华中师范大学

It is typical for people in China to show you their campus, so I took a walk around Huazhong Normal University and noted what I see on a daily basis. Here are a collection of pictures for you to get a better idea of what my school life is like:

This is the 国际留学生宿舍 or the International Student dorm or what I've been calling "home" lately. It is said to be the nicest dormitory on campus.


Here's my dorm's backyard. I think they're planning to clean this mess up and make more buildings... at least that's what we're told. I probably won't be around to see it though.


On the way to class:





Here is a standard dormitory:


This is the building where I have most of my classes (aka Building No. 6)


Flower displays in front of the building




Leaving class - people play wooden flutes here at night in the dark (it's kind of creepily awesome):


Pretty pavilion in the middle of campus:


This picture reminded me of my job back in Kansas:


Here's the sketch food hut outside our dorm where I promised myself I would never eat there because of their missing dog, noodles washed in dirty water, and just plain awful sanitation - alas - the longer you live here the lower your standards become:


The shortcut home:


And we end the tour with a fantastic picture of the main entrance to my campus. Fancy, huh?


And some Engrish that was posted right outside of my dorm... hmmm, with that grammar I'm thinking he shouldn't be too picky on hair color.


Tomorrow I will be checking out the local zoo. If it's not too depressing I will make a post about it this weekend (with the Pizza Hut Thanksgiving pictures that I'll be taking on Thursday).

可以...

I guess some of you all have been patiently waiting for an update. I'm sorry it's taken so long. I'll use midterms as my excuse.
I really want to write some interesting thoughts but it's getting late and I know you all only read this blog for the sweet pictures, so here you go!

I mentioned in my last entry about how Chinese people food stack at Pizza Hut and I wasn't sure why. Well my friend and I decided that maybe we could food stack too, so here's our work:

I think next time we could work on height, but I think it turned out well considering we didn't use any salad dressing to keep it in one piece.


The top view... gorgeous!


You all may be thinking that "wow, you're really good at food stacking" but the truth is this is nothing compared to some of the work I've seen. Plus, we only spent 15 minutes on it, as opposed to 45 minutes. Most of the time was spent stacking one cucumber slice at a time. Unfortunately, as we walked our food stack back to our table some Chinese people laughed at us, maybe because ours wasn't impressive, or because we were pretending to be Chinese. We'd probably do it again.

This next set of pictures is from my school's Southeast gate, Dongnan men as it were. In this area you can find many convenient stores, street performers, restaurants, night markets, and tasty Chinese snack stands:

You get used to crowds after some time.


很多中国菜


Sanitary? Probably not but the rule of thumb on dining in China is "the sketchier, the better"


Seems so much cooler when it's made in front of you.


I only buy fruits that peel.


Cart full of duck parts... yum(?)


Tentacles on a stick anyone?


VIP view of snack production


Bakery


I like this one


Here's a special video I made, and by special I mean that I gave the musicians a few kuai to let me video tape them a little. The music is really good, totally worth the kuai. Enjoy!

Sorry

Sorry for lack of posting the past three weeks. I will be making a post after I take my midterms, so sometime Tuesday or Wednesday.
Thank you.

Is it me or were we just American for a second?

Maybe I don't have the slightest idea about this culture or what it means but I've noticed a few things that I want to document, so I can remember.
The most noticeable thing about being here is how androgynous the people are. I feel like in America there are set gender rules for everyone and if you happen to step outside of them you are ridiculed or accused of leaning towards a particular sexuality. In China, I feel that their gender roles are completely different and perhaps hard to identify. From what I've noticed, there seems less pressure to be a "manly man." Not only do I think a lot of men's fashion here tends to be more feminine but certain mannerisms are more accepted here than in America; for example, crossing legs, singing cutsie pop songs aloud in public areas, physical interaction with fellow male friends, talking about the latest romance comedy, etc. I feel that if boys my age back at home acted like boys my age here it would be surprising if a passing fellow didn't accuse him of being gay. A lot of my male Western friends have said that it's easier to be a man here because they don't feel as much pressure to act like badass all the time and that it's easier to go work out because there isn't a fear of being teased. I like walking down the street and seeing tomboys holding hands with pretty boys - you don't see much of that in America.
Another weird thing I've noticed is artistic food stacking. The three times I've gone to Pizza Hut here (a birthday tradition the international kids have started) the Chinese people stack food into intricate designs at the salad bar. I don't know, it's weird. They take their bowl and place each vegetable one at a time in a particular pattern and the last time I was there, one couple was food stacking for the length of time it took for us to order, wait, and finish our pizza - this is not a lie. I don't know if this will ever be something I'll understand.
When they were done we kind of wanted to ask them to get a picture with it since strangers always want pictures with us.

Anyone in the mood for some Engrish?
Here are my dorm's rules:

P.S. Cucumber and Blueberry flavored chips

I told you. They are real.

National Holiday

National Holiday was filled with a bunch of little adventures and I'd rather show with pictures than tell.
Here are some pictures from Mo Shan. It is a famous mountain in Wuhan - basically it big tourist trap.

A view of the mountain from East Lake:


In front of the waterfall you can't really see:


View of the whole park:


Boat ride on East Lake:


We had to row apparently (note the BA rower behind us):


Activities on the island we rowed to:


Island shots:








A pavilion on top of the mountain:


Group shot:


Cute baby we found on the mountain:



New Chinese friends:


A view from the top of the mountain:


Dinner afterwards:


Karaoke!:




Mostly been occupied with homework and studying. I'll keep everyone posted the next time something interesting happens.
Cheers.

Not what I expected

My vacation plans were canceled. The school had to take everyone's passports to the police station so they could get residence permits. The school doesn't have mine because I am only staying a semester but my friend who I was suppose to go to Hainan with didn't have his passport which meant he couldn't board an airplane which meant we couldn't go on our vacation.
I am disappointed but these sort of things seem to frequently happen here in China. Bad karma? I don't know. Maybe I can spend this time getting karma points.
Although I am upset, I've been having a good time here with some friends - we go on mini-local adventures. I've also had a lot of time to think about where I am and what I've learned.
This is a clip from a movie called Waking Life. The part about "the holy moment" really stuck out to me when thinking about living in Wuhan.



A lot of these happen here - maybe because of the language barrier or just constant curiosity.

I'll be making another post this weekend of pictures from my Mo Shan adventure.