Chengdu Week 3 - Beginning of Week

Sept 14-15, 2014

      Well the last two days have been really quiet. It’s been mostly bonding with other people and finally realizing that we have a proper routine of homework and social life. I need to find more Chinese people to hang out and talk with. I am going to speak to Wentao tomorrow about finding a serious language partner, someone who will actively speak Chinese with me. Unfortunately all the friends I have made mostly want to speak English because it’s their major of study so to speak the language I am learning I have to really force the issue. It alright though, I knew this would happen, so time to buckle down and find someone who is really wanting to speak Chinese with me.

People dancing in the street because they can.

Fan dancing on the campus

Engrish!!

     As for this blog post I thought I might describe the sounds and feeling of Chengdu and perhaps the China I have come to know. Chengdu, like many place in China, is both old and new. You see brand new expensive foreign cars and then you see a man holding two large baskets over his shoulders selling his wares. Everything here is done quickly and slowly. You’ll get your food very quickly but then the restaurant owner will go lay back in his chair set up on the street. You often see people napping midday in their cars, and men just sitting around playing cards or Mahjong. Traffic, of course, is insane but no one seems to get hurt, even when cars are heading straight for one another. People cross the street without warning, and I even find myself doing it now. If I a unsure about crossing a street I will wait for a local to go and I just follow. Car horns are always sounding on the air, though they quiet down significantly after night fall. Every once in a while I am jolted awake by a particularly aggressive horn.
        Food here is cheap no more than 1 or 2 USD (3 to 10 RMB) for breakfast and lunch, unless you go family style and then the price creeps up to about 20-30 RMB (4 to 6 USD). Food is generally spicy, but us foreigners can get away with asking for 不辣 (bula), not spicy food. Some people in the program have come here disliking spicy food. I am really not sure how they are surviving, even the not spicy here has some numbing peppers in it. Eating is generally an event, people come a stay four hours eating on the many dishes ordered and shared between everyone. Laughter, loud voices, and table banging are all part of the experience of dinner, people here are very much alive. Outside and inside are less defined, many places lack doors during operating hours. Food is often made in front of your eyes including the noodles, someday I will learn how to recreate the meals I am eating.
        Chengdu is quickly becoming the city of my heart. I think no matter where I end up in life I will always come back to stay, at least for a little while, in Chengdu. There is so much to see and I barely have any time to do it. I have a good feeling about this coming year, let’s see where we end up!

Chengdu - Week 2 End of Week

Sept 12, 2014

    Yay for Friday, which mostly involved lounging around, at least for the morning. I went out with Jiajing for lunch in Sichuan alley. Going to food with the locals is super easy and usually a delicious experience. After lunch it was time for the first calligraphy class. The teacher told us a story about how her grandmother fell in love with her grandfather’s calligraphy, and that’s why they got married. Having beautiful handwriting is very important, particularly when it comes to calligraphy; it shows good strength in character. I ended up really messy at the end, making ink is an interesting process and I am not able to keep my hands clean. My writing isn’t very good but that’s ok, I am hoping to practice and get better. After class I took a nap (I’ve been extremely tired, I think the excitement of moving in is wearing off).
    I went to Brennan’s room afterwards and we translated some menu. We decided to go to dinner, which ended up an adventure unto itself. Lots of people on the streets and around town so finding a place to sit. We ended up wandering around until we found a little restaurant. I got me some spicy noodles and we actually had a pretty good meal. There was a sleeper cell in the  restaurant who helped us order. For those of you new to the blog, sleeper cells are people who speak very good English and appear in a foreigners’ time of need. He is now our friend with whom we can communicate, it’s pretty funny. I came back to the dorms and got ready for bed. The internet is now magically returned so I will attempt communication.

