So, we just finished the scavenger hunt and we came in first place! Even though we had to wake up early this morning, it was totally worth it because all of the activities were a lot of fun.
My team consisted of me, Molly, Jay, Jon, Jenn, Gillian, Damien, my language partner, Olivia, Jenn’s language partener, Xiao Yao, Jay’s language partner, Jesse, and Damien’s language partner. I was the captain for my team. Our team came to be when our friend Peggy, who can be a little competitive at times, decided to compose what she thought would be the dream team. Since we were not selected for this team, we decided to call ourselves Team Leftovers.
Last night we went to Wu Mei and all bought matching pink PKU t-shirts to wear for the event today. When we got back to Shaoyuan last night, we took sharpies and numbered our shirts using Chinese characters and wrote our Chinese names on the back of our shirts in characters as well.
This morning it was really nice to see that everyone was really into the competition. We were pretty intimidating in our matching shirts. Peggy’s team, the Wu Tang Clan, all had “wu” written on their faces, and other teams had on shoelace headbands and war paint. There were six teams all together.
Once we were handed our maps, flags, and packets of clues, our team took off running. The first activity we did was called “Don’t Drop the Stick,” where we had to pass tubes to each other without using our hands to catch them or dropping them. We got eight passes in a row, which earned us a perfect score for this challenge.
Our next activity took a lot of physical strength. We have a rock climbing wall on our campus, so Jay and Damien volunteered to climb to the top, while the rest of the team managed to pull off a 15 second group push up without our feet touching the ground, which also earned us the full amount of points for this challenge.
Next, we ran to the stone boat, where we had to play Chinese hacky sack. According the range of points each team scored in, points were awarded for the activity. This activity didn’t go too well for us at first. However, in the last minute of our time at this challenge, we were able to surpass the maximum range of passes, again achieving a perfect score.
Our fourth challenge took us to the library, where we were required to take a group photo, get it on to the BEIDA web site, make a copy for each team member, and collect signatures and email addresses of BEIDA students. Our language partners were very helpful with this event. In no time, we were done, had earned the maximum number of points for the challenge, and were on our way to the next event.
The next team challenge was called “How Spicy Is It?” which as you can probably guess, had us eating spicy food. I don’t really like spicy food, but I couldn’t let my team down. We each had to eat a spicy chicken skewer and then repeat a tongue twister. The Chinese students had to repeat “unique New York” ten times, while the American students had to read a Chinese tongue twister in pinyin. Again, a perfect score!
For our final challenge, we had to complete three separate activities. For the first one, we had to get eight of our team members to be standing on a brick. It’s a good thing we are all good friends because it was definitely a tight fit! Next, we had to do a moving group lap sit. Lastly, we had to play a clapping rhythm game. When we were done, we had earned the maximum number of points for the whole scavenger hunt and took off running for the history department.
When we got to the history department, we saw Peggy’s team running with their yellow flag from another direction. At the same time, everyone yelled, “RUN” and we bolted for the door. Joyce Li was so excited to see us! We were the second team back and were declared the winners once our perfect score was added up. As a prize, each member of our team got a really fancy BEIDA bookmark.
After the challenge, our entire team, including our language partners, and our friends from the Wu Tang Clan went out for lunch. We looked so silly all around campus in our matching pink shirts. I’m very tired now so I’m going to take easy on my feet and my back for the rest of the afternoon. Tonight we are going out to dinner and celebrating our victory some more!
I Climbed The Great Wall!
You are not physically fit until you can climb the Great Wall!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Updates.... Chinese Life As Usual
So I just realized that I haven’t provided updates in about a week. I think it is because I have fully adjusted to life in Beijing so the little cultural differences don’t seem to make so much of a difference anymore. It has definitely been a busy week, but I have really enjoyed it! I am also in complete awe that it is almost March and I have been here for almost a full month!
On Friday, Gill, Sarah and I went to La Bamba for dinner to benefit from the 15 kuai burrito special… that’s about two American dollars for a burrito. It’s no Chipotle, but it will certainly suffice for the time being. After dinner, I met up with Olivia to go see Madagascar 2. The movie was playing on campus for eight kuai, which is about one American dollar. The theater on campus is amazing. Inside, it looks just like a Broadway theater and there was a huge screen up on the stage for the movie. Olivia was disappointed because the movie was in Chinese and did not have any subtitles. Fortunately, it quickly became a great opportunity for us to practice our language skills, plus the plot of Madagascar 2 is not all that difficult to follow. Olivia would describe things to me every few scenes or so and I helped her to learn the names of animals in the movie. The word hippopotamus blew her mind.
On Saturday, I had class, which was a big disappointment. I thought that I would really enjoy China in the Global Economy, but the professor doesn’t really have a structure for teaching the class. He is very smart, but he does not seem very knowledgeable on the subject matter. For example, I asked a question about product diversification in collective owned enterprises formed under state owned enterprises in China, directly related to the reading, and my professor told me he could not answer it because he does not have a background in economics or international business… seems a little weird that he is teaching a course called China and the Global Economy.
On Sunday morning we got up a bit early and went to Lush for an American style breakfast. I had French toast, pancakes, and Earl Gray tea, which was amazing. Afterwards, Jon, Aaron and I went to the silk market for more shopping and haggling, which is always fun. I bought more things for my family than I did for myself and Lauren certainly kept me busy with a laundry list of items that I am supposed to be mailing her for her birthday. I have a feeling that the shipping will cost more than all of Lauren’s gifts combined.
On Monday, I woke up and I wasn’t feeling that well. Luckily, I got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Bellmore on the phone, which was really exciting for me and made me feel a lot better! I’m so happy that I am able to keep in touch with my family in the United States so they can hear about all of the wonderful things I am up to in China! After Chinese class, I took it easy for most of the day. I’m actually the last one of my group of friends to get the cold/sinus infection that’s going around, which is pretty impressive considering you eat everything with chopsticks family style in China. On Monday night, Marie and I took it easy and had a roomie night, where we indulged in the easymac Marie’s mom sent. Even though we had to eat it with chopsticks, the easymac definitely hit the spot!
I felt much better when I woke up on Tuesday. After suffering through another session of China in the Global Economy, which if you haven’t realized it yet is the worst class I have ever taken in college, we carried on our Tuesday night tradition of getting pizza at Kro’s nest. After dinner, we decided to try our luck at learning to ride our bikes Beijing style, meaning the guy pedals and the girls balance and ride side-saddle on the back of the bike. Molly jumped on the back of Jon’s bike and I jumped on the back of Richard’s. It took some getting used to, but by the end of the night we had set up a course and were racing around the Shaoyuan dorm buildings. Richard and I may have lost the race this time, but we will definitely be practicing hardcore for the next race! After the bike races, I got to talk to Grandma Jersey, which was very special! Grandma always seems amazed that we can talk from so far away, but I am so happy we can keep up our weekly telephone conversations.
Today was a very busy day. I woke up bright and early this morning for my first Taiqi class. I have never taken Taiji before, but because I love martial arts so much, I figured I would sign up for the class and give it a try. Taiqi is always done outdoors, so we bundled up for the freezing cold. Our professor is a very cute, old man who has been doing taiqi for years. He speaks to us in Chinese and whenever we finish once of the Taiqi actions, he gives us a big thumbs up and giggles. This semester we will be learning 24 Taiqi actions. Today we learned the first two. It was a lot of fun. According to our professor, studying Taiqi will help to prevent diabetes and other diseases.
After Taiqi, I had Chinese class. On one of the breaks, I taught Wang laoshi, my Chinese teacher some tap dancing moves. Joyce Li thought it was so interesting that she wants me to start a dance club for the students in our program. Tala, Marie, and I are going to start the club and teach a different kind of dance every week. I think Joyce Li and Wang laoshi are going to dance with us. It sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun.
This afternoon I had my independent study for Chinese Women’s studies. This is easily my favorite class that I am taking this semester. Dr. Wu is so knowledgeable and so easy to talk to. It’s also really cool how she is willing to talk about topics that’s are generally not mentioned publicly in Chinese society, such as sex, GLBT issues, and criticisms of Mao Zedong and how these issues affect gender norms. It’s also interesting that a lot of the women’s movement in China has its roots in economic development or is founded upon economic logic. It is also interesting to compare the experiences of Chinese women with the experiences of women in the United States. In some ways, it seems as though Chinese women are more liberated, such as on social issues such as abortion. In other ways, some of the challenges typical to women in the United States still exist, such as wage disparities and the existence of negative connotations towards feminism.
There are definitely a lot of things to look forward to in the next few days and in the upcoming weeks. First of all, tonight we are going out dancing at our favorite Wednesday night venue, Propaganda, and Wang laoshi is coming with us!
This Friday, we have a meeting about study trips at the end of the semester and we get to sign up for the travel route we would like to pursue. I have decided that I am going to choose the red line trip, which goes into rural, western China. On this trip, I will get to see the terracotta soldiers, hold a baby panda, and visit Guilin. I’m so excited! I think most of my friends will select this travel route as well.
We are also all really looking forward to Saturday. On Saturday morning, our program has planned a campus-wide scavenger hunt for us, which will be filled with many varied challenges. Teams have already started to form and the trash talking has commenced. I’m excited that my friends are really into it. We have even started talking about getting matching team shirts and war paint for the big day. I am actually the captain of my scavenger hunt team. I am also excited because Olivia has decided to play with us!
