Helloooo former blog-readers!
As you probably know, I am about to embark on a PEACE CORPS ADVENTURE to Kazakhstan. I'll be keeping track of my antics as technology allows, and I will try to make them entertaining and minimally "meaningful." FOLLOW IT HERE:
www.omgkazak.blogspot.com
sweeeeeet,
Cat
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, May 18, 2009
You know how to you can tell that I love you, my internet fan-friends? Because after sitting at my keyboard for way more than fourteen hours straight writing a 3000 character Chinese essay, and even though China-gov has blocked blogspot, I have found a way to write to you on this lovely 1:00 AM Monday, May 18, 2009 (credit: Mom!).
Let me fill you in on China-life as of late. It’s been more interesting and less I-want-to-tell-parents/costudents-these-sorts-of-things than ever this week, but this is my oh-so-frank blog so if you think you’ll find yourself offended, I encourage you to just stop reading at this point. Yeah, delete the bookmark too, it’s probably for the best.
On with it then. In breaking news that everyone already suspected, Russian girls’ summer clothes are even more ridiculous than their winter regalia. In addition to heels as high and accessories as gaudy as ever, I’ve now also seen ladies who I swear forgot their pants, one who forgot upwards of half of her shirt, as well as several (pierced) bellybuttons. And yet, shopkeepers commonly mistake me for Russian. What does this mean.
In more interesting news, have discovered that a nontrivial percentage of CET students- myself included- would more readily break the law than the language pledge and I find this equal parts amusing and tragic; see me personally for further details.
In related news, for about four minutes on last Wednesday I forgot I was a 外国人. I was like, I want to shop for some veggies here, and then looked around without feeling the least bit self conscious for about four minutes. Then I thought, something is weird here, what could it be? Oh yes that’s right, an outsider- people are watching me again. Right.
In semi-related news, there’s finally some inter-personal drama amongst the CET students. A couple of Chinese roomies are dating, apparently all the boys think my (very taken) roomie is the most attractive of the lot and are willing to pay handsomely for my assistance in winning her over (or something…), everyone has come to hold more or less uniform opinions about each other’s personalities (and more importantly, respective levels of Chinese proficiency) that we compare whenever somebody isn’t around, and I have a couple of completely unfeasible crushes. Now now don’t go getting excited, we’re not talking serious emotions here, and at this point I know better than to take any action beyond passively-aggressively noting the existence of said crushes on the blog that said boys may or may not read. Pretty much, this crushing process is inevitable for me. I meet some cool people, we hang out a lot, I find more and more reasons to like them, and then eventually start thinking we could work out as more. Then, I remember that in 10 days everyone goes back to their own personal America, so it’s definitely just best to settle for an conversation in English and game of spin the bottle in Beijing before we scatter. Man, why didn’t I think of that.
In more consequential news, last Saturday our activity was interviewing old Chinese people, which turned out to be surprisingly interesting. My old person was a professor at 哈工大 until he retired at age 60, and we discussed all kinds of things, ranging from his life during the great cultural revolution to the rationality of religious belief. As far as the latter is concerned, he was way open-minded but just didn’t understand how so many people in such a developed nation as America could all believe in the existence of single God who apparently isn’t in the habit of offering up rational evidence of his existence. I tried to explain to Professor Su that it is possible to have faith not as an irrational belief, but rather as an additional one. It is not contradictory to accept science and/or rationality as the answer to the “what is our world? and how does it work?” questions while simultaneously accepting religious belief as the answer to that “yes, but why?” question. I mean, it ain’t my style, but it ain’t necessarily contradictory either. I don’t know if I impacted his thinking or not, but it was a fun conversation regardless.
I think I’ve forgotten how to drive,
China-Cat
Let me fill you in on China-life as of late. It’s been more interesting and less I-want-to-tell-parents/costudents-these-sorts-of-things than ever this week, but this is my oh-so-frank blog so if you think you’ll find yourself offended, I encourage you to just stop reading at this point. Yeah, delete the bookmark too, it’s probably for the best.
On with it then. In breaking news that everyone already suspected, Russian girls’ summer clothes are even more ridiculous than their winter regalia. In addition to heels as high and accessories as gaudy as ever, I’ve now also seen ladies who I swear forgot their pants, one who forgot upwards of half of her shirt, as well as several (pierced) bellybuttons. And yet, shopkeepers commonly mistake me for Russian. What does this mean.
