It has been too long. The business of life as of late, the stress of studying and preparing for classes everyday, the frustration of not learning what I want to learn, and the desire to get off campus and do things in the city have kept me from writing for quite a while. Also, I am motivated to write about novel and interesting things. When I first arrived in China, almost everything was amazing and new, but I have adapted, and crossing the street in heavy traffic, spitting on the sidewalk, and the public transit system here all feel normal now, so it is rather unusual that so many blog-worthy things have happened lately. It feels good to have a bit of this motivation back.
What can I owe it too? A small amount is to the benefit of communicating in relationships. I mean relationships of any kind between people, but in my personal situation I am indeed talking about the connotation that the word usually has in English (a meaning which it lacks in Chinese), namely romantic relationships. More so, however, I believe that I owe it to John Lennon. It wasn't just listening to old Beatles songs that made my mood better. I am just now discovering what a damn cool guy John Lennon was. I am currently a little less than halfway through the film "U.S. vs John Lennon", and I have to admit: I had no idea he was this politically active. How inspiring. Especially due to how I have been in China these past several months, mostly disconnected from political happenings in the U.S., disconnected from people who would help to motivate me, and just disconnected from conversations about politics (conversations about politics are usually just conversations about people's opinions about politics. In China, most individuals have no effect on the political system. Having a strong opinion has no benefit or advantage, and often has large disadvantages, so why bother?), politics has mostly left my mind. Certainly, every now and then I will read a news article in the New York Times or the Christian Science Monitor(recommended by Noam Chomsky!), and when I feel particularly receptive to liberal or radical news I even wait for the daily Democracy Now! show to load, but in day to day life I am usually more concerned with eating, studying, sleeping, studying, and finding fun things to do when I am done studying. Due to this gap between my current mindset and all of the political and radical things that I have been interested in for the past few years, watching this documentary about John Lennon is like a blast from the past; a little drop of amnesia elixir, reminding me that the world is big and Beijing is actually not the center of it.
Now that I have explained my motivation for writing, I suppose I might as well go ahead and tell you what life has been like recently. Well, I went to a Chinese school dance the other night, and I noticed some cultural differences. One thing is that the "DJ" (With my experience behind the DJ table, I find it difficult and a little painful to use that term to refer the OBVIOUSLY unskilled person controlling the music) clearly had no objection to playing the same song as many as three or four times throughout the night, and variety of songs available (of which I think there were six or seven) all sounded similar enough that they could conceivably just be techno remixes of each other. I was actually surprised at how quickly kids got out on the dance floor one the fast music started. Just like in the U.S., nobody wants to be the first out there, but I expected critical mass to accumulate much slower here. It seemed about the same as any high school dance in America (granted, these were Chinese graduate students). Another factor about this dance, first a bunch of fast songs were played, then a bunch of slow songs, and then the same bunch of fast songs. Aside from what I already commented about the songs all sounding suspiciously similar, the only slow songs played were waltzes. I could understand this as a cultural thing, except for the fact that hardly any of the students knew how to walks. One couple was doing some excellent salsa moves, but they were completely ignoring the rhythm of the music and just doing there own thing. I ended up teaching four or five people the basic box step waltz, and I was treated like such a hero for doing so (mostly because I was white and could speak decent Chinese. If I was a Chinese guy teaching the waltz it would be a lot more normal.) The last special observation I have to share is about the time frame. It went like this: The dance started at 7:30, and it ended at around 9:30. For those of you who may have trouble remembering being in your early twenties, I will paint a clearer picture. Most American youth have not even begun to prepare to dance by 9:30. Out the door at 10pm would seem early to many of the people that I know form college in America. This was a night where I really wish that I had my DJ equipment, and I would just rock that floor.
Dancing is not all that I have been doing of late, however. Looking has been a primary activity for the past week or so. For what, one may ask? When decided to live in a city (as I have done), it is usually convenient to have a home. As a young foreigner without much savings, a cheap apartment is exactly what I am looking for. I found one today that I like quite a bit. It is in the Jiao dao kou (交道口） area of Beijing, which is pretty centrally located, near the subway, near convenient bus stations, and a neighbor hood that is kind of hip, not to mention my favorite theater in town, home to both the Beijing Actors Workshop and Beijing Improv. It has two bedrooms, and is going for 4000 RMB per month. Or perhaps I should say it went for 4000 RMB per month, as I just payed the deposit today. Not gonna lie: I am a little worried about two things. First, I don't have a roommate yet. I have two possibilities, but neither has given me a definite yes. The other, I was only able to meet with the agent not the landlord, so I haven't actually signed the contract. Hmmmm. I didn't think about this until Meng Lili told me that I was stupid, but now I am a little worried that I just got scammed big time. I didn't get any vibes or anything, and everything seemed pretty legit, but worrying won't do any good until Monday when I give 'housing agent lady' a call to see whether or not she pick up her phone. If not, then I just learned an expensive (and painful) lesson.
Just a pre-warning here: Anyone not comfortable with reading about facts that are (or should be) obvious to everyone, and blunt and honest conversations about sex and private parts may want to skip the this paragraph. Warning over.Returning from meeting with the agent and paying the deposit is by far my most interesting conversation with a taxi driver to date. (although just the other day I had an encounter with an ethnic Manchu cabbie who told me that his ancestors were banner men in the Ming Dynasty. Kind cool!) It all started with that all too natural male impulse. As I got in his cab, I scratched my crotch and rearranged... well, I think everyone reading this is old enough to know what I was rearranging. I noticed something was funny when I noticed him eying my crotch. It started out innocently enough: he asked me if I wore underwear. I said no, and although it took a while for me to actually explain to him that I meant I did not find it comfortable, and I found no sufficiently convincing reason to wear it, I eventually made myself understood. He then asked how old I was and I replied that I was only 21, still a child. After having discussed our underwear habits for five minutes, he must of felt fairly comfortable, because the conversation kept expanding from there (get the pun? hehe). He started to ask me if I had sex, how big I was (I don't mean height in cm), how long it takes me to... well, finish, and similar questions all relating to sex and genitals. I found one of the more humorous questions to be when he asked "舒服吗？", which translates to "Comfortable?" (with the implied context being having sex. Chinese is big on implied things and context) Well, comfortable is not the first word I would use to describe the major motivation in life for young people with hormones around the world, but I eventually managed to portray the fact that although sex was enjoyable, in my opinion neither "fun" nor "comfortable" really described it very actually. He went on to ask if my girlfriend was a virgin, if my first time was with a virgin, and various other questions, all of which I am sure that I am the only student from CET who would understand (I think I am the only CET student whose Chinese vocabulary includes the ability to describe sexual organs, virginity, and sexual orgasm). In fact, I am getting a very humorous image in my head imagining some of my classmates in a similar situation, trying to guess from context what the word 处女 or 射 means. Arriving back home, I paid him his money and went on my way, wondering when the next time would be that I would have that open and relaxed a conversation about such private, personal, and intimate matters with a complete stranger (all I know about him is that he is a Beijing taxi driver, and he has been married for six or seven years).