We are also busily discussing plans for Spring Break. We are considering going to places such as Qingdao, Hainan, and Shanghai. It will be interesting to see where we end up!
More to come soon!
On Friday, Gill, Sarah and I went to La Bamba for dinner to benefit from the 15 kuai burrito special… that’s about two American dollars for a burrito. It’s no Chipotle, but it will certainly suffice for the time being. After dinner, I met up with Olivia to go see Madagascar 2. The movie was playing on campus for eight kuai, which is about one American dollar. The theater on campus is amazing. Inside, it looks just like a Broadway theater and there was a huge screen up on the stage for the movie. Olivia was disappointed because the movie was in Chinese and did not have any subtitles. Fortunately, it quickly became a great opportunity for us to practice our language skills, plus the plot of Madagascar 2 is not all that difficult to follow. Olivia would describe things to me every few scenes or so and I helped her to learn the names of animals in the movie. The word hippopotamus blew her mind.
On Saturday, I had class, which was a big disappointment. I thought that I would really enjoy China in the Global Economy, but the professor doesn’t really have a structure for teaching the class. He is very smart, but he does not seem very knowledgeable on the subject matter. For example, I asked a question about product diversification in collective owned enterprises formed under state owned enterprises in China, directly related to the reading, and my professor told me he could not answer it because he does not have a background in economics or international business… seems a little weird that he is teaching a course called China and the Global Economy.
On Sunday morning we got up a bit early and went to Lush for an American style breakfast. I had French toast, pancakes, and Earl Gray tea, which was amazing. Afterwards, Jon, Aaron and I went to the silk market for more shopping and haggling, which is always fun. I bought more things for my family than I did for myself and Lauren certainly kept me busy with a laundry list of items that I am supposed to be mailing her for her birthday. I have a feeling that the shipping will cost more than all of Lauren’s gifts combined.
On Monday, I woke up and I wasn’t feeling that well. Luckily, I got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Bellmore on the phone, which was really exciting for me and made me feel a lot better! I’m so happy that I am able to keep in touch with my family in the United States so they can hear about all of the wonderful things I am up to in China! After Chinese class, I took it easy for most of the day. I’m actually the last one of my group of friends to get the cold/sinus infection that’s going around, which is pretty impressive considering you eat everything with chopsticks family style in China. On Monday night, Marie and I took it easy and had a roomie night, where we indulged in the easymac Marie’s mom sent. Even though we had to eat it with chopsticks, the easymac definitely hit the spot!
I felt much better when I woke up on Tuesday. After suffering through another session of China in the Global Economy, which if you haven’t realized it yet is the worst class I have ever taken in college, we carried on our Tuesday night tradition of getting pizza at Kro’s nest. After dinner, we decided to try our luck at learning to ride our bikes Beijing style, meaning the guy pedals and the girls balance and ride side-saddle on the back of the bike. Molly jumped on the back of Jon’s bike and I jumped on the back of Richard’s. It took some getting used to, but by the end of the night we had set up a course and were racing around the Shaoyuan dorm buildings. Richard and I may have lost the race this time, but we will definitely be practicing hardcore for the next race! After the bike races, I got to talk to Grandma Jersey, which was very special! Grandma always seems amazed that we can talk from so far away, but I am so happy we can keep up our weekly telephone conversations.
Today was a very busy day. I woke up bright and early this morning for my first Taiqi class. I have never taken Taiji before, but because I love martial arts so much, I figured I would sign up for the class and give it a try. Taiqi is always done outdoors, so we bundled up for the freezing cold. Our professor is a very cute, old man who has been doing taiqi for years. He speaks to us in Chinese and whenever we finish once of the Taiqi actions, he gives us a big thumbs up and giggles. This semester we will be learning 24 Taiqi actions. Today we learned the first two. It was a lot of fun. According to our professor, studying Taiqi will help to prevent diabetes and other diseases.
After Taiqi, I had Chinese class. On one of the breaks, I taught Wang laoshi, my Chinese teacher some tap dancing moves. Joyce Li thought it was so interesting that she wants me to start a dance club for the students in our program. Tala, Marie, and I are going to start the club and teach a different kind of dance every week. I think Joyce Li and Wang laoshi are going to dance with us. It sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun.
This afternoon I had my independent study for Chinese Women’s studies. This is easily my favorite class that I am taking this semester. Dr. Wu is so knowledgeable and so easy to talk to. It’s also really cool how she is willing to talk about topics that’s are generally not mentioned publicly in Chinese society, such as sex, GLBT issues, and criticisms of Mao Zedong and how these issues affect gender norms. It’s also interesting that a lot of the women’s movement in China has its roots in economic development or is founded upon economic logic. It is also interesting to compare the experiences of Chinese women with the experiences of women in the United States. In some ways, it seems as though Chinese women are more liberated, such as on social issues such as abortion. In other ways, some of the challenges typical to women in the United States still exist, such as wage disparities and the existence of negative connotations towards feminism.
There are definitely a lot of things to look forward to in the next few days and in the upcoming weeks. First of all, tonight we are going out dancing at our favorite Wednesday night venue, Propaganda, and Wang laoshi is coming with us!
This Friday, we have a meeting about study trips at the end of the semester and we get to sign up for the travel route we would like to pursue. I have decided that I am going to choose the red line trip, which goes into rural, western China. On this trip, I will get to see the terracotta soldiers, hold a baby panda, and visit Guilin. I’m so excited! I think most of my friends will select this travel route as well.
We are also all really looking forward to Saturday. On Saturday morning, our program has planned a campus-wide scavenger hunt for us, which will be filled with many varied challenges. Teams have already started to form and the trash talking has commenced. I’m excited that my friends are really into it. We have even started talking about getting matching team shirts and war paint for the big day. I am actually the captain of my scavenger hunt team. I am also excited because Olivia has decided to play with us!
We are also busily discussing plans for Spring Break. We are considering going to places such as Qingdao, Hainan, and Shanghai. It will be interesting to see where we end up!
More to come soon!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
My Language Partner
Hooray! My friend Ben, who is the graduate student assistant for our program, has found me a language partner! My language partner’s name is 陈文佳 and she is an English major. Because she is studying English, she likes to be called by Olivia, which is her English name, like my Chinese name, ai wu.
Olivia is only a freshman and this is her second semester at Beida. She is originally from Tianjin, the third largest city in China, which I actually visited a few weeks ago. She is an English major and although she speaks English very well, she still claims that I can help her just as much with her English as she can help me with her Chinese.
Olivia and I met at the library because I needed help finding some books for my communications independent study. Because we will not be getting our own library cards until next week, Olivia was nice enough to help me get into the library. The library here is pretty amazing. Not only is it beautiful, but it’s huge and modern (very much unlike AU). Olivia helped me find my books and even checked them out of the library for me on her library card.
After I got my books, Olivia and I walked around campus and chatted about our interests in both English and Chinese. We both enjoy reading, movies, and theater. Olivia’s favorite book and movie is Gone With the Wind. She told me she has watched the movie over and over again. Olivia has older siblings and I was able to tell her all about my sister. Like me, Olivia really likes school. She told me that she is taking 13 classes this semester and that each one meets for two hours a week. She wants to study abroad in the United States and get her masters in English. She has already started to study for the GRE and she is only a freshman! Olivia also told me all about different clubs she has joined on campus and recommended some clubs for me to try. I really want to join the martial arts club. I think it will be a lot of fun!
Olivia and I also had lunch together in a cafeteria on campus. Olivia took me to her favorite restaurant on campus, which I hadn’t found yet. It was really good! We talked a lot about different kinds of foods. She told me that her favorite food is rice, which is the case for every Chinese person I have asked. Olivia thought it was so strange that in the US we eat sandwiches for lunch almost everyday. She was also really impressed with my chopstick skills. I was really glad that my game was on today so I didn’t embarrass myself, but Olivia did tell me that she tried to eat Italian food with a fork once and found it incredibly difficult. I told Olivia that my favorite food is Mexican food, which she has never tried before. I think that one day we are going to eat Mexican food together in Wudakou.
After lunch, Olivia came back to Shaoyuan to see pictures of my family and friends from home. I was able to explain who the people in my pictures were to Olivia in Chinese. I was really proud of myself! Olivia was really excited about the picture of me, Jessica and Christine in Times Square on Christmas Eve Eve. She recognized Times Square right away and told me that it is her dream to spend the holidays in New York City!
Olivia was really surprised by how nice our dorms were. She also lives on campus with some other English majors, but she said their dorm is not carpeted and that they have four girls living in a room the size of mine and Marie’s. Her room is also completely a girls dorms. The dorms for the boys are on the other side of campus. She also said that in her room, they only have a Turkish toilet (which we have began to call “squatty potties”) and that they have to go to a completely different building to shower. In Olivia’s building, they also shut off the electricity and the water and 11PM every night. I guess there are no such things as all-nighters in China. This really surprised me. Beida is the best university in all of China and is rumored to be the university with the nicest dorms as well. I can’t even imagine what the dorms are like at other schools in China.
