Callibration

The last couple of weeks have been both challenging and rewarding. For the most part, I have been attempting to adapt to life in the Fu Jen program after CIEE's Peking University program. Many assume Taiwan and China, or all of Asia, for that matter, are very similar. This could not be further from the truth!

The strangest part of my experience here is the size of the program: there are five of us here from Notre Dame. Aside from a few foreigners, mostly from Japan or Indonesia, there are no other foreigners in our classes. It's a little daunting to me after the sheer size of Beijing Daxue's program: there were almost fifty of us spread out across the levels, all American students, put together with several thousand other international students. Needless to say, there was always someone to hang out with. Here, there are five of us. Luckily, we've gotten on pretty well, but it can be a bit lonely when the four other people are busy, tired, etc.

Classes are also kind of odd at the moment. There are only four levels of Chinese instruction at Fu Jen as opposed to the 35 at PKU. There was no placement test, but I somehow ended up in the most advanced classes, after coming from a solidly intermediate class in Beijing. This makes me a little nervous, for obvious reasons. The classes I'm in are extremely small. For two of the three classes, it is just Wendy(also from ND), myself, and the teacher. The main class has a few Japanese, Indonesian, and Vietnamese kids who are akin to Chinese-speaking robots--they never make mistakes. On every single test, no matter how badly Wendy and I have done, they have all gotten perfect scores. Intimidating? Yeah.

I have three classes--the first is one centered around reading the newspaper, the second around Confucian Philosophy, and the third on ancient history. The topics seem to be a handful in English, but these are in Chinese all the way. The teacher for two of them is awesome, super nice and always up for a detour to talk about something else. I often steer the conversation to something more useful, like, say politics! <junkie!> Honestly though, Confucian ethics is useful, but sometimes I just want to practice speaking regular Chinese...

My brain pretty much turns to mush every afternoon after four to six hours of full language immersion, but I'm beginning to think I can hold my own if I prepare enough. We go so fast! There are no activities really, it's just vocab-news article-next chapter vocab-article...etc.  The history one is this old lady who wears a back brace and is quite Catholic school in terms of personality and strictness, if you catch my drift! I'm totally scared of her, but we'll see if I can't get on her good side. If there is one. She will blab on for about twenty minutes at a stretch and then quickly say "understand?!" Needless to say, it's a little tough to tell her you had no idea what she said...I also kind of like teasing her though! Sometimes I tell her I can't understand her Taiwanese accent, which makes her really flustered. "WHAT TAIWANESE ACCENT?!" she moans at me. I tell her Beijing is the standard and Taiwanese is way different. That usually prompts a smack with the dictionary, hahaha!

Overall, though, I am rising to the challenge. It may require a lot more work than Beida, but I feel like the rewards will be much greater!

Level 2

Alright, my fair people, I have arrived in Taipei! Getting here was so-so, mainly because, while it was a bit more challenging in ways, I was better equipped to handle it from Beijing. So it's kind of like Pokemon...I leveled up my Charizard, so now it can handle the tougher opponents!

I'm sorry...it had to happen

Twenty hours of plane. Twenty. But everything went relatively smoothly. Except for when my medical cooler got cross-examined at LAX. I feel like people who work at airport security act like they have senses of humor but really don't...it's happened multiple times where they smile as they goofily tell me to take out my laptop, and I reply, in a very friendly manner, "I know the deal..."


But then she will retort something like "Well. A lot of people don't know the 'deal'". Well excuse me for trying to brighten your day, lady. Psh.


But after an eternity of Hunger Games-the-airport-version competitions for outlets, overhead bins, and passage through immigration, I was set free onto the streets of Taipei! The university sent a girl named Gloria to pick me up. Yes, Gloria, as in the ghost who haunts my room.


I could tell immediately that Taiwan really is worlds apart from mainland China, or at least Beijing. The geography is gorgeous: rolling, green mountains, dotted with palm trees and strange, tropical vegetation. They skies are the kind of electric gray, as if they are ready to produce epic thunderstorms at any minute. Gloria told me that if you get caught in the rain, your hair would fall out cause of the acid in it. UUUUMMMMM.


We're staying in a hotel-dorm thing across the street from the university. I have a single with a bathroom, fridge, tv, desk, and bed. AND AIR CONDITIONING. YES! I'm pretty sure I can see Taipei 101 from my window (eeep!).

