Two Gifts in Two Days

It's a half week this week... at school, and perhaps for the whole country. October 1st is the national independence day, and so we have no classes on Thursday or Friday. Actually, we were supposed to not have class all of next week too, but H1N1 scares continue, and the university's vacation was cut short (by an entire week!) to prevent people from leaving town (and thus, getting on trains or planes filled with sick people). If that kind of announcement went out at UCLA... there would probably have been a riot. But out here... 没办法. (méi bàn fǎ is loosely translated, "Oh well, what can you do...")

But, so far this week has also been a week of gifts! On Monday, every student was given... a thermometer. First, we were infrared gunned at the school gate - if you have a fever, you're in big trouble. We have learned that biking for ten minutes... does not significantly raise your body temperature. So, in arriving to school, we realized that we neither had fevers... nor did we get any significant amount of cardio-aerobic activity while biking to school.

Every student now has a thermometer; every morning, we've been instructed to take our temperatures and notify the school authorities if we have a temperature over 37° C.



Ahh, but Tuesday was another day of gifts! This coming Saturday (October 3rd) is the mid-autumn festival (中秋节 = zhōng qiū jié). While there is a lot of history and stories behind the occasion, one of the highlights is the mooncake (月饼 = yuè bǐng). Because this is the the time during Autumn when the moon will be at its fullest and roundest... it is the tradition here to eat mooncakes! Every student was given a gift bag filled with mooncakes!



Back in the States, mooncakes had pretty much 1 kind, 1 flavor. But out here, there are mooncakes aplenty, with different sizes and flavors (but all the same shape). We're excited to try the different ones out there. I'm going to look for a coffee-flavored mooncake.

Our teacher also noted that 中秋节 is a time not just to eat mooncakes, but to eat all sorts of "round foods" - like grapes, apples, etc. Actually, I think that this is kind of a cute (perhaps, quaint?) tradition... that it's customary during a certain time of the year to eat foods that are a certain shape. We don't really have those types of traditions in the States; in fact, most folks in the States might think something like this is kind of hokey.

So... this week we have so far seen two gifts in two days. I wonder what tomorrow will bring...

Jeep-pers Creepers!

During the apple picking field trip, there was an unexpected adventure. In the morning, the school put the students on big tour buses to get to the apple orchard restaurant. To get from the restaurant to the volleyball court and then from the volleyball court to the orchard, you must ride the jeep. The jeep looks like a military jeep that can hold up to 9-10 people (includes driver, shotgun passenger, 3-4 people standing in the middle, and 3-4 people sitting in the back).

Here I am on the jeep looking forward to the ride: (How naive I was!)


This is me after the first of three jeep rides:


I came out of the jeep ride dazed. The path the jeep took was a winding, bumpy, unpaved and uneven road in the middle of the desert. Add in having to duck from the branches on the side of the path and a driver that insists on going between 30-40MPH. Also add in the fact that the jeep constantly felt like it would tip over. Lastly, depending if you were sitting or standing, there were added hazards. If you were standing, you have to brace yourself so you don't get thrown backwards or forwards and hit the metal bar in front and behind. If you are sitting, you have to brace against the bar in front so the driver doesn't suddenly brake and you bang your head against the bar. Overall, the word to describe the ride was "dangerous."

Yet, I had to constantly remind myself the ride was dangerous. I think the reason was because it felt like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. I kept catching myself thinking it was fun and wanting to throw my hands in the air, but then I had to remind myself that I have no seat belt on, there is no safety bar to catch me from being thrown out, there is no track underneath the jeep to prevent it from tipping over, and if my head hits the bar, I am probably a goner.

It was interesting to see the other international students' reaction to the jeep ride. Most of the other Americans described the ride as scary and unsafe. The Chinese teachers thought it was a little scary. The Korean students had a similar reaction to my reaction. The Pakistani students seemed to be really enjoying the ride, although they were all guys, so their reaction may be different. The African male students were hanging off the jeep, as if the ride wasn't scary enough.