Sept 13, 2014

    Today is day long in the making. Chengdu is a city famous for it’s laid back atmosphere, people playing mahjong in the parks while sipping tea. So that’s what we did, Tong gathered up Raphi, Cassidy, Sean, Brennan, Jose, Gabe, Bawadan, Erik, Crystal, and myself to a park outside of Chengdu. We arrived at about 10 am. The park was quiet, and not many people had shown up yet, but according to Tong this was a place that usually hosted weddings. We were lead all the way in the back, and we got set up at some mahjong tables. Mahjong as it turns out is an incredibly complicated game. It took nearly four rounds and almost constant supervising from Tong to get the game right. Once we figured it out though we had a great time. I never won a single round, but I never win at games anyway. It was just good to spend time with friends.
    For lunch we went and got this huge meal, sort of by accident. Tong didn’t realize how big the dishes would be and that some of us have strict dietary restrictions. This place in particular served lots of fish so I ended up with two bowls rice. I am actually not all that hungry these days, it has to do with the adjustment period, so two bowls of rice was quite filling. After lunch we headed back to the Mahjong tables. Tong this time picked up ping pong paddles and balls. Cassidy and I took turns playing him, but then this family showed up and by the end of the day we had played for 2 hours with this random family. It was great, Cassidy and I of course were pretty terrible at it but they went with it. It was so much fun, tons of laughing and joking to be had by all.
    The last stop of our outing was the flower market. Cassidy and Brennan have been itching to get some plants for their rooms. I am on the west side so I don’t get enough sun to justify spending money on a plant.After the flower market we headed back to the dorms. It took about and hour and a half. Everyone was super tired, we were up extremely early to get out and meet Tong, so everyone sort of checked out for a bit. Dinner was a quickly run to the noodle shop and I had an Aha! moment. I was able to correct Jose’s order to the waiter got him what he wanted. I was understood and that was all that matters, finally seeing a comfortable improvement in my useful Chinese. Overall it’s been a fun, eventful day, mostly full of laughter. Tomorrow is a study day, so I suspect it will be much quieter.

Ping Pong Family fun!

Chengdu Week 2 - Midweek update

Sept. 10, 2014

    I spent most of my morning doing laundry and studying. The internet was magically working again (though it is not working right now), and so I was actually able to Skype people and upload photos on Facebook. Cassidy hung out in my room using the internet and we chatted for most of the morning. Lunch was spicy noodles. History is a really interesting class, though right now we are in ancient, ancient history of China which is not really my area of interest. Our professor really likes discussion of mythology but her English isn’t always good enough to understand our answers. That’s pretty common here and she get across what she thinks is important so in the end that’s all that matters. My final project will about the Tang Dynasty and legend of Mulan (which was a poem first). Xiao Loashi also asked Cassidy and myself if we would be interested in teaching english at a school for her friend. This is what guanxi is, the connections that get you places in China. So hopefully I will have an easy job of teaching English and a decent income for the rest of my stay in China. I haven’t been feeling well today, so Cassidy has gone out to discover dinner and bring it back to me. We shall see where that leads as the evening approaches.
    We ended up inside and just chatting about our interests and what we wanted to do in the future. It’s really nice to hang out and just chat. This place is very much beginning to feel like a proper home to me. Except for right now there is very little hope that internet is going to reappear, but such is China.

Sept 11, 2014

    Finally had Chinese class for this week, and I actually feel like I did really well. I was able to answer in Chinese and I am getting things right. I am beginning to gain some confidence in speaking, which is my worst point when it comes to Chinese. After class I made plans with a bunch of people to go to proper Sichuan hotpot, which is infamously spicy. Before we went though, I played the game of where is the internet. Right now we are having a lot of problems and there is nothing we can really do about it until October, where they are going to switch to payed internet (60 RMB, a month) and we will have hopefully more reliable situation. I also took a long nap simply because there wasn’t anything to do. I need to find some books for reading when the internet is out, I didn’t bring any because they are too heavy and I don’t have enough internet to download e-books.
    We went out at six for our hotpot. It was myself, Raphi, Dee, Jack, Seth, Cherry, Nena and Maiqi for dinner. Sichuan is famous for extremely spicy hot pot, it was extremely good and really filling. It’s a bit more expensive than a normal meal but it’s worth it for every once and a while. It’s good to get to know some Chinese people, I am hoping to get together with them and start really speaking Chinese. During dinner a little girl kept coming up to us and we fed her watermelon. It was super cute!! After the dinner we went shopping for shoes, I got some shoes for 39 RMB (about 6 dollars). We went back to Cherry, Maiqi and Nena’s room joked around and sang, we really want to organize KTV. It was good fun, and then we went down and harassed Brennan, Jose and Cassidy. Currently stealing very slow internet from Brennan so I can get some reading done. Life is very good here.

Left to Right: Nena, Jack, Raphi, Dee

Left to Right: Dee, Maiqi, Seth, Cherry

Red for spicy, white for cool

Something that isn't spicy at all!!

Chengdu - Week 2 Beginning of week update (Pictures at the end!)