Look way back in the skyline to what I think might be Taipei 101

This time around, things are a bit more challenging just because of the solitude of the trip. No Bobby accompanying me on the flight, looking back with a mischievous smile every so often. No Ali waiting at the airport, ready to red guard anyone who gets in our way, or break out mad Chinese skills. Even the program directors have been absent thus far. The other four kids in the program haven't gotten in yet, so I've been by myself setting up. It's good and bad: I like peace and quiet sometimes, and it's nice to be so free to explore. On the other hand, I'm in this new place with no guidance at all, and it kind of freaks me out to be going this alone! But, after my experience in Beijing, I knew I couldn't hide in my room! It's odd how when you are dropped into a new environment, on your own, you just want to hole up. It took me about three hours to get out of my room after I finished unpacking. I changed my clothes three times because I had some primal need to look my best just to scout the area.


The neighborhood is idyllic. Long streets with colorful signs and interesting shops along the way. Mopeds are the main thing here, and I snicker as I see Hello Kitty and Pikachu themed helmets.

Fu Jen on the right, FOOD Jen on the left! Get it? Get it?

The beginning of a Mario Kart race?

After a lunch at the chain Yoshinoya (which had WAY different food than Beijing! I also freaked when the bill was $160 for one bowl--but which translates to only $5.33 USD), I made my way into the Fu Jen campus. I knew immediately being at a Catholic school in Asia would be really unique, and it permeates the campus. Exotic trees shelter the paths, and twisted roots dance along the ground. Peking University had tame stray cats, and Fu Jen has DOGS! Everywhere, semi-stray dogs run and play. The students seem to take care of them. I saw three people pinning down one dog while he got a bath! I heard that Taiwan has some of the worst treatment of strays in the world, and I'm not sure if that was wrong, or if Fu Jen does this as a Catholic charity type thing, but it made me really happy. So happy that I pet a pathetic-looking dog, who nuzzled right up to me and asked for a belly rub. After fifty hand-washings and a good rub down of purell, I think I'm safe from the mange I noticed she had...but maybe fifty-one to be sure?

Dog being washed against his will.

Taiwanese people are so POLITE. A guy accidentally cut me in 7/11 and apologized before getting behind me. In Beijing, the guy would have knocked me over to get to the front! (No offense to my Beijing buddies, of course!) I don't know why the culture is so different here, but I'm looking forward to more observations like this...if only I could UNDERSTAND THEIR DIALECT x_x

Anyways, that's all for the first day! This is definitely a rambling post, but I wanted to get out my first impressions. YOU probably just look at the pictures anyways. Go back to Facebook now.

Deja Vu

Today I leave for Taiwan. I've been home for the past week, doing pretty much nothing. The best kind of nothing. In a lot of ways, packing for this trip is a lot like packing for Beijing--but a million times easier.

This program is eight weeks long, as opposed to Beijing's fourteen. I feel so much better having gone through the motions once already--what to bring, what not to bring, and most importantly, what to expect. My language skills are much better than before, so I am confident of my ability to get around. Learning traditional characters is going to be a problem, as about a quarter of characters are written differently than on the mainland. They are simply not as simple as the simplified characters of the PRC!

I have a lot of hopes for Taiwan--that I will improve significantly in my Chinese (without having to pull my teeth out), that I will learn about Taiwan's way-of-life, and really make Taipei my own. I think I'm most excited to compare Taipei with Beijing, and how the political split of 1949 has affected their respective societies. Oh, and, apparently the food is really good too :P

Anyways, there's this song that's just surfacing, and it's been in my head all day. It applies to this blog because it's a Chinese girl named Wanting (曲婉婷) . Her music is amazing. I think she's from Harbin, which is a Northern city famous for its ice buildings. Take a listen--Jar of Love


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgqnkT3ehfg&feature=related


Anyways, my flight is here and I am on my way to LA, then to Taipei. See you after 20 hours of plane...!

再见，北京

From the night before I left Beijing:
May 19th, 2012:


As I sit here at my host home, half-heartedly tossing random objects I don't want to forget into my two gigantic suitcases, the wave of reality at my impending departure repeatedly washes over me. In it's wake is a lot of mixed emotion.


I guess I'll start by saying how much I'm going to miss this place. This smoggy, industrial, ugly city has really grown on me...kind of like the mold that is growing in that tea thermos under the bed...ew. 


