June 28, 2010

And another week is about to begin…the weeks here seem to go by so slowly, it feels like a month has passed since I last updated. Oh wait, I’ve learned a month’s worth of Chinese, which might explain everything. Looking back at that last sentence, I can’t help but think that learning Chinese is detrimental to my grasp English grammar.  The random fragments separated by “dou hao” (,) are appearing more and more in my English emails.

This past week went better as far as academics goes. I think I’m starting to get down my routine and have learned how to manage my work a little bit better.  Last Tuesday, I was even able to finish all of Tuesday and most of Wednesday’s work so I could go out and watch the American soccer game that night! A few friends and I went out to a local restaurant, met some law students from Chicago, and cheered on as America won our group with that overtime goal. 

Of course, the very little sleep did not help as on Thursday, I was scolded by the program director rather severely.  According to her, teachers had heard me speaking English around campus and she wanted to remind me that I signed a language pledge.  I really haven’t broken my language pledge, however, so I’m pretty sure they’re mistaken.  In any case, I’ve started to talk really loudly in Chinese when I’m outside in case Big Brother is watching. I’m not willing to give up my good test scores because teachers think they heard me speak English.

This past weekend was another eventful one.  We went to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall on Saturday, an absolutely incredible experience.  There actually weren’t as many people there as I thought there would be, especially compared to the last time I went (although that was Badaling, not Mutianyu).  The downside was that we had to climb up miles of really tall stairs in order to get to the Wall itself.  I was a complaining, whiny baby – many apologies to whoever was with me on the way up.  There also were vicious bees following everyone around. As I’ve never been bitten before, I had mental images of being bitten, finding out I was allergic, and having my airways close up on a deserted stretch of the Great Wall. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Going down the Great Wall was the best part. We rode down on little toboggans that were basically a wooden raft with a semi-working lever that acted as a brake.  We slid down on these on a tin half-pipe that wound down the mountain.  The lack of safety measures was unsurprising, but still a bit unnerving.  In any case, it was a blast. 

Another big part of this program that I haven’t talked about yet is the language partner.  On Mondays through Thursdays, I meet with my 语伴儿(language partner)，陈晨(Chen Chen) who is a first year student at the college.  After hearing about other yubanrs, I think I am really fortunate to have one who is extremely dedicated to her job.  We don’t have much in common so it is hard to talk as friends about things unrelated to the class, but lately we’ve gotten into a lot of interesting conversations mainly regarding differences in culture.  Being forced to speak an hour of Chinese nonstop was so tiring at the beginning, but I’ve definitely noticed myself getting better at being able to carry on a conversation about whatever the topic of the day is.  Chen Chen is very good about helping me learn new vocabulary – she emails me a list of 生词 after our talk every day.  I’m not as good a student as she is a teacher, but it is still helpful to learn phrases that I want to say but haven’t learned the words for yet.  She is also good with helping with pronunciation, and has been very patiently confused when I accidentally revert to Shanghainese when flustered.  The college final exams are over on 7/15, so she is already making plans for taking me out to Beijing to play. I’m curious to see what exactly she means by that.

June 20, 2010

I finally have the first week of class out of the way! It was definitely hard to get back in the swing of things, but I had to learn quickly – there really isn’t any other option here.

I’m living at the University of International Business and Economics (对外经贸大学) which is located in the Chaoyang District.  It really does not look like a college – I think I’ve grown too accustomed to the distinctive architecture at Yale. However, the largest dormitory in Asia is on campus. It houses about 10,000 students, although about 5-6 girls occupy one room.  There isn’t even air conditioning, something my Minnesotan blood cringes at.  However, my language partner says that it never gets too hot there because it is on the yin side, not the yang side. I don’t fully understand, but I’m glad that they get through it okay.  Speaking of yin and yang, apparently the school owns some sheep to balance out the yin with the yang because there are many more girls on campus than guys.  It partially is a joke too, as the word for sheep in Chinese is 羊 (yang).  Overall, I’m really happy with my dorm, which feels more like a motel room.  My roommate and I have our own bathroom (although it lacks a shower curtain/stall) and patio.  The bed feels like a yoga mat laid out on cement, but hopefully I’ll get used to it soon.

My classes have actually felt a lot like Chinese at Yale, only four times longer.  We start off with lecture, where there are 8 students in my class, then split into two classes to practice grammar and conversation.  School also seems like a return to high school, when I woke up at 6:30 every day and spent many hours in the same hallway every day.  I’ve also started drinking coffee again, as the 9:20 start time at Yale is a luxury not to be had here.  The difference lies mostly in the language pledge, which has been a constant source of frustration since I signed my pledge on Tuesday.  There are so many times when things I try to say get lost in translation, which means I can either speak with correct grammar or say what I actually mean to say, but rarely can I do both at the same time.  If laughter is the best medicine, we’ll all be very healthy by the end of the program because the other students and I resort to speaking in such a roundabout way when we don’t know a word for something.  In a way, I feel like I’m constantly playing a game of charades.

