Wu Tai Shan (五台山)

After spending my first two weeks exclusively in Beijing, this past weekend I got the opportunity to leave the sprawling metropolis and venture out into part of China's beautiful countryside. We had the choice of going to either Inner Mongolia or Wu Tai Shan. For whatever reason, Wu Tai Shan immediately seemed more appealing to me, so that's what I chose. Basically, Wu Tai Shan is one of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism. "Wu Tai Shan" literally translates to "Five Plateau Mountain", and its geography aptly describes its name. More than a thousand years ago, when the first temples were constructed at Wu Tai Shan, they were built on top of each of the five plateaus. Today, these temples are still in use, but a much larger and more heavily trafficked temple has been constructed in the valley below these five plateaus. For Buddhists, Wu Tai Shan is an extremely sacred site at which many come to worship.

On Saturday morning, we ventured out from Beijing around 6 am via charter bus, due to arrive at Wu Tai Shan around noon. Although Wu Tai Shan is only 250 miles from Beijing, the trip takes about 6 hours because much of the route winds through a rural mountainous region of Shanxi Province (east of Beijing). The ride there actually didn't feel too long, as the route offered a tremendous view of the surrounding scenery, which mostly consisted of rural farmland. However, after about 3 hours, we got off the main freeway and began our ascent into the mountains, which took us through a few small towns. This being my first time outside of Beijing, I was both amused and shocked by our trek through these towns. One thing you learn when living in China is that, even in large cities like Beijing, traffic rules are actually more like suggestions. It is quite common to find cars (and we're not merely talking cheap cars) parked in the most unorthodox and inconvenient places; and as a pedestrian, crosswalks have literally no significance. But after going through some of these smaller towns, I have new respect for Beijing's relative traffic organization. These towns literally had vehicles parked in the middle of intersections, with trucks and buses struggling to navigate the narrow streets. We probably averaged no more than 10 mph. Another thing you get used to in China is being a "Lao Wai", which colloquially means "foreigner". People often give you strange looks or are abnormally interested in whatever you happen to be doing. However, outside of Beijing, in some of the more rural places, you multiply this experience by about a hundred. People literally dropped whatever they were doing and stared into our bus. Their expressions seemed to range from "oh look, white people, don't see that everyday" to "dear lord they must be lost". Although Wu Tai Shan isn't a huge tourist attraction, it receives a fair amount of traffic from Buddhists making pilgrimages to the temples. But in terms of foreigners, it is certainly not a common spot to visit. During our two and a half days there, I didn't see any other foreigners besides those in our group. Needless to say, we were a bit of an oddity to the locals, and even to those who were just visiting.

One other thing that struck me while driving through these towns was the juxtaposition (I realized that this word has become commonplace when describing my experiences here) of poverty and economic development/globalization. Many telltale signs of poverty were evident-- rundown buildings, trash in the streets, general disorderliness to name a few. At the same, though, you saw lots of new cars, modern clothing stores, and lots and lots and lots of construction. One quick note about construction in China. Everywhere I have gone, there has been construction, and lots of it. Even on the tops of remote mountains, there is construction. You often hear about China's rapid economic growth, but you really have to come see it firsthand to truly grasp it. And life certainly does not slow down as a result of all the construction. For instance, there was many a time that a road seemed to be being built as we were driving on it. Dodging dump trucks and backhoes is indeed just a part of life here. I have a lot of respect for our driver, because these roads would be hard to safely navigate in a personal car, let alone a giant passenger bus.

Eventually, after twisting and turning through the mountain roads, we reached the gate of Wu Tai Shan, where our tour guide met us. We spent the afternoon touring through the main temple which lies in the valley of the five mountains. The temple was spectacular (see pictures on facebook), and it was interesting to hear some of the history and lore behind Wu Tai Shan. However, one of the rules there is that you cannot take pictures of anything inside the temples, which unfortunately contains much of the spectacular and priceless stuff that makes Wu Tai Shan so sacred. Basically, there were shitloads of gold Buddhas and stuff like that. Pretty cool. After that, we walked up 1000+ steps in order to reach another temple. I'm not quite sure why it was significant, but the stairs were packed with people making their way to the top. The climb takes between 15-30 minutes if you go as fast as you can, depending on your ability. It was not easy, but there was a nice view at the top. It was about 6 pm by the time we finished, so we hiked back down and then drove over to yet another temple, where we were able to meet with a Buddhist monk and ask him questions. It wasn't terribly interesting, since the pace was significantly slowed because of the need to translate (I could have managed somewhat without translation, but I definitely wouldn't have comprehended everything) for everyone. It was pretty cool to hear about his life and how he actually became a monk.

