Yantai at the Halfway Point

So we're at the halfway point of the program now and finally settled in to the new routine in Yantai. The first weekend we were here a bunch of us went straight to the much-hyped beach "only 5 minutes away from campus". Dan brought a football and I carried along a Frisbee to throw around at the beach. It was a totally different beach experience than I've ever had. On the beach there were a bunch of boats "docked" in the sand. It added a nice touch to the beauty of the beach. Fisherman launched their boats about 20 feet away from where people were swimming. Mini-tractors drove right along the edge of the sea narrowly missing people sitting in the sand, spitting out thick clouds of black smoke across the beach. Diapers and a nice diverse assortment of waste littered the water close to shore, of course where everyone was swimming and enjoying the cool Yantai weather. Haha. It was quite the scene. At the beach we were stared at more than anywhere else. People were awestruck to see a "large olive" flying through the air (the Chinese translation of football means flying olive). We even spotted a couple videotaping us throwing the football and Frisbee. Soon a big crowd gathered on the stones at the top of the beach just to watch us. All while this was going on, Alison was getting a lot of attention because of her bikini. They just don't exist in China since everyone dresses very modestly. It was interesting to see that most of the women didn't go into the water. Some that went in wore full swim-dresses that were pretty unusual.

Yantai Da Xue's campus is really great. It's much more spread out than Beida so it isn't always packed with people all the time like it is in Beijing. Right outside our dorm is a basketball court that is always packed with kids in the afternoons. One day I went down to the courts to shoot around and soon I was involved in full court games. It amazed me that the kids played basketball in their sandals or bare feet. You have to have really tough feet to play basketball without shoes. After a few days of playing with the kids I picked up some basketball terminology. Here are a few useful phrases in case you get into a pickup game with the Chinese: "Hao Qiu" = good shot, "Lan Qiu" = to shoot, "Chuan Qiu" = to pass, "San Fen" = 3 point line. That's about all of the new vocab I've learned so far. Most of the time I just talk a lot of trash in Chinese. One day I taught the kids how to play "knockout," which was cool. It took a while to explain it in Chinese but they finally got it I think. Every time I go out to the courts they always ask me questions about the US. They are all really interested in where I came from and what I'm doing in China. Playing basketball here is a great time and I get a lot of practice with my Chinese. A few days ago I found out that most of the kids practice Judo all day and then come to the basketball courts everyday after their sessions.

At night in Yantai near the beach there are street vendors everywhere. You can find everything from fried squid on a stick to beef to every other type of meat imaginable. We discovered a great place that makes amazing fresh burritos made right in front of your eyes. There are also a lot of great, cheap Korean restaurants in the area. Today we stumbled upon a jiaozi (dumpling) place that tasted great. One night after grabbing dinner me and a few kids from AU saw to the side of the road older women dancing in a square with music blaring from speakers, so we checked it out. While talking with an older lady watching from the stage, we found out that they were doing it for exercise. We had a hard time understanding her because of her Shandonghua (Shandongese dialect), but we could make out her saying that we looked like foreigners because of our big noses. She said that Alison looked like a native Chinese because of her flat nose. The women also pointed out our hair and thought that Alison was Chinese since she had black hair. It was a really funny experience and we were all cracking up, including the old Chinese woman. We all came to the conclusion after this encounter that the people of Yantai are a lot more forthcoming than Beijingers.

So tomorrow we're heading off to Qingdao for a few days. The past week we had class everyday, that's 7 days in a row. It was an intense week, but now we have some time to travel a bit. Our schedule is to see the famous German-made Qingdao beer factory and hike Laoshan mountain.

On the Train to Yantai

Wow, it’s been a while since the last blog post. Part of it has to do with not having the Internet for a few days. But lots of updates are coming soon because a lot has happened since we made it to Yantai. On Sunday night we got an email from the wise Sun zhaoshou (Professor Sun). The context of the message was to uphold the language pledge and that major class changes were taking place. Our class was cut to 5 kids, which turned out to be great because we got a lot more practice and individual attention this week. Other than class, one night I went with a few friends from AU to meet our friend from AU’s boyfriend who goes to Beida. He was a really nice guy and will be a good person to know come fall semester. Later in the week we tried to meet up for some basketball, but it didn’t work out. Other than zai lianxi he fuxi Hanyu ne (practicing and reviewing Chinese), we didn’t have much time outside of class. So our last day in Beijing we had another kaoshi (test), packed a little bit, and made our way over to Yao Fangzi (Medicine House) for the last time (for most of the kids on the program). So after the test, we all took a bus to the train station. It was a wild scene. People seemed to be growing out of the ground. The only way I can describe it is how my Chinese professor at AU described China, ren shan ren hai (people mountain people ocean). Now we’re on the train to Yantai. It’s a 14-hour ride with about 25 stops along the way…we should be in Yantai at 6:30 am tomorrow. It is really crowded and cramped but we’re making the best of it. I’m thinking I won’t be able to sleep too much tonight.

