End of First Semester

At HBA we are supposed to cover a years worth of Chinese in 2 months. This means that each semester is about 4 weeks. I’m going to quickly finish describing first semester in this post so that I can start talking about more recent adventures.

The last week of first semester began like all the other weeks, with a Sunday afternoon at my Chinese family’s home. It was a particularly special Sunday because this was the day my parents were planning on introducing me to Beijing’s special dish: roasted duck. I had already tasted Beijing roasted duck, but I didn’t have the heart to tell them because they were too excited for me. This particular afternoon I was in for a real treat, because I would be dining with my Chinese parents, and all of my Chinese grandparents. We arrived at the restaurant and the evening began. One thing that I’ve observed is that older Chinese people get a huge kick out of hearing Americans speak their language. While we were waiting for food I was subjected to dozens of questions, about Chinese food and Beijing weather and places of interest. It didn’t matter how I answered, they were enormously pleased with any kind of coherent sentence. And then the food started coming. I can’t tell you exactly what I ate that night, but I’ve learned in China that asking what you’re eating isn’t always the best idea. I do know that I ate jellyfish, which does not taste anything like what you would expect. It is crunchy, and prepared with generous amounts of vinegar. My family ordered probably a dozen dishes while we waited for the roast duck (it takes about an hour to prepare it correctly), and they were torn between forcing me to eat (standard Chinese host behavior) and warning me to save room for the duck. When the duck came it was truly epic – they eat everything here. There is a plate of duck meat, a plate of duck skin, and a soup of everything else. It was delicious, or I thought so. My Chinese family was not pleased, and they let the waiter know it. My 4 grandparents took turns yelling at him for several minutes, explaining that it was my first time eating roasted duck and they had ruined it and they wanted another duck immediately. The waiter eventually brought another duck, and peace returned to the table. All in all a very enjoyable night.

The last week of the semester is really intense. By this point you are exhausted and worn out from your first three weeks in China, adjusting to time differences, getting used to the food and water, and of course dealing with the course load. Grammar structures are getting noticeably more difficult and vocab words just keep piling up. The midterm is basically the same as any other test (it focuses on that week’s lessons), but it also includes an essay at the end. Instead of a regular oral exam, people team up and perform skits for the rest of the class and teachers. In general, these skits are pretty amusing, and poorly prepared, since the night before everyone has been studying for the written test. Afterwards everyone gets lunch with the teachers and the week in between the first and second semesters begins. However, this week is not a break, but instead a chance to travel to other parts of China to write a social report on Chinese culture. Students can go to a number of places, including Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, and a traditional monk temple. Second year students like myself are expected to turn in a 1200+ character essay at the start of the following week. I decided to go to Shanghai, to investigate the Chinese business world. I’ll write about that next.

MS

Catching Up

Alright so I am now well into the “second semester” of my program and I have much that I haven’t shared. I’ll start with my trip to the Great Wall.

So several Saturday’s ago we all woke up at 7am and got on buses to go to the Great Wall. The Wall is about 2 hours outside the city, and along the way you get to see some areas of China that are very different from inside Beijing. Upon arriving at the Wall, the first thing that happens is that a dozen Chinese people start shouting at you to buy straw hats and t-shirts and sunglasses. The second thing that happens is that you realize that you really haven’t arrived at the Wall at all, but instead you are at the foot of a small mountain, on top of which the Great Wall twists and turns. I remember looking up and thinking that there must be some second part of the journey, perhaps an elevator or small bus, that brought you up to the wall. This was not the case. The walk up to the wall takes about 30 minutes of often steep stairs and roads. Once you reach the Wall, your journey has really only just begun. You need to “climb the Wall”. In other words, you walk up stairs for an hour and a half until you reach the highest point in that part of the Wall. The whole experience is exhausting. What’s really messed up is that the Chinese people selling you stuff at the bottom of Wall know what you’re in for but still try to rip you off and sell you things that you then have to carry all the way up. The Wall itself is spectacular – you can see for miles and miles in all directions and much of it is still in very good condition. Upon reaching the top, you take a few pictures, look around, and then begin the descent. Back at the foot of the wall, students trickle down in 2s and 3s, soaked in sweat, and sit down at a restaurant to eat. Overall I would say that climbing the Great Wall is the kind of thing that I’m really happy that I did, but that I’m not sure I would be able to do again. The final word: 4 dumplings.

The next day I woke up aching from head to toe. My Chinese family and I had plans that day so I again had an early morning. One of the things I’ve found is that on weekends, you rarely get the rest you think you’re going to get, either because you’re going out late with friends or because you just don’t have the heart to decline every single invitation your overeager Chinese family extends to you. We went to Beihai Gongyuan, a beautiful park. The downside was that we had to walk all over the place all morning, which my legs were not prepared for. Afterwards, at lunch, I mentioned that I had never been to the Forbidden City, which was a huge mistake. My family said that I needed a full day to appreciate it, but that we could go to another park that had a great view of the city. So after lunch we headed to Jingshan Gongyuan (the other park), and walked around some more. This park is an absolutely hilarious place. It is not as pretty as Beihai, but what it lacks in aesthetic value it more than makes up for in character. This park is almost entirely frequented by retired Chinese people who, after working for their whole lives, now only want to sing with other old Chinese people. Every few hundred feet there is a cluster of 10-40 retired Chinese people singing traditional Chinese songs, often being directed by another old Chinese person. They are everywhere. And in between these singing groups, the old people play Chinese’s take on hackeysack. Instead of a ball, they kick, knee, and head butt something that looks like a shuttlecock with feathers between themselves. They are ridiculously good at this, and can keep this up for long periods of time. The whole affair is entirely hilarious, because these old people really move quickly and with uncanny agility juggle this feathery thing. In order to see the Forbidden City, we had to ascend a series of hills. From the highest peak you can look down directly onto the Forbidden City. After this my family brought me to dinner, and would have brought me back to their home if I didn’t plead with them to bring me home so I could study my characters for the next day.

I have a lot more to post, and I will get around to it in the next few days. After being at HBA for this long, the amount of time it takes me to do homework and memorize characters is significantly less than before, so I have more free time now. I only have two weeks left, and I feel like I am starting the final push. It’s amazing how fast it’s gone by, but also how much I’ve learned and seen. Also, from the schoolwork to the weather, I’m really getting used to living here. I will admit I’m a little tired of Chinese food.

MS