I keep replaying my last few days in China over and over in my head, so I might as well take this opportunity to write a blog about it (my last blog, as I am now home in Chicago).
Leaving homestay was really sad, and at first I was a bit upset to be back in the dorms rooming with someone I didn't particularly mesh well with. However, the last week in the dorms was one of the best weeks so far. We had three real days of class (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) with little homework before our test on Thursday. We all were thankful for being in the dorms because we could study together and spend time in eachother's rooms once again...I know at homestay I missed being able to see people whenever I wanted to. We had tea parties and stayed up late talking about silly things and just enjoying eachother's company. Then, once we were done with class, our time in the afternoons was devoted to practicing for our assembly (that upcoming Friday). We danced together and sang together and laughed and signed eachother's memory books and took pictures and realized how much we meant to eachother. Later on those nights, we didn't have homework to do, so we crashed in eachother's rooms talking about eachother's "numbers" (ahahahahahah),going out to the field at night to play volleyball in the dark, and sharing embarassing stories from the last few weeks. We slept in eachother's beds, wore eachother's clothes, and stayed together until the end. The last night in particular was an amazing but sad one. Almost the entire day was spent in Andy and Brian's room, all of us piled on beds, laying in eachother's laps, staring at the ceiling and talking about how we didn't want to leave eachother. We tried to make the best of our situation, occasionally joking here and there to lighten the mood, but by the time dinner came and we went to go have Korean food, I was quiet and depressed. After dinner, we decided to go play volleyball (in the dark again, we're dumbasses) and I FINALLY got to ride on the back of someone's bike (haha). We walked around campus for the last time and returned to the International Exchange Service Center (our dorm building), squished ourselves into an elevator with a damn wheelbarrow (hahaha, Kevin Lee should have been there) and when we got up to the tenth floor, there was a dance party awaiting us in the hallway. We turned down the lights, someone broke out some glowsticks and people shuffled in and out of the halls, dancing and packing suitcases at the same time. I stayed and danced for a little bit (it was a little awkward when people would come out of the elevator and see a bunch of random American kids dancing to techno in the dark) and then went back to Andy and Brian's room. I talked to Chicken and Kevin for a little while, ate some Ramen out of a teapot (haha), ordered some McDonalds chicken nuggets, and downloaded some of the songs we all sang together. Blasting 童话, pretty soon people trickled into the room and we had a nice (but depressing) sing-a-long. It was about 1 am and we had decided to stay up all night and sneak out at 4 am to go to the field and watch the sunrise, so I played some upbeat Hot Chip songs to keep us awake. Laughing at my music, Joe Wat started doing our taiji routine as if it were on fast-forward to "Out at the Pictures" and it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. However, we couldn't fight our sleepiness so we piled ourselves into bed (3 people in each twin bed) and tried to sleep.
However, I couldn't sleep because Joe Wat and Julius were bitches and wouldn't leave me any room. I crawled down onto the cold, hard floor (conveniently located under the stupid airconditioner, set to 18 degrees Celsius) and shivered until one of the guys kicked the covers off of the bed and I stole them. The warmth, however, was only temporary, as Joe Wat yanked them back within a minute and I was left cold and uncomfortable on the floor. Sleeping wasn't feasible, so I got up and stood in the warm hallway, staring out the open window looking over Shanghai until 4 am when I decided to try to wake everyone up.
Surprise, surprise, those stupid kids wouldn't budge no matter how many times I tried to wake them. I watched the sunrise from the window on my own and then marched my ass back to my own room and slept. Somewhere around 9 o'clock I woke up and realized I had left my computer and some of my other things in Andy's room so I went back and everyone was still there. They blamed me, of course, for the fact that it was our last morning in China and we missed the opportunity to see the sunrise. I told them all the goofy shit that they had done the night before and we laughed until we almost cried. Some of the roomates came to our dorm to say goodbye soon after and I went back to my room to get last minute things together.
While I was packing, I heard a knock at my door, and 施杰 was there. He looked like he was going to cry, and I invited him in to talk. We talked for almost an hour about how we felt about leaving, and he wrote an additional note in my book (which is actually very sweet, thanks for translating Karen). I didn't know what to say to him to make him feel better, and I didn't know what to think myself. Eventually, we all went to lunch together but none of us were very hungry. We took pictures and ran around the restaurant laughing. The re-enactment pictures of the "illegal picture" were HILARIOUS. I realized even more that I was going to miss these guys so much. I know I'll still see my American friends (we all live in Chicago, we can get together every once in awhile) but it won't ever be the same as the six weeks that we lived together and did absolutely everything together. We struggled, were there for eachother, and bonded so strongly.
After lunch we packed our things on the bus and drove to the bullet train. Some of the roomates came with us, and we had a terribly sad and emotional parting at the airport. Once I boarded the plane, I played 童话 on repeat and tried to sleep. It was comforting to hear, no matter how sad it made me.