Meng Lili and I got together for dinner tonight, and we went to a place of her choosing, a Mongolian restaurant near 民族大学, which might be translated at Ethnicity University. Most of the students there are ethnic minorities, and there are a lot od ethnic minority restaurants in the area. After dinner we walked around the 民族大学 campus, and we discovered some kind of community dance. According to Lili they were doing an Tibetan dance. I sort of wanted to join in and learn it, but my mood wasn't right, and jumping into it just seemed wrong. Lili and I ended up talking though, and it was a good thing we did. There are a lot of cultural differences between the U.S. and China, and to make this kind of a cross-cultural relationship work, communication skills have to be at a maximum. The things we say, how we say them, and the things we don't say are interpreted completely different ways from what we intend, just because we send out these messages from one cultural lens, but they are interpreted my a lens with different standards and norms. I need to display more appreciation for her (she feels like she is in second place compared to juggling, a complain I never thought I would hear), and all of her making fun of me and teasing about flirting with other with boys is apparently very common in Chinese couples. There were several times during the evening when if she was an American girl, I would have been sure we would be talking about breaking up within minutes, but I guess to Chinese girls complaining about how "you don't understand me" and "I need to look out for future prospects" don't have the same meaning they might have in an American couple. I gotta wonder: after working with this, what is it gonna be like dating an American girl again (something I do plan on doing again eventually)?
My summer plans are almost set. Apartment is almost secured, the visa situation is almost taken care of, the job situation is looking good, and my application to the acrobatics school is almost complete. It is, however, past midnight here in the Northern Capital, and I need to get up early tomorrow to buy munchies and drinks for the bike hike along the big wall. 晚安.
May 8, 2009
Apr 11, 2009
Spring Break '09: Big Buddha, Big Mountain... I want to say a third big too, but I can't think of a good one
It is Saturday evening, and I am sitting in an inernet cafe in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, waiting for the lastest episode of heores to load, and for my cellphone to recharge. It has been a fun week. I'm not gonna lie: there have been times where I felt lonely, or bored, or frustrated. I am still glad I made to decision to travel alone though, since I have not gotten close enough to people on my CET program that I would want to spend a week in their company, comprisiming my freedom to choose where I want to go. On the whole, it has been a pretty enjoyable week. What have I done the past seven days? Let me think for a minute...
* I saw the big buddha in Leshan (I quick internet search just revealed to me that this is NOT the world's biggest Buddha statue, but it was still of an impressive size)
* Decided that my favorite bridge in the world is located just to the South of the big Buddha (pictures will come up once I am back in Beijing)
* Made friends with a Uigher boy who led me to an umbrella shop (don't worry, it gets stranger...)
* Climbed all the way up the holy mountain of Emei in one day, covering a little over 30 kilometers on foot, plus climbing to a height of 2,500 meters.
* Chatted with a Buddhist monk, and heard about how carefree the life of a Buddhist monk is.
* Observed an incredible sunris through the clouds with a bunch of Chinese college students at 3000 meters, shortly followed by observing a bunch Chinese college student starting a giant snowball fight at 3000 meters.
* While decending from the summit of Emei Shan, I randomly bumped into two classmates from Beijing, and procceeded to hike down the mountain with them. Wow. What a small world. (and it is hard to say that in a country with this many people!)
* Monkeys. HOLY SHIT were there monkeys! There were times I was amused by monkey theft of other people's snacks, times I was afriad that big mother monkeys were gonna maul me, times I wanted to cuddle babt monkeys, and the time where a monkey jumped on my head in an attempt to get a snack out of my pocket (I'm not sure what he was thinking. Maybe is was a diversionary tactic to help his buddy get the food).
* A cool Daoist temple. I have now seens dozens of Buddhist temples, but this is the first full Daoist temple I have seen, with minimal, if any, Buddhist influence.
* Chengdu does indeed have pretty girls. A combination of clothing style, laid-back attitude, and facial structure?
* Sichuan Opera has a lot more potential than Beijing Opera. Balanceing a bowl of fire on my head while sliding under a bench is now a new goal of mine, and is using my hands to make shadow puppets.
* What is cuter than a banby panda? A dozen baby pandas all in one area playing, laying on their backs munching bamboo off of their cute, fat bellies, amd climbing trees. No wonder the Chinese name means "big bear cat."
* I gave a Buddha statue an offering of fruit. It is really common here, but the strawberries I gave him were fairly mushed and they didn't look very tasty anymore. But hey, a statue doens't need to worry about the consistency of his food, right?
* I met two recent graduates from Minnesota travelling the East, one lady from Australia with pink hair, a lip piercing, and tatoos, and a British girl who likes foreign food, architecture, and animals.
* I went to a yoga class in Chengdu, and it felt awesome. My legs still hurt from climbing the mountain, though.