In more interesting news, have discovered that a nontrivial percentage of CET students- myself included- would more readily break the law than the language pledge and I find this equal parts amusing and tragic; see me personally for further details.
In related news, for about four minutes on last Wednesday I forgot I was a 外国人. I was like, I want to shop for some veggies here, and then looked around without feeling the least bit self conscious for about four minutes. Then I thought, something is weird here, what could it be? Oh yes that’s right, an outsider- people are watching me again. Right.
In semi-related news, there’s finally some inter-personal drama amongst the CET students. A couple of Chinese roomies are dating, apparently all the boys think my (very taken) roomie is the most attractive of the lot and are willing to pay handsomely for my assistance in winning her over (or something…), everyone has come to hold more or less uniform opinions about each other’s personalities (and more importantly, respective levels of Chinese proficiency) that we compare whenever somebody isn’t around, and I have a couple of completely unfeasible crushes. Now now don’t go getting excited, we’re not talking serious emotions here, and at this point I know better than to take any action beyond passively-aggressively noting the existence of said crushes on the blog that said boys may or may not read. Pretty much, this crushing process is inevitable for me. I meet some cool people, we hang out a lot, I find more and more reasons to like them, and then eventually start thinking we could work out as more. Then, I remember that in 10 days everyone goes back to their own personal America, so it’s definitely just best to settle for an conversation in English and game of spin the bottle in Beijing before we scatter. Man, why didn’t I think of that.
In more consequential news, last Saturday our activity was interviewing old Chinese people, which turned out to be surprisingly interesting. My old person was a professor at 哈工大 until he retired at age 60, and we discussed all kinds of things, ranging from his life during the great cultural revolution to the rationality of religious belief. As far as the latter is concerned, he was way open-minded but just didn’t understand how so many people in such a developed nation as America could all believe in the existence of single God who apparently isn’t in the habit of offering up rational evidence of his existence. I tried to explain to Professor Su that it is possible to have faith not as an irrational belief, but rather as an additional one. It is not contradictory to accept science and/or rationality as the answer to the “what is our world? and how does it work?” questions while simultaneously accepting religious belief as the answer to that “yes, but why?” question. I mean, it ain’t my style, but it ain’t necessarily contradictory either. I don’t know if I impacted his thinking or not, but it was a fun conversation regardless.
I think I’ve forgotten how to drive,
China-Cat
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
So Far East It's North
Hey Guys.
I know it's an absurd hour right now, but I'm too excited about life to sleep right now. I love China, I love camp, I love my Austin friends, I love RICE, I love philosophical conversations in Chinese (that's right, you heard me right- ideas in CHINESE) and I love love love this whole experiencing life thing. It's crazier than anything I could imagine.
Last weekend CET and all our roomies went to 丹东, which is a little city of about 2 million people near the coast and North Korea. Here are some highlights:
-I saw North Korea. You can too! It's behind us. PS my roomie rocks.
-I met some North Koreans. My Chinese was better than theirs.
-I helped a stereotypical hey-I'ma-tour-China-even-though-I-don't-speak-a-fucking-word-of-their-silly-language American man order lunch and local beer. America win.
-The program kids played an absurd game that involved bathrobes, a table, sound effects, floor wrestling, and smacking noses (mostly Cooper's).
-I remembered why I don't wear makeup in China. The Chinese equivalent of a good 'ole boy's phone number is still scribbled on the back of my homework, though I did manage to rebuff his invitations for lunch and get him off of my bed on the train.
-It rained a lot, which was okay because I wear two pairs of pants every fucking day anyway.
-I miss driving. Lord knows I drive better than our bus driver did.
-New favorite game! When strangers comment on the 外国人, the CET students and our 地道的 Chinese roommates all turn to each other and comment among ourselves saying, "What? Outsider? Where??" Then we sort of point at one of us and murmur, "Oooohhh...I bet they're Russian. Yeah, definitely Russian..blonde hair..." This works best when the individual being commented on is in fact a Chinese roomie.
-Huangwei and I had a philosophical conversation in Chinese, and I came away with altered views, meaning we effectively communicated ideas. Points all around.
-Saw some more of the wall. You can too!
