cards to/from patrons. Part of their job, however, was to pretend that they were Italian, and not students. That went fine for a while, until the designer came. He didn't know that they weren't Italian, and so he started talking to them in front of everyone. Pablo did a mix of Spanish and fake-Italian, and told him that he couldn't speak Italian because just his mother was Italian. Lucky escape.

Donny is going to be in a commercial soon, and he has to pretend to be French. There are tons of examples like this floating around my campus. Part of your job when advertising is to lie your face off. Look at this ad I found yesterday on local entertainment magazine That's Beijing Online:

Ad No. 68878
Comfortable job, high wage,occidental wanted.

Contact
Ad Number: 68878
Ad placer: miltongang
Description
American,Canidian occidental wanted.
If you are a male/female, who shrewd-looking capable and experience,personable,diplomatic,please contact us. We provide
foreign model of commercial for companies when they hold cocktail party,or celebration. You task are dressily,giving an
address or playing an role of one stuff of the company.

Comfortable job, high wage. If you are the one that described above, do please send your cv with photo to uoral@uoral.com
Our website:http://www.uoral.com

Times viewed: 159

Am I shrewd-looking? Because I would really like to go see what kinds of lies they'd have me propagate for a night.

All of this brings up another issue in my mind, though. In the states, I often heard my East Asian or Asian-American classmates complaining about the tendency of Americans to group the people from the countries of their origin all together and say that they all look the same, and consequently assume that they are the same. I certainly can understand how that would be irritating. I've definitely seen the occurrence of someone in states obnoxiously saying "Ni hao," - in a terrible accent, at that - to a Japanese person, and then getting mad when the Japanese person doesn't understand. That's ridiculous.

A similar thing happens here, too. I have increasingly noticed a feeling that, "All white people look the same," partly because of things like I noted above, and partly because of just how some people have acted toward me. People fairly frequently speak languages to me that I don't understand, and then question me angrily about why I don't understand later. But they're not speaking Chinese at first! How am I supposed to know what they're saying? I'm an English and Chinese speaker. Do I really look Russian? And my teachers lump Americans and Europeans together when talking about Western countries - we're not all the same. And what about Canadians and Mexicans? Or do they just not count?

So, really, this is a criticism of everyone. Take the time to get to know the people you're talking about and to. If there's something I can't stand, it's people asserting that things are a certain way when they are uninformed. There are many different cultures in East Asia, and there are many different cultures in the US and Europe. Certainly, there are similarities, too, but it's important know what those are.

I don't mind if someone mistakes me for being from somewhere I'm not, but it is irritating if they start insisting that I must act a certain way based on an uninformed assumption they're making about me. That only further adds to the feeling of displacement that I feel here sometimes. I understand even more now what the international students at my university must be feeling like.

Educate yourself about other people. It's important. You would want them to do the same for you.

Improvement

2006-03-31T01:51:00.000+08:00

I've been kind of down lately. I'm still not completely over the virus I got at the beginning of last week, so I think that is the main contributing factor. However, I've been generally unmotivated toward studying Chinese because of not being able to concentrate, and not feeling like my work is accomplishing anything.

Tonight, though, I decided to call my friend Zhengfeng in the states. We worked together at IU, and I practiced Mandarin with him during the summer. Since I hadn't talked to anyone who heard me speak Mandarin before entering this program, I thought talking to him might give me an idea of whether or not I've made any significant improvment.

After talking to him, the overwhelming feeling is that I have, in fact, made a huge improvement. That made me feel alot better about continuing my studies here. While talking to him, I remembered a little bit of what I sounded like talking during the summer, and then realized for myself, also, that I've come a long way. Of course, I still have an even longer way until I'm actually good at the language, but at least I know I'm getting somewhere now.

Spring Cleaning

2006-03-22T15:57:00.000+08:00

...or "How I Aggravated My Dust Allergies While I Had a Virus."

I've been sick the past couple of days. Getting sick wasn't terribly surprising. The weather's been rather unpredictable of late, and most of my friends have been sick. If one thing didn't get me, something else was going to. I went to the doctor yesterday and found that I have a virus, so there isn't much I can do but rest and take things for my symptoms. I'm doing alot better today, and I thought that I'd be even better if I got some of the dust from Beijing out of my room. That stuff can't be healthy.

So I got a damp cloth and started wiping down my shelves. After only two, the cloth was almost black. I thought that was terrifying. I rinsed it off in a water basin, and the water turned black. I did some more shelves, and it was digusting. I've cleaned those things so many times. How is this possible? I went and changed the water because it was useless.

After changing the water, I went to open the window to let some "fresh" air in, and circulate the sick air out. My windowsill always has a bit of dust on it, so I decided to take the cloth to it. I don't think I've ever been so repulsed by mere dust. Actually, that's just the thing - this was no mere dust. This was what seemed to be 20 years worth of structural, sentimental dust. There is dust holding up this building. This room was not cleaned for 20 years before I came here. I wiped down the screen of my window, and there were streaks of visibility as I worked.

This wasn't just one wipe and the dust is gone kind of cleaning, either. I kept going back to the windowsill, and more dust kept coming off. I'm going after my windows next, because I bet I'll get about 20% more light in here.

Beijing is really dirty. There is dust flying around everywhere, and lately, there's sand, too. The sandstorms have begun. I had a feeling they were here other day when there were strong winds and more debris than usual in my eyes, but that was confirmed by my Beijing native friend. She said that it was a mild one, though. That's great.

Gas masks can be sent to:

Hillary Demmon
Beijing Language and Culture University
15 Xueyuan Rd
Haidian District, Beijing, PRC 100083

Pollution

2006-03-18T14:26:00.000+08:00

A little bit ago, I decided to multi-task and run over to the bank. I've been wanting to get some running in lately, so this seemed like a good time because the bank is far enough away for a good, short run. However, after about five minutes of running, something seemed to be going wrong. I had this strange tickle in my throat. Three minutes after that, I felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen. By the time I got to the bank, my lungs hurt.

I'm not terribly out of shape, and it hasn't been that long since I last went running, but the little bit of running I did made me feel terrible. Usually after I run, I feel refreshed and good. Right now, I feel like I have asthma. I'm still coughing. The thing is, I wasn't even tired from running. My body could have kept going, but my lungs and throat couldn't. I feel like I just smoked 80 cigarettes at once. On top of it, today was a low pollution index day. I could see the blue in the sky.

My friend Stefanie has been trying to start running lately, too, but she's been having to take hits off of her inhaler immediately upon her return. And she didn't have an inhaler before she got to Beijing.

How are the Olympics going to be held in this city?!

Filing Taxes from China

2006-03-15T23:38:00.000+08:00

"Just e-file, it's so easy!"

This may be true for many, but it is not in my case. Granted, it is the best option I have for filing my taxes from here if I ever want my information to reach the IRS; however, I will not call it easy. Or rather, I will not call it simple. It's still pretty easy, but it's kind of time-consuming the way I have to do this.

I'm getting a refund this year, so I would like it to be directly deposited into my bank account. I live on different business hours than people in the states, so when I didn't know my routing number and didn't have any checks to reference, I thought I'd look at my bank's website and get the answers. I was quickly reminded of how useless my bank's website is, and couldn't find the routing number anywhere. Then I tried my other bank's website. Nothing. So I wrote my mother an email and waited the couple of hours it took for her to wake up for the day and write me back. Then I returned to filing my taxes.

I was almost done and ready to e-file, but then there was something about an electronic signature that was being mentioned for the first time. It's very easy, you know. You just have to get last year's tax documents, find your adjusted gross income, or AGI as the tax people call it, and put that information in with the electronic signature. Oh yeah. No problem. Let me just pull out last year's tax documents that I brought with me to China...

...oh wait. I didn't bring them. What was I thinking! Of course I need to bring last year's tax documents with me while studying abroad. After a similar sarcastic outburst in my room, I looked into the other options for getting the signature taken care of and my taxed filed. The other option was to sign a piece of paper and mail it in. However, with that option, I'm right back where I started with not being sure if it will ever get to the IRS because I'm dealing with China Post here. Also, I don't have the luxury of a convenient printer here.

I read some more fine print about the electronic signature, and I found that I can call the IRS to get my AGI. Ah, now there's some thinking. I was happy to see that TurboTax Online wasn't comprised of a bunch of hacks, and that they actually knew what they were doing. So I set up Skype, put my headphones on, and called the IRS.

"We're sorry. Due to current technical difficulties, we are unable to answer your call at this time."

At what time? Tax time? I called within your business hours, Mr. IRS. Pick up your phone.

Why I Should Be a Translator

2006-03-12T22:47:00.000+08:00

Today we will be taking a short, visual tour of why I should be hired to do translation from Chinese into English. The first product is below.

I saw this box of teeth-grinding sticks in the grocery store I frequent. Of course, seeing the name of the product, I immediately picked up the box to read about what it was. I saw the English first, and then read the Chinese. Of course, they're teething cookies for babies, but let me tell you what the side of the box said in English. (Spacing and spelling errors are intentional.).

Yantai Baby-joy Group company,which is specialized in producing babies and children's food, has rich experience more than 50 years.We add Xylitol in new teeth-grinding sticks,so the product is specially designed for growing milk-teeth babies.Grinding and protecting the teeth,the teeth will be more healthy!

Characteristics of the Baby-joy teeth-grinding sticks biscuit:

- It is suitable for growing milk-teeth baby.
- Moderate hardness makes baby's teeth comfortable,at the same time, it can temper baby's chewing ability.
- Finger-shaped stick helps to temper baby's grabbing ability.
- No pigment, no preservatives.

Eating method:

- Let baby sit on and you must be on the scene.
- Wash baby's hands, let himseld sieze teeth-grinding sticks, grinding his teeth slowly.

I am tempted to write Yantai Baby-joy Group to tell them two things: 1) I am willing to translate for them, and 2) their teeth-grinding sticks taste terrible, and they did not grind my teeth one bit.

The second thing I'd like to show is a t-shirt I bought yesterday. For this, I would like to not hire better translators. This kind of thing makes me feel like I'm in China, and the convoluted English is part of the charm.

If you can't see clearly what is written on the shirt, it is:

RADIC Color

The Brilliant Environment Which Is Always Lively

Chimp & Giant

The Impact That Electrity Is Flow Away
live happily and pleasantly

Feel The Vibes
There Is Amusement Of Sincerity In The Minor World, And There Is Actual Freedom

The strangest part of this is that I feel like I understand this English. I've learned to take alot of English that is never used, and often very wrong, and understand its meaning. I'm getting a second language while living here. The back of the shirt is this:

Again, if it isn't clear, it says:

RADIC COLOR.

As for the world's being happy, the thing which it has many people know is desirable.

it is pleasant to say that it acts freely about this free world.

That it does. That it does.

Beat Your Kids

2006-03-08T23:10:00.000+08:00

In my reading class today, we were reviewing the meaning of a sentence which said, "Anywhere you go, I will find you." Our teacher said that it's the kind of phrase that parents can tell they kids when they're trying to run away from a beating.

She stopped herself there, and said, "I don't know if in your country parents still hit their kids, but in China we still do. It's mostly in the rural areas where they really beat them; but regardless, that's one situation where we can use this grammar."

She went on to explain that, previously in rural areas, if you were a teacher and you didn't hit the kids, people would consider you to be a bad teacher. They would think that you didn't have control over the classroom and that the children didn't respect you. (Note, however, that they're talking about on the hand or some place similarly shocking, but not especially painful.).

Our teacher said, "I know that in places like America, if you hit your kids, they can call the police and get you in trouble, but that isn't the case here. It's part of the tradition here - parents are the authorities. They are allowed to hit their children when they don't listen."

She said that some younger parents try not to hit their children, but that when their children don't listen to them, other people say, "Why don't you hit your kids? They don't listen!"

This isn't just China, of course. Most of my non-Western classmates all agreed that it was similar in their countries. It's just a different mindset. Hitting children seems kind of awful to alot of Americans, but it's a way of instilling obdience and respect of authority in other places.

Classes

2006-03-03T17:53:00.000+08:00

I think that I'm going to like this new level of Chinese. I am now officially an intermediate-level student. My teachers teach in such a better style than I grew accustomed to last semester. That's not to say I didn't absolutely love it every time my main teacher called me stupid, but I think these new teachers have a better grasp on how to present material and have it stick in my mind.

Let's talk about role reversal, too! Last semester, I felt like I was the dumb one in my class. This feeling was, of course, heightened by my main teacher calling me stupid constantly (yes, I am bitter about that.). However, on the first day of my reading class, my new teacher held me up as an example of what people can achieve with their speaking skills! I was so confused. I thought I spoke really, really badly. I mean, I still don't speak well, but I'm not the dumb one!

It probably seems like I'm dwelling a bit on class intelligence/success ranking, and that's because I am. I thought I got past most of that seeming important to me when I was still in the states, but coming here brought it all back. Last semester, I really struggled with this, actually. My skill set wasn't what was stressed in my classes last semester, and with the way my main teacher treated me in class, I thought it was a completely useless skill set here. I wasn't expecting to be the best person in my class here - that doesn't even exist - but I wasn't expecting to be as low as I was. For someone who gets told for a lifetime that he or she is above average/gifted/etc. and begins to take that for granted, the kind of situation I had last semester is a serious blow. I had myself convinced that I was never going to get this language because I was too stupid.

I'm not stupid, though, and I think I'm going to be able to learn really well in this new enviroment. The classes are going to be hard, and their homework is going to take up most of the hours of my day, but I think they're going to help me progress in a very noticeable way.

Second Semester Registration

2006-02-26T21:26:00.000+08:00

I returned to Beijing last night after a two week vacation in the States. Classes start tomorrow, and I hadn't registered yet. I was expecting a huge headache when I went today to do so, but I was happily surprised to find that the process was streamlined and - dare I say? - efficient. It was at least efficient for Beijing, and that is plenty for me.

I am registered for another 20 hours per week this semester, and I am now in the intermediate level. I think what that is ultimately going to mean is that I'm going to drown in confusion and long hours of trying to understand on my own what happened in class. I have 10 hours of required courses, and three additional courses that I chose.

I decided to take another reading course because I struggled with reading comprehension last semester, and also because I would like to be literate in this language one day. I am also taking a grammar class, which is different from the type of grammar class I've grown accustomed to in the past few years. The closest equivalent that I can think of is studying grammar like I did in English class in the States. It's presupposing knowledge and delving deeper. I'm hoping that will help me understand some nuances in the language that I'm missing. Finally, I decided to take a cultural geography course because I thought it would be nice to take a course with actual content in Chinese instead of constant instruction in just the language.

I am jetlagged right now. I've been fighting sleep for the past five or six hours in an attempt to beat this and get reacclimated to the time. I think I am about to give in and sleep now, though. 9.30pm is a decent time to go to bed, right?

Goodbye, Personal Space. Hello, Asia.

2006-02-25T16:18:00.000+08:00

I'm in the process of travelling back to Beijing from my break in the States. I just got off of the longest leg of the trip, and I am very happy about it. The flight from Detroit to Tokyo, where I am currently, took over 13 hours. I was seated in between a Korean guy my own age and a Japanese man who appeared to be in his early thirties. As the Korean guy on my left, who had a window seat, fell asleep, he gradually slumped toward me and onto my shoulder. I let him stay for a minute, and then realized that he wasn't getting up. I shrugged him off of me, and he moved. Eventually, I fell asleep for a while, though uncomfortably, because his elbow was far over his armrest. I don't understand it. He had a wall to lean on.

When I woke up, he was asleep on my shoulder again. I honestly don't know if he was doing this on purpose or not. When I was on the rail in Tokyo people fell asleep on me, and on a bus in Utsunomiya people did the same. I don't know if I should be shoving people or just getting over it.

[Regarding my lack of vacation posts: I have some work to do, but the photos are being posted, and the entries will come. Check backwards on my blog because I will be backdating them.]

Apology

2006-01-28T23:00:00.000+08:00

I'm sorry that I haven't kept up daily with the blogs. I will update everything soon. It might be after I return to the states, but it will be done. I need to make sure I keep having experiences so I can write about them, though. I think a good amount of time on the plane may be spent on this.

Just note that Chinese New Year is the best thing ever. Period. You'll hear about it soon.

Happy New Year!

Shanghai: Day 5

2006-01-24T23:46:00.000+08:00

Today we went to the Jade Buddha Temple. This place houses scurrying monks, beautiful plants, and its namesake, a 6-foot tall jade Buddha. It took a while to walk there from our hotel, but I think it was well worth it. The outside was painted yellow, and we entered through large wooden doors. Once inside, the walls of the interior were painted bright red and yellow. The whole place was very quiet and smelled strongly of the incense that was burning in the center garden.

While I was exploring, two lines of monks came walking by quickly, with some dressed in bright yellow and some dressed in bright red. I followed them and saw that they were going into an eating area which happened to be a vegetarian restaurant. I didn't eat there, but it made me happy to see yet another Buddhist-run vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai. (The people at Godly certainly made my eating experience excellent.)

I particularly loved the doorways inside the complex. There were so many circles to walk through, and what they framed always looked interesting enough to walk through and check out.

Eventually we made it to the Jade Buddha. It was housed on the second floor of a building it had to itself. The room it was in had incense burning in it and soft music playing. I stood there, marvelling at the Buddha, for about fifteen minutes. (Photos were understandably not allowed in this area, so I am forced to attempt an adequate written description.)

The Buddha sat in lotus position, looking humbly downward. The craftsmanship of the Buddha was impeccable. The main reason that I stood for so long staring at it was the small details in the hands and face. The Buddha's tears were so real looking that it seemed the jade it was made from was really crying. The more I looked at it, the more I felt my own tears welling up behind my eyes. I was told later that the tears are the Buddha's pity for mankind. While I admittedly know very little about Buddhism, I feel like this Jade Buddha must have spoken loudly and subtly at once for some of its main principles.

After visiting the temple, Donny, Gene, and I met Gene's father at the tallest building in Shanghai. We stayed there for a little while taking pictures, and then headed to dinner. We ordered far too much food, and found new favorites in the process. Donny was introduced to tipang, which is some cut of pork that is higher on the leg than usual and is cooked until the point that it can fall off the bone. I, however, being vegetarian, gorged myself on kaofu, xiancai, and miantiao.

Kaofu is made from wheat gluten and has a thick, spongy texture. It soaks up the sauce it is cooked in very well, which, in this case, happened to be both salty and sweet. This particular dish also had two kinds of mushrooms (woodear, and another, very thin kind) and peanuts.

Xiancai is pickled assorted vegetables. I love this, and according to our friend Mr. Liu, this makes me "very Chinese" because most foreigners don't like it. It's vinegary and sweet, and it stings the tongue a little while taking a long time to chew. I ate almost this whole plate by myself.

Miantiao simply means "noodles." The miantiao at this restaurant was fried with onion and served with a seaweed garnish. I think that just by looking at it, you can tell that it must have tasted amazing. The noodles were fresh and handpulled, which resulted in a great texture.

Shanghai: Day 4

2006-01-23T22:27:00.000+08:00

Today we headed to the French Concession. If I were to write Zhou Enlai a letter, I would write the following:

Dear Zhou Enlai,

You are a bourgeois hypocrite. I went to your Shanghai residence today. You and your comrades should have never claimed to be uplifting the proletariat. Your beds were nicer than the one in my dorm. They were softer. I poked it to check. And that porch of yours? Oh man. When the KMT was spying on your activities from across the street, I bet they were calling you a hypocrite, too.

With a red star on my heart and lots of love,

Ding Mei

We went to the Shanghai residence of Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan) today, too. These guys had really nice places. It was all western architecture, and they had very nice gardens. It was fun for me to go see the places where some political figures I've read alot about lived. That made them a little more real and less like characters in an oddly written novel.