* Almost fell into a Chinese toilet
* Considered the consequences of streaking Tiananment square while yelling things the Chinese government would prefer it's citizens not to hear. ...I decided that the consequences of this might be a bit too dire for me to do at the end of study abroad (although I would certainly make international news, as well as have a fairly unique chance to document how the Chinese police treat foreign 'political undesirables'), but I will certainly try to do it if I find out that my death is imminent (dur to fatal ilness, enemies in high places, or whatever).
* Continued to contemplate my SIP, with out a final plan. I have come up with two more topics though: Cultural exchange between tibetans and mongolians (did you know that Mongolians are the one's who MADE the Da'hl-ai La.ma?), and working at a youth hostel in Beijing this summer. I have decided that I do NOT want to do Chinese acrobat school as a SIP, although I still hope to go for a month on my own to learn staff spinning, and/or balance board, and/or meteor.
* I miss Meng Lili a lot. I thought about her a lot while I was climbing the mountain (other than enjoy the incredible scenery, I had very little to do but think), and she seems like just the right amount of everything. The right amount grown up and mature and the right amount playful and childish. The right amount seriously motivated to make the world a better place, and the right amount naively dreaming for a perfect little life. The right amount strong and independent and the right amount of needing/wanting me by her side. I am really glad we ended up meeting.
* I visited the Tibetan section of town, and I was amazed by how many people there can't speak Chinese. I learned some basic Tibetan from three monks who were sitting on the sidewalk, and I bought an outfit of traditional Tibetan clothing.
* I realized that I can understand the Sichuan dialect (in Chengdu, anyway). It must be more similar to Standard Mandarin than I thought, and my language skills must have made a signifigant improvement since this semester started.
* I finally learned my lesson: foreign food here usually sucks. The pasta wasn't good. The burrito wasn't that great either. Other than the dominoes pizza I had with Jamie, the foreign food has usually been a let down. I should just save up my cravings until I get back to the US, and then eat everything in one week and get really fat. Well, maybe I'll just save my cravings until I get back to the US.
I am flying back to Beijing at 8am tomorrow, which, in retrospect, is a few hours earlier than I should have arranged it. :( Oh well. I have about 250 kwuai left in my wallet, which means I have used up most of the money that I saved during the first half of this quarter and my week of working at American House. But I will work more and earn more, so it is no biggy. I have to say, I am really looking forward to geting back to the capital. Having a good shower, a shave (it has been a week and I look pretty scruffy), and some good old Beijing-style gai fan (a dish served on top of rice). I am also itching to practice juggling again. When I left Beijing I had just started to practice using five balls, and I am making progress. I am still a long ways away from actually being able to juggle five, but I am getting more used to throwing them, and I can catch a few. Little by little...
Pics will come once I am back in Bejing.
* I saw the big buddha in Leshan (I quick internet search just revealed to me that this is NOT the world's biggest Buddha statue, but it was still of an impressive size)
* Decided that my favorite bridge in the world is located just to the South of the big Buddha (pictures will come up once I am back in Beijing)
* Made friends with a Uigher boy who led me to an umbrella shop (don't worry, it gets stranger...)
* Climbed all the way up the holy mountain of Emei in one day, covering a little over 30 kilometers on foot, plus climbing to a height of 2,500 meters.
* Chatted with a Buddhist monk, and heard about how carefree the life of a Buddhist monk is.
* Observed an incredible sunris through the clouds with a bunch of Chinese college students at 3000 meters, shortly followed by observing a bunch Chinese college student starting a giant snowball fight at 3000 meters.
* While decending from the summit of Emei Shan, I randomly bumped into two classmates from Beijing, and procceeded to hike down the mountain with them. Wow. What a small world. (and it is hard to say that in a country with this many people!)
* Monkeys. HOLY SHIT were there monkeys! There were times I was amused by monkey theft of other people's snacks, times I was afriad that big mother monkeys were gonna maul me, times I wanted to cuddle babt monkeys, and the time where a monkey jumped on my head in an attempt to get a snack out of my pocket (I'm not sure what he was thinking. Maybe is was a diversionary tactic to help his buddy get the food).
* A cool Daoist temple. I have now seens dozens of Buddhist temples, but this is the first full Daoist temple I have seen, with minimal, if any, Buddhist influence.
* Chengdu does indeed have pretty girls. A combination of clothing style, laid-back attitude, and facial structure?
* Sichuan Opera has a lot more potential than Beijing Opera. Balanceing a bowl of fire on my head while sliding under a bench is now a new goal of mine, and is using my hands to make shadow puppets.
* What is cuter than a banby panda? A dozen baby pandas all in one area playing, laying on their backs munching bamboo off of their cute, fat bellies, amd climbing trees. No wonder the Chinese name means "big bear cat."
* I gave a Buddha statue an offering of fruit. It is really common here, but the strawberries I gave him were fairly mushed and they didn't look very tasty anymore. But hey, a statue doens't need to worry about the consistency of his food, right?
* I met two recent graduates from Minnesota travelling the East, one lady from Australia with pink hair, a lip piercing, and tatoos, and a British girl who likes foreign food, architecture, and animals.
* I went to a yoga class in Chengdu, and it felt awesome. My legs still hurt from climbing the mountain, though.
* Almost fell into a Chinese toilet
* Considered the consequences of streaking Tiananment square while yelling things the Chinese government would prefer it's citizens not to hear. ...I decided that the consequences of this might be a bit too dire for me to do at the end of study abroad (although I would certainly make international news, as well as have a fairly unique chance to document how the Chinese police treat foreign 'political undesirables'), but I will certainly try to do it if I find out that my death is imminent (dur to fatal ilness, enemies in high places, or whatever).
* Continued to contemplate my SIP, with out a final plan. I have come up with two more topics though: Cultural exchange between tibetans and mongolians (did you know that Mongolians are the one's who MADE the Da'hl-ai La.ma?), and working at a youth hostel in Beijing this summer. I have decided that I do NOT want to do Chinese acrobat school as a SIP, although I still hope to go for a month on my own to learn staff spinning, and/or balance board, and/or meteor.