Personally, I thought the jeep ride was an adventure that I hope I never have to experience again. I prefer, for the rest of my life, to only take jeep rides on the Indiana Jones ride. Ducking from fake poisonous air darts is definitely funner (and safer) than ducking from branches.

Apple Picking Saturday

Our school had a field trip today (Saturday). Two buses of maybe 60+ students ventured about 2 hours out of the city to a nature preserve... for some playing in the sand and... to pick apples. We had a blast, roaming around an apple grove with dozens of trees (a couple different kinds of apple trees)... to pick apples to our hearts content.

Most of the apples on the lower branches were either picked clean or were not yet ripe. So, I decided to do something that I've never done before but have always wanted to do... climb trees! The juicy, ripe, red apples... were definitely more abundant up at the top.



The apples here taste slightly different than State-side... they are sweeter and crisper. Bethany says they're similar to a "pink lady"... whatever that means. Typically, if we were to go to the market, we may buy 6-8 apples. But today, we came home with maybe... 60 apples? The plan is to 1) make an apple pie, 2) make apple sauce to store for the winter, 3) give some apples to friends, 4) and probably still have tons left over.

Bethany is excited at the possibilities...

Recovery & Exercise

Well... I'm slowly getting over this cold. It's interesting to me that, in the States, I usually get over a cold in about 48 hours. I have a certain routine as soon as I feel like a cold is coming on - I drink a tall glass of orange juice, take a hot shower, take 2 Cold Tylenol, and then goto bed. And I'm usually pretty good by the morning.

But out here... it's different. I didn't feel the cold coming on until it was the middle of the night, and it was accompanied by a lingering cough. And the orange juice here is... Minute Maid... but is more like an orange flavored juice drink. And, it's much drier here, which means that, not only do I need to drink plenty of fluids to get better... if I'm not drinking plenty of fluids, I'll also get headaches (at least, that's how it's been in these 3 days).

My energy level is up though, and has been pretty normal since Tuesday. Which means that... Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening... I have been able to go out and play some volleyball.

Volleyball has been good for my language learning. Just to learn the language terms for setter, outside hitter, serve, block, and then other things like how to call the score, call a ball in or out, or to say if someone touched the net or foot faulted on a serve... all this has enriched my volleyball experience so that it's more than just physical exercise.

These last few days, with both of us being sick... we're pretty beat by about 9:30PM, and have been heading to bed by around 10 or 10:30. I think tonight will be the same.

Straws

This weekend, both Alvin and I were sick. We both have had a lingering cough this last week, but over the weekend I had a slight fever and now I have a sore throat. I also had some stomach issues.

Yet, I want to tell you about my new guilty pleasure I turn to when I am feeling sick. It's my straws. I remember that when I was young and got a cold, I drank 7UP from a straw.

So this being the first time I was sick with cold-like symptoms in this city, I felt a little homesick. So I went to the kitchen, grabbed my recently purchased straws, and drank my lukewarm water from a straw. My favorite moment was the day after my fever, I woke up, saw a full cup of water with a straw on my bedside table, and drank the whole cup without even sitting up. Thank you inventor of the bendy straw!

I think drinking from straws will be my replacement to the gummy bears. First, I know gummy bears supply won't last forever, and second, straws probably won't give me cavities.

Cold Sunday

Well, don't tell my mom... but I caught a cold. And it totally threw off my Sunday. And... I know how I caught it too - from biking in the rain. In shorts and a t-shirt.

The weather here has been very unpredictable. From what we hear, September is typically a very pleasant month. Temps in the 70's, sunny, and nice. But actually, it has turned out to be a few days (or maybe a week) of rainy sogginess, and then a few days of pleasant sunshine. You can't really predict from one day to the next what it will be like.

So, on Saturday, it started out pleasant but cool. Pleasant enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt. In the afternoon, I was at a friend's home for a few hours, and by the time I was leaving... it had started to rain. But, what can you do? So, I biked the 10 minutes home... in the rain.