Before the French Concession, we went to Suzhou Creek, an art district. I wish the works I saw would have had accompanying statements. Sure, it's nice to look at a piece completely on your own, but it's also nice to know what the artist's intent is/was with the piece. I wondered if some of them had intent. A statement would have been nice.

We walked into one studio today called Deconstructionist Art, and that place was pretty entertaining. The artist was there, because he works and sleeps there. He had long, shaggy hair, and wore pants with an elastic waist slightly above his navel. He looked like he wanted to talk to us, but he didn't at first because he was busy with these three students from another city in China who were asking him questions. Eventually, I was the only one from our five person group in the room with him, and he said hello in Chinese. I replied in Chinese, and that broke the ice a bit. He invited me to sit, and we talked for a few minutes. That was cool. I like being able to speak Chinese. I still speak really badly, but now people understand me and I understand them. I'll take any progress I can get.

So jumping back ahead, on our way to find a cab from the French Concession, we passed a little park where there were alot of children and two dogs. One dog was normal Chinese dog sized (about the length of your foot to your knee, and three-fourths of that for the height), but the other was the size of my hand. I couldn't tell what it was from far away. Gene's dad walked over there, so I followed him because I wanted to pet the dogs.

I crouched down, and the little dog came bounding over. It looked like a really small baby lamb, but it didn't hop, so I knew it was a dog. I put my hand out, and it crawled into it. I couldn't believe how small it was. The little kids who had been playing with it came over and started talking about it. Haha, this story doesn't have a point. I was just overwhelmed by the cuteness of the situation. I'll post a picture and possibly a video of the dog.

For dinner tonight, we went to a restaurant called Gong De Lin (or Godly, in English), located at 445 Nanjing Xi Lu, which is a vegetarian restaurant that has been in place since the 1920s. Everything there is vegetarian. I was amazed. They call the dishes by the names of the meat dishes they're mimicking, so I was a little wary at first, but everyone assured me that there was no meat at all. The food was delicious. If you're in Shanghai, I suggest going. It has a very nice interior, and a lovely shrine to Buddha. The incense burning inside has a very pleasant scent, too.

While alot of Shanghai doesn't feel like China to me, I still really like it as a city. It's quite lovely.

Welcome to the revolution of blogging. Here is the video of the tiny puppy.

Shanghai: Day 3

2006-01-23T00:15:00.000+08:00

Today we got our train tickets mostly taken care of. We don't have the tickets in hand, though we've already paid for them. We're supposed to pick them up on the 25th. I'm being optimistic and hoping that everything goes as planned. It's important for all of this train stuff to work out so I make it back to Beijing in time for my flight on the 8th.

Also today, we headed to a large market called Xiang Yang Chang (I think. I'll double-check tomorrow.). Just when I was beginning to think that vendors in Shanghai were calmer than those in Beijing, we were assaulted by people with booklets screaming, "DVD! CD! Purse? Bag?" They had the booklets because if you wanted their wares, they had to lead you to a back alley-ish kind of place to surreptitiously sell the items to you. Pirated things are illegal, and while that's never discouraged vendors in Beijing, people apparently have to be more careful and quiet about selling them in Shanghai.

I did some bargaining today with relative success. Donny was checking out a jacket with Gene and his parents, and during that I went to the next stall over to look at necklaces. I've wanted to get a jade circle on a red cord to wear under my shirt for quite a while, so I checked the price of some that I saw. The vendor told me it was 180 RMB, and I started cracking up and walking away. I won't go into the detail of the theatrics of bargaining again, but the end result was that I got the thing for 20 RMB. This conversation followed:

Man: Aiya! Ni zheme lihai a! Ni zenme rang wo gei ni zheme pianyi de? (Man! You're so skilled/cruel/strong! How did you make me give you this so cheap?)
Me: Wo shi cong Beijing lai de. (I'm from Beijing.)
Man: A, zheme lihai. Zheme lihai!

Gene's dad saw the necklace after I bought it and asked how things went in bargaining. After I told him the asking price and the final price, he said, "Wow, no wonder people say you bargain better than a Chinese." Hehe. I don't know about that, but things went well with Donny's coat, too. I always do better when I'm helping someone else with bargaining because I care more.

The woman he was dealing with kept showing me the tag that said the coat was supposed to be 828 RMB. I kept replying that there was no way that it was worth that much, and that it didn't even look that warm. Donny said she'd gone down to 200 RMB, and that that price seemed okay. I said it should be 150 RMB. Gene's mom started laughing to herself. The vendor started yelling at me and punched me in the chest. After more arguing, we started walking away because she wouldn't budge. Everyone got away but me. This woman put a death grip on my wrist and nearly pulled my arm out of its socket. We argued a bit more and settled on 170 RMB. That seemed more reasonable to me.

Bargaining is pretty fun if you're up for it.

And as a final note: I don't know about the water here. I boiled it, and it tastes like mushrooms. I'm still drinking it, but that's an awfully strange taste. I wonder what chemicals are in the water around here.

Something Beautiful

2006-01-22T02:02:00.000+08:00

Today, I had something really awesome happen to me. I was packing up my tripod in a little gazebo/pagoda thing inside Yuyuan Gongyuan (a park), and from below, a little boy put his hands on the railing and we had the following conversation.

Boy: Hei, ni gan ma? (Hey, what are you doing?)
Me: Zhaopian a. Ni ne? Ni gan ma? (Taking picture. And you? What
are you doing?)
Boy: Chi dongxi ::smile:: (Eating stuff)
Me: A, zhen de? Shen me dongxi a? (Oh yeah? What are you eating?)
Boy: Qiaokeli ::bigger smile:: (Chocolate)
Me: Ai, ni xihuan qiaokeli ma? (Oh, do you like chocolate?)
Boy: Hen xihuan a! (I like it alot!)

Then his mother called him back over. He turned, waved, and smiled at me. This was a wonderful experience for me. This kid came and looked at me for about 10 seconds, and just spoke Chinese to me. He didn't hesitate like I couldn't do it. If kids don't understand your Chinese, you know it immediately, and we had no problems communicating. I talked to this kid like I'd talk to one in English.

It's not really a big thing that happened, but it made me feel really good. I totally wanted to hug that kid.

Meanwhile, because I'm tired at the ends of my days, I'm posting my photos on flickr and not taking the time to html code them into my blog. I apologize for my laziness, and there's a good chance that I will come and edit these posts at some point to make the whole thing more cohesive with the photos. Until then, however, keep up with things visually...

...by clicking on this link.

Arrival in Shanghai

2006-01-21T00:21:00.000+08:00

Last night, Donny, Gene, and I boarded a train at Beijing Train Station for a 7pm departure to Shanghai. We rode first class in a sleeper car, as it was the only available type of ticket at our time of purchase. There were four beds in the car, and while it almost seemed like the three of us were going to have it to ourselves, some business man showed up at 7.15pm. How did he do that?! The train was already moving for 15 minutes! We got over it quickly enough, I suppose.

I spent a good portion of the ride staring at the window at the changing scenery. It's so nice to be out of Beijing for a bit. I saw really big hills, and empty space. I was shocked to see that somewhere in China hasn't been inhabited and run over by factories. At one point while the business man was gone, and Gene had gone to smoke, Donny and I were staring out the window and saw a tent in the middle of the nothingness, with seven people sitting at a fire. I thought that was beautiful.

Eventually I fell asleep, and stayed so for what I would guess was about 4 hours. I was awakened around 7am by the sound of ratcheting coming from above me. The business man was taking all his stuff down and moving it out of the car. I made a question noise at him while I turned to look out the window. I saw the shang of Shanghai as he said, "Dao le," which means, "We're here." Donny and Gene were both dead asleep, so I roused them quickly and started a mad packing dash to get out of the car. I met them outside.

While I was waiting for them, a man approached me and said that I needed to take my bags upstairs. He had quite a thick Shanghai accent, but he was thankfully still speaking Mandarin and not Shanghainese. He kept insisting that I take everything upstairs, but in my tired haze it took a few times of his insisting before I shut him up. "Here, here, I'll help you," he said, as he grabbed my bag. "No, no, no," I said, grabbing it back. "I'm waiting for my friends. I'll take it up on my own, thank you."

"Ah! Ni shi cong Beijing lai de!" he exclaimed. That means, roughly, "Ah! You're from Beijing!"

I confirmed his assumption, and he started complimenting me on my Mandarin. During this conversation of compliments and declining them, Donny and Gene emerged from the train. After the man babbled at them about taking luggage upstairs, we left him and took our bags up ourselves. Once upstairs, we started trying to think of ways to find an internet cafe, because a necessary email with directions to our hotel was not printed ahead of time.

I asked some woman about an internet bar, and she had no idea what I was talking about. It wasn't that my speaking was bad. She knew everything that I said except for "internet bar." My tones were right, too. I checked them later. Eventually we ended up going to a hotel and using their internet. We got the address, but we had to take two separate cabs to the place because we had too much luggage, apparently. I went by myself and got driven around. Blah. Oh well.

I didn't talk to the cab driver until we arrived, and it was only to confirm the price of the ride. All I said was a monetary amount, and the cab driver freaked out. "Beijing ren!!" (You're a Beijing person, or rather, You're from Beijing!). I didn't realize that my accent was that recognizable.

Later on, Mr. Liu, Gene's father's business partner, the person who's arranged the Motel 168 (our hotel) stuff for us, met us at the hotel, and we all had lunch at the nearby Ocean Hotel. That hotel has a revolving restaurant on the top, so we got a nice view of the city while eating for two hours. After lunch, we walked around and Mr Liu showed us the subway system. I swear, being in Shanghai is like having done time travel. The subway was immaculate. I couldn't believe it. This place is such a stark contrast from Beijing.

We made our ways out to Waitan, and got to see the skyline against the water. The area on the way to Waitan is a huge pedestrian area kind of like Wangfujing in Beijing, but bigger, with more people, and with more lights. I took ridiculous amounts of photos during our excursion which will be posted after I get the chance to edit them a bit.

I need to sleep now because I need to get up for breakfast tomorrow. My trip is going really well so far.

A New Kind of Dorm Problem

2006-01-19T10:19:00.000+08:00

Today I'm going to board a train for Shanghai. As is many people's custom, I went to take a shower so I could be clean for the long trip. I got into the shower, turned the water on, and waited for it to warm up. This is my normal routine. It took a little longer than usual to warm up today. Just as I began to think that the hot water might be gone, the water turned warm. I waited a few more seconds, and stepped in the water.

About 30 seconds following my entrance into the water, I was greeted with nearly boiling water. The water didn't ever stop heating up, and it was really unbearable. I turned the cold water up, and the water got hotter. When counter-intuitive things like this happen, lately I mutter to myself, "Damn it, China. What are you doing?" Today was similar, but involved a bit more cursing as my skin was being scalded by the water bouncing off the floor even after I jumped out of the water.

I turned the hot water off, and found that then no water was coming from the showerhead (read: open pipe). "Are you kidding me?!" But, in fact, it was not kidding me. There was no cold water. None. I turned the handle for cold as far as it could go, and all I heard was air in the pipes. I showered as much as possible until I couldn't handle it anymore, and then left the shower. I checked the sink faucets for cold water, and again there was none.

To me, this seems like a strange problem to have. I'm sure I'll find out soon that this is not uncommon, but for right now, I am throwing out a huge "What the hell??" to my dorm.

A Day of Snow and History

2006-01-15T02:51:00.000+08:00

Two days ago, it snowed the most I've seen in Beijing thus far. Donny, Gene, and I decided that it would be nice to go see old things in Beijing in the snow; so, we hopped on the subway and headed to none other than Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I really love those two places. And now, as a result of several factors at work including Gene's good aim and my not paying attention, I can say that I have gotten into a (very brief) snowball fight in the (non-museum portion of the) Forbidden City. I got hit straight on the nose with a snowball after I took a picture. It was hilarious. Of course, there were pictures taken, too.

The snow was sparse still, but it was there. This is the evidence. This is a wall inside the Forbidden City.

I touch these bolts for good luck every time I enter and leave the Forbidden City. Taking my picture inside one seemed like it could bring even more luck. (Dear Forbidden City door bolt, I would really like to speak Chinese better...)

Donny loves China, and speaks Chinese really well. He's going to be the new emperor when the right time comes, so we set up a shot to show where his picture will hang at that time.

Yes, really, when it comes down to it, we just love China.

Vacation

2006-01-13T23:53:00.000+08:00

My sleep schedule is so awful right now. I will describe last night until right now to illustrate what it is like.

Last night, somewhere between 2.30 and 4.30, I went to sleep.
This morning at 6.40, my alarm went off. I freaked out and hit it.
This morning at 6.45, my alarm went off again. I screamed and growled, and hit it off the table to shut it up.
This morning at 6.50, I got out of bed and realized why my alarm was going off. I was supposed to go to breakfast.
This morning at 6.55, I made a joint decision online to not go to breakfast, and instead sleep more.
This morning around 11, I got up and talked online. Then I went to lunch.
This afternoon around 4, I fell asleep.
This evening around 6.45, I woke up and started making dinner plans.

And now, this night, at 11.53, I am wide awake, with my only recouse being to watch a movie and wait a couple of hours to get tired again.

End of Semester

2006-01-06T11:03:00.000+08:00

Countless hours of study and five tests later, my semester is finally over. I took my last test today. I really feel like studying 6+ hours a day for over a week and a half really helped me. I've never studied so hard in my life. I think that's because it wouldn't have done anything before. The only times I can think of where studying has really done anything for me is for Professor Kennedy's tests/papers at IU for Chinese Foreign Policy and Government and Business in East Asia. Coincidence? I don't think so. I studied similarly for those, but not for the same kind of stretch of days.

I feel like I did pretty well on my tests. I watched my teacher write down a 90 for my oral exam, which made me extremely happy considering that I'm pretty sure she thought I was the dumb one in the class all semester. The written test for that class went well, too, I think. Much to my surprise, the listening test seemed rather easy. Certainly I made mistakes and got things wrong, but it was much easier than what we do in class. I studied for 6 hours straight - no breaks - listening to tapes for that class. It was maddening, but ultimately helpful, I think. My last test was today, as I said before, and it was my hardest. I was expecting that. Even still, I don't think it went too badly. All the study for the other classes helped me on it.

So that's it. I'm leaving for Shanghai on the 19th, and I think I'm just going to chill out for a while until then. I'm going to go get Indian food now to reward myself for not jumping out the window this week. (hehe, kidding. I didn't really think of doing that. I actually thought about launching my tape player out the window, though.)

Finals

2006-01-03T00:20:00.000+08:00

I am now in finals territory. I took my first exam Friday. It was a speaking exam, and I don't think there were any colossal screwups. I'll take that to be a success at this point. Tomorrw starts the real period of exams, though. Starting in the morning, I have one final every day for the next four days. Wish me luck. Hopefully I won't need too much of it - this is especially considering the number of hours I've put into study - but it wouldn't hurt to have some anyway.

I doubt I'll be writing much for the rest of the week, so I'll update soon after the exams are over.

P.S. We bought tickets to Shanghai today. Vacation is really going to happen. I'm going to rock Chinese New Year in Ningbo. This is going to be great.

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T21:02:00.000+08:00

It almost looked like I was going to end up skipping New Year's celebrations like I've skipped other holidays this year, but that ended up not being the case. I got fairly adamant that we all go out and do something, because my sense of time has been all screwed up with having not really had Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, and not much snow to speak of. So Gene, Donny, and I went to this Japanese restaurant in Wudaokou first, and had some tasty sushi. While there, we decided that we'd check out some bars in part of Wudaokou and settle into one of them for our midnight hour. After checking a few places out, we eventually ended up going with the old standby from several months ago, Propaganda.

We found it really funny that we were going there, and thought that if the three of us were going, we should probably reunite with the people who we went with previously. Donny called Jason to see if he wanted to come. We always joke that Jason loves the Propaganda, but we found it to be true. He was supposed to meet other people, but when Donny said we were at Propaganda, he changed his plans and was there within 7 minutes. We also got a hold of Ryan, who came with his girlfriend Luna.

It was getting close to midnight and all of us were dancing. They were playing fairly normal dance music for most of the night, but just a few minutes before 12, a dance remix of Jingle Bells came on. I kid you not. Jingle Bells. People who didn't know what the song was just kept dancing like it was normal, and those of us who did thought it was really strange/funny. Dance Remix Jingle Bells played through the changeover, so I found how I celebrated the New Year to be really entertaining.

I bounced around in a large group of people singing and dancing to Jingle Bells. Ahahaha, leave it to China to make my New Year experience really strange.

Snow

2005-12-31T11:48:00.000+08:00

Today, December 31, had the first real snowfall I have seen since I've been in Beijing. I woke up, looked out the open door to the balcony (open courtesy of the evil girl who lives down the hallway and apparently loves to make it easy for everyone to get sick by converting our floor into a camping experience) and saw the snow coming down! I got my camera, walked onto the balcony, and took a video of the snow. There isn't very much, and there probably will not be in the coming weeks, but it's good for my sense of time to have snow finally. That just progressed the calendar in my head to where it should be.

So, in that case, Happy New Year!

Finals Approaching

2005-12-28T07:53:00.000+08:00

Today is my last day of class for the semester. This is at once wonderful and sobering. My first final is on Friday. Then I have a few days until the real block of them starts. I have five finals for four classes. This means I have tests for reading, listening, general grammar, speaking, and memorization-based speaking and reading aloud. I'm less nervous about this series than the midterms. This time I have a good idea of what to expect.

The one thing that will make this time more difficult than the midterms is the fact that the mornings are as dark as the night. It's 8am right now, and the inside of my room looks like it did at 10pm last night. Our finals are supposed to be begin at 8am, so that is kind of unfortunate. Even if I feel like I'm awake at first, I'm going to get groggy from going outside.

Hopefully this illness will completely fade by friday. I've been rather delirious/miserable with this throat infection since it started on Sunday morning, and it's been difficult to concentrate on anything. I think it's letting up, though, judging by the fact that I am now losing my voice. That ends up being a good sign in this infection. So, here's hoping that I'll be back to normal for my tests.

Christmas in Beijing

2005-12-25T14:32:00.000+08:00

Leave it to Beijing to make my Christmas experience the most surreal for me on record.

It all started last night. I was doing homework and review for my finals by myself in my room on Christmas Eve. I talked to my friend Megan, who is serving in Baghdad this Christmas, online for a while, and caught with her a bit. We discussed what it's like being out of the states for this holiday. As I was talking to her, I noticed a distinct feeling in my throat that normally comes around two or three times a year. Figuring that a throat infection was on its way, I decided to go to bed early to see if I could persuade it to go away.

I woke up this Christmas morning with swollen glands, a sore throat, and a bunch of difficulty breathing. There was no chance that I was going to go to a Chinese hospital today, though. I took Donny once, and I decided then that I would never go if I fell ill. I didn't write about that experience because it was pretty awful, and I didn't want to portray China in an extremely negative light. So, I searched my gmail today for the listserve from the US Embassy that had recommended medical services. I found Beijing United (BJU), and thought that they sounded pretty good. They came highly recommended from the embassy. Donny came with me to the hospital.

If I have something to be thankful for this Christmas, it is joint venture hospitals. BJU was just amazing. The hospital was started by an American company, and is staffed by expats and Chinese who speak amazing English. The facilities were just as clean as hospitals in the states, and the process from registration were very streamlined. I was in and out of the emergency ward in - get this - less than an hour. I had a Canadian doctor, and received the normal antibiotic I get for this infection. I was very impressed, and somewhat confused, by my experience in this hospital. I really couldn't believe that I was in China.