* I miss Meng Lili a lot. I thought about her a lot while I was climbing the mountain (other than enjoy the incredible scenery, I had very little to do but think), and she seems like just the right amount of everything. The right amount grown up and mature and the right amount playful and childish. The right amount seriously motivated to make the world a better place, and the right amount naively dreaming for a perfect little life. The right amount strong and independent and the right amount of needing/wanting me by her side. I am really glad we ended up meeting.
* I visited the Tibetan section of town, and I was amazed by how many people there can't speak Chinese. I learned some basic Tibetan from three monks who were sitting on the sidewalk, and I bought an outfit of traditional Tibetan clothing.
* I realized that I can understand the Sichuan dialect (in Chengdu, anyway). It must be more similar to Standard Mandarin than I thought, and my language skills must have made a signifigant improvement since this semester started.
* I finally learned my lesson: foreign food here usually sucks. The pasta wasn't good. The burrito wasn't that great either. Other than the dominoes pizza I had with Jamie, the foreign food has usually been a let down. I should just save up my cravings until I get back to the US, and then eat everything in one week and get really fat. Well, maybe I'll just save my cravings until I get back to the US.
I am flying back to Beijing at 8am tomorrow, which, in retrospect, is a few hours earlier than I should have arranged it. :( Oh well. I have about 250 kwuai left in my wallet, which means I have used up most of the money that I saved during the first half of this quarter and my week of working at American House. But I will work more and earn more, so it is no biggy. I have to say, I am really looking forward to geting back to the capital. Having a good shower, a shave (it has been a week and I look pretty scruffy), and some good old Beijing-style gai fan (a dish served on top of rice). I am also itching to practice juggling again. When I left Beijing I had just started to practice using five balls, and I am making progress. I am still a long ways away from actually being able to juggle five, but I am getting more used to throwing them, and I can catch a few. Little by little...
Pics will come once I am back in Bejing.
Mar 31, 2009
I sent an email, and I am lazy
I am such a lazy son of bitch, I am just gonna copy and paste an email I sent to my best bed, and consider that a real update on my blog. Keep in mind that unless you are Jamie, you might now get some of the references in here, but that's okay. Just go with the flow.
开始！
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Yeah, that last blog entry way a bit of a bummer. I was feeling pretty out of it that day. Fortunately it was just a day or two day slump. What has been on and off annoying me is my lack of time to do things. However, once I cut the daily exercise out of my schedule I do okay with time. It's no lie to say that I stay pretty busy. I usually put in between one and a half hours and two hours of studying/homework each weekday. On Monday CET has a kung fu class that I have been going to, and after that I go to the Beijing juggling club. I teach an 一对一 English class on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and two on Sunday evenings. I also started taking a modern dance dance class with a Chinese company (really cool, it has been years since I have done modern dance! Not since high school, really.), which is on Thursday. With a test every Friday morning, the afternoon is free, so I end up spending it doing that weekend's homework, or hanging out with 张强. 张强 and I have gotten together two or three times since the beginning of this semester, and having a college student friend outside of the CET program really helps me to feel grounded in the city. (as if I don't have enough other stuff going on. Ha!)
Every now and then I get frustrated with the classes, usually on days when I have a commitment in the evening so I feel rushed for time, and days that class feels particularly useless. I believe that am indeed using the same book that you used last semester, the red one. Although I am occasionally dissatisfied with the practicality of learning about AIDS and world population problems, it is usually okay. The business class (and to a lesser extent the 一对一) really gets to me though. The teacher for the business class is just terrible. Every day in class we just read through the text and a list of words. I am not kidding when I say that half of the class is her saying a word and the students repeating it. Another factor is that so much of the stuff in that class is the kind of thing I would use in a business conference, or two companies negotiating prices, but these are things that I really don't see myself using. The 一对一 classes were fine back during fall semester, but now they feel like a waste. If I have questions about the grammar or stuff it is great, but I usually understand the stuff fine (it is wonderful how grammatically simple this language is, right?). In the fall it provided an opportunity to speak Chinese for a while in just free conversation, but now I know plenty of Chinese people out in the city, and I speak Chinese with the roommates and other CET students. Especially on days when I decide I want to exercise, I don't want to go to 一对一.
I think the combination of the tight schedule gives me the desire for more time, and the perceived uselessness of some of my classes really makes me wish that I didn't have to take those classes, resulting in a bit of simmering rebellion.
Meng Lili and I are doing pretty good. She is really romantic, and I think sometimes she wishes that I was more romantic too, but I am gonna planning a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant over in Chaoyang (that's on the East side, if you have been away from Beijing too long to remember. Hehehe. 我跟你开玩笑), and then go see a vidoe/dance performance in the 798 art district. I figured that I should do something really nice, since last time we got together it felt a little akward, and I am going away for a week for Spring break. Having a Chinese girlfriend really makes me realize what a fantastic resource TheBeijinger.com is. Every time I wanna do something cool with Meng Lili I just search TheBeijinger.com for an event on that day, and there is ALWAYS something going on. Ethnic Mongolian folk music, Beijing Improv shows, an environmental saving-energy party... It's a good method. I have learned a few new words from her too. Ya know how when you are hanging out with Chinese people, every you tend to pick up a few new terms or phrases every now and then, right? It's kinda cool.
You definitely influenced my flirtation skills and habits while in Beijing. I was never that outgoing in America. Now I need to constantly reel myself in whenever I find myself with a really strong desire to flirt with {insert pretty girl, Chinese or foreign, here}.
My neighbor is pretty cool, so we end up hanging a lot. It is nice to be right next to him, 'cause he is relaxes and fun. He likes to go to bars and drink and dance, but he doens't live for getting wasted. It's a good 情况.
By the way, my bits of Chinglish here remind me, you should hear some of the people here talk! A few of the girls say 'like' all the time when they are speaking Chinese. As in: "这个周末我想去，like， 一个新的酒吧"。 I get a kick out of it.