We arrived in Chicago about 2 hours later than planned, and we huddled together just past Customs at the baggage claim. I slept most of the way home, so I missed out on the "incident" with Kevin Lee's computer and had to hear the story second-hand. We all joked around and insulted eachother for the last time, afraid to leave the safety bubble of baggage claim and be forced apart just outside the doors where our family and friends were awaiting us. Once the 28th person got their final piece of luggage, we walked together as a group outside those doors and were greeted by the yells of loved ones and the array of silly signs our friends made us. It was very cute. I ran to my parents and Dot, gave them quick hugs, but instantly looked back at my friends. I ran to one of my closest friends and joked around about thinking about granny panties (inside joke, I'm not a weirdo) so I wouldn't cry, and about singing 朋友 in the middle of the airport, even if it would only be the two of us singing. I gave many hugs until I was forced by my father to leave, and I looked back on the people I consider my family while I rode the escalator up to the parking garage. Even still, its sad to be home. I can't believe I'm no longer in Shanghai, and even if I return one day, I can never replicate the conditions of the best six weeks of my life.
I suppose that's all I have to say. Blog complete.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Observations in China part 2
Being a white American girl in China for six weeks, I've noticed quite a bit of interesting phenomenons regarding race in China. First of all, as Americans, we attract crowds of people simply because we look different. However, I've noticed that the way the Chinese treat caucasian Americans, African Americans, and Chinese Americans varies extremely. Everywhere we go it seems that Chinese people are extremely intrigued by the African Americans in our group. They ask to take pictures with them, touch their skin (sorry Julius), and ask questions that we consider a product of ignorant stereotypes portrayed through the media. Most of the Chinese we met in Beijing, for example, had never seen a person with black skin before and thus either swarmed around our group very excitedly or stared shyly from afar. However, I know much more about Chinese perceptions of white people because of first-hand experience. I know that in China, it is a rare occurrance to see a white person, but it does happen from time to time due to tourism and whatnot. So, I am not so much a foreign spectacle as some people of other races may feel, but moreso someone that the Chinese attempt to imitate in some way. That sounds really strange, but for example, the Chinese are obsessed with keeping their skin as light as possible. Everywhere you go, you will see women with umbrellas to shield themselves even from the dimmest of sunlight. Soon after I first met Sally, we went out for a walk and she instantly pulled out her umbrella and asked me why I didn't have one. I explained that I didn't need one, and her response was that I would ruin my beautiful white skin if I exposed it to the sunlight. She kept saying that if I became tan (which I have over the course of the last four weeks), it would be a shame. I've noticed also that in China, there is a huge market for "whitening cosmetics" (something I've never seen in the states, but supposedly makes your skin lighter over time as self-tanner might make you darker over time). Sally uses these cosmetics and I've noticed that she is indeed very pale....not so much white, but just kind of sickly looking at times. I don't personally understand why the Chinese go to so much trouble to make their skin a color that it just naturally isn't.
Also, being an American teenaged girl, I feel that my host family has the tendency to compare me to their daughter (who is a year older than me and entering college next year). Their first impression of American teens (as portrayed by the media, once again...and I suppose does hold true on some level) is that Americans are on the whole stupid and lazy. When I entered Sally's home and I talked to her parents a bit about my school and my ambitions, that stereotype kind of got thrown out the window. All of a sudden, Sally's parents began to make comments to their daughter about how I am an American but I am more interested in Chinese culture than she may be, how I have only been taking Chinese for 3 years (versus her 9 years of English) and how my language skills are very good, how I test well and may attend a good university while her options may be somewhat limited, and even little other things concerning her image (her parents are very harsh when talking to her about her weight, and our body types are compared often). They even offered me her room if I would ever consider attending university here in Shanghai.
However, Sally and I are from vastly different worlds and though we are similar because we are close in age, there is little room for comparison. Living in Shanghai has definitely been a shocking experience. Before arriving here, I believed everything would be modern (even moreso than Chicago, which I have come to appreciate so much more, by the way) and that living conditions would be much better than in the states. I was SO wrong. It isn't that Shanghai isn't a nice city....its just that only one small part of the city fits my former expectations. On the whole, Shanghai is lacking in terms of providing what we may consider a basic standard of living for its people. There is tons of construction, so it seems like most of the city is in ruin. The construction I do see isn't like construction back home. It's mostly done by migrant workers, demolishing and re-building slowly by hand. The high rises in this part of town seem very old and run-down from the exterior. I have no idea what they are like inside, though I can testify to the fact that my homestay home is much nicer inside than it appears from outside (but from the outside it is SUBSTANTIALLY nicer than almost every other residential building I've seen in Shanghai). In terms of outward appearance, it doesn't help that people are forced to hang their clothes to dry outside of their windows due to the high cost of electricity and the inability to use automatic washers and dryers. Though my host family is affluent, they have even given up the luxury of using electric washers and dryers, though they have one of each in their home. All laundry is done by hand and dried throughout the home and on the balcony. Its sad to see that people here cannot afford basic necessities like electricity, and its also interesting to see how this lack of necessities really translates to the overall health of the city. The government here in Shanghai knows this is a problem, and they are seeking to improve the image of their city to a great extent. I see the slogan "Better City, Better Life" plastered all over Shanghai, along with advertisements for the 2010 Expo and even a countdown to its exhibition (some 630 some days away). At the Urban Planning Exhibit, I saw graphics of what they believe will be the new, post-Expo Shanghai. It seems extremely unrealistic. Every building looks like it comes straight from the future and I can't imagine how it is possible to transition from a city that looks so run-down to the most modern city in the world. Its a nice dream to have, I suppose, and I am very interested in seeing how Shanghai changes after 2010.