Saturday night was the onset of the cold. I spent the whole night coughing (a leftover cough from last weekend at Beijing) and blowing my nose. And today's weather? Bright, sunny, and nice. I spent every minute of it inside, not even stepping outside the door once. Toilet paper has replaced kleenex (cheaper that way). And I have class in 11 hours. It's about time for bed.

My Heart will Have Eyes

Last month, I told you about the heart outside our window. Alvin and I were able to write one name in the sandbox, and then last week we looked out, and we saw eyes. It kind of looks like lopsided alien eyes. It is very pretty, but every time I see it, I try to imitate the lopsided flower eyes.

Scattered Observations

No post topic today. But a bunch of observations and things that I have learned in our 4+ months of living here...

1. You get what you pay for. About a month and a half ago, I decided to buy a cheap pair of sneakers just for outdoor activities like basketball or walking through the city (I hadn't found a volleyball group yet, at the time). So I spent about USD $8 for a pair of definitely-not-nikes-even-though-it-has-the-nike-logo. They were fine, until I started playing volleyball in them. Now they are all torn up - especially around the toes - and the left shoe is not so water-resistant if I step in a puddle on a rainy day. Well, especially since I want to play well and don't want to get injured... I will just start using my indoor Asics gel volleyball shoes (which have been hidden away safely, unused, in a closet here).

2. Drilling in concrete is different than drilling in drywall. Now I know why you can buy some drills with a hammering action - this is for helping to pound through concrete. Drywall and wood are materials that can be drilled through, but not concrete. Concrete needs to be cracked through a hammering action, and then the drill bit can grind up the cracked concrete. All of our walls and ceilings here are concrete. There is no drywall. So drilling (with a drill that doesn't have a hammering action) consists of alternating between hammer/nail and drill/bit. It takes a bit longer, but I'm getting faster, and fortunately haven't had to drill anything deeper than about an inch and a half.

3. Look closely at the milk you're about to buy. I thought I learned my lesson the first time I came up with the sour-flavored milk back in mid-July. But I made the same mistake again last week, buying a different brand of milk and again accidentally bought the sour milk. At least I've grown to like it... so it won't go to waste. But it still meant going back to the store the next day to buy a whole other box of milk.

4. I love cities with people outside all the time. I realize from living in LA and Dallas that, except for Westwood, I've never really lived in a place with a citylike atmosphere where people are out and about on the streets well into the night. Not that our city right now is considered large my any standards... but it's nice to see people walking or on bikes from early in the morning until late at night. One of the most enjoyable places to be is the intersection at the gate of our university - there's a night market, street food, tons of restaurants, and people all around. Whenever I bike or walk through there - especially at night - I find myself so thankful to live in a place that I enjoy so much.

Things from Beijing

I thought our blog audience might want to know the things I wanted enough to import from Beijing to our home.

Here is what I got from Ikea: (not pictured is small blanket)
Butter knives, small spoons, fitted sheet, straws, tea infuser, coasters, kitchen timer, and two boxes not made from wicker. Wicker is one of the few things Alvin is passionate against. He often is heard saying, "I hate wicker." Unfortunately, many of the boxes in our city is made from wicker or wood sticks weaved together (which Alvin also hates). Good thing for Ikea who allowed us finally to have boxes not made from wicker.



I went to an import store to pick up some western goodies. The most unique thing I bought was the lemon extract. Lemons are hard to find in the open market, and they are very expensive in the supermarket.



Here is what Alvin bought at Starbucks:

Home Sweet Home

I took a bus and then roamed around this (Sunday) morning, because I knew that there was a Starbucks in the area, and I've been itching to just spend a few hours there. Found it, and realized that - if I lived in this city - I would probably come here at least once or twice a week.

I have heard that one of the most appealing aspects of Starbucks is its consistency - drinks, ambiance, music - so that it doesn't matter what city in the world you are in, you can still find a Starbucks and feel like you're back at home.

You wouldn't be able to tell, from the picture I shot, if this was in LA or Dallas or London or Beijing. It was nice to be home for a little while.

The Beijing Adventure Continues...

