A week and a half later...

I'm sorry for not updating sooner. It's not because there's nothing to say, but because there's too much to say and picking a starting point is proving to be more difficult than I thought. Hah, ever since I came to China the word "difficult" has probably made it's way into the top 20 most frequently used words.
Classes are getting better. I'm starting to realize the content is probably a little easy for me but my listening skills are still lacking. Luckily, that is getting better too. It seems like now I don't need to make much of an effort to understand what's going on in class. It's nice to hear phrases, words, and numbers naturally without having to translate it back into English in my mind. I won't lie, classes are very exhausting. I hate how scheduling works here. I miss the 50 minute class periods back in America. I hate having an hour and 40 minute class periods, one after the other.
This past weekend I had my first opportunity since I arrived here to play tourist. A group of us went to see the famous Yellow Crane Tower. Although the tower is not that old, compared to China's extensive history, it was still fun to be shown around and have an opportunity to take too many pictures. Two Chinese girls went with us and they were really friendly and helpful even though they had never seen the tower before. Here are some pictures I took:









Later back on campus, I ran into another good Chinese friend at the cafeteria. We ate dinner together and she told me she had a class that night (a Saturday night class) about the Communist party. I guess it's required to take the class once you've become a Communist Party member. She was telling me how to qualify to be a party member and it was really complicated and interesting. She didn't have enough time to really explain it to me but I'm sure she will later - I'm kind of curious. She was saying that it's easier for college students to become members than it is for professors and business men. I guess I can understand the business men but why not professors? When I get these questions answered I'll write a blog post about it.
The next day my friend Gao Qing and her friend took some of us to see a really famous college in this province called Huazhong Science and Technology College. It was probably the biggest university I have ever seen, really beautiful too. For dinner we went to a dirty little restaurant outside of the gates and it was the best meal so far.
What I really enjoyed about these outings was that I was able to get familiar with the bus system. I've heard some bad stories about riding the bus, but I've found the experience to be the opposite. Perhaps these stories occurred on the buses that run through Hanyang (the poorer part of the city). I was surprised to find them extremely cheap, convenient, and air conditioned. Just yesterday I rode all the way out to Hankou (the business district of Wuhan) to go to a bank to exchange traveler's checks all by myself. The whole process took three hours but it went without a problem. It helps that almost everyone is patient and nice to foreigners.

Things I love here:

• Chinese bands posing to be Western bands at the night clubs for foreigners

• The fact that you can't judge a place by it's appearance because I've found the sketchier it looks, the better it is
  
• Families of three riding mopeds together (this is a very frequent mode of transportation for families) especially when the baby is sitting up front
• My new electronic Chinese-English dictionary that I got cheaper than my friend because I am kind of good at bargaining
• The fact that Chinese people are pretty upfront and tell you exactly what they think of you when they meet you
• If a Chinese threatens to kill you it means you just became good friends
• Regardless of our residence permits, Chinese friends still treat us like guests
• National Day vacation - it is a holiday that occurs next week for the whole week. I will be traveling to a tropical island province called Hainan with my friend. http://www.sanya-adv.com/abouthainan/jingdian.htm
  
• Studying at 8:30 am with my Chinese friends on the weekend and then being called "very Chinese" because of it
• Coffee that comes in a juice box and peach juice
  
• Engrish dating ads posted by hopeful Chinese boys looking for blonde ladies
• My plywood bed. I won't lie, I'm getting used to sleeping without a mattress and my back never hurts.

Things I don't love here:

• Being told what I want by Chinese whether it's about meals, clothes, colors, styles etc.
• Being stared at everyday
• When people laugh at my friends and I when we are struggling to communicate with waitresses
  
• Being harassed and chased for money by the lady at the North Gate
• Humidity
• The difficulties of trying to tell how I'm feeling
• Going out to dinner with the people from Poland
  
• Shopping for clothes and shoes. It is probably one of the most humiliating things one can do in China - or at least in this city. Every shop is a tiny room with three people working and they surround you while you're browsing. Then if you like something and take it off a rack to look at it the fuwuyuan will take it away from you and put it back if THEY think it'd be ugly on you or if they just don't want you to have it. Sometimes this can attract the attention of everyone in the store.
• The fact I have class on Saturday and Sunday this coming weekend since they're giving us the whole next week off from class. This will be the first time I've ever had class on the weekend.

