My first week in China has been overwhelming, confusing, and amazing. Yesterday we had our first group outing to Tianmen Square and the Forbidden City, but after that, some of us stayed behind to head to Jingshan Park which was right across the street. We climbed up a hill towards a temple and beheld a beautiful view of Beijing, then ventured down towards some music that we could hear from the top. What happened next was beyond what any of us expected. Due to the extrovertedness of some of our group members, most of us found ourselves partnered up with tradionally-dressed Chinese men or women and dancing like fools. We were all engaged with the band, and we could tell they really enjoyed having us. Some of the members of our group even gave an acapella performance and joined the band playing drums! After that, we all celebrated one of our group member’s birthdays and had a great time getting to know each other better.
The most confusing part has been getting around in general. There is no toilet paper anywhere, and most of the bathrooms are “squatting toilets,” and some don’t even have doors on the stalls. I successfully avoided one until Saturday, but then I had to accept my fate and use one. Don’t worry, I brought my own toilet paper, and used 4 of my friends as a human door (which really confused the locals, as they all kept joining the end of the line, thinking it was the line for the restroom). People have stared, asked for pictures with me, and kissed my hands, so being an American (let alone a redhead) has really amplified the confusion that I’ve experienced, and provided quite a bit of comic relief as we learn that the Chinese are very, very curious, and very, very direct.
It hasn’t been just the environment that is confusing, however, but the classes are completely overwhelming. It has been one week in Chinese classes (3 days because we started Wednesday) and I am already learning grammar and writing in characters. We have 3 hours of class a day, and it’s a lot of work keeping up, but today I successfully ordered dumplings for lunch all by myself so I would say it is paying off! Speaking of food, I think it should just go without saying that all of it is amazing. We eat so much, all the time, and it is all so cheap. I feasted the other night for about 10 USD.
Tonight is a dinner at Beijing’s original Peking duck restaurant, then a tea garden variety show, so I am really excited to see what tonight brings. My internet has been iffy to say the least; we need to use Northwestern’s VPN (Virtual Private Network) to even access sites such as gmail, wordpress and facebook because the Chinese internet blocks them, so I am not sure when I will be able to post again.
Until next time,
韩可儿
Han kě ér (cute baby) (My Chinese name given to me by my teacher)
(as seen in Mulan)my new friend
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