好久不见!

Probably twenty times a day I think to myself, “Chinese class this fall is going to be so easy.”
Now that’s not necessarily saying that this summer program is any harder than Chinese at Notre Dame. The only difference is the speed of the class, which compresses an entire week-and-a-half’s worth of normal content into one day, which in turn means we have an exam equivalent to a midterm covering six week’s worth of material every Friday, but it’s not like the vocabulary or grammar started significantly harder but with the speed, the new content is grows harder more and more quickly so the content is compiled and compounded and grows exponentially as any language class is always a cumulative review. Actually, I take that back. It’s way harder.
Studying Chinese in China has its advantages though (duh), even if its at this breakneck pace. I constantly find myself thinking metacognitively about my language growth to narrate in each blog post, and besides the obvious benefits of studying in China, I’ve noticed some psychological shifts not apparent in South Bend. I am always thinking in Chinese. Unlike at Notre Dame, where I walk to class for a single hour per day to drill the week’s grammar and immediately revert to English at the conclusion, here, I rarely bridge the gap back into the English mindset. Admittedly, most of the hour-long class was spent just attempting to enter into the solely Chinese mind frame. But amidst the language’s country of origin and all its folderol, I’m always thinking of a way to get my thoughts into that mode of communication, trying to decipher the characters I see on the board, in my dorm or on the street signs, and even the conversations from the couples next to me on the subway, even hearing them subconsciously guarantee that I stick to that Chinese first thought process. I never have to switch out of it. This makes for some pretty interesting consequences though. I have to force myself to timidly attempt newer grammar structures, especially when I’ve gotten into a comfortable routine of using certain other approaches with similar meanings. While the comfort of the more recognizable one means my speaking is just fine, failing to understand every grammar structure renders me completely dumbfounded when it comes to listening comprehension. There’s a recurring joke amongst my classmates and I regarding our ability to speak well enough to get by but whenever a native Chinese speaker responds to our request our only reaction is to become a deer in headlights. For example, ordering a pizza on the phone. After planning what I would say and reciting the order in my head for a few minutes before calling I was reasonably confident in ordering one large barbecue chicken, one medium half cheese, half veggie, but I could not even begin to fathom what the receptionist asked, presumably for clarification. Prices, on the other hand, I can understand perfectly fine. I’ll accept the small victory that is recognizing any Chinese class’s first chapter content.

But the best of these consequences includes training my brain into finally taking that shortcut of developing thoughts in Chinese first, completely circumventing the English and translation process. It’s amazing how even in my stunted vocabulary there are words I refer to only by their Chinese translation, often times even forgetting the English for it while on the phone with my friends and family.

It’s weird.
I like it.

Now for the part where I satisfy my lifelong dream to write for National Geographic. This last weekend was void of any program planned events. This entirely free weekend yielded radically different results from the first. There’s an additional level of bravery required in initiating conversation with other people on your own, to ask for directions, buy a ticket, order a meal or whatever you may encounter.

In addition, traveling alone is an radically different experience. I’ve noticed people are much more likely to approach me on my own than when I’m in a group with the program. Aside from an instance at the Xi’an Museum where a tour group of twelve year olds asked to take their picture with me, I have never been approached while with my professors. But as soon as I took the opportunity to walk around the Summer Palace alone, eight different groups of Chinese people asked to take a picture with the 外国人, foreigner, three different couples solicited me in order to practice their English, and eleven different babies or little kids ran up and shouted “美国!” (America!) at knee-height. Yes, I counted. It’s such a distinctive experience having strangers approach you in the mall to tell you all about their business plan dedicated to applying Chinese values to the competition of Western industrial job markets and asking your opinion than simply sight seeing with the same group of people I’d eat with at South Dining Hall. But hey, that’s what I signed up for.

下个星期见！

 

Class is going well, it is definitely still busy but also manageable.  Time is passing very quickly I can hardly believe that we already almost at the halfway point.  I also am noticing a significant improvement in my speaking ability.  For the most part I am able to get by pretty well with everyday interactions whether it be buying food, talking to a taxi driver or meeting a new person.  By far the hardest thing that I find is understanding what some native speakers are saying, it sounds so different from the clear pronunciation we hear in the classroom.  Our teachers say not to worry though, people’s accents from different areas can be so strong that even native speakers can have trouble understanding sometimes.