Alright we finally made it to Yantai after a long sleepless night and we are now in the Yantai University dorms. It already feels a lot different than Beijing. On the drive from the train station we saw lots of beach areas and huge freighters off in the distance. The temperature here is a lot more comfortable than Beijing. From what I’ve seen of the campus it looks really nice. I’d say it’s about 15 times larger in size than my school. The living situation will be a lot different here. We’re only allotted a certain amount of electricity and Internet use per month before we have to pay for it. I do like that we have a washer in the dorm so we don’t have to wait 2 days before our laundry is done. Now I have to get re-acclimated to a completely new place. The program will be a lot closer here than it was in Beijing since all of our professors are living with us. It will be a whole new adventure.

Beijing十一天 (Day 12)

So the first week of real classes and tests are over and the weekend is finally here. I think this week was more intense than the first week since we were doing new material for the first time. We all agree that it can't get more intense at this point. It has reached a point of intensity that I've never felt before. Well, today we hiked Changcheng (The Great Wall) on a nice overcast misty day. Haha, actually it wasn't the best day to climb up Changcheng because viability was about 1/4 mile tops. But none of that mattered since it was the Great Wall. On our way up the steep not-as-touristy part of the wall we met a bunch of people from all over the world. I spotted French tourists, a choral group mainly from Florida, a bunch of Russians, and my friend saw an Iranian. On the top we met some crazy Russians that were jumping around from wall to wall thousands of feet up the Great Wall. We were all tired by the end of the climb but it was well worth it. The views were picturesque even though visibility was so low. After coming back, I went out with some friends to The Banana Leaf, supposedly one of the best Thai places in Beijing. Our That's BJ magazine described it as "Disney on speed." It couldn't have been a better description of the place. Fake trees, alligators, and a troupe of Filipino musicians/wannabe pop stars really made it live up to the hype. Alright, so finally I sat down with my buddies Alison, Charlie, and Dan, and created a list of all of the moments so far that make China so great.

Things That Make China "China" Moments:

1. Funk Pockets - These are randomly placed along the street with no sign of origin, fecal matter, or any other possible funk. Some of them are regulars, for example the bridge right across from "Kro's" that we call "Funk River".

2. Ba Shirts (Pig Shirts) - Men who roll their shirts up to their armpits. Usually this is accompanied by a large potbelly. If its especially hot out and the humidity's up, the shirts are rolled up higher and you'll be spotting these guys with more frequency.

3. Umbrellas - It doesn't matter if the sun's out, you'll see every girl/woman sheltered by her umbrella/parasol. Sometimes the piaoliang de guniang (pretty girls) hold their umbrellas for their nan pengyous (boyfriends). I hear fair skin is important for Chinese people so no one wants a tan.

4. a. The Girlfriend Seat - The girlfriend sits sideways on the bike holding on to their nan pengyou (boyfriend). Usually the girl hold our her parasol over her boyfriend for sun protection.

4. b. The Boyfriend Seat - The opposite of "The Girlfriend Seat." A rare happening that usually results in the girlfriend struggling to pull the weight of her boyfriend.

4. c. Old Men Carrying Lots of Stuff on Their Bike - Piles of wood and scrap metal stacked eight feet high on the back of the bike while the man smokes a cigarette and moves at about 2 miles/hour.

5. The Sun - Being confused if it's the Sun or the Moon, grey sky = blazing hot weather and lots of pollution, blue sky is extremely rare.

6. Not Willing to Pay 2 Kuai for Water, but Dropping 12 Kuai for a DQ Blizzard

7. 80s Fashion - Perms, silver pants and track suits, gold shoes, Michael Jackson

8. MJ and Houston Rockets - Everyone loves Michael Jordan even though he retired years ago (he still makes an appearance on a lot of the Gatorade bottles here) and the Rockets (Yao Ming's team even though T-Mac is more popular here).