Beijing is a complicated place. There's so much tradition here. So much heritage. The past fifty years, however, saw a movement to completely overthrow that system. Uncontrolled teenagers rampaged through sacred temples, smashing and slicing and scribbling away their own history in the name of modernism. But now? Beijing doesn't know what to do. It now respects its old self, but still yearns to grow. The result, reflected in the ancient hutongs it bulldozes down and simultaneously attempts to protect, and in the people who profess atheist communist rationality while espousing traditional superstition. Beijing is changing quickly, as every person who knows nothing about China but wants to say something has told me, but it's so much more than that. It's calibrating, and witnessing that has been exhilarating. There's nothing quite like riding a shiny new subway to an ancient neighborhood to play traditional mahjong.





Then there are the people. My host family. I'm gonna miss my host mom's smiling face and crazy hair. I'm gonna miss her food even more. I'm definitely NOT going to miss the constant smoking from my host dad, but we bonded a little bit in the past few weeks. I still feel like I'm assaulting him when I burst forth with my Chinese as soon as I come in the door. I'm excited for home, just as I expect they are excited for their real daughter (yes, I'm referring to myself as a very masculine surrogate daughter, haaa). 

Just woke up...don't judge!

I'm going to miss sweet-natured Eric. I don't think I've ever seen someone so timid pull out such violent kung fu moves. I'm actually going to miss trying to escape as he fails to pick up social cues when practicing his English on me...okay Eric...okay...I've got to go...okay, Eric....uh-huh... :)

Eric on the right, Jacob and Lena on the left

I'm going to miss that crazy-lovable Aussie Sophia, whose exploits and mishaps are eternally entertaining, and the graceful Indonesians Bonita and Ingrid, and all of the foreigners I have met here. I have been exposed to a global patchwork here, and because of people like kind-hearted German Lena, and quiet-yet-clever Conrado, I have seen the goodness that permeates the entire world.

I'm going to miss the CIEE office staff, from the witty John to the effervescent Elena, to the adorable Clover, and the rest of the crew...I'm really going to miss stopping by there during my day!

Look closely and you'll see Gloria

I'm going to miss my Beijing native buddy Lexus (and Cherry!)--I don't think I've ever become such good friends with someone so quickly. It really is a shame I only met him a week before I left, but this bromance is just beginning! One of the most important things for me when I set out for Beijing was to establish a real, genuine connection with someone rooted in Beijing. It's something you can't force, and I'm lucky to have found such a good friend at all. All the more reason to come back here! 

What else? There's more that I know I'm forgetting. Odds and ends. I'm going to miss the steamed dumpling place, right next to the milk tea with the amazing smoothies! I'm going to miss the community of our Hanyu class, and the goofy attitude of our Tingli laoshi. I'm going to miss going everywhere on the clean, easy-to-navigate subway, and I'm going to miss the magnitude of the ancient monuments. I may even miss the smog. A teeny, tiny, eency-weency bit. 


Not. 


So, friends, I guess this is where I lay out the things to come. This isn't the end of my Beijing writing...I still have some stuff to cover, (like the desert trip, inner mongolia, the countryside, religion in China, etc.) so look for that. However, while this isn't the end of Beijing, Beijing isn't the end, either. In June and July, I will be studying at Fu Jen Catholic University in the Republic of China, also known as the is-it-is-it-not-independent island of Taiwan. It will really be a continuation of Beijing with a different flare, as I will explore, as well as the beginning of my research on the political status of Taiwan! 

Last sunset in Beijing

The rain, so rare in Beijing, now pours down, flooding the dusty earth. In a way, it is almost too symbolic, as if it's the tears being released from somewhere deep inside my mind at the thought of leaving. Or maybe, Beijing is sad to see me go. At the same time, however, it's almost as if it is cleaning the slate--washing away all the memories that have accumulated this spring, me included. Rebirth is coming--in a few weeks, after we have left, new students will come to study here, to live in this room, and to walk the ancient streets that we once walked. For Beijing, and for me, too, it is a fresh, new start.

Just a tidbit from our desert trip...

The End is Near!

I can't believe it's already here. 


Was it not last month that I was hastily moving through the airport, looking for a random Chinese person holding a CIEE sign?


Was it not last week that I was starting classes, deciding on my level, and meeting my tutor for the first time in the library?


Was it not yesterday that I was moving in with my host family, anxious about our compatibility?