Olivia had class in the afternoon, but we are planning to meet up again on Friday. On Friday night, Madagascar 2 is playing at the movie theater on campus for 8 kuai, or about one dollar. She is going to bring her friends and I am going to bring my friends and we are all going to see the movie together. It should be a lot of fun. Olivia and I are also planning to go to the Beijing Opera together before the end of the semester.
I’m really glad that I decided to ask Ben to find me a language partner. Finding a language partner is very common in China. I am Olivia’s first language partner and she is really excited to have an American friend. I am also grateful to have my first real Chinese friend as well.
Olivia is only a freshman and this is her second semester at Beida. She is originally from Tianjin, the third largest city in China, which I actually visited a few weeks ago. She is an English major and although she speaks English very well, she still claims that I can help her just as much with her English as she can help me with her Chinese.
Olivia and I met at the library because I needed help finding some books for my communications independent study. Because we will not be getting our own library cards until next week, Olivia was nice enough to help me get into the library. The library here is pretty amazing. Not only is it beautiful, but it’s huge and modern (very much unlike AU). Olivia helped me find my books and even checked them out of the library for me on her library card.
After I got my books, Olivia and I walked around campus and chatted about our interests in both English and Chinese. We both enjoy reading, movies, and theater. Olivia’s favorite book and movie is Gone With the Wind. She told me she has watched the movie over and over again. Olivia has older siblings and I was able to tell her all about my sister. Like me, Olivia really likes school. She told me that she is taking 13 classes this semester and that each one meets for two hours a week. She wants to study abroad in the United States and get her masters in English. She has already started to study for the GRE and she is only a freshman! Olivia also told me all about different clubs she has joined on campus and recommended some clubs for me to try. I really want to join the martial arts club. I think it will be a lot of fun!
Olivia and I also had lunch together in a cafeteria on campus. Olivia took me to her favorite restaurant on campus, which I hadn’t found yet. It was really good! We talked a lot about different kinds of foods. She told me that her favorite food is rice, which is the case for every Chinese person I have asked. Olivia thought it was so strange that in the US we eat sandwiches for lunch almost everyday. She was also really impressed with my chopstick skills. I was really glad that my game was on today so I didn’t embarrass myself, but Olivia did tell me that she tried to eat Italian food with a fork once and found it incredibly difficult. I told Olivia that my favorite food is Mexican food, which she has never tried before. I think that one day we are going to eat Mexican food together in Wudakou.
After lunch, Olivia came back to Shaoyuan to see pictures of my family and friends from home. I was able to explain who the people in my pictures were to Olivia in Chinese. I was really proud of myself! Olivia was really excited about the picture of me, Jessica and Christine in Times Square on Christmas Eve Eve. She recognized Times Square right away and told me that it is her dream to spend the holidays in New York City!
Olivia was really surprised by how nice our dorms were. She also lives on campus with some other English majors, but she said their dorm is not carpeted and that they have four girls living in a room the size of mine and Marie’s. Her room is also completely a girls dorms. The dorms for the boys are on the other side of campus. She also said that in her room, they only have a Turkish toilet (which we have began to call “squatty potties”) and that they have to go to a completely different building to shower. In Olivia’s building, they also shut off the electricity and the water and 11PM every night. I guess there are no such things as all-nighters in China. This really surprised me. Beida is the best university in all of China and is rumored to be the university with the nicest dorms as well. I can’t even imagine what the dorms are like at other schools in China.
Olivia had class in the afternoon, but we are planning to meet up again on Friday. On Friday night, Madagascar 2 is playing at the movie theater on campus for 8 kuai, or about one dollar. She is going to bring her friends and I am going to bring my friends and we are all going to see the movie together. It should be a lot of fun. Olivia and I are also planning to go to the Beijing Opera together before the end of the semester.
I’m really glad that I decided to ask Ben to find me a language partner. Finding a language partner is very common in China. I am Olivia’s first language partner and she is really excited to have an American friend. I am also grateful to have my first real Chinese friend as well.
Dinner with Wang laoshi
On Monday night, my Chinese class went out to dinner with Wang laoshi, my Chinese teacher (Wang is my teacher’s surname and laoshi is the word for teacher in Chinese). We met in Wudakou and went to a hot pot restaurant in the U Center for dinner.
It was really helpful for us to have our Chinese teacher with us for practicing ordering in the restaurant, although I think a bunch of other people in the restaurant were staring at us a bit for having a Chinese lesson over dinner.
My Chinese teacher is really young. She is a student at BCLU, located right down the road from Beida and she is studying to be a beginner Chinese teacher. She will be graduating in June and has already accepted a job teaching at a university in Portland, Oregon in the United States. She has never been to the United States before and she is really excited about moving to the US this summer. I think it’s a bit ironic that it was easier for my Chinese teacher to get a job in the US than in China. I’m sure that she will be successful in teaching because I am really enjoying her class and I have already learned so much Chinese!
Wang laoshi was so surprised and appreciative that we paid for her dinner that she decided to take us all out for bubble tea, which is really popular in China, afterwards. She took us to one of her favorite tea and coffee shops in Wudakou, which was really delicious. I normally do not like bubble tea in the US, but it tastes really different here and is actually really, really good!
In the US, I feel is though it would be somewhat scandalous for professors and students to socialize outside of class. However, in China, this type of relationship seems to be the social norm. I also think that knowing a little bit about more about our teacher makes class a lot more enjoyable. As she gets to know each of us better as well, she begins to know which Chinese words and phrases are the most important for us to know!
I think that we are going to hang out with Wang laoshi outside of class on a weekly basis. This weekend we might go shopping at the big clothing market in Wudakao. Wang laoshi also really enjoys badminton, so we might play with her on the weekends once the weather gets warmer!
It was really helpful for us to have our Chinese teacher with us for practicing ordering in the restaurant, although I think a bunch of other people in the restaurant were staring at us a bit for having a Chinese lesson over dinner.
My Chinese teacher is really young. She is a student at BCLU, located right down the road from Beida and she is studying to be a beginner Chinese teacher. She will be graduating in June and has already accepted a job teaching at a university in Portland, Oregon in the United States. She has never been to the United States before and she is really excited about moving to the US this summer. I think it’s a bit ironic that it was easier for my Chinese teacher to get a job in the US than in China. I’m sure that she will be successful in teaching because I am really enjoying her class and I have already learned so much Chinese!
Wang laoshi was so surprised and appreciative that we paid for her dinner that she decided to take us all out for bubble tea, which is really popular in China, afterwards. She took us to one of her favorite tea and coffee shops in Wudakou, which was really delicious. I normally do not like bubble tea in the US, but it tastes really different here and is actually really, really good!
In the US, I feel is though it would be somewhat scandalous for professors and students to socialize outside of class. However, in China, this type of relationship seems to be the social norm. I also think that knowing a little bit about more about our teacher makes class a lot more enjoyable. As she gets to know each of us better as well, she begins to know which Chinese words and phrases are the most important for us to know!
I think that we are going to hang out with Wang laoshi outside of class on a weekly basis. This weekend we might go shopping at the big clothing market in Wudakao. Wang laoshi also really enjoys badminton, so we might play with her on the weekends once the weather gets warmer!
The Silk Market
On Sunday we found the Chinatown of China… labels and haggling… the Silk Market!
The Silk Market was really overwhelming at first. It’s five stories and each floor has several different shops selling just about all of the same items. As you walk by each of the shops, the owners yell out to you, mostly in English, saying phrases like “beautiful girl” and “cheap price for you!”
Because there are so many different stands jammed packed together, we decided to separate so everyone could shop for the items they wanted. Molly and I headed straight for the jewelry section where you can haggle for freshwater pearls, which are very popular to buy in China.
After walking around, Molly and I decided on a stand to make a purchase. The woman working there was very nice. She showed us the pearls were real by scratching them right in front of us. Molly and I got to pick out our own strands of pearls. I chose some really pretty pink ones and Molly chose big white ones. The lady had us sit down and served us water and then right in front of us she strung our necklaces, tying knots between each of the pearls so they would not scratch each other. She was able to do it so quickly without even looking at what she was doing, which was pretty amazing. We also got to select the type of clasps that we wanted for our necklaces.
Haggling for the price was a lot of fun too. The price originally started at 120 kuai for one necklace. I eventually got a pearl necklace with matching earrings for 50 kuai, which is about seven US dollars… not too bad! When she was done stringing our necklaces we also got to pick out beautiful Chinese silk pouches for storing our pearls.
We also bought shoes and pocketbooks. I bought a pair of gray and black Coach pumps for about $8 and then the matching Coach pocketbook for about $10. The entire time I couldn’t stop thinking about how jealous Lauren would be once I told her about the Silk Market and showed her all of the nice things I bought!
I definitely plan on going back to the silk market to buy a bunch of souvenirs before I come home. I want to buy a new pair of Uggs, which I will probably be able to get for about $15 as well as a light trench coat jacket for the spring in Beijing. I can also get designer sneakers for really cheap. There is also a bunch of traditional Chinese knickknacks that I plan to bring home as souvenirs as well!