Donny and I thought this hospital was pretty close to an Indian restaurant we like, so we hopped in a cab to get there. It turned out that it was much further away than we thought. That was okay, though, because we had a very entertaining cab driver. This man couldn't find a station on the radio that he wanted to listen to, so he just started singing. This wasn't singing to himself kind of singing, either. He was gesturing like a pop star. It was insane. He kept this show up all the way to the restaurant.

So then Donny and I went into the restaurant to have our Christmas meal. I found it kind of comical that I was eating Indian food in Beijing while hearing little children singing Christmas songs through speakers. There were Santa heads hanging from elephants. All I need to see now is guards walking around with Santa hats, and I think my weird day will be complete.

Andrew's Visit

2005-12-22T20:53:00.000+08:00

I had a really wonderful time with Andrew being here. It gave me a vacation that I really needed, and it was great to have a face from home here. We went to markets, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and alot of restaurants. I think he had a good time, too.

Picking him up from the airport ended up having more intrigue than I planned for. I was waiting in the Starbucks for about two hours a) because it was one of the only places with available seating, and b) because I got there way too early. His plane landed late, but I finally saw westerners pouring out of the international arrivals gate. I had been standing there since they landed. I waited and waited, but there was no Andrew. Then I realized that the guards were letting people out of boths sides of this metal gate, and I was only accounting for the one I was standing by. It was a reasonable thing to do, as the other side was marked, "Flight Staff Only," or some nonsense like that.

I moved to the middle, right where people were coming out, but I still didn't see him. I started to feel like I had probably missed him. I hadn't received a phone call from him, though, which was our plan B, so I thought I should just stay where I was. Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind me say, "Hillary!" very loudly. I quickly turned, and sure enough, it was Andrew.

Andrew didn't know he was standing right behind me. He had just put into action his plan of walking behind groups of people and yelling my name until he got a response. Lucky for both of us, he got me on the first try. I apparently blended in with the Chinese people around me.

It was a really nice week. I'm so glad he came to Beijing. I'm looking forward to going home to visit for a few weeks in February. Familiarity is really nice sometimes.

The cab ride from the airport.

Andrew in front of a door at the Forbidden City.

Three Kinds of People

2005-12-20T14:57:00.000+08:00

Today my listening class teacher told us that Chinese people say there are three types of people: men, women, and women with master's degrees. She explained that it's generally thought that men should have a little more education than women they are dating/married to, so the women who have attended graduate school have a hard time finding boyfriends.

Visitor!

2005-12-14T19:42:00.000+08:00

Do you know what is happening right now? Andrew is at Indianapolis International Airport preparing to board a flight that will first take him to New York, and then to Beijing. That is some kind of awesome. I'm really excited. I'm going to the airport right after class tomorrow to pick him up. Tomorrow is his birthday, too!

It's really cool for me to get to be the person who goes to pick someone up at an airport, especially since I'm living in a place I'm not native to. So tomorrow I will twitch through my classes, then probably run out of the gate of my school to take a cab to the airport. I think I'll bring homework with me. I know I'm going to be waiting there for a long time. Maybe I can get something to eat dabao before I leave.

I hope for Andrew's sake that the line at border control is less intense than it was when I came in this time. So many people! And without someone to stand there and talk to, it seems to take forever.

And in other news, I found a videohosting site. Be prepared for some video in the near future. I'm not sure if you'd be interested in seeing old videos on here, so let me know.

Where Is the Information?

2005-12-11T21:20:00.000+08:00

There have been some rather large news stories in China lately, and if it weren't for my family and friends in the states, I would have had no idea that they happened. I wondered if people I knew had heard the stories.

My reading comprehension teacher did not know about the water being shut off in Harbin (Ha'erbing), a city north of Beijing, for three days as a result of dangerous chemicals being spilled/dumped in the water supply. It wasn't reported here. The news was, however, released internationally, and Russia received an apology from China for the accident.

When I heard about the farmers' protests in Southern China today, I wanted to know if James knew about them. It's fairly large news, after all. More than 10 farmers have been shot and killed by guards/police, and their bodies aren't being returned to the families. He hadn't heard anything about it. After I told him a bit about it, he said, "I think the government has alot darkness. This why I don't join the Communist Party."

I'm going to give this statement a few more huge new stories before I say it officially, but China's opening to the world means very little if it's not opening up to its own people.

I really did use to sympathize with China quite a bit while studying policy back in the states. I was quick to give the government the benefit of the doubt, try to see things their ways, and be "culturally tolerant," to borrow a term from diversity seminars. However, now that I live here, I'm viewing the government like a concerned citizen, like I do in the states, and that's making me alot more critical of its actions. The "developing country" argument for human rights violations doesn't hold up with me anymore. Economics, construction, business; these things have very little to do with a human life, and their current status certainly does not allow the taking of a life.

I understand the developing country argument for political issues. I understand it for income disparity issues. I understand it for education issues. I understand it for a great deal of the challenges that China is facing right now, but I do not understand it in the case of legitimate authorities taking lives of Chinese citizens in the interest of quelling a protest that came about as a result of the government claiming land that belonged to farmers and not fully renumerating them, all in the name of building three power plants. And then to offer families of the dead money instead of returning the bodies? Keeping the evidence of the killing is not going to result in a successful cover-up.

The government had better watch itself. Who knows how many human rights violations it's going to take before the Olympic committee pulls the 2008 Beijing location? It's going to take alot for them to do that, of course, with the economic ramifications considered, but it's still possible. I can only imagine the chaos that would cause. It gives me a headache.

This is all very frustrating. After hearing about the Harbin incident, I said to my friend Gene, "Wow. They were so open about this with the world. Wouldn't it be something if this was just covering up something worse?"

Cold

2005-12-07T23:30:00.000+08:00

There's no snow here yet. That makes it very confusing for my body to go outside. I can look out my window in the morning, see sun, not see snow, and think that it's a relatively nice day. I'm tired, so I might not remember exactly how cold it was the previous day. I still bundle up just the same, though, and then head outside into the wind tunnel that awaits me. The wind on the 5cm patch of exposed skin on my face is always shocked.

Donny, Gene, and I went to buy train tickets today. We ended up not purchasing any because we saw a sign that said they're only available 20 days in advance. We have to go back at the end of the month. Because we took such a long subway ride to the rail station, we decided to walk around a bit, even in the bitter cold wind.

This is what Beijing looks like right now.

This is Wudaokou, the area my school is really close to. I spend alot of time here, and I think that it's the place I'll think of first when I think of Beijing in the coming years. Click on the picture for a large version. You can check out the traffic situation. It's pretty awesome. Again, if anyone has an video hosting sites they know of that I'll be able to access through this block, let me know. I'll put up some video. I was very upset when I found out I couldn't use Vimeo from here. It's a great site, by the way. Check it out.

This is the Beijing train station, with Donny and Gene standing in front like tourists.

This is outside the train station in a square. I think that's a pretty area over there. The architecture is great.

Winter

2005-12-04T17:01:00.000+08:00

I think right now it is technically winter here. It's about -3C here every day lately, and most of the leaves from the trees are gone. I think there was also snow recently, but the workers around the city hid it like they did the falling leaves of autumn. They gathered those right up early in the morning, and rode around on huge carts tranporting the leaves to an undisclosed location. Similarly with the snow, I saw guards shoveling a tiny amount of it off the curb and into a dirty box of snow. I also saw a small amount one windshield of a car. Look, China, you're not going to be able to hide winter forever. Why not just let the snow stay so people can look out their windows and remember, "Oh yeah, it's cold enough to break my ice cubes of fingers against a wall."

I think the temperature isn't really much different here than in, say, Indiana. However, the winds are just terrible. Just today, I was not once, but twice pushed backwards and to the right by the wind while trying to walk. Every so often, if there's a strong gust, you'll hear girls screaming. Donny and I decided that we needed to buy warm clothes and better gloves today, so we headed to a market.

To prepare for the walk, I put on tights, socks, boots, and pants, and two jackets, two scarves, and a giant coat. I also wore a hat, the hood from one jacket, and the hood from my coat. It was still freezing in the wind. My hands were so cold, and here I thought I had warm gloves. Not so. I bought new ones today, and as a result, the walk home was much more tolerable. My hands actually didn't get cold. Good gloves.

My teacher said the other day, "It's December already, and it's still so warm!" People looked at each other, horrified. I'm scared to find out what the coming weeks and months are bringing for weather. I've never spent a winter so close to Russia in my life, and I'm a bit nervous about being unprepared.

Urban Gardening

2005-12-01T19:49:00.000+08:00

It takes alot anymore for me to call something bizarre. Just when I think I'm pretty comfortable and accustomed to the culture around me, though, China throws something new at me. Today, it was this display of what I'm calling urban gardening.

These cabbages were sitting outside of the cafeteria today just like this. This is bizarre to me for reasons that are probably quite a bit different than your reasons. I know the food I eat isn't clean. I know that it sits on the floor of the cafeteria where people walk, and then isn't washed before it is cooked. I know that it probably has all kinds of things on it that I wouldn't want to eat otherwise. However, I'm not dying from eating the food. I have grown to be okay with sanitation standards that leave quite a bit to be desired - and by "I," I mean my stomach.

I often see the food being delivered to the cafeteria by men on bicycles. They have huge carts attached, and they ride through the streets with the food only partially covered. The food is exposed to the elements and the pollution. Fine. So am I. That's wonderful. Often, I'll see food sitting on the ground waiting to be brought inside, too. This is slightly more disgusting. I'll get into that soon.

What I don't understand about this is that the cabbages are set up in a single layer, in rows, making a rectangle that cuts off access to a message board. Why didn't they just throw the cabbage into a pile like they have on the floor upstairs in the eating area? Why the rows?

The other things about the rows is that it assures that every cabbage is exposed to whatever is on the ground there. I'll spare you the full detail of that situation, but rest assured that no small number of people and animals have released various bodily fluids onto the area.

I guess what gets me about this is that they seem to have standardized the lack of hygienic considerations today instead of actually doing something useful about it. It looked like a celebration of poor health standards. A beaming garden of filth awaited those entering and exiting the cafeteria today. We know it isn't clean. Is the cabbage parade really necessary?

And what I find the most entertaining about this situation is that the disregard for sanitation is not what I find bizarre, but rather the lack of a pile. I wouldn't have even noticed this if it weren't for the rectangle. This did, however, prompt me to not get my usual lunchtime cafeteria fare - lettuce noodles.

Disturbing News for Nigerians

2005-11-25T16:38:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer: The following statements may be construed as nothing more than hearsay. All information has been provided via second- and third-hand accounts, and all involved parties' views are not represented. The following information is provided solely for interest purposes.

A few days ago, I found out that a friend of an acquaintance was being detained in Chinese prison. My acquaintance's friend, who I will call Person X for reasons of anonymity, was arrested last weekend by the Chinese authorities.

I've just recently in light of this event become somewhat familiar with the tensions between China and Nigeria. From what I've gathered so far, China is having a difficult time entering the Nigerian market, and Nigerians are having trouble getting their visas renewed while in China. There is no official prohibition of the renewal of visas for Nigerian passports on record in China. However, those Nigerians detained and those speaking on their behalf suggest that the practice of denying visa renewal is in place, and is linked to the market struggles China is having with Nigeria.

According to my acquaintance, who talked to Person X after his arrest, Person X recently attempted to renew his visa, and was denied the renewal. Last weekend, Person X was in the home of his host family when Chinese authorities arrived. Person X's host family allegedly locked Person X into the house while awaiting the arrival of the authorities. According to my acquaintance, Person X alleges that he was beaten, strip searched, and arrested.

Person X was given one phone call, and he used it to call my acquantance. He explained the situation to my acquaintance, and told her to call a man named Mr. Wu for information on his release. My acquaintance called Mr. Wu, and he explained that if he was given 2000 USD, Person X could be released.

Calls have been made to the Nigerian embassy, to Person X's family, and again to Mr. Wu. So far, nothing has been done to expedite his release. My acquaintance explained that there is a good chance that Person X will have to spend up to 3 months in prison if the money is not raised.

The arrest was allegedly for the violation of visa laws. As far as my sources know, Person X has committed no other crimes. Nigerian friends of Person X are outraged, and according to my acquaintance, also fearing the same fate as Person X. To view a discussion forum of similar incidents, click here.

A Thanksgiving Story

2005-11-25T10:32:00.000+08:00

I feared that this Thanksgiving would be a terribly sad one, with no family and no big dinners. Good friends make missing home a little easier to bear, though.

A Thanksgiving Story

It was a sad Thanksgiving, indeed. An American in Beijing - the only American in her class - had to attend 4 hours of Chinese instruction on Thanksgiving morning. Her classmates and teachers commented on how sad she looked. "It's Thanksgiving in America," she said.

She had Chinese food for breakfast, and Japanese food for lunch. She had a snack of a sesame bun filled with red bean paste. "What are these things?" she wondered. These are not mashed potatoes! This sign is not in English. For one day, I want to be home."

The Americans in Beijing were sad this day. There were so few of them, and so few turkeys available in the restaurants. The only turkeys were the 400 imported from America by one restaurant owner, and those were all reserved by greedy expatriates with excellent foresight.

The Americans roamed the streets of Beijing, searching for something to remind them of home. They were on a pilgrimage.

Everyone around the sad Americans was oblivious to the sadness they felt. People went to work, construction continued, and vendors remained true to their daily shouts of, "Hey! Friend! Come here and you look!"

What a lonely state it was indeed.

But hope was not lost for the young Americans! On their pilgrimage, they collected savory ingredients for a humble feast: potatoes, garlic, chives, yoghurt, and spices. They also gathered the tools for preparing the feast: two wooden spoons, two knives, and a large bowl.

The Americans washed the potatoes with care and cut them for the boiling. They peeled garlic while discussing the land they left behind.

And how the Americans did toil in preparation for the feast. Using rudimentary tools found in their still strange new land, they adapted and worked to create a food that could comfort both their stomachs and hearts.

At last, after much toiling, the Americans achieved the mashed potatoes. There was much rejoicing and tasting of the goods.

And Sister Hillary did rejoice and eat the mashed potatoes.

And Brother Donny and Brother Gene did rejoice and eat the mashed potatoes.

And the pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving in a new land. They were greatly contented by their feast, and spread joy and fellowship to all they encountered.

The End

Recent Lack of Posts

2005-11-23T09:47:00.000+08:00

I offer my apologies for the recent lack of posts. I've partially not felt like mentioning anything lately, partially not had time to mention anything, and partially not had the energy to mention anything.

For a short recap of missed events:

Thursday: I went with Donny and Gene to BLCU's annual beauty pageant. We seemed to be the only foreigners there. My language partner told me about it. It was funny to see that instead of falling back on "world peace" as an answer during the interview round, the girls instead used the 2008 Olympics to cover their blunders.

Friday: I got food poisoning from a dented can of milk tea. I realized all of this after the fact when I thought about what I ate during the day. You can say, "Why did you buy a dented can? What were you thinking?" I can tell you that I was thinking that alot of things are dented when you buy them here, that's what. I didn't realize it was milk tea until halfway through drinking it, anyway.

I also went out to dinner with my classmates Friday. I only ate a bowl of rice because of the food poisoning; it would have been impolite for me to not go at all. I got to witness how quickly just a little bit of alcohol affected one of my Thai classmates after a few toasts. I got use new vocabulary for this occasion, actually. "Ganqing you, cha dang jiu," which means, roughly, "Please let me substitute tea for alcohol for this toast."

I went to sleep around 10pm Friday, and then...

Saturday: I woke up finally at 5.30pm. I was pretty sure the food poisoning was through, so I kept my appointment with Donny, Gene, and Yuko to go out for a while around 10pm.

I've been feeling sick off and on lately. That's a big part of why I haven't been updating. I know I don't have bird flu, though, because I'm a vegetarian. I'll try to get better, and then get better about keeping this thing updated.

Visa Information

2005-11-14T12:48:00.000+08:00

I think that this is awesome. I'm considered an alien resident of China. Do you know what that means? Northwest Airlines visa information does.

"National U.S.A. (US)
Residence CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.) (CN)
Embarkation U.S.A. (US)
Destination CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.) (CN)

CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.) (CN)

Passport required.

Visa not required if holding residence permit.

Validity of the residence permit ranges from 1 to 5 years,
provided passport is not expired."

That's right. I get in with just my passport. I wonder if they'll let me go through the Chinese line at border control. That would be so cool. Really, this is kind of awesome for me. I feel like I almost have dual citizenship. I'm going to have to try to be an alien resident of other places my whole life.

Back to My Childhood Roots

2005-11-13T20:16:00.000+08:00

I bought a novel today while at a bookstore nearby. It's become my project to read it. I know it's too difficult for my current comprehension level, but I still want to try. I recall doing this same thing with a T.S. Eliot book when I was young. I just kept reading, and even though I'm sure I didn't understand much of it, I think it probably helped me in the long run. I'm hoping the same thing for this book.

I Got to Use Chinese for Something Useful!

2005-11-13T12:21:00.000+08:00

I've been trying to track down plane tickets to the states for my winter break. Originally, I was not going to come home for the whole year, but I recently decided that I really want to visit. So I searched on an amazing website (itasoftware.com) for fares originated in Beijing. I was shocked at what I found: roundtrips to Chicago for roughly 700 USD. I couldn't believe it. Andrew was searching from the states, and the best he could find was about 900 USD. The myth of cheap plane tickets in China was true!

The deal with the fare was that either I or a travel agent had to contact Northwest to purchase the tickets. I tried, but the only fare they'd give me was 925 USD. Then I called a travel agent. She still hasn't gotten back to me. So today I decided that since I had some free time I'd look on my own again. I took a chance on Northwest's Chinese site. I searched in Chinese, read fare rules in Chinese, found my itinerary in Chinese, and started the purchasing process in Chinese. I understood everything. I couldn't believe it.

I also didn't really trust myself, so I was planning to have either Jenny or James look it over for me. I had to get it done quickly, though, because I saw in the fare rules that this fare was ending at midnight tonight. Then I saw at the top of the page that there was an English version of the site. That option wasn't available on the main page, I don't think. So I clicked and double-checked to make sure I understood everything. It turns out that I was right about everything; so, I bought the ticket.

I'm going to be in the states from February 8 until the morning of February 24. I'm excited! Not only do I get to visit home, but I just had confirmed that I know alot more Chinese than I thought I did.

Upcoming Construction

2005-11-13T00:49:00.000+08:00

I walked into the utility area of my floor's bathroom tonight - the part with the nonfunctional washer and the utility sink - and heard water running or dripping. I couldn't tell which it really was. So I looked at all of the faucets, and none of them had water coming out. I looked more carefully and saw that there was water all over the mirror above the sink. I looked further up and saw that there was water rushing from the ceiling. That thing is about to cave under all of the water pressure, and it isn't going to be pretty. I bet it will be fixed quickly, though. The rate at which construction is completed here puts the best companies in the states to shame, as long as you're not focusing on things like building codes at the standards of those in the states.

Translation Difficulties

2005-11-11T16:05:00.000+08:00

I've been freaking out for the past 15 minutes. Some people from IU requested my attendance at some kind of reception in Beijing tonight. I asked them to send me the characters for the hotel's name so I could properly communicate with the cab driver. They, however, only sent me the pinyin, without tones. This is essentially like sending a word scramble to someone as a reply to an email; it's not helpful, and it's going to take alot of guesswork to get things right.

Well, I don't have time for guesswork right now. I need to shower, get dressed, and get myself in a cab early to hunt this place down. I, of course, turned to the internet to help me in my search. They told me the name of my destination is the Capital Hotel on East Qianmen Street. They didn't tell me the district, but the street is helpful. I searched for the Capital Hotel on google, and I had many hits. The problem, however, was that all of the sites were geared toward English-speaking foreigners, meaning that there were no characters to be found on the sites.