This week we went as a class to the Forbidden City.  Originally a high security area for emperor and elite of China, it is now a major tourist destination, adjacent to Tiananmen Square.  The Forbidden City itself was pretty magnificent, but after honestly the buildings all looked very similar.  After a couple hours we hiked to the top of hill which had a amazing view of the whole City. Next week we will be going to Xi’An which should be exciting, as fun as Beijing is it will be nice to see another part of China.

Our cultural excursion for week 2 was to visit the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, which was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. As we entered the square, we saw hundreds upon hundreds of Chinese people lined up to see Chairman Mao’s mausoleum. Something that’s really interesting about China that’s different than most of the other countries I’ve visited is that at every tourist destination, mostly Chinese people are found being tourists in their own homeland. It seems to me that it’s almost as though because Beijing is the cultural hub of China, many Chinese people visit Beijing as almost a pilgrimage of some sort, whether they’re touring beautifully ornate Buddhist temples or climbing the Great Wall.

Tiananmen Square, famous for having a huge picture of Mao on the outside as well as being the site of the famous picture of Tank Man, leads into the Forbidden City, essentially a small village composed of 9,999 traditional architectural buildings for the leader of China and his 3,000 concubines. After wandering through the maze of buildings that all seemed to blend into each other, we stumbled upon this huge manmade structure of a rock that had every Chinese zodiac animal carved into it as statues. In my opinion, this was the coolest part of the Forbidden City, as it was interesting how the artist chose to depict each zodiac symbol. As we left the Forbidden City, we hiked up a small mountain that provided us with a spectacular view of the entire city as well as a huge gold Buddhist shrine.

Although I enjoyed learning about the history of China throughout the day, my favorite part of the day was exploring Houhai, a small neighborhood of traditional hutongs, bars, and shops organized around a calm lake filled with paddle boats. The scenery was breathtaking, and I ate the most elaborately constructed and most delicious flower-shaped cotton candy I’ve ever eaten. I plan to return to Houhai and experience the magic of the neighborhood at night, as one of my Chinese teachers recommended experiencing Houhai’s vibrant nightlife.

Learning Chinese is ridiculously difficult, and every day I’m reminded of how rare and hard it is to achieve near-native proficiency in the language. However, with the help of my very patient teachers and eager classmates, I’m able to quickly learn new vocabulary and grammar structures, which I’m later able to test out in real situations like in restaurants or shops. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to study in China, and I think it has helped my Chinese proficiency grow in such an enriched environment.

P.S. Good luck to my fellow ND classmate, Dino Swan, as he embarks on learning Spanish!! 加油！

…Resources and energy are depleting, send help…

My stash of American granola bars I brought may have slowly disappeared, but I’m mostly kidding.

Week two was definitely a lot harder than week one, as I struggled to come to terms with just how different the food is in China from America (the Chinese version of an American breakfast sandwich is a fried egg inside of a Taiwan pancake). However, I was able to find some foods I enjoy, such as authentic Kung Pao chicken, 煎饺子 (fried eggs with meat and vegetable filled dumplings), and 香辣鸡汉堡 (the Chinese version of a spicy chicken sandwich). Living in the suburbs of Chicago my whole life, I hadn’t been exposed to a lot of authentic Chinese food, so fully immersing myself in the Chinese culture and eating traditional Chinese food took some getting used to. Every Friday afternoon, our Chinese teachers take us out to a traditional Chinese restaurant, which really helps to understand the Chinese culture’s approach to food as well as try more different types of Chinese dishes, the names of which are all conveniently composed with the ingredient used in the dish as well as the way the dish is prepared.

The Chinese culture places a large emphasis on sharing food when actually sharing a meal. In most Chinese restaurants, a Lazy Susan sits in the middle of the table, allowing for easy access to every food and drink that is brought out in staggered time intervals. Unlike in America, you’re able to try a wide variety of foods in one meal, broadening your tastes with each unique bite. Because you try so many different foods, it’s easy to become full quickly without realizing it, but your Chinese teacher will still urge you to take that last piece of eggplant. Chinese people are very selfless when it comes to sharing food, always offering others the first and last bite of every dish and encouraging you to eat as much as your heart desires and your stomach can hold. In China, one of the absolute worst things is to be wasteful, so it’s important to try to finish every plate that you’ve ordered.