After shopping, we went to dinner at Pizza Hut, which like in Egypt, is considered an upscale restaurant in China. Jay, Molly, and I split a large stuffed crust cheese pizza because you rarely find cheese in China, and when you do, it’s expensive because it is all imported! If you are reading this, please send easymac! ☺
The Silk Market was really overwhelming at first. It’s five stories and each floor has several different shops selling just about all of the same items. As you walk by each of the shops, the owners yell out to you, mostly in English, saying phrases like “beautiful girl” and “cheap price for you!”
Because there are so many different stands jammed packed together, we decided to separate so everyone could shop for the items they wanted. Molly and I headed straight for the jewelry section where you can haggle for freshwater pearls, which are very popular to buy in China.
After walking around, Molly and I decided on a stand to make a purchase. The woman working there was very nice. She showed us the pearls were real by scratching them right in front of us. Molly and I got to pick out our own strands of pearls. I chose some really pretty pink ones and Molly chose big white ones. The lady had us sit down and served us water and then right in front of us she strung our necklaces, tying knots between each of the pearls so they would not scratch each other. She was able to do it so quickly without even looking at what she was doing, which was pretty amazing. We also got to select the type of clasps that we wanted for our necklaces.
Haggling for the price was a lot of fun too. The price originally started at 120 kuai for one necklace. I eventually got a pearl necklace with matching earrings for 50 kuai, which is about seven US dollars… not too bad! When she was done stringing our necklaces we also got to pick out beautiful Chinese silk pouches for storing our pearls.
We also bought shoes and pocketbooks. I bought a pair of gray and black Coach pumps for about $8 and then the matching Coach pocketbook for about $10. The entire time I couldn’t stop thinking about how jealous Lauren would be once I told her about the Silk Market and showed her all of the nice things I bought!
I definitely plan on going back to the silk market to buy a bunch of souvenirs before I come home. I want to buy a new pair of Uggs, which I will probably be able to get for about $15 as well as a light trench coat jacket for the spring in Beijing. I can also get designer sneakers for really cheap. There is also a bunch of traditional Chinese knickknacks that I plan to bring home as souvenirs as well!
After shopping, we went to dinner at Pizza Hut, which like in Egypt, is considered an upscale restaurant in China. Jay, Molly, and I split a large stuffed crust cheese pizza because you rarely find cheese in China, and when you do, it’s expensive because it is all imported! If you are reading this, please send easymac! ☺
Monday, February 16, 2009
Saturday, February 14th in Beijing
So I thought I could hide from Valentine’s Day in China, but starting towards the middle of last week I knew that was going to be an “epic fail.” As I noted earlier, where there used to be fireworks stands on Chung Fu Lu on the way to Wudaokou, there were now flowers. Although my guy friends here have nicknamed me “the Valentine’s Day Grinch,” all of us girls planned for an exciting Girls’ Night Out.
When we got back from the 798 Art Village, we watched the Sex and the City movie and ate chocolate. We then grabbed a quick dinner on campus and then all got ready to go out, which was a lot of fun because all the girls on our floor in Shaoyuan got ready together. It’s nice to have a really fun and easygoing group of girlfriends here.
After forcing the boys (who stayed home to Skype on Valentine’s Day) to comply with our all girls photo shoot, we left via the Beijing subway for Salitun, the Beijing bar district and pretty much the equivalent of Adams Morgan in Washington, DC.
When we arrived in Sanlitun, it was Valentine’s Day central. The streets were lined in arches of pink balloons. We walked a few blocks to a bar called Bar Blu. The music was a lot of fun and there were about 15 of us dancing all together. It was kind of funny because they played songs that you usually only get to hear at weddings such as the Spice Girls, Mambo No. 5, the Jitterbug, and Billie Jean.
When we got home from Sanlitun we were surprised to find roses on our pillows in all of our rooms. Right after we left, our guy friends went to Wadaokou, bought us flowers, and snuck them into our rooms for Valentine’s Day. We all joked around that “my heart grew three sizes on Valentine’s Day.”
This was probably one of the best Valentine’s Days yet. It was definitely surrounded by friends and fun!
When we got back from the 798 Art Village, we watched the Sex and the City movie and ate chocolate. We then grabbed a quick dinner on campus and then all got ready to go out, which was a lot of fun because all the girls on our floor in Shaoyuan got ready together. It’s nice to have a really fun and easygoing group of girlfriends here.
After forcing the boys (who stayed home to Skype on Valentine’s Day) to comply with our all girls photo shoot, we left via the Beijing subway for Salitun, the Beijing bar district and pretty much the equivalent of Adams Morgan in Washington, DC.
When we arrived in Sanlitun, it was Valentine’s Day central. The streets were lined in arches of pink balloons. We walked a few blocks to a bar called Bar Blu. The music was a lot of fun and there were about 15 of us dancing all together. It was kind of funny because they played songs that you usually only get to hear at weddings such as the Spice Girls, Mambo No. 5, the Jitterbug, and Billie Jean.
When we got home from Sanlitun we were surprised to find roses on our pillows in all of our rooms. Right after we left, our guy friends went to Wadaokou, bought us flowers, and snuck them into our rooms for Valentine’s Day. We all joked around that “my heart grew three sizes on Valentine’s Day.”
This was probably one of the best Valentine’s Days yet. It was definitely surrounded by friends and fun!
798 Art Village
On Saturday we visited the 798 Art Village, which is located about a half hour away from campus. The 798 complex was the city of factories built by the Soviet Union after World War II. When the Chinese government wanted to tear down the factories, a bunch of contemporary Chinese artists came in and turned the entire village into a collection of contemporary art galleries. There are also a whole bunch of cafes and coffee shops and almost all of the art was for sale. Visiting the 798 Art Village is also completely free.
One of the coolest things about the trip however, was that our program advisors invited several Chinese students who also go to Beida to come along with us for the day. We met a student named Jacky who is studying law at Beijing. What I found most interesting about Jacky’s studies at Beida is that he has spent more time studying the American Constitution than Chinese law. Jacky’s English was pretty good. The only phrases that he wanted to learn more about were English colloquialisms.
A few of us went out to lunch with Jacky at the 798 Art Village. In Chinese culture, since it was his idea to grab a bit to eat, he wanted to pay for the entire meal for all seven of us. Of course we didn’t let him do this, but it was a major cultural difference that I am picking up on.
Overall, the art at 798 was pretty cool. It was all really modern and contemporary. For example, in one gallery there was a bunch of light bulbs just scattered across the floor. In another more traditional gallery there were paintings of each of the animals that represent the Chinese new years, which were pretty cool to look at. My favorite gallery was actually one of the last ones we saw that looked like the factory did many years ago. A lot of the machines were still in position on the floor and there was a lot of Communist propaganda painted as a border around the ceiling. Towards the back of the room they had a gallery of pictures taken by a female photographer that attempted to make a visual connection between prostitution and the Feminist Movement in China. This is definitely something I plan to discuss with Dr. Wu on Wednesday.
The 798 Art Village was so big that there was no way we could see everything in just on day. Perhaps when the weather gets warmer, I will jump on the subway for another day visit!
One of the coolest things about the trip however, was that our program advisors invited several Chinese students who also go to Beida to come along with us for the day. We met a student named Jacky who is studying law at Beijing. What I found most interesting about Jacky’s studies at Beida is that he has spent more time studying the American Constitution than Chinese law. Jacky’s English was pretty good. The only phrases that he wanted to learn more about were English colloquialisms.
A few of us went out to lunch with Jacky at the 798 Art Village. In Chinese culture, since it was his idea to grab a bit to eat, he wanted to pay for the entire meal for all seven of us. Of course we didn’t let him do this, but it was a major cultural difference that I am picking up on.
Overall, the art at 798 was pretty cool. It was all really modern and contemporary. For example, in one gallery there was a bunch of light bulbs just scattered across the floor. In another more traditional gallery there were paintings of each of the animals that represent the Chinese new years, which were pretty cool to look at. My favorite gallery was actually one of the last ones we saw that looked like the factory did many years ago. A lot of the machines were still in position on the floor and there was a lot of Communist propaganda painted as a border around the ceiling. Towards the back of the room they had a gallery of pictures taken by a female photographer that attempted to make a visual connection between prostitution and the Feminist Movement in China. This is definitely something I plan to discuss with Dr. Wu on Wednesday.
The 798 Art Village was so big that there was no way we could see everything in just on day. Perhaps when the weather gets warmer, I will jump on the subway for another day visit!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Rain
Yesterday it rained for the first time in Beijing in approximately three months. I hate the rain, but it was okay because I didn’t have any classes, so I didn’t really have to spend a lot of time outside.
We are really lucky that we live on the fourth floor of Shaoyuan. Some of the other students on our program who live on the fifth floor had to move their rooms because the ceiling started to leak on the top floor of Shaoyuan House.
The rain was refreshing because it really cleared up a lot of the smog. Yesterday, when my friend Charlie who had studied abroad in Beijing two semesters ago and participated in the same program, came to visit, he said that on a clear day you could see the mountains where the Great Wall is from Shaoyuan. Sure enough, when we woke up this morning, we could see the mountains outside our window. It was amazing to me how on the outskirts of such a booming city there could be such huge mountains that seemed to have magically appeared out of no where.
I’m really happy that it’s Friday. Because this week was the first full week of classes, it was really tiring. I actually have a lot more work this semester than I anticipated. Chinese is moving at such a quick pace that I really have to study and work at it in order to keep up. My two independent studies also require a lot of attention. I already wrote a ten page literature review for my Chinese Media and Society study after being in classes for only a week. At least I am enjoying the material and applying it to my daily life living in China.
