I am sitting in my room on a Tuesday night, having just completed my homework (less than two pages of 生词!) and, while preparing for bed, I am remembering a few things that I thought that I wanted to write blog posts about, but didn't end up doing.
So, here they are.
I. Soy Sauce
So, as a patron of New York's many Chinese restaurants, I expect every Chinese meal to include either a bottle of soy sauce on the table, or a packet of soy sauce in my delivery bag. Well....
According to my new language partner (they switch at the "semester"), that's a Japanese thing. (The Japanese need soy sauce for sushi, after all). The Chinese, while cooking their food, use lots of soy sauce. (Indeed, one of our earlier vocabulary words was 红烧--fried in soy sauce. It was in the ordering food chapter.) But on the table? With dumplings? On rice? Nope. Not there. If you are eating dumplings, you dip the dumplings in vinegar, something which I find not in the least bit tasty. Eating my dumplings with vinegar is the biggest problem I have ever had with 入乡随俗 (the Chinese equivalent of "when in Rome, do as the Romans").
I miss the soy sauce. Even if it is "American Chinese food" and not real Chinese food.
II. China and Clothes.
So, it is summer in China, and the streets are filled with people. The men dress very similarly to the way that men in the US dress. There is only one difference. When the days are hot and humid (which is pretty much every day), these men will pull their shirts up over their bellies to get a breeze on their stomachs. While it is not a universal move, enough men do it to warrant a surprised glance from an american.
Small children (i.e. children under the age of two) don't wear pants or underpants. If they wear pants, these pants have large holes in the crotch area. They just hang out as if this is totally normal--which, in China, it is. To be fair, it is probably great for the environment (no throwing out massive amounts of diapers) and money (no having to buy massive amounts of diapers, or pants that the children will quickly grow out of). It also makes it very easy for these small children to go to the bathroom--well--anywhere. I have seen children squatting down on the sidewalks to pee, and have seen a father holding his child over a trash can while the kid did his business (this parent was more a considerate one) simply because they can.
I guess it makes life easier for parents (and for children), but I--the 老外 (foreigner)--still feel exceedingly uncomfortable every time I see a pantless small child.
III. 六岁的汉字 (six year old's characters)
When I was in Inner Mongolia, writing letters on the over two days that I spent sitting in the HBA bus, I wrote a quick note in Chinese to a friend who would not be able to read it. I later asked my friend Andi to have a look at my grammar to make sure it was kinda ok. He looked at my characters and laughed a little bit. "你的汉字跟一个六岁的小孩子的汉字差不多." (1. This means "your characters are a bit like the characters of a six year old child." 2. I am definitely misquoting and probably botching grammar to the extent that my teachers would be very sad. But I wanted to give it a shot...). As he wrote his corrections onto my letter (telling the mutual friend who was the recipient of this letter hello), his characters, to me looked lovely. But he laughed at his own characters and said "跟一个九岁的孩子的汉字差不多" (1. "nine year old child's characters" 2. also misquoted and incorrect grammar-wise.)
It was a very strange experience, having it driven home to me that, while I can read and write these characters, my self-termed chicken scratch is, indeed, chicken scratch in the eyes of the chinese, now matter what my teachers say as they correct my homework.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
A day of art, a night of music
Before I get started, here is a quick thought that has been poking about in my head for a while: Beijing is a very hard city to get to know. It is, first of all, massive. Then, on top of that, unlike most of the European and East Coast cities with which I am acquainted, it is not designed for the pedestrian. Without a bicycle (a state that I am currently in), it is very hard to actually get to know your neighborhood, as they are so big. Blocks are massive, and, at least in Wudaokou (五道口--the neighborhood of Beiyu) there are not very many alleyways (胡同-- a Beijing center). Being so far from the center of town also makes it difficult to see the city on a weekday, when homework swamps our free time.
On to the actual content of this blogpost.
Yesterday, HBA organized a trip to 798 art district (whose Chinese name is a pun involving going to bars). It is a part of Beijing that was originally filled with factories and was at the center of Mao's first five year plans. In the years since, it attracted poor artists and now it is one of the most interesting parts of Beijing. We went there for about tow and half hours, and I spent most of the time wandering the streets. It was as much an outdoor area as it was filled with galleries. It was so refreshing to be able to wander streets again (as it's proportions were not that of many of Beijing's quarters).