As far as drinks go, it is very rare that a restaurant will have cold or even room temperature water. The water quality in China very easily causes foreigners to get sick, so many of the restaurants only serve hot tea and soda. The two most common sodas to drink are Sprite and Coke, and a liter bottle of each is typically placed on the Lazy Susan at the beginning of the meal, only to quickly disappear as eleven thirsty Notre Dame students each guzzle down a glass. In some restaurants, a small glass with the cup not more than the size of a thimble, which is meant to hold 白酒, essentially the equivalent of a really strong vodka, is placed next to each guest’s plate, soup bowl, spoon, chopsticks, and tea cup. Of course, because we’re part of a school program, we don’t partake in the tradition of drinking with any meals, but it’s interesting to see the Chinese culture’s approach to alcohol with meals.

My ordering in Chinese has slowly but surely developed from pointing at menu items and asking what meat is the main component of the dish (side note: for some reason, the workers at the dining hall enjoy telling us that the dish is composed of chicken or beef when really it’s made of fish L) to being able to pronounce full names of food and successfully order for myself. I still have a long ways to go when it comes to getting used to eating and ordering Chinese food, but I’m so lucky and fortunate to get the opportunity to practice every day.

After getting back from Xi’an Sunday night we had to get back into the swing of things in Beijing right away which includes daily quizzes, endless new vocabulary needing to be learned, and our four hour classes every morning. This past week it didn’t seem to ever stop raining and on Wednesday I could barely go outside due to the weather. I left my dorm to go to the nightly optional office hours and as soon as I got into the pounding rain, even with my umbrella, I turned right back. We had some plans during the week that the rain threw off but luckily the weather wasn’t as bad over the weekend. This past weekend was actually the only weekend thus far where we have not had a pre planned group trip or activity with the rest of our class so it was nice to get to sleep in a little later than usual.

I took advantage of not having any predetermined plans for Saturday by going to some sites in Beijing that I wanted to go to but hadn’t had the chance to go to yet. Saturday morning a few other classmates and I went to the Summer Palace, which was mainly used by royal members during the Qing dynasty. The Summer Palace is basically a giant park on a hill overlooking a lake which makes for some quite good scenery. Unfortunately for us, the smog was quite thick that day so the scenery wasn’t as pretty as it usually is.

 

Afterwards, we also went to the Olympic park, the primary site of the 2008 olympic games, where I was able to go into the birds nest and water cube.

On Sunday, I went to 潘家园，or commonly referred to as the dirt market in English. The most similar thing I can compare this place to is a flea market, there is various booths throughout the outdoor market that is covered with a giant roof. This market had mostly traditional Chinese souvenirs such as calligraphy, paintings, fans, jewelry, and pottery. I was able to make some good purchases for relatively cheap and I also bought some children’s books in Chinese that I thought I could manage to read at my reading level.

When I was video chatting my mom earlier today she asked me what I was missing about America and this made me realize what I actually take advantage of in the US that is not the same or readily available in China. The two major things I realized I miss, in addition to food, are seeing the sun everyday and the sanitary condition of America. In Beijing, there is usually only sunny periods once or twice a week and it surprised me how much this cheers up my day every time. As for the sanitary conditions, although I enjoy China and the people here, I wouldn’t call China the most sanitary place. The absence of paper and soap in bathrooms or simply touching a dirty handrail make me miss the States a little bit more. Its bittersweet for me that in less than three weeks I will be back home. Although I miss Notre Dame and the US, I am definitely glad I took advantage of this opportunity and will miss it after it is over. I will have to appreciate the time I have left in Beijing.

After finishing our midterm at the end of our fourth week here in Beijing, we headed out on an overnight train for a four day trip to Xi’an. After four weeks of studying and getting accustomed to life in China, it was nice to have a small break and get out of the Beijing air for a while. After eleven hours on a train ride through the Chinese countryside, we arrived in Xi’an, a beautiful and historical city. Our first impressions of Xi’an were all great, in that the air quality and scenery were all much better than where we are living in downtown Beijing. Not only that, but we soon learned that traditional Xi’an cuisine is quite good, and surprisingly different than the food we get on a daily basis in Beijing. We got to try many traditional foods, including “Chinese hamburgers,” soup dumplings, “pita bread soaked in lamb soup,” a sour plum drink, and various cold noodle dishes that were all quite good.

