Originally posted on July 20th, 2008

So far the hardest part about using language with my host family has been getting my host sister to speak Chinese. During our first weekend together, we decided that on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, she would speak English and I would speak Chinese. We would switch for Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. However, when the first Tuesday rolled around, my host sister couldn’t seem to shake the habit of speaking English. Nevertheless, I have certainly had sufficient opportunity to practice my listening skills with her. As she is at approximately the same level in English as I am in Chinese, no matter which language we choose to communicate in, we have to borrow heavily from the other.

My host parents do speak some English, but are loathe to use it as they are incredibly shy about their lack of proficiency. This was slightly awkward at first, because they insisted upon speaking to me through my host sister, knowing that I had no idea what they were saying when they used their normal Chinese. However, with the help of an English-speaking cousin’s translations, and as my Chinese improves, they are beginning to speak to me, though at half of their normal pace.

At this point, though the initial idea of different languages on different days seems to have failed, my host family and I have worked out a sort of system. Most communication between my sister and me is in Chinese-based English on her part, and English-based Chinese on mine; and my host parents are delighted to converse with me in Chinese. Ever so often, they remember an English phrase, too, which they pronounce with great pride before translating it into Chinese for my benefit.

Tags: 2008

Originally posted on July 20th, 2008

We did not have any field trips yet because for the past week, we were still trying to get to know our classmates. But one trip that we had outside of school grounds was the scavenger hunt. The concept of this activity is to use our knowledge of Chinese in the busy streets of Beijing. As well as sharpening our Chinese, we are getting familiar with the important places such as the bank, post office, and McDonalds! We have noticed that it was hard to get some of the answers because we couldn’t understand the pedestrians, or we did not have good pronunciation. This is when it really hit us that we really needed to study Chinese. If we didn’t know the basics, then it will not be easy living in Beijing for 6 weeks, so it gave us a heads up to study hard. This scavenger hunt was very helpful because it showed us the basic questions/answers we needed to know. I know for sure that if we did this scavenger hunt again at the end of this program, all of us would have answered all of the questions because we would know a lot more Chinese.

Tags: 2008

Originally posted on July 20th, 2008

What We’ve Seen (in seven points)

1.  A twisted, leafless pagoda trunk in the courtyard outside the dormitory: Li Lao Shi informs us the tree is over three centuries old and planted during the Ying Dynasty.  It’s only one of many ancient trees that pop up unexpectedly on roadways or in the middle of soccer fields.

2.       Out the bus window, on our way to Yucai XueXiao: Elder men standing in the grass fields by the highway, flying kites — kites that ascend higher than sight, like arches of red birds.

3.       On any evening in Beijing: Men and women sitting on the sidewalk outside their shops, swinging fans, playing chinese chess, or repairing motorcycles.  Selling small tanks of turtles on  the stoop or hanging laundry from the telephone pole wires.

4.       Every morning, large groups of bikers, some older women in formal dress, peddling to work with fully loaded baskets.

5.       At BeiHai Park with my host family: A choir of Beijing singers in yellow uniform, celebrating chinese heritage and the upcoming “harmonious and safe” Olympics.

6.       Huge department stores and bargaining small shop keepers enjoying the crowds at Wang Fujing.

7.       Eating popsicles in the courtyard outside my host family’s looming apartment building: women with flowing limbs practicing taiqi in the dark.

Tags: 2008

Originally posted on July 20th, 2008

On the Friday night after we got to Beijing, we met our host families for the first time. For that first weekend, we were expected to do everything with the host family. My host family chose to take me 50 km outside of the city to visit my host mother’s parents and celebrate the grandmother’s birthday with the extended family.  The party was at a nearby restaurant that served the best Chinese food I’ve ever tasted. Even though the party was for the grandmother, I couldn’t help feeling as though I was the center of attention. I got the seat next to the grandmother, I was the subject of most of the conversation, and I was given the first piece of the Beijing duck. Earlier that day, my host brother was excited to teach me the Chinese version of chess, and he wants to take me everywhere with him. His eldest cousin, who I met at the birthday party, took me bowling with his friends later that night. Even though I could barely understand the grandparents, I could tell that they were genuinely happy to have me staying with them. My host family and their relatives have been the most generous hosts I’ve ever known.

Tags: 2008

Originally posted on July 20th, 2008

We’ve been in Beijing for about ten days now, and I’ve already lost weight. That’s just how it is here- just about everybody is skinny.  During our stay in the dormitory, we had two meals a day at one Chinese restaurant right near the school. The food was definitely authentic. We tried various kinds of strange vegetables, mushrooms, you name it. (Because I sure couldn’t.)

American food is abundant in Beijing, so it isn’t hard to find food we’re used to, though we sure don’t have much time to do that. I had some ice cream at a Dairy Queen at WangFuJing, (Beijing’s most famous shopping area) and I have to say after 10 days of Chinese food (easier said than done) it tasted like the U.S. of A.

By far the worst thing I have tried so far is a vegetable called Ku Gua. I don’t actually know if it is a vegetable. It could be a fruit. It might not be either, partly because I don’t think it counts as food at all. It has the consistency of a cucumber, and it tastes like eating an orange after brushing your teeth. The aftertaste is incredibly bitter. The Chinese like it because it supposedly cools the body down. On the whole, most of us like Chinese food, though we’re going to slim down a bit.

Tags: 2008