I have a goal: I want to juggle five balls. I just started working on it. I am a long ways away, but I can already see my progress. I also did some fire staff twirling last weekend, outside of Obiwan. A buddy put a clip on facebook. Check it out if you get the chance. It is super simple stuff, but it was fun!
Spring break I am heading to Sichuan. To see the big Buddha in Leshan was my first goal, but when I learned that one of China's holy mountains was right next to Leshan I got put on my plan too. It it only about an hour bus ride from Leshan to Emei Shan, and I hear the monkeys on the mountain are absolutely wild, stealing cameras and drinks from hikers, and even not letting you pass if you don't give them a 'toll'. It is weird that I am totally hyped to be mugged by shaggy yellow-haired primates? I also wanna check out the panda breeding center, and spend a few days in Chendu, getting a feel for the city. I am flying out of Beijing on Saturday morning. Working on a regular basis is kinda nice, 'cause now I have the cash to spend on a plane ticket. :)
I am indeed still with learn first, doing 3-4 classes a week, pulling 260 a class. My spending habits have gone up like crazy this quarter, and I must be taking cabs half as often as Steph now! My students are cool though. I only have two, and one of them I have 2-3 classes a week. His English is pretty good, and he is going to high school in America in the fall, so we talk about American dating, youth culture, school, and that kind of stuff a lot. Pretty easy, and really fun. I love getting paid to do something I enjoy. That is the best kind of work, hand down.
My summer plans aren't finalized yet. But I am thinking about going to that acrobatic school south of 4th ring road. I figure that I am young, and if I don't spend at least a little time pursuing my dream then I will regret it later. I also emailed Madeline Chu to ask about SIP stuff, and she said that she thinks doing a bunch of research and interviews with the people at the acrobatic school would be a great SIP. I asked her if she could be my SIP adviser, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet, and it had been like two weeks. :( If the acrobatic school works as a SIP, then I will probably go for those study abroad SIP grants too. If going to the acrobatic school doesn't pan out, I am still at a loss for SIP ideas, and I am just gonna find a place to rent and hang out/play/work in Beijing for the summer until Fall quarter starts. I was worried about visa stuff, but a friend from juggling club is opening a business in about two weeks (a bicycle and juggling supplies shop), and she says that it would be pretty easy for her to list me as her employee. I'd like to even really work for her, but I don't know what my situation will be yet. With teaching English and my still fairly cheap lifestyle, I could make it work. It would also give me the time to do so many things that I have started doing, or have wanted to do in Beijing, like dance class, martial arts class, practice juggling more, go to community lectures/classes, read and research for SIP, read and research my personal interests, check out cool events, volunteer at NGOs, spend time with local friends, respond to some of those adds looking for foreigners to be in movies/adds, etc.
Wow, that took a while! I am gonna to teach an English class now. Good luck on your 期中考试!
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开始！
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Yeah, that last blog entry way a bit of a bummer. I was feeling pretty out of it that day. Fortunately it was just a day or two day slump. What has been on and off annoying me is my lack of time to do things. However, once I cut the daily exercise out of my schedule I do okay with time. It's no lie to say that I stay pretty busy. I usually put in between one and a half hours and two hours of studying/homework each weekday. On Monday CET has a kung fu class that I have been going to, and after that I go to the Beijing juggling club. I teach an 一对一 English class on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and two on Sunday evenings. I also started taking a modern dance dance class with a Chinese company (really cool, it has been years since I have done modern dance! Not since high school, really.), which is on Thursday. With a test every Friday morning, the afternoon is free, so I end up spending it doing that weekend's homework, or hanging out with 张强. 张强 and I have gotten together two or three times since the beginning of this semester, and having a college student friend outside of the CET program really helps me to feel grounded in the city. (as if I don't have enough other stuff going on. Ha!)
Every now and then I get frustrated with the classes, usually on days when I have a commitment in the evening so I feel rushed for time, and days that class feels particularly useless. I believe that am indeed using the same book that you used last semester, the red one. Although I am occasionally dissatisfied with the practicality of learning about AIDS and world population problems, it is usually okay. The business class (and to a lesser extent the 一对一) really gets to me though. The teacher for the business class is just terrible. Every day in class we just read through the text and a list of words. I am not kidding when I say that half of the class is her saying a word and the students repeating it. Another factor is that so much of the stuff in that class is the kind of thing I would use in a business conference, or two companies negotiating prices, but these are things that I really don't see myself using. The 一对一 classes were fine back during fall semester, but now they feel like a waste. If I have questions about the grammar or stuff it is great, but I usually understand the stuff fine (it is wonderful how grammatically simple this language is, right?). In the fall it provided an opportunity to speak Chinese for a while in just free conversation, but now I know plenty of Chinese people out in the city, and I speak Chinese with the roommates and other CET students. Especially on days when I decide I want to exercise, I don't want to go to 一对一.
I think the combination of the tight schedule gives me the desire for more time, and the perceived uselessness of some of my classes really makes me wish that I didn't have to take those classes, resulting in a bit of simmering rebellion.
Meng Lili and I are doing pretty good. She is really romantic, and I think sometimes she wishes that I was more romantic too, but I am gonna planning a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant over in Chaoyang (that's on the East side, if you have been away from Beijing too long to remember. Hehehe. 我跟你开玩笑), and then go see a vidoe/dance performance in the 798 art district. I figured that I should do something really nice, since last time we got together it felt a little akward, and I am going away for a week for Spring break. Having a Chinese girlfriend really makes me realize what a fantastic resource TheBeijinger.com is. Every time I wanna do something cool with Meng Lili I just search TheBeijinger.com for an event on that day, and there is ALWAYS something going on. Ethnic Mongolian folk music, Beijing Improv shows, an environmental saving-energy party... It's a good method. I have learned a few new words from her too. Ya know how when you are hanging out with Chinese people, every you tend to pick up a few new terms or phrases every now and then, right? It's kinda cool.
You definitely influenced my flirtation skills and habits while in Beijing. I was never that outgoing in America. Now I need to constantly reel myself in whenever I find myself with a really strong desire to flirt with {insert pretty girl, Chinese or foreign, here}.