The next day was entirely devoted to hiking to the top of one of the five mountains. Our itinerary had originally listed Bei Tai (the north mountain) as our destination, but for whatever reason we actually climbed Dong Tai (the east mountain). The only difference is that Bei Tai is a little taller, but I'm not sure there is a huge difference. We ventured out at around 10 am from a small farming village, where we ran into a few locals, who were all very kind and obliged to our picture-taking requests. The first hour of the hike was flat ground, as we made our way around the side of the mountain. There actually isn't a path up the mountain, and it is quite uncommon to climb since there is a road that runs to the top. However, up until that road was constructed (probably no more than 20 years ago), the only way to reach the temple at the top was to climb. In order to find the best spot to climb up, we actually followed a man who was herding a group of sheep, and he led us to the other side of the mountain. From there we began our ascent, which I can only describe as one of the most physically demanding things I have ever done. It wasn't necessarily the hardest thing to do, but the sheer length of the climb, as well as the high altitude, made for an exhausting journey. For whatever reason, I went pretty much as fast as possible. It's a strange feeling to describe, but when you are ascending the mountain, you feel a great motivation to reach the top, and excitement builds the higher you climb. The fastest person in our group reached the top at about 1 pm, and I followed in third about 15 minutes later. The last completed at about 2:15, and we ate lunch and rested at the temple. Although very tiring, the climb was easily the best part of the trip due to the spectacular scenery. It actually reminded me a lot of Washington, with lush forests and grasslands that filled the environment with vibrant shades of green. I got some good pictures, but they definitely don't fully the grasp the magnificence of the area. As part of our lunch, they gave us a Snickers bar. Let me say, that was easily the best Snickers bar I have ever eaten. Although I wasn't terribly excited about climbing that mountain beforehand, after reaching the top I realized how truly rewarding the experience was.

We slept in and came back the next day, and arrived back in Beijing in the evening. The ride back was pretty miserable, and everyone was quite pleased to get the hell off that bus. After getting back, a small group of us walked to a nearby restaurant that served western food, including pizza. It was refreshing to have a taste of home, especially after a long, tiring weekend. I am always amused to go to Western-style restaurants in China because of how they try to create the Western vibe. Usually they aren't very successful, but this one actually felt pretty authentic. I realized their secret was offering free booze to foreigners in exchange for letting them copy the music on your iPod. This is actually a brilliant strategy, because they just copied the music and put it on shuffle to play in the restaurant. From there, the rest of the vibe is easy to create. Add in beer and pizza, and you have a recipe for success. Not to mention, the prices are much cheaper than in the USA (although they are a little more expensive than a typical Chinese restaurant). Overall, a pretty good weekend.

好球！

I'll get to the title later. The last few days there has been less to write about, which I anticipated. As I spend more and more time here, more and more will start to become routine, and thus uninteresting to talk about. However, I am sure there are plenty of surprises ahead of me, and I have no doubt I will have things about which to write, even if it becomes less and less frequent.

Class has been going well. I have to admit, I find it much easier here in Beijing than at Pomona, but perhaps not because the content is any easier. At Pomona, the hardest part about Chinese is the weekly tests, which are basically huge translations both from English to Chinese and Chinese to English. I don't like them because they often require the combination of complicated grammar structures that we honestly never learned how to use, except in isolated forms. Additionally, they always required working into the next class period to finish. I always had class right after, so it was quite annoying to be frequently late. Here at IES, they use a different approach, which is to have a small quiz each morning, with emphasis both on the previous day's and that day's lesson. Additionally, the quizzes don't usually contain translations. Instead, we do translations and longer writing pieces as homework each night. I like this method better because it better facilitates daily studying and learning, rather than having a weekly test that encourages studying mostly the night before. It also is a bit of an unfair comparison, though, because here we only have one class, whereas at Pomona I'd have three other classes.

