In the Words of Donald Trump, "China"

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Hi everyone!

So I'm finally settled in here in Beijing. From the moment we left Taiwan, it's definitely been an adventure to get to where I am now! Mom used miles to buy my plane ticket to Beijing (on EVA airways), and I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but I ended up sitting in first class. It was my first time flying first class, but I think the fact that I was flying on an Asian airline made it extra awesome. From what I've experienced so far, I've noticed that Asian airlines tend to be much nicer than US ones. The planes are newer, the service is better, and they still serve actual meals on their flights. So if you are ever going to fly first class, do it when you're on an Asian airline! The seat was super cushy, and reclined all the way down into a bed. The tv also had a legit remote, and the blankets they offered were out-of-the-dryer warm. The meal was also served on actual dishes (none of that disposable stuff), and was almost too fancy for my tastes. It was probably the first time I've ever wished that the flight was longer!

After landing in Beijing, Sarah and I made it through customs and got our bags without a problem, thank goodness. Because our flight was so late in the day (we left Taiwan at 3 pm and arrived in Beijing at about 6:30), Sarah and I were tasked with getting ourselves to the school. We were also told to contact the Alliance staff when we got to the airport to check in and see where they were (since we were missing the welcome dinner). We tried to have one of the info desk people call the Resident Director, but for some reason the number did not work. Therefore, we decided to take a cab to campus and figure out how to contact him once we got there. When we got out to the taxi area, two of the people working there, helping direct people to taxis, etc. tried to help us. They seemed very young (like high school age), but were wearing the official clothes, so we thought they might be able to help us. The Beijing accent is VERY different from the Taiwanese accent, so Sarah and I were having a really difficult time understanding them, and they didn't know any English, so they couldn't understand us. However, we showed them the instructions we were given for taking a taxi to the campus (it was in Chinese, pinyin, and English). For some reason, they wouldn't let us get in an official taxi. They kept repeating the word 發票 (fāpiào, receipt), asking if we wanted one. We had been warned ahead of time about black cabs, unofficial taxis that will rip you off. Our thinking was that getting a receipt would indicate the service was legit, so I kept telling them we wanted a 發票. However, they kept saying that we couldn't get one, and when I asked why, the older one would just give me a look and not even try to explain. After about 20 minutes of confusion and 5 of them just repeating the word 發票 and telling me we couldn't get one, another guy finally came up and told us that he could get us a taxi for 280元. We had also been told that a taxi to campus should only cost about 100元, so I had an inkling that this was going to be a rip-off, but they wouldn't let us get into a taxi and we were both tired and just wanted to get to campus to shower and sleep so we agreed. We ended up in a black cab, but luckily the driver was nice. He attempted to converse with me (I ended up riding shotgun), although it was quickly apparent that I was struggling to understand him. Like I said before, the Beijing accent is WEIRD. They add lots of emphasis to "r" sounds, and add them when the word doesn't have an "r" to begin with! He also offered us cigaretts (which neither of us accepted), and rolled down his window a bit when he realized we had both turned toward my open window once he started smoking to escape the smell. Once we got to the campus, he was also very intent on making sure we got to the right place, so once he realized he couldn't go through the main gate, he circled the school, tried calling the RD (the number still didn't work), and then called the other number on our directions sheet. Once we made it through a gate and on to campus grounds, he also talked to various students to figure out where to go, and finally got ahold of someone from the program who told him that she would meet us where we were. He tried to charge us over 500元, but I told him that the guy at the airport told us 280元. He told me that his 發票 were only in increments of 100元, so I agreed to pay him 300元, which was a rip-off, but he WAS very helpful and nice, so it was what it was. (Also another one of the guys on the program later told me that when he first got to Beijing, he also took a black cab and was charged something like 900元, so I would say comparatively we came out of it okay. Also, to put it in perspective, USD$1 is about RMB6元.) Although we ran in to a few hiccups, we did make it to campus, though.

