Bargaining

It has been a full week, dear readers.

We had all of our classes this week, meaning (for everyone) the addition of the Silk Road class on Monday and (for the four of us who elected to take it) the literature class on Thursday. On top of that, I worked through another couple of lessons in Chinese class, got through a bout of sickness, and took my first big exam.

Gao Laoshi gave me some advice to help me get better. No cold water, only hot. No spicy food, no caffeine, no wasting energy, no white sugar.

I followed her advice and felt better the next day.

Today, after our respective tests (which I think went really well!), we went to the Muslim Quarter.

The Bell Tower marks the center of town. It was on the way.

We toured the Great Mosque, which was founded around 740 CE. It's lovely (although it was hot out!) and we were there for a nice time of day for the light.

 Arabic written as if it were Chinese.

The blue roof tiles were from Persian influence.

It's still amazing to me how architecture is an art here. Few buildings in the US take the time to be beautiful. Now, newer Chinese buildings tend toward the efficient, but there are exceptions. (See the last picture in this post!)

After the tour, we wandered off and tried the street foods of the surrounding Muslim Quarter area. I finally found a lot of the things I had heard about. Persimmon cakes, which have dough actually made from persimmons and were filled with something that I think might have been date. Rou jia mo, a sandwich that turned out to be lamb, as pork is not served in the Muslim Quarter.

We also saw this:

They hit the nut mixture with sledgehammers until it was flat, and then they folded it up and did it again. I'm told it's something like a Butterfinger. It's on my list of things to try.

This area had a lot of colors and food and crafts. Mary, Shelby, Emily, and I went off in search of prizes. It had been a long week, and we owed ourselves.

This was the main street. Food EVERYWHERE.

No comment.

We went down some of the side streets, which I unfortunately have no pictures of. I didn't really want to look touristy or tip my hand. Perhaps next time!

Each of us had a different technique. Emily, with the firm line, was by far the most effective and even got complimented by a vendor for being so stubborn about the price of that scarf. I did well enough for myself, considering that it was my first attempt. I just really wanted a qipao for the Mid-Autumn festival, which is coming up on Thursday. I paid less than half of his starting price, which was probably higher than normal because I'm an American. It's a smart tactic.

The best part of the experience was watching the merchants work. Their jobs really had little to do with what they were selling - it was the art of selling itself. How much "Come on, friend - I'll get a very good price for you!" and how much "That price is so low; you must be joking!" and how much "You're really twisting my arm, but I'll go lower." and how many times to say, "Bottom price!" before giving in.

The most effective thing is to start low, remain firm, and try to walk away. It isn't easy to do. So many of the merchants come across as beautifully genuine, and there's probably some truth in that.

Expect a lot of updates next week! We get our roommates on Tuesday, and Thursday is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I also have a few extra photos and reflections to share, here and there.

Until next time!

Bicycle Races

So maybe Shelby and Mary and I didn't race along the City Wall, but we certainly biked, and we will be racing soon enough. After class today, our whole group met to go to lunch and bike along the City Wall. We took the (sparkly new) subway and ate at a Sichuanese restaurant. I have had no problem finding spicy food here. Frequently, it's má lá, which means "numb and spicy," a flavor combination I grew fond of back in the US. Maybe taking a long bicycle ride immediately after lunch wasn't the best idea, but none of us seemed the worse for that logistical choice.

Getting our bikes!

Shelby, Mary, and I took a long time to get around the City Walls. How can you blame us when the individual sections are so long that you can't see from one corner to another and the scenery is so beautiful that you have to stop every few kilometers for photos?

I'm finally coming to understand that I'm in China. This city has more people than the states of Missouri and Kansas Combined. I'm just now able to catch fragments of conversation and writing. I'm having strangers ask me for pictures in beautiful places because I'm also part of their experience.

View of the Bell Tower from the South Wall.

That faint line in the distance is the TV Tower.

I wish I had a better way to show you the scale. That building in the distance along the wall is less than the halfway point. Sometimes the walls just seemed to go on forever. The entire set of four is 13 kilometers (about eight miles) long.

This picture kind of just... happened.

My trusty steed.

It was surreal to be somewhere so beautiful. The hard work of riding a bike (something I haven't done in over five years and somehow managed to do well at) felt strangely similar to my Chinese studies. I was getting philosophical up there in the quiet.

I haven't been here long, but I've worked hard. I'm adjusting. And now... it's really sinking in where I am and the opportunities I have. Little by little, I'm learning to see China.

And, even more slowly, I'm learning to see myself in China.

Productive Night

Just a short update - I just tested myself by reading the pinyin for my vocab and then writing the characters. I got every single one correct. I'm sure that I won't remember them in the morning, and I may not do well on my dictation tomorrow, but I'm learning. I'm really learning. It feels good.

Zhōngwén

My first week of Chinese classes has accelerated quickly.

I am the only person in our program this semester who speaks no Chinese at all. I didn't have to take the placement test on Monday - it was obvious that I would be in Level 1, Chinese 100. All by myself.

Having a class to myself is more useful than stressful, but it's definitely a bit of both. I can take up all of class time, I can set the pace (a little), and I get constant personal attention. Of course, I have to answer every question myself and be thoroughly engaged at all times, which is exhausting.

