BCLU Dorm#17 Room 201
finished time 12:14 pm
I've battled the difficult language of Chinese. When in Rome, I've lived as the Romans do, in this case, the Chinese. I've waddled through the puddles with pee when it rained, and I've spent most every day sweating more than I ever have before. I've squatted the toilets, climbed their Great Wall, fist-fought with the Silk Market sales people (not really, but close), gotten fat over their food, sung keroke to a rap song all by myself, learned to scream waitress when I want to order/pay, I let Yu Laoshi get my heart beating 10000 beats per minute over his stupid memorization practice things in fear he would call on me. I've lived in a moldy room with a moldy shower curtain, been consistently verbally harassed in class by my gay friend whos in love with me, listened to at least 5 conversations about poop in Chinese a week, went 6 weeks without facebook, got swindled buying their traditional clothing, let a taxi drive away with my shitty cell phone, and been bench-pressed by a large Russian man. But I think the most challenging thing I will have to face in China is packing my damn suitcase! I've been obsessing about it for a week, up at night just imagining each souvenir one by one, and how they MUST fit together in one normal-sized suitcase; how I just can't bare to leave anything of mine in this country. I've thought about this for weeks.. what I will leave here. So far I have accepted that I will leave my jean jacket, one bra, and the perfume I brought with me (which i brought for the purpose of using up). Recently, I've realized I will have to leave more if i don't want to pay for two overweight suitcases. And for some reason, SO odd to me, I've almost accepted the fact that I have to leave my beloved converses, but I do not think I will be able to leave my conditioner (shampoo is whatever). This may or may not be because I want an excuse to buy new converses? Or because I'm insane. Rereading this whole thing has confirmed the latter.
Anyway, sorry to ramble about something as ridiculous as packing. I know you all were really curious. We received our grades today- for our final exam and overall- and I have managed an A. I have to be honest in saying that it really wasn't difficult. I believe our teachers really just wanted us all to get A's; everyone got an A or an A-. I am ecstatic to be done with this work and to be able to start 300 level Chinese in the fall... in 3 weeks; ugh.
Departing t-minus 15 hours. 15 hours to.. pack.
Some highlights:
Justin being asked "how much?" outside our Hotel in Xi'an.
Justin jumping on Kyle, taking down both of them and a beer pong table.
Mike getting arrested.
Mark being the first (this just to make him happy).
Yu Laoshi singing his heart out.
That actually pretty much rounds it all up.
Quotes:
Zenme shuo "bitches aint shit"?
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
"Books are so much fun!"
happy birthday matt and dad!
So 2 thursdays ago was our midterm. It was much easier than we thought it was going to be; i did well enough. After our midterm we went to Xi'an, a city about 12 hours away via sleeper train. The sleeper train was a lot of fun & so nice. well, the beds were just a lot better than our beds at school. I actually loved traveling by train; it was very comforting. Xi'an is a very historical city & our main attraction there was the tombs of the terracotta warriors. This was soo cool, Wiki it and keep a look out for pictures on facbeook.. later. After this, we saw the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance show. This was kind of boring compared to the acrobatic show. Our hotel was amazing; sooo nice and the beds were heaven. The next day we went to Xi'an's city wall, called the Ming Great Wall. It wasn't nearly as difficult as the Great Wall; there was just one flight of stairs and the rest was just walking. It was very pretty though, the view was awesome. I've encountered this a lot, like a thousand+ year old historic site in the middle of such a modern, bustling city. Just about every place we've been to is like this actually. We then went to the Museum of Stone Tablets. This I didn't really understand. I just know I was looking at like thousands year old character writing engraved in... stone tablets. All the sites very interesting, although i didnt always understand what i was looking at. Gump (our Xi'an tour guide, as in Forrest Gump) wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Stone (as in Rolling Stone).