It was filled with people, and, given the heat of the mid-afternoon, it made an already fascinating area an even more bustling environment.
From 798, I met up with a student, who is the friend of a family friend, and her parents. I went with them to a concert that we believed was going to be a symphony conducted by a very famous Chinese conductor. It turned out to be a benefit concert to raise funds and awareness for the disabled. There were singers, dancers, and instrumentalists, who all had some kind of disability. There were blind performers, performers who were amputees, and several dance troupes who were deaf and were conducted by two people on either side of the stage who signaled to them where they were in the music using Chinese sign language.
The headliner of the show was indeed this very famous Chinese conductor. His name is 舟舟 (Zhouzhou), a man who is very severely mentally disabled. When he spoke, the Chinese could not understand him, and when he sang, he could not carry a tune, and yet he was a brilliant conductor, and was able to lead an orchestra brilliantly. The orchestra consisted of Chinese instruments (except for percussion, cello, and bass from the west) and the pieces that it played were all Chinese pieces (except for their closing number: the Radetzky March.)
It was a fascinating concert, and very moving on many levels.
On to the actual content of this blogpost.
Yesterday, HBA organized a trip to 798 art district (whose Chinese name is a pun involving going to bars). It is a part of Beijing that was originally filled with factories and was at the center of Mao's first five year plans. In the years since, it attracted poor artists and now it is one of the most interesting parts of Beijing. We went there for about tow and half hours, and I spent most of the time wandering the streets. It was as much an outdoor area as it was filled with galleries. It was so refreshing to be able to wander streets again (as it's proportions were not that of many of Beijing's quarters).
It was filled with people, and, given the heat of the mid-afternoon, it made an already fascinating area an even more bustling environment.
(a former factory)
From 798, I met up with a student, who is the friend of a family friend, and her parents. I went with them to a concert that we believed was going to be a symphony conducted by a very famous Chinese conductor. It turned out to be a benefit concert to raise funds and awareness for the disabled. There were singers, dancers, and instrumentalists, who all had some kind of disability. There were blind performers, performers who were amputees, and several dance troupes who were deaf and were conducted by two people on either side of the stage who signaled to them where they were in the music using Chinese sign language.
(one of the deaf dance troups)
The headliner of the show was indeed this very famous Chinese conductor. His name is 舟舟 (Zhouzhou), a man who is very severely mentally disabled. When he spoke, the Chinese could not understand him, and when he sang, he could not carry a tune, and yet he was a brilliant conductor, and was able to lead an orchestra brilliantly. The orchestra consisted of Chinese instruments (except for percussion, cello, and bass from the west) and the pieces that it played were all Chinese pieces (except for their closing number: the Radetzky March.)
（舟舟）
It was a fascinating concert, and very moving on many levels.
Friday, July 23, 2010
I'd be in the money
There was a time over Magevet tour last winter where the subject of "if food were currency, which would be your currency？" came up. My mind immediately flew to the 包子 (the steamed stuffed pork bun), much to the chagrin of my kosher-keeping friends.
Today, I returned to my childhood. If the same question had been asked of 9-year-old Celia, she would have immediately said "dumplings!" (饺子） with a broad grin over her face. Today, instead of having our regular 中文桌子 (Chinese Table--a Tuesday and Friday lunch with our teachers), we and our teachers wrapped dumplings.
I wish I had had my camera. It was truly a phenomenal experience, salivating the uncooked dumplings. First, you put a little globule into a small pancake. Then you pinch it shut. Then it is steamed. Then you eat it. Our teachers dumplings were naturally the best looking. Then came a few of the heritage speakers, who had been making dumplings in their home most of their lives. Then...there were the goof-off ones. A few boys made oddly shaped ones, including a ravioli-shaped, 包子 shaped, and other shapes that cannot be easily described. One boy even put his meat in the shape of eyes and a smily face, and then put another pancake on top to make a face-shaped dumpling.
The only mild problem that we faced was that, on top of the rest of the 中文桌子 food that we ordered, there was no way we could eat all of our dumplings! But I suppose that this is the curse of the Chinese Restaurant. 眼大肚小。。。
Today, I returned to my childhood. If the same question had been asked of 9-year-old Celia, she would have immediately said "dumplings!" (饺子） with a broad grin over her face. Today, instead of having our regular 中文桌子 (Chinese Table--a Tuesday and Friday lunch with our teachers), we and our teachers wrapped dumplings.