Last weekend, our excursion was Gugong (Forbidden City) and Tiananmen Square.  In all honesty, I was not the biggest fan of the visit.  I remembered much of it from 1998, and couldn’t concentrate on our tour guide because I thought I would collapse from heat stroke.  I really enjoyed my peach popsicle and people-watching – especially since we’re keeping a running count on how many tourist couples wear matching T-shirts.  Even so, it is humbling as ever to visit the ancient tradition of China, although Gugong isn’t even that ancient, especially after seeing the modernity in Shanghai.

Eating in China is quite the experience, especially when I eat until I’m stuffed and haven’t even made it to the bottom of the plate then pay 7 kuai.  There are a lot of restaurants just off campus – I think we’ve managed to try at least one new place every day.  The first couple of days were fun as a group of 12 would get out of class and get lunch, but the capacity of many places seems to be just over that.  We still need to learn words that show up on a menu – there have already been too many times that I either order “牛肉面” or point at a picture.  I’ve always liked Western food more, however, and thus miss cheese and salad a lot.  I also think I’m almost due for one of my steak cravings – I miss being able to eat meat that is not cooked thoroughly. 

On a side note, thank you Cisco for rendering the Great Firewall useless. The VPN is lovely. 

Pictures will be posted shortly – I finally found my camera cord, which got stuck in the leg of a pair of jeans.   A couple days ago, it was actually cool enough for jeans and a sweater.  I am praying for more days like that so I don’t have to hesitate about walking outside. 

Finally, many many thanks to both the Light Foundation and the Greenberg Yale-China Initiative for the generous support! For those of you who may not know, my summer at Duke Study in China is fully funded by them, and without them there is very little chance that I would be able to be here.  Thank you!

June 11, 2010

The past few days have gone by in a blur – it's hard to believe that I've already been here for over a week!  I still haven't quite fully adjusted to the time change, but it's actually for the better as I wake up at 6 am.  I'm hoping that this habit will continue when I start school on Monday...

A quick recap of the past week:

Last Friday, I went to the Shanghai Museum with my parents.  There was an exhibition from the Uffizi that included Titian's Venus and Cupid with a Partridge.  Since we didn't make it to the Uffizi when we were in Florence, it was nice to see a little bit in Shanghai.  More outstanding, however, were the Calligraphy and Painting exhibitions.  As my dad is an artist, I've grown up with Chinese art in my life.  Finally learning a little bit of the long history was very interesting.  At night, I went to see the Hong Kong Ballet perform several short original pieces, one of which was a story of Hong Kong culture and history set to Nutcracker music.  They performed at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, a beautiful concert hall shaped liked a flower – there are five petals on the buildings that each hold a stage tailored for different types of performances.

I've also had lunches with both sides of the family – it was fun to see my family again after four years, see how my little cousins are doing with college applications, eat a lot of good food, and endure some minor embarrassment as I practiced my Chinese on them!

On Sunday, I got a haircut for all of $4.50. Some things in China never change.

Tuesday was a very touristy day as my parents and I got on a Chinese coach bus and drove over to Hangzhou for a day.  We saw the iconic West Lake and the Longjin Mountains, drank a lot of Long jin tea, ate some lotus roots, went to the famous silk factory, and visited the major temple.  Our tour guide was a pretty young guy from Hangzhou with a lot of knowledge and a lot of attitude. If he ever needed to repeat any information to you, you'd be on his bad side for the rest of the day.  It was good Mandarin practice, however, as the entire tour was of course conducted in Mandarin.  I was encouraged that I could understand slightly more near the end of the tour.  I think the immersion in Beijing will be a great thing for my Chinese.

I had the most unique experience on Wednesday when I went to a Latin dance studio with my aunt and attempted to learn how to rumba and cha-cha.  For the past ten-some years, she has been taking private Latin dance lessons in order to stay in shape.  The last few times I've been here, I've seen nothing but ballroom CDs and DVDs and the occasional glittery costume.  My aunt finally decided that I could come watch her class, but took it a step further and arranged a teacher for me as well.  My teacher, Martin, was a ballroom dance major my age from Harbin and spoke only Mandarin.  The lesson was fun and I learned quite a bit, but I think what I'll always remember is the sight of over-the-hill wealthy wives with nothing to do during the day dancing and shimmying and grinding up on these twenty year old teachers.  Quite entertaining.

I arrived in Beijing yesterday! Heading to school tomorrow with no idea what I should be expecting. Wish me luck!

June 3, 2010

Yesterday, I went to the上海2010年世博会. My parents and I left my aunt’s house at 7 in the morning to take the subway over, but when we got there, there were already hordes of people running through the lines, trying to gain a spot above even one more person.  I was going to sit on the ground if I got tired, but almost every Chinese person around me had brought a little fold-up stool and a bag of cucumbers, tomatoes, jiaozis, and other snacks. 

Once the doors opened at 9am, people pushed forward in a wave to hurry through security and get to the first pavilions.  Even though we were that early, the reserved tickets for the China pavilion were already taken by the people who ran in front of us.  Instead, we took the ferry over to the Pudong side of the Expo to the country pavilions.  There, we went into Spain and saw flamenco and the giant baby, Luxembourg and saw their outdoor gardens, Lithuania and met a delegation of college students, Africa and went into many pavilions, Venezuela and sat on hammocks, Cuba and drank mojitos, Canada and saw magical water and a picture movie, and the Central and South America Pavilion.  The foreigners working the Expo were so friendly – I talked with the Lithuanian students, a Canadian pavilion architect/designer, and the Cuban bartender.  Getting around the Expo was pretty confusing at times, but there were helpful 小白菜 volunteers, who wore signature green and white clothes for the nickname, college students there to answer any questions with a smile on their face. 

At night, we went back to Puxi to see the Sao Paulo City Ballet perform in the综和艺术大厅.  Watching a ballet in China was very different.  There was a low murmur of voices throughout the show, even during dances in silence.  The two hour line to get in was worth it; the ballet was absolutely incredible. 

I always thought that I look pretty Chinese, being 100% Chinese, but according to many people I met, I am either half-American or African (I’m pretty tan).  Must be something in the American water.  I love confusing people though – they rarely meet someone like me who looks Chinese and foreign and who speaks fluent Shanghainese but broken Mandarin. 

June 1, 2010

I'm finally here in China!  I left bright and early on Sunday morning to catch a flight to Chicago, then Los Angeles, and finally Shanghai.  Though the Duke program doesn't begin until June 11^th, I'm here early with my parents to visit our family in Shanghai.  It was a very long flight and I spent about 24 hours on the road.  It's been four years since I've been to China – I think I must have repressed exactly how long the flights take.  At least I had an emergency exit seat so there was plenty of legroom and a great view of the TV screen. 

Once I arrived in Shanghai, I immediately had my first challenge.  With all the transfers, the airline lost one of my suitcases.  It's been a month since my last Chinese class so everything was a little rusty… I would start off speaking in Mandarin with the occasional English word interjected, then subconsciously reverted to speaking in my native Shanghainese.  I'm pretty sure the employees thought I was crazy.  I managed to file the report though – hopefully the suitcase gets here soon!  I then met up with my parents at their terminal, we found my uncle, and we were on our way to the city!

The drive was absolutely amazing.  As I said, it's been four years since I was last here, and everything has changed so much.  In preparation for the World Expo, Shanghai has completely changed the look of the city.  Many of the buildings have rainbow lights on them, the roofs are all covered with a golden light, and the bridges have this crazy blue light on the underside.  Everything looked psychedelic – that's the only word besides colorful that I can think of to describe it.  We drove past the World Expo where all the pavilions were lit up when we were on the Lupu Bridge, which looked like Rainbow Road in Mario Kart.

My parents and I are staying with my aunt, who lives near the Gymnasium in Shanghai.  A new addition to her house is a little Yorkie named Dong Dong (Candy).  I laugh at the name, but even more so at the sight of the hyperactive pup slipping and sliding around on the slick wooden floors.  There are so many people who own dogs now – walking around I saw Pomeranians, Westies, golden retrievers, and even some huge bear-like dogs.  I also saw a bulldog! Reppin' in China.

The time difference didn't affect me too badly – I think waking up at 2am for my 24 hour flight sufficiently tired me out.  It was nice waking up early today though – at around 5:30 – it gave me a chance to Skype and email.  My parents and I went out for an early breakfast (I had Shanghai-style wonton soup) then met my uncle's driver, who took us to my uncle's house.  Instead of living in an apartment in the city, he lives in a community of single houses about 40 minutes out of the city.  The house is beautiful – all of the decorations are Gudong so I get a feeling that I'm surrounded by a lot of history.  He has a golden retriever named Niu Niu. 

It's a little depressing that I forgot a good bit of my Chinese characters.  Driving around, I've seen a lot of characters that I know, but also a lot of ones that are familiar but escape my memory.  I'll be spending a lot of the next two weeks reviewing…or maybe try to learn through osmosis since I'm surrounded by so much Chinese. 

A favorite moment so far – watching Chinese peoples' reactions to an American student weaving through the pedestrian traffic on a longboard.

My Yale VPN is failing to connect, so I'm blocked from Facebook and Blogger.  Experiencing minor withdrawal symptoms.  I hope it works in Beijing!