My neighbor is pretty cool, so we end up hanging a lot. It is nice to be right next to him, 'cause he is relaxes and fun. He likes to go to bars and drink and dance, but he doens't live for getting wasted. It's a good 情况.
By the way, my bits of Chinglish here remind me, you should hear some of the people here talk! A few of the girls say 'like' all the time when they are speaking Chinese. As in: "这个周末我想去，like， 一个新的酒吧"。 I get a kick out of it.
I have a goal: I want to juggle five balls. I just started working on it. I am a long ways away, but I can already see my progress. I also did some fire staff twirling last weekend, outside of Obiwan. A buddy put a clip on facebook. Check it out if you get the chance. It is super simple stuff, but it was fun!
Spring break I am heading to Sichuan. To see the big Buddha in Leshan was my first goal, but when I learned that one of China's holy mountains was right next to Leshan I got put on my plan too. It it only about an hour bus ride from Leshan to Emei Shan, and I hear the monkeys on the mountain are absolutely wild, stealing cameras and drinks from hikers, and even not letting you pass if you don't give them a 'toll'. It is weird that I am totally hyped to be mugged by shaggy yellow-haired primates? I also wanna check out the panda breeding center, and spend a few days in Chendu, getting a feel for the city. I am flying out of Beijing on Saturday morning. Working on a regular basis is kinda nice, 'cause now I have the cash to spend on a plane ticket. :)
I am indeed still with learn first, doing 3-4 classes a week, pulling 260 a class. My spending habits have gone up like crazy this quarter, and I must be taking cabs half as often as Steph now! My students are cool though. I only have two, and one of them I have 2-3 classes a week. His English is pretty good, and he is going to high school in America in the fall, so we talk about American dating, youth culture, school, and that kind of stuff a lot. Pretty easy, and really fun. I love getting paid to do something I enjoy. That is the best kind of work, hand down.
My summer plans aren't finalized yet. But I am thinking about going to that acrobatic school south of 4th ring road. I figure that I am young, and if I don't spend at least a little time pursuing my dream then I will regret it later. I also emailed Madeline Chu to ask about SIP stuff, and she said that she thinks doing a bunch of research and interviews with the people at the acrobatic school would be a great SIP. I asked her if she could be my SIP adviser, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet, and it had been like two weeks. :( If the acrobatic school works as a SIP, then I will probably go for those study abroad SIP grants too. If going to the acrobatic school doesn't pan out, I am still at a loss for SIP ideas, and I am just gonna find a place to rent and hang out/play/work in Beijing for the summer until Fall quarter starts. I was worried about visa stuff, but a friend from juggling club is opening a business in about two weeks (a bicycle and juggling supplies shop), and she says that it would be pretty easy for her to list me as her employee. I'd like to even really work for her, but I don't know what my situation will be yet. With teaching English and my still fairly cheap lifestyle, I could make it work. It would also give me the time to do so many things that I have started doing, or have wanted to do in Beijing, like dance class, martial arts class, practice juggling more, go to community lectures/classes, read and research for SIP, read and research my personal interests, check out cool events, volunteer at NGOs, spend time with local friends, respond to some of those adds looking for foreigners to be in movies/adds, etc.
Wow, that took a while! I am gonna to teach an English class now. Good luck on your 期中考试!
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Mar 23, 2009
Disatisfaction. I am upset.
I am not terribly pleased with my academic program at the moment. I know that CET is about cramming a lot of knowledge into my head so that I have a good foundation for studying Chinese in the future, but I have my own goals for Chinese studying. My goals... well, are mostly already accomplished. I am able to communicate in Chinese with Chinese people, using no (or minimal) English. Every time I have a conversation with a Chinese friend I hear them use a word I don't know, and I want to add those words to a list study that, ensuring that the things I study are actually what people talk about. However, concerning the vocabulary I am actually studying now, very little of it is useful to me. I readily admit, there are a few words that are good, but the majority of the vocabulary in my class are not things that I am going to use. We are studying subjects that I am not going to talk about. I don't even have conversations about AIDS, lung cancer, or old folks homes in English, much less in Chinese.
That is just one factor of it though. The other is time. I don't like my schedule the way it is. Specifically, I would prefer less time spent studying, and more time with friends. There are friends in the city that I have wanted to get together with since this semester started over a month ago, and I still haven't had the ability to see them. There are half a dozen people outside of China that I want to skype chat with, but I have spoken to only one of them since starting my spring semester. That conversation (just last night) made me realize just how easy it is/will be to lose the friends that I was so close to in the past, and there are some people that I really don't want to lose. And Beijing still has so many parks and museums that I still want to see. Every week there are live bands, or lectures, or community clubs that I want to go to, but EVERY WEEK I am instead stuck studying a bunch of words, many of which I have no desire to learn.
I like the three part combination of study, work, and play, but right now the time I have to play is not enough, and the time spent studying is too much. (Working 6-8 hours a week is just about right for now) There are so many more things I want to do in this city, but every day I spend learning half of a new lesson. And it is not even that I spend that time studying, but more that I don't have to time/energy/motivation afterward to study the words I feel I need in order to round out and fill in my vocabulary. I seriously have a few lists of words (of food things, of political issues that I would like to be able to discuss, of words that are useful in personal relationships [trust, commitment, and the like]) that I want to learn on my own, but I am so busy being force-fed the words from the text book that by the time I am done learning those each day I am sick of studying, and would rather just zone out with a movie or on facebook rather than learn more new words. I like to think of myself as a person of impressive capabilities (obviously not true all the time, as any reference to reality will prove), but there is a limit to how many words I can (want to?) learn and retain in a single day.
I am so ready for spring break. I am gonna climb a holy Buddhist mountain in Sichuan and hug a panda. I don't want to be a full-time student anymore. I would rather be a part-time student. Rant over.