Lastly, I've noticed the presence of Communism becoming more and more conspicuous the longer I've been here. I think a lot of the observations I've made about the condition of the city itself have come as products of a communist way of life. When I first arrived here, it was almost as if I had forgotten I was in a communist state. It was never discussed and I never witnessed any "signs" of its existance. However, leaving campus and living in someone's home, I've noticed on streets and in public places, various pro-communist party advertisments. It would help if I was able to fully read them to know their content, however. Also, while at dinner the other night (at a Chinese American-style Italian restaurant) my host father asked me about American holidays, and which one was the most important. I said Thanksgiving, and he was somewhat familiar with the holiday. He asked me what American people are usually thankful for, and I replied "family, friends, teachers, etc." and he thought that was very strange. He then said "if I were to give my thanks to anyone, I would give it to the Communist party. Don't you think that is much more respectable?" I just nodded as I ate my Italian-flavored Chinese fish. I never know how to respond to these kind of comments...though I suppose there is no choice in how to respond. I should just be agreeable and be respectful of their way of life here, and understanding the communist mindset here is definitely a huge part of understanding China in general. Also, on a somewhat related note, I am very confused about the Chinese perception of Chairman Mao. He is idolized everywhere. Whenever my roomate and I walk past the Mao statue on campus, she always remarks "such a wonderful man" and keeps walking. However, on our cultural tour of Beijing, our tour guide spoke a little bit about Mao and his Cultural Revolution (the simplified version, and certain details were obviously selectively taken and omitted in order to give glory to Mao). Then, he spoke a bit about the speed at which China is advancing and explained that it only seems like China is rising so quickly in comparison to the conditions of the recent past. He was very critical of the Cultural Revolution...how it seemed to destroy China and impoverish so many of its people. This is a common trend I've noticed the Chinese believe that Mao is a hero of sorts, yet his Cultural Revolution was a great failure and a huge burden on the people of China? This makes no sense to me, and I hope to understand better in the future.
I'll keep posting some more entertaining stories later, but for now this is all the time I have. 13 more days and then I'm coming home...I don't know whether to be sad or happy about that.
Also, being an American teenaged girl, I feel that my host family has the tendency to compare me to their daughter (who is a year older than me and entering college next year). Their first impression of American teens (as portrayed by the media, once again...and I suppose does hold true on some level) is that Americans are on the whole stupid and lazy. When I entered Sally's home and I talked to her parents a bit about my school and my ambitions, that stereotype kind of got thrown out the window. All of a sudden, Sally's parents began to make comments to their daughter about how I am an American but I am more interested in Chinese culture than she may be, how I have only been taking Chinese for 3 years (versus her 9 years of English) and how my language skills are very good, how I test well and may attend a good university while her options may be somewhat limited, and even little other things concerning her image (her parents are very harsh when talking to her about her weight, and our body types are compared often). They even offered me her room if I would ever consider attending university here in Shanghai.
However, Sally and I are from vastly different worlds and though we are similar because we are close in age, there is little room for comparison. Living in Shanghai has definitely been a shocking experience. Before arriving here, I believed everything would be modern (even moreso than Chicago, which I have come to appreciate so much more, by the way) and that living conditions would be much better than in the states. I was SO wrong. It isn't that Shanghai isn't a nice city....its just that only one small part of the city fits my former expectations. On the whole, Shanghai is lacking in terms of providing what we may consider a basic standard of living for its people. There is tons of construction, so it seems like most of the city is in ruin. The construction I do see isn't like construction back home. It's mostly done by migrant workers, demolishing and re-building slowly by hand. The high rises in this part of town seem very old and run-down from the exterior. I have no idea what they are like inside, though I can testify to the fact that my homestay home is much nicer inside than it appears from outside (but from the outside it is SUBSTANTIALLY nicer than almost every other residential building I've seen in Shanghai). In terms of outward appearance, it doesn't help that people are forced to hang their clothes to dry outside of their windows due to the high cost of electricity and the inability to use automatic washers and dryers. Though my host family is affluent, they have even given up the luxury of using electric washers and dryers, though they have one of each in their home. All laundry is done by hand and dried throughout the home and on the balcony. Its sad to see that people here cannot afford basic necessities like electricity, and its also interesting to see how this lack of necessities really translates to the overall health of the city. The government here in Shanghai knows this is a problem, and they are seeking to improve the image of their city to a great extent. I see the slogan "Better City, Better Life" plastered all over Shanghai, along with advertisements for the 2010 Expo and even a countdown to its exhibition (some 630 some days away). At the Urban Planning Exhibit, I saw graphics of what they believe will be the new, post-Expo Shanghai. It seems extremely unrealistic. Every building looks like it comes straight from the future and I can't imagine how it is possible to transition from a city that looks so run-down to the most modern city in the world. Its a nice dream to have, I suppose, and I am very interested in seeing how Shanghai changes after 2010.