Things I am undecided on:

• Chinese green tea toothpaste
• Green bean beverages
  
• Taxi drivers
• Inexpensive travel agencies that wake you up from your nap and yell at you in Chinese because they are driving their motorcycle through the city to deliver your plane tickets to you
• Crotchless baby trousers
• Conversations that go like this:
  Person1: "So, what do you guys feel like for dinner?"
  Person 2: "Hm, I don't know."
  Person 3: "Anyone up for Chinese food?"
  Person 1: "Like we ever had a choice..."
  
• Chinese Discovery Channel
• The people who sell baby animals on the streets - who knows what happens to those critters; sometimes they leave in cages, sometimes they're just gone
  

On that note.... next post will display how amazing my vacation was with pretty pictures of the beach and Monkey Island. Stay tuned?

Mid Autumn Moon Festival Weekend

Ni hao ni hao! This past weekend was a Chinese holiday called "Mid Autumn Moon Festival." This is a time where people tuan tuan yuan yuan, have family reunions, exchange moon cakes with friends, and look at the full moon while thinking of their loved ones that they are unable to be with at the time. I would say this holiday is the Chinese Thanksgiving. The actual holiday was celebrated on Sunday so all the students got Monday off from school. In the afternoon my friend and I went out to buy a milk tea from the usual spot and the women working there actually gave us a moon cake. This moon cake flavor seemed to be spicy mixed nuts. I just want it to be on the record that the milk tea ladies did not give any of the other customers moon cake.

I was then lucky enough to be invited by my American friends' Chinese teacher, who taught them a year ago in America, to her house. We all were invited to eat dinner with her husband and daughter. I felt going to her house truly demonstrated Chinese hospitality. It was probably a ten course meal, which I must say was the most hao chi meal I've had in China so far. The meal included home-made dumplings, pig feet, chicken, celery with lotus, chicken soup, the famous Wuhan eggplant dish, cabbage, etc.

Her husband spoke no English but he was extremely friendly and I later found out he is an artist. After dinner we were shown around their apartment and given a tour of his studio. Here are some pictures of his finished works, works in progress, and environment (click on the pictures to enlarge):







Sup Dylan?

Here is a real pomegranate tree outside of their apartment. It's not a good quality picture but it's the first time I've ever seen a pomegranate tree so I thought I'd share:

Overall, the night was a lot of fun and an interesting cultural experience I would've missed out on had I not been lucky enough to meet these people.

Here are some pictures just for your viewing pleasure:

This one is for Tracy: We found Jackie Chan at our local grocery store!


A legless man painting on the sidewalk about the holiday. He's getting up because he doesn't want pictures being taken of him... oops


I love seeing this on a busy street in the shopping district. A good mix of old and new China.


My view from my table at the milk tea cafe:


The shops right outside my dorm. Usually this is where I buy water and send faxes to America so I can vote:


I'm sure you all have been waiting for some Engrish:


A group picture from the Mid Autumn Moon Festival dinner:

Not so many pictures this time

Well, I've had an interesting first half week of classes here at Huazhong Normal University. The levels of Chinese classes are a lot different that in America. They divide it up into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year and within each year they divide it into grades: 1, 2, 3, 4, or xia, which means that you are more advanced than all the grades, but not skilled enough to be placed in the next year. Considering I didn't know jian ti zi, or simplified characters, I think I did fairly well on the exam because I was placed 1st year grade xia. Normally I would be upset that after two years of Chinese I was only placed in first year, but after attending classes I realized I'm in the right class.
We, the international students, have to take Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Comprehensive Chinese class. This class load is 18 hours of Chinese a week. I have experienced all the classes these past three days and some are better than others. First of all, all the classes are in complete Chinese - there are zero spoken English words in my class. This is expected; however, I have difficulties listening and speaking in Chinese since University of Kansas insists that writing and reading are more important. It is all especially hard when the teachers talk in Chinese at a normal day-to-day conversational rate. The first class I had, Comprehensive Chinese, scared me. I felt lost the whole time and worried if maybe I was placed in class too advanced but near the end of the class I finally figured out what was going on and found the homework to be easier than the homework I was given at KU. Listening class is probably going to be the hardest class I have, not only does my teacher talk too fast but she also has a speech impediment which makes it even more difficult for me. I think the only way I can do well in this class is if I review the book for a couple hours the night before. My speaking class wasn't too difficult because I had reviewed the dialogue a few days before I had the class. Last but not least, Reading was very easy. I probably won't be challenged in this class because at KU we read academic articles and Chinese poetry in Chinese - in this class we are only reading short, cutesy stories. Apparently this class is hard for everyone else so that makes me feel a little bit better. I realize that the content of all the classes aren't hard, maybe it's easier than at KU, but the most difficult part is understanding what the teachers are lecturing about and being able to participate. I feel lucky if I can figure out what the homework assignments are. I suppose all I can do is practice - I know this course load isn't impossible. Actually, I found in my comprehensive class, which I have everyday, that I often get so frustrated trying to find out what my teacher is saying that I just give up and sit there, but all of a sudden I'll subconsciously know what's going on and what the lecture is about because I'm not thinking so hard.
Learning a language that is so fundamentally different from English has been one of the most difficult and weirdest experiences I've ever had in my whole life! I'll get headaches from trying to think in two different languages simultaneously. Sometimes it gets so overwhelming that I'll accidentally speak in half Chinese and English without even realizing it till I receive a confused look from whoever I'm speaking too. I know I've only been here 10 days-ish and it usually takes 3 weeks for someone to get somewhat comfortable with the language, but it's just frustrating that I can't fully express myself making it difficult for me and the other person. Luckily, there are at least 5 of every store and they're all on or close to campus that I can pick regular spots (such as the store I buy my water at, the cafe I go to get nai cha, or the lunch lady who makes my meals) so they know who I am and they understand it's difficult for me. Because of this they help me learn the names of everything even though they don't know a word of English and they've all been extremely patient.
I have to say the highlight of my week has been this Friday evening. The university hosts an event called "English Corner" every Friday night where a lot (hundreds) of Chinese students can go to practice English amongst themselves or if they're lucky, with some foreigners who know English. It’s such a big deal that students from neighboring universities will go, or in one case, a boy I met had to go on a thirty minute bike ride at night through Wuhan’s INSANE traffic just to attend English Corner. My friends and I went even though we were warned against it because apparently it gets so crowded and "the Chinese will surround you and ask silly questions." I found it to be a great experience and I made so many new friends. Yeah, it's true, the Chinese kids did crowd and surround my friends and I but it was somewhat flattering to be treated like an American celebrity. I'm sure by the end of the night fifty people got my phone number.
What was really interesting though were the questions they asked. They weren't silly as much as they were intimidating. They were really curious who I was going to vote for, who my parents are going to vote for, how the economy in "my city" worked, how welfare was distributed in America, what my impressions of China were before I came and now that I'm here, if I think the quality of their products is bad etc. One person even wanted me to tell them what I learned about Tiananmen Square in America. I found that they are very curious about what other countries think about them. My favorite questions were, "tell me about the Statue of Liberty," "What do Americans think about interracial marriages," "why do you wear three necklaces," "tell me about (insert name of really obscure American movie director)," "will you sing the song from the Olympic opening ceremony," and "do girls in America really like chocolate?" Overall, I met some really nice people and two girls I met are going to take me around tomorrow night for the Autumn Moon Festival. Everyone I met was in disbelief when I said I would hang out with them.

Here is a picture of an Adult Jungle Gym in China - yeah they have those. This is my silly friend getting a little work out before dinner:



This is a sign that can be found all around the city; it either means "don't play your trumpet in this area" or "don't honk your horn in this area." I'd like to think it's directed at the trumpet-ers :)



Here is a video my friend worked on a little bit of different scenes in Wuhan. Note the dramatic music and the scene in the taxi cab when our friend couldn't close the door:



More to come...

Just some pictures and little commentary

I just fixed the settings on my blog so anyone who wants to leave a comment on an entry can - I didn't realize I had my settings otherwise, sorry!
Class starts tomorrow so I'll wait till Friday to make a post but for now I thought I'd share some pictures.


Here's a view of downtown Wuchang:




Here's the city lit up at night - this view is from my balcony:



I don't know why Taxi drivers have to be caged in their area, it makes me wonder...:



This is how they drive - no such thing as yielding or lanes:



This is how close buses drive downtown while going as fast as they can - literally the most nerve wrecking event to watch while in a taxi:



Common breakfast (liang mian, cold noodles and bing zi, a fried spicy pancake-like thing):



This is a Wuhan specialty, re gan mian, which means hot and dry noodles:




This is Gao Qing eating dou si, which is rice noodle soup. It's really good minus the big yellow egg in the middle:



Nine course dinner at a shady little restaurant by the South Gate:

Wo de tong xue...