That is just one factor of it though. The other is time. I don't like my schedule the way it is. Specifically, I would prefer less time spent studying, and more time with friends. There are friends in the city that I have wanted to get together with since this semester started over a month ago, and I still haven't had the ability to see them. There are half a dozen people outside of China that I want to skype chat with, but I have spoken to only one of them since starting my spring semester. That conversation (just last night) made me realize just how easy it is/will be to lose the friends that I was so close to in the past, and there are some people that I really don't want to lose. And Beijing still has so many parks and museums that I still want to see. Every week there are live bands, or lectures, or community clubs that I want to go to, but EVERY WEEK I am instead stuck studying a bunch of words, many of which I have no desire to learn.
I like the three part combination of study, work, and play, but right now the time I have to play is not enough, and the time spent studying is too much. (Working 6-8 hours a week is just about right for now) There are so many more things I want to do in this city, but every day I spend learning half of a new lesson. And it is not even that I spend that time studying, but more that I don't have to time/energy/motivation afterward to study the words I feel I need in order to round out and fill in my vocabulary. I seriously have a few lists of words (of food things, of political issues that I would like to be able to discuss, of words that are useful in personal relationships [trust, commitment, and the like]) that I want to learn on my own, but I am so busy being force-fed the words from the text book that by the time I am done learning those each day I am sick of studying, and would rather just zone out with a movie or on facebook rather than learn more new words. I like to think of myself as a person of impressive capabilities (obviously not true all the time, as any reference to reality will prove), but there is a limit to how many words I can (want to?) learn and retain in a single day.
I am so ready for spring break. I am gonna climb a holy Buddhist mountain in Sichuan and hug a panda. I don't want to be a full-time student anymore. I would rather be a part-time student. Rant over.
Mar 17, 2009
Kung fu, dance, and other things I do when not studying
Life has been busy. Actually, that is a bit of an understatement. The only reason I have the time to write this update is because one of my students decided that he didn't want to have English class tonight. The longer I stay in Beijing, the more friends I make, and the more things I want to do, so the academic schedule becomes more and more restricting on my life. However, although there are opportunities for activities and community classes every week I can't go to, I am still managing to find time for a few of the most important things.
So, CET (the academic program I am in Beijing via) has these extra evening classes. They are optional, and focus on various cultural things specific to China, like calligraphy, ping pong (a big thing here. Huge really. It is the national sport.), Chinese painting, and Wu Shu. Wu Shu is different from many other martial arts that I have practiced, in that many of the martial arts I have practiced can be used in a combat situation. Now, I am sure that a devoted Wu Shu practitioner will tell you other wise, but from my experience (personal experience, and research) Wu Shu has considerable less which can be applied in a fight that, say, Judo, Karate, Jeet Kune Do, Escrima, or a dozen other martial arts. It is kind of like fighting moves were taken, made prettier, and then strung together in a choreographed dance. That being said, I get to use a staff, two knives (don't worry mom, there not sharpened), and to pretty jumps while at Wu Shu class. Although there is a minimal amount I am learning that I will be able to use next time I spar (or in the eventuality that a am attacked and need to use my body to fight), the class is still enjoyable. It is closest thing to a martial art that I have done steadily since last summer when I had Jeet Kune Do classes in Kalamazoo. Also, when I asked the teacher what style we were doing, his answer roughly meant "Were kind of doing Shaolin long fist," which is at least reputable as a cultural thing, even if I am not learning combat applicable techniques. Another nice part of it is the opportunity for other people to see my MAD FIGHTIN' SKILLZZ! I mean, I don't show off or anything, but the teacher has a good enough eye that he can tell that I know what I am doing with my body, and that I have more control over it that the other students. Every now and then the teacher will have one student do a section of a form alone, and he picked me the other night. I was pretty happy for the opportunity, since it was a form with a knife in each hand. Going through it, a lot of it felt really dancey, and I definitely heard some "oooohh"s when I did the jump in the form (not gonna lie. That kind of recognition of my abilities from my peers felt pretty good). It is interesting to watch some of the other male students, and how their faces get so serious, like they are trying to fight off a bunch of terrorists with Bruce Willis or something. Comparing that to how I feel when I do the form brings such a contrast, since I am not even trying to make it a fighting thing, I am just going with the flow of the moves. Really more of a kung fu dance.
But speaking of dance, my first chance to do some modern dance in about two years is just around the corner. I found the Beijing Dance LDTX Modern Dance Company online, and I am planning to check it out. The classes are all in Chinese, and from what I got from a phone call, although some of the teachers were trained in the west, it has distinctly Chinese elements, making it different from modern dance that I would take in the US. The best part is that CET will reimburse students up to 70 RMB a week for cultural activities, and I just got the stamp of approval today for these classes, meaning that I get free modern dance classes in Beijing until the end of the semester. WOOHOO!!
Although I end up spending more time that I want to every day preparing for the next days lesson, I recently started exercising every day. I returned to my old standby for an extensive list of stretches, combined with various simple strength-building exercises (sit-ups, push-ups, the basics) and ballet/kung fu style leg stretches for 45 minutes each afternoon. Not gonna lie: it feels good to get back into my body. Yesterday I even did my first front-handspring since arriving in China. It has been more than six months since doing gymnastics, and it felt SO damn good to do some again.
Another thing I have somehow managed to find time for it hanging out with Meng Lili. I suppose it doesn't take a genius to guess that if I am gonna go through the hassle of having a girlfriend whom I can only %70 communicate with, I am gonna make it a priority to spend some time with her. This weekend got together in the afternoon to walk through 圆明园 (Yuán míng yuán, the Old Summer Palace). I really enjoyed that place, since I learned about the history behind it during my Sophomore year at K, and it holds such symbolic importance to China. In 1860, during the second opium war, the British and French destroyed the Summer Palace, and the Chinese government has left it as ruins ever since to serve as a reminder of Western barbarism, imperialism, and to remind people how much China was humiliated and made to suffer during the hundred years of shame (a century of time preceding the CCP's revolution in the mid-20th century, during which China was subjected to foreign rule by Japan, America, and the European Powers). It was really cool to look at fallen pillars and the remains of pavilions, knowing that a palace had stood there long ago. After strolling thought the Old Summer Palace and getting some dinner, Meng Lili and I watched 非诚勿扰/If You Are The One The English title has nothing to do with the Chinese title, actually. An accurately translated name might be something like "Dishonest, But Not Hasselsome." Of course, that doesn't sound nearly as cute and romantic. It was a really nice movie though, so I definitely recommend that you check it out.