I got to the last page and found a pixelated version of the hotel's logo. The characters I thought I was seeing matched the pinyin I was sent in the email, so I searched with those characters in google. Lo and behold, it was the correct hotel. So the issue here is that the names are different in the two languages.

English - Capital Hotel
Chinese- Capital Big Alcohol Store

This is going to be a strange night. I already know it. If there's baijiu, I'm out of there.

I looked up "jiudian" in the dictionary, by the way, and it means hotel. Jiudian could also be alcohol store, but I was just unaware of the other meaning. Even still, it made for a comical search.

Unattainable Beauty Standards

2005-11-10T23:35:00.000+08:00

I bought this today specifically for the purpose of being able to photograph it and put it here. Cameras aren't allowed in the store.

Anyway, this little mask set is what i have been looking for to sum up the possibly irrational anger I have about the idealization of being white that I have encountered. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese girls compliment me on my skin all the time because I'm really pale, and that's apparently beautiful to them. There are whitening creams sold to dye people's skin lighter tints. When you combine this with the surgery to get the eyelid folds, it's enough to make me want to start bashing heads in.

It's all to "make you more perfect," just as this box says. Why is "perfect" some ethnic ideal? Why, after I look at a product in a store, do Chinese girls go right to it and look at it, too? Why are people not content with who they are?

This is something that's really bothering me.

119! Fire Precautions!

2005-11-09T23:41:00.000+08:00

A man who I assume works in my dorm came to my door today to give me a paper about fire prevention. While it's a good idea to have everyone aware of danger, perhaps they could not hang long, flammable curtains that hang onto the radiators in our rooms. Anyway, the English version of what he handed me went as follows:

Dear interational students,
The winter is coming and it is becoming less rainy, and drier, therefore a little carelessness may cause first. December 9th is the legal day in China for fire precaustion, so we call your attention to the following:
1. To use the qualified wires, plugs, and sockets, and high-powered electric appliance is not allowed in the dormitory. do remember to tru noff the power before leaving the room;
2. No depositing the flammable, explosive and virulent substances in the dormitory;
3. Take care when smoking or lighting candles;
4. No destroying or moving the fire facilities.
Best wishes!
-Department of International Students
2005/11/8

So, how big of a problem are fires here? This is something I've been wondering for a while now. I lie in my bed and wonder what I'm going to do when my curtains catch fire. What would I take? The obvious answer is my computer. The computer is my photo album, and I'm definitely a person who would grab that first in a fire. I guess if I had time, I'd probably grab my passport, too. Who am I kidding? I'd probably go for my camera first.

P.S. The 119 in the title is the phone number for emergencies.

More Cultural Notes

2005-11-07T21:45:00.000+08:00

Today I ran into a guy from the states that I met in the first few days here, and he asked me about how my teacher is presenting our book's materials. We continued talking, and got on the topic of how we speak foreigner Chinese. We're both a bit frustrated with the fact that neither of us knows enough about idioms to be able to speak like a native.

Idioms are really important in this language, I'm finding. I'm sure my teachers have stressed this in the past, but living here has really driven the point home for me. The idioms reveal alot about the culture, I think. The one I learned today is one that you can use while at a restaurant. Let's say you've ordered some soup. The server brings you soup, but no bowls, and no spoons. What you would say in that situation (translated) is:

"You married me, but you didn't give me any children."

With every text I read for class and every thing like the above I hear, I understand more and more the amount of pressure there is to get married and have children. It's not just something that parents and relatives nag people about; it's a pervasive social expectation. I think it's probably there in the states, too, but I'm much more oblivious to it there.

I learn alot from reading my lesson texts. When my teachers actually expound upon the lessons' content, things get even more interesting. Today, for instance, we learned the word for "betray." Someone in class made a mention of Yuan Shikai, and my teacher had a short rant about him. She said it with such bitterness, too.

"We say that Yuan Shikai was far too happy to be the leader. He laughed and laughed about it, and then he laughed himself right to death. Yuan Shikai betrayed China."

This is the kind of stuff I feel like I could never learn in the states, and that's a big reason why I'm so grateful to be studying here for a long time.

Wu Yue Tian! (Mayday!)

2005-11-05T23:27:00.001+08:00

Tonight Donny, Gene, Sammi, and I went to see Wu Yue Tian on their Final Home Tour at Beijing Worker's Stadium. Wu Yue Tian is a really popular band from Taiwan, and their name in English is Mayday. I was most excited to be attending this concert not to see the band, but rather to watch the audience. I didn't know this band's music very well ahead of time, and about half of the songs I heard were in Taiwanese, so I couldn't have understood them anyway. I just really want to see what Beijing concert-goers were going to be like.

(Photo credit: Donny Newman)

The audience showed its enthusiasm in the form of thousands of glowsticks distributed amongst the stadium. Instead of dancing, people waved the glowsticks in the air to the beat. The glowsticks added to the already overstimulating display of lights around the stage. Don't get me wrong, I mean overstimulating in a good way here. It was great to look at everything, but I'd be lying if I said that it couldn't give someone seizure. The stage had three screens on the backdrop; one was to show the people on stage, and the other two were mainly present for the purpose of putting the words on the screen. It looked a bit like karaoke with a live band from this standpoint.

(Photo credit: Gene Young)

There were a few things about the concert that didn't register quite right with me. With one exception, I got over those things quickly after I realized that I was incorrect in expecting something cohesive. There were three or four costume changes for the entire band. Also, during one song, two lions, five or so nurses, and three fifties-styled dancers came on stage to do some choreography. I understand that Benq was sponsoring the concert, but I don't know why they sent out lions with their company's name written on their bellies to dance. I expected ads, but not like that. Also, the audience didn't clap. There was screaming and banging of glow sticks, but not really any clapping. And the screaming died down almost immediately after songs ended.

(Photo credit: Donny Newman)

Furthermore, there were about five heartfelt speeches interspersed throughout the concert. One of them was the drummer asking his girlfriend to marry him. Then, the one about the singer's dead grandmother made the entire stadium cry, except for the three foreigners who looked at each other incredulously. The guy started talking about how his grandmother had reached her final home, and when he talked about the different family members who were there to watch the concert, he mentioned that he was pretty sure his grandmother was there, too.

All of the sudden, the scene shifted for me, and I got an entirely different view of the situation I was in. There was soft piano music in the background while one man with a spotlight on him talked about his dead grandmother. There had been screens up with words on them so everyone could sing along to their songs. People had their open hands in the air and were crying. I was in what US News once described as a "mega church." I've been to a few of those services, and it looked just like a huge scale one. Keep in mind, however, that it only looked like one; the spoken content had no religious context.

(Photo credit: Gene Young)

I think that for a large number of the people at that concert, seeing Wu Yue Tian was an intensely spiritual experience. Watching this all unfold before me with the church service idea in my head, the reasoning behind the CCP's keeping missionaries out of the country became increasingly clear to me. The government views huge religious groups as a threat to maintaining power and stability. If a huge group of evangelical Christian missionaries came here with services similar to that concert, I think people would be really apt to going to the services. That kind of service could attract a huge number of people. Whether or not you agree with what the government's position is, you certainly can acknowledge their insight in this situation.

All told, I think this was a really interesting experience.

Exams

2005-11-04T11:32:00.000+08:00

I just finished my last exam of midterm week. It's difficult for me to guess how I did on them. They weren't as difficult as I was expecting them to be, but I still know that I made alot of mistakes. The good thing, I suppose, is that I know what alot of them were, and I know what the answers should have been.

Granted, knowing my mistakes after the fact doesn't remove the damage to my final grade, but it does help my overall learning. I just hope the damage wasn't too great. These exams were 40% of my final grade. The other 60% comes from the final. I'm just happy that I'm in a level that still gives midterms. A couple of my friends in the higher levels take only one test at the end for their entire grade. That would have me nervous.

The first test was the one for my general language class, the one I have every day. I think that one was fairly straightforward. There were sections for choosing correct words for sentences, free responses with given grammar patterns, filling words in the blanks of a story, and writing dialogues based on a few paragraphs of information. I think there were a few more, too, but that test was on Wednesday and I can't remember anymore. The section that usually is the most difficult for me on homework was also the most difficult on the test. That section is the fill-in-the-blank story section. It wasn't bad in the states because we had a word bank for vocabulary. Here, however, we just had to know what should go there.

The second test was the listening test. The speaking speed on the tape was slower than what we're used to, so that made only getting one chance to listen to everything a little easier. There were sections for listening to single sentences, dialogues, a full paragraph, and several paragraphs. The answer sections had multiple choice, true/false, and free responses.

The third test was reading comprehension. It looked alot like the general class test, but with more huge blocks of text. This test had a special part, though, and by "special" I mean "horribly intimidating." Before the main part of the test, we had a 15-minute quick-reading. So given that amount of time, we had to read two different texts that were three or four paragraphs long each, and then answer questions about them. Some of the questions were free response. In preparing for the test, I thought about how long that would take me if I were just doing it for homework, and the answer was that it might take 40 minutes. So for the days before the test, I made myself tear through a bunch of readings. I think it helped.

The final test was my speaking test. This test had three sections. The first was reading a block of text out loud to our teacher. The second was answering questions about any text we had read for class up to that point. Finally, the third was free talking on a topic that we could select out of two listed on the paper we selected at the beginning of the test. I was fine and ready for the test in the five minutes I was given to prepare. However, when it came time to actually talk to my teacher, I got nervous and screwed up the fluidity in my speech to a large extent. She was probably expecting that, but I wanted to do better because I know I can.

We should be finding out the results of the test early next week.

Only in MacGyver's Wildest Dreams

2005-11-04T00:54:00.000+08:00

I did laundry yesterday, and this time I did alot more than previous times. Because, as I've mentioned before, I have no access to dryers, I hang dry my clothing. This posed more of a problem than usual yesterday, however, because of the huge number of socks that I had to dry. I used all of my hangers and all of laundry clips already, and still had all the socks left. There was no room on the curtain rod or the hooks around my room.

I looked at two hooks on the two closets in my room. I looked at my desk. I had a solution.

Dental floss.

I fashioned a two-tiered, stable drying rack out the dental floss. Pay no mind to the fact that the entrance/exit to/from my room is blocked. That just gives me more time to study (read: play on the internet). I think all that time I spent building huge spiderwebs out of yarn in my basement as a child finally came into use. I barely had to think about how to do this. As an added bonus, all of my socks are going to have a minty stripe on them.

In other news, the light in my room burned out tonight when I returned from dinner. I am not looking forward to talking to the desk people about this tomorrow. I'm guessing they're going to want to charge me for the light. I'm also predicting that the man who tried to sell me the remote control when I first got here is going to be the one I deal with. So we meet again, my friend. Well, let's see whose Chinese has improved in past two months, shall we?

The question will become, however, do I know how to say "my light bulb is burnt out." It's a tough call, really. I know how to literally translate it, and I know a few ways other than that, but I don't know what the true phrasing for it is. I say, if nothing else works, saying that my light is dead, in the sense that a person or animal is dead, will get my meaning across, and then I can ask what the real phrase is. That's such a fun game to play in Chinese.

In other news still, my friend Ryan passed along an invitation to me and Donny tonight at dinner to an event this weekend. Paraphasing will not do this justice. I think what he said really speaks for itself.

"So, I'm supposed to tell you guys that Pao and a bunch of the Latinos heard about this bungee jumping place about an hour and a half outside the city, and they're planning to go this weekend. It's only 150 kuai."

Donny and I reacted violently, as I hope you can imagine. The idea of bungee jumping anywhere in China seems incredibly unsafe to me. Furthermore, if it only costs 150 kuai (roughly 17 USD), there's no chance that I can believe it's reuptable. And even furthermore, if it's an hour and a half out of the city, it's that much further away from the advanced - I use that term loosely - hospitals in Beijing when everyone dislocates vertebrae and breaks legs. Oh, what a mess that will be. We both basically yelled, "Don't go!" at Ryan.

And finally, tomorrow is my last day of midterm exams. I will touch upon this later. The exams are my reason for not posting in the last few days, however, so I thought it would be best to mention them.

Halloween Ramblings With No Relation to Halloween

2005-10-31T21:16:00.000+08:00

I've got a headache that came out of nowhere. Anyone who has known me when I have a headache knows what this means. The rest of you are about to find out.

I saw a goat today. Actually, I think it was a ram. It had the horns to be one. It was just hanging out by a tree eating some leaves. I called it goatface, making reference to a very funny segment on homestarrunner dot com. He was sitting near the Muslim restaurant, and no one was paying him any mind. I just hope there weren't plans to eat him. He seems like such a good goatface.

Another thing I would like to mention is another illustration of the pressures to be thin in China. We read a rather sad text today written from the perspective of a "pang ren" (literally translated to "fat person"). I think the text speaks for itself in terms of what the opinions are about being overweight, so I'm just going to translate it.

A Fat Person's Worries

Going along with the improvement of people's lifestyles, people have gone from not eating very much to eating alot. Now, they only eat really good food, like food from Sichuan or Guangzhou, and duck. Anything like that they'll certainly eat. However, in all of this time that they're feasting, they'd better not forget that they can become fat. Look at me - I used to be a handsome young man. I really don't know when this all started. My nice figure has been replaced with a huge potbelly.

And don't think that being fat is irrelevant. If you were fat like I am, you'd have alot of worries, too. Just take stairs as an example. Every time I try to climb them, I can't even make it to the third floor before my face turns red and I'm sweating all over until I can't even move. And sometimes when I go over to friends' houses, I sit on the couch and no one else can fit. Then everyone stares and it hurts my feelings. Sometimes when I'm walking down the street, groups of girls look and laugh at me. And these aren't even the biggest of my problems.

This year I'm 28 years old, and I still haven't had a girlfriend. Really nice people have introduced me to girls, but as soon as the girls find out how heavy I am, they get scared away. It's so hard to find a girl doesn't want to run away from me. I was really happy this one time that I was going to be meeting a girl, but then it turned out that she was fatter than I am! Ugh.

I've tried everything: dieting, running, taking pills, drinking diet teas, etc. None of it has worked, though. I haven't changed except for the fact that I now have less money as a result. It's all not enough. So if you find yourself eating in a restaurant the way I used to, you should know how hard I have it now. Being a fat person makes life really difficult.

I was kind of dumbfounded when I read this in class today. The guy sitting next to me is from Mexico, and during the break we talked about how we thought people from our home countries would react to hearing someone talk like that. Then we both mentioned various shopping experiences we've had, and how they've made us feel like we must be monsterous. This guy is on the lean side of average weight for the states, and he has to buy XXL clothing here.

After the break, our teacher talked a little bit about the passage. She looked around the room and said, "Ah, there aren't any fat people in our class. That's good." I could feel the shock in the air coming through from some Westerners. She continued, "You see, it's very difficult to be fat. My friend just gained weight and is trying to lose it now, and it's very hard."

"What is she doing to lose weight?" someone asked.

"Ah, good question. She drinks alot of water, and only eats one apple a day. I think it should help."

I bit my tongue on screaming about a culture of anorexia. Starving yourself isn't a disease here yet. This economy isn't quite developed enough to start labeling disorders like that. It's difficult for me to watch some of the ills of development come here. When I think about how recently in the history of this country that the famines of the Cultural Revolution occurred, I can't help but be a little surprised that it's looked upon as good to deny yourself food. There are still thousands of people alive who lived through that period. There are people three hours out of this city who still don't have consistent access to clean water and food. I could go on and on about this, but I'll spare you because I'm confident that you can see where this is going.

The big businesses have moved in, and with them have come the advertisers. With the advertisers has come the goal of selling a product, which in turn has become selling an image. All of these slogans on red banners tell people to build society, build the economy, and make Beijing an international city. People are buying into status symbols, both materially and physically. I wish that wasn't such a cosmopolitan concept. Please, Beijing, stay down to earth.

An Awesome Breakfast/Lunch

2005-10-30T13:32:00.000+08:00

I had a late breakfast today, but it was worth every minute's wait. I had what was probably the best meal I've had since arriving in China. Donny and I went over to the 24-hour rice porridge place in Wudaokou. We had passed this place innumerable times, commenting several of those times that we'd like to go try it out. Last night, my friend Jenny mentioned to me how good it was, so I decided that I needed to go soon. I wasted no time.

The first thing they brought me today was a pumpkin and lily bulb porridge. It was thick and lightly sweetened. The pumpkin was cooked to the perfect consistency - it was soft, but not a mush. I had never had lily bulbs before. They were really good. They're crisp and have a subtle flower taste. They were fresh and watery. So good.

Then we got a filled bread dish. I wish I knew what this was called. The bread was kind of pastry-like, but not exactly. Regardless, it was encasing a wonderful treat - eggplant, leek, and egg. I always get egg and leek dumplings at a nearby restaurant, so this dish sounded good. And indeed, it was good.

(whole)

(the filling)

The biggest treat of all was the last thing they brought to the table. Donny mentioned these steamed milk buns he ate in Qingdao last summer, and as I'm always up for bready things, we ordered some. On the outside, they look like regular steamed bread. Once I bit into one, however, I was instantly aware that these were no ordinary carbohydrate bundles. They were sweet and fluffy.

Then I got to the filling! It was sweet, creamy, and thick. Ah, I can't begin to describe what it tasted like, other than amazing. I can't think of anything to compare them to. All I know is that I want to go back to that restaurant right now and eat more of them.

Mmm Chinese food.

A Cold Weather Friend

2005-10-30T01:14:00.000+08:00

One of my textbooks talks about three kinds of trees being friends in the winter. They've got it all wrong, though. I think I met my best winter friend right in my own dorm room.

The other day, I heard some water dripping while I was sitting at the computer. It was just one of those passively noticed things. This building makes weird noises all the time, and if I were to take note of all of them and try to determine their sources, I would go mad within a matter of minutes. Besides, it was a day with especially low visibility, and that normally means it's going to rain.

Wait, allow me to qualify "rain," because it doesn't actually rain here. I haven't seen one downpour yet. There's either mist, or a light sprinkling that lasts for a few hours. Everybody pulls out their umbrellas and runs like there's a monsoon coming, but I just look around confused about the reaction. I walk to my dorm from class, and barely end up wet at all. I've been casually referring to this phenomenon as "Beijing Rain."

So as I was sitting at my desk, I thought some Beijing Rain might be falling. Then I received an instant message that said, "I hear water in my room. Go put your hand on your radiator." Sure enough, it was warm. They've finally turned on the heat. I'm very thankful, because the solar heating system I came up with stopped working once the sun got destroyed. Okay, it didn't get destroyed exactly, but the the smog has been pretty awful lately, so it's looked like the sun has just taken a break. It's been quite cold, too. I'm glad I have heat now.

I took the necessary precautions against fire once I realized the heat was on. My long hanging curtains are now pulled onto the windowsill, and the beds are pulled away from the wall with no sheets hanging it. You see, it's not just the radiator I have to worry about in this room. The entire wall opposite the entrance is covered in exposed pipes where it isn't covered in window. That's the other reason I pulled my bed away - I have no desire to be awakened by the smell of a burning, misplaced hand.

North Korean Presence

2005-10-28T12:35:00.000+08:00

I have class with people from North Korea. I think that is really cool. I had never met anyone from North Korea before, and now I live in the same dormitory as a large group from there. North Korea is place that I feel like alot of Americans don't really know anything about. I certainly don't know much about it. The little bit I know is information about their nuclear programs, which I'm sure is inaccurate, and the rest is related to their participation in the 6-party talks. All I ever hear about in relation to North Korea is Kim Jong Il and nuclear weaponry. It's nice to see some real people, and to have some faces to humanize the country.

Everyone I've seen here from North Korea is male. How could I notice that? How do I know when I'm seeing someone from North Korea? It's simple, really. Everyday, these men wear plain colored, button shirts, and solid colored pants. Most of them are also carrying briefcases. These are not the identifying characteristics, however. Rather, the thing that really tips me off is the red flag pin with the face of Kim Jong Il in the center that is pinned on the shirt of every man from North Korea.