Tonight we went out for Peking duck. I was really excited to try it because it is supposedly the quintessential Beijing dining experience and was by far one of the most interesting dinners I think we have had in Beijing yet. First, they bring out the entire duck to show you and then they bring it back into the kitchen to cut it up. First they bring out a tray of the skin and then they serve the equivalent of the white meat on the duck. When you eat Peking duck, you are supposed to eat it in wraps with lettuce, onions, celery, and sauces… almost like a duck burrito, which was actually very good! Then, they brought out the duck head, split in half. The boys fought over who was going to get to eat the brains. After the meat is done, they served us a duck soup that had been made while we were eating the meat of the duck. It was really delicious!
On our walk to Wodaoku for dinner, I noticed that my attempt to escape Valentine’s Day in China was an “epic fail” (a term that my group of friends has commonly begun using in Beijing). Where there used to be fireworks stands for Chinese New Year, there were shops set up selling all different kinds of flowers for the big day. Not only did the Chinese men buy their girlfriends flowers, but they carried the huge bouquets of roses for them. My friends Molly, and Cara, and I have decided that we are going to buy each other flowers tomorrow and go out for a girls’ night out on the town in Beijing. Tomorrow morning, we are also going to visit the 798 Art Village in Beijing, which should be a lot of fun!
We are really lucky that we live on the fourth floor of Shaoyuan. Some of the other students on our program who live on the fifth floor had to move their rooms because the ceiling started to leak on the top floor of Shaoyuan House.
The rain was refreshing because it really cleared up a lot of the smog. Yesterday, when my friend Charlie who had studied abroad in Beijing two semesters ago and participated in the same program, came to visit, he said that on a clear day you could see the mountains where the Great Wall is from Shaoyuan. Sure enough, when we woke up this morning, we could see the mountains outside our window. It was amazing to me how on the outskirts of such a booming city there could be such huge mountains that seemed to have magically appeared out of no where.
I’m really happy that it’s Friday. Because this week was the first full week of classes, it was really tiring. I actually have a lot more work this semester than I anticipated. Chinese is moving at such a quick pace that I really have to study and work at it in order to keep up. My two independent studies also require a lot of attention. I already wrote a ten page literature review for my Chinese Media and Society study after being in classes for only a week. At least I am enjoying the material and applying it to my daily life living in China.
Tonight we went out for Peking duck. I was really excited to try it because it is supposedly the quintessential Beijing dining experience and was by far one of the most interesting dinners I think we have had in Beijing yet. First, they bring out the entire duck to show you and then they bring it back into the kitchen to cut it up. First they bring out a tray of the skin and then they serve the equivalent of the white meat on the duck. When you eat Peking duck, you are supposed to eat it in wraps with lettuce, onions, celery, and sauces… almost like a duck burrito, which was actually very good! Then, they brought out the duck head, split in half. The boys fought over who was going to get to eat the brains. After the meat is done, they served us a duck soup that had been made while we were eating the meat of the duck. It was really delicious!
On our walk to Wodaoku for dinner, I noticed that my attempt to escape Valentine’s Day in China was an “epic fail” (a term that my group of friends has commonly begun using in Beijing). Where there used to be fireworks stands for Chinese New Year, there were shops set up selling all different kinds of flowers for the big day. Not only did the Chinese men buy their girlfriends flowers, but they carried the huge bouquets of roses for them. My friends Molly, and Cara, and I have decided that we are going to buy each other flowers tomorrow and go out for a girls’ night out on the town in Beijing. Tomorrow morning, we are also going to visit the 798 Art Village in Beijing, which should be a lot of fun!
China In The Global Economy
On Tuesday, I had the first class for China in the Global Economy. This is the only course that I am taking this semester in a style that I am used to. The syllabus looks pretty interesting, so I’m hoping that a lot of the things I learned in my Legal Issues in Globalization class last semester will come into play.
The professor for the course has amazing credentials, however he is so important that it seems as though he is going to be away a lot during the semester. He actually cancelled class for next week because he is going to be in Seattle working on a US-China energy alliance committee that was initiated by Senator Maria Cantwell. In March, our professor is going to be in Africa working on some issues related to Chinese-African economic relations. In April, he will travel to Boston to do more work for the energy alliance. He definitely seems like an expert, but I am disappointed that the classes he cancelled have been rescheduled in the middle of Saturday afternoons. I feel like this is really going to inhibit my plans to travel around China.
Other than that campus is really starting to come to life. Everyday more and more of the Chinese students come back and there are more and more things open on campus. I’m really glad that I was finally able to get my meal card and that most of the cafeterias on campus are opening up. There are so many options for food, which is a nice change from eating at TDR for every meal every single day. So far we have tried one cafeteria, the jiaotsi hut, the biaotsi hut, the noodle house, and another café. The food is actually pretty good. I also like that it’s convenient and that I can typically eat all of my meals on campus for less than a dollar in one day. I also tried xiang bin for the first time today. Xiang bin is really good. It’s like a doughy omelet with egg, cilantro, scallions, sauces, and a crunchy pastry. It’s really filling and makes a great meal!
The bad thing about Chinese food is that no matter how full you feel once you are done eating, you are always hungry again about an hour later. We try to keep a lot of snacks around, but it’s not the same as eating an American meal. I think a lot of us are beginning to really want just grilled chicken breast or a steak because all of the meat served here is usually cubed into small pieces, still on the bone, and pretty fatty. A lot of the places on campus close pretty early, so we usually go to Wu Mei after dinner to stock up on snacks.
I really like living in Shaoyuan, but it is nearly impossible to get work done. Now that everyone is super close, we always leave our doors open so there is always a constant flow of people coming into and out of rooms. Next week I think I am going to check out the library on campus or try reading at the Starbucks up the street.
The professor for the course has amazing credentials, however he is so important that it seems as though he is going to be away a lot during the semester. He actually cancelled class for next week because he is going to be in Seattle working on a US-China energy alliance committee that was initiated by Senator Maria Cantwell. In March, our professor is going to be in Africa working on some issues related to Chinese-African economic relations. In April, he will travel to Boston to do more work for the energy alliance. He definitely seems like an expert, but I am disappointed that the classes he cancelled have been rescheduled in the middle of Saturday afternoons. I feel like this is really going to inhibit my plans to travel around China.
Other than that campus is really starting to come to life. Everyday more and more of the Chinese students come back and there are more and more things open on campus. I’m really glad that I was finally able to get my meal card and that most of the cafeterias on campus are opening up. There are so many options for food, which is a nice change from eating at TDR for every meal every single day. So far we have tried one cafeteria, the jiaotsi hut, the biaotsi hut, the noodle house, and another café. The food is actually pretty good. I also like that it’s convenient and that I can typically eat all of my meals on campus for less than a dollar in one day. I also tried xiang bin for the first time today. Xiang bin is really good. It’s like a doughy omelet with egg, cilantro, scallions, sauces, and a crunchy pastry. It’s really filling and makes a great meal!
The bad thing about Chinese food is that no matter how full you feel once you are done eating, you are always hungry again about an hour later. We try to keep a lot of snacks around, but it’s not the same as eating an American meal. I think a lot of us are beginning to really want just grilled chicken breast or a steak because all of the meat served here is usually cubed into small pieces, still on the bone, and pretty fatty. A lot of the places on campus close pretty early, so we usually go to Wu Mei after dinner to stock up on snacks.
I really like living in Shaoyuan, but it is nearly impossible to get work done. Now that everyone is super close, we always leave our doors open so there is always a constant flow of people coming into and out of rooms. Next week I think I am going to check out the library on campus or try reading at the Starbucks up the street.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Eff Lanterns… Let’s Get Horns!
So this week is the first full week of classes. When I woke up on Monday morning, I was still kind of tired, so I guess the jet lag is finally wearing off. The weather is beautiful here. It’s been between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit for the past few days, so you don’t even need a jacket when you go outside. Most of my professors say that it shouldn’t get too much colder. I am really excited about this!
At 9:00 AM I had Chinese class. We moved even faster than last time. In just two classes we already have over 100 vocabulary words so I already know a lot of the practical things I need to say to order food, go shopping, etc. I really like Chinese. The hardest part about learning the language is definitely the tones. I can remember the spellings, meanings, and pronunciations, but sometimes it is really hard to remember the tone marks. We do our homework for Chinese together for each class, so we definitely have some major studying to do tonight in order to prepare for class tomorrow.
After class, we were finally able to get our meal cards on campus. Some of the restaurants on campus are starting to open again now that Chinese New Year is over, however all of the cafeterias and eateries will not be open until next week. The Chinese students at Beida start class next Monday. It will be nice when campus is really busy because for the past week and a half we have been the only ones on this huge campus. I think once there are more students around, Beida will really have a big campus feel. Using our meal cards, we went to the jiaozi (dumpling) house on campus. It was really good and really cheap! Two scoops of jiaozi, or about a dozen dumplings cost me 3 kuai, which is about 50 cents in US dollars.