My roommate for the time I will be in the dorms this semester is named Olayinka. She is from New Jersey, and is one of two black students in our program. We also have two Latinas, a redhead, and a few blondes (Sarah and I are the only Chinese in the group). When we go to touristy areas, there are A LOT of people who stare and blatantly take photos of our group. Our director told us that this is probably because most of the people at the touristy areas are also tourists themselves, often visiting from rural areas, so it is probably their first time seeing foreigners. Some people will even stand in front of/around our group and have their friends/family take pictures of them with the foreigners. It is very rare that they will ask about taking pictures with us, and although I am not the target of their picture-taking, even I think it gets kind of old and is kind of rude. It's just one of those things, though, and will definitely happen throughout the duration of the trip. Anyways, Yinka is super nice, and we get along really well, which is good! In fact, I am surprised at how well the program directors matched us all, as each roommate pairing makes a lot of sense. Everyone on the program seem really nice so far, but there are a surprising number of similarities between the roommate pairs. For example, both Yinka and I are night owls, and we both listen to kpop. Yay another person to talk about kpop with! (But seriously for all those people who bash kpop: it is a wonderful thing that brings people from all over together and gives them something in common. It's also just amazing in general.) Both Yinka and I are also in the intensive language program, so on October 17 we will both be moving out of the dorms and into host families. So exciting!

Our director had planned for our first field trip to take us to Tiananmen Square. However, on September 3rd, the government is planning a huge military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender during WWII. In preparation for this march, Tiananmen Square and much of the surrounding area has been virtually shut down, so we were not able to visit. In addition, the government has shut down many of the factories in the area, which has resulted in us having beautifully clear days since we've arrived in China. No smog! This is definitely the intention of the government, as they would like for the skies to remain blue and perfect for the parade coming up. We are definitely not complaining! You can read more about the parade here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/21/chinese-second-world-war-parade-xi-jinping. Because Tiananmen Square was closed down, we visited the Summer Palace instead. The architecture was beautiful and the buildings were covered in amazing colors. One long hallway depicted many images from the four major Classic Chinese novels (Journey to the West, Dream of the Red Chamber, The Water Margin, and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms). Because the Summer Palace was rebuilt after the Japanese occupation (during which the original was burned down), many of the features mimic those of other famous places around China. Although there were lots of tourists, it was a very worthwhile visit. Afterwards, we dropped by the Bird's Nest, and although we did not go inside, the outside was still really impressive. The architecture of the main arena is awesome, and really does resemble a bird's nest. Currently the Bird's Nest is hosting the world track and field championships (or something along those lines), so there were lots of people (men) hanging around outside trying to sell tickets.

After our placement tests the next day, we took a trip to the Temple of Heaven. The compound was pretty massive, and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is amazing. Completely made out of wood (no nails, no metal, etc), the structure is amazing and beautiful. It was here that the director really got in to having us get together for group pictures (it's become apparent that he really likes taking pictures. And not just posed pictures but sneaky candid ones as well. He's also super ninja - randomly disappearing one minute then reappearing the next), which seemed to be basically just asking for random other people to take pictures of our group. And I'm not even kidding, people don't try to hide it at all. They would group together around where the director was and also start taking tons of pictures, or have the person posing for their picture angle themselves so that we were in the background. The attention is very weird, especially since in Taiwan (except for Rachel and KC) we were a group of East Asian-looking people. Sarah and I can blend in here, but when we are with the group, standing out is inevitable. After the Temple of Heaven, we went to try and find dinner near the theater where we were planning on watching a show. However, everything in the area except for McDonald's was closed, so last night marked the first time I've had McDonald's in about four years. The food was fine, although I did notice that chicken stuff seems to be more popular here than the stereotypical beef burgers. Afterwards, we went to see a show called "The Legend of Kung Fu." Definitely directed towards foreigners, it was narrated in English, but the stunts throughout the show were seriously amazing. Right at the beginning, they had young kids (10, maybe?) doing front and back handsprings, but instead of using their hands, they were using their (shaved) heads. What?! At one point, one of the older guys laid down on three swords, had a block with spikey things on his stomach, had someone else lay back on that, and then finally someone else did something acrobatic that I am blanking on right now. But it was intense. Later, the same guy (from the bottom) balanced himself on the point of three swords, then broke four metal rods against his head. It was really amazing. There was also some beautiful choreography involved, especially when they were showing the main character's weakness (symbolized by a beautiful woman, of course). Overall the show was incredible, and I wish I could have brought you all!!