Lastly, I've noticed the presence of Communism becoming more and more conspicuous the longer I've been here. I think a lot of the observations I've made about the condition of the city itself have come as products of a communist way of life. When I first arrived here, it was almost as if I had forgotten I was in a communist state. It was never discussed and I never witnessed any "signs" of its existance. However, leaving campus and living in someone's home, I've noticed on streets and in public places, various pro-communist party advertisments. It would help if I was able to fully read them to know their content, however. Also, while at dinner the other night (at a Chinese American-style Italian restaurant) my host father asked me about American holidays, and which one was the most important. I said Thanksgiving, and he was somewhat familiar with the holiday. He asked me what American people are usually thankful for, and I replied "family, friends, teachers, etc." and he thought that was very strange. He then said "if I were to give my thanks to anyone, I would give it to the Communist party. Don't you think that is much more respectable?" I just nodded as I ate my Italian-flavored Chinese fish. I never know how to respond to these kind of comments...though I suppose there is no choice in how to respond. I should just be agreeable and be respectful of their way of life here, and understanding the communist mindset here is definitely a huge part of understanding China in general. Also, on a somewhat related note, I am very confused about the Chinese perception of Chairman Mao. He is idolized everywhere. Whenever my roomate and I walk past the Mao statue on campus, she always remarks "such a wonderful man" and keeps walking. However, on our cultural tour of Beijing, our tour guide spoke a little bit about Mao and his Cultural Revolution (the simplified version, and certain details were obviously selectively taken and omitted in order to give glory to Mao). Then, he spoke a bit about the speed at which China is advancing and explained that it only seems like China is rising so quickly in comparison to the conditions of the recent past. He was very critical of the Cultural Revolution...how it seemed to destroy China and impoverish so many of its people. This is a common trend I've noticed the Chinese believe that Mao is a hero of sorts, yet his Cultural Revolution was a great failure and a huge burden on the people of China? This makes no sense to me, and I hope to understand better in the future.
I'll keep posting some more entertaining stories later, but for now this is all the time I have. 13 more days and then I'm coming home...I don't know whether to be sad or happy about that.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
So its been awhile since I last updated, and that's because things have been kind of crazy here in China for the last two weeks or so.
I'm not going to dwell on what happened, for those of you who know, but I've been so greatful for having Lizz, Julius, Joe Wat, and Andy Gao here for me. On a very positive note, Beijing was amazing. We took a soft-sleeper train from Shanghai to Beijing. We left around 7:30 pm and arrived around 7:00 am in Beijing. The first thing we did was meet our tour guide Steven and go to Tianmen Square. After that, we walked to the Forbidden City and looked around for hours. We were so tired. After that, we went to see the Hutongs which are old, traditional-style homes in the underdeveloped part of Beijing. They were amazing. There were two-person carriages that took us around, and Joe and I had an awesome driver. We had a pretty good Chinese conversation with him even while he was busy riding the bike. After that, Steven decided we still needed to see even more despite how tired we were, so he took us to the Summer Palace, which is famous for its amazing lake and Confucius' frequent visits. We had a nice dinner and returned to our hotel for the night which was the nicest hotel I've ever seen in my life. The next morning we woke up early and drove to see the Great Wall. We were advised to take the cable car half-way up the mountain so we wouldn't be exhausted for the climb to the top, but several of us decided to climb from ground level to the top of the mountain. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but it was absolutely amazing. We got really lucky because our first day in Beijing was completely clouded over and the weather was awful. We were told that the only way we would be able to see the scenery from the Great Wall was if we had a HUGE storm the night before to wash away all of the fog. Unbelievably, we had that storm and the view was spectacular. After the Great Wall, we went to see the Olympic Stadium and had a decent dinner. On our last day in Beijing, we visited the Temple of Heaven and went to eat famous Beijing kaoya (roast duck). The duck was one of the best things I've ever eaten. After that, we did a bit of shopping at some famous shopping malls in Beijing...yay bargaining. Then, we were taken back to the train for our overnight ride and arrived back in Shangai the next morning. It was depressing going back to campus and getting ready to be picked up for homestay. I was the most homesick that day than I've been any other day so far. It was the combination of missing my family, being in trouble for almost a week, and the prospect of entering someone else's home that triggered it.
Luckily, homestay has been great for the past two days. The first night, they took me out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. They even purchased a private room, it was great. Then, they took me to a German store called Metro (which is just like Costco in America) to pick out food I might like. They took me to all of the imported food aisles and tried to look for American products. Unfortunately, Hu Chengdi's parents had a little fight in the imported cereal aisle over the best kind of cereal to feed me, haha. Then we went back home, I did a bit of homework, and went to sleep.
Their house is really nice. They are definitely a rich family by Shanghai standards. They have their own car, and a maid and a cook. Both parents are very busy and work demanding jobs, so I only see them around dinner time. They're trying to teach me Shanghaihua (local Shanghai Chinese dialect), so I'm trying to communicate as best as possible. Hu Chengdi's father speaks a little English, so we have some interesting conversations about Chinese-American relations, politics, etc. The mother, however, doesn't speak English at all, so this situation is a great test of my Chinese language skills.
That's about all I have to say for now, hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the blogging over the next two weeks. After that, I'm back to the dorm for one week and then I come HOME! I can't wait, even though I'm having a pretty good time here.