After lunch I met with Dr. Wu, my professor for my independent study on Chinese Women’s Studies in the lounge of the history department. We walked around campus and then we walked to her office so she could give me my textbooks. Dr. Wu is really cool. She is pretty young. She received her master’s degree from Penn State and just returned to Beida from the University of Maryland where she received her PhD in August. She is a professor in the sociology department. We had a really good discussion about different feminisms and the translation of the word feminism into the Chinese language. At first, the word “feminism” was translated into the Chinese characters for women’s rights. However, a lot of Chinese women, aside from my professor who is a really cool hardcore feminist, felt that this translation was too strong and rebellious. The current translation of the word “feminism” in China is “femininity,” which both my professor and I feel is too weak of a translation, but is generally more accepted in Chinese society. I feel like it’s going to be really easy to have one-on-one discussions with Dr. Wu. The first book she assigned me is actually a novel about the lives of three generations of Chinese women, which will be followed by a more academic book on these topics. I’m really looking forward to reading the novel, called Wild Swans. I will probably start it tonight.
Monday was the last day of Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year traditionally ends with the Lantern Festival. Some of the program advisors recommended that we go to the festival, but we didn’t really know what to expect or exactly how to get there. We got out our maps, planned our trip and left campus around 4:45. We rode the Beijing subway for about an hour and a half and got off by the Pearl Market. We kept trying to ask the people around us for directions to the festival and we walked for about two hours without really knowing where we were. After about two hours, we decided that we had probably missed the lantern festival anyway and to save the night, we would take cabs to Tiananmen Square, have dinner, and celebrate the year of the ox.
When we arrived, Tiananmen Square looked beautiful. We saw the Mao Mausoleum and all of the other buildings around the square lit up. There were huge fireworks going off in every direction and tons of crowds. The funniest thing was that all of the Asians were wearing light up horns on their heads. They looked like devil horns and it took a second for me to realize that they were ox horns for the year of the ox. After dinner, we went on a mission to buy ox horns, which we did, but only after buying ice cream at KFC (which is actually really good). We also found other mei guo ren (Americans) who took a group photo of us wearing our horns in Tiananmen Square across from the Mao Mausoleum. The Chinese people thought we were pretty silly, but loved us, kept shouting hello, and wanted to take pictures with us. Some of them even shook our hands, gave us hugs, and kisses on the cheek.
We left Tiananmen Square and headed back to Beida in cabs. We got dropped off right outside of campus because we wanted to light off fireworks. At midnight on Monday, fireworks became illegal in China again and they don’t sell them on the street anymore. We bought some really big fireworks and went to the big lake on campus to set them off.
Although our night didn’t end up the way we planned, it actually ended up being one of the most fun nights in Beijing so far. I absolutely love the group of friends I am making here. Most of my friends here actually go to AU and we can’t believe we have never met before. We are actually already talking about reunions once we are back in DC. We didn’t get back to the dorms until after midnight, but Marie and I were pretty awake and pumped up from such a fun night. We wore our ox horns and danced around to Billy Joel, did some homework, and went to sleep… only in China haha!
At 9:00 AM I had Chinese class. We moved even faster than last time. In just two classes we already have over 100 vocabulary words so I already know a lot of the practical things I need to say to order food, go shopping, etc. I really like Chinese. The hardest part about learning the language is definitely the tones. I can remember the spellings, meanings, and pronunciations, but sometimes it is really hard to remember the tone marks. We do our homework for Chinese together for each class, so we definitely have some major studying to do tonight in order to prepare for class tomorrow.
After class, we were finally able to get our meal cards on campus. Some of the restaurants on campus are starting to open again now that Chinese New Year is over, however all of the cafeterias and eateries will not be open until next week. The Chinese students at Beida start class next Monday. It will be nice when campus is really busy because for the past week and a half we have been the only ones on this huge campus. I think once there are more students around, Beida will really have a big campus feel. Using our meal cards, we went to the jiaozi (dumpling) house on campus. It was really good and really cheap! Two scoops of jiaozi, or about a dozen dumplings cost me 3 kuai, which is about 50 cents in US dollars.
After lunch I met with Dr. Wu, my professor for my independent study on Chinese Women’s Studies in the lounge of the history department. We walked around campus and then we walked to her office so she could give me my textbooks. Dr. Wu is really cool. She is pretty young. She received her master’s degree from Penn State and just returned to Beida from the University of Maryland where she received her PhD in August. She is a professor in the sociology department. We had a really good discussion about different feminisms and the translation of the word feminism into the Chinese language. At first, the word “feminism” was translated into the Chinese characters for women’s rights. However, a lot of Chinese women, aside from my professor who is a really cool hardcore feminist, felt that this translation was too strong and rebellious. The current translation of the word “feminism” in China is “femininity,” which both my professor and I feel is too weak of a translation, but is generally more accepted in Chinese society. I feel like it’s going to be really easy to have one-on-one discussions with Dr. Wu. The first book she assigned me is actually a novel about the lives of three generations of Chinese women, which will be followed by a more academic book on these topics. I’m really looking forward to reading the novel, called Wild Swans. I will probably start it tonight.
Monday was the last day of Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year traditionally ends with the Lantern Festival. Some of the program advisors recommended that we go to the festival, but we didn’t really know what to expect or exactly how to get there. We got out our maps, planned our trip and left campus around 4:45. We rode the Beijing subway for about an hour and a half and got off by the Pearl Market. We kept trying to ask the people around us for directions to the festival and we walked for about two hours without really knowing where we were. After about two hours, we decided that we had probably missed the lantern festival anyway and to save the night, we would take cabs to Tiananmen Square, have dinner, and celebrate the year of the ox.
When we arrived, Tiananmen Square looked beautiful. We saw the Mao Mausoleum and all of the other buildings around the square lit up. There were huge fireworks going off in every direction and tons of crowds. The funniest thing was that all of the Asians were wearing light up horns on their heads. They looked like devil horns and it took a second for me to realize that they were ox horns for the year of the ox. After dinner, we went on a mission to buy ox horns, which we did, but only after buying ice cream at KFC (which is actually really good). We also found other mei guo ren (Americans) who took a group photo of us wearing our horns in Tiananmen Square across from the Mao Mausoleum. The Chinese people thought we were pretty silly, but loved us, kept shouting hello, and wanted to take pictures with us. Some of them even shook our hands, gave us hugs, and kisses on the cheek.
We left Tiananmen Square and headed back to Beida in cabs. We got dropped off right outside of campus because we wanted to light off fireworks. At midnight on Monday, fireworks became illegal in China again and they don’t sell them on the street anymore. We bought some really big fireworks and went to the big lake on campus to set them off.
Although our night didn’t end up the way we planned, it actually ended up being one of the most fun nights in Beijing so far. I absolutely love the group of friends I am making here. Most of my friends here actually go to AU and we can’t believe we have never met before. We are actually already talking about reunions once we are back in DC. We didn’t get back to the dorms until after midnight, but Marie and I were pretty awake and pumped up from such a fun night. We wore our ox horns and danced around to Billy Joel, did some homework, and went to sleep… only in China haha!
Today's Text Message Exchange
Today's text message exchange between my roommate and I while I was sitting in China and the Global Economy:
Marie: Some Chinese guy on the street asked me out to lunch. Lol.
Me: You should go. He will probably pay. Haha. And wear your horns. Lol.
Marie: Lol. I should have gone. But he had clearly eaten already cuz he had carrot in his teeth. Lol. So it felt sketch.
Oh I love my roomie and I love Beijing.
Marie: Some Chinese guy on the street asked me out to lunch. Lol.
Me: You should go. He will probably pay. Haha. And wear your horns. Lol.
Marie: Lol. I should have gone. But he had clearly eaten already cuz he had carrot in his teeth. Lol. So it felt sketch.
Oh I love my roomie and I love Beijing.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Tianjin
On Saturday we decided to wake up bright and early and do a day trip to Tianjin, which is the third largest city in all of China, right under Beijing and Shanghai. We left campus around 7:30 AM and walked about a half hour from our dorms to Wadaokou, which is the closest Beijing subway station. It’s like the equivalent of Tenleytown in Washington, DC.
We took the Beijing subway a few stops and then ended up having to switch lines. The subway stations and the train stations look just like airport terminals, so in order to switch lines, we has to walk quite a ways. The subway is pretty nice, but it can get pretty crowded. It’s really clean and cheap. Any destination on the subway costs 2 yuan, which is the equivalent of about 30 cents in American dollars. After a few more stops, we got off the Beijing subway and took a cab to the Beijing South Train Station. The train station is pretty new. I think it was just finished in 2007 and it’s very clean and modern.
Train tickets to Tianjin cost 58 yuan each way, which comes out to about $16 total round trip. This is a pretty good price considering that Tianjin is about 200 miles from Beijing and the train will get you there in about a half hour. This particular train is very famous because it is one of the fastest trains in the world. Riding the train was one of the coolest parts of the day. I guess it is kind of like our version of the Acela. The seats were pretty comfortable because you could adjust both the vertical and the horizontal parts of the seat. The train also had Western style bathrooms and stewardesses who came by and gave us free bottled water, even though it was just a half hour ride. It was also pretty cool that they always told you how fast the train was going. At one point we were going about 350 km/h, which is almost 200 mph.
