Wow, so much has happened this week. Where do I begin? Well,
let’s start off with Monday. That was the 9th of September, when I
began classes. I have two compulsory classes, and one elective class. I am
required to have 18-20 hours’ worth of class work per week; my hanyu class
(writing), is 8 hours, and my kouyu class (speaking), is 6 hours. My elective
that I got to choose on Friday the 13th is an intermediate Chinese
writing class. Judging by the textbook I had to buy for the class, it’s going
to involve lots of reading and answering questions about passages.
For my schedule, I now call Mondays and Tuesdays “The Days
of Doom and Despair.” On Monday I have two morning classes, one which is in a
classroom close to my dorm near the southeast gate, but the other which is on
the other side of campus at the west gate. And since there is only a short
break (20 minutes if you are let out on time, but usually more like 15 or 10 if
you need to talk to the teacher, have to deal with cars and bicycles trying to
run you over on campus, people jostling this way and that EVERYWHERE, etc. I
think you get the idea), you better run if you don’t have a bike (or in my
case, can’t ride a bike very well). I have a similar problem for Tuesday,
because even though my first class and second class are very far away, I have
about a 2 ½ hour break between them. However, the 2nd and 3rd
classes only have the 20 minute break, and the building I have to go to is
almost as far away as my first class on Tuesday. In short, I will have very strong
legs by the end of the semester (and if I learn how to ride a bike by myself,
perhaps I’ll have even stronger legs).
Speaking of bikes, a couple of my friends are helping me
learn how to ride a bike! I still have to practice a lot, but I’m beginning to get
the hang of riding without people standing right next to me in case I topple
over (I haven’t had any accidents yet, YAY!).
Back to my schedule. I’ve got 8 am classes on Monday,
Tuesday, and Wednesday, but on Thursday I have two afternoon classes, and only
one class on Friday at 10:10 am. Tuesday is when I have the most classes,
starting at 8am and ending at 5pm. Friday is my best day, but then Wednesday is
the runner up because I only have one class on each day, but like I said
before, Wednesday is one of my 8am days (8am is an evil time in the morning…).
My classrooms are in the Russian language building, Shao
Yuan #3, and #4 classroom building (It’s between #3 and Natural Sciences
Building #5 near the Southeast gate)
I really like my teachers for both my hanyu and kouyu
classes, and since we just chose our elective classes this Friday, I won’t meet
my teacher for that class until Tuesday.
Since then I’ve basically been sorting out where I need to
go for classes, doing homework, all the responsible things good little students
do.
The 10th was teacher’s day (教师节快乐)
there were lots of people selling bouquets, I think mostly carnations. Some
were quite beautiful, and some were very large bouquets. I didn’t buy any for
my teachers though because at that point I’d only had two days of classes, so I
don’t know them well enough to give them flowers (and I didn’t realize it was
this festival till I looked at the Google art for the day).
On the 12th I celebrated my birthday. I went out
with some of my friends to a restaurant (I forgot the name though), and we ate
some very delicious food. There was chicken with peanuts, liver, two mushroom
dishes (one was a mushroom soups with thin noodles while the other was cold
mushrooms), fried eggplant, and a huge bowl of white rice. It was so good to
eat. My friend also got me a small chocolate cake! They really are wonderful
people.
(Above: Kim, Anna, Wanda)
(Above: Jule, Me, Teresa)
(Delicious Chocolaty Goodness!)
I also splurged and got myself some chocolate to eat, and I also
opened the presents my mom and dad sent with me to China. One was a beautiful
bracelet and the other was a pack of Uno cards! They made me really happy!
I also
finally got the package of books I left at home by accident. One was a pocket
dictionary, and the other was a Chinese slang dictionary (because whenever you
study a foreign language, you need to know the words that aren’t always taught
in the classroom). They also packed my purple raincoat and a shirt I ordered
but didn’t think I would get to wear till I got back from China. Getting this
package though was a real ordeal though. My roommate told me that she got a
phone call from the front desk of building 4, and that they said there was a
package for me. This was weird because we had been told that someone would slip
a notice under the door saying that there was a package, mail, etc. that arrived
and that you would have to bring that with you to prove you had a package. Despite
this we went to building four and said that someone had told us I had a
package. The people there looked at us as though we were crazy and said that we
had to go to a different building and that we were wrong. But my roommate Bam
and I adamantly said that we were specifically told to go to building 4. Eventually
they asked to see my passport, but since it is being processed along with
several other documents because I’m a foreigner, we showed them my Beijing student
ID. Then they showed us the package, which had my name and current address,
looked at me very suspiciously, and when I read my name in English, they
finally believed it was mine and let me have it. Good grief! Isn’t it irritating
when one person or group tells you to do one thing, then tells you that you are
wrong, and then tries to make you do something that obviously isn’t right? At least
I got my package from home though.