I wish I had had my camera. It was truly a phenomenal experience, salivating the uncooked dumplings. First, you put a little globule into a small pancake. Then you pinch it shut. Then it is steamed. Then you eat it. Our teachers dumplings were naturally the best looking. Then came a few of the heritage speakers, who had been making dumplings in their home most of their lives. Then...there were the goof-off ones. A few boys made oddly shaped ones, including a ravioli-shaped, 包子 shaped, and other shapes that cannot be easily described. One boy even put his meat in the shape of eyes and a smily face, and then put another pancake on top to make a face-shaped dumpling.
The only mild problem that we faced was that, on top of the rest of the 中文桌子 food that we ordered, there was no way we could eat all of our dumplings! But I suppose that this is the curse of the Chinese Restaurant. 眼大肚小。。。
Monday, July 19, 2010
My Inner Mongolian Adventure (AKA the Longest Blogpost Known to Man)
(This blog post is longer than some essays I have written)
Friday, July 9, 2010
8 AM – midterm exam.
10:40 AM – oral exam (skit performance with Yoonji, Stephanie, and Dan).
12 PM – 中文桌子 (Chinese table with our teachers at a Beiyu restaurant).
10:40 AM – oral exam (skit performance with Yoonji, Stephanie, and Dan).
12 PM – 中文桌子 (Chinese table with our teachers at a Beiyu restaurant).
3 PM – our bus sets off for 内蒙古 (Inner Mongolia)
6:30 PM – Andi teaches us an Inner Mongolian song that he learned from his family.It is from Communist times as it mentions 毛主席 (Chairman Mao).
~8 PM – our bus stops moving, thanks to an incredible traffic Jam.
~9 PM – our bus turns off to save gas.
~8 PM – our bus stops moving, thanks to an incredible traffic Jam.
~9 PM – our bus turns off to save gas.
~9:30 PM – we step off the bus onto the highway because the bus is too hot and claustrophobic. Befriend a pig in the back of the truck in front of us. Look at stars. Translate English pop songs into Chinese (this is mostly Andi).
~10:30 PM – we get back on the bus.
~10:30 PM – we get back on the bus.
~2 AM – our bus starts moving again.
~3:45 AM – wereach our hotel in 呼和浩特 (Huhhot – the capital city of Inner Mongolia). There is no electricity in the hotel. We have to climb 11 flights of stairs to reach our bedrooms, reminding me strongly of firedrills at Brearley.
~4 AM – our keycard doesnot work. I prepare to sleep in the hall because I refuse to go down 11 floors and then climb back up. A passing maid lets us into our room.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
We drove a few hours into the Inner Mongolian countryside to reach the place where we would stay the night (in Yurts!). We then broke up into afew groups and go to our first interviews. I was in a group with one other second year student, a third year student, a fourth year student, and Andi. We went to a small house across the road from where we were staying and interviewed a sheep herder.
It is both an upsetting and an empowering experience. It is the first time that I really felt lost for words. The higher level students were able to maintain a dialogue, joke around, ask intelligent questions, and the questions that I tried to ask tooka very long time to form, an
Saturday, July 10, 2010
We drove a few hours into the Inner Mongolian countryside to reach the place where we would stay the night (in Yurts!). We then broke up into afew groups and go to our first interviews. I was in a group with one other second year student, a third year student, a fourth year student, and Andi. We went to a small house across the road from where we were staying and interviewed a sheep herder.
It is both an upsetting and an empowering experience. It is the first time that I really felt lost for words. The higher level students were able to maintain a dialogue, joke around, ask intelligent questions, and the questions that I tried to ask tooka very long time to form, an
d were filled with grammar errors. Once or twice, they had to be further translated. And yet, I understood most of what was said. I was able to see the humor that cropped up, and felt very much as though I were present in the room. While I asked perhaps one 30th of the questions asked that afternoon, I still felt as though I was involved, andthe many questions I had before arriving at the interview were answered over the course of the hour and half, either through conversation or because I, or another student, asked them.
We went back to our yurts and had a dinner of sheep, whose death we witnessed. It was a very quick and clean kill. It was also a very tasty sheep. The people who ran the inn provided us with a mini-concert, and, at the end of it, some HBA students sang, or played on the keyboard.
