Hello All,
More good news! All twenty of us waiguoren (outsiders) made it to Harbin today! Furthermore, even after walking half a mile on city streets in the dark with flutters of snow at about 10 degrees Farenheit, I am happy to say I made the right choice. This city kicks Beijing ASS, who cares if we're outnumbered four to one. Aaaand, this program is super sweet. The CET staff is way awesome, our dorms are nice if quirky, the campus is urban but secluded-ish, everyone speaks straight-up mandarin, and the other students are crazy in a like-me sort of way.
This being said, the language pledge (aka no English EVER EVER EVER except for this blog. And phone calls. And to tell people I'm not a Russian prostitute (wo bu shi yi ge eluosi de jinu) .) starts in about 48 hours, and that's gonna be exciting, if you take "exciting" to mean "pun-killing." Stay tuned.
As for stuff that has already happened, I have a hilarious Chinglish picture to post as soon as I get internet in my dorm (think three days-ish). Also, we took a 13 hour train ride to Harbin yesterday, or so I've been told...Mom, why didn't you ever put me on a train to get me to pass out as a baby? That shit WORKS. Also, I have effectively used Chinese to communicate with strangers upwards of three times now, including but not limited to instances such as "where is the bathroom," "in which aisle might I find the oatmeal," and "let her come in she's already eaten." This and more.
Becky, a random Chinese guy on the train thought that orange thing was awesome, or would have if he knew the word awesome. Kim, a co-student got a kick out the silly putty. Mrs. Russell, these socks are the shiiiiiit. Mom, bringing the electric blanket was an EXCELLENT call, so there! Chuck, I told your miniature golf joke to rave reviews. Spence, thank you for increasing my tolerance for cigarette smoke. Patti, everyone under the sun has a little sibling your age, no really. And Eric, expensive beer costs 38 cents. Ha.
Love love love America,
Cat
Friday, February 13, 2009
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I'm glad you like the city, and YES!!!, and I got an email today from StudentUniverse (cheap student airplane tickets) that suggested I go to China for spring break... Sorry I can't, I'm goin' the other way.
ReplyDeleteps- the timestamp said you wrote this Yestoday
hahaha...I love the useful phrases you've been learning! "I'm not a Russian prostitute" has got to come in handy soon! anyway, I am glad you're liking harbin...you've got to let us know about those ice statues!
ReplyDeleteSo, at first I thought you met a Chinese guy names Becky. So much for English major skills... I'll have to find some other skill, preferably a marketable one.
ReplyDeletep.s. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying yourself. It would probably be unnecessary for me to write things to you in German, and then you reply in Chinese (to avoid English), but the lack of understanding could still be fun!