North Korea and China have relatively good diplomatic relations, so it's not surprising that this is the place I'm meeting North Koreans. I'm sure these men are functioning as goodwill ambassadors, to some extent, too while here. The people in my class and in my dorm are really nice, so maybe at some point I can ask about the pins (after already establishing a comfortable relationship). I just wonder what they were told before coming here, and if they all met beforehand.

I really like that I have the opportunity to meet people from a country that has been the target of world criticism, especially from my own country. It's nearly impossible to gain access to their perspectives within the US, so being here is actually giving me more freedom and access to information. Ha, that's funny, because China just blocked Wikipedia. I guess I'm just experiencing a change in the kind of information I have access to.

Production Update

2005-10-25T21:52:00.000+08:00

I received several concerned emails regarding my safety as it relates to the the shady film production company, so I feel it is necessary to provide an update. Sadly, it is rather anti-climactic. I know that people didn't really want me and Donny to lose vital organs and awaken in ice baths, but it would have made a much more interesting story.

Instead, the conclusion is that the people were, in fact, quite shady, but not in any kind of dangerous way. They never called us back. My guess is that they'll use the photos of us in costumes for advertisement without our permission, and we will have no recourse about it if we find out. That's fine. We were swindled, I suppose, but I don't really feel like I was. I got an entertaining experience out of the whole thing, and I don't really care what they do with a confused looking photo of me. It's just a photo. Any one of the million people on the streets around my school can see me any day.

I'm just glad that we didn't have to enter the contract negotiation stage. I was armed with vocabulary and grammar about contracts that I learned the day prior to the appointment we were supposed to have, but I wasn't planning on signing anything. Any contract that we could have signed would have only hurt us in the end.

Though no information was given to the scholarship students on this issue, I know that we are not supposed to be working. First of all, we don't have work permits. However, second of all, there's a white paper (official document) written regarding the scholarship I hold that explicitly states that scholarship students are not to be working, permit-holding or not. I looked it up before I left for China. So, in the case that we would have negotiated payment, written it into the contract, signed it, and then not received proper compensation after the job, we would have actually had nothing we could do. We couldn't take the contract to the police or a lawyer, because they would see that we were working without permits. Also, in the event that we had the work permit realization during the work, and stopped attending, we would have broken a legally binding contract. Then we would have been in even more trouble, because we entered a work agreement without a permit, and then broke a legal agreement. The effects of all those years that I wanted to be a lawyer never left my head.

I was not about to sign that contract. Honestly, I was not about to take any work offered to me here. If you'll recall, I never actually agreed to anything in this situation. That man just spoke to me in an assumptive tone about the work. I don't want the hassle and potential trouble of working here. Furthermore, I just don't like the way people that I've encountered from that industry think they should do business with foreigners. So my new standard operating procedure for getting approached by people for modeling, advertisement, etc. is no longer going to be passive refusal. It's going to be a strong, resounding, "No," followed by a, "Go away," if necessary.

Money Matters and Dating

2005-10-24T18:03:00.000+08:00

I always dread meeting with my language partner. This has nothing to do with him. He's really nice, and very helpful for my improvement in Chinese, slow as it may be. Rather, I dread the meetings because I'm horribly nervous speaking Chinese. Outside of a classroom situation, I'm terrified to speak. As I explained to James, I feel like people are a little angry already from being busy, and I don't want to further anger them with my bad pronunciation and confused grammar. I don't think people here get as much exposure to nonstandard pronunciation as someone in the states may get. James agreed. I was happy that I could explain clearly, because it was a Chinese-speaking day, and I have a hard time expressing myself.

As we were discussing this, James said, "You know what, though? I think today I am more nervous than you. Do you know why?"

"You're more nervous than I am? That's impossible. Why are you nervous?"

"Because my girlfriend is sitting behind you."

"Oh, does she not know that you're helping me with Chinese?" I asked.

"No, she does. She's just easily jealous, like most Chinese girls."

And that is what launched us into our conversation about how dating works here. This is a topic I've been curious about as there seems to be no information readily accessible. A few of my friends have Chinese girls interested in them, and they also don't seem exactly sure how everything works. Furthermore, relationships are a common thread in all cultures, and it interests me to see how different ones handle them.

"Oh, you think they're easily jealous?"

"Definitely. And easily angered, too," he said.

At this point, I told him about how I got the feeling that I was the target of some hostile feelings from Chinese girls who like Donny for how often they see me with him, regardless of how many times it's been said that I have a boyfriend, and that he isn't Donny. James laughed and said that he wasn't surprised.

"It can be very difficult to date a Chinese girl. This week, I didn't call my girlfriend for two days. Then, when I called her, she yelled at me for not calling. I didn't think two days was such a long time. I, I..." He pulled an imaginary phone away from his ear and looked at it partially confused and partially disgusted.

I laughed and told him that there is probably a good number of girls like that in the states, too, though I hope that the number of more reasonable ones is growing. Then we started talking about how guys "fix their screwups" in both countries. I told him that sometimes guys buy flowers when they think they're in trouble. He said that it isn't the case in China.

"We don't buy flowers here. We invite the girl over and cook her dinner, and then we apologize profusely. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'"

"Haha, wow. That's alot of work, James."

"Dating is alot of work. In China, girls are here," he said, and held one hand above the table. "And guys are here," he said, and held the other hand at half that distance. "Girls have all the power."

"Really? Some people still say that men are in control."

"Men are not in control. We have to pay for everything, or else the girl will get mad at us. We have to pay for dinner, and when we go out, and for the dinners when we make them mad, and for expensive gifts for them. Oh, if we don't buy them expensive gifts, they get mad. And then, if you get married, it's even worse! I have to pay for the wedding ceremony and reception. Do you know how expensive that is? It's twenty-thousand! Ten-thousand for one that is not good. And then I have to pay for wherever we live, and how am I ever going to find a job where I can do that? I have to give my parents money, too!"

I thought the poor boy was going to have a breakdown. This is the kind of thing I could hear about all I wanted in the states, but it took watching his eyes nearly bug out of his head for me to understand the kind of pressure that he's under. He kept trying to restrain the panic in his voice so his girlfriend wouldn't hear him, but he was really worked up.

"Doesn't the girl help with paying at all?"

"Maybe I pay 80 percent of the living place, and she pays 20. Maybe. I don't want to get married!"

I'd be interested to see how many other Chinese guys agree with his opinions. I get the feeling that it might be alot after having observed a good number of Chinese couples. Granted, I'm an outsider, and I'm still very ignorant on this cultural issue, but from that perspective, it seems like girls are whining at their boyfriends for small issues, and these guys are spending a good amount of time placating them. I actually videotaped this yesterday so I could watch it again to see if I still agreed with my initial assessment. I'm very aware that there are plenty of cases that aren't like this at all, but you've got to admit that this kind is going to be the most noticeable (read: audible, especially when you're sitting in the cafeteria trying to do your homework and there's a tantrum complete with kicking and pounding fists on the table going on next to you.).

Class Bonding Time

2005-10-22T00:26:00.000+08:00

Tonight I went out with my classmates. Doing this kind of thing struck me as really different than anything else I've been used to before the first we all went out together, but I've come to find that it's important to grow close to your classroom unit. The plans for tonight had been in the works throughout the whole school week, so I was looking forward to it.

We started with dinner at a place near campus. It was a feast. Not everyone from the class could come, but it will still alot of fun. It's funny to hold conversations when the language everyone's learning is the only common language amongst a group. Most people could speak some English, but speaking solely English definitely couldn't have flown. There was a mix of Chinese, Korean, English, and Indonesian going around, and I think it ended up working pretty well.

We kept toasting and alcohol to a minimum, but we did have one "ganbei" (dry cup) to make it a real dinner. Yanjing beer is made in Beijing, so it's readily available at most restaurants. I like Qingdao better, but Yanjing is still good. China is the only place I ever drink beer. Normally I'm disgusted by the thought of it, but it's not bad here. It's not very strong, either. Plus, not many things around here are cold and bubbly, so the beer is nice sometimes.

Instead of giving you Chinese names from left to right, I'm just going to give you the countries people came from.

Back row: Thailand, Indonesia, Britain, France, Philippines, USA.
Front row: South Korea, South Korea, Canada, Indonesia, Indonesia, Holland.
Not pictured: Japan (3), Thailand (2), South Africa, Italy, Israel, Greece, Mexico, and I think that's it. I'm not entirely sure.

Look at that feast! There were two meat dishes, one seafood dish, four vegetables dishes, and two buckets of rice. I love big dinners in China. I get to try so many things, and I never leave hungry.

Karaoke was really fun. We got one of the rooms reserved for our group, and we sang for a good two hours. I knew people were nervous about singing in front of the group, so I went first and danced around like a moron while I sang "Lovefool" by the Cardigans to try and put people at ease a little. We sang songs in English, Korean, and Chinese. I was excited to be able to follow along with the characters on the Chinese songs. I, of course, had no chance on the Korean songs. About halfway through karaoke, people were dancing around even when they weren't singing. That made me happy to see.

So I've decided that I really like going out with my class.

Mornings Approaching Winter

2005-10-20T07:26:00.000+08:00

My thoughts this morning, when you remove the sleepy grumblings, were, "What? No! Where is the sun?!"

I think Beijing and our beloved sun must be quarreling. It's pitch black here before 6pm, and the sun is no longer glaring through my window at 5.30am. In fact, right now, it's 7.30am, and it's barely there. This is gross. How am I supposed to be able to get up in the morning at 6.30am for youtiao if it looks like nighttime? Luckily, the youtiao soaked in zhou are so good that they alone are able to make me drag myself out of bed in the morning.

Again?!

2005-10-17T21:14:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, my life here makes very little sense. My friend Gene commented not too long ago that, on occasion, walking through China is akin to walking to through a Dali painting. After several quite surreal happenings, I could not agree more. Today was definitely one such occasion.

I had almost reached the entrance to my dorm on the way back from lunch today when I heard a man behind me call, "Ding Mei!" (That's my Chinese name, if I haven't mentioned that before.). I turned and saw four men walking out of a black car parked in front of my dorm. I recognized the man who called to me. I was suddenly filled with dread.

Last week I was approached, yet again, by someone doing an advertisement who needed foreigners to act. I've developed a standard operating procedure for these situations, so I followed the protocol. I gave him my Chinese name and email address, and told him to email me with more information. "No, I'm sorry, I don't have a phone. And no, I'm sorry, I won't give out my friend's phone number so you can call him to get ahold of me. And no, my roommate doesn't want me giving out our room number."

I didn't think that this situation was going to be any different than the last several instances. The man told me his company was making a cooking video to advertise a cooking school in Beijing. He told me which one, but I couldn't remember. Anyway, he took a few photos, and took a video of me speaking Chinese. I didn't like speaking Chinese on camera because I know I sound like a moron. I thought that would take me out of the running for sure. His director certainly wouldn't want this particular half-wit American for their ad. Maybe another would be better.

To my dismay, the director did want this half-wit American for the role. So much, apparently, that these people camped outside my dorm waiting for me to come back. This scared the hell out of me for about two seconds. I tried to get out of panic mode quickly as I approached them to talk. I knew that if I ignored them, they could come find me. The desk people will tell pretty much anyone who asks where we live.

So I walked to the car and politely said hello. The man I met before explained to me that the director wanted to hire me for the ad, and that I had to come with the four of them today at 5.30pm to make sure the clothes fit. I had the presence of mind to remember to say, "I'm not going to come unless I can bring my friend with me." They tried to talk me out of it, and so I told them I wouldn't go. Then they relented and said I could.

I went up to my dorm room and instant messaged Donny to tell him what happened. He said he'd come with me, and we could talk to them about exactly what's going on, especially since I never agreed to anything. So, at 5.30pm, we met the man and his crew at the South Gate. Right away, I started questioning the man about what company he is with, and why doesn't he have a name card, and when exactly is the filming, and what school is this for, and what is the payment situation, and what language are the contracts in? I had alot of questions, and I think I scared the guy because his English isn't as good as my questioning were demanding.

The man went into assurance mode, and I heard something relatively genuine in his voice, so I decided that I could go today and then decide what to do. There was another student from the school coming, too. I figured that if need be, the three of us could band together against this skinny crew of filmmakers.

The three of us students got in a taxi with the man, and his crew followed in another. We were stuck in traffic during rush hour, but eventually we arrived somewhere near Xizhimen. We went to a building, and the man seemed lost about where we should be going. The whole time we were walking, I was carrying a key, ready to stab the man at any false move. I know that's paranoid, but I don't care. It's better to be prepared than be caught off guard when it comes to my personal safety or sense thereof. When he didn't seem to know where we were going, I was ready to pounce.

Fortunately for him, he got his wits back about him, and he took us up to the eighth floor. He turned the wrong way to get to the office, but we got rerouted in the right direction after he asked another office worker where room 801 was. I was expecting this place to be kind of dark, dirty, and generally shady feeling. It turns out that I was horribly mistaken.

We walked in, and the place was bright and full of Chinese models. There were fashion photos on the walls, and a photo shoot taking place to my right when I walked in. I looked around and felt really strange. I thought I was just trying on clothes, and so I wore a huge pair of jeans, and a huge t-shirt, along with a huge coat. I was very underdressed for the occasion. I stared at all the people who were staring me. I'm still not sure how I found myself in such a strange situation.

The man came over and broke the haze I was in to tell us that the clothes were not ready yet, and that we would need to wait a few minutes. We said that was fine, and continued to talk about how we didn't understand what was going on. I saw a group of men talking and looking up at Donny every few seconds. I got the feeling that something was about to happen to him.

The man came back over to us and asked Donny where he is from. I watched huge smiles come across the faces of the men when they heard that Donny is a meiguoren (American). "Would you like to try on some clothes, too? We need more actors for this film," the man said to Donny. In typical Donny fashion, he shrugged a little, and hesitantly answered, "Uh, I guess? Um, yeah. Sure." He looked to me in such a way that I can only assume that he was thinking, "I can't believe you've gotten me into yet another one of these things. Oh my god."

We moved to the couch in the middle of the room after that. We had only been sitting for about two minutes when the other student walked by in full chef gear. My jaw dropped and my eyes widened with the knowledge that I, too, was going to have to look that ridiculous. Then I realized that they were taking him to the photo shoot area. Yes, they were, in fact, going to take our pictures, too. Donny and I looked at each other with equally incredulous glances, and didn't say a word.

After the other student had been photographed, some of the office people took Donny away. I sat by myself on the couch, receiving the stares of the people in the office. They were loudly talking about me, and I kept thinking that it was a little odd, because I had been speaking Chinese audibly just a few minutes earlier. Subtlety, people! I called to the man in Chinese and started asking him more questions, hoping that people would catch on to the fact that I could understand what they were saying. Apparently they just didn't care.

In the midst of questioning, two women accompanied an entirely new Donny out of the other room. He had on black shoes, black pants, and a white coat with orange buttons and an orange tie. I believe he had on an apron, too. The look on his face was a blend of terror and sadness that I don't think I've been privy to seeing in most people. It looked a bit like a death march when they took him to have his photo taken. I didn't laugh at him, though, because I knew I was next. I also didn't get up to watch the photo shoot, because I knew he'd lose it if he saw me peek my head around the corner.

It was my turn next. I went back to the room where Donny had been, and the woman there handed me a black dress. "Oh, I think this must be the wrong one," I said. "I'm supposed to be in a cooking video."

"Yes. This is the right one. You can go to the bathroom in the hallway to change."

Uh... why does a cooking video require a black dress? I figured that I would soon find out, so I went and put on the dress, and came back. I had my photos taken, and then the man approached again. "So in this movie, you will play the love interest - ." I stopped him right there.

"What do you mean, 'the love interest?' You said this was a cooking video. What are you talking about?"

"No, no. It is a cooking video. But you go to the student canting with your boyfriend, but you fall in love with the cook. And then - ."

I had heard enough. I had enough of this explanation, and I had enough of this man only being willing to deal with me in English. I started after him in Chinese. I wanted to the pressure to be on him from his officemates in case he had lied to me before, and I wanted to make sure they all knew what was going on.

"Look, I thought you said originally that I would be in this video, pretending to be cooking. That is what you said, isn't it?"

"Yes, but - "

"But what? That isn't what you're saying now. What is this?"

His explanation was insufficient, and in English. He's supposed to be calling me and Donny tomorrow, and meeting us so we can talk about all of this. I don't know what I think about this. The company is obviously legitimate. That was evident from the condition of their office and their office procedures. But still, I don't like this style of business. Donny and I are getting a Chinese friend to help us with this now.

Ah, what a day.

Lunch

2005-10-16T18:09:00.000+08:00

During the week, class ends at 12.30 every day. I usually head to the student cafeteria for lunch shortly after I get out of class. The cafeteria is really crowded at that time, but I'm getting used to standing in a clump waiting to order, and then waiting to get my food. I usually order from the same area everyday, so the cashier man recognizes me and calls me if I haven't heard someone announce my order.

This is one of my favorite dishes. It's called di san xian gai fan. Di san xian literally means "three treasures." It's appropriately named; the three treasures are potatoes, eggplants, and green peppers, and those three things are so good. Gai fan, I learned, means "over rice." I'm happy I learned that phrase, because I kept getting rice on the side, and getting charged extra as a result. If you get your meal gai fan, there is no extra charge. I was putting my food on my rice, anyway, so gai fan was just convenient on top of everything.

This dish tastes so good. The sauce isn't really overpowering, and it's a little salty. The potatoes are thinly sliced and stir-fried in such a way that they absorb all the flavors of everything else cooked with them. Also, the eggplant skin is amazing. It gets slightly blackened during the cooking process, and the texture changes so that it's a little chewy while still being soft. The green peppers stay crisp, but get cooked enough not to aggravate my raw vegetable allergies. The dish is really perfect for me.

I've also been drinking bubble tea fairly often at meals. That's the purple drink with the black dots at the bottom in the photo. I like the taro kind of bubble tea. It's sweet and good. My favorite part of it is the bubbles, though. They're chewy, and the cafeteria puts a ton of them in the tea. I'm glad that they're aware of the fact that too few bubbles in bubble tea makes the whole thing pointless.

Now don't you want to visit China? There's so much good food.

A Break!

2005-10-16T16:18:00.000+08:00

This is the first time in the past eight days that I haven't had class. That's right. I had eight straight days of class. Welcome to my life, everyone. I live in China.

We had class last weekend because we had a week long break the week prior to it. So on Saturday and Sunday I had Thursday and Friday classes, respectively. Additionally, on Saturday, I had a class at Peking University (Beijing Daxue, or Beida), as I also did yesterday. I decided that I couldn't handle the lack of music in my life here, and enrolled in a class at Beida to learn erhu. We ordered our instruments through our teacher, and they were shipped in from Suzhou.

Erhu is a two-stringed, traditional Chinese instrument, and it is bowed between the strings. I'm really excited to be learning it. I've never learned a string instrument before. Learning erhu has the double benefit of a new experience and learning new vocabulary in Chinese. The class is taught entirely in Chinese, and I've found that I understand everything so far. That is really exciting! I want to find a dance class to take, too, so I can get even more different kinds of vocabulary.

It's been fun to learn so far, even though I'm still not very good. I'm trying not to be too critical of myself, though. I've still only had two classes where I've actually played the instrument. It's been great. However, fun as it is, it's still a class. It's a two-hour+ class on top of that. I have class six days a week now. Ah, education.

Be prepared, everyone. I'm hoping to be playing erhu all the time when I return to the states, and you may be subjected to whatever sounds I'm able to make with it by that time.

Another Culture Note

2005-10-13T23:44:00.000+08:00

Click for the full size version.