This past friday we went to keroke with our teacher and the TA, lulu, who's coming to OU in the fall to help teach. I was shy at first, like always, but with some Baijiu (pinyin sp?) I let loose and later sang my heart out, unfortunately. No it was fun, we had a great time, and got to like my teacher even more- a very funny guy, without trying. We had to get up super early the next day so we just went home after. Saturday was a busy day, guided by Jason (no good explanation). We first went to the Forbidden City. I had been there before but its like a mile walk before you even get to the entrance of the actual Forbidden part. So today we started on the opposite side and got right i. It was veryy cool; I can't really describe what I saw without making it sound boring or making no sense so I'm not bothering. Actually when we first got there we got to see a little stone room thing where the Emperor would choose his like 3000 concubines. And then we saw the concubines living quarters. Tienanmen was right across the street so we saw all that. Here is where about 4 Chinese families asked me to take pictures with them and their kids, no idea how many didn't bother asking. We then went to the Temple of Heaven, and then a restaurant famous for their roast duck. Amazing. I then spent too much money at the Pearl Market, we went to dinner, and Beijing Opera- weird! very weird. It was mostly music and karate moves, I wish I had heard more singing.
A couple of us went to the Silk Market on Sunday, a big shopping center where you can bargain everything you buy, where the purses are fake and such. I think I've used my Chinese the most here, even though they all know English. Its just fun. Its hilarious because you literally fight and yell with the sellers. They grab you and chase you and have no problem hitting you. Repeating "you crazy person!" "you kill me!" "you leave now!" You want them to be angry though because you know you're getting a good price. Everyone here loves bargaining but I honestly prefer just to buy things at a set price; bargaining is exhausting.
So the trip is officially more than half over. It didn't feel as though it was going fast at the time, but it really did fly by. I would love to write more, mainly about the people here with me but I don't think its appropriate. I probably wouldn't be able to really convey what i want to say without offending someone. Probably. Its funny because I mentioned how great everyone seemed to get along in the beginning, and it was SUCH a lie! We are probably the most argumentative group to ever travel in China. Almost everyone has something bad to say about almost everyone lol. And I laugh because although everyone argues and criticizes all the time, its in a kind of... loving way. Its strange and I can't explain it without sounding super.. lame.
To note on the education, I do feel I am learning so much. Yes, the culture is an education itself, but learning the language is also very stimulating. When i hear my teachers speak to each other, or other natives talk, i listen SO hard and I just get this helpless feeling that I will never be able to understand or speak this language. It comes & goes. One of my favorite moments here was just the other day when a waitress spoke to us, she soon realized she had to speak slowly, but we managed to answer her questions about how long we were here and why we were here. It made us feel really good to actually speak & be understood, have a conversation outside the classroom. No, doesn't happen often. Today, however, my language partner made me soo happy! He said "Ni de Hanyu shou tigao le." My Chinese has improved! I knew he meant it because we were in like mid-conversation about something else. Wo hen gaoxing.
Being on this trip definitely begs the question- when the hell am i going to use this? Ehh.
"Why are you wearing a sweatshirt in China?"
"A sword and a qipao. They go together."
"And you like survive with that stupid sandwich."
"Why don't you just put it on your ass!?" (about a pastry)
"You need different coins to wash your food."
There's more than this but I can't remember atm!
So 2 thursdays ago was our midterm. It was much easier than we thought it was going to be; i did well enough. After our midterm we went to Xi'an, a city about 12 hours away via sleeper train. The sleeper train was a lot of fun & so nice. well, the beds were just a lot better than our beds at school. I actually loved traveling by train; it was very comforting. Xi'an is a very historical city & our main attraction there was the tombs of the terracotta warriors. This was soo cool, Wiki it and keep a look out for pictures on facbeook.. later. After this, we saw the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance show. This was kind of boring compared to the acrobatic show. Our hotel was amazing; sooo nice and the beds were heaven. The next day we went to Xi'an's city wall, called the Ming Great Wall. It wasn't nearly as difficult as the Great Wall; there was just one flight of stairs and the rest was just walking. It was very pretty though, the view was awesome. I've encountered this a lot, like a thousand+ year old historic site in the middle of such a modern, bustling city. Just about every place we've been to is like this actually. We then went to the Museum of Stone Tablets. This I didn't really understand. I just know I was looking at like thousands year old character writing engraved in... stone tablets. All the sites very interesting, although i didnt always understand what i was looking at. Gump (our Xi'an tour guide, as in Forrest Gump) wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Stone (as in Rolling Stone).