We then watched a Mongolian Wrestling competition. Gordon, a Harvard student who is a part of the Kendo club there, tried wrestling. Then there was a (slightly drunken) men’s Harvard-v-Yale wrestling match (Harvard won…Yale wasn’t wearing
We got to another location, where we also sleep in Yurts. In the afternoon, we go horseback riding. Little do we know that it will hurt for the next three days, since they didn’t teach us how…
We watch a showed of Mongolian song and dance. I was surprised to hear a minor similarity between Mongolian music and some of the Slavic music I sing at Yale. One song had an instrument maintaining a drone, and the singer sang a complicated melody using glottal stops. It reminded me of more “melodic” Bulgarian music. As Andi said, that’s legitimate as “the Mongols got there…”
Monday, July 12, 2010
We had our second interview. I felt more present in the conversation and felt as though I asked my questions more eloquently and frequently (although this might just be my perception…). This herdsman’s house was in an even more isolated area, but he had working electricity, cable, and a cell phone. My group stayed the same, except for the addition of another second year student. Ours was the first group to be dropped off, and the last to be picked up—a good hour and a half after we finished our interview. We hung out in the Inner Mongolian sun, without water or shade. It was fun, until found out how long we had to wait…and then realized we were all getting sun-burned…
We took the bus to 包头 (Baotou city) and checked into a hotel.
Tuesday July 13, 2010
We went to a clothes factory and interviewed the female workers there. It was a much nicer place than we were all anticipating. According to Wang laoshi, it was a pretty average factory.
From there, we went to the offices of a cashmere clothing line. I found it rather boring, but the cashmere was beautiful.
In the afternoon, we went to a memorial to 成吉思汗 (Ghengis Khan). It was a place that he supposedly found to be very beautiful when he was alive, and, after his death, the cart bearing his body broke on the same hill and so they set up an altar in his honor, as well as seven white yurts. The area has been guarded by about 38 generations of the same family. In the 1950s, the Chinese Government sponsored a more solid building that would surround the Yurts.
(Outside the house, there were some truly adorable lambs.)
(The herd comes back to drink water. And climb on a pile of their own feces…)
We then watched a Mongolian Wrestling competition. Gordon, a Harvard student who is a part of the Kendo club there, tried wrestling. Then there was a (slightly drunken) men’s Harvard-v-Yale wrestling match (Harvard won…Yale wasn’t wearing
his Glasses), and a girls’ New York-v-Texas match (Texas won).
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
We got to another location, where we also sleep in Yurts. In the afternoon, we go horseback riding. Little do we know that it will hurt for the next three days, since they didn’t teach us how…
We watch a showed of Mongolian song and dance. I was surprised to hear a minor similarity between Mongolian music and some of the Slavic music I sing at Yale. One song had an instrument maintaining a drone, and the singer sang a complicated melody using glottal stops. It reminded me of more “melodic” Bulgarian music. As Andi said, that’s legitimate as “the Mongols got there…”
Monday, July 12, 2010
We had our second interview. I felt more present in the conversation and felt as though I asked my questions more eloquently and frequently (although this might just be my perception…). This herdsman’s house was in an even more isolated area, but he had working electricity, cable, and a cell phone. My group stayed the same, except for the addition of another second year student. Ours was the first group to be dropped off, and the last to be picked up—a good hour and a half after we finished our interview. We hung out in the Inner Mongolian sun, without water or shade. It was fun, until found out how long we had to wait…and then realized we were all getting sun-burned…
(Solar and wind-powered street lights)
We took the bus to 包头 (Baotou city) and checked into a hotel.
Tuesday July 13, 2010
We went to a clothes factory and interviewed the female workers there. It was a much nicer place than we were all anticipating. According to Wang laoshi, it was a pretty average factory.
From there, we went to the offices of a cashmere clothing line. I found it rather boring, but the cashmere was beautiful.
In the afternoon, we went to a memorial to 成吉思汗 (Ghengis Khan). It was a place that he supposedly found to be very beautiful when he was alive, and, after his death, the cart bearing his body broke on the same hill and so they set up an altar in his honor, as well as seven white yurts. The area has been guarded by about 38 generations of the same family. In the 1950s, the Chinese Government sponsored a more solid building that would surround the Yurts.