Today I also went out to Carrefour, the large supermarket which
comes from France, but is really popular here in China. I bought a lamp and a
thermos that isn’t made of cheap, unsafe plastic (YAY)! I also got some small
snacks to eat in the morning with me because I’ll need the energy to run to
class.
Well, I hope I haven’t forgotten anything. Here’s a video of
the bridge I cross to get to the campus,
and a video of some scorpions on
sticks that I forgot to upload (it’s from when I went to buy a dictionary with
Bam and her friend).
What's with the scorpions on sticks?
ReplyDeleteThey're at a food stall which sells them, along with seahorses and starfish, fried. I saw a fair amount of people eating them.
DeleteI'll bet that the flavor has a real bite when you eat them :^) Sorry! lol
DeleteGlad you are having a wonderful adventure. I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing more!!
I hope those scorpions aren't a dinner entre! Yuck. Sounds as if you are settling pretty well and adjusting to all the many differences.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the bike riding, sounds as if that might help to get you to class on time.
I am really enjoying your blog!
Your birthday party looks like lots of fun!
ReplyDeletePS. Grandma R. got you the Uno cards.
A bike might be a good solution - but be careful of the cars on the road---and if you do get one, get a helmet to go with it.
I promise to buy a helmet. I won't need to for a while though, because even though I learned how to ride a bike, I don't think I'm anywhere ready to actually ride with other people in the road. I need to practice a lot more by myself before I take on major roads, or even campus streets.
Deleteglad to hear it!
DeleteHappy Birthday! So glad you're having a great time and have made so many friends so quickly! A bike sounds like a great idea but I agree with you mom - splurge on the helmet :)
ReplyDeleteA good way to learn how to ride a bike: set the seat a little lower than riding level, so you feet can reach the ground. Scoot around with your feet. Occasionally lift them up as you get comfortable. When it seems right, try to peddle. Peddling will be awkward because you're too low, but it will show you that you've learned to balance. Then you can raise your seat to proper peddling level, and off you go!
ReplyDeleteThat the method my Icelandic friend Anna said to use. The only problem is the bike I was using to practice didn't have an adjustable seat. We tried using one of my other friend's bikes too, but it also didn't have an adjustable seat. It was really weird.
DeleteGlad to see you're having so much fun! That chocolate cake looks delicious! The scorpions..... not so much. LOL!
ReplyDeleteHello Kate,
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to you! Very belatedly - I am sorry - but I am just learning to use a new account to be able to communicate with you. Hope that you have gotten more and more adjusted to your new surroundings - and I am proud of you about how well you have adjusted already!...even trying to learn how to ride a bike!
Love you, Kate,
Grandma R.
Hi grandma! It's okay that it's belated, I'm just glad you can see my blog and know what I'm doing over here in China. I have adjusted more to my surroundings, but some things are still difficult to get used to (like the pollution and the traffic), but I'll eventually learn to deal with it.
DeleteKate,
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd known to teach you how to bike in Baltimore this summer -- would've been fun :D I love reading your blog, sounds like you're having so many fun, new experiences!!
Love from the states,
Courtney
That would have been fun. I didn't really think about it till I got here though (I also didn't think the campus was that big compared to umn's campus, which is on two opposite banks of the Mississippi river). ^.^"
DeleteI'm glad that you're reading my blog though! I shared the link on Facebook, but I don't know if anyone else from Friends is really following it or not.
Hello, Katie
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful blog and between your descriptions and pictures we can almost feel like we are there with you (except for the running between classes and eating scorpions)
Happy Birthday and let us know if you need anything that we can possibly send you without creating an international incident.
Love, Carolyn