On our first day in Xi’an, we had the opportunity to see the famous Terra Cotta Warriors, and we were guided through the three sections of this roughly 2000 year old tomb to see the countless, all unique, hand-sculpted sculptures of Chinese soldiers, slaves, horses, and chariots. Seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors was definitely one of the highlights of my time in China so far.

   

Another highlight of the trip came that night as we watched the “The Long Regret,” a traditional and historical dance and performance put on every night in Xi’an. The performance was spectacular, and included traditional Chinese clothing and dances, fireworks, fountains, moving stages, lights across the mountains of Xi’an, and even the release of doves at the end. The next day was just as good as the first, as we rode bikes around the top of the Xi’an Ming City Wall. After renting bikes, we were able to ride as a group around the entire perimeter of the wall, and from there, look out over the interior of Xi’an. In addition, Xi’an also has a large population of Chinese Muslims, and we had the opportunity that day to explore the Muslim Street, a section of the city with countless shops and food stands—great places to practice our Chinese and bargaining skills. In addition, we also had the chance to visit two pagodas, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda and the Great Loving Kindness Temple, a historical Buddhist temple.

  

    

Xi’an was extremely interesting and beautiful, and it was a great place to learn more about Chinese history and culture. Overall, it was a great weekend and a nice break before starting the second half of our summer in Beijing. 

Time continues to fly in the capital. I feel like there is so much I could write about that these posts might as well have not end. Every new day presents new opportunities, and you are only limited by how adventurous you are. Never seen, let alone heard of, that dish before? Try it for yourself. Wondering what’s off to the east of campus? Go for a walk and explore. In Chinese, there’s a saying: 入乡随俗, literally “enter village, follow customs”, which is essentially the Chinese equivalent of “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. And in order to experience Chinese culture to the fullest, you have to be willing to leave your comfort zone. Instead of ordering beef dishes every meal because they are what you are most familiar with, try something new. There are so many foods here that don’t even have proper English names (they tend to just attach “Chinese” to the front, e.g. Chinese broccoli and Chinese yam). You never know when you’ll find something new you really like. For example, I have discovered that I really enjoy red bean, common in deserts, and a fruit called Chinese hawthorn.

This goes for exploring as well. On more than one occasion my classmates and I have gone to an area called “Wudaokou”. It is not far from campus and has tons of good restaurants, bars, and other attractions such as karaoke. Exploring the area we found a place to do some karaoke and a cool little bookstore with a bunch of children’s books, that are quite frankly at around our reading level. Similarly, to  the south of campus is a large mall complex called “Zhongguancun Mall”, that I haven’t even completely explored yet, despite being there on multiple occasions. We found a pizza place there whose pizzas are not only larger than any I’ve ever seen before, but whose taste rivals, and even surpasses,that of many pizza places back in the states. On the Fourth of July, we went out to yet another area of Beijing, known for being home to many Americans, and celebrated with some very good barbecue sandwiches. What I’m trying to say is keep exploring and don’t settle, because you never know when you’ll find something you’ll really enjoy.

A week after the Great Wall expedition, we found ourselves headed towards the heart of Beijing: Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tian’anmen Square is a massive city square south of the palace. There are many buildings of interests along its edges, including government buildings, the National Museum, and Mao Zedong’s final resting place. The large scale of the square prepares you for the grandeur of the Forbidden City, where it seems everything is larger than life. Multiple layers of towering gates, spacious courtyards, shrines, and countless buildings, all in traditional Chinese architecture. It was very crowded and incredible hot that day, but I was still rather awestruck by the place. I’ll attach some photos that will hopefully give an idea of what I’m talking about.

After exiting out the north gate, we walked through some of Beijing’s old neighborhoods, called “胡同” (hutongs). These areas are characterized by thin, winding alleys and lots of small shops. They definitely have a unique vibe. Afterward we went on to Houhai, a really nice area around a small lake, which contains shops, temples, bars, restaurants, etc.

It’s especially nice after sunset when all the lights reflect off the water and live music abounds. The next morning we went to Beijing Zoo. The zoo is huge, we were there for at least of couple of hours and I don’t think we saw even half of the displays. If you’re a fan of zoos, it’s be a great place; most of us just got exhausted and left a little early.

