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...