This is a shot of a page in one of my books. In this exercise, we were supposed to describe the pictures using our most recently used grammar pattern. When I looked at the bottom right drawing, I couldn't figure out what exactly was going on. I couldn't tell if the woman was in the process of standing up, sitting down, or dancing.

When I got to class, the westerners all seemed hesitant to answer this question. The other students, however, started talking about how fat the woman was. They were using the grammar incorrectly, but still getting the point across that there wasn't space in the chair for her.

The answer, roughly translated, ended up being that she couldn't fit in the chair. My class was roaring with laughter. This is fairly typical, as far as I can tell so far. People seem to find being overweight completely unacceptable. This is obviously not the case in my own country, as several health reports on obesity will indicate.

Attack of the Insurance Posters

2005-10-13T23:19:00.000+08:00

Around campus are very large posters for an insurance company that show gruesome accident scenes. They are definitely there for shock value. You definitely wouldn't see these in the states. There are photos of dead, bloodied people sprawled across streets next to turned-over, wrecked cars. There are others still of seriously ill people being pushed through crowds, burn victims, and basically any other kinds of human suffering that would make you sick to your stomach. The first day we all saw these, I think it's fair to say that we were taken aback. It's just become part of the scenery, though, and now it doesn't really phase me or anyone else.

However, this morning brought some new activity with the signs. Donny and I were walking out of the building to go to breakfast, talking groggily and shuffling along. As we stepped onto the ramp outside the door, we both stopped talking and froze. In a split second, I saw something huge in the corner of my eye, and it was flying. I watched as one of these huge signs flew past us, slammed into a bicycle in front of us, and with a loud crash, knocked the bicycle to the ground.

I stood there wide-eyed for a second or so. That definitely took me out of the fog of recently awakening. We both started laughing and headed to breakfast. "I think we need accident insurance for those signs," I said. I don't know how the wind picked that thing up. I went back to the scene of the incident later and lifted the sign. It's fairly heavy. It must have been possessed or something. Hehe. The photo above is of another scene. It must have happened several times throughout the day.

I found it interesting, though, that all of the signs were gone today. Those crazy monsters must have escaped the main drag inside the South Gate to wreak havoc. I can only hope that my classmates were safe. Pu Yuzi (Yuko) and Mei Xianghua weren't in class today. Hopefully they were not casualities to the advertisement rampage.

Breakfast

2005-10-12T17:00:00.000+08:00

I try to eat breakfast on most days here. It really helps me get through four straight hours of class. I eat youtiao (fried dough sticks), shucai (vegetables), jidan (eggs), and zhou (rice porridge). Actually, I think this might be my favorite meal of the day. It seems like it would be really heavy, but it isn't. I throw everything into the zhou and eat from the bowl. After the main stuff is gone, I drink liquid from the zhou and eat the rice.

It's a nice way to start my day. It wakes me up a little bit, and I've been much more conscious in class since I started eating breakfast. I've been doing it for several weeks, and I want to keep it up during the winter. It's going to be cold, and I need to keep food in my stomach to make sure my body keeps warming me up.

I'm Not Just Learning Language

2005-10-11T14:25:00.000+08:00

Something I've noticed in my classes is that I need to not only pay attention to translation or meaning when listening, but I also have to pay attention to ingrained differences in thought. This isn't very clear, so I will give an example.

We listened to a text in my listening class today. The girl speaking talked about her sister with a man who asked about her. She said to not even ask. Her sister was unsatisfied and didn't want to get married. The question about the text asked us what the general meaning of her speech was. The correct answer was that the sister had alot of problems.

Not wanting to get married is a problem? I was thrown off in selecting an answer because of that. I had to get into a different mode to be able to get it right. Someone asked why that was the answer, and our teacher replied, "Remember? The girl said she doesn't want to get married. What girl doesn't want to get married? See, she has many problems." I'd go crazy if I heard an expectation like that in states. I would completely lose it. Here, though, I'm forcing myself to listen and try to understand where the ideas come from. I wouldn't say that I'm assimilating, but I'm being respectful and paying attention.

Summer Palace

2005-10-05T23:40:00.000+08:00

I was overwhelmed by the beauty at the Summer Palace. I didn't really do much there except walk around in awe, taking photos of everything. I'm just going to tell you about it in pictures. I'm not the kind of writer than can do that place justice in words.

- This one was taken by my friend, Gene Young. -

If you come to China - I suggest that you do - you should definitely go to the Summer Palace. It's gigantic, and I'm sure that I didn't even see a fourth of it. I'm looking forward to going back during the winter when the lake is frozen. I've heard that you can walk out on it, and I definitely want to if it's possible.

Ah, I love living somewhere with such a long past. I'm living in the oldest surviving culture in the world. Beijing gives me a great mix of modernity and history in a short walk. This is a good place for me.

Dashanzi Art District

2005-10-04T23:58:00.001+08:00

Today Gene, his language partner Jenny, and I went to check out Beijing's art district, Dashanzi. It took a while to get there by bus, but I think it was worth every minute of transport. From what I've heard, Dashanzi used to be a warehouse district, and it's been taken over by artists. People have entire buildings as their studios. We checked out as much as we could, but I definitely want to go back on a regular basis.

Even outside of the studios, there was so much to look at. You have to walk down tiny streets and alleyways to get to the buildings, and there's something to find everywhere you turn as a result. I found a lomo gallery down one of the alleys! That was really exciting for me since I just started to get interested in those cameras and the subculture using them before I came to China.

I was really happy to see how much space these artists got for their work. I think that most people from the states would agree that their work is cutting edge if they could see it. The fact that they're doing the work in China, I think, makes it that much more amazing. They have more to fight through to create their art.

One installation called "Offspring of China" had casts of people hanging from all over the ceiling. We saw it from outside and ran up to the gallery right away. The casts were suspended by thick rope that was tied around various limbs. Some were hanging high, far from the ground, but others were hanging so low that you could look them in the eye upside down.

We also went to the studio of Sui Jianguo. Before going in to see Sui's installation, we had to remove our shoes and valuables and put them in a bag. I wasn't reading the sign on the wall carefully, but I saw something about a pool. I was confused, but shuffled through the door before I had a chance to ask what we were going in to. We climbed stairs, and found ourselves on a platform overlooking a huge pit of black foam.

The piece was aptly titled "My Nightmare." It was so difficult to walk through, and we kept getting stuck. I'm not sure how much of the intended effect was achieved, however. Everyone around us was throwing the foam, so we, of course, joined in. And furthermore, we fell into the pit backwards. And even further(!) we took video of it. If anyone can suggest a video hosting site that isn't blocked by the China block on the internet, I'll put it up here. It would be worth it to watch, I think. We got completely swallowed by the foam.

I hope to go back there alot. There was alot that I didn't see, and I'm sure it's constantly changing there. I bet it's gorgeous in the winter, too, with all of those buildings covered in snow. Ohh, I can't wait.

Xiangshan Gongyuan and Fun Misadventures

2005-10-03T23:46:00.000+08:00

Donny and I decided to go to Fragrant Hills Park today. My Lonely Planet Beijing Guide said that we should get out at Pingguo Yuan subway station, and then board bus No. 318 to get there. That seemed straighforward enough to me, so we headed over to our subway stop, Wudaokou.

We took the yellow line to Xizhimen, and then transferred to the blue line. We took the blue line south to Fuxingmen, and then transferred to the red line. We took the red line west to the end of the line, which was Pingguo Yuan. We got out of the station, and found ourselves on a street with a block of food lining the sidewalks - sweet potatoes, egg foldovers with vegetables inside, various types of meat kebabs, carmelized fruit kebabs, dumplings, and much more. Everything looked so good. If the subway ride hadn't taken the hour that it did, I probably would have stopped for some food.

As it stood, however, it was already 4.00pm, we still had another bus to catch, and the park was supposed to close at 6.00pm. We waited for bus No. 318 for about twenty minutes on one side of the street. There was no sign for it, but alot of busses stop even if they don't have a sign on the sidewalk. Finally, though, we decided that we needed to ask someone. We found out that we were on the wrong side of street. The person we asked said that we'd be able to find out what bus goes out to Xiangshan by looking at the signs on the other side.

We went over there, and were still basically clueless. Fortunately for us, the next people we started questioning were also going to Xiangshan, so they let us follow them. There was no bus 318. We took something else, and then transferred to another one. The bus rides were long, too. By the time we were dropped off in the parking lot at Xiangshan, and we walked up to the entrance, it was already 5.55pm. They weren't going to let us in.

I have no complaints, though. We got to walk through a huge array of sights and smells with the food being sold on the way up. Also, I did get to see the hills quite a bit on the bus ride. It was really scenic. When we were at the entrance, I got a nice view of things, too. I'm sure I'll go back when the place is actually open, but I don't consider having gone a loss. Plus, the air was really clean! My lungs love it when I give them a chance to get rid of some toxins.

As you can probably tell, the sky there was really clear. It got dark very quickly on our way up, and it was undoubtedly nighttime on our way down. The shops closed on our way down, too. As a result, the light pollution was gone, and when we looked up, we saw something that we hadn't seen in a long time - stars. Tons of stars. It was amazing. Because of that, we decided not to take the bus at the first stop, but rather walk on a bit to the next one. We ate dinner at a restaurant we ran across, and then kept walking. We decided to pass the next stop, too, because it was so nice outside.

We kept walking and walking, and then we came to a highway. It was a classic fork in the road kind of situation. We knew that we had gone straight the whole time in the bus though, and the traffic directions indicated that we'd have to go left in order to retrace our path. So, we walked on the left part of the road, under an overpass, and to some area that was a little less recognizeable than I think we were both hoping it would be. We continued onward, though.

Further ahead, we had another turn decision to make, and we chose left again. That, however, brought us to a dead end, and a sign that prohibited cars from the area. Certainly that wasn't the place we wanted to be since we were looking for a bus. I started cracking up. I love being lost. It's really entertaining to me. Donny started laughing, too. I don't know if it's because the situation was so ridiculous, or because he was nervous about being lost. Regardless, though, it fed my laughter, and I just kept going for another three minutes.

We rerouted back to our last decision point and decided to go right this time. This path took us by a gas station, and we both thought that was a good sign. We remembered passing several gas stations. Great. We were on the right path. We walked past the gas station, and then past what looked like a car repair shop with a family sitting around and eating outside it, and further still. Then we ended up on another highway.

This highway didn't have any sidewalks, and what's more, it didn't have a bicycle lane. That didn't really seem right. There weren't any foreigners walking around, which came as no surprise since we didn't see any the whole time we had been gone. The strange thing was that we didn't see any Chinese people walking around, either. There wasn't a soul on that road. There weren't really even many cars.

For the first time since we'd been here, there was silence. No car horns, no screaming vendors, no construction, no broken bicycles rolling across the pavement, and not even any birds making noise. There was nothing. It was amazing. But for as much as I loved that road, it was also problematic. We were definitely going to get picked up if a cop rode by. We weren't doing anything illegal, but being two foreigners on that road in the dark would probably have been enough reason for a cop to stop us and drive us somewhere else.

We turned around, and walked back to our first decision point. We had been going the wrong way all along, and we realized this because there were no busses anywhere that we had been walking. It turned out that when we went left, we didn't take the correct left. There was one road further on the left that we should have taken. We walked on that to the next bus stop, which also didn't have the right number stopping there. Two men in a van kept trying to get us to let them give us a ride, but I wasn't up for that. I'm sure it would have been fine, but I still didn't like the idea. We waved down a cab, and took that instead.

We told the cab driver that we wanted to go to Pingguo Yuan station, and he said he knew where it was. A few minutes into the drive, he asked us where we were living, and we told him. "Why don't you just let me take you there, then?" he asked. That put us into argument mode. The trip to Xiangshan took forever, and we thought the guy was trying to rip us off.

"No, you don't understand. Your school is much closer than that subway station. This is a much shorter trip," he said. After going back and forth with the guy a few times, we decided to just let him take us to the school. It was going to be less of a hassle anyway. The trip only took 15 minutes. I was confused.

Donny looked at the map later and found out that Xiangshan is actually really close to our school. It's west of here. Public transportation, however, just isn't developed enough yet to make it so we don't have to completely go out of our ways to get there. When I go back, I'm taking a cab. I hope these new subway lines come in soon. That would be nice.

Yams!

2005-10-02T18:23:00.000+08:00

I've been here for over a month now. My stomach is fairly well-adjusted to the differences in food here. For that reason, I was able to eat something delectable today.

These sweet potatoes are sold all over the place on sidewalks. They're usually sitting on a tray atop a metal barrel. Everytime I walk by these things, they smell amazing. As an added temptation, street food is most often cheaper than is imagainable. Today while walking back from our water run at Chaoshifa, my friend Gene decided to stop and buy two. He, Donny, and I went back to the dorm and shared them on the balcony.

I thought it tasted great. I didn't eat the skin because it was covered in dirt. That didn't really bother me, though. The yams were really hot, and I figured that enough of what was living in the dirt died to keep me healthy after eating it. I'm happy to report that my stomach is still fine, and I ate the yams several hours ago. This means that I'm going to be eating alot of yams in the near future. It's something like 1 kuai for one yam. Amazing.

Happy National Day!

2005-10-01T08:04:00.000+08:00

What are you doing today to celebrate this country's greatness?

I started my day at 4.00 this morning when I went with friends to catch a cab to Tiananmen Square. There were too many of us to fit in one, so we split up. I knew that was going to mean that we wouldn't see the others at the square. Donny, Sam, and I arrived somewhere between 4.40 and 5.00. Cars were not allowed on huge sections of the street, so our driver had to drop us off. We walked from there to the square.

I could not believe how many people were walking to the square. I'm beginning to get a better understanding of the population density of this country now. Throngs of people coursed through the area, but in a very orderly fashion. There were guards everywhere to assure that an outbreak of mass chaos didn't occur. We followed the huge group under the street to get to the square.

Once in the square, we only got about fifty feet in before we hit the saturation point of people. It was foggy, so I couldn't even make out the building where Mao's picture hangs. However, the reason I was there today was to see how people acted, not for the flag raising itself. And because I went for that reason, I can say that this trip to Tiananmen was absolutely amazing for me.

As we were standing, a grumble started to come from the crowd. It grew more and more, and whenever that happens in a huge crowd, you always know that something is about to happen. I felt hands on my back and elbows in my sides. My feet came off the ground a little. There was a huge rush of people moving forward, and we were helpless to resist it. As our wave of the crowd kept moving forward, I saw a line of guards form a human chain to stop the rest of the people from moving ahead. They tried to catch our line, but we got pushed through anyway. People scrambled on the ground between the legs of the soldiers, and others ran into their arms to break through. Screams behind us were audible as people were crushing each other and slamming against the guards.

Finally, another human chain of guards formed in front of our group. They choked us off and kept us from moving anymore. They stood in a line holding hands or linking arms, depending on the mood of the crowd, for the whole rest of the time we were there. Had someone else broken through the line, the chaos that would have ensued would have also resulted in the trampling of alot of people. But China has crowd control down, and our wave eventually calmed down and stopped trying to get through.

What everyone had come to see today was just the routine flag raising. Music was played, the army marched, and the flag was raised. It was nothing out of the ordinary except for the mass of people there. This was an amazing experience for me, though. After so much study of the demonstrations at Tiananmen, I was finally able to be in a crowd there with absolutely no space and thousands of people. I felt the rush of a crowd and got pushed through the arms of guards. People were screaming, and I was enthralled. The videos of the demonstrations at Tiananmen in 1989 give you no sense of what a huge crowd there is like. You can't see anything around you except for people. I even lifted my camera in the air to take a picture, and even then, it just looked like a sea of people. It was so amazing.

I'm really happy to have gotten to experience that. Happy National Day, everyone.

My First Test

2005-09-29T14:49:00.000+08:00

My tingli ke (listening class) teacher told us that we would be having a very small test today. I had the feeling that our ideas of "very small" may be different, so I studied alot of characters last night. I am so glad that I did that. It saved my life.

My teacher's idea of a "very small test" was one that took the full two hours of class. The first hour of the test was dictation. Studying all of those characters really paid off. I still got alot of things wrong, but it was a much more reasonable amount since I reviewed so much last night. The first half of the dictation was straight transcription, and the second half was paraphrasing. Basically, the first half made sure we knew how to write, and the second half made sure we knew the meaning of what we were hearing. Alot of times you can get away with just one of those in class, but not today.

The second half of the test was listening and answering questions. In the first section, we listened to one-two sentences once and answered one multiple choice question directly following each. There were ten of those questions. In the next section we listened to dialogues once and answered one multiple choice question following each. There were eight of those questions.

After the second section was over, I could hear the sounds of panicking students around me over the multilingual profanity already being uttered repeatedly in my head. At this point, the test was just like the HSK. We got one shot to hear everything perfectly, read though the answers, and answer very quickly before the next started. This is the thing that killed everyone on the HSK. Luckily, though, because it was class and not a standardized test, we got one more chance to listening to each section once.

Honestly, I was doing much better this time than I did on the HSK. Granted, I would have gotten a terrible grade on those two sections without the second time to listen, but the score would have been better than my HSK score. To me, that is indicative of improvement. So, for that, I am very pleased. I still have a very long way to go, but at least I know I'm on my way.

The next section required that we listen to two paragraphs of text twice, and then determine if statements about them were correct or incorrect. The following section had eight sentences written in it with blanks next to them. The directions said to listen to five sentences, and then mark next to the blank ones the order in which they were said. Of course, the sentences spoken and written were different. We were given two chances to listen to the five sentences, which were said all together. Instead of trying to scramble through the eight sentences, which were poorly formatted to be on the front and back of one page, I just wrote down the most important parts of the sentences on a blank part of the page, and hoped that would help me determine the order in a less panicked fashion. I think that was helpful.

You really don't get a chance to think about what you're doing on these listening tests. If I hadn't been doing this for a while in class already, I would have been as panicked today as I was during the listening section of the HSK. Have I mentioned that I want to take that test again before I leave? That thing made me so mad, and I think I can do alot better after having studied here for a year.

The last sections were easy. We had to listen to sentences that we already had most of written for us and fill in what wasn't there already. On those missing words, we had to mark tones. That's not a problem when you get to hear it, though. The other of the last two sections was marking pauses on sentences. No problem.

I think that grade-wise I did poorly on the test. However, as grades are no longer something I'm considering here, I think I did fairly well. After completing the test, I felt like I had retained alot of the information that I learned, and that my listening skills have been really improving since I've been studying here. I'm going to go ahead and call the test a success in that regard.

Character Memorization Tips

2005-09-29T00:56:00.000+08:00

I think I forgot to mention that I cut my hair again. I told the stylist to just have fun. I ended up with another haircut like Chinese pop singer Wang Fei. The man seemed so excited about having gotten to do that.

I look a little somber. Lately I have reached a saturation point with study. Tonight I studied and learned 100 characters to the point where I can write them when I hear them. To my counterparts in the US: you have it so easy in your Chinese classes. Stop complaining. It seems hard now, but you'll understand how easy on you your teachers are being if you ever enroll in a Chinese school. I formally retract any complaining I may have done about the twice weekly xiaokao (small vocabulary tests) at IU, or anything else relating to learning how to write.

These are my practice sheets for the night. I should note that I have a new method of studying characters now. I used to just write them over and over while saying them aloud. I have come to realize how inefficient that is. If you do that, you're not attaching any meaning to the characters. You're not learning them; you're learning a reaction. That is not helpful. What I do now is read texts containing the target characters I don't know, and then mark the pinyin beneath them when I come across them. If I'm unclear on the meaning, I look for the translation of the word. After I have some idea of usage I start the memorization process.