Friday night, I went with some classmates and a few of the Chinese roommates to Sanlitun, which is in the area of Beijing that contains most of the foreign embassies. It is a really popular place for expats to go, IES students included. It is about a 20 minute cab ride from Bei Wai, which costs about 40 yuan, so it is very easy to reach. We had a pretty big group, so we had to catch multiple cabs. Now Beijing has plenty of cabs, but flagging down one and convincing them to take you is a whole different story, especially if you aren't Chinese. Why a publicly licensed cab driver can refuse to drive certain people to certain places, I don't know, but anyway, it's a bit of a tough task. Getting back is much easier, though, because there are far more foreigners in the area. Anyway, we all got there eventually. It was fun, but it was definitely geared towards Westerners, and lacked any real Chinese culture. Also, it was Friday night, so everything was jam packed. The one cool thing about Sanlitun is that it contains many foreign stores, from Versace to Apple to Adidas (the largest Adidas store in the world, actually). A few weeks ago, there was actually a riot at the Apple store. Something  about the new iPad.

Saturday, I got to sleep in and then spent the afternoon studying. At about 5 I grabbed dinner and then headed over to east campus to try and find a pickup basketball game. This was pretty easy, as many Chinese (especially college students) love basketball, and also because starting in the early evening, people flock to parks to enjoy the cooler weather. Even though I was the only foreigner there and spoke limited Chinese (especially colloquial Chinese), it was easy to find a game. As I have written previously, even in the most informal settings, I have found Chinese people to be very hospitable and friendly. I didn't even have to ask to join a game, I was just invited. One of the first things I learned while playing is that although the rules are pretty much the same, basketball here in China is much different than in America. Rather than playing to 11 or 21, games are usually played first to 5, make it take it. This shortens the game greatly, and sometimes you lose after only 2 minutes of play. Another difference is the actual style of play. Most shots tend to be close to the basket rather than jump shots. The game is also much less physical, and more fouls get called than when I play back home (this is probably because people don't get angry when you call a foul, unlike the USA). Perhaps the best thing about playing is the opportunity to meet and talk with different people, as well as learn new words and phrases. The most common thing you'll hear when playing is "好球" or "hao qiu" which literally means "good ball". It is surprising how relatively friendly people are when playing. There is relatively little trash talk, and pretty good sportsmanship, but occasionally people do get a little upset. However, I think that people genuinely recognize that it is just a game, not the NBA, so winning and losing isn't all that big of a deal.

Tiananmen Trifecta

No class on Wednesdays, so everyone got to sleep in today. The day's big activity was going to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Urban Planning Center. The square is the tourist capital of not only Beijing, but all of China. Although Tiananmen Square itself was built quite recently, the Tiananmen Gate, for which the square is named, and the Forbidden City are several centuries old. Essentially, the emperors of each dynasty lived in the Forbidden City. When a new emperor came into power, he would often expand the city, building outward toward what is now Tiananmen Square. Thus, the entire Forbidden City is massive in area. Though only approximately one-third of the city is open to the public, it would take an entire day to go through just that part.

We left Bei Wai at about noon, and took a private bus that dropped us off near the square. The square lies in the heart of the city, so it was about a 35 minute drive. However, our first stop was actually an exhibit at an exhibition center near the square, known as the urban planning center. I am fairly sure it was built in preparation for the Olympics because some Olympic regalia still hung in the lobby. The main attraction of the exhibit was a huge room that contained a 3-D, to scale replica of Beijing (see pictures). It had almost every building and actually looked quite realistic. On the outsides of the replica, the floor was actually transparent glass, and the parts of the city that lie outside the borders of the replica were projected upward to see (it was like standing on top of a giant google map). Needless to say, it was an awesome exhibit, and it definitely evoked a feeling that you were Godzilla, towering over the city. It was especially interesting because you were able to get a feel of the geography of the city without being too overwhelmed by its extensive nature. Beijing is similar to American cities like Phoenix and San Antonio in that they sprawl over many many miles. Beijing is certainly not a walkable city.