-Olivia
I'm not going to dwell on what happened, for those of you who know, but I've been so greatful for having Lizz, Julius, Joe Wat, and Andy Gao here for me. On a very positive note, Beijing was amazing. We took a soft-sleeper train from Shanghai to Beijing. We left around 7:30 pm and arrived around 7:00 am in Beijing. The first thing we did was meet our tour guide Steven and go to Tianmen Square. After that, we walked to the Forbidden City and looked around for hours. We were so tired. After that, we went to see the Hutongs which are old, traditional-style homes in the underdeveloped part of Beijing. They were amazing. There were two-person carriages that took us around, and Joe and I had an awesome driver. We had a pretty good Chinese conversation with him even while he was busy riding the bike. After that, Steven decided we still needed to see even more despite how tired we were, so he took us to the Summer Palace, which is famous for its amazing lake and Confucius' frequent visits. We had a nice dinner and returned to our hotel for the night which was the nicest hotel I've ever seen in my life. The next morning we woke up early and drove to see the Great Wall. We were advised to take the cable car half-way up the mountain so we wouldn't be exhausted for the climb to the top, but several of us decided to climb from ground level to the top of the mountain. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but it was absolutely amazing. We got really lucky because our first day in Beijing was completely clouded over and the weather was awful. We were told that the only way we would be able to see the scenery from the Great Wall was if we had a HUGE storm the night before to wash away all of the fog. Unbelievably, we had that storm and the view was spectacular. After the Great Wall, we went to see the Olympic Stadium and had a decent dinner. On our last day in Beijing, we visited the Temple of Heaven and went to eat famous Beijing kaoya (roast duck). The duck was one of the best things I've ever eaten. After that, we did a bit of shopping at some famous shopping malls in Beijing...yay bargaining. Then, we were taken back to the train for our overnight ride and arrived back in Shangai the next morning. It was depressing going back to campus and getting ready to be picked up for homestay. I was the most homesick that day than I've been any other day so far. It was the combination of missing my family, being in trouble for almost a week, and the prospect of entering someone else's home that triggered it.
Luckily, homestay has been great for the past two days. The first night, they took me out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. They even purchased a private room, it was great. Then, they took me to a German store called Metro (which is just like Costco in America) to pick out food I might like. They took me to all of the imported food aisles and tried to look for American products. Unfortunately, Hu Chengdi's parents had a little fight in the imported cereal aisle over the best kind of cereal to feed me, haha. Then we went back home, I did a bit of homework, and went to sleep.
Their house is really nice. They are definitely a rich family by Shanghai standards. They have their own car, and a maid and a cook. Both parents are very busy and work demanding jobs, so I only see them around dinner time. They're trying to teach me Shanghaihua (local Shanghai Chinese dialect), so I'm trying to communicate as best as possible. Hu Chengdi's father speaks a little English, so we have some interesting conversations about Chinese-American relations, politics, etc. The mother, however, doesn't speak English at all, so this situation is a great test of my Chinese language skills.
That's about all I have to say for now, hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the blogging over the next two weeks. After that, I'm back to the dorm for one week and then I come HOME! I can't wait, even though I'm having a pretty good time here.
-Olivia
Friday, July 4, 2008
Observations in China part 1
Ok, so I've been basically been giving you a run-down of my days, things I've been up to, etc. but I've never actually spent time talking about my observations and things I've found interesting so far.
Side-saddle biking is a huge phenomenon. Everyone here rides bikes, but on the back of every bike is a square metal slab where another person can sit and drape their legs over the side. We always see women sitting side-saddle on bikes, texting or holding umbrellas, perfectly balanced and not holding on. However, Calvin and Kevin Lee have tried on Chicken's bike to attempt to peddle with someone on side-saddle...they swerved like crazy and almost crashed. Eventually I will ride on the side of a bike in China...I can't have the full China experience otherwise, hahaha.
At home, I often see people with tattoos or clothing that have Chinese characters on them, and many times I wonder if people have any clue what the characters say. The same goes here with English. Very fashionable clothes here often have English words printed on them...sometimes with random words, and other times with hilariously awkward phrases. The funniest one's I've seen so far are "Little Miss Jail Bait" and "Get Booty", though there have been several less memorable ones.
The 28 Chinese roomates who moved into our dorms this past Sunday are quite a bunch of characters. Many of them like to be called by their English names, and several girls have names that we might consider stripper names in the states. "Venus" and "Cherry" are just a few. Some guys have funny names too...take for example "Chicken", one of the funniest kids of all. Aside from having funny names, they're also pretty hilarious (albeit sometimes perverted) kids. They've picked up some English terms like "Oh Shit" and "Off the Chain" and use them often. In return, we've picked up some funny Chinese phrases...like the term for masturbation which is "da feiji". You might only find that funny if you knew Chinese, but literally it means to shoot down airplanes.
When I had my first Chinese class here, I thought it was strange that one of our words to study was "Playboy" (hua hua gong zi), but now its a phrase I hear used commonly in a variety of situations.
We have noticed quite a bit of a cultural difference though in terms of how guys and girls act (both with eachother and seperately). The Chinese boys often talk about porn and other things regarding sex extremely openly...even moreso than guys in America talk. Sometimes I find the way they talk mildly annoying, if not even a little bit offensive. However, talking to my roomate Sally, she couldn't understand what was wrong with how the boys were acting. She said to me, "Boys always talk about girls. They appreciate our beauty." Instead of feeling like they were being degrading towards women, the girls here seem to feel comfortable and embrace it as a kind of compliment.