Today was another day of adventuring, spent almost entirely on my feet. The hope was to find a good scenic spot for some pictures, but to go somewhere that isn't on the standard list of tourist spots. I ended up taking a subway/bus ride to the western outskirts of Beijing, to 香山公园 (xiang shan gong yuan). This is supposed to be much more beautiful in late October, when the leaves turn orange and brown. But, I was determined to check it out anyways.

Little did I know, it was going to be a hike. And actually, I think this hike up to the peak was much harder than either of the Great Wall hikes I've done.

There was the option to take the cable car (ski lift) up to the peak, but the starting base was at a different location than the entrance to the park where I came in. Then, up at the top, it was already too late to take the lift back down, so that meant hiking back down too.



The hike up took me about an hour and a half. The hike down only took half an hour. But up at the top was a pretty grand view of Beijing. It's crazy to see just how big this city is.



Then, for the evening, I slowly made my way back, stopping at Pizza Hut for dinner. The menu for Pizza Hut here is crazy. Seriously, it looks more like a menu for Chili's or TGIFriday's. I passed on the calamari, the waffle fries, the shrimp scampi pasta, the clam chowder bread bowl, and the stuffed filo dough. Yes, those were all on the menu. Instead, I did a personal pan pizza and a grilled chicken salad. After a long day of hiking, this hit the spot.

The nightlife in Beijing is active no matter what part of the city you're in. Here's just one area where I was walking by, filled with inline skaters (and people renting out inline skates), musicians, street food vendors, and people taking leisurely strolls.


Also in the area were people selling kites. I had never thought about what it would be like to fly a kite at night... especially a kite with lights! Here's a shot of a kite salesman (and his girlfriend?) trying to attract business.



Half more day here. Sunday morning will (I hope) be the long-awaited 4-hour marathon at a Starbucks.

Adventures in Beijing

We're here for the weekend... to stop by the embassy, adventure around, and to see some friends.

So, for breakfast, our first stop was a restaurant that we don't have where we live...




And then, after our appointment at the embassy, we headed to a very popular spot in Beijing - IKEA. I wish that I had brought my camera up to the 3rd floor cafeteria. It was packed. At least a few hundred people. Every table taken. What was on the menu? Sino-Swede fusion. Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes. Tuna pasta salad. White rice with braised beef and vegetables.



Then I ventured off through another part of Beijing on my own. Went to a huge bookstore with 5 levels - it blows Borders out of the water. I will write another post on that one altogether.

I think I like this city. Yes, it is huge. And yes, there are people everywhere. But it's got both the culture/history along with the new and contemporary cool feel.



The plan for Saturday is to adventure more... take some good pictures, and find a Starbucks to lounge at (and do language study) for a few hours. Can't wait...

Time of the Season for ... Fall

A couple of weeks ago, I realized something. I was talking to some friends here and told them it was cold. And they said, "of course it is, it is fall." I said, "yes, I know it is fall," but I still felt like it didn't explain why it is cold. Later on, I realized what was the disconnect. I was saying that on the calendar, this time of year is called "fall," but I have never lived in a place where the fall season has a drastic change in weather. Looking at the places I have lived, Phoenix and LA really do not have seasons. Dallas has an interesting fall. It is hot one day, cold the next, and then the weather tosses back in forth between the two. Dallas does have change in the color of leaves though.

In the last two weeks, the temperature here started dropping. These days, it is now between 50-65 degrees F. And I am cold. Yesterday, I found myself wearing 6 layers for my top (2 long sleeve light jackets, one light sweater, one long sleeve shirt, one short sleeve shirt, and a tank top).

In same conversation with my friend, as mentioned above, I asked my friends if the weather here drops below freezing. This is how the conversation went.

One guy said, "you are kidding, right?"

Relieved I said, "oh good, I'm glad it doesn't drop below freezing.

The same guy said, "no, I thought you were kidding because for two months straight it is below freezing."

"Oh dear."

Hmm, I wonder how many layers I can wear and still move my arms.

Grammar: For Humans and Computers Alike

Wednesday mornings is our HSK class. HSK stands for 汉语水平考试 (hàn yǔ shuǐ píng kǎo shì) - this is essentially a standardized test of a foreigner's skill level in the Chinese language (kind of like the TOEFL tests for the English level of foreigners in the States). A lot of people take the HSK if they are interested in getting a job here.

Our class has many college students from Korea who are studying abroad here, and part of their requirement is to take (and do well on) the HSK. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to take the HSK, and even if I did... it'll probably be 2 years down the road.

Nonetheless, there is a Wednesday morning HSK-prep class that is built into our semester schedule. Though required for the Korean students, it is optional for us. Today, we decided to sit in on the first day of class.

Today's class was all about Chinese grammar. Simple sentences (single clause) versus complex sentences (multiple clauses). Structures within sentences (i.e. subject, predicate, direct objects, indirect objects). Types of words (i.e. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, helper words, conjunctions, prepositions, and even onomatopoeia).

After sitting in on this class, I have decided that... I love grammar. It so appeals to the engineering computer nerd in me. Computer languages are all about tokens and rules and syntax and grammar. You cannot write programs without following a strict set of grammar rules... it's the only way to tell a computer clearly what you want it to do.

Human languages are the same way. Sure, there is some more fluidity, and people are better able to improvise and be flexible and "figure out what you mean" even if you don't say it in a grammatically correct fashion. But at the very core of any human language is a set of grammar rules which we all generally follow (albeit loosely at times).

So, if you want to communicate (more clearly, and without having to force your listener to interpret - and possibly misinterpret - what you're trying to communicate)... learn grammar.

The jury is still out on whether I will attend this optional HSK-prep grammar class every week. But if it's as helpful fun as it was this morning, then I probably will.

Calligraphy

Alvin and I started our calligraphy class this afternoon. It was a fun and relaxing time. We definitely will get to know more of the stroke order of the characters.

So here is our first try at calligraphy. At the end of the semester, I will compare this one with the last paper we draw.

The calligraphy teacher would go around to each student to help them out. Each time he came to me though, he would say, "left hander, I don't know how to help you." Then he would just walk by me. Alvin thought that was so funny!

A Change in Daily Schedule

Now that our language classes have begun, our daily/weekly schedule looks very different than it did in the summer. Life has quickly gotten much busier. Though our classes have been a challenge, we are enjoying the learning, so the change in pace has been well worth it.

We have class each day from about 8am until noon. That means being out the door and our bikes by 7:45am. For me, that has meant trying to be up by 6:30am for a cup of coffee and some time to read, think, and start my day well.

On Mondays, we will begin (starting tomorrow) an afternoon class in Chinese calligraphy writing. The other days of the week, though, we do not have class in the afternoon. But, if we don't want to look clueless or unprepared for the next day of class, we would be wise to get another 2-3 hours in the language books sometime during the afternoon or evening. (Even as I write this blog post, Bethany is learning new vocab words in preparation for tomorrow's class)

Along with our morning classes, I meet with my tutor 2-3 times a week, for 2 hours each. Bethany has tutoring once a week for 2 hours. And then, on 1 or 2 evenings, Bethany will go to yoga while I go play volleyball.

So, for now... that is the life of a language student.

On a somewhat related note... I am finding that the more I learn Mandarin, the more I wish that my Cantonese was better. There are things that I learn in Mandarin about which I think to myself, "Ohhh... I've heard that same phrase said before, but in Cantonese! So that's what that means..." These are the most rewarding times of language-learning, because I feel like I'm actually getting to learn a little bit of 2 languages at once. I wonder if my Cantonese will improve at all as my Mandarin improves.

As Long As I Know How to Love, I Know I Will Survive

I have survived my first week of school! (BTW, the title is a shout out to my Karaoke partner.)

Class is from 8:10am to 11:50am. Alvin and I are in the same class, and we have 15 students in our class including us, and 13 of them are Korean. You do the math. By the way, to get the correct answer, you need to know that Alvin and I are not Korean. Hmm, I wonder if we are in the same class for a year, will we start picking up some Korean?

The Korean students are very good at reading characters. I definitely feel like my character recognition is not as strong, but one advantage I have is my listening is ok since I grew up listening to Chinese. I know that I have to put in some extra time up front to try to catch up in my reading. The teacher told us that this first month is the hardest because we all are playing catch up. Eventually, we will get better at recognizing character, learning characters, or even guessing the characters in context.

Next week we start our optional afternoon class. Alvin and I both would like to take the calligraphy class.

One thing I am impressed at is that the teachers can guess where we are from just from one or two sentences of speaking Chinese. They automatically can tell who is Korean by the way they say some words. The first day of class, I said one sentence, and the teacher said, "you are American?" Then I said another sentence, and he said, "and your parents are from southern China." I was afraid if I said another sentence, he would say, "You also were born in Phoenix, studied to LA, and then lived in Dallas." Woah!

A Visit to the Bike Guy

It's a good idea every two weeks or so to pump up the tires in your bicycle. To do that, most people around here go visit "the bike guy" (or at least, that's what we call him). The bike guy isn't any specific guy. There's a bike guy on a street corner at least every half mile or so. You see them there with a big patio umbrella, a small cart with supplies (tires, locks, pedals, breaks), and a mat laid out on the ground filled with random nuts and bolts and parts. And usually, one or two air pumps.

Adding air to your tires is a self-serve service - meaning, you say, "I want to add air!" and he looks you and then points to the pump on the ground. Then you add air yourself and then pay him 2 mao (that's about 3 cents). Sometimes there's a basket on the ground nearby, and people just toss their money in there to pay him.

Tonight, on the way to volleyball, I biked down a curb ramp, and for some reason... the chain came off the teeth on my gears. My bike was off the chain (yo.). So, I had to walk my bike over to the nearest bike guy to pay him a visit. And I would be late to volleyball.

The bike guy was busy. He saw me, and I showed him the problem (from first look, he could tell that my bike was off the chain). But he was busy working on another guy's tire. I went to his mat of tools, and asked if I could borrow the screwdriver. "Sure. Take it," he said. So I went to work.

Grabbed a different screwdriver. Grabbed a wrench. Got my hands all dirty. By this time, the bike guy, seeing that I seemed to be doing ok without his help, took on another customer and left me alone. And about 10 minutes later... I fixed my chain and got my bike going again.

I return the tools and I say, "How much do I owe you for using your tools?"

In Chinese, when somebody says 看你吧 (kàn nǐ ba), which literally means "look at you", they are saying, "It's really up to you..." The bike guy says 你看-----, and I missed the rest of the sentence. He said something like, "Well, you look at..." and who knows what he could have said afterward (maybe "... how busy I am over here. I don't have time to take your money." or "... how you stole the wrench that I was using. This should be at least 10 kuai."). I have no idea what he said. But I interpreted it as 看你把 - "it's up to you."

So, it's up to me. And here's the big cultural dilemma. How much do I pay him? He didn't help to fix my bike. But I did use his tools. And, for a good several minutes more than I normally use his pump. Give him too little (or nothing at all), and would he get offended and yell at me, chasing me down the street? Give him too much, and would he think I'm a crazy throw-money-around-like-it's-nothing foreigner?

I settled on 5 mao. I figured... if I normally use the self-service pump for 2 mao, now I'm using 2 1/2 self-service tools (2 screwdrivers and a wrench)... so... 5 mao. I threw it in the basket, said thanks, and biked away. He didn't chase me down. But I don't know if he said anything about me to the other customers there.

How much would you have paid?

On a separate note... there were some new guys at volleyball tonight. One of the guys, who was by far one of the better guys on the court, asked me for my phone number afterwards... he said that they have a dorm team (or something like that) and he might call me sometime to play as their setter. In my limited language ability... I think that's what he said. Or maybe he said that the national olympic team is holding tryouts next week and he wanted to invite me to come tryout. Most likely, it's the first one.