-So multicultural it hurts, every day:
Guys, I'm gonna miss my friends here. I'm gonna miss getting cat-called on the street. I'm gonna miss my crazy one-on-one teacher who never gets impatient with my crappy-ass reading skills. I'm gonna miss carrying my own little collection of TP everywhere I go. I'm gonna miss practicing this crazy new skill every, single day. I'm gonna miss joking around with Americans and Chinese kids and just enjoying life together. Heck, I'm gonna miss being confused and surprised all the time.
Seriously though, it's being oceans (or a significant number of continental united states) away from the people here that is gonna cause me the most heartache. These kids, and heck teachers too, understand at least one facet of me that I (literally) can't translate back to you kids at home. This experience has been, is, and tomorrow will be just incredible. Home guys, bad news but my favorite language is Chinglesh now, not just as a gimmick but as the most effective means of communication at my disposal. Only my CET peeps can hear me out on that one, and I plan to enjoy the hell out of these next few weeks. Amen.
Too many homes/I love life,
China-Cat
I know it's an absurd hour right now, but I'm too excited about life to sleep right now. I love China, I love camp, I love my Austin friends, I love RICE, I love philosophical conversations in Chinese (that's right, you heard me right- ideas in CHINESE) and I love love love this whole experiencing life thing. It's crazier than anything I could imagine.
Last weekend CET and all our roomies went to 丹东, which is a little city of about 2 million people near the coast and North Korea. Here are some highlights:
-I saw North Korea. You can too! It's behind us. PS my roomie rocks.
-I met some North Koreans. My Chinese was better than theirs.
-I helped a stereotypical hey-I'ma-tour-China-even-though-I-don't-speak-a-fucking-word-of-their-silly-language American man order lunch and local beer. America win.
-The program kids played an absurd game that involved bathrobes, a table, sound effects, floor wrestling, and smacking noses (mostly Cooper's).
-I remembered why I don't wear makeup in China. The Chinese equivalent of a good 'ole boy's phone number is still scribbled on the back of my homework, though I did manage to rebuff his invitations for lunch and get him off of my bed on the train.
-It rained a lot, which was okay because I wear two pairs of pants every fucking day anyway.
-I miss driving. Lord knows I drive better than our bus driver did.
-New favorite game! When strangers comment on the 外国人, the CET students and our 地道的 Chinese roommates all turn to each other and comment among ourselves saying, "What? Outsider? Where??" Then we sort of point at one of us and murmur, "Oooohhh...I bet they're Russian. Yeah, definitely Russian..blonde hair..." This works best when the individual being commented on is in fact a Chinese roomie.
-Huangwei and I had a philosophical conversation in Chinese, and I came away with altered views, meaning we effectively communicated ideas. Points all around.
-Saw some more of the wall. You can too!
-So multicultural it hurts, every day:
Guys, I'm gonna miss my friends here. I'm gonna miss getting cat-called on the street. I'm gonna miss my crazy one-on-one teacher who never gets impatient with my crappy-ass reading skills. I'm gonna miss carrying my own little collection of TP everywhere I go. I'm gonna miss practicing this crazy new skill every, single day. I'm gonna miss joking around with Americans and Chinese kids and just enjoying life together. Heck, I'm gonna miss being confused and surprised all the time.
Seriously though, it's being oceans (or a significant number of continental united states) away from the people here that is gonna cause me the most heartache. These kids, and heck teachers too, understand at least one facet of me that I (literally) can't translate back to you kids at home. This experience has been, is, and tomorrow will be just incredible. Home guys, bad news but my favorite language is Chinglesh now, not just as a gimmick but as the most effective means of communication at my disposal. Only my CET peeps can hear me out on that one, and I plan to enjoy the hell out of these next few weeks. Amen.
Too many homes/I love life,
China-Cat
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Warmth and Grass
That's right, Harbin has both. I have never been so happy to see a splotch of scraggy grass while wearing a short-sleeve shirt in my life! Of course, this just confirms (again) the widespread assumption that I'm a winter wuss.
The China-life is pretty sweet as of late; last weekend was a three day-er (owing to labor day) and a group of awesomely fun people hit up the local island-park for a picnic and birthday celebration. We got to ride a ferry boat across the river, ate sandwiches with REAL peanut butter for lunch, and toodled around on some tandem (and three-person) bikes for awhile. I recommend grabbing the back seat, as you can't steer or really make any decisions about your direction whatsoever, but the opportunities for picture taking and looking around are top-rate. Speaking of pictures, the park people wanted to play "picture with the waiguoren" a lot, but I'm getting used to it. We joked among the CET students about pretending I don't speak Chinese and letting one of the Chinese boys pimp me out for 5 kuai a shot (starting at 10 kuai and bargaining down, of course). In fact, I never wear makeup in these parts, rarely touch my hair, and shower infrequently because hey, if strangers call me pretty and want my picture when I'm red-faced, dirty, and/or rain-soaked, I'm afraid I just don't see what could motivate me to do better.
