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Published: July 18th 2012
Monday, July 9 was the day of my big presentation to my department about Mississauga, Niagara-on-the-Lake and how they compare to Hai Ning, the growing suburban city I went to visit. I spent the morning polishing up the presentation and practicing, and I presented in the afternoon. It took about 1.5 hours to present, since there often need to be translations, explanations, and questions from the crowd. But my supervisor was really happy and apparently his supervisor wants to send my presentation to the city officials in Hai Ning. So that’s good! I had a few follow-up questions from the crowd which I spent the rest of the day answering.
That night, me and the Zach’s went back to Trivia Night at The Bookworm. Jeff joined us late. We didn’t do as well this week, but we did so poorly in one round we got a free pitcher of beer so that was good. The ex-pat crowd seemed lamer than usual and the host was not as sassy as usual so in general it wasn’t a great night. The cab driver on the way home was also really rude. We know the way back (it’s so freaking easy
but cab drivers never know) but he refused to just let me guide him and kept consulting maps and calling people…he even yelled at Zach 2 though to be fair Zach 2 isn’t the most polite person in the world hahaha
Tuesday I wasn’t in the best mood after that cab ride so I made a plan to go skating to be at peace with myself. Definitely a good life decision. After skating, we had a meeting with the prof and students from Peking University that had joined us on our trip to Hai Ning. So the day went pretty quickly.
That evening, Zach 1 and I made a trek up to the Beijing Olympics site to see the bird’s nest, water cube, torch and more. We (well, I) got a bit confused about subway lines and we ended up on this epicly ghetto subway line (number 13) which was leaking (it was raining) and which was above-ground and offered views of the great boring landscape of suburban Beijing. It was definitely worth the detour because it was so interesting (we are such urban planning nerds). When we got to the Olympic area, as
Fancy Olympics Line (#8)
PDA, stupid dress, ugly shoes - yes, we're in China!!I mentioned, it was raining off and on. We just decided to get wet. Though it was funny to see people hiding under umbrellas as soon as it started drizzling. Chinese people are hiiigh maintenance. The coolest part of it all was that it was an electrical storm and there were some epic lightning bolts. Though I failed to get a picture of one.
It seemed like the storm really hit the Olympics area because we saw tree branches on the ground and it looked like a tent thing fell down. Line of the evening – there was a wetlands area and Zach commented “I’ll bet they tore down some hutongs to build that wetland.” I killed myself laughing because that would be so China. While most places tear down wetlands to build houses, China would so tear down houses to build a wetland. Hahahaha. Anyways, the area with the blown over tent was also a track and the door to it was completely open. So we just walked in. We got stared at lots but no one stopped us from walking around taking pictures for like 20 minutes. Finally someone came up to us and said:
“Hello! How did you get in? Please leave.” Love the English. As we walked out I looked at the open, un-guarded door and just asked “how did we get in?? Really? How could you NOT get in?” Anyways we finished walking around and headed on the subway.
We both decided we were hungry and were craving Pizza Hut, but when we got to it, it was closing. We walked around more but nothing was open. Finally we went to McDonald’s because it was the only option (well, KFC was open but that’s even more disgusting). It was gross. Very, very poor life choice.
Just all around, Tuesday was not a good day. But I had some fleeting moments of laughter which helped the situation. Hahaha tearing down hutongs to build a wetland…
Wednesday was a pretty standard day – went to work then went to frisbee after work. It was scorching hot so frisbee was an absurdly sweaty experience. I think I lost 5 pounds in sweat! Which is good news cause the greasy Chinese food is getting to me and I’m gaining some weight here. I wish I had my
own kitchen…
Thursday at lunch, Fernanda and I decided to visit the Zoo Market, which is a shopping market near the Beijing Zoo (which is also very close to work). The place was just stall after stall of everything that Chinese people wear. Frilly things, lacy things, bright things, ugly things...and oh yes, lots and lots of Chinglish. It was fantastic. I considered buying something and dressing up as a Chinese girl for Halloween but I think the joke might be lost on anyone that hasn't been to China. In the end, I only bought a cheap necklace. Fernanda bought a dress - though you can't try anything on so luckily when we got home she realized it fits! At the markets of China, things come in only one size (China size) and if you ask for something bigger, they just grab the item and demonstrate how the fabric stretches. If that's not good enough for you, well, you're probably too fat for this country so lose some weight!!!
That evening, Fernanda, Liz, the Zach's and I all went for dinner. We were such a big group they gave us a legit Chinese-style table
with a lazy susan which was cool. I ended up spending the evening with the Zach's just hanging out and watching "The Trailer Park Boys" (represent Canada!) on Chinese totally legal copyright-infringing internet. Woo!
Friday we decided to do as the locals do at lunch, so me, the Zach's, and Siqi (a Chinese intern who sits next to me and is awesome) went to play some ping pong. We played many heated games and generally had a great time.
After work, Fernanda, Jeff and I headed up to Renmin University to visit Ya Ma, a former Chinese intern at CAUPD. She took us for dinner at one of the school's cafeterias and then toured us around campus. It's very interesting to learn about Chinese Universities because they're very different from Universities in Canada and the US. For example, all undergrads have to live in dorms which are rooms of 6 people (this number may be just for Remnin but I've heard before about mandatory dorms across China). The dorms are very restrictive and no visitors are allowed except your parents - and they need to sign in. Students also have to take gruesome exams
which are the sole basis for your admission - the gaokao's are the standardized test for all students but the top Universities have their own exams which you take before the gaokao's. It's a very stressful environment. Renmin University is a pretty campus though most of the buildings are pretty bland. There is a brand new library with a Classics department which is beautiful - it's modern and sleek but in the style of old Chinese architecture which is amazing. Hopefully future buildings will be like that!
A definite highlight of our visit to Renmin came at the end when we discovered a huge crowd in a public square. Ya Ma informed us that it was an English Chat program where people gather to practice their English. She said we would be really popular - and being the egomaniacs that we are (well I don't know about Fernanda and Jeff but I love being the centre of attention here in China hahaha) we decided to partake. As soon as we walked into the crowd people were scoping us out and finally some guys invited us to join their conversation. Before I knew it, a small crowd had
gathered around each of us and everyone was asking questions - where are you from? Why are you in Beijing? What is urban planning and why isn't it architecture? (this one wasn't a real question but no one knew what urban planning was and they kept asking me architecture-related questions haha). It was a great moment of fame for me. There was this one guy who was rude and kept butting in with his own questions before I'd answered someone else's so I got to be the one to say 'excuse me, but this man asked me a question first and I'm going to answer him'. One guy had really bad breath so I tried to ice him out haha. Mostly the people were very friendly and interesting and it was really fun! We'd go back if this wasn't our last Friday night in Beijing!!
All in all, it was a week of ups and downs which definitely happens. We've been in China two whole months now so obviously some things are starting to grate but at the same time I feel like we're starting to get really settled which is nice. We know our way around,
we can communicate with people, we know where to go at night...The good news is the week ended well and our spirits remain high.
-Dafne
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kevin
non-member comment
not poems
but from Great Learning (one of the Four Books). The Four Books and Five Classics (simplified Chinese: 四书五经; traditional Chinese: 四書五經; pinyin: Sìshū Wŭjīng) are the authoritative books of Confucianism in China written before 300 BC.