That next Saturday we went to an area of Beijing simply known as “798” (qijiuba). This district is most famous for its artistic significance: the area of home to tons of art galleries of various kinds, from contemporary, traditional, and everything in between. Some of them were solely on display, some places were selling art. There were also a lot of small shops selling all sorts strange or unique things. Shirts, cloth, postcards, model trains and cars. An exhaustive list of the wares of these shops would simply be ridiculous. You could probably spent an entire day just exploring the shops of 798 and not see everything available.

The following day is probably one of my favorite days so far. That Sunday I woke up fairly early and took a long subway ride to “潘家园” (panjiayuan), also known as the ‘Dirt Market’, on the other side of Beijing. This is a huge open-air flea market that primarily sells more traditional Chinese objects. There are literally hundreds of vendors, selling jewelry, art, calligraphy, pottery and ceramics, books, and other assorted goods. It’s immense, and to be honest I liked it better than the Pearl Market. Vendors weren’t as obnoxious, and don’t call out to you as you pass by. Additionally, a lot of stuff sold there is more uniquely “Chinese”, and make good souvenirs (at least in my opinion). You still haggle, like at the other markets (unfortunately my bargaining skills are rather deplorable). This time around I didn’t buy much, mostly some ceramics, but I plan to go back some time.

Afterward, on the way back, I stopped at 北海公园, Beihai Park, a large public park not too far west of the Forbidden City. Like Houhai, Beihai surrounds a small lake. I personally loved this park. It was a beautiful day, if a little hot. Besides the wide roads the went around the lake, there were many smaller paths weaving around the trees that surround the lake. Every so often along these paths were pavilions of various sizes, places to find shade from the particularly relentless sun. Besides those seeking refuge from the heat, many pavilions also had musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments (admittedly I don’t know what any of them are called). After walking around the market all morning and standing on the subway, these pavilions were a nice reprieve. One particular pavilion caught my attention. It was a bit large, built over a small pond and surrounded by trees. It was far enough away from the city and the more crowded parts of the park that it was very peaceful. You could have painted the scene. The only noises were the birds and an older man playing some sort of flute instrument. Nearby a family was having a picnic, and occasionally people would pass by. I must of stayed there a half hour, just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere.

Finally I got up to explore the rest of the park, which now mostly consisted of the island in the lake. The island housed the “White Pagoda” and a Buddhist temple. It was a small island, but it hid a deceptively large number of old, traditional-style buildings. I tried to wander through as much of it as I could, but I’m sure there’s plenty that I missed. Afterward I finally returned to the dorms. And I think that is where I’ll leave off this entry. Until the next time!

This past weekend we had Friday off from class as a short mid term break after we took the midterm on Thursday. It was really nice not to think about our intensive studies and experience a different city other than Beijing. We took a slow sleeper train on the way there Thursday night so we started our busy sightseeing schedule Friday morning. The first thing we did after eating lunch and quickly visiting another university there was go see the terracotta army, what Xi’an is most famous for.

I didn’t realize that the warriors were only discovered in the 1970s but have been in existence for over 2000 years. I was also surprised to find out that there are over 6000 warriors and it took about 40 years to build all of them. That night we also went and saw a performance of the famous poem 长恨歌 about an emperor in the Tang dynasty’s love story. It was cool because this story took place at the place where the performance was at. It was a very high tech performance and a great way to end our first day in Xi’an.

On Saturday we first went to the Xi’an city wall where we were able to ride bikes for a couple hours around the whole thing. The wall is quite tall so it was nice to see the city from a higher perspective. Luckily the weather was great the whole weekend we were there which was another nice break from the seemingly endless pollution of Beijing.

We then went to this Xi’an Muslim street that was filled with street vendors and street shops that was similar to the pearl market but more outside.

That afternoon and the next morning we went to the small and wild goose pagoda respectively. Our tour guide there told us that the pagodas were built after Buddhists in India prayed during a famine and wild geese fell from the sky for them to eat. The small wild goose pagoda had a museum at its site and the big goose pagoda was surrounded by Buddhist temples with active monks practicing there. As for the food in Xi’an I overall enjoyed it but they had some foods distinct to Xi’an. One of them was where when we got to the restaurant we each had our own circle of bread like food (don’t know how else to describe it) and we had to break it into little pieces where they then proceeded to make it into a soupy noodle dish.

My time in China is flying by and these past 4 weeks have definitely been some to remember.