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Published: August 28th 2011
Happy Sunday everyone! At the way things are going, I feel like I’ll have a hard time keeping up with my blog once classes start. Our days are jam packed of things to write about, I can barely remember them all! Hopefully it will be less eventful once I have class and homework and internships to occupy my time.
Today began with an early breakfast and meeting Miss Li in the lobby at 8. She took half of us to the street and got us a taxi. Peter, Justin, Carey, and I rode together to West Lake and waited at the Costa Café for Miss Li to arrive with the others. We started walking at the brisk pace Miss Li set. This was not good as it was already very humid, so we were soon working up a sweat. We crossed the causeway to the other side, and saw many people dancing. Miss Li said people get up early every morning to come there to dance. This is the part of China I love, these simple traditions that make up the community. We also saw people dancing in a park last night while walking home from dinner at a restaurant. They
have a leader that usually brings music and speakers and leads the group in movements. It looked almost like Latin or slow Bollywood style dancing.
Miss Li stopped us at a place by the lake and told us about English Corner, which is a program that is countrywide with meetings every Sunday from 9-11 where people can practice speaking English to each other. Most people have no opportunity to speak English outside of English Corner, so it is a very popular event. Once Miss Li explained, some people started talking to us and asking us questions, and Miss Li disappeared. This was where she was leaving us, with a group of Chinese people eager to talk to native English speakers. We were asked several times where we were from, what are we doing in Hangzhou, what is our major, what do we think of Hangzhou, do we know any Chinese, etc. And people just kept on coming. There were probably over 30 people there, all wanting a chance to talk with us. I don’t think native speakers often go to English Corner; the eight of us were the only non-Chinese there, so it was even more exciting for them—the chance
to speak with a native English speaker! Most of them I found out, did not know where Iowa was, let alone Cedar Falls, so I just told them I live close to Chicago. Confusion turned into understanding in an instant. I guess Iowa isn’t an important enough state for Chinese to know about.
I talked with some very interesting people there. One man was an expert on English idioms and phrases. He was constantly using them, and at the perfect times! I don’t think I could have used half of them half as well as he did! Another lady the idiom man aptly called an “eager beaver” had a piece of paper for writing new words down. One thing I noticed, especially with her, was the concept of personal space. They were all quite a bit closer than Americans are normally comfortable with. Many of them were speaking so excitedly that spit was flying out of their mouths; I was hit numerous times. When she learned that I spoke Spanish, she started spouting out Spanish words—“mucho gusto!” “Te amo!” “Hola!” When I said “lo siento (sorry)” she frantically pushed the paper at me to write it down for her. She
and others were constantly saying that I was very pretty with blue eyes and golden hair; it certainly made me feel better. And idiom man said I was a head turner and a bombshell. They kept touching my curly hair as well. Another young girl talked to me for a while. She was not shy at all and started mimicking animal sounds. This sounds very strange, but she was really good at it! Everyone around me was having fun guessing the animal. Some of the people’s accents were surprises; one man had a distinctly British accent and another girl, an Australian accent. I exchanged many QQ numbers (China’s MSN messenger) and took several pictures with them. We ended up spending about four hours there, and the people were still gathered to talk. We ended up saying goodbye because we were all starving; idiom man suggesting that those eating near us were making our mouths water. I can’t wait to go back next Sunday and talk with them some more. I never expected to have such an interaction with Chinese people, but I’m thankful for it. It’s providing me with a better idea of the people who live here and their
ways of life.
After this generous helping of China, we ate Mcdonalds for lunch. And it was delicious! It doesn’t taste any different than in the States. Balazs directed us to the correct bus and we made it back to the apartment to discuss our experience with Miss Li and the language assistant MuBin. We found that they didn’t always understand our questions and Miss Li explained that this was a common issue with them. Miss Li sometimes struggles as well when we word our questions. So a future note, try to keep questions simple. I can understand that because one man wanted to test how good my Chinese was by asking me questions in Chinese. I think I failed because he said he didn’t think my teacher was very good. But I noticed that the longer the question, the more I was not able to understand. This must be a phenomenon with any second language.
As much as I’m enjoying these exploring days, I’m ready for classes to start and to get into the real swing of life in China. We start our interviews for internships this week. My interview is on Tuesday. I wonder what will happen if
The Gang
Balazs, Brittany, Kelsey, me, Carey, Peter, Justin, GuillianiI don’t get it... I guess more time to blog!
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Jas
non-member comment
Fun!
Hunny, You look like you are having so much fun! The English Corner thing sounds very interesting. I can't believe that they have something like that. It just goes to show that the Chinese are ahead of the times (at least compared to Americans). They understand that this is a global economy. They definitely had one thing right, though. You are a looker! The pictures are beautiful and I hope you are enjoying yourself. I can't wait to talk to you! Love you!