The way that class works is: I preview the upcoming material (I choose to spend a long time on it, and it has served me well so far), then we do dictation (which is stressful), drill, and then we cover some of the material from the current lesson. Mostly, I learn in the preview and then practice during the in-class drills. For homework, I go over previous lessons, listen to previous lessons, do my written homework, (often) record my oral homework, and then I study the new material.

Day 1, I learned basic pronunciation.

Day 2, I learned slightly more difficult pronunciation.

Day 3, (during my preview the night before) I learned thirty-five characters (looking up for myself how to write correctly), their pīnyīn spellings, and their meanings. Along with a few sentence structures.

The jump in difficulty was immense.

As a perfectionist, I felt that I should be able to learn all of the new material so that when (today) I had my dictation first thing in class, I could write down the complete (long) sentences she gave me, in characters.

As a worrywart, I felt that I wouldn't be able to remember anything.

There's a definite correlation between the two.

(Also please ignore how ugly my characters are. I had never written in characters before.)

I ended up somewhere in between. After several hours of study (and an episode of Welcome to Night Vale to calm me down), I slept to set the new knowledge in my mind. Sleep is when your brain consolidates new knowledge, and it's especially important in language study.

I woke up writing characters in my head.

When I quizzed myself, I remembered about eight of the new words easily, and with a little more work I got up to twelve. When I say "remembered," I mean that I could hear or read the pīnyīn and then write the character correctly, while knowing the English meaning. It's about the most difficult way of going about that combination of things to know.

Even though I was so worried about doing badly, my lăoshī was proud of me.

It feels good to struggle with something new and be imperfect. Improving through challenges feels vital and dynamic. Having room to get better is strangely liberating.

Although I have to carry on a conversation entirely in Chinese tomorrow, my load for tonight is a little lighter, which gives me time to work on what I have begun to learn.

Kansas City to Chicago to Beijing to Xi'an

I apologize for the wait - I have only just now managed to access my blog!

I’ve been in China for six days, and I feel like I have so many more stories to tell than I have time spent here.

I remember reaching 36,000 feet and -75 degrees Fahrenheit over Russia. I remember thinking that here, I was more space than sky.

Here are my thoughts from my first full day in Beijing:

            Arriving in Beijing yesterday, I noticed two things: Terminal 3 was large and uncrowded and the sky was a peculiar shade of grey.

            It had been nearly a fourteen hour flight. I set my watch to Chinese time before takeoff, which helped. I didn’t sleep much, but I saw several movies.

            We flew over ice in the Arctic and snow-capped mountains in Russia. Circling south of Beijing, we saw smooth and mist-shrouded green ranges.

            After exhaustion in the airport, we took a bus along one of the ring roads to BCLU. The traffic was terrifying. Lots of close calls and lane drifting but no accidents. The defensive driving skills make me hesitate to call Beijingers bad drivers.

            I saw the Bird’s Nest (Beijing’s Olympic stadium) and thought of my friend Luna, who danced there in the opening ceremony five years ago.

            Due to a change in BCLU policy, we Xi’an students ended up in a nice hotel. I’m rooming with Shelby, which is a glorious match. Although… we had a bit of an accident on our first night. By “bit of an accident,” I mean we broke the hotel. By “broke the hotel,” I mean we blew the power in our room. Fortunately, Joe was really nice about helping us fix it.

That day, there were blue skies over Beijing. It turns out that, on a clear day, you can see mountains in the distance. It was a lovely day to see the Forbidden City.
.

 Our view.

 Forbidden City

 Forbidden City from Above

Actual Mountains

Also, I actually saw people wearing these:

Also pictured: The wonderful Shelby in the first of many photobombs.

My second post (which will probably also go up tonight) will feature some of my Xi'an stories and pictures, along with some early reflections on my language classes. Until then, 再见!

Chicago

I think I'm the farthest north I have ever been. The Arctic route will soon render that observation irrelevant, but for now, I'm someplace I've never been before, and that's a start.

My flight leaves for China at noon and starts boarding a bit after 11. I have some time to explore and eat, since my gate was two moving walkways away. I really like the O'Hare layout. And boy am I hungry.

Arriving in Chicago was impressive. The skyline looks amazing in person, as does the lake. It was a lovely decent.

I hope to be awake to see the Arctic Ocean, but I suspect that I will be sleeping quite a bit on the 14-hour flight.

I won't have use of this phone much longer. Wish me luck!

One Week Out

Vaccines are completed, visa is in the mail, luggage is partway packed.

I leave a week from tomorrow.

I'm in the midst of New Student Orientation at my school, where we help freshmen get acquainted to campus. I love this job and am sad that this year is my last, as I am a senior.

Studying abroad as a senior in a country where I don't know the language. Because I don't know the language. Now is definitely a time for growth and change.

I have hiking boots and long underwear and outdoorsy gear I've never had the excuse to need before. But with a mountain to climb, bikes to ride around city walls, and the Silk road to explore, I'm going to be outside a great deal on this adventure.

I have a friend from TU who went to Xi'an with the Alliance a few semesters ago. He said that the Xi'an program was for adventurous people. I hope so. As studious as I am (and intend to be), I must admit that I'm not going abroad simply for the academics. I want to see and smell and explore and push myself and meet new people.

As part of my cultural studies, I'm going to be undertaking a dance film series, which will occasionally be posted on or linked to here. The dances will include local settings, music, and movement as inspiration, shaped by my background and training. I can't wait to begin.

Expect a lot of pictures, reflections, and stories!

I'll be sure to tell you all when it finally sinks in that I'm going abroad.