And I feel like I'm still waiting for the oft mentioned "culture shock" to kick in, forcing me to pull my hair out in frustration with unfamiliar behavior. Yet, no such thing has happened. Sure, Chinese society (after the countless essays I had to write on it, I refuse to use the word culture!) embraces different behavior. Pushiness is acceptable, and the concept of a line doesn't quite exist. When walking, no one really keeps to the right side of the path, and traffic is the most chaotic jumble ever, but none of it really bothers me. In fact, I feel I've adapted well. I no longer hesitate to ask people personal questions, or stare at passersby. I am getting better at the implicit communication Asian societies embody. When my host mom casts a quick glance at my bare feet, I know I need to put on my terribly nerdy slippers when walking around the apartment. 




As for my Chinese, I feel as though I have greatly improved in different areas. Not only has writing characters become easier, but I feel so much more comfortable speaking. Gone is the nervous tension when listening, and I now blab as unceasingly as in my native tongue. I'm sure it's not all correct, and there are some times when I know the listener doesn't understand me, but it's such a relief to let my personality shine through instead of the awkward and robotic reactions I had before coming. 


I've been making more and more Chinese friends too. It's never planned; they come from all backgrounds and situations, but I'm going to miss them all...


Some students go abroad just to party ad infinitum, or take advantage of easy classes, or just to "get away" from the US, but to those who have a genuine purpose to your time abroad, a semester may not do.


To all of you out there thinking of studying abroad: if you seriously care about learning the language and making genuine connections to the locals, A SEMESTER IS NOT LONG ENOUGH!


It has gone by in the blink of an eye. Of course the semester I have had has been wonderful, but more time would have been welcome. I was worried that if I didn't like the program, a year would be miserably long. Given that twelve weeks have flashed by, I think even an unhappy year would have been tolerable.


It is a tough call. I really didn't want to leave my ND world behind for a full year, but I did come up with a solution: this summer, I will be living in Taipei, Taiwan, where I will continue to study Chinese. This way, I can keep working on my proficiency.


 As for the friends I've made here in Beijing, there's only one solution: I'm just going to have to come back someday. 

Climbing the Phoenix

Today, CIEE held an excursion to Phoenix Mountain, just outside Beijing. The hike is a few hours long. 

The mountain is full of history, and Buddhist/Daoist temples line the path. A lot of the monks live there permanently, being at peace in the relative solitude of nature (until twenty loud Waiguoren come stomping through). 

So sad! I guess it has a pretty strong message though.

I was really unsure about my ability to keep up with some of the more athletic people in our group. Traditionally throughout my life, I have been the one dying at the back of the pack. This time, however, I had absolutely no problem keeping up, which was a nice change. Maybe I do have an ounce of athleticism SOMEWHERE in my body!

Some boundaries were pushed today! There was this stretch called the "Stairway to Heaven" which was basically a vertical path in the face of the rock with little footholds and a chain to provide support. It goes on for quite a while, too, the picture is deceiving. I was really excited for the thrill of doing something crazy, but about halfway up I started silently panicking! All I could think about was slipping and plunging to my death, taking out three or four people with me!  :O

I held on and told myself to knock off the melodrama, and I got to the top! It was really cool! Everyone in our group did it. No one turned back at any point, which really impressed the resident director. 

The blossoms have come out, and the view of the Beijing plain was absolutely gorgeous. 

Rock that could collapse at any moment? Yawn. 

The top!

Cassie scales the mountain. 

Summit joys! 

Resident director Lu Laoshi is kind of a boss. Totally fearless. 

The summit from a little ways down.

Stopping at a little pavilion. 

Overall, I was really impressed with our hardiness today. I was always a little abashed that one of the meanings of my Chinese name was "ascending the misty mountain" because I was always horrible at these types of things. Today, however, I held up well! 

I guess in a lot of ways, climbing a mountain is really metaphorical. You really have to pace yourself while not being daunted by the sheer mass of height before you, also not letting yourself panic at the dangers you must face. The summit isn't the end, either--it is only the halfway point! You still have to come all the way back down, with legs shaking and water running low. Once you get to the bottom, though, sheer euphoria sets in!

I was so glad I went. I felt fine once I finished, that is, until I passed out the moment I got home and slept for five hours! It was the type of nap where you wake up stuck to a drying puddle of drool. Beautiful imagery right there. I'm still tired, but I feel like these things make life exciting! The challenge, the rush, and the bonding really make it all a memorable experience.