I write the characters down the page, and next to them I write their pinyin. Then I cover up the line characters, read the pinyin aloud, and then write the correct character. After writing a line of characters, I cover the pinyin. I look at the characters, pronounce them, and then write the pinyin. If I get both the character and the pinyin correct, I put a checkmark by the set, and don't work on it anymore. There isn't any point to reworking it constantly when I already know it. If I get either one of those things wrong, though, I continue the process. If there's a particularly difficult character, I start to memorize its component radicals, and then arrange them in my head accordingly. If I'm having trouble still, I close my eyes and write them in the air. I try to take a picture of them with my mind, and then redraw them.

I think it's good to memorize the component pieces, though. It's alot easier to see where the meaning of the character is coming from, and how that character is related to another one that has one of the same component parts. Trust me, Chinese language students, memorizing characters gets easier with the more of them that you've memorized. When you're first starting, you've got a blank slate, and it's completely unhelpful. Learn your radicals, even if your teachers aren't emphasizing them. Also, learn stroke order. If you're really having trouble memorizing how to write a character, you can fall back on being able to say the strokes to yourself. Sometimes I listen for the rhythms that writing them makes, too, and memorize that. That's surprisingly helpful.

Now it is much later than I should be awake. I have a test tomorrow in my listening class, and I need to be very conscious if I'm going to do well on it. I still have problems with the recorded texts, but I'm getting better.

New Friends and Utensil Confusion

2005-09-28T15:45:00.000+08:00

Last week I was complaining alot about how I don't speak enough Chinese outside of class. Since then I have found ways to remedy the situation. I started meeting with my language partner, I speak Chinese off and on with one of my friends, and yesterday I invited a Japanese girl who doesn't speak English to lunch. Her name is Yuko. She's one of my classmates, and she seems really cool.

I went to lunch yesterday with her and Donny, and it was nice to only speak Chinese. Furthermore, it wasn't a stilted conversation - it was a fairly normal one. Perhaps our topics were not the most sophisticated, but we were talking, and it didn't feel difficult. I hope I can hang out with Yuko some more in the near future.

Last night at dinner, Donny looked up from his Thailand chicken and said, "How do you hold a fork?" This wasn't a style question. I started fumbling with my chopsticks pretending that they were a fork. I had no idea. How to use a fork was something that temporarily escaped me. When I finally got something that I thought may be right, I tried lifting it to my mouth and knew that I was wrong. I realized that I hadn't thought about forks since I had gotten to China.

Today, though, I found out that I do, in fact, still know how to use one. My classmates and I all went out to lunch today. Someone had previously decided that we would go to an Italian restaurant in Wudaokou, so that is where we went. There were no chopsticks there. I didn't feel like I was in China anymore. That's actually good, though, in this case, because if the food had tasted like Chinese Italian food, I would have been sad.

The food was actually really good. I do think it made my stomach hurt, though, because it was so much heavier than what I've been eating for the past month. I've needed a change of pace lately, though, so lunch was a welcome one.

Hanging Out With My Language Partner

2005-09-26T17:31:00.000+08:00

I don't believe that I've mentioned James before. That would make sense considering the fact that today was the most interaction I've had with him since meeting him. A week or two ago, I was sitting by the pond with Donny and Ryan doing homework, and we noticed some Chinese guys putting bags and cups into the water. We didn't know what they were doing, so we looked up every so often. It turns out that there were small fish in the pond, and they were catching them. I still don't know why, but I think that remains irrelevant.

About half an hour after we noticed the guys, one of them came over to our table and starting talking to me. He said his name was James and that he was looking for an American friend to practice speaking with. An alarm went off in my head that sounded something like, "SHADY! DON'T GIVE OUT YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION!" I had been in that mode because of all the modeling offers I had been getting recently. However, James seemed nice, and he offered to help me with my Chinese for no charge. I gave him my email address.

A few days later, I realized how much trouble I was having speaking in class. My speaking was, and still is, just terrible. I decided that a language partner would be a good idea. Besides the benefit of free help with my Chinese, I really like helping people with their English. So he and I got in contact, met up, and talked about how we could arrange our practice times.

Today was our first day for practice, and it was Chinese day. I was nervous at first, as I always am when I'm speaking Chinese with new people. James is really nice and really patient, though, so I got more comfortable with talking. Looking back on it now, I think I can safely say that my speech became less stilted the longer we talked. I got more comfortable with making mistakes, too, so now I have some consistent screw-ups that I make corrected. That's really nice.

Our practice time today consisted of my getting my hair cut again, walking some, and eventually going to McDonald's. Before going in, we had what must have been a really entertaining conversation to the people walking by, judging by their expressions.

"What? You don't eat meat?" he asked.

"No. Not even fish. I know, I know. It's strange."

"Oh. But... how do you get energy? I'm always so hungry when I only eat vegetables."

"I seem to do okay, really."

"But... can you eat McDonald's?"

"Haha, I can eat a few things. But it's all so bad for your health!" I said.

"Huh? Really?"

"Of course it is!"

"I don't know about that. McDonald's makes Chinese people tall. I was only this tall when I was 16," he said, holding his hand at the middle of his chest. "But then McDonald's came and I ate it alot, and now I'm this tall."

At this point, we started talking about how McDonald's makes people grow up and out, to put it nicely. I told him about the movie "Supersize Me." He seemed both shocked and intrigued that someone would eat McDonald's for every meal for a long period of time. Shocked because it's a ridiculous concept, but intrigued because he thinks the food tastes really good. After walking and talking about McDonald's for so long, we decided that we would go in, but only for drinks.

Inside, I was the only non-Chinese person. That's never surprising when I get more than 100 meters from the campus, but the amount of staring that happened in McDonald's was much greater than it has been in other places. I was by myself at the table for about 4 minutes because James dropped his drink and went to get another, and people at surrounding tables were looking at me expectantly. I felt like I should have had a meiguo act ready. (Meiguo = United States).

When James got back, we talked about all kinds of stuff: people's accents, what the phrase "to make fun of" means, george bush, personality politics in presidential elections, a tiny bit about our families (that surprised me), and a few other political types of issues that I wouldn't have been expecting to discuss on our first time hanging out, let alone in Chinese. I fumbled like crazy with vocabulary in most of those issues, but I was apparently clear enough to be understood. At this point, I think that's the best I can ask for. He helped me with vocabulary issues, and then I had a few grammar questions after that. I think I have a much better idea of when to use this one particle in Chinese now. He explained it very clearly.

On the way out, an old man sitting at the next table asked me where I was from. I told him, and with widened eyes and a nod, he said, "Ah." He seemed pleased. That was the end of that conversation. I have that conversation several times a day when I'm off campus. I think people are afraid I'm not going to be able to speak anymore Chinese beyond that. Okay, I don't really think that. I think it's actually the case that people have never met anyone from the states before, and there aren't any specific questions that immediately come to mind.

I think this language exchange is going to be good for both me and James. I told him that if he wanted me to, I could work on pronunication with him. He seemed really excited about that. I think pronunciation is a point that he's nervous on with his English, but most people I've met never want to actually ask, "Um, can we do some really remedial pronunciation drills? I don't think I sound right." After I mentioned being able to help him with pronunciation, he said, "Oh! That is really good! I told my friends that I would be practicing with an American, and that I thought your speech was probably the best there is. I think your accent must be very good. Thank you!"

So, to conclude, I love people I meet in China. They're so nice.

Killing Spree

2005-09-25T05:46:00.000+08:00

Number of deaths: 4 and rising.
Approximate time of deaths: 5.30am-5.50am
Location: the dorm room of BLCU student, Hillary Demmon. Alias: Ding Mei.
Suspect: Hillary Demmon.
Motive: self-defense.

Crime scene report:

After examing streaks of blood encased in dirt on two walls of the dorm room, it is apparent that the suspect chased the moquitoes and smashed them upon capture. One stray blood streak was found three inches above the bed of the suspect. This mosquito was likely smashed by a cloth-based object. Yet another streak was found on the spare sheets of the subject. The same, or similar, weapon was likely used to kill this mosquito.

The suspect was in an unstable condition during questioning. She held her arms around her torso and continuously looked towards the ceiling. The suspect was exhibiting many stress patterns, and was unable to keep eye contact for a sustained period. Her eyes, rather, darted back and forth through most of the questioning.

The suspect reported that from the time she went to bed, circa 3.10am, she could hear buzzing near her head. The suspect said that she placed a blanket over her head to avoid bites from the mosquitoes in the room. Four times throughout the night, the suspect allegedly heard the same buzzing and swatted away mosquitoes. Around 5.30am, the suspect reports that she again heard buzzing and turned on the light to investigate its source.

Around her bed she reports to have found four mosquitoes. The suspect was visibly agitated when questioned about her subsequent actions.

"Yeah I killed the bastards! What do you expect me to do? They've been biting me every night, and I stalked down every one of them. Doesn't a girl have the right to protect herself and her living space? Those bugs had it in for me, and if the dorm office isn't going to take care of them, I'm going to take matters into my own hands."

The suspect is currently being detained overnight for observation. Her sleeping patterns appear disrupted. Psychological assessment may follow, contingent on the results of overnight observation.

Lesson #1

2005-09-24T17:05:00.000+08:00

If you want to travel on National Day in China, you need to have a good idea of where you want to go far ahead of time. If you don't, you're going to end up like I did today.

My friend and I just recently decided that we wanted to go to Qingdao for our week long break. We both knew about the train ticket shortage that goes on around huge national holidays, but we thought we'd try anyway. We went today, and the only itinerary that was still available was from September 30 - October 10. That would have meant missing a whole lot of class, which we can't do. The trip was only 391 kuai, but missing that much class would be suicide. We had to turn it down.

I know they must have been selling out like crazy. There were only four seats left on the itinerary we saw. So what I've learned today is to get to that train station really far ahead of time to buy my tickets for the semester break. I really want to get down to some southern provinces.

I was trying to think of other ways we could get to Qingdao, but train was really the best option. Just interested a general idea of prices for rental cars, though, I checked online for quotes. There is nothing available out of Beijing for the holiday. That amazes me.

I think I'm going to wander over to Tiananmen, or some other huge national symbol, for National Day. I want to see what kind of fanfare goes on in the capital.

I Have My Passport

2005-09-23T19:05:00.001+08:00

I retrieved my passport from the local police station today. The passport is looking pretty awesome these days. It has several stamps, two visas from China, and now a residence permit. I was just reading today about how you can request a 48 page passport at no charge. I hope that one day I'll be traveling so much that I'll need that.

Subtle Politics

2005-09-21T17:15:00.000+08:00

My main teacher was telling us what the different bodies of water around China are called today. To illustrate, she drew China on the board. I noticed instantly that she drew Taiwan and Macau. This isn't any suprise to me, but I just thought the loud bell that went off in my head when I saw it was humorous. If I hadn't studied the China-Taiwan regional conflict in Professor Kennedy's class, I would have just stared on like the rest of the class.

She didn't pause at all before drawing Taiwan and Macau. It was completely normal, and nothing to be considered before doing. It was just a simple fact of geography to her. I haven't gotten a chance to really see what kinds of opinions on issues like this are ingrained in people's minds. I'm not going to seek out the opportunities, either, because I'm a foreigner and I'm using the Chinese government's money to be here. Talking about Taiwan, and a number of other things, are good ways to get in trouble. I was briefed on this in several ways when I arrived here.

In fact, the rest of this entry is going to be some flagged words that, if the censorship wasn't already in place on blogger, would get my page blocked in China.

Taiwan. Falun Gong. Jesus. Democracy. Independence. Censorship. Tibet. Xinjiang. Catholocism. Christianity. Uighur. Certainly there are more, but I don't know how deep the internet censorship goes.

Why Am I Surprised?

2005-09-20T07:54:00.000+08:00

I just went to take a shower. I've been doing the morning shower thing recently because I found that it helps to wake me up in the morning. When I turned the handle for how water, however, nothing came out. Not a drop. There wasn't even cold water in place of the hot. If this is what happens when someone uses all of the hot water, I think it's going to ultimately mean that someone is getting beat up by an angry little American girl next time.

Fine, BLCU. That's just fine. You want me to be dirty. Don't think I don't understand your tricks. You know that I'm not going to jar my muscles with freezing water in the morning. That makes it feel like I have a never ending supply of lactic acid flowing through them. I commend you, really. You were going to get to laugh at my expense either way - unhappy muscles or filth. That's great. Really. I'm laughing right along with you.

My Kidneys Remain Intact This Moon Festival

2005-09-17T23:56:00.000+08:00

Last night, I was up until about 4am playing an online RPG. Yeah, that’s right. I played World of Warcraft and was completely transfixed. I don’t think anyone has ever been aware of the draw that things like that have for me. It isn’t playing the game so much as understanding that so many people play it, and that there’s this whole alternate reality that people have created characters in that really intrigues me. People meet at places in the games, talk to each other, and function in this carefully constructed, virtual universe. I think those games must either be sociologists’ and psychologists’ dreams or nightmares to research. I haven’t decided yet. Regardless, I had fun learning about the game. I stayed up way too late with it, especially considering the appointment for my test shots in the morning quickly approaching.

Donny and I went to lunch with Gene around 11.30, and then headed to try and find Painabao Modeling Agency. I had directions from the scout who found me, and we hoped that they, unlike the directions we usually get from people on the street, might be helpful. It seems like no one knows where anything is around here.

Our cab driver found Peaceful Town, which is where the studio was supposed to be; so, we got out of the cab and started searching on foot. Painabao was supposed to be in building 28. That number was, of course, the only one skipped on the part of the street we were walking on. We stopped in a grocery store, and I asked a guard if he knew where the building was. He told me to try in back.

Of course. In back. Why hadn’t I thought of that? - with all of those numbers on the fronts of buildings on the street where the building was supposed to be? I must have been having an off day.

We walked around to the back of the building, and sure enough, building 28 was there. We tried to go inside, but the door was locked. I had a phone number to call in that event, but I didn’t really know what I would say. So we found another a guard and asked if we were in the right place. He did a great job of keeping everyone in that building safe when he opened the door for us without even asking what we were doing there. Sometimes, I just don’t know why there are all of these guards everywhere.

We took the elevator to the tenth floor at the suggestion of the guard. When the doors opened, I saw what I had been expecting all along – a dark lobby, and an even darker hallway. “Ah, now this is the part where we get our kidneys stolen,” I said. Donny clapped and one light came on, so I guess that was better than nothing. Turning left around a corner, we saw an open door and went toward the light like moths.

It was the correct office, but the people there seemed really confused to see us. I didn’t see Sandy, the scout, anywhere. I explained to the two people who approached us what we were doing there, and I saw something click with them. They told us to wait on the couch, and a few minutes later a photographer came out and asked me to come back to the studio.

I didn’t really know what to do during the shoot. I told him to just tell me whatever poses he wanted, but he wasn’t’ very helpful. I still assert that I could be a better photographer for them than model. Fifty or sixty shots later, my test shoot was done. During the whole thing, I had heard a man in the office talking to Donny about something. When I came back into the office, their conversation suddenly became clear.

Donny was getting his measurements taken, and the people in the office were preparing to usher him off to have photos taken, too. I had a feeling that was going to happen. Before we went, he didn’t believe me, but I knew that they loved foreign models. While he was having his shoot, the office people took my measurements and contact information.

When Donny came out, he looked embarrassed. I don’t think he was prepared for having his picture taken. Furthermore, the office people had been saying all kinds of crazy modeling scout types of things to him, like, “I see it. You have a very… male feeling about you.” Hehehe. I think it went well, though. We left with our kidneys, and the potential chances to have our faces on billboards next to those of Wang Fei.

Later we went walking our school’s surrounding area. About 20 minutes into the walk, Donny pointed out a huge, glowing circle, and asked what it was. “If it weren’t so gigantic, I’d say it was the moon,” I said. We kept walking.

Another ten minutes of walking revealed that it was, in fact, the moon. It was huge! The drunk Chinese people all around and vendors selling little cakes on sidewalks finally made sense - it was the weekend of the Moon Festival. I don’t know why my professors didn’t mention this in class last week.

The moon was a really spectacular sight. It’s no wonder that there’s a festival for it. I tried to get a good photograph of it, but I just couldn’t capture how amazing it was. It lit up everything, and outlined buildings with a soft glow.

We met up with the rest of our friends for dinner at a restaurant that we don’t know the name of, but frequent anyway. We’ve nicknamed it “Yellow Tablecloth” for reasons as obvious as the title indicates. I’ve seen the place crowded before, but this was ridiculous. Every table was completely packed, and I saw several Chinese men stumbling over themselves just on my way in. The table of foreigners was definitely the quiet table of the place. Every so often throughout dinner, one of us would point out something crazy the next table over had done. By the end of the meal, we saw an entire table passed out in their chairs and on the table. This is apparently the effect of the full moon around here.

It was great to watch everything going on around me. I’m really happy that I ended up lost in a less populated area during the walk earlier in the day. It allowed to get a really good look at the moon without as much light pollution as I would have had at the dorm.

The Chinese Authorities Are in Possession of My Passport

2005-09-16T16:24:00.000+08:00

I started to have an off day, but I fixed it eventually. I missed my kouyu (speaking) class today. It wasn’t because I didn’t wake up in time, or anything like that. I had another class before that which I attended. I only have kouyu once a week, and I’ve only had it once. I had no idea where my class was today. The class isn’t on my original schedule because I added it after school started, and in the last class the professor took the sheet from us with the room number.

I didn’t know where anyone from my daban (large class) was, and that’s probably because they were already at class. I ran up to the floor I thought the class might be on, and started looking for familiar faces. I was in the general area of the hallway that I remember my class being, and then I saw a girl who I had seen before. I asked her if this was the kouyu class, but she looked really confused. I don’t think she can speak Chinese yet. But two other people came up and asked what I was looking for. I told them, and they said, “Oh yes, this is the kouyu class. Come on in!”

I followed them and sat down in the last available seat. I was in the back of the room, so I had a good view of the room. I looked around and saw a huge bearded man. I realized that I was in the wrong class, because I definitely would have remembered that guy from last time. “Oh man, how am I going to get myself out of this without looking like a total moron?” I thought. People had started introducing themselves to me, and the chances getting out without complete embarrassment seemed to be diminishing. I looked at the teacher and had it confirmed without a doubt that I was in the wrong classroom. However, I had been there for about seven minutes, talking to people in Chinese.

I knew the professor was going to notice me as someone new soon, so I just stood up while looking intently at a piece of paper. I headed toward the door, apologizing to new people that I had to go. “Wait, why?” they asked. The professor looked at me. “Wait, wait. Where are you going? Stay,” he said.

“I’m terribly sorry. I can’t. I was only coming to observe for a few minutes to see if this was the right level for me. I have to go back to the office and let them know what I think.”

On the spot lying in Chinese – that’s what I did. I can’t believe I didn’t screw it up. Everyone just accepted the answer I gave because I gave it confidently and smoothly. I’m on my way to becoming a spy.
I make mention of becoming a spy because today I relinquished my passport to the local authorities in favor of getting a residence permit. Donny and I were both running out of time to get the permit, and after a long time at the bank, we went to the police station to register. Our permits are going to be ready next Friday, two days before our detainment would have otherwise begun.

This residence permit is going to allow me to enter and exit China with relative ease. It’s the closest to a Chinese passport that I can come to. I’m not sure if the permit goes into my passport, or if it’s just a separate document that I have to carry. Regardless, right now, I am without any identifying papers except for my student card issued from BLCU. The funny thing about that is the fact that it only has my Chinese name in it.

As far as anyone can be concerned at the present moment, my name is Ding Mei. I have a bank account in that name, have paid internet bills in it, and have an identity card with it. I feel like a spy with an alias. This is pretty cool.