(I will here confess that after putting on some mascara the other day I surprised myself in the mirror approximately 10 times before it finally wore off a few days later: "What?? A girl?! What is SHE doing in here?! WWaaahh!" You get the idea.)
Also, I think I understand about 85% of my life on any given day now. Yeah, you're thinking- hey, that's pretty cool. You're speaking only Chinese and have a really good idea of what is going around you! I hear when you got there that number was more like 35%, huh. Way to go, Cat.
Hey thanks, but um...how to put this..15% of my life is still a complete mystery to me. You know how I hate confusion and inefficiency? Well, in China, every single day things happen to or around me that are just a complete mystery. Example A, I bought some groceries at the chaoshi. As I was checking out, the lady didn't give me a bag, she just loaded all my stuff back into the basket. I asked for a bag. She said "follow me" and walked off. This made me very annoyed. I don't want to go with you to restock your stupid stash of bags- borrow one from the next cashier over or something, no really. I started trying to tell her this in an exasperated tone when she turned around and gave me a free, enviro-friendly, reusable bag from the cool people at the service desk!...Wait what? Huh? Where did this come from? Did I buy the product of the day? Is this based on amount of purchase? What just happened here??
These questions and many many others remain unanswered on a daily basis. It's like there's this purpose/meaning/explanation-obscuring fog continually edging in on my China-consciousness; sometimes it closes in, sometimes it clears up a bit, but it's always there- like Beijing pollution. The good news is, I can't get worked up about outcomes or methods that displease me much, because chances are grand that I really don't understand the issues. At times, this hazy lifestyle gets me down a bit, but usually it just contributes to the grand adventure and hey, language pledge. What did I expect.
On the other hand, a random Chinese guy spent 15 minutes at dinner the other day trying to explain a question to me. As I battled the fog, it slowly dawned on me that I didn't understand anything he was saying because his question was directly related to my life in Russia. Um, wrong-o China-man, wrong-o. I even told you I studied in the US, so I'ma have to chalk this one up as negative one point for you, waiguoren still cruising at zero. I would now like to finish enjoying my jiaozi in peace, so thanks and good night.
Diet Pepsi blows,
China-Cat
The China-life is pretty sweet as of late; last weekend was a three day-er (owing to labor day) and a group of awesomely fun people hit up the local island-park for a picnic and birthday celebration. We got to ride a ferry boat across the river, ate sandwiches with REAL peanut butter for lunch, and toodled around on some tandem (and three-person) bikes for awhile. I recommend grabbing the back seat, as you can't steer or really make any decisions about your direction whatsoever, but the opportunities for picture taking and looking around are top-rate. Speaking of pictures, the park people wanted to play "picture with the waiguoren" a lot, but I'm getting used to it. We joked among the CET students about pretending I don't speak Chinese and letting one of the Chinese boys pimp me out for 5 kuai a shot (starting at 10 kuai and bargaining down, of course). In fact, I never wear makeup in these parts, rarely touch my hair, and shower infrequently because hey, if strangers call me pretty and want my picture when I'm red-faced, dirty, and/or rain-soaked, I'm afraid I just don't see what could motivate me to do better.
(I will here confess that after putting on some mascara the other day I surprised myself in the mirror approximately 10 times before it finally wore off a few days later: "What?? A girl?! What is SHE doing in here?! WWaaahh!" You get the idea.)
Also, I think I understand about 85% of my life on any given day now. Yeah, you're thinking- hey, that's pretty cool. You're speaking only Chinese and have a really good idea of what is going around you! I hear when you got there that number was more like 35%, huh. Way to go, Cat.
Hey thanks, but um...how to put this..15% of my life is still a complete mystery to me. You know how I hate confusion and inefficiency? Well, in China, every single day things happen to or around me that are just a complete mystery. Example A, I bought some groceries at the chaoshi. As I was checking out, the lady didn't give me a bag, she just loaded all my stuff back into the basket. I asked for a bag. She said "follow me" and walked off. