well, back in beijing i've moved into the first apartment of my life. put simply, its great. (but of course that's before i've had to do any cleaning and upkeep stuff). my chinese roommate has also moved in, so we're holding it down. i've got my own food in the fridge: orange juice, watermelon, and hot sauce. i got dishes, chopsticks, and a coffee cup. a stove to boil water. a shower. a water heater that i have to turn on when i want to use it b/c if i leave it own i'll blow up or something according to my teacher. got a tv that i don't use but sometimes turn on. there's all kinds of hidden treasures left around the apartment too left behind be the old inhabitants: wireless headphones, some expensive liquor, rice, fans, and a sword.
it's exciting, but once our third roommate moves in it may get a little crowded. i've already told my chinese roommate that his smoking doesn't agree with my medical conditions. mosquitos seem to have made a quick invasion since we moved it. i've been noticing more dead cockroaches next to the cockroach traps. and i realized a little too late that toilet paper was not included amongst the all the treasures i've discovered.
but it's all about waking up, boiling some water for my instant coffee, steaming some frozen buns, sitting down in front of a blank tv, and enjoying. if only they had the boston globe in beijing.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
more good ol' xi'an hospitality
it's hard to believe, but chinese hospitality can be painful sometimes; on the mind and the body. today i met up with leyang, my host brother we hosted two years ago. i thought we were just gonna get together for lunch with his cousin, but it turned out to be an all day affair. i used to think my surprise at gatherings such as these (b/c this kind of thing happens a lot) was due to my linguistic insufficiencies, but i'm beginning to realize and expect that getting together in xi'an is always loosely defined. it's probably due to the fact that a good host plans everything out and feeds his/her guests till he bursts. beijing is as much like this, xi'an, however, might be more on the traditional side.
anyway, i went outside to meet leyang and his cousin, but it turned out it was leyang and his mom picking me up in their car to go out to lunch with his cousins famliy and meet up with leyangs dad. anyway i didn't bring any gift or anything cause i thought it was gonna just be us kids so that was kinda of embarassing. and then came the typical guest meal when dealing with upper upper class xi'an-ers. we had every delicacy: beijing duck, pigs feet, pork ribs, fresh fish, etc. there were only 6 of us, but there was enough to feed 25. some dishes went untouched. and they kept ordering. by the end they had order a heaping pile of dumplings. i squeeze one into my mouth and it popped back out before i could chew. really, while the intention is flattering i'm also a little put off by the excess; even americans would call this excess. especially, cause yesterday i was talking to my cabbie and he was telling about how wasteful chinese people were spending thousands of yuan on for a 5-person meal. he described how crooked the whole system was cause it was all these governemnt officials eating eating meals that cost the yearly wage of the poorest chinese. and here i was today the guest of honor at one such meal.
anyway, today took a tool on my body (i.e. stomach) and mind (i.e. i just want to sleep and never speak chinese again).
it was nice seeing leyang. he's grown up a lot. and i'm constantly thankful for his family's hospitality. i really have quite a network going for me here in china. i have two days left in xi'an and then its back to the capital to work, work, work. how long until x-mas again?
anyway, i went outside to meet leyang and his cousin, but it turned out it was leyang and his mom picking me up in their car to go out to lunch with his cousins famliy and meet up with leyangs dad. anyway i didn't bring any gift or anything cause i thought it was gonna just be us kids so that was kinda of embarassing. and then came the typical guest meal when dealing with upper upper class xi'an-ers. we had every delicacy: beijing duck, pigs feet, pork ribs, fresh fish, etc. there were only 6 of us, but there was enough to feed 25. some dishes went untouched. and they kept ordering. by the end they had order a heaping pile of dumplings. i squeeze one into my mouth and it popped back out before i could chew. really, while the intention is flattering i'm also a little put off by the excess; even americans would call this excess. especially, cause yesterday i was talking to my cabbie and he was telling about how wasteful chinese people were spending thousands of yuan on for a 5-person meal. he described how crooked the whole system was cause it was all these governemnt officials eating eating meals that cost the yearly wage of the poorest chinese. and here i was today the guest of honor at one such meal.
anyway, today took a tool on my body (i.e. stomach) and mind (i.e. i just want to sleep and never speak chinese again).
it was nice seeing leyang. he's grown up a lot. and i'm constantly thankful for his family's hospitality. i really have quite a network going for me here in china. i have two days left in xi'an and then its back to the capital to work, work, work. how long until x-mas again?
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
back to my original blogging desk
I've noticed an hour doesn't exactly mean what it used to. If I have an hour to wait, it's almost hard to decide what to do with it because it's just not enough time for me. Hours are spent like dollar bills. It used to be anything green and paper was preciously coveted in my pocket. But here I am in China and hours and bills are spent more freely. I don't know what to attribute it to exactly, has my mind acclimated to our constructed version of time to the point where it can only anticipate duration but not feel it?
I don't feel as if I just finished an entire semester at ACC, but my actions tell me differently. I slept a lot, and still feel like sleeping. Of course that could because I'm getting over a cold, but still, last week was hell, but now I'm sitting in Xi'an, back to the desk where I wrote 50+ blog entries three years ago, back to the same bed I slept in for 3.5 months, and back to a beautiful city that literally feels like home.
It's good to be here, especially after my friends from the summer semester have packed their bags and left for the liberty and straightforwardness of America leaving me here, alone in the oldest civilization that history has preserved, a history of turbulent preservation.
I got here, to Xi'an, and was instantly met by my host mother. I can tell that my Chinese has improved, if not as much as I hoped it might. But being able to understand over 50% of what's going on all the time is a good feeling, but has also, in the past 2 months but especially now, left me embarrassed and frustrated with myself.
I look back the time I spent in Xi'an my senior year of high school and realize that it was definitely a long time ago. The kind of time that not only looks like a long time, but feels like it too. I wrote a lot of things back then that just reveal how ignorant and self-concerned I was. I abhorred speaking Chinese at points, I hated getting up before dawn to run with my host mother, and I just could not bring myself to do anything but buy cheap dvds and presents for people back home while I was here. it's a really embarrassing part of my study abroad then that i wish i could take back.
some of the things i think i can attribute to simply being young, but others, like my weakness for consumption, I'm beginning to believe is a part of American culture that I was representing. This need to over consume if the opportunity arises, is really repulsive. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it has something to do with a competitive spirit, the feeling that you are winning when you buy shit (and I'm talking about shit, not stuff you need) at a relatively low price.
Who knows, but much of my time in Xi'an in 2005 was reserved for buying, buying, and more buying. That's something I regret.
It's a double-edged sword- realizing that you've change. I think it's a rare occasion that a change is entirely good because you still must negotiate the old with the new. Even if the change is for the better it is disturbing knowing that before you were wrong. I guess the cliche to be learned is that we are never entirely right, don't count on yourself being right in the long run. I'm sure there's a daoist saying that would fit.
But back to the topic of time and money. Perhaps it is change that dictates the true length of time. As we harden into our patterns and regularities, change becomes harder and less frequent, and time folds itself so that the space between feels like seconds while the clock on the wall has passed hours, semesters, and years.
sorry for the bad grammar and spelling etc
I don't feel as if I just finished an entire semester at ACC, but my actions tell me differently. I slept a lot, and still feel like sleeping. Of course that could because I'm getting over a cold, but still, last week was hell, but now I'm sitting in Xi'an, back to the desk where I wrote 50+ blog entries three years ago, back to the same bed I slept in for 3.5 months, and back to a beautiful city that literally feels like home.
It's good to be here, especially after my friends from the summer semester have packed their bags and left for the liberty and straightforwardness of America leaving me here, alone in the oldest civilization that history has preserved, a history of turbulent preservation.
I got here, to Xi'an, and was instantly met by my host mother. I can tell that my Chinese has improved, if not as much as I hoped it might. But being able to understand over 50% of what's going on all the time is a good feeling, but has also, in the past 2 months but especially now, left me embarrassed and frustrated with myself.
I look back the time I spent in Xi'an my senior year of high school and realize that it was definitely a long time ago. The kind of time that not only looks like a long time, but feels like it too. I wrote a lot of things back then that just reveal how ignorant and self-concerned I was. I abhorred speaking Chinese at points, I hated getting up before dawn to run with my host mother, and I just could not bring myself to do anything but buy cheap dvds and presents for people back home while I was here. it's a really embarrassing part of my study abroad then that i wish i could take back.
some of the things i think i can attribute to simply being young, but others, like my weakness for consumption, I'm beginning to believe is a part of American culture that I was representing. This need to over consume if the opportunity arises, is really repulsive. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it has something to do with a competitive spirit, the feeling that you are winning when you buy shit (and I'm talking about shit, not stuff you need) at a relatively low price.
Who knows, but much of my time in Xi'an in 2005 was reserved for buying, buying, and more buying. That's something I regret.
It's a double-edged sword- realizing that you've change. I think it's a rare occasion that a change is entirely good because you still must negotiate the old with the new. Even if the change is for the better it is disturbing knowing that before you were wrong. I guess the cliche to be learned is that we are never entirely right, don't count on yourself being right in the long run. I'm sure there's a daoist saying that would fit.
But back to the topic of time and money. Perhaps it is change that dictates the true length of time. As we harden into our patterns and regularities, change becomes harder and less frequent, and time folds itself so that the space between feels like seconds while the clock on the wall has passed hours, semesters, and years.
sorry for the bad grammar and spelling etc
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
days that make hell look not so bad
so it's been awhile since i last spilled some thought onto this digital canvas, so i figured i'd take some time out of my incredibly bad day to reflect and try and convince myself that it really isn't all that bad. but the real reason is i'm just procrastinating since i really don't feel like redoing my entire presentation about beijing's hutong which was conveniently saved in PPT format on my now deceased computer.
that's really the crux of it all. i've been staying up late sneezing and coughing trying to get this amazing presentation off the ground. in fact this is probably the first time in a long time i've truly prepared for a presentation. the ppt had everything from pictures to videos to notes below each slide to help me along the way. today i was gonna go over the presentation and get all the grammar structures firmly grounded in the mushed up brain of mine. i even had a teacher correct all my stuff, and make suggestions. and then my computer wouldn't start. this usually happens; i wasn't worried. then it wouldn't start again, and i started to wheeze. i've been sick for the past three days, did i mention that? then it wouldn't start again. well by the 345th time i gave up believing my computer and i just needed to rest after a couple long nights of work. so i took and nap, my computer took a nap, and i woke up feeling sicker than ever and my computer might as well have taken a shower cause it was useless as ever. so here i am in ACC's luxurious computer room. coughing up hateful words gazing soberly a a computer screen wanting nothing more than to go to bed.
and i haven't started studying for my final yet. this presentation has taken that time. perhaps i'll just sleep it all off and go back to the states.
that's really the crux of it all. i've been staying up late sneezing and coughing trying to get this amazing presentation off the ground. in fact this is probably the first time in a long time i've truly prepared for a presentation. the ppt had everything from pictures to videos to notes below each slide to help me along the way. today i was gonna go over the presentation and get all the grammar structures firmly grounded in the mushed up brain of mine. i even had a teacher correct all my stuff, and make suggestions. and then my computer wouldn't start. this usually happens; i wasn't worried. then it wouldn't start again, and i started to wheeze. i've been sick for the past three days, did i mention that? then it wouldn't start again. well by the 345th time i gave up believing my computer and i just needed to rest after a couple long nights of work. so i took and nap, my computer took a nap, and i woke up feeling sicker than ever and my computer might as well have taken a shower cause it was useless as ever. so here i am in ACC's luxurious computer room. coughing up hateful words gazing soberly a a computer screen wanting nothing more than to go to bed.
and i haven't started studying for my final yet. this presentation has taken that time. perhaps i'll just sleep it all off and go back to the states.
and here's a picture i took:
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Yang Rou Chuan'r
My roommate and I made this video for "China Night". At the time of presentation, we didn't have subtitles but we've added them for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the Chinese tongue. However, it was a very lax subtitling.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
day by day
Well the new Harry Potter came out last week, and although the Chinese translation won't be available for a few months, the street vendors are already selling English and Chinese copies of Harry Potter for $4.50
I'm yet to read it, too busy with work. This week I've juggling school and my own streetball documentary project. I discovered a tournament sponsored by adidas at a park very close to my school, and it fits in perfectly with my project. I befriended a team of 17 and 18-year-olds, and everyday after my classes go directly to the park and tape their games and comments. Yesterday, they invited me to go eat out to eat with them. Although, I understand no more than 20% of what they say, (why do young people always choose to use the most informal slang to talk?) it's still exciting that this is working out so perfectly. But I'm tired, and I have a lot to do. Today, I have a bit of a break cause they don't have a game and our only homework is to prepare an oral report for tomorrow. But I also want to begin editing a video of their games to give them as a thank you for adopting this stupid foreigner.
Also, new in my life: I've decided to live off-campus next semester. I'll be living with another ACC student and a Chinese person. Still haven't seen the apartment, so I'm still a little nervous but it'll be fun.
Sorry, nothing of intellectual interest I feel capable of relating.
I'm yet to read it, too busy with work. This week I've juggling school and my own streetball documentary project. I discovered a tournament sponsored by adidas at a park very close to my school, and it fits in perfectly with my project. I befriended a team of 17 and 18-year-olds, and everyday after my classes go directly to the park and tape their games and comments. Yesterday, they invited me to go eat out to eat with them. Although, I understand no more than 20% of what they say, (why do young people always choose to use the most informal slang to talk?) it's still exciting that this is working out so perfectly. But I'm tired, and I have a lot to do. Today, I have a bit of a break cause they don't have a game and our only homework is to prepare an oral report for tomorrow. But I also want to begin editing a video of their games to give them as a thank you for adopting this stupid foreigner.
Also, new in my life: I've decided to live off-campus next semester. I'll be living with another ACC student and a Chinese person. Still haven't seen the apartment, so I'm still a little nervous but it'll be fun.
Sorry, nothing of intellectual interest I feel capable of relating.
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