Sept 7, 2014

    I had a rough time sleeping last night, I guess the nap during the afternoon threw off me sleeping rhythm. I skyped with my friend amber at 3 am my time which was funny as her day was essentially starting. I didn’t get up until 9 in the morning, and I essentially lounged around doing homework. Cassidy came in and we just chatted whilst working on our homework. We then eventually broke off and had some quiet reading time. We then gathered the troops in search of moon cakes. Tomorrow is a holiday, the mid-Autumn festival and the USAC people wanted to buy something for the staff who have really helped us get settled. So we went to Trust Mart (Walmart) and we bought two boxes of moon cakes. We then stopped for dinner and ended up accidentally ordering two dishes with unknown animal brain. Everyone was watching us wondering if we were going to eat. As it turned out we did, and it was fairly gross. We then consoled ourselves with ice cream and head back to the dorm. Kong has taken up in the kitchen and is currently cooking food that smell delicious so hopefully I will go to bed with a full stomach. It was a very nice slow day, tomorrow we are going to find a park to hang out in.

Sept. 8, 2014

    Today began with  skype call to my mother, who I think was very happy to chat. But due to the internet situation Skype is mildly stressful as it always seems to break off. However, I have discovered that wifi in the lobby is fairly reliable so next round of skype calls I am going to attempt it in there. After the skype call it was peaches for breakfast. So today is a national holiday, Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節, the best way to describe is Chinese family day. People get together look at the full moon and eat moon cakes.  Meiling (one of our new Chinese friends) took us to QingYanGong, or one of the earliest Doaist temples in Chengdu. It was alive a beautiful, the music from the service filled the courtyard. We eventually stopped at a teahouse, which is common hang out place for elderly people. Some people stared, there was one Nainai (grandma) who gave us peanuts and an elderly gentlemen who made sure we always had full cups of tea. We also had an interesting encounter with a woman who was trying to get us to convert to this religion that was technically anti-communist party. She was very persistent until the older man sharing our table chased her away, FaLunGong (google this if you don’t know what it is) was mentioned in the discussion. Apparently the the group she was trying to get us to join was quasi-dangerous especially for us foreigners, who are merely guests in this country. The elder gentleman had our back though and chased her away, so we only brought back Party approved Daoist literature (Which at the end of the day will take a large amount of effort to read). It was really cool and everything was alive and bustling. Around lunch time we headed back to the dorm.
    I skyped with my Dad, or attempted to and then headed out to lunch. It was really quiet today, people were mostly with their families. After lunch, I joined the USAC cleaning crew and I spent three hours helping (They had already been at for 6 hours) make it usable. Nine hours and   about 20 rotating members we now have clean kitchen. I will be spending money to cook instead out going out which is very cost effective. The rest of the day was a little crazy, Jose decided to nap in my bed because it’s more comfortable than his. I hung out with Crystal and Cassidy just chatting. Then we had impromptu singing in the dorm while we were waiting for dinner which was fantastic! It’s great to bond with everyone (even Cassidy gave in and did the Gaga walk to Bad Romance). Life is good here, school starts tomorrow again. It should be interesting, so begins week two in Chengdu!