So tomorrow (or in 7 hours, to be precise) begins our Chinese classes. After going through the placement tests and interviews, I have been placed in the 300 level Chinese class, which will be very intense. Our group is broken down into four levels: one person in 100 (she came without knowing any Chinese at all, which I think is so brave), four people in 200, four in 300, and three in 400. As an intensive language student, I am supposed to have something like 20 hours of Chinese class per week (holy cow), with daily dictations, biweekly tests, and an hour of one-on-one instruction per week. We will also be paired with language partners, who we are supposed to meet with for three hours per week, although we can divide those hours however works best for the both of us. I have decided to make extra work for myself and continue studying traditional Chinese characters, even though the textbook is in simplified characters and the teachers will be writing in simplified. Because of that, I will ultimately be trying to learn both simplified and traditional at the same time, which will be hard, but I figure I'm here to challenge myself and to improve my Chinese so... I decided to do it this way because while traditional characters are only found in Taiwan and Hong Kong, I want to keep my options open for the future. I also strongly believe that traditional characters look better, and in general they are much more helpful. For example, in traditional characters, 麵 (miàn) means "noodle" and 面 (miàn) means "face." However simplified uses 面 for both. Or, in traditional 髮 (fā) is "hair" and 發 (fà) is "to send, or to develop," whereas simplified uses 发 for both. They're totally different! So yeah, simplified makes no sense to me, hence my decision to work harder to study both. Then there's the part I'm most worried about: the language pledge. Tomorrow all of the intensive language students will sign a language pledge agreeing to only speak Chinese - in the classroom, with our roommates, on campus, etc. The only exceptions are in case of emergency or with the Resident Director/if we have a concern. Otherwise, it's all Chinese. Eep! Yinka and I were joking that our room is going to get REALLY quiet once we sign the pledges, and there will be lots of miming happening. It'll be interesting, to say the least!

Anyways that's all for now, and fingers crossed for class tomorrow! Bye for now!

PS. if you don't get the reference in the title, watch this video:

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Photos

View from the room
I'm not sure if you can see it in this picture, but from our room we are able to see the IBM building, the top of which is shaped like a dragon

With the naked man
(Yinka's head is covering his junk, but he is indeed naked)
With Yinka and Ian

Chillin at the Summer Palace
With Yinka, Ian, and Chris
Photo cred. Director Wang

With the boys
With Ian, Chris, and Jude
Photo cred. Director Wang

Comments

[Terry May]

Maidanglao
Hi Katie, When you mention Maidanglao, it brings your 6th birthday to mind. In Guangzhou, Judy, Lianne and I took a taxi to meet you at the McDonalds on Beijing Liu - simple, right? Wrong. We told the driver we wanted to go to 'McDonalds' - having no idea that it wouldn't translate phonetically. The driver was trying really hard to understand us, but with no success. Suddenly a bus pulled along side the taxi - it had a big ad for the Golden Arches - yay! We signaled to the driver and voila, it all became clear. We got to McD's, and sang Happy Birthday to you (the only song we know in Chinese)! It's an all-around favorite memory of ours. So, glad to hear you've reconnected with Maidanglao. Someone posted the Trump, 'China' video on FB the other day - I couldn't believe I watched the whole 3-minutes of Trump saying, 'China.' He 'knows people in China' you know, and they ALL think he's great - just ask him, he'll tell you. It makes me proud to be an American....not. Please reassure the people of China that Trump will NOT become POTUS. If he does, we're moving to China. Also, thanks for the info re: the parade in Tiananmen - I've studied the history and keep track of the current back and forth between Xi Jinping and Shinzo Abe. Your blogs are great - keep them coming! Terry