Tianjin is a very modern looking city with very modern architecture. There are also a lot of Communist looking statues and tanks. When we got to Tianjin, we walked through this farmers market, where they were selling a lot of fruit and pastries and other foods right on the street. We then crossed a river and made our way to what is called “Old Cultural Street” in Tianjin, which is basically like a very traditional looking outdoor Chinese bazaar. They had giant inflated oxen for to celebrate the year of the ox as well as a ton of lanterns and lights. There were a ton of shops and it was definitely the kind of environment where you can haggle on the prices. It felt a lot like Chinatown, especially since I felt like they were really targeting our group to purchase pocketbooks. I didn’t buy anything yet because I’m trying to save a lot of my money for later on in the trip.
After walking through this bazaar, we went to lunch and had some more Chinese food that was pretty good. However, we ate light because after lunch we went to this famous cake stand in Tianjin where you can buy these little fried cakes that Tianjin is famous for. They tasted like the combination between a zepole and a Chinese doughnut that was glazed. Very delicious!
We then took the Tianjin metro downtown to a very famous shopping district. When we came out of the subway, it looked a lot like New York City because I saw Starbucks, Sephora, Mac, and Zara. We walked down this huge pedestrian only street with a bunch of stores. Most of the stores were western or western style. It was a very overwhelming walk. There were so many people that it was almost impossible to step off the street and into a store! After walking down this road, we walked back to the train station and headed back towards Beijing.
At the end of our trip we were very tired. We came back to Beijing, went to dinner at a Mexican place in Wodakao called La Bamba, and then came back to Beida. Everyone was really tired from a long day and a lot of walking, so we called it a night and went to bed early.
We took the Beijing subway a few stops and then ended up having to switch lines. The subway stations and the train stations look just like airport terminals, so in order to switch lines, we has to walk quite a ways. The subway is pretty nice, but it can get pretty crowded. It’s really clean and cheap. Any destination on the subway costs 2 yuan, which is the equivalent of about 30 cents in American dollars. After a few more stops, we got off the Beijing subway and took a cab to the Beijing South Train Station. The train station is pretty new. I think it was just finished in 2007 and it’s very clean and modern.
Train tickets to Tianjin cost 58 yuan each way, which comes out to about $16 total round trip. This is a pretty good price considering that Tianjin is about 200 miles from Beijing and the train will get you there in about a half hour. This particular train is very famous because it is one of the fastest trains in the world. Riding the train was one of the coolest parts of the day. I guess it is kind of like our version of the Acela. The seats were pretty comfortable because you could adjust both the vertical and the horizontal parts of the seat. The train also had Western style bathrooms and stewardesses who came by and gave us free bottled water, even though it was just a half hour ride. It was also pretty cool that they always told you how fast the train was going. At one point we were going about 350 km/h, which is almost 200 mph.
Tianjin is a very modern looking city with very modern architecture. There are also a lot of Communist looking statues and tanks. When we got to Tianjin, we walked through this farmers market, where they were selling a lot of fruit and pastries and other foods right on the street. We then crossed a river and made our way to what is called “Old Cultural Street” in Tianjin, which is basically like a very traditional looking outdoor Chinese bazaar. They had giant inflated oxen for to celebrate the year of the ox as well as a ton of lanterns and lights. There were a ton of shops and it was definitely the kind of environment where you can haggle on the prices. It felt a lot like Chinatown, especially since I felt like they were really targeting our group to purchase pocketbooks. I didn’t buy anything yet because I’m trying to save a lot of my money for later on in the trip.
After walking through this bazaar, we went to lunch and had some more Chinese food that was pretty good. However, we ate light because after lunch we went to this famous cake stand in Tianjin where you can buy these little fried cakes that Tianjin is famous for. They tasted like the combination between a zepole and a Chinese doughnut that was glazed. Very delicious!
We then took the Tianjin metro downtown to a very famous shopping district. When we came out of the subway, it looked a lot like New York City because I saw Starbucks, Sephora, Mac, and Zara. We walked down this huge pedestrian only street with a bunch of stores. Most of the stores were western or western style. It was a very overwhelming walk. There were so many people that it was almost impossible to step off the street and into a store! After walking down this road, we walked back to the train station and headed back towards Beijing.
At the end of our trip we were very tired. We came back to Beijing, went to dinner at a Mexican place in Wodakao called La Bamba, and then came back to Beida. Everyone was really tired from a long day and a lot of walking, so we called it a night and went to bed early.
First Day Of Class
So Friday was the first day of class. It seemed really weird to me to start class on a Friday, especially since our entire stay in Beijing so far has felt like a vacation. I had my first Chinese class in the morning. I was a little nervous because I have not studied a language since high school, but there are only six of us in the class and we are all beginners.
My professor is really cute. She is a little Chinese woman and she looks pretty young. She also brought us all snacks for during class. One of the first things we did in class was receive our Chinese names. Our class decided to have our professor give us traditional names that relate to our personalities, instead of just a translation of our American names. When I told my professor that my favorite hobbies are theater, music, and dance, she gave me the Chinese name pan ai wu. Pan is my surname and is supposed to relate to my last name. I honestly think my professor was just confused by my last name since the surname she gave me doesn’t start with an “s.” Ai means to love and wu means to dance. My professor said my name is special because not many Chinese names use the word wu. I also learned how to write my name in Chinese characters. It is the most complex name of any of the Chinese names given in my class, but I really like writing it because I really like the way it looks.
Even though class was three hours long it went by pretty quickly. I feel like I learned a lot in just one day. We learned a lot of pronunciation for reading pinyin, which is Chinese that is written in letters instead of characters. We learned some vocabulary, mostly greetings and some random words, as well as a little bit about drawing characters. I think I am going to like Chinese because there is very little grammar. For example, they don’t use words like “am,” “is,” “are,” etc. and there are no tenses. The hardest part about Chinese is that there are four different tones plus the neutral tone, meaning that the meanings of words change based upon the inflection of your voice. The tones are kind of interesting because you can almost think of a lot of the pronunciation like singing. I think by the end of the semester, I will have a pretty good grasp on the basics, especially since class meets for three hours, three days a week.
After class, we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant, which is outside of the gate next to our dorm. We call this restaurant “West Gate.” We had our usual favorites including dumplings, fried rice, and kung pao chicken. Eating with chopsticks is getting a lot easier now.
After lunch, I went to meet Professor Yang, my professor for my independent study on Chinese Media and Society, in his office, which is in a different building on campus. It was kind of cool to go to a new building since all of our classes are in the history building. Professor Yang is really nice and he seems really excited about my independent study. He gave me a book to read at my leisure that is basically everything there is to know about communications in China and pointed out some things that I might find particularly interesting about political communication and the Internet.
I am also going to be working on a research project for Professor Yang about social networking on the Internet in China. Social networking sites are recently becoming popular in China. Professor Yang wants me specifically to look at the Chinese version of Myspace and try to formulate a research question about international networking on social sites. I am thinking that it might be interesting to focus on age demographics. I am going to prepare a literature review and a list of potential research questions before I meet with Professor Yang again next week. At the end of the semester, I will turn in a paper about my research. I’m excited about this project because I think it will give me the chance to do some ethnographic research and Professor Yang seems to think that I will be able to find some good English sources. My research this semester will then be compiled with similar research that some grad students are doing for Professor Yang in a city near Hong Kong. Professor Yang also said that once I learn a little bit more Chinese, I can meet with his group of PhD students here in Bejing who are conducting research on Chinese political blogs and grassroots activities. Maybe doing an independent study will turn out to be really cool after all.
I also got an email from Dr. Wu, who will be my professor for my other independent study on Chinese Women’s Studies. She seems really nice and flexible, and I am really looking forward to meeting her on Monday. She is going to meet me in the lounge in the history department and then we are going to walk around campus so she can show me where her office is located.
The syllabus for this study seems a lot more structured than the work I will be doing for my Chinese Media and Society course. There is about 200 pages of reading per week, as well as two papers. However, the topics seem really interesting and I am looking forward to getting back into a more regular routine that includes homework and studying.
I have my last class, China and the Global Economy, on Tuesday afternoon. I am looking forward to telling you more about it then, although I know I definitely have a few friends in class, so it should be a lot of fun. Overall, I think it’s going to be a very different semester in terms of schoolwork. I think I am going to really benefit from more personalized interaction with professors, but at the same time I am looking forward to a semester where it doesn’t seem like I will have too much work to keep me from enjoying the city and traveling around the country.
My professor is really cute. She is a little Chinese woman and she looks pretty young. She also brought us all snacks for during class. One of the first things we did in class was receive our Chinese names. Our class decided to have our professor give us traditional names that relate to our personalities, instead of just a translation of our American names. When I told my professor that my favorite hobbies are theater, music, and dance, she gave me the Chinese name pan ai wu. Pan is my surname and is supposed to relate to my last name. I honestly think my professor was just confused by my last name since the surname she gave me doesn’t start with an “s.” Ai means to love and wu means to dance. My professor said my name is special because not many Chinese names use the word wu. I also learned how to write my name in Chinese characters. It is the most complex name of any of the Chinese names given in my class, but I really like writing it because I really like the way it looks.