Chengdu - Panda Research Institute and City Tour

Sept. 6, 2014

    Today began promptly at 6:30 am so that Raphi and I could go walk around the track. I going to ease myself into running in the polluted air. We attempted to get Jose awake but he was lost to the land of nod. I was really nice to chat with her, we walked about a mile and half. At eight we headed back to shower and pick up Leanne for breakfast. We showed her the wonders of a baozi breakfast. Two RMB (roughly $0.33) gets you a full breakfast here. We then ate out on the steps and waited for the bus to arrive. We were going to go see the Panda research facility on the outskirts of Chengdu and then take a small city tour. And as soon as I got on the bus I passed out. I have extremely tired the last couple of days, I think it’s just been the constant go of Beijing, arrival in Chengdu and then straight into class. Sunday, I suspect, will be catch up on sleep and organize room day.
    We arrived at the Panda preserve and immediately walked into a jungle setting of bamboo and forced humidity. They were actually pumping mist in the park to keep the pandas comfortable. Seeing the big pandas was interesting as they were very close but there just so many people it was hard to enjoy them. People were constantly pushing and getting in the way of enjoying the view. Still the baby pandas were pretty cute. One of the workers carried a panda cub out of the holding pen then had to distract it so he could get out of the enclosure. Apparently they get extremely attached to their caregivers. We also go to see the red pandas which were much more lively (on the sign they were designated as fierce). I think that out of the two kinds,  the red pandas are more interesting to see. I have a video of one climb a tree. We finally got loaded up on the bus and taken back into Chengdu. Cassidy and I ended up napping again on the bus.
    After lunch we headed out for our city tour. Wentao was pointing out famous area. She too us to a small district that was built like old style Chengdu. Of course it was much more touristy but things were way cheaper there. I bought a little Panda plushie for 10 yuan (roughly $2). Also on the street I saw some high school students trying to take picture of me so  stopped and posed. I was then surrounded by about 10 or 15 students (I think it was a class trip) all of whom wanted to be in the picture. One boy even ran over and slid on his knees to be in the photo, it was pretty funny. I also got to see some parks and some areas that I want to go to. I have too keep reminding myself that I am going to be here for a year at that there will be time to go do everything. After we got back from the City tour I went and took a three hour nap, but I think everyone did (most people passed out on the bus because the last hour we were stuck in traffic). This is last weekend for a while that is planned out for us, but it is nice to have guided things to do.
    After my nap I found Cassidy, Brennan, Jose, Leanne and Alex. We went to the corner store and got some Dan Dan mien (a local spicy special). It was yummy as always. We then attempted to go to a fruit stand out of the West gate but the gate was closed. We then went to the square by our dorm and watched people dance. The university I am at is specifically for minorities of China, so it is incredibly diverse and I get to see it. We’ve been told that we should participate and I think Jose and I are going to try for it next week when we can be there for a few hours. It’s just great to see the diversity of China. I will keep you updated in my attempts to get involved on campus. As a heads up I’ve decided what my update schedule is going to be like for this blog. I will update on Monday, Wednesday, Friday as internet will allow. I will update on weekends if there are trips or interesting things happening. There is a 15 hour time difference so be aware it might be early or late for you when I update. Thank you for everyone going on this adventure with me, please feel free to comment and ask me questions!

Old Chengdu Street

Plant grow well here...

Chengdu - Week 1 End of Week update

Sept 4, 2014

    This morning was super lax, I had tea with Cassidy and chatted until class. I am really enjoying our class it has a good feel and the Laoshi is very enthusiastic about teaching us Chinese. We have moved into the ordering food chapter so perhaps it shall come in handy in the following weeks. After class I went with Jesse to “Sichuan Alley” it’s a back road that is lined with restaurants. I had been looking for it but hadn’t been able to find it. I even ordered for us in Chinese which was fairly interesting accomplishment for me. After we wandered back to the dorms I sat around and chatted with Dee and Raphi. Dee is from DC and Raphi is our resident Australian. Thy are lovely ladies and I enjoyed talking shop. At four I finally got a Chinese SIM card and Phone. I can now communicate with people, instead of shouting down the hall.
    Cassidy and Brennan had job interviews today for teaching. I am going to sign up for English paid tutoring instead of a more serious job situation. That way I can make and cancel my hours as necessary for school. Jose, Brennan, Cassidy and I head out to find a restaurant that WeiWei (teacher and office staff) recommended. It turned out to be steak joint that was expensive and not very good. Oh well, live and learn. We had fun talking though, when bad experiences happen we tend to make each other laugh so we also get a good memory out of it. Apparently Brennan and Cassidy decided that I would be able to live in a hammock, and nothing else. They said I was just easy going when it came to the conditions of our dorms and any mildly frustrating situation. We laughed hard and we went back to the dorm satisfied with life. We then chit chatted in the hallway with other dorm members. Raphi, Dee, and I are going down to try out the track. I can’t wait to run again, it should be good.

