Student Blog
Recent Postings
Welcome to china360 “2010 Summer Study in China Program.” This section of the site is meant to serve as a blog for the participants in China Institute’s 2010 Summer Study in China Program. Here you can share your experiences and thoughts about the program and also stay in touch with your family and friends in the U.S. and China. We encourage you to use the blog not only while in Beijing but also before and after. The blog — together with the other features of china360 — will help you stay connected with one another, with us at China Institute, and with the larger community of students, educators, and others who are interested in Chinese language and culture.
Enjoy the site.
China Institute Education Department
This photo I uploaded is at the Confucius Temple （孔庙）. We went about 3 weeks ago but since I’ve had trouble uploading photos I could not do it until now. Today was our last day of formal Chinese instruction. My classmates and I finished a 10 chapter book in 5 weeks, whereas a normal Chinese class would spend around a year on one book.
Last night I went with Kim to a local grocery store where she received a manicure from a woman in a shabby cubicle. It was actually really nice … to watch, but even more to have a good conversation with an engaging person. I feel like I’ve realized the same thing so many times, but every time I rediscover it, it presents itself in a different way. We were briefly talking about how everyone is different (of course) but how there is no format or mold for what is “normal” or should be defined as permissible in society. Being judged is something that hurts you, and when you do it, it hurts others. Everyone brings something different and special to every situation. We inevitably judge others … it just happens. But after that judgment, accepting that person is so beautiful.
I can’t believe we only have a few days left in Beijing. Shanghai here we come!!
This past weekend was very interesting. I went with Courtney, Dallas and Ricardo to the “Art District” of Beijing. It was very eclectic and resembled certain parts of Miami beach… excluding the beach. I found that most of the art was either contemporary or a mixture of traditional China with an abstract appeal. (dynasty, dragons ect.)
My experience with art galleries has always been disappointing. Some kind of artist displays their interpretation of art and attempts to sell it at a high price；i always leave a gallery yearning to hold a piece of what i saw. I would think that an unknown artist or even a famous one would want to sell their art at an inexpensive price so more people could experience what they are trying to articulate through their expressions. While in the Art District i was able to pick up some high quality art pieces for around 8 RMB($1.22) each， whereas in New York or even Orlando you could not purchase what i bought for less than $30. The inexpensive Chinese goods we find in America are even more inexpensive in China, therefor if you shop smart you can live a decent life on $15-20 a week.
I really hope i can visit the Art District again while in Beijing.. possibly Wednesday.
* My host father bought me a solar cell phone charger for 30 RMB at the Pearl Market. Its awesome!
Hey Everyone! Today is the most beautiful day in Beijing by far. The skys are a perfectly clear blue, with a dry breeze whistling through the trees! My host Mother finally returned from a business trip in Shanxi province and today we are doing volunteer work. I wanted to talk about ONE thing!KARAOKE! There are casino style hotels called “KTVs” which specifically have rooms containing flat screen tvs, black and disco lights, futuristic decorations and comfy seating. I first went while in Tianjin with my host brother Caro and a few of his friends. Of course i was nervous, but im in China and singing is so much fun, especially Lady Gaga! I also went for Caro’s 16th Birthday as well as with almost every student here on our trip. At first i thought that most of my classmates wouldn’t know how to have fun! However, after all of our Mall-ing, Movie-ing, Karaoke-ing and EATING i realized that i wouldnt swap any of them for anyone.
I’ve Begin to fall in love with this stunning country and the friends i have made. :}
After school, Calum, Maddie, Emma, Courtney, and I went out with the spice-loving Jack Harding to eat Ma la Tong at a hole-in-the-wall-joint about a 10 minute walk away from Yucai school. I personally had no idea what to expect until Julian began to provide an in depth account of past experiences with Ma la Tong. In this description, the words, “numbing peppers”, “explosive fiery sensations”, and “lack of spice antidote” were mentioned all too often. Of course, this only made our trip to the restaurant all the more intriguing to me.
After first loading up on precautionary drinkage at the corner store, our group of 7 proceeded to march into the restaurant, which I will simply call “The Place of Many Fiery Peppers” since I do not know its official name. The Place of Many Fiery Peppers itself consisted of a small kitchen and a single dinning area, which could not have been larger four parking spaces. When one enters, on the immediate left one can observe a gigantic shelf with skewers of everything from pork to sticky rice to lotus root on them. In order to have a meal, one would pick out a certain amount of these and hand them to the cashier, who would charge per skewer. The kitchen would then proceed to add broth, boatloads of Sichuan peppers, other chilis, and hot oil in order to create a soup for the customer. In our group, the average cost for each meal was approxixmately a $1.20.
After we received our spice-soaked bowls, everyone began to slowly and cautiously test the flavors. Needless to say, it was not long before all of our mouths were on fire with a level of burning sensation that I had honestly never felt in my life. What pursued was the interesting task of finishing what was the hottest dish I’ve ever had in my life. However, walking out of the Place of Many Fiery Peppers, I was firmly resolved in my belief that I would not trade this experience for the world.
Looking back on the first week of a long, and at times arduous, trip to China we have undoubtedly made progress in leaps and bounds, but nonetheless, the linguistic intricacies and cultural difficulties of Mandarin continue to wreck havoc with my mind. According to one of the interns who lived in China during Junior year, Chinese will always be a lifelong pursuit. It is an incredibly challenging task to become truly fluent in this language. Although this has its upsides in that I will always be busy. However sometimes I do wonder what it would be like if I had continued studying Spanish. However, one can ultimately console oneself in the difficulties of Mandarin by understanding that it will pay off. As Epicurus said, “The greater the investment, the greater the reward.” After all, the United States debt to China’s government will have increased by tens of millions of dollars, while our corporations become addicted to the cheap cost of labor here. Soon enough, we will own our souls to the company store.