From there it was about a five-minute walk to Tiananmen Square. The square is the largest city square in the world, and is the tourist heart of Beijing. In the middle of the square is the Monument to the People's Heroes, and on the sides lie the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, the Great Hall of the People, and the Tienanmen Gate to the Forbidden City. One thing that foreigners really have to understand when coming to Tiananmen Square is that there are Chinese who come from throughout China to see the square and the Forbidden City. In Beijing, folks are relatively uninterested in foreigners; it's nothing new to them. However, for many people who come from rural regions of China, seeing foreigners is part of the experience, and thus they love to take pictures of you, and will ask you to take a picture with them. This experience can range from mildly amusing, to a little disturbing depending on if they ask you or if they equate you with a zoo animal. Personally, it didn't bother me. Most people are very friendly and just seem curious. It was quite hard to communicate with them, though, because their accents/dialects tended to be much different than the Beijing accent. The least amusing circumstances were when a person would come up behind our group of 20 or so and just take a picture standing in front of us, as if we were some type of extravagant scenery. Even if people didn't take pictures, you definitely noticed a lot of staring. Although there are a lot of foreigners at the square, the number of Chinese far outnumber them.

The square and the Forbidden City was cool, but its really not something you need spend a lot of time seeing. Especially in the Forbidden City, the architecture is very repetitive, and to foreigners there isn't a lot of significance. It's certainly something you need to see in your lifetime though. We had a historian who took us, so he told us a little of the history behind the city and the square. I wish I would have had a better grasp of Chinese history because I think it would have helped me appreciate them more. One of things you learn is that  the Forbidden City is never complete. Throughout its history, it has constantly changed, and even today it is constantly being remodeled. Nonetheless, it is a beautiful place, and one that has had much historical significance for China throughout the centuries.

I don't know what the hell it is, but I guess I'll eat it.

See title. Had my first of what will surely be many of those experiences today. A few classmates and I went to an alley a few blocks from campus to grab some lunch. We didn't have much time because we had to get back to class, so we pretty much stopped at the first place we saw. Basically it was your run-of-the-mill Beijing "xiao chi" (snack) stand. We had a few options, most of which were various unknown pieces of meat on sticks, colloquially known as "chuar". I wasn't feeling particularly adventurous at the time, so I just asked for two pieces of what looked like some sort of fried flatbread (asked is really an overstatement in this case, it was really more like I pointed and said "liang ge", which means two. Ordering food is especially difficult when you have no idea what anything actually is). Everyone was pretty hungry, so we all dug right in while walking back to campus. A couple bites in, I was pretty surprised to discover that the piece of bread I bought was actually kind of like a sandwich. Cooked inside the dough was some mystery-meat combination (probably the same stuff I saw on the sticks). Don't get me wrong, it was delicious, but it was definitely a moment where I decided it was better to just eat and ask questions later. Haven't dropped dead yet, so whatever it was, I enjoyed it.