It seems that the next day is better than the last in this city. I've been fortunate to make some good friends that know a few Chinese in this city. They've given us tours, helped us go shopping, helped us buy cell phones, and have given us sweet tips.
Today was an interesting day. All the international students had to get up at 8 and go to the new student welcoming ceremony. All the new Chinese freshman had to wear their communist outfits and sit on little baby stools while all of the Westerners looked like we just woke up and got to sit in big fancy chairs. We get fancy treatment here. I included a picture (even though it's a little blurry) because it's funny to see how insane and how many of those uniformed kids there are:


My new Chinese friend, Gao Qing told me that for the first 21 days in school all the freshman have to march around in their comrade outfits for 10 hours a day to learn discipline. Poor kids! It's extremely hot and humid here (just like Kansas).

I've learned to really like my campus. It's so convenient, fang bian, to live here. There are stores, cafes and restaurants on every corner so there is no reason to leave campus unless you want to do some serious shopping or clubbing. However, the number one favorite thing I love about China is how they have the best drinks. I love milk tea, nai cha, and how they have a million flavors. The food here is also good but la si le, extremely spicy. Here's a picture of the dinner I had, tu dou fen, with my new Chinese friends:

More later.

[edit] I forgot to post the funniest picture I took today. Here are some of the treats Chinese people like to eat in the summer?? Corn and pea popsicles? Where do they get these ideas?


I have yet to take a picture of their blueberry Lays potato chips... no joke.

Beaurocratic Overload

I wish I had the energy to write the entry I want to write but for now all I can give you are the highlights and some pictures. The flight to China was actually amazing; I was asleep for probably 75% of it. Staying up the whole night before really put me on a good schedule, so I'm not jet-lagged. The only thing I had to worry about was who was going to pick me up from the airport. According to my study abroad adviser some Chinese lady (Yan Yan) associated with the university was going to pick me up so I was looking for some tiny, cute, Chinese lady. After 30 minutes I was losing hope and tried to find a Chinese to help me figure out the phones. A woman who had tried to get me to ride her taxi let me use her phone but I guess Yan Yan's number didn't work. Because of this I was attracting a crowd of confused Chinese people and then a tall African American guy and a petite latino girl approached me - they were my ride. All they were told was that I was from Kansas and I'd be a "tall black guy." The whole thing was kind of funny. They gave me a lecture about foreigners looking out for each other because the Chinese will just "leave you to rot." I felt like they were pretty bitter at China but I later discovered Wuhan is a love-hate city.
The ride from the airport to the university completely blew my mind. I guess I was expecting Wuhan to be similar to Beijing or Xi'an but it isn't at all. I can't say I've ever been to a more third world city before - everything looks like it's falling apart. Even entering campus was a shock. I was feeling completely out of place and slightly regretful; however, life can change after a good night's sleep and a shower. Wuhan seemed better but still not what I was expecting. The girl who picked me up from the airport came by my room to show me around campus and by accident we found out I had to go get an medical examination done with the rest of the new international kids. For everyone's information, NO ONE wants to get a medical examination in China EVER. It was probably one of the most frustrating events in my life. Total I had to get a chest x-ray, eye test, ECG exam, sonogram, blood drawn, vaccination, and some sort of test to see if you've ever had surgery before. There were probably 200 people there for the same things and about 9 doctors total. This entire process took 7 hours. As you may know, there are no such things as lines in China. Things got dramatic every once in a while. While waiting in the epic ECG line about 10 Chinese men cut this Chinese woman and I. She yelled and yelled at them in Chinese and it got pretty out of hand. They ended up shoving her and her daughter around and pushed passed her. I was shocked. To make the hospital experience even more frustrating is the fact that no one in Wuhan except for a small population knows English. Doctors were yelling orders to me all day and I couldn't understand a single one. I feel lucky that my exam even got finished. I know my parents probably don't want to hear this but I wonder if any of that equipment was even sterile (save the needles). The hospital was pretty gross. There were cigarettes all over the floor.
Everything at this university is completely unorganized and frustrating. I feel that no one knows what's going on and if they do they don't know when and if they have an idea of when it's only a rumor. I'm sure once classes start everything will fall into place. Word is, the placement exam is tomorrow.
My first day is over and though this all seems pretty negative I've had a few highlights:

• The new international students seem really friendly
• My mom snuck a photo album and notes from Tony and dad in my suitcase
  
• My dorm room has an incredible balcony and view
• and I successfully purchased some computer equipment and bought lunch with my poor Chinese skills

Here are some pictures of the main drag from the South gate entrance of the university to the main supermarket and of the view from my dorm room.