On Saturday (first week) we drove north to the Great Wall, known as ChangCheng (or 长城) in Mandarin. After a two hours of listening to Death Cab for Cutie and studying for a dictation test on Tuesday I could finally make out the faint outline of the Han Dynasty’s ultimate barriade against the Huns through the mist of the Yan Mountains. Near the ticket booth, to both our left and right stood a gaggle of merchants whose sole aggressive objective was that of a quick sale. Many the buying of several interesting T-shirts, we began the taxing workout. Approximately 250 stairs later the class stood atop the only manmade structure seen by the naked eye from outerspace. Despite the high elevation and the substantial distance from central Beijing, the all-too-familiar smoggy haze once again lay siege to the wall. While traversing the wall, two questions kept rushing through the depths of my mind. Firstly, how did the ancient Chinese manage to build this wall of this magnitude without mechanized machinery? Secondly, why were the horseflies at the Great Wall the size of US nickels?
Although the wall itself was surprisingly short in width, it did negotiate a set of extremely steep ridges with great grace.. As one walks along these ridges, the admiration for the wall continues to build at the same rate as the gradient increases. At one point, I climbed what must have been literally at least a 45 degree incline, which was four football fields long, beyond which none were allowed. From there I stood, looking through the smog-laced fog at what was probably one of the greatest structures, along with the pyramids, created by human beings’ bare hands
As our class meets more Chinese student who have intensely studied English I begin to notice a specific social pattern amongst them. It appears that individuals in this nation who possess a reasonably good grasp of English still fail to practice it with native speakers for fear of losing face. They also tend to be amazingly exacting. If many Americans use language like a cleaver, those Chinese who know English well use it use it like a surgeon’s scalpel.
These past 2 weeks in Beijing, China, have been unbelievably amazing and awe inspiring. Whether it be with my host family, my sibling, my friends, or just by myself, I can always find something to do in this large and spectacular city.
Both the program and the host of spectacularly welcoming host siblings have provided me with great opportunities to both make new friends and work on my chinese skill. Just the fact that we are in china allows us to work on our chinese language skills in a setting that promotes daily use of the language. I feel that this really helps me communicate both in class, and out in the world.
So far, my experience has been superb. On my first day I was able to meet all the host siblings and make alot of new friends at the school. I learned about my schoolwork, which so far has been a solid amount, but not too much.
I have eaten a host of foods, including malatang, beijing duck, and spicy fish with sichuan peppers, which numb your mouth. The food is quite good here, and I look forward to the meals.
After school I do many things, such as playing badminton, ping pong, or basketball, or maybe even going to the joy city mall! Overall this experience is much different than any of the others that I have had in china and it is enriching my chinese at an exponential level. Hope to talk about morae next week!
these past few days have been amazing. on wednesday, after leaving the capitol museum, anzia, dallas, christine, zach, max, ricardo and i all went to grandma’s kitchen, which is a few minutes away from the silk road market by walking, and we had american food! i can promise you that that was probably the first time that i have ever felt so happy to eat american food. i held back some tears after i drank my amazing chocolate milkshake and also my incredible grandma’s skillet, which had toast, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, eggs, sausages and bacon, and my hot fudge sundae. afterwards, we hunted for a taxi for about an hour, more or less, and whats frustrating was that we left the restaurant during rush hour, so every single cab was full, and none of us wanted to go on the subway, so we hunted for taxis for a really long time. on thursday, we went to dashilai, where it really felt like new york. there was uniqlo, h & m, new balance, starbucks, and all of that good stuff. and then you turn around and youre in this mini street fair kind of thing, where its similar to the silk road market, but outdoors and extremely crowded and unairconditioned. i got this really nice pocket watch for 14 kuai （thanks to dallas’s amazing bargaining skills）and a really nice rolex watch for 100 kuai. we went to little donkey farm today (saturday) and it was super amazing, mostly because we got to really work today and collaborate. we talked to some farmers, got down and dirty, and made a lot of progress with our work. we were all pretty much exhausted afterwards, but it felt great.
my host family always likes to bring me to different places, like how tomorrow im going with my family to eat fish hua guo, which is something ive never had, and also taking me shopping, bringing me to different restaurants. but the problem is, they never let you pay them back! i always offer to buy lunch, and my host mother says its ok! dont worry about it! and i always want to push myself to be more convincing, but my host parents wont listen. so next week sunday, my host sibling and i will make an american breakfast for them; french toast with scrambled eggs, and maybe pancakes. hope they like it!
Although this is probably something that should have gone in last week’s post, I think the birthday I had in Beijing was probably the best ever. It was great watching people’s reactions as they unknowingly bit into five Sichuan peppers and trying to untangle a wad a birthday noodles without breaking them. Everything was such a surprise though, and I’m glad I got to experience a Chinese birthday celebration (with some Western additions).
However, my favorite trip so far was when we went to the Dandelion School. These kids are fierce Simon Says players! Except for Simon Says, they didn’t seem to know any of the other American games such as Duck Duck Goose, Red Light Green Light and Heads Up Seven Up. I wasn’t surprised, but it left me wondering what children’s games in China are like. The students also seemed to really love and revere their teacher. Most teachers in America, especially those who teach students of this age, are seldom ever respected this much. By the end of the day, all of the Dandelion students were smiling, and the China Institute students seemed to enjoy themselves as well.
Taoranting Park is still one of my favorite places in the city. Since Shan Shan and I live so close, we can just take evening strolls. At night it’s truly wonderful because after dark many performers play music or dance near the edge of the lake. However, I’m still very wary of the relatively large number of stray cats in the park. Well, at least there are no raccoons like there are in Central Park.