(me with the statue of my ancestor—according to my mother’s obsession with geneology…)
What I found to be most interesting about the memorial was not the pride that the Inner Mongolian people took in having Ghengis Khan as part of their cultural heritage (although that was very fascinating). It was our tour guide telling us that the site was currently an AAAA tourist sight, and it was in the process of applying for the next highest level of tourist attraction. It is something that would bring more visitors to Inner Mongolia and therefore enhance the regions economy, but it also seemed to me to be missing the point of the very monument. It was a place that was devoted to the head of one of the most successful conquests the world has ever seen, and yet no one seems to know it is there except for the people of Inner Mongolia. After all, why would China have such a place when Ghengis Khan’s body ended up in (Outer) Mongolia? Also the fact that it had to apply for a tourist ranking at all seemed very odd to me.
We returned to our hotel in Baotou…and our fuse popped twice…Stephanie and I were moved then to a room with no air conditioning. Then, we were moved to a much nicer room on the 11th floor that was, for lack of a better description, a “shag room,” complete with window into the bathroom and prominently displayed condoms…
We were amused.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
We went to Desert Land (well..that wasn’t what it was actually called…)
What I found to be most interesting about the memorial was not the pride that the Inner Mongolian people took in having Ghengis Khan as part of their cultural heritage (although that was very fascinating). It was our tour guide telling us that the site was currently an AAAA tourist sight, and it was in the process of applying for the next highest level of tourist attraction. It is something that would bring more visitors to Inner Mongolia and therefore enhance the regions economy, but it also seemed to me to be missing the point of the very monument. It was a place that was devoted to the head of one of the most successful conquests the world has ever seen, and yet no one seems to know it is there except for the people of Inner Mongolia. After all, why would China have such a place when Ghengis Khan’s body ended up in (Outer) Mongolia? Also the fact that it had to apply for a tourist ranking at all seemed very odd to me.
We returned to our hotel in Baotou…and our fuse popped twice…Stephanie and I were moved then to a room with no air conditioning. Then, we were moved to a much nicer room on the 11th floor that was, for lack of a better description, a “shag room,” complete with window into the bathroom and prominently displayed condoms…
We were amused.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
We went to Desert Land (well..that wasn’t what it was actually called…)
Thursday, July 15, 2010
We went to the headquarters of Mengniu Dairy, one of China’s most prominent Dairy companies. We toured the packaging plant, and then saw the cows’ living quarters. All are grassfed (the concept of cows eating anything else is foreign to many people outside the US…), they listen to music while they are being milked, they can kick off the milkers when they feel like it. They looked happy.
In the afternoon, we went to a Buddhist temple. It was absolutely beautiful.
We then went wandering and shopping. It is funny how much of the things sold in Inner Mongolia look like they could be sold in the American West. Cowboy hats, leather work, silver things. It was very strange. I went with a few friends to a tea shop, which was very soothing, and we got to try a few teas. It was very enjoyable.
I started trying to read 哈利波特与密屋 (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) which I bought the night before. When I bought it, I misunderstood the price that the shopkeeper told me and I so I gave him two kuai fewer than I should have. When I tried to correct it, he wouldn’t let me. I think it was the first discount that I ever received because I was a foreigner without having to haggle. In any case, I say “trying” because it took me an hour and a half to read a page and a half. It was not that I couldn’t have figured out what was going on based on my own previous knowledge of the text and the Chinese that I already know, it was that I was reading it to really understand every word and sentence I saw. I would look up every word I didn’t know, and, at the end of a sentence, reread to make sure that I remembered what everything meant. It was both very fun and very tiring. It will also take me a very long time to complete my goal of reading all Harry Potter books in Chinese….
Friday, July 16, 2010
In the morning we meet and interview some high school students, who were incredibly smart and very sweet. Many of them wish to go to English speaking countries for college, and it was kind of jarring to think that these children desperately want to go to places like Harvard and Yale, and yet probably won’t get in, simply because Harvard and Yale take very few actual Chinese students every year (while they take many heritage students). It made me very sad as I sat and talked to a young girl whose name I couldn’t retain. She was wonderful and hopeful and patient, and will being applying to American colleges next year.
We also met with some college students. The one that I spoke to was an English major who spoke English very well, although she wasn’t as patient with my Chinese as my high schooler was.