9. Being Able to Talk About People Without Them Knowing - You can talk about literally everything and no one will know. This includes: making fun of people in front of their face, talking about otherwise taboo subjects, complaining about squatters (see #11).

10. Traffic Regulations - Any sort of signage on the road is pretty much useless in China. Red means stop in the middle of the road when a car or bike is about to hit you or speed up and get to the other side of the street. Lanes are nonexistant. Honking is encouraged and used even when it isn't necessary, especially at pedestrians.

11. Toilets - The Squatter...toilets are rare and you must learn to squat and use your own toilet paper. Most of the toilets consist of holes in the ground and nothing else. This is a challenge everyday. I fear for my life at each passing moment and try to avoid the #2.

12. Getting Stared At - You know they just want to be our Gemenrs (Homeboys). Everyone seems to think we're from another planet. Alison looks a southern islander. Charlie looks like a giant and regularly gets in photo-ops with strangers. I look like an American and people like to stare at me too.

13. Olympics - Everywhere you look. Gift Stores, T-Shirts, Countdowns, Signs, Ads.

14. Being Laughed At For Attempting to Speak Chinese.

15. Pollution - Black snot and grey phlegm, inhaling about 10 packs of cigarettes/day, coming back from campus panting because you can't get enough oxygen, going for a run for 20 minutes and recovering for the next hour.

16. Public Excretion - Lots of people don't seem to be afraid to drop their pants in public and do their business without any second thoughts.

17. a. Lack of Proper Doors - Instead the Chinese love to use plastic, slime/grease/fecal matter/sweat covered door entrances.

17.b. Mega-Cantings (Cafeterias) - With the massive amount of students on campus they need cafeterias that can fill thousands of students. At lunch time, everything shuts down and everyone grabs food. These huge cafeterias are filled with students and you need eagle vision to find seats, let alone figure out how to order your food.

18. Sweat.

19. Children yelling and running wild outside at midnight. Crowds of people everywhere no matter what time or where you are.

20. Flag Raising Ceremony Every Morning at 7:50am sharp outside Haidian Gym involving morning calisthenics and saluting the flag.

21. KTV/Karaoke Everywhere - It's what people do for fun here.

22. "Wo men qu AAzhi" - "Going Dutch", Every English-speaking Chinese person seems to know this saying.

23. Bargaining - Every last kuai matters. It doesn't make a difference that 1 kuai is about 15 cents.

24. The Foreigner Stare - Westerners look at you like you're from a different planet when you say "Hello" to them. The consequence of this makes everyone turn into a disgruntled foreigner with a case of the Marco Polo Syndrome (thinking they discovered this country and no one else matters).

25. Kenny G and Titanic Everywhere - Today at the Carrefor we listened to Kenny G on repeat for the third time this week. When you don't hear Kenny G you hear the Titanic theme song blasting from the nearest speakers of the shop/restaurant.

26. Censorship - When you're in China you are being watched all the time. I can't visit anything that is .blogspot.com which this site is, so hypothetically I can't see anything I'm writing. Alison was watching CNN one time and it blacked out for about 30 seconds as they were talking about democracy. Dan was talking with a friend on Skype and mentioned something about recording equipment possibly being in the room and his computer just turned off.

We'll be adding more to this list as we think of them.

Beijing七天 (Day 7)

Today we all went back to class after a busy weekend. Saturday was the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Tiananmen Square trip all packed into one epic day. First we went to the Summer Palace where we rented paddle boats and explored the seas for an hour or so. The views were spectacular as they were all day. We made quite the scene when our boat drifted into another boat manned by American students, while Charlie tried to change boats. All of the Chinese tourists passing by us in their Dragon Boat were loving every minute of it. Other than that incident, all of the non-Western tourists were all over us and wanted us to be in their pictures. I have to say I felt like a celebrity. Throughout the day all of the street sellers were all up in our face trying to sell their bootleg merchandise. My first bargaining experience was a success. I walked away two times and finally knocked the price of the shirt down from 80 kuai to 20 kuai (about $3). Later I found out that a bunch of people were scammed and lost a few hundred kuai. The fake kuai was really hard to distinguish from real kuai...I couldn't even tell the difference. Today one of the kids that got scammed told me he used it on a cab fare and the driver didn't even notice. I guess fake kuai isn't really fake if people take it.