Sept. 5, 2014

    Today I got up with Raphi, Dee, and Jose to go running at the track. I was super excited because it’s been so long since I have run, I immediately took off around the track. It was a good time until I discover what heavy polluted air does to running lungs. It was rough trying to breathe, it’s something I will have to get used to. Raphi goes regularly to the track so I will continue to join her. After the run I went to get baozi for breakfast and then just hang out in my room. Down time is weird here because there is always people wandering in and out of the area. I took Dee, Raphi and Erik to Sichuan alley to acquire lunch which was of course quite delicious. I love my close group but I am also enjoying going out and about with everyone in the program. New ideas and different experiences keeps life interesting.
    After lunch we took off for Calligraphy class. Our Laoshi took us on a field trip to the antique market, where we could buy all of our calligraphy supplies. It was really cool to see the small jade market and maybe a more local area to shop. The calligraphy shop was super interesting, brushes and paper everywhere. There were so many of us that the owner had to run back to their house to grab all the supplies we needed. We then took a bus back where we immediately had to go to a meet and greet with Chinese English majors. Everyone was super sweet and very friendly. It was nice to finally get an opportunity to meet other Chinese students, all of whom live in our building. We (Myself, Raphi, Cassidy, Brennan, Molly and Grace) then went to Jinling street (famous tourist area) to get food. I will also now mention that Leanne, the home office director arrived today for an onsite tour of Chengdu. She also came with us for dinner. We walked back and chatted about life and experiences, it was a really good time. I showed Leanne a convenience store on campus and then we headed up into my room to chat. I volunteered for Wentao that I would help Leanne as much as I could while I was here. Everyone on our program is extremely friendly so I am sure she will have no issues fitting in. Tomorrow I will be going to see Pandas and take a tour of the city.

Chengdu Week 1 - Midweek update

Aug. 31, 2014

    Today began easily enough, I had some fruit for breakfast. We were then shepherded to a hotel where we had our official orientation. It was fun, Kong one of the USAC students is a strange duck. He just says whatever and sometimes forgets that Wentao is speaking to a room full of students and not to him. It’s funny to watch though, and he’s good natured about the ribbing he receives. During the one of the breaks Tong invited us to his hometown after we got settled. Us meaning, myself, Brennan, Cassidy and Jose. It’s freaking awesome, and should be an epic adventure. After orientation we went to lunch, our last paid for lunch for a while. I now have my class schedule, and will be starting 9 am tomorrow morning with Chinese.
    The rest of the day kinda of sucked, Ikea turned out to be insane and waaay over priced. Too many people and not enough sleep ended up being a recipe for misery. I’ll lie though, I think I am just tired from all the traveling. That’s the only complaint I really have is that I haven’t really had time to sleep in or enjoy myself. Classes start tomorrow, but I get the feeling they will be fairly relaxed, I only have language tomorrow and then the rest of the day to sleep and just have a moment for myself. So begins my study part of my China adventure.

Sept. 1, 2014

    First day of class, we started at 9 so before class we went down and got some boazi. They were very yummy and incredibly reminiscent of Taiwan. It was delicious. Class itself was intense, it’s is perhaps a little above my level but that’s ok. I hope I can catch up and keep up. It think I will be alright. After class we went hunting for lunch which ended up being a Sichuan classic of spicy beef noodles. Burned my mouth off, but it was totally worth it. I then spent some time relaxing (Woo!) and studying with Brennan. We then headed off to Taichi. Turns out our teacher is a master of the art, but doesn’t speak a lick of English. It was a fun game trying to figure out what was going on. I think the teacher likes me and Brennan, which makes it all the more fun. It’s a good excuse though to practice mandarin in any case. Dinner turned out to be hot pot, which is famous in this area. They cook the food right in front of you. On our way home we explored the area checking out the different restaurants. We need some wandering time to explore our area. Slowly but surely I will figure it out. Now some homework and bed.

Sept. 2, 2014

    Today was a bit slower, but I think I needed it. It’s been go go go since we got here so having a simple day was nice. I went to class which ended up being mildly exciting when an Asian hornet decided to visit class. Google one if you haven’t seen one, they are scary. Laoshi called a break while it was flying around and we all bailed as fast as we could. Class resumed when it was gone and the windows were closed. I then went and took a nap, 3 hours of pure Chinese is rough particularly in the morning. I really like my class though, and I feel like I am learning. I then spent some of the day just kicking around the internet and studying Chinese. I talked to Wentao about locating a shop to find a shaving razor. I ended up on a bus with her and Jiajing going to a totally different part of the city. I can’t wait to take everyone there once they feel better (Both Brennan and Cassidy are miserably sick). I hen managed to find my way home on my own and navigate ordering food for myself and Cassidy. I then spent the rest of he night with Cassidy, swapping stories and discussing our expectations for China. It’s just the beginning but both of us have high hopes for this place. Well off to bed, tomorrow morning is no school so it will be laundry time and studying. I then have my first non-language class, Ancient Chinese History. see you tomorrow.

Sunset from my window