We then got on the bus for 9 hours and ended up in Beijing.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
I spent most of the day chilling out. In the Evening, HBA took us to an acrobatics show, that was completely spectacular. From there me and a few friends went and sang Karaoke for a few hours.
I started trying to read 哈利波特与密屋 (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) which I bought the night before. When I bought it, I misunderstood the price that the shopkeeper told me and I so I gave him two kuai fewer than I should have. When I tried to correct it, he wouldn’t let me. I think it was the first discount that I ever received because I was a foreigner without having to haggle. In any case, I say “trying” because it took me an hour and a half to read a page and a half. It was not that I couldn’t have figured out what was going on based on my own previous knowledge of the text and the Chinese that I already know, it was that I was reading it to really understand every word and sentence I saw. I would look up every word I didn’t know, and, at the end of a sentence, reread to make sure that I remembered what everything meant. It was both very fun and very tiring. It will also take me a very long time to complete my goal of reading all Harry Potter books in Chinese….
Friday, July 16, 2010
In the morning we meet and interview some high school students, who were incredibly smart and very sweet. Many of them wish to go to English speaking countries for college, and it was kind of jarring to think that these children desperately want to go to places like Harvard and Yale, and yet probably won’t get in, simply because Harvard and Yale take very few actual Chinese students every year (while they take many heritage students). It made me very sad as I sat and talked to a young girl whose name I couldn’t retain. She was wonderful and hopeful and patient, and will being applying to American colleges next year.
We also met with some college students. The one that I spoke to was an English major who spoke English very well, although she wasn’t as patient with my Chinese as my high schooler was.
We then got on the bus for 9 hours and ended up in Beijing.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
I spent most of the day chilling out. In the Evening, HBA took us to an acrobatics show, that was completely spectacular. From there me and a few friends went and sang Karaoke for a few hours.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Back from Inner Mongolia...
...with no internet in my room until Monday afternoon. I will post in greater detail then.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物
"The Way gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, three gave birth to a thousand things." -老子
If I remember correctly (and knowing the state of my memory, I could be completely wrong), I opened a 12th grade history position paper with this quote. In the paper, I was arguing that "Ignorance is Bliss" and that Daoism was the better than Confucianism and Legalism when it came to living life and setting up a Chinese Government.
Today, (大) 冯老师, "Big" Feng Laoshi, (not to be confused with 小(small/young)冯老师 - the head of the second year chinese section of HBA), the director of HBA, gave us a lecture about Chinese Religion. It was a complicated lecture and therefore was given in English (something that made all of the second year students, who made up most of the audience, mightily relieved). The first Wednesday afternoon lecture that we had two weeks ago was given in Chinese and, while the subject matter was fascinating (the lives of Chinese farmers) it went completely over my head and the only part that I understood was when, seeing the 二年级 students' perplexed faces, Feng Laoshi began translating every now and then.
After discussing Confucianism, Feng Laoshi moved onto Daoism, and this quote ("道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物") which opened Laozi's book was splashed up upon the projector. It seems so compact and happy in Chinese, where it seems kinda funny in English. But that's one of the beauties of seeing something in its original language.
Now for my own (rather bad) attempt at metaphor (or simile...): life is moving like a tire that that was just pushed down a hill. At the beginning, it kinda rolls/bounces along. Then it gets faster. Now it's moving really really fast because of it's increased acceleration and I think it'll hurt if it hits me.
In two days time, I will be on a bus out to 内蒙古 (Inner Mongolia), one of the regions in Outer China for HBA's week of 社会调查 (social study). I hope to research how Inner Mongolian raise their animals--as they are famous herders--and look into how they make their yarn, which is one of their specialities (and hopefully buy some too!). I'm really looking forward to it, but I won't have internet for a week, so don't expect blog updates until July 16th/17th (my birthday!).
Of course, in two and a half days, I have a midterm. Having a language midterm is a little more than I can fathom. In my brain, Languages are cumulative, so having a midterm seems kind of silly. A final, I understand completely, but a midterm? Really? Is that necessary?
No.
Well...Maybe... I mean, we have learned sooo much it is good to look back and really make sure we have absorbed.
