24 February 2007

Shenme?

I don’t know how I could have so much to say after only four days here. Every day is such a challenge, and the language pledge hasn’t started yet. I haven’t really encountered anything ultra-new or different yet, but just the process of trying to remember English and Chinese names, make friends and get my bearings around a city that feels like it’s the size of Connecticut is such an involved process. Add to that the fact that I can’t understand a lot of the Chinese people here because of their heavy accents, and we’ve got ourselves a good time.

I met my roommate on Friday. Her name is Bai (her surname) Tianqi. She is so nice. She is a biology major at a nearby university. She speaks some English, likes to eat spicy food, play sports, and go for walks. She also lives in Beijing, so Friday night after we ate some tasty Xinjiang food with everyone, she took me to her home. Here we are by Tiananmen:



This thing counts down the time until the olympics:




Her home is a small but nice apartment where she lives with her mom and dad. It definitely feels like a home. I only met her dad, and he is so nice! Once I came in the door they offered me juice, tea, candy, apples, some huge large grapefruit-y thing, and apples. Tianqi’s little cousin was there practicing her instrument for a competition the next day, and I got to hear her play. Tianqi’s father even made her call me Jiejie, which means big sister.

One thing I found really interesting about the apartment was that the bathroom was the shower. It was just a small bathroom, and then on the wall there was the shower spout. In Beijing every little square foot counts. There are so many people that eventually just in the building, all the space that could be showers adds up to so much that it’s better used as apartment space.

Then we all watched a TV show in which waiguo ren perform Chinese songs or martial arts or just perform in Chinese. It was so strange—it even had American hosts speaking really good Chinese. Chinese television is so much campier. The people in the audience were waving around those glowing light sticks that look like toy light sabers!

Yesterday CET held a scavenger hunt sort of thing so we could better get to know our roommates and the city. Tianqi and I were in a group with three guys, Ian, Ian’s roommate Liu Qi, and Peter. Liuqi kind of took over, as he should since he knows the city, but his accent is so heavy that when he spoke, I felt like it was almost a totally different language. That’s another thing about trying to speak with Chinese people; I feel totally stupid on a regular basis, which isn’t really a feeling that I’m used to.

Anyway, our group totally lost the competition. We came in sixth out of six, but we didn’t really care because we had fun. I even learned a Chinese tongue twister:

Chi putao butu putao pianr, bu chi putao daotu putao pianr.

It means, if you eat grapes, don’t spit out the skin, if you don’t eat grapes, spit out the skin. We taught Tianqi and Liu Qi to say a few English tongue twisters as well. Great fun.

This is a lake at a place called Houhai. Very pretty:



The other day I also bought a cell phone, which was a rather humbling and arduous experience. in total it cost around 60 USD, for the phone, SIM card, and minutes. But talking to the salespeople was nearly impossible. Not only were their accents thick, but the music in the store was so loud that I just couldn’t hear them. That happens a lot actually. If I’m in a place where there’s a lot of extraneous noise and I’m trying to understand Chinese, my comprehension level goes way way down. I’m constantly shaking my head and asking what everything means.

However, on the happier side, last night Tianqi and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and had a good, long, interesting conversation in Chinese. I understood almost everything she said despite the traffic noises in the background. She also speaks very nice, clear, lightly accented Chinese, so that helps.

Today we have class orientation. I got placed in (what I believe is) the second highest level, which is good, but I feel like I’ve forgotten so much that I’ll be really behind. Then, come noon, the language pledge begins. Oh, boy. And so begins my slow and painful mental breakdown.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Girlie, Great post. That last picture is cool looking. The glow of the city in the background, the color cast of the street lamp, the lantern the guy is holding. like production still from your soon to be imagined movie Chinese-English movie: Words I Don't Know. I'll hound you for a high-res version when you get back during the ten minutes you'll be home before Hollywood.