This morning was the beginning of classes and also the start of the language pledge. The pledge essentially means that for the first 3 weeks of the program, from 8 am to 4 pm all students must exclusively speak Chinese. After the first 3 weeks, the pledge becomes a 24/7 requirement. This can be quite difficult sometimes, especially when you have a question about Chinese that you have to ask using Chinese. It certainly aids your learning, though. As I explained earlier, each day I have 4 hours of Chinese class. Coming into class today, I was mentally preparing myself for a marathon session of Chinese. As it turns out, the classes are broken up into 4 parts, with 15 minute breaks in between, which lightens the load quite a bit. However, I realized that classes at IES are much different than back at Pomona. While the content is basically the same (Chinese is Chinese, more or less), the class structure and vibe is so much different. Each class has 5 students, and the classrooms are converted dorm rooms (the classrooms/offices are all on the 4th floor, while the men's and women's dorms are on the 2nd and 3rd floors, respectively). This creates such a more intimate environment than I have ever had in any class, let alone Chinese. Part of what makes Chinese a bit of drag sometimes at Pomona is that there are 15 or so students, which makes things a little boring if the teacher is asking everyone to say a sentence, or something like that. With only 5 students, the personal attention from the teacher increases significantly. Not to mention, the Chinese laoshimen (it feels really weird to say teacher. The Chinese equivalent sounds so much better and more familiar to me, so I'm just going to use that from now on. Laoshi is singular, laoshimen is plural) are all, quite simply, amazing. Not to discount my Pomona laoshimen, but the laoshimen at IES are exactly what I want in a teacher, especially for a language. Not only are they extremely smart and knowledgeable when it comes to Mandarin and Chinese culture, they have an aura of warmth and friendliness that I have found in few teachers. It's been only one day and I already feel like they been teaching me for years. It is, for lack of a better word, awesome. The first session we had a small quiz on the lesson, and then went over the lesson itself. The class is participation heavy, which keeps you constantly on your toes. For the second session, we had a different laoshi, who seamlessly picked up where we had left off. The third session was an activity session, where we had to use vocab and grammar from the lesson to construct a dialog. The fourth session we had even smaller class sizes (mine was three people, but some were two), and the laoshi just asked us questions the entire time. Throughout the four sessions, we had two different laoshimen (there are two for my level, some levels have only one), both of whom were equally awesome. Learning Chinese is undoubtedly a ton of work, but here in Beijing, even more so than back home, the work just doesn't seem like "work". I think the difference comes from the fact that here in Beijing, my work and my life are intertwined. What I learn in the classroom immediately applies to my life when I walk out of the door. It's a refreshing experience.

After class, we had a little downtime then had some guy talk to us. He was a white guy who moved to Beijing and joined a band and wrote a book about it. During his talk, he kind of admitted he never really learned Chinese, and when he talked about being the leader of a Chinese band, he described it as "revolutionizing the minds of these Chinese musicians", and seemed to think that he was bringing democracy to music. Needless to say, we all thought he was a prick. I'm not really sure why they brought him in to talk to us. I think the program director was a fan of his music. That's two hours of my life I'm not getting back.

Later in the afternoon, a few guys and I walked over to the other side of campus to play some soccer. We ended up playing some 5 on 5 with some Chinese Bei Wai students. Prior to this, I hadn't really done any strenuous activity outside in Beijing. Well, this was my first real taste of the polluted Beijing air. After a half hour or so, you do start to adapt. What stuck with me from playing these guys is their unselfish play. Even though their team members had much variance in ability, they played with absolute trust in each other, and no one person ever tried to take the game over. This is a recurring theme I have observed, and I think it goes far beyond the soccer pitch (I can't really call it a pitch to be honest, it was basically slippery astroturf). One of the fundamental values of Chinese people is that they are merely one person in a much larger group. Much more often than I have seen in America, they tend to put the interests of the group ahead of the individual. This isn't merely visible in a street soccer game, but also in basic Chinese grammar structure. Whenever you are naming a place, you always list names in order of large to small. For example, my physical address (roughly) is China, Beijing, Haidian District, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Building 7, Floor 2, Room 226. And in Chinese, this is exactly the order I would say it. Large to small, the group over the individual.

After soccer, I walked back and ate dinner with my roommate, and then had my daily tutoring session with a Chinese Bei Wai student. This brings up an interesting comparison between the only two Chinese students with whom I have had real conversations. My roommate is from a rural town; his parents are both farmers, and I bet that his ancestors were farmers as well. My Chinese tutor is from a border town on the river that divides China and North Korea; her mother is involved in some type of clothing business and her father is a relatively high-ranking government official. What I found interesting in this juxtaposition is the commonalities and between how they treat me as well as the things that they talk about (and how they talk about it). What struck me most is the hospitality that both showed me, despite me being a foreigner, and them hardly knowing me. When my roommate took me to eat, even though it was the student dining hall, he treated me like I was his personal guest in his own home. Before getting his food, he walked around with me explaining the dishes, and then ordering and paying for me without even flinching. I felt bad, because I know that his family is not wealthy (poor is probably a more accurate statement, unfortunately), and yet he was paying for my meal. I realized that all I could do was show my gratitude, and hopefully I can return the gesture the next time. After I got my food, he went back to get his own, and I then realized that I was really thirsty, and I wasn't sure where I could get a drink (on a side note, Chinese people tend not to have drinks with their meals, instead having soup). I decided to just wait until he came back and ask him where I could buy something. You can probably guess where this story goes. He returned with a drink for me along with his own food. Just like the waitress at the donkey burger restaurant from yesterday, he was extremely hospitable, especially when it came to catering to my cultural differences.