A Happy Birthday

2005-09-15T15:21:00.000+08:00

Last night I was in Donny’s room studying again. After about half an hour, I fell asleep reading a text. Normally he’ll wake me up if I go to sleep, but he didn’t last night. I woke up when I heard the fan turned on, and looked up. He saw me and we both started laughing. “Uh, I may have fallen asleep.”

The third of Satie’s Six Gnossiennes was playing when I woke up, and that recharged me to keep working. I love that piece. I worked for a while longer, and then we took a break to watch something from the Dave Chapelle Show that used to be on HBO (?). I had never seen it, and it cracked me up. Then we watched some of his stand up. Around ten until 12, Donny said he’d probably better get back to work, and that he was going to study outside.

I was thinking about going to bed because I didn’t think I could do any more homework. Then I remembered what being outside at that time of night is like on this campus. There are drunk Chinese students all over the place. I decided to offer to come outside, too, and he said that’d be great if I had time.

We went looking over by the pond for a table to sit at, but they all were occupied by Chinese students with huge bottles of beer. He said that there might be one across the bridge, so we walked in that direction. As we started up the stairs of the bridge, I heard a strangely familiar tune being sung across the way.

My friends Ryan, Jason, and Gene were coming toward the bridge with packages, smiling and singing Happy Birthday. I was totally caught off guard. I had no idea that was going to happen at all. When they finished singing, Gene pulled out a plastic thing with candles on it. I call it a thing because I honestly had no idea what it was. Gene didn’t look like he exactly knew either. He was trying to light the middle of it with a piece of incense. Finally he managed to light something.

Fire shot about five inches up from the center of the thing, and petals with candles fell outwards while the plastic thing started playing Happy Birthday. I think it’s safe to say that that thing scared the hell out of everyone for a brief moment. Apparently none of them could really tell what it was supposed to do when they got it. Regardless, though, I made a wish and blew out the candles. The thing kept playing Happy Birthday, but we thought it would stop soon.

Oddly, the thing didn’t stop. It just kept playing it, and no one knew how to turn it off. Gene eventually held it under the surface of the pond, thinking that the water would short it out. It seemed reasonable enough, but we could still hear it playing faintly. He took out of the water, and it sounded with full force. He held it back under the water and left it there while I opened presents.

The first package was a voltage converter. I’d been having such a hard time trying to figure out what it was called and where I could get one, so that was great to see. The next two packages were DVDs. There were two Korean movies, and two of this Chinese singer, Zhou something. I should remember this, and I know I will soon. I just don’t recognize the second character, and I was a little overwhelmed last night for retaining new knowledge in Chinese. Those will be great, as I need to make up for a lot of lost time in learning about different pop cultures in East Asia. I loved the wrapping paper one these. It was purple with clocks, hearts, and flowers in boxes; but in some boxes was written, “Maybe I didn’t always love you but you were always on my mind.” Ha!! Classic.

The third package was huge. They told me to close my eyes while opening it. That was a little difficult past the wrapping paper. There was another bag inside with a zipper, and I didn’t know that. They opened that part for me, and then told me to first feel the gift before opening my eyes. It was really soft, and I had no idea what it was. Someone meowed and scratched my leg.

They finally let me open my eyes, and I saw that it was a huge, fluffy, pink bathrobe. I started cracking up. I’d joked about how I previously envisioned myself a spinster, walking around everywhere in a fluffy, pink bathrobe, yelling at children out of my window, and they definitely remembered.

I was still laughing really hard when Gene said that I then needed the compliment to the bathrobe. He pulled a box wrapped in an orange bag out of a larger bag. I had no idea what that was going to be, even after he got the box out of the second bag. When he opened the box, I was ecstatic. It was half chocolate, half hazelnut gelato! – my favorite! I won’t go into the details of how much of that I ate while sitting there. I’m sure you can guess already. I cut myself off so I could still have some today. While I was still eating, Jason started to pull something out of his backpack. “And to go with that…” He handed me a huge bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream.

That whole thing was so nice. I was completely surprised. They said they wanted to be the first to tell me Happy Birthday, so that’s why Donny and I went out just about a minute after midnight. I can’t get over how nice that was. That made my night and day today. It was really great to have my new friends remember my birthday. That was so fun.

When we were getting ready to go back to the dorm, Gene got the Happy Birthday candle monster out of the water. It was still playing. He was ready to stomp on it, but Donny talked him into trying to just cut a wire on the inside. Gene messed with it for a few minutes, and then it stopped playing. It ended up in the bag with the gelato, which had to go with Ryan and Jason to the freezer in their room. Apparently the thing started playing randomly at six this morning. Oops!

And then, this morning when I awakened, I opened my email and saw that I had three new emails from Andrew. Each had an mp3 attached of songs that he wrote and recorded for me. I listened to all of them two or three times each before headed to class this morning. They’re so great. I love them.

I’m having a good birthday. I’m not a teenager anymore. Other people have told me that they dreaded turning twenty, but it’s been pretty good for me. :D

The First Batch of Laundry

2005-09-14T17:12:00.000+08:00

I know that the title of this entry is not perfect English. I know laundry does not happen in batches, but I really can’t think of what it does come in. I’ve been having this problem a lot lately. Just forgive me, laugh at me if you must, and move on. I’m sure it will only get worse. (Bushel? Grr, what is it?!)

As I mentioned before, I will be handwashing my laundry here. I don’t trust the washers if the other people don’t. We don’t have any dryers, either. It’s a completely manual process. The first step of this new procedure was to gather my materials.

I’d like to you to meet my new washing machine: an oversized bowl. In it I put a few articles of clothing. I couldn’t wash more than six. The bowl just wasn’t big enough. I used a bar of laundry detergent and scrubbed those clothes with my bare hands. Also, the clothing hooks are for hanging everything afterwards.

The next stage was to fill the bowl with water, soak the clothes, scrub the clothes with the bar, and then proceed to beat and wring the dirt out of them. My forearms hurt now. Think of it as kneading bread for five hours without a break. If you’ve never done that, then just pretend that someone has removed an inch of the tendons in each of your forearms. They’re tight. I’m going to be sore tomorrow from doing laundry. To me, this is a hilarious concept.

I had to the take the bowl of clothes outside for this photograph because our “laundry room,” is really dark. It consists of an unused washer, and a long sink in which people really do all of their laundry. I think the washing machine is just for a decoration, and to indicate where we come to wash our clothes. Otherwise, they might have people trying to wash their clothes in the hanging pipe room that they call the shower room. That’s another story, though.

This was the last stage. I couldn’t really reach the line to hang my clothes on. Across the way, there is an apartment complex, and I think the men on the balcony were laughing at me. I couldn’t figure out how to get things hung without them rubbing up against anything outside, which would have made them instantly saturated with dirt. So I ended up holding hangers in my mouth while shaking things out over the balcony. I know it looked ridiculous. I’ll get better at it.

I think my clothes got pretty clean, overall. Washing my clothes by hand was a kind of satisfying experience, in a sick way. The appeal has already worn off for me. I should really do laundry every three days so I don’t have to do huge batches. It will drive me crazy.

People Say Stupid Things in Other Languages

2005-09-13T15:05:00.000+08:00

In the several years that I have taken Chinese now, I’ve noticed that people are willing to say all kinds of things they would never say in their native languages. This comes about for several reasons. One - if the professor calls on you, you want to have something to say. It’s often the case that you don’t know how to say your true answer to her question, so you just make something up. Two – if you’ve been frustrated for a long time about not being able to communicate, you’re happy to be able to say anything. Three – in a language class, you’re transformed back into a three-year old child. This ends up meaning that you start finding things really humorous that you haven’t laughed at for years (read: really juvenile humor). If you can make people laugh in a Chinese class, it feels great. It makes you feel a little less like a failure.

Today in my listening class, we heard a dialogue between two people who had lost their bicycle lock keys. Our teacher asked us afterwards, “Has anyone else had an experience like this? One where you forget a lot of things?”

The Canadian in my class replied, “Yeah, I’m always misplacing my pants. I just go outside without them.”

Laughter erupted in the room. I promise that if that same exchange had happened in English, everyone would have looked at him like he was the most immature person in the world. Not being able to talk well really changes how you act. I feel like I have a different personality when I’m trying to speak Chinese. I’m this whole new person who is trying to find out very different things than the person who speaks English at other times. I have a whole different set of priorities when I’m speaking Chinese.

Complex ideas aren’t important to me when I’m speaking Chinese. I don’t care about the greater impact of some political issue when I’m speaking Chinese; I’m just happy if I can say the name of one of the countries involved. Taking these classes is returning me to an earlier state, and I think that’s kind of interesting. I actually have a well-functioning memory now, and I’m able to remember being frustrated in not being able to express myself. Perhaps children have tantrums because they just can’t tell you what they’re trying to say. They’ve got it in their heads, but they give up and scream because they can’t form it into language.

I’m a much simpler person speaking Chinese. I’m not intelligent anymore. I’m not creative. I’m trying to survive, and get basic ideas across. I’m so excited when I do it, too. It feels so great to be understood. But I think that’s true no matter what.

And on a completely different note for today, it’s:

A Short Interaction to Illustrate Why I Love China

2005-09-11T18:51:00.000+08:00

Me: I can't believe it's so close to the middle of September.
Donny: I can’t believe we're so close to being detained for not having a residence permit.

Living in China cracks me up. There are all of these laws hanging over my head - much more so than in the U.S. - and I’m just living with them like they’re nothing. They’re immediately relevant to my life, too. If I don’t have that residence permit by the 25th, I’m getting thrown in jail if there’s a surprise check. I’ll be fined when I get the residence permit, too, if I get it late.

The school is supposed to be aiding us in processing the residence permit, but they keep telling us to go away and come back at later dates to turn in the rest of the forms. The most recent date I received to come back is the 12th, which is tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll take my forms and money then. I’d rather stand in line for a few hours to get that taken care of than get thrown in prison.

Though, actually, today at lunch we were discussing how our wooden slabs of beds are not even as nice as beds in prisons in the states. People get some kind of mattress in those cells. They don’t know how easy they have it. I’m telling you – China’s got me ready for anywhere.

Hong Qiao Pearl Market

2005-09-10T10:16:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I went to Hong Qiao Pearl Market with Donny, Gene, and Gene’s parents. I was there in May, and it was every bit as crazy this time as the last. I need to find some sucker to come with me who will agree to hand me 20 yuan every time a shopkeeper screams to me, “Hey! Hey! Pretty lady! You come here and look. Pretty lady, you want a necklace? An underwear?” At least no one grabbed my arm and pulled me into a store this time.

The market is indoor and has four floors of stuff. The first floor houses mainly electronics and kitschy, Chinese knick-knacks. The second floor is where to find clothing and scarves. The third floor has what seems to be verging on two-hundred stalls full of knock-off bags and shoes. The fourth floor, however, is the main attraction of the place.

Even going to the market for a second time I was just astonished by the huge number of pearls in one place. Hanging on the walls of each stall were about 50 strands of pearls complimenting the showcases of them on countertops. Women on both sides of the walkway were stringing pearls into necklaces and adding the clasps that customers picked. I can’t do the place justice, really. I’m going to have to go back and take photos if the shopkeepers will let me.

I bought a necklace yesterday. I almost bought one like it last time, but as I was running out of money, I told myself that if I still wanted it when I got here for the year, I could get it. I love being able to speak Chinese. Bargaining was a much more streamlined process this time around. I didn’t feel awkward doing it, and I got a decent price. Do you see what practical things I’m learning? It’s going to be strange to not haggle on prices when I get back to the states and see all of the overpriced things that were imported from China.

I Have Two Red Spots on My Arm

2005-09-08T23:37:00.000+08:00

Alarming title, eh? Don't worry - I haven't caught any terrible diseases yet.

I went to a mixed martial arts class today to check things out and see if I want to take it on a regular basis. It was pretty awesome. I got the extra challenge of getting my lesson in Chinese, which turned out to be pretty awesome. I started by wielding a large stick as a weapon. I was supposed to pull it up to my chest, then push it down toward my hips, and then lunge forward and stab at some invisible opponent, all while making the end of the stick wave around like crazy. It's much harder than it looks. That is for sure.

Then I asked laoshi how to spin the large sticks like the other people were doing. It took me forever to learn how to do it, but he was really helpful and patient. Also, he understood my questions in Chinese, so something was going right. I think my friend Jason videotaped this, actually. I must look ridiculous. I hit the stick on the ground so many times, and I couldn't figure out how to coordinate my hands. And thinking about it, I also hit my leg a few times. What can I say, though? I had never attempted to attack anything with a giant stick before. With that considered, I may not have actually done that badly.

We all went inside after stick practice outside. Once inside, we stretched, and then laoshi got out some arm pads to wear. When it was my turn for the first exercise, he told me to kick the pads 20 times with the outside of the lower half of my leg. I started slow, and then he just kept saying to go faster; so, I did. Did I ever feel dead after that. Wow. And then he told me to do the same with my other leg. It's almost needless to say that I felt like falling over after that.

The next exercise was another kicking one. I had to do high kicks in the same manner as I had just done the low ones. I felt like just letting him kick me in the kidney and end it right there. What a workout! After that, he had me hold onto a pole to practice doing straight-out kicks that had to be perfectly aligned with my whole body. That took some time to have explained to me with my current level of Chinese, but I eventually got what he was telling me. Of course, he told me 20 on both sides. Following that, I had to put gloves on and beat the hell out of a punching bag while guarding my face.

Finally, I sparred. First, I sparred against my friend Ryan. I think that's how I got the red marks on my arm. He didn't have gloves on, and one time I felt his fingertips jab into my arm. If the marks aren't from him, I don't know where they're from. Jason, the other person I sparred against, had gloves on. Jason is some kind of Tae Kwan Do champion, and I didn't really want to spar against him. Thankfully, he didn't beat me up. Haha, I'm joking, of course. I didn't think he'd unleash a fury of kicking on me. Even still, though, I'm glad he took it easy on me.

I'm exhausted. Now China has not only beaten me mentally with classes, but now also physically with martial arts. Soon, it will break me spiritually after I spend more days doing homework for 6 hours. China is toughening me up so much. Yes.

Classes

2005-09-08T15:10:00.000+08:00

I apologize for the lack of update. I promise that it has been for good reason.

My classes are really hard. Any one of you who reads this and knows me well also knows that it takes a lot for me to make that statement. Let me tell you – these classes are whipping me into shape. I have studied more for one of these classes than I have for my finals in the states. I don’t think I should ever have a problem studying for class in the states again. The past few days, I have studied in most of my free time. The rest of that time was spent at meals. Allow me to provide for you an example of what the past few days have been like for me.

Yesterday, I awakened around 7.30am. It took me a while to get acclimated to being conscious, and by that time, I was already on my way to class. I started class at 8.30am and heard nothing but Chinese for the next four hours. I did exercises in class that I still didn’t understand fully after all of the voluntary homework and extra study I had done the night prior. Luckily, I felt a slight bit of improvement over the day before, so I was encouraged.

After class, I met my friends for lunch as has become customary as of late. After lunch, my friend Donny and I decided to study together so we wouldn’t be tempted away by our computers. The computer is the enemy of study, by the way. I’m sure you already knew that, but I am here to tell you definitively. We studied at the library for about three hours after lunch, and then decided to take a short break to let our minds digest everything, and our stomach to digest the “ice cream” we were preparing to feed them (“ice cream” is a whole separate post. Oh man.). After the break, we went back to the dorm to study more before dinner. I think that period of study was about an hour and a half, or two hours. It gets difficult to keep track of. Then we went to dinner with friends, and after coming back, studied another hour.

If you lost track, that was six hours of studying yesterday, and that was just for a normal class. Donny was preparing a grammar lesson, and I was preparing my listening lesson and memorizing characters. I feel like some kind of Chinese-studying robot.

I feel like I must have really slacked off the past two years with the how important studying is here. The thing that really gets me about my Chinese lessons, though, is the amount of off-the-record stuff we have to know. We get lists in every class of new vocabulary, so it adds up to about 50 every two days when you subtract the overlapping words. However, in every class, we get a huge list of more words that we’re just supposed to be reviewing on our own. You have to make sure you get them down when they come up, or else you’ll be lost the next day. I, fortunately, figured that out from the outset and have managed to not get too lost in new vocabulary yet. But seriously, from yesterday alone, I got an extra fifty words to know, in addition to words I should have already known that I had to write down to learn.

I’m studying so much that I’m falling asleep doing it by the end of the night. I have never looked forward to a weekend so much in my life. And I was going to say something else here, but I forgot because I started thinking about characters. I even had a dream about brush strokes covering over the earth during one of my studying catnaps yesterday! I figure that I’m probably learning a lot, but I also think that my mind must have a saturation point for taking in unprocessed information. I’m so glad Friday is soon.

If I can’t speak, understand, read, and write Chinese by the end of this year, everyone needs to seriously reevaluate their perceptions of my intelligence.

New Hair

2005-09-06T17:10:00.000+08:00

I did it. I went and got my hair cut today. Here are the before and after shots.

The woman cutting my hair today went on and on about how straight my hair is. "What country did you say you're from? The U.S.? I just can't believe it. Your hair is so straight! That is the best kind. You have beautiful hair." A few people walked by the room I was getting my hair cut in, and then came back. "What country are you from?" they asked. When I told them, they seemed shocked. "Oh! I thought you were Japanese!" I never know where this kind of guess comes from.

But anyway, the hair is cut. I'm quite happy with it. It's choppier than the picture lets on, and I think that's cool.

I Have Decided

2005-09-05T18:35:00.000+08:00

For better or worse, I have decided to stay in my assigned class. I studied for maybe three or four hours last night in my room, and while the material was a review, it was a necessary one. There are some words and some grammar patterns that I just never internalized while I was at IU, and they’re going to come back to haunt me if I don’t get them well-established in my mind. This might not mean great things for advancing in rank for Chinese classes when I return to the states, but I know now that level doesn’t matter as much as learning. If I need to establish a stronger foundation, then I just have to do it. I don’t want to have superficial learning, and I’m willing to pay the price in time that it may cost me.

Furthermore, I examined the book more closely while studying than I previously had, and I realized that it certainly couldn’t be a year’s worth of material. I wasn’t even sure that it could be a semester’s worth of grammar and vocabulary. So in class today, I asked my teacher how long we would use the book. She said that in October we would be finishing that book and beginning book 3. That’s the book I thought was perfectly appropriate for me. I think this will work out very well. I’m going to have a month and a half of very necessary review, and then I’ll move onto the new material.

Honestly, I don’t think my decision is going to really set me back. The next level up is just a month and a half ahead of where I am right now, and I’m not really sacrificing this time if I’m fixing some problems and going into the next course stronger. BLCU’s program is far faster than most of the accelerated programs I’ve heard of in the states. I’m sure I’m going to learn plenty of Chinese, especially with assignments like the one I received today. I’m supposed to approach Chinese people and ask them about what phone plans they use. I have to write a report. Ack! - talking and writing! ☺

In other decision areas, I’m considering a haircut. I think to really get a feel for where I’m living I should try out some of the fashions in addition to just talking to people. I have several choices for fashionable Chinese hairstyles. I think the most prevalent around here are the feathered mullet-type of style, choppy layers with an extra long one in the back, and the very thick, long, front third of head framing bangs combined with one of the above styles. We’ll see. I’m going to let myself be convinced by my friends, I think.

Another Look at Traffic

2005-09-04T23:52:00.000+08:00

My friend Gene has taken several photos since we arrived in Beijing, and I want to share one that I think helps to illustrate the traffic and road situation near the campus. So, without delay, I give you the photo.

This is me (far left) with some of my friends from BLCU in the middle of a street (L to R: Donny, Catherine, Caitlin, Jason, and Ryan). You wouldn't think the intersection was very busy if we were on a corner, but we were standing in one small area where cars weren't supposed to go.