This past friday we went to keroke with our teacher and the TA, lulu, who's coming to OU in the fall to help teach. I was shy at first, like always, but with some Baijiu (pinyin sp?) I let loose and later sang my heart out, unfortunately. No it was fun, we had a great time, and got to like my teacher even more- a very funny guy, without trying. We had to get up super early the next day so we just went home after. Saturday was a busy day, guided by Jason (no good explanation). We first went to the Forbidden City. I had been there before but its like a mile walk before you even get to the entrance of the actual Forbidden part. So today we started on the opposite side and got right i. It was veryy cool; I can't really describe what I saw without making it sound boring or making no sense so I'm not bothering. Actually when we first got there we got to see a little stone room thing where the Emperor would choose his like 3000 concubines. And then we saw the concubines living quarters. Tienanmen was right across the street so we saw all that. Here is where about 4 Chinese families asked me to take pictures with them and their kids, no idea how many didn't bother asking. We then went to the Temple of Heaven, and then a restaurant famous for their roast duck. Amazing. I then spent too much money at the Pearl Market, we went to dinner, and Beijing Opera- weird! very weird. It was mostly music and karate moves, I wish I had heard more singing.
A couple of us went to the Silk Market on Sunday, a big shopping center where you can bargain everything you buy, where the purses are fake and such. I think I've used my Chinese the most here, even though they all know English. Its just fun. Its hilarious because you literally fight and yell with the sellers. They grab you and chase you and have no problem hitting you. Repeating "you crazy person!" "you kill me!" "you leave now!" You want them to be angry though because you know you're getting a good price. Everyone here loves bargaining but I honestly prefer just to buy things at a set price; bargaining is exhausting.
So the trip is officially more than half over. It didn't feel as though it was going fast at the time, but it really did fly by. I would love to write more, mainly about the people here with me but I don't think its appropriate. I probably wouldn't be able to really convey what i want to say without offending someone. Probably. Its funny because I mentioned how great everyone seemed to get along in the beginning, and it was SUCH a lie! We are probably the most argumentative group to ever travel in China. Almost everyone has something bad to say about almost everyone lol. And I laugh because although everyone argues and criticizes all the time, its in a kind of... loving way. Its strange and I can't explain it without sounding super.. lame.
To note on the education, I do feel I am learning so much. Yes, the culture is an education itself, but learning the language is also very stimulating. When i hear my teachers speak to each other, or other natives talk, i listen SO hard and I just get this helpless feeling that I will never be able to understand or speak this language. It comes & goes. One of my favorite moments here was just the other day when a waitress spoke to us, she soon realized she had to speak slowly, but we managed to answer her questions about how long we were here and why we were here. It made us feel really good to actually speak & be understood, have a conversation outside the classroom. No, doesn't happen often. Today, however, my language partner made me soo happy! He said "Ni de Hanyu shou tigao le." My Chinese has improved! I knew he meant it because we were in like mid-conversation about something else. Wo hen gaoxing.
Being on this trip definitely begs the question- when the hell am i going to use this? Ehh.
"Why are you wearing a sweatshirt in China?"
"A sword and a qipao. They go together."
"And you like survive with that stupid sandwich."
"Why don't you just put it on your ass!?" (about a pastry)
"You need different coins to wash your food."
There's more than this but I can't remember atm!
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