My Chinese tutor shared the same kind of hospitality. She was open, friendly, and patient with me from the very first moment, and despite being in the midst of finals, never seemed in a rush to leave. Since I didn't really have questions about my homework or lecture, we ended up just having a conversation, with me doing my best to keep up in Chinese. This is probably my favorite way to learn. Not only was I able to practice my Chinese, but almost more importantly I was learning invaluable knowledge about Chinese culture from the viewpoint of a young person who grew up in China. This was the perfect supplement to the fast-paced classroom learning. It was an opportunity to relax and learn in an informal setting. Best of all, whenever I had to resort to English, she translated for me and made sure I understood how to say it in Chinese.

Two different people from two very different places, growing up in two very different socioeconomic climates, yet who ended up at the same university, and who treated me with equal hospitality. Just another example of how the differences of the individual are not what's most important, it's the unification of many into a common group with a common ideology and common values.

Mystery Beijing

"Mystery Beijing" -- This was listed as the major activity on our orientation sheet for today. Prior to that, we had a few sessions on diversity (actually pretty interesting discussions) and met briefly with our Chinese teachers to go over expectations. Apparently, teachers in China don't understand the concept of "easing into things", as they assigned us a bunch of homework and informed us we have a quiz bright and early tomorrow. I guess I've been a little preoccupied with my new surroundings and sort of forgot to mentally prepare myself for an intensive language course. At Pomona, I always thought that Chinese classes tended to drag on, and those were at most 75 minutes. Here in Beijing, I have 4 hours daily of Chinese class. On the bright side, at least when I take another Chinese class at Pomona it will seem unusually short.

After that meeting we had lunch on our own, so I went with a few other students to a little restaurant about 15 minutes walking distance away from Bei Wai. I didn't really know what expect, since this was my first real eating experience outside the guidance of the IES staff. We had a few returning students (students who are continuing in the program from the previous semester) lead us, and they suggested we all try what they called a "donkey burger". It pretty much is what it sounds like, except it was more like a donkey sandwich. While I was a little skeptical at first, I was guaranteed that this was "the best piece of ass in Beijing" (hahaha..). We sat down and ordered, and I looked around to see if they had anything to drink to go with my lunch. I didn't see anything, but I assumed (yeah, still making assumptions) that they must have water, so I asked for it. It turns out they didn't have anything to drink, but instead the "fu wu yuan" (basically a waitress) without hesitation walked outside and went down the street. About a minute later, she returned with an ice cold bottled water, fresh from the store down the street. Now that's something you won't see in the USA. I was impressed. Anyways, back to the donkey burgers. I expected that they would be good, but they certainly exceeded my (and just about everyone else's) expectations. Probably the most delicious sandwich I can remember eating. Essentially, it was seasoned donkey meat inside a toasty piece of flat bread. Simple, but incredible. Best part of all, each one cost only 4 yuan, which translates to about 70 cents. That's the great thing about Beijing (and I'm sure most of China). While processed and packaged goods are cheaper than the USA, the real bargains are the local foods. No matter what type of food you want, you can eat well for dirt cheap.

Now it was time for "Mystery Beijing" which we found out was basically a huge scavenger hunt in the Haidian district of Beijing. The purpose was to explore our new "neighborhood", and also to get a feel for using local transportation. I hesitate to use the word neighborhood, because although Haidian is only one district of Beijing, if it were itself a city in the United States, it would rank as 4th largest in terms of population. With well over 2 million residents, it is quite a large neighborhood. So we ventured out in hopes of completing certain tasks, which mostly required a photo of your group at a particular place. However, some were a bit more difficult. For instance, we had to go a particular park (the name eludes me) and attempt to participate in one of the activities that was happening. When we entered the park, we immediately saw a group of men practicing Tai Ji Quan (kind of like shadow boxing and kung fu mixed together). So, as was required, we went to the back of the group and started imitating them. I personally was hesitant because I had been socially trained to think that this type of behavior was pretty rude (I wasn't the only one), but we were assured that it was acceptable. Things were going ok, though I'm sure we looked like fools, which was confirmed by the locals' laughter. Then, all of a sudden, the group did sort of a 180, and not wanting to mess things up, we turned as well. This posed quite a problem, since prior to then we had been watching and trying to imitate. Now, we were the front of the group and couldn't really see what was going on. That was a little embarrassing. But one of the things you learn is that part of the cultural experience is people laughing at you, and you just have to learn to laugh with them. Especially in a place like China, where "lao wai" (colloquial word for foreigners) are almost immediately recognizable, you have to learn not to take yourself too seriously.