In any case, I find this insanely frustrating. Especially since we have to memorize a skit. And because tomorrow night, I can't really study because I am finally meeting up with my host mother. It took us (my two HBA "siblings" and I) so long to contact her that we didn't dare say that we couldn't meet this Thursday because we are about to go away for a week. I am quite excited to meet her, but I am also nervous about my energy and stress level. I have noticed that they have an inverse relationship...which I find very perplexing.
On a rather unrelated note, I had a recent epiphany about one of the reasons Chinese is so hard. Like Japanese and Korean, it is also a syllabic language. That combined with the tonal aspect of the spoken language makes it VERY hard to remember new words, simply because you have already heard it in some manifestation or other. This is probably something that other people are already aware of, but I found it interesting, and thought I would share...
That's all for now...
Celia
If I remember correctly (and knowing the state of my memory, I could be completely wrong), I opened a 12th grade history position paper with this quote. In the paper, I was arguing that "Ignorance is Bliss" and that Daoism was the better than Confucianism and Legalism when it came to living life and setting up a Chinese Government.
Today, (大) 冯老师, "Big" Feng Laoshi, (not to be confused with 小(small/young)冯老师 - the head of the second year chinese section of HBA), the director of HBA, gave us a lecture about Chinese Religion. It was a complicated lecture and therefore was given in English (something that made all of the second year students, who made up most of the audience, mightily relieved). The first Wednesday afternoon lecture that we had two weeks ago was given in Chinese and, while the subject matter was fascinating (the lives of Chinese farmers) it went completely over my head and the only part that I understood was when, seeing the 二年级 students' perplexed faces, Feng Laoshi began translating every now and then.
After discussing Confucianism, Feng Laoshi moved onto Daoism, and this quote ("道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物") which opened Laozi's book was splashed up upon the projector. It seems so compact and happy in Chinese, where it seems kinda funny in English. But that's one of the beauties of seeing something in its original language.
Now for my own (rather bad) attempt at metaphor (or simile...): life is moving like a tire that that was just pushed down a hill. At the beginning, it kinda rolls/bounces along. Then it gets faster. Now it's moving really really fast because of it's increased acceleration and I think it'll hurt if it hits me.
In two days time, I will be on a bus out to 内蒙古 (Inner Mongolia), one of the regions in Outer China for HBA's week of 社会调查 (social study). I hope to research how Inner Mongolian raise their animals--as they are famous herders--and look into how they make their yarn, which is one of their specialities (and hopefully buy some too!). I'm really looking forward to it, but I won't have internet for a week, so don't expect blog updates until July 16th/17th (my birthday!).
Of course, in two and a half days, I have a midterm. Having a language midterm is a little more than I can fathom. In my brain, Languages are cumulative, so having a midterm seems kind of silly. A final, I understand completely, but a midterm? Really? Is that necessary?
No.
Well...Maybe... I mean, we have learned sooo much it is good to look back and really make sure we have absorbed.
In any case, I find this insanely frustrating. Especially since we have to memorize a skit. And because tomorrow night, I can't really study because I am finally meeting up with my host mother. It took us (my two HBA "siblings" and I) so long to contact her that we didn't dare say that we couldn't meet this Thursday because we are about to go away for a week. I am quite excited to meet her, but I am also nervous about my energy and stress level. I have noticed that they have an inverse relationship...which I find very perplexing.
On a rather unrelated note, I had a recent epiphany about one of the reasons Chinese is so hard. Like Japanese and Korean, it is also a syllabic language. That combined with the tonal aspect of the spoken language makes it VERY hard to remember new words, simply because you have already heard it in some manifestation or other. This is probably something that other people are already aware of, but I found it interesting, and thought I would share...
That's all for now...
Celia
Saturday, July 3, 2010
My life as a spectator
There is one thing that I knew I would have to do when I came to China.
See Pandas.
I mean, how could I not? They are slowly dying off the face of this planet, why shouldn't I go see them in their homeland.
Going to the Beijing Zoo on Friday afternoon was an eye-opening experience. First of all, because it was so hot on Friday afternoon, all the pandas were indoors, and not outside. Second of all, they come from 四川 (Sichuan Province), and so they are actually about as "at home" in Beijing as I am...
But it wasn't the pandas that was astonishing. (I mean, yes, they were cool, cuddly, and adorable, but I had seen Youtube videos of them.) What was scary was where the great cats lived.