Also on the same line as male-female relationships, I've also noticed that while conversationally the Chinese seem very open, their actions say different things. For example, a hug between a male and a female is almost a sure sign of a relationship. I've been bombarded with questions about whether or not I'm dating this person or that based on the kind of friendship I have with that person. I've explained how things are typically in America, that male and female friends can be close without anything underlying. They seem to still be a bit skeptical, however.
I'll try to keep posting interesting observations as they come along, until then, bye...I can't wait to see you all when I get home!
Side-saddle biking is a huge phenomenon. Everyone here rides bikes, but on the back of every bike is a square metal slab where another person can sit and drape their legs over the side. We always see women sitting side-saddle on bikes, texting or holding umbrellas, perfectly balanced and not holding on. However, Calvin and Kevin Lee have tried on Chicken's bike to attempt to peddle with someone on side-saddle...they swerved like crazy and almost crashed. Eventually I will ride on the side of a bike in China...I can't have the full China experience otherwise, hahaha.
At home, I often see people with tattoos or clothing that have Chinese characters on them, and many times I wonder if people have any clue what the characters say. The same goes here with English. Very fashionable clothes here often have English words printed on them...sometimes with random words, and other times with hilariously awkward phrases. The funniest one's I've seen so far are "Little Miss Jail Bait" and "Get Booty", though there have been several less memorable ones.
The 28 Chinese roomates who moved into our dorms this past Sunday are quite a bunch of characters. Many of them like to be called by their English names, and several girls have names that we might consider stripper names in the states. "Venus" and "Cherry" are just a few. Some guys have funny names too...take for example "Chicken", one of the funniest kids of all. Aside from having funny names, they're also pretty hilarious (albeit sometimes perverted) kids. They've picked up some English terms like "Oh Shit" and "Off the Chain" and use them often. In return, we've picked up some funny Chinese phrases...like the term for masturbation which is "da feiji". You might only find that funny if you knew Chinese, but literally it means to shoot down airplanes.
When I had my first Chinese class here, I thought it was strange that one of our words to study was "Playboy" (hua hua gong zi), but now its a phrase I hear used commonly in a variety of situations.
We have noticed quite a bit of a cultural difference though in terms of how guys and girls act (both with eachother and seperately). The Chinese boys often talk about porn and other things regarding sex extremely openly...even moreso than guys in America talk. Sometimes I find the way they talk mildly annoying, if not even a little bit offensive. However, talking to my roomate Sally, she couldn't understand what was wrong with how the boys were acting. She said to me, "Boys always talk about girls. They appreciate our beauty." Instead of feeling like they were being degrading towards women, the girls here seem to feel comfortable and embrace it as a kind of compliment.
Also on the same line as male-female relationships, I've also noticed that while conversationally the Chinese seem very open, their actions say different things. For example, a hug between a male and a female is almost a sure sign of a relationship. I've been bombarded with questions about whether or not I'm dating this person or that based on the kind of friendship I have with that person. I've explained how things are typically in America, that male and female friends can be close without anything underlying. They seem to still be a bit skeptical, however.
I'll try to keep posting interesting observations as they come along, until then, bye...I can't wait to see you all when I get home!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
So, we've been very busy lately. On Saturday, we went to Nanjing Road (Nanjing Lu in chinese) to go shopping. But, first we went to the Shanghai Museum (Shanghai Bo Wu Guan)and saw many exhibits of Chinese culture and art. Then we walked around a bit in the People's Square (Renmin Guangchang) and went to the Park Hotel for lunch. Supposedly, it used to be the best hotel in all of Shanghai...I wonder what's changed. Lunch was very nice, and then we went to the Bund (Waitan) where the river is and all of the modern architecture that is characteristic of Shanghai is. After the Bund, we walked with Luo Laoshi to Nanjing Lu to do some shopping. At first we stayed on the main road and went into some of the shops we were familiar with like French Connection, Levi's, and Puma, but things were really expensive. Then, while we were walking, we spotted a back alley (with Lizz's help) and Julius, Calvin, Lizz, and I stood awkwardly in front of it in the middle of the busy street looking down the alley. Luo Laoshi asked us what we were doing, and if we could decide where we wanted to go. Pretending we didn't know what was in the back, we asked if we might just walk and look. Reluctantly he agreed and we walked down the back alley where there were many random people sitting around looking at us, making food in these very strange conditions. Then, we stumbled upon some stores that sold the standard pirated movies, knockoff bags, watches, and shoes. We walked up the stairs and Lizz began to bargain for some DVDs. At first I was surprised at how assertive she was, but eventually I learned to bargain well.
Throughout the day, we went into various back alley stores, wandering down wet and dank passages, around corners, and into "secret rooms" where the best of knockoffs were kept. We bargained for hours, and eventually I bought a few things at my price (though I guess I was sort of ripped off on my new bag...it was 260 kuai but I really liked it). Bargaining is my new favorite activity.