The rest of the day we hiked around a little more, which entailed riding some buses and taking the subway. None of it was too exciting, though we did get to see some pandas, which was pretty cool. There were a couple things worth mentioning, though. Firstly, the Beijing subway was incredibly clean and high-tech in comparison to subways I have been on and heard about in America (or at least the line we were on; I've heard some of the more downtown lines are not as nice). Juxtaposing this with some of streets and alleys of the neighborhoods above, it was quite a shocking difference. Secondly, I was taken aback at how quickly China can turn from seeming completely foreign, such as in the neighborhood where I ate lunch, to completely Westernized. This was no more evident than when we entered one of the gazillion malls in Haidian. Unlike the other establishments in the city, all of the stores in the mall had English names (though a few were European). None used Chinese characters in their titles. I found this quite odd. I know that Westernization is rampant in the major cities of China, but for some reason I still don't really understand why every store lacked a title that was written in Chinese. Just another one of the signs that I have a long way to go in truly understand the culture here. Nevertheless, each day I learn more, and little by little things start to become illuminated.

Today was my first day in Beijing. Today was our first of two days of orientation, so we were up bright and early, despite everyone being pretty tired from travel. Around 8, we split up into groups and walked around Bei Wai, short for Beijing Foreign Studies University, where the IES program is housed. The campus itself actually isn't that large, though you do have to trek quite a bit from one end to the other because a huge freeway goes right through the middle. Our main order of business was to go to the supermarket to purchase some basic goods. The store itself had several different floors, but for the most part was pretty organized. I was surprised that there were so many American brands available, especially when it came to daily household necessities. But for the most part, I was pretty stingy and just bought whatever was cheapest. The difference in price was staggering. I bought two towels, toilet paper (more on this later), soap, shampoo, and laundry detergent all for around $25. Considering that this will probably last me the entire summer, it is quite a bargain. However, packaged goods are still far more expensive in comparison to items sold by street vendors. For instance, for breakfast we each bought a bag of jiaozi (dumplings) for around 70 cents. My first real encounter with culture shock came when I was at the checkout line at the supermarket. I put my basket on the counter and was pulling out some cash when the woman working the register quickly asked me something in Chinese. Up to this point, everyone who I had come in contact with assumed that I couldn't speak Chinese, so I was a little thrown off by the simple question: do you want to buy a bag for this? It's not a complicated question, obviously, but not only was I assuming the person would speak English, I assumed that supermarkets in Beijing would provide you with a bag free of charge. I guess one of the first things you learn when you're thrown into a completely different culture is that some of your most basic assumptions and habits don't necessarily apply. Almost subconsciously, I had made two separate assumptions, both of which turned out to be wrong. Anyway, after giving her a look of sheer confusion for a few seconds she did her best to point at the bag and hold up one finger, and I quickly threw out some Chinese to at least try and show I wasn't completely incompetent.

When I got back to my room, my Chinese roommate had finally arrived and was studying quietly at his desk. All the students at Bei Wai have finals next week, and thus are diligently studying most of the day. I was amazed when he told me how much studying he had to get through. He seems really nice, but the cultural gap between us is extremely large and was immediately evident upon meeting him. He is from a relatively small (300,000 population) town which is several hours by train from Beijing. His English was pretty good (much better than my Chinese) but he said he didn't speak it very often, though most of his classes were conducted in English. I explained in Chinese how I was very tired from my flight and how the plane was pretty old and that the Beijing airport was extremely impressive. I asked him if he had ever been to the United States and he simply answered, "no, I have never been on a plane before". I realized that I had made another assumption when talking about my flight and griping about a few features of the plane. In the United States, everyone has been on a plane. It had not crossed my mind that he would have not had that experience. Nevertheless, he was genuinely interested in everything I had to say and we had a good conversation that wove in and out of Chinese based on the complexity of the topics.