Even though class was three hours long it went by pretty quickly. I feel like I learned a lot in just one day. We learned a lot of pronunciation for reading pinyin, which is Chinese that is written in letters instead of characters. We learned some vocabulary, mostly greetings and some random words, as well as a little bit about drawing characters. I think I am going to like Chinese because there is very little grammar. For example, they don’t use words like “am,” “is,” “are,” etc. and there are no tenses. The hardest part about Chinese is that there are four different tones plus the neutral tone, meaning that the meanings of words change based upon the inflection of your voice. The tones are kind of interesting because you can almost think of a lot of the pronunciation like singing. I think by the end of the semester, I will have a pretty good grasp on the basics, especially since class meets for three hours, three days a week.
After class, we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant, which is outside of the gate next to our dorm. We call this restaurant “West Gate.” We had our usual favorites including dumplings, fried rice, and kung pao chicken. Eating with chopsticks is getting a lot easier now.
After lunch, I went to meet Professor Yang, my professor for my independent study on Chinese Media and Society, in his office, which is in a different building on campus. It was kind of cool to go to a new building since all of our classes are in the history building. Professor Yang is really nice and he seems really excited about my independent study. He gave me a book to read at my leisure that is basically everything there is to know about communications in China and pointed out some things that I might find particularly interesting about political communication and the Internet.
I am also going to be working on a research project for Professor Yang about social networking on the Internet in China. Social networking sites are recently becoming popular in China. Professor Yang wants me specifically to look at the Chinese version of Myspace and try to formulate a research question about international networking on social sites. I am thinking that it might be interesting to focus on age demographics. I am going to prepare a literature review and a list of potential research questions before I meet with Professor Yang again next week. At the end of the semester, I will turn in a paper about my research. I’m excited about this project because I think it will give me the chance to do some ethnographic research and Professor Yang seems to think that I will be able to find some good English sources. My research this semester will then be compiled with similar research that some grad students are doing for Professor Yang in a city near Hong Kong. Professor Yang also said that once I learn a little bit more Chinese, I can meet with his group of PhD students here in Bejing who are conducting research on Chinese political blogs and grassroots activities. Maybe doing an independent study will turn out to be really cool after all.
I also got an email from Dr. Wu, who will be my professor for my other independent study on Chinese Women’s Studies. She seems really nice and flexible, and I am really looking forward to meeting her on Monday. She is going to meet me in the lounge in the history department and then we are going to walk around campus so she can show me where her office is located.
The syllabus for this study seems a lot more structured than the work I will be doing for my Chinese Media and Society course. There is about 200 pages of reading per week, as well as two papers. However, the topics seem really interesting and I am looking forward to getting back into a more regular routine that includes homework and studying.
I have my last class, China and the Global Economy, on Tuesday afternoon. I am looking forward to telling you more about it then, although I know I definitely have a few friends in class, so it should be a lot of fun. Overall, I think it’s going to be a very different semester in terms of schoolwork. I think I am going to really benefit from more personalized interaction with professors, but at the same time I am looking forward to a semester where it doesn’t seem like I will have too much work to keep me from enjoying the city and traveling around the country.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The Great Wall and Chengdu
So now a little bit about our AMAZING study trip....
So we left Beijing on Monday morning and went to the Great Wall. It was crazy and really different that I expected it to be. We had to first hike up the mountain to get to the Great Wall and then hike about a mile on the wall to another path where we could hike down the mountain. Once we got up on the wall, we had a beautiful view and we were able to stop at one point and have a picnic lunch. I have no idea though how they had battles on the wall. The steps were all completely uneven and there's all these things you have to climb. We were sweating to death by the time we got to the end. It was a great workout. I have some awesome pics, I just haven't had a second to upload them yet. I also stole a piece of the Great Wall :)
Then we drove about an hour and a half to Chengdu where we stayed in this really cool hotel. During dinner they sang Chinese songs and danced for us. By the way... the food is AWESOME! After dinner we just kinda hung out because we were really tired from the day.
On Tuesday, we woke up early and we went to the Mountain Palace in Chengdu, which is like a vacation home for several of the emperors that has a giant lake and garden. It was beautiful, but it would have been a lot more fun if it were warmer than 10 degrees Fahrenheit! That's what we get for being so close to the mountains!
Next, we went to two different temples that were very beautiful. Seeing the temples involved a lot of hiking and climbing stairs, but once we got to the top we had some really, really amazing views! The last temple we visited was the Puning Temple, which is a Buddhist temple. In the temple, there was a giant buddha statue that's about 70 feet tall, gold plated, and weighs about 110 tons.
Last night after dinner we went to this "Chinese Party" in our hotel, which was basically a performance. There were some professional acts but all of a sudden they made us get up on stage and perform. Our group decided to sing lean on me. It was pretty fun. After the performance, we went downtown in Chengdu to a karaoke bar. Karaoke is huge here and the karaoke bars are pretty cool because they have separate rooms. So like 20 of us went and we had our own room with mics and a stage and all the songs were 90's pop songs which was so much fun! Last night was also the first night we stayed up to a normal hour, but the jet lag is still pretty bad.
We got back to Beijing around 1PM, had lunch, and then I picked up my book for my Chinese class. I'm really excited about taking Chinese! My class is pretty small so I think that I will be able to learn really well. I should be meeting up with my professors for my independent studies soon, if not by the end of this week, then the beginning of next week. The program advisors have been really helpful here.
I'm really glad to be back in Beijing. The pollution was really bad in Chengdu. It's not too bad in Beijing, but even on a good day you can't really see the sun bright and clear. It's pretty funny because the streets and the buildings and everything are so clean, but there are smoke stacks everywhere. I can't imagine what it was like before the Olympics, because apparently it was a lot worse!
I am doing great! I am really happy here and coming back to Beijing from Chengdu today actually felt like coming back home! Love love love my roommate... very nice change from last semester! Food is great! can't wait to tell you more about it!
So we left Beijing on Monday morning and went to the Great Wall. It was crazy and really different that I expected it to be. We had to first hike up the mountain to get to the Great Wall and then hike about a mile on the wall to another path where we could hike down the mountain. Once we got up on the wall, we had a beautiful view and we were able to stop at one point and have a picnic lunch. I have no idea though how they had battles on the wall. The steps were all completely uneven and there's all these things you have to climb. We were sweating to death by the time we got to the end. It was a great workout. I have some awesome pics, I just haven't had a second to upload them yet. I also stole a piece of the Great Wall :)
Then we drove about an hour and a half to Chengdu where we stayed in this really cool hotel. During dinner they sang Chinese songs and danced for us. By the way... the food is AWESOME! After dinner we just kinda hung out because we were really tired from the day.
On Tuesday, we woke up early and we went to the Mountain Palace in Chengdu, which is like a vacation home for several of the emperors that has a giant lake and garden. It was beautiful, but it would have been a lot more fun if it were warmer than 10 degrees Fahrenheit! That's what we get for being so close to the mountains!
Next, we went to two different temples that were very beautiful. Seeing the temples involved a lot of hiking and climbing stairs, but once we got to the top we had some really, really amazing views! The last temple we visited was the Puning Temple, which is a Buddhist temple. In the temple, there was a giant buddha statue that's about 70 feet tall, gold plated, and weighs about 110 tons.
Last night after dinner we went to this "Chinese Party" in our hotel, which was basically a performance. There were some professional acts but all of a sudden they made us get up on stage and perform. Our group decided to sing lean on me. It was pretty fun. After the performance, we went downtown in Chengdu to a karaoke bar. Karaoke is huge here and the karaoke bars are pretty cool because they have separate rooms. So like 20 of us went and we had our own room with mics and a stage and all the songs were 90's pop songs which was so much fun! Last night was also the first night we stayed up to a normal hour, but the jet lag is still pretty bad.
We got back to Beijing around 1PM, had lunch, and then I picked up my book for my Chinese class. I'm really excited about taking Chinese! My class is pretty small so I think that I will be able to learn really well. I should be meeting up with my professors for my independent studies soon, if not by the end of this week, then the beginning of next week. The program advisors have been really helpful here.
I'm really glad to be back in Beijing. The pollution was really bad in Chengdu. It's not too bad in Beijing, but even on a good day you can't really see the sun bright and clear. It's pretty funny because the streets and the buildings and everything are so clean, but there are smoke stacks everywhere. I can't imagine what it was like before the Olympics, because apparently it was a lot worse!
I am doing great! I am really happy here and coming back to Beijing from Chengdu today actually felt like coming back home! Love love love my roommate... very nice change from last semester! Food is great! can't wait to tell you more about it!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
I'm Here!
So we are finally in Beijing! We have been here for a few days and now I have finally found a few minutes to update the blog! I love Beijing! I like it a lot more than I thought I would and I am adjusting pretty quickly! Everyone is really nice! I feel like I have a ton of friends already! The program directors are great too. I can't believe it but they already know everyone's names and there are 60 of us! They have also made me feel a whole lot better about my independent studies!
Yesterday was great. We had orientation and then Marie and I walked around campus. It's HUGE and absolutely beautiful. It really is beginning to feel like home. Last night we went to Pyro's and Propaganda... more to come on that.
Tomorrow morning we are going to the Great Wall and then to Chengdu where we will spend two nights and visit the summer palace. I am so excited!
I'm going to go get dinner now and then we are setting off fireworks for Chinese New Year! More to come when we return from Chengdu!
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