Believe it or not, I am wiped. I am gonna get some rest. Chinese class, kung fu class, juggling club (still awesome! I learned how to toss two balls behind by back), working as an English teacher, spending time with Meng Lili (only on weekends, it is too difficulty during the week), and soon to have dance class... I feel really ready to be done with full-time school. If I had my choice I would just graduate right now, and then continue my education on a part-time basis, so that I could satisfy mjavascript:void(0)y thirst for knowledge while allowing myself enough time for other passions, hobbies, and desires.
EDIT: I forget to mention, but you totally need to check out my new favorite cartoon. It is called "Three Monks".
So, CET (the academic program I am in Beijing via) has these extra evening classes. They are optional, and focus on various cultural things specific to China, like calligraphy, ping pong (a big thing here. Huge really. It is the national sport.), Chinese painting, and Wu Shu. Wu Shu is different from many other martial arts that I have practiced, in that many of the martial arts I have practiced can be used in a combat situation. Now, I am sure that a devoted Wu Shu practitioner will tell you other wise, but from my experience (personal experience, and research) Wu Shu has considerable less which can be applied in a fight that, say, Judo, Karate, Jeet Kune Do, Escrima, or a dozen other martial arts. It is kind of like fighting moves were taken, made prettier, and then strung together in a choreographed dance. That being said, I get to use a staff, two knives (don't worry mom, there not sharpened), and to pretty jumps while at Wu Shu class. Although there is a minimal amount I am learning that I will be able to use next time I spar (or in the eventuality that a am attacked and need to use my body to fight), the class is still enjoyable. It is closest thing to a martial art that I have done steadily since last summer when I had Jeet Kune Do classes in Kalamazoo. Also, when I asked the teacher what style we were doing, his answer roughly meant "Were kind of doing Shaolin long fist," which is at least reputable as a cultural thing, even if I am not learning combat applicable techniques. Another nice part of it is the opportunity for other people to see my MAD FIGHTIN' SKILLZZ! I mean, I don't show off or anything, but the teacher has a good enough eye that he can tell that I know what I am doing with my body, and that I have more control over it that the other students. Every now and then the teacher will have one student do a section of a form alone, and he picked me the other night. I was pretty happy for the opportunity, since it was a form with a knife in each hand. Going through it, a lot of it felt really dancey, and I definitely heard some "oooohh"s when I did the jump in the form (not gonna lie. That kind of recognition of my abilities from my peers felt pretty good). It is interesting to watch some of the other male students, and how their faces get so serious, like they are trying to fight off a bunch of terrorists with Bruce Willis or something. Comparing that to how I feel when I do the form brings such a contrast, since I am not even trying to make it a fighting thing, I am just going with the flow of the moves. Really more of a kung fu dance.
But speaking of dance, my first chance to do some modern dance in about two years is just around the corner. I found the Beijing Dance LDTX Modern Dance Company online, and I am planning to check it out. The classes are all in Chinese, and from what I got from a phone call, although some of the teachers were trained in the west, it has distinctly Chinese elements, making it different from modern dance that I would take in the US. The best part is that CET will reimburse students up to 70 RMB a week for cultural activities, and I just got the stamp of approval today for these classes, meaning that I get free modern dance classes in Beijing until the end of the semester. WOOHOO!!
Although I end up spending more time that I want to every day preparing for the next days lesson, I recently started exercising every day. I returned to my old standby for an extensive list of stretches, combined with various simple strength-building exercises (sit-ups, push-ups, the basics) and ballet/kung fu style leg stretches for 45 minutes each afternoon. Not gonna lie: it feels good to get back into my body. Yesterday I even did my first front-handspring since arriving in China. It has been more than six months since doing gymnastics, and it felt SO damn good to do some again.
Another thing I have somehow managed to find time for it hanging out with Meng Lili. I suppose it doesn't take a genius to guess that if I am gonna go through the hassle of having a girlfriend whom I can only %70 communicate with, I am gonna make it a priority to spend some time with her. This weekend got together in the afternoon to walk through 圆明园 (Yuán míng yuán, the Old Summer Palace). I really enjoyed that place, since I learned about the history behind it during my Sophomore year at K, and it holds such symbolic importance to China. In 1860, during the second opium war, the British and French destroyed the Summer Palace, and the Chinese government has left it as ruins ever since to serve as a reminder of Western barbarism, imperialism, and to remind people how much China was humiliated and made to suffer during the hundred years of shame (a century of time preceding the CCP's revolution in the mid-20th century, during which China was subjected to foreign rule by Japan, America, and the European Powers). It was really cool to look at fallen pillars and the remains of pavilions, knowing that a palace had stood there long ago. After strolling thought the Old Summer Palace and getting some dinner, Meng Lili and I watched 非诚勿扰/If You Are The One The English title has nothing to do with the Chinese title, actually. An accurately translated name might be something like "Dishonest, But Not Hasselsome." Of course, that doesn't sound nearly as cute and romantic. It was a really nice movie though, so I definitely recommend that you check it out.Believe it or not, I am wiped. I am gonna get some rest. Chinese class, kung fu class, juggling club (still awesome! I learned how to toss two balls behind by back), working as an English teacher, spending time with Meng Lili (only on weekends, it is too difficulty during the week), and soon to have dance class... I feel really ready to be done with full-time school. If I had my choice I would just graduate right now, and then continue my education on a part-time basis, so that I could satisfy mjavascript:void(0)y thirst for knowledge while allowing myself enough time for other passions, hobbies, and desires.
EDIT: I forget to mention, but you totally need to check out my new favorite cartoon. It is called "Three Monks".
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