Later, we went around the block to a convenience store so I could buy some water. To that point, the weather had been fairly hot and muggy, and I was getting used to not ever being able to see blue sky. But as we walked out of the shop, the skies opened and there was a massive downpour. I was startled, as just a few minutes ago it had probably been 90 degrees outside. I was ready to just run through the rain back to the dorm; it was only half a minute away. Rain was nothing special back home. He, on the other hand, would have no part of it. He ushered me inside a neighboring dorm and we sat in the lobby until it stopped raining, nearly 15 minutes later. He wanted no part of walking in the rain. It actually was quite pleasant in the lobby, and we continued our conversation. I was surprised at how he didn't seem to be in a hurry, despite being extremely busy (though he wouldn't admit it). This is one thing I have discovered about Chinese people that I wouldn't have guessed. Despite having a strict government and being crammed into a massive city like Beijing,  the people are very laid-back and patient. I have not met one person yet who has become impatient with my lack of Chinese, and everyone has been very friendly and helpful. It is certainly quite different than America.

For lunch all the IES students and teachers went to a Chinese restaurant for a prototypical Chinese family dinner. This means that all the food is in the center and everyone has a little of everything. This really promotes a sense of community, even in the simplicity of a meal. Not to mention you are able to try a wide array of foods, rather than being trapped by the dish you order at a normal American restaurant. After lunch we had quick individual oral tests, and some people had to take a written test. I had already completed the test online, so I was exempt. This is probably a good thing, because I'm sure my character writing is a little rusty after a month without Chinese class. Later that afternoon, I went with two other guys to check out the Bei Wai gym. Despite being students of the university, you don't have free access to the gym. The building itself is a pretty impressive structure, with a huge lobby that overlooks an Olympic-sized swimming pool (built in preparation for the 2008 games). However, the weight room was pretty lackluster. It was a little like the plane I flew on to Beijing. It got the job done, but it definitely wasn't luxurious. It was after about 15 minutes of exercise that I realized how exhausted I really was. Until then I hadn't really felt the effects of jet lag, but it soon caught up to me. I managed to get a decent work out in. I found it a little annoying that all of the weights were measured in kilograms instead of pounds.

The rest of the day was more orientation stuff. Nothing too exciting. Day 1 is over. Tomorrow is another day of orientation, and finally classes on Monday. Hopefully my next post will be written while not under the effects of jet lag. Until then, 再见。

Last day in the USA

Hey everyone,

It's the night before I leave for China, so I thought I'd make my first blog entry for my trip. Depending on what's happening during the summer, I'll try to update as frequently as I can. Hopefully you will find these posts informative and interesting, but hey no promises.

First I thought I'd give a rough itinerary of my upcoming trip. I'll be staying in Beijing for 8 weeks studying in an intensive language program. This will consist about 4 hours of class per day, 4 days per week. The classes are small and very intensive, and will no doubt be both challenging and extremely helpful. I have already completed 4 semesters of Chinese at Pomona, so I will be taking classes that match my current proficiency. Additionally, I will take a less intensive Chinese contemporary culture class. Throughout the next 8 weeks, I will have the opportunity to immerse myself in a completely new and exciting culture. When I arrive at the program center, I am required to pledge that I speak only in Chinese as much as possible. Though I do have some background already, this pledge will definitely be the toughest part of my experience! I will be living in a dormitory with a Chinese roommate who takes classes at a local university. I have not met nor been informed of who my roommate is, and I am looking forward to meeting him.

Finally, after my program ends, I will be traveling to Shanghai to see a good friend and explore another one of China's great cities. From there I'll fly back home. I'll be back August 11th!

Hopefully you enjoy this blog, and if you have questions/comments or just want to say hello, feel free to email me at brendan.bartanen@gmail.com

Until later, 再见！