After a great lunch at an ethnic minority restaurant in a massive mall which included a special dance/music interlude involving the ritual of being forced to eat certain foods and drinking whatever was on the table and getting your ear pinched. The comedy of it all came when some vegetarians were forced to eat meat. It was a really good time. Then we were off to the Forbidden City (故宫). As expected, I was blown away by the sheer size of it all. We only were able to see a mere fraction of it and didn't have a chance to see all of the special collections there. Xiao Laoshi was our guide and told us an incredible amount of history. He said that for about 800 years only the Emperor, his workers, and special advisers were allowed in and when they came in they could never leave. A while after we stopped at the Starbucks to check out how ridiculous it was (I was actually surprised that there was no sign and it was a hole in the wall), we made our way to Tiananmen Square. I was pretty scared of saying anything when I saw all of the megaphones, cameras, and listening devices inside every lamppost. Plus the military presence was enormous for a public place. Well, when we finally got back home to Haidian Gym at around 6pm, the sky turned orange and we were caught in a sandstorm! I've never seen anything quite like it. For about 15 minutes I was blinded by sand but somehow made it back.

One story I forgot to talk about earlier...My roommate and I were walking back at night to our room. Getting to the place we live, you walk through an alleyway surrounded by ramshackle shacks. At the hut surrounded by a torn sheet we spotted about 10 people crowded around a TV. It was a scene you could have pulled out of China circa the 1970s. It was pretty incredible to see this in Beijing in the 20th century after all of the economic gains over the last few decades. It's just a reminder that a lot of Chinese people are in poverty and the economic growth over the years hasn't been realized by most.

Well, now all of my pictures so far are up on the link. On the next post, I'll be creating a list of all of the interesting things about China (actually it's going to be a join effort with Alison). One last thing before I dive into my Hanyu homework...Never try to make small talk with waiters in China. Someone who I won't name made the mistake of asking the waiter if her English name really was "Baby." The waiter gave him the dirtiest look I've ever seen in my life.

Beijing四天 (Day 4)

大家好 (Hey everyone),

Well a lot has happened these last few days and I haven't had much time to write on here. I'm thinking I'll update the blog 2 times per week. Classes started a few days ago and they are intense, as expected. We have class from 8am to 11:30am and then an afternoon class and 1 on 1 time. The language pledge started a few days ago and we quickly found out how difficult it was to follow. But it definitely helps in learning Chinese so I think it's a nice goal to aim for. All the kids on the program are great and they are all committed to learning Chinese which helps me improve. I ended up being placed (hopefully, since today we had a re-placement test) in Wang Laoshi's and Xiao Laoshi's class who were the two teachers that taught at AU last year. It's great to have them and class is so much better here than it was in the US since it's all taught in Chinese and we get much more individual attention. I have 7 other kids in my class which is a nice size if you ask me.

China is a pretty amazing place. Every morning we wake up to "Old Suzanne" (the American children's song) played over a loudspeaker followed by hundreds of kids running outside to do their daily exercises. Going to class in the morning and seeing the crowds of people riding their bike to work and the crazy Beijing rush hour traffic is really out of a different world. Every day is an adventure trying to order at mega cafeterias that seat 1,000 people and are always almost completely full. You really just have to have a sense of humor when you're trying to get across what you want. Today I tried to order chicken and ended up with fish but it was only 5 kuai which is roughly 75 cents. It is pretty amazing to think about how much food costs here. Today I bought a banana from a street vendor for "ba mao", about 10 cents. Water is about the same price if you buy it at a store.

Yesterday I had another unexpected event that made me greater appreciate where I am. I was walking to We Mei to get some water with Charlie and Alison when we came upon a throng of children who seemed to be on a field trip. As they approached us they pointed in our direction and started to wave. Some of the kids would say "Hello, how are you?" We would say "Ni hao" back to them. It was a surreal experience and one that I probably won't forget after my time in Beijing. Tomorrow we are going to the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Tiananmen Square. I think I'll pull my shirt up into my collar as I've seen a bunch of Beijing people do these last couple days. In the next decade or so you'll see everyone doing it. Watch out.

