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!