On Sunday, I got my roomate. She showed up around 2 in the afternoon and it was really awkward at first. Lizz was called into the lobby to meet her roomate first, so Calvin and I came with her and waited in the lobby. Once it got crowded, the two of us sat outside and waited. Our roomates seemed to come very late, and "Sally" (Hu Cheng Di) came with her mother in a cab and pulled up right in front of me on the stairs. They seemed to look at me very funny, and Sally seemed a bit nervous. She walked into the building and Wu Laoshi said "Olivia, she is your roomate." So, we had our awkward introduction and went to an informational meeting with her mother. Then, her friend "Tracy" (Bonita's roomate) came with us and we walked around campus. The two girls are basically inseperable and even now they are sitting in my room talking...after curfew and room checks, nonetheless.
There has been a bit of drama with my roomate and her friend even so far, but actually tonight, things have been better since Sally sent me a very cute e-mail saying she was very happy to be my "room partner" and wants to become best friends. I guess that helps for now, I think even though things have been kind of rocky, this may be manageable. However, I think talking to her in very standard and clear English makes me talk (and even write) in very awkward language.
However, tonight I had some difficulty. I was talking to Julius as we walked to play volleyball about how much I want to come home. It seems like I always think about home, when I will come home, etc. I keep a calendar in my notebook and cross off days and count how many I have left. I keep looking forward to the next day, the next activity, etc. Right now I'm simply looking forward to the weekend, then after that we go to Beijing for the weekend without our roomates...but then when we go back, we have homestay in our roomate's house for two weeks. That will be especially difficult, and I'm not looking forward to that. But then, the last week, I will have freedom alone in my dorm, preparing to come home. I can't wait. Maybe 5 more weeks isn't that long, but it feels like an eternity.
That was a long post for tonight!
Throughout the day, we went into various back alley stores, wandering down wet and dank passages, around corners, and into "secret rooms" where the best of knockoffs were kept. We bargained for hours, and eventually I bought a few things at my price (though I guess I was sort of ripped off on my new bag...it was 260 kuai but I really liked it). Bargaining is my new favorite activity.
On Sunday, I got my roomate. She showed up around 2 in the afternoon and it was really awkward at first. Lizz was called into the lobby to meet her roomate first, so Calvin and I came with her and waited in the lobby. Once it got crowded, the two of us sat outside and waited. Our roomates seemed to come very late, and "Sally" (Hu Cheng Di) came with her mother in a cab and pulled up right in front of me on the stairs. They seemed to look at me very funny, and Sally seemed a bit nervous. She walked into the building and Wu Laoshi said "Olivia, she is your roomate." So, we had our awkward introduction and went to an informational meeting with her mother. Then, her friend "Tracy" (Bonita's roomate) came with us and we walked around campus. The two girls are basically inseperable and even now they are sitting in my room talking...after curfew and room checks, nonetheless.
There has been a bit of drama with my roomate and her friend even so far, but actually tonight, things have been better since Sally sent me a very cute e-mail saying she was very happy to be my "room partner" and wants to become best friends. I guess that helps for now, I think even though things have been kind of rocky, this may be manageable. However, I think talking to her in very standard and clear English makes me talk (and even write) in very awkward language.
However, tonight I had some difficulty. I was talking to Julius as we walked to play volleyball about how much I want to come home. It seems like I always think about home, when I will come home, etc. I keep a calendar in my notebook and cross off days and count how many I have left. I keep looking forward to the next day, the next activity, etc. Right now I'm simply looking forward to the weekend, then after that we go to Beijing for the weekend without our roomates...but then when we go back, we have homestay in our roomate's house for two weeks. That will be especially difficult, and I'm not looking forward to that. But then, the last week, I will have freedom alone in my dorm, preparing to come home. I can't wait. Maybe 5 more weeks isn't that long, but it feels like an eternity.
That was a long post for tonight!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
I'm done with classes for the week!!!! I made it through the ting xies and the preview assignments and the 书本知识 vs. 动手能力 debate and the oral report and the essays and the "拔苗助长" 成语!
We have four rotating teachers, I really like two of them...and hate the other two.
Lately, we've been pretty busy. We went to an "intro to taiji" class... complete with informational powerpoint! We won't get to actually do taiji for another week or so.... We also went to a Chinese arts and crafts class where we made Chinese knots. That was extremely frustrating, but I finally made one (and it was funny to see Julius lose his mind messing with that stupid red string).
Yesterday we went to the US consulate downtown and talked to some US State Department employees. I realized then that I really don't want to work for the State Department in China anymore...they're all uptight and feed everyone b.s. Also, their job was nothing like I expected. They basically keep Americans out of trouble in Shanghai (visit them in the hospital, jail, etc. and help them get tax forms, voter registration, etc.). Their job is all about passports and visas and its really unappealing. I guess it was a good thing that I saw first hand the kind of job I always thought I wanted, because now I know better.
We've also been exploring campus more. We tried to go buy bubbletea last night and failed miserably. We couldn't read the menu, and after five minutes of trying (and getting laughed at by the women standing next to us) we walked back to our dorm.
The weather's been improving...or so I thought, until today. Its still considered the "rainy season" until Monday, so its kind of expected that today would be as rainy as it is. The past few days, though, we've had pretty good weather...we've been able to play volleyball on the field by our class building on breaks and whatnot.