Beijing 一天 （Day 1)

Our first full day in Beijing was full of surprises. After being awakened by the pounding jackhammers working on some sort of Olympic facility nearby, I witnessed what was possibly the coolest event that I have seen thus far. All of a sudden music blasted from a loudspeaker directly outside our windows and hundreds of kids come pouring out of a school. They all lined up in formation and saluted and clapped upon their teacher's instruction. Eventually four kids came out holding a Chinese flag while the Chinese National Anthem began to play. By the end, everyone was in perfect formation saluting the flag. They then slowly filed out back into the school. It was a totally unexpected event that began my first real day in China. A few of us then embarked on our mission to find some food before the language placement exam. Eventually we went into We Mei (the Chinese equivalent of Wal-Mart) since everything seemed to be closed. We even tried to get into a 24 hour restaurant but it seemed to be closed. I ended up finding some tasty sesame rolls.

After the impossible language exam and finally seeing everyone on the program, I got to sit down with 王老师 (Wang Laoshi) who taught at AU last year. Then we went to lunch and talked with Beida students for a while. I discovered that the event that I witnessed at the school is commonplace throughout Beijing and thought of as showing honor to China. Later in the day I witnessed my first bike crash when two bikes collided head on. Good thing they weren't going fast and no one got hurt. We also saw 西门 (West Gate), on which Mao Zedong drew by hand the characters above the gate, one of the most famous symbols of Beida. Later on we met some Beida students just to make some contacts and build more guanxi (relationships that will someday benefit me). Tomorrow is the beginning of the language pledge in which I signed away my right to speak English for the next 8 weeks. In the words of Dr. Sun, the program director, "We saw, we studied, we conquered." This is what we should all think of at the end of the program. I guess we'll wait and see what happens. **SOME PICTURES ARE UP SO CHECK OUT THE LINK SECTION.

Beijing!

Walking in from customs was an experience in itself. I really felt as though I was stepping foot in a completely different world. Hundreds of people were crowded up against the rail holding signs and hollering out people's names in Chinese. It was a wild scene. Finally I found the sign for my program and went off in a taxi bus with the other kids in the program. I was a little bit shocked when I found that there were no seatbelts, especially because of all of the stories I heard about people's driving skills in China. Let me tell you, it was an adventure weaving between lanes and squeezing into spaces that looked to be closed off by the giant wave of cars converging from all directions. On the way to Beida we saw the National Stadium, which will be used for the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics. It was incredible seeing the "Bird's Nest" up close with all of its twisting steel structures. Everyone (of the kids who arrived that afternoon) went to the Canting (cafeteria) for dinner. The food was great and it was nice to get to know some people on the program.

So later the real adventure started. After everyone went to bed, my roommate arrived after his 5 hour delayed flight and we decided to get internet access. The problem was we did not know the word for internet and how to explain very well what we wanted. The women at the front desk knew absolutely no English! Both of us were dead, but we we finally got her to understand (through lots of hand motions and other means). When we got back to the room we just laughed it off. It was an interesting experience and we both realized how little we actually know. Tomorrow will be our first full day and we will be able to see all of the campus. Wanan! (Good Night!)

***I will put up pictures soon when I have the chance...I am having trouble viewing the blog because it is being blocked by the firewall here. Hopefully you will be able to read my posts.

Somewhere in Canadian Air-Space: In Seat 33J

After arriving at the airport, I sat down and read my book, a first-hand account of life during the Cultural Revolution. Soon a massive tour group from Montreal sat next to me. I overheard some conversations and butchered Chinese so I decided to step in and help them out a bit. Surprisingly they were really grateful for my help. They told me a bit about their month-long trip across China and it seemed to be the same one my grandparents are going on in a month. Cool stuff. On the flight I ended up sitting next to a Beijing businessman and his daughter. We didn’t speak much but whenever I took out my Chinese book he would say to his daughter, “You should be studying so that you’ll be able to understand stuff.” I guess I’m a positive influence on people. The choice for lunch (or should I say a tasty midnight snack) was Salmon or Fillet Minion. Needless to say I chose the Fillet Minion. The ban of all fish imports from China, breaking news on CNN while I was waiting in the airport, didn’t help my choice. So guess what came with the Fillet Minion? A fortune cookie! Why would Continental put a fortune cookie in the meal? I’ll be pondering that question for the next month. I couldn’t stop myself from cracking up because Fortune Cookies don’t exist in China. Then the moment of truth came. I opened the cookie and these ominous words of wisdom appeared on a strip of paper: “The best are not only the happiest, but the happiest are usually the best.” [turn over fortune] “Learn Chinese” “Xiang-nian ni” [English translation] “Miss you.” And this is how my journey to China begins.