When we first went to see the tigers, we stepped into a rather stuffy room about the size of a big lecture hall. The tigers, lions, pumas, panthers, leopards, etc. were all in cages that were just big enough to let them pace about anxiously. One of the Tigers was indeed very anxious.
It was extremely upsetting. Sure, the only zoos that I really remember are the Bronx Zoo and the Central Park Zoo, both of which are quite good. But I had expected Beijing to have a pretty kickass one, especially given how hard the city was trying to impress the West during theOlympics. I mean, the Pandas had gotten a special "Olympic Building," why were these cats getting such awful treatment?
The answer was soon made clear to us: they didn't live in these cages. This was feeding time. Two workers made their ways through to each of the cages, and through large hunks of meat into the hungry animals.
When we left the enclosure to make our way to the Elephants, we saw one of the tigers who had been so frantic earlier outside. It bellowed, and I can't be sure if it was happy to have eaten, or complaining about the vicious sunlight.
On Saturday, several of us went to 北海公园 (Beihai Park), a staple of our first year Chinese course packet. It was ridiculously hot, but it was also wonderfully beautiful. We picnicked in the shade, and then climbed up a hill to get a closer look at the White Pagoda, and a birds-eye view of the lake. It was stunning.
(The View of the lake, and the Pagoda)
In the evening, we went to see the 京剧 (Peking Opera). We actually went to the same place where I met up with Brearley Folk for dinner, right before they themselves went to see the opera.
It was an incredible experience, and very colorful. They had English subtitles off to the side, some of which were very amusing (like when three characters translated to something like "stealing money from the corrupt local official").
The music of the opera was very piercing. I found it interesting that they only had one person singing, who was (I believe) a girl (she certainly only played girl parts). She was the only one who was micro-phoned, and her voice was so high and loud that she didn't really need it.
(An old man and a girl on a boat. He is helping her find her lover.)
The acrobatics were incredible. Several people did simultaneous backflips and, during a fight scene, they juggled weapons back and forth as though it were no big deal.
(A girl fighting off a demon and a soldier in order to deliver the silver she stole from the corrupt officials to someone who only wishes to help the poor and the dying.)
It was a truly fantastic thing to see.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Things that don't surprise me:
I love doing things that are creative and artistic. I love singing, I love playing my flute, or listening to others play instruments, I love to knit. I sing and I knit during the breaks between classes, and, I think I do both quite well.
There is one thing that I have never been able to do well: Draw. Never, in my life, have I been good at art. My crowning moments of drawing manifest themselves in classroom doodles, the best of which was the collection of Penguins I drew during my 12th grade physics class. (They are on my facebook page, if you are curious).
I have often wondered why, if I have no artistic talent whatsoever, I decided to study Chinese, a language whose written form requires some kind of hand-eye coordination. An even more relevant question, at the moment, is why I decided to take the calligraphy courses that HBA offers.
Today, we had our first class; well, technically last week was our first lesson, but we all went to buy the relevant equipment (brush, ink, paper, etc.) so we didn't actually try our hands at painting the characters. I thought that, because I know kinda-sorta how to draw characters in a kinda-sorta nice way, calligraphy might not be too hard.
Boy was I wrong.
First of all, writing with a pen/pencil and writing with brush and ink are 完全不同。Secondly, getting the character that you are painting to look nice--not easy. Add no artistic capability and insecurity and you have me during my first calligraphy class ever.
(my trusty 毛笔 (brush) and other things whose names I can't remember in Chinese or English. but you use them in calligraphy.)
It was scary, and the teachers were not second year student teachers, so they spoke quickly and used vocabulary that was not something I had ever come across. On top of that, because there were a good fifteen of us in the class, with only two teachers, they couldn't spend too much time helping out individual students, much to my distress.
At the end of the class, they collected our names that we ourselves had painted. They said that, at the end of the eight weeks, we would compare and see how far we've come along. I feel like I won't have made too much progress...but then again, that was how I felt about my Chinese at the beginning of this program, and I already can see noticeable improvements...Of course, I have far more confidence in my language learning-speaking capability than I do in my ability to develop as an artist.
(my first attempts at calligraphy. and my ipod.)
In other news, it rained today, and I can now see the mountain out of my window again. I've missed it. It's been super hazy for over a week.
Also, it's July? When did that happen. Golly things are going fast...
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