Tomorrow we're going to an art museum downtown and then going shopping on Nanjing Road (the Shanghai equivalent of Michigan Avenue). We were actually on Nanjing Road yesterday to go to the consulate, so we got to look around, but only very quickly. On Sunday, I'm going to finally get my roomate. I thought her name was Gao Ying but it turns out that they switched my roomate for whatever reason, so now I have a girl whose name I can't read. I hope she's as cool as some of the kids we met at the Cao Yang High School the other day.
I never realized how large of an influence American culture has on other countries. Meeting the high school students, I noticed that they all liked to talk about American icons...Kobe Bryant, Usher, Beyonce, and 50 cent seemed to be their favorites. Also, movies like Kungfu Panda, Hitchcock, and 27 dresses were popular as well. I hope I live up to my roomate's expectations of an American teenager. I have a feeling I'll be bombarded with questions about America as soon as she arrives.
That's all for now!
-Olivia
We have four rotating teachers, I really like two of them...and hate the other two.
Lately, we've been pretty busy. We went to an "intro to taiji" class... complete with informational powerpoint! We won't get to actually do taiji for another week or so.... We also went to a Chinese arts and crafts class where we made Chinese knots. That was extremely frustrating, but I finally made one (and it was funny to see Julius lose his mind messing with that stupid red string).
Yesterday we went to the US consulate downtown and talked to some US State Department employees. I realized then that I really don't want to work for the State Department in China anymore...they're all uptight and feed everyone b.s. Also, their job was nothing like I expected. They basically keep Americans out of trouble in Shanghai (visit them in the hospital, jail, etc. and help them get tax forms, voter registration, etc.). Their job is all about passports and visas and its really unappealing. I guess it was a good thing that I saw first hand the kind of job I always thought I wanted, because now I know better.
We've also been exploring campus more. We tried to go buy bubbletea last night and failed miserably. We couldn't read the menu, and after five minutes of trying (and getting laughed at by the women standing next to us) we walked back to our dorm.
The weather's been improving...or so I thought, until today. Its still considered the "rainy season" until Monday, so its kind of expected that today would be as rainy as it is. The past few days, though, we've had pretty good weather...we've been able to play volleyball on the field by our class building on breaks and whatnot.
Tomorrow we're going to an art museum downtown and then going shopping on Nanjing Road (the Shanghai equivalent of Michigan Avenue). We were actually on Nanjing Road yesterday to go to the consulate, so we got to look around, but only very quickly. On Sunday, I'm going to finally get my roomate. I thought her name was Gao Ying but it turns out that they switched my roomate for whatever reason, so now I have a girl whose name I can't read. I hope she's as cool as some of the kids we met at the Cao Yang High School the other day.
I never realized how large of an influence American culture has on other countries. Meeting the high school students, I noticed that they all liked to talk about American icons...Kobe Bryant, Usher, Beyonce, and 50 cent seemed to be their favorites. Also, movies like Kungfu Panda, Hitchcock, and 27 dresses were popular as well. I hope I live up to my roomate's expectations of an American teenager. I have a feeling I'll be bombarded with questions about America as soon as she arrives.
That's all for now!
-Olivia
Monday, June 23, 2008
Ok, so things have turned up quite a bit. After getting some sleep, I was doing much better, and I've really been enjoying myself these last few days.
On Monday, I had many first encounters...I got aquainted with buffet breakfasts and went to our opening ceremony and took two pretests and got placed in my Chinese class and got my first homework assignment and explored campus and exchanged money and went to "Trust Mart" (Chinese Walmart)! I got to practice my Chinese a bit throughout the day, especially at Trust Mart when I had to help Bonita talk her way out of a sticky situation and got yelled at a few times by store employees. It's all been really exciting so far.
This morning, I started my day off at the buffet (as I will everyday) and then went to my first Chinese class. It was really fast-paced and intense, but I managed to keep up (with the exception of a really stupid moment where I seemed to completely lose my ability to communicate in Chinese).
In about 15 minutes, we'll be taking a bus to a Chinese high school! This will be our first field trip and the first time we've left campus so far (with the exception of running to Trust Mart just outside the gates of campus in the pouring rain).
That's all I have time to say for now, I uploaded some pictures on Facebook earlier, so check them out if you want to.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012360&l=fbfdb&id=1156650757
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012361&l=1e14d&id=1156650757
On Monday, I had many first encounters...I got aquainted with buffet breakfasts and went to our opening ceremony and took two pretests and got placed in my Chinese class and got my first homework assignment and explored campus and exchanged money and went to "Trust Mart" (Chinese Walmart)! I got to practice my Chinese a bit throughout the day, especially at Trust Mart when I had to help Bonita talk her way out of a sticky situation and got yelled at a few times by store employees. It's all been really exciting so far.
This morning, I started my day off at the buffet (as I will everyday) and then went to my first Chinese class. It was really fast-paced and intense, but I managed to keep up (with the exception of a really stupid moment where I seemed to completely lose my ability to communicate in Chinese).
In about 15 minutes, we'll be taking a bus to a Chinese high school! This will be our first field trip and the first time we've left campus so far (with the exception of running to Trust Mart just outside the gates of campus in the pouring rain).
That's all I have time to say for now, I uploaded some pictures on Facebook earlier, so check them out if you want to.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012360&l=fbfdb&id=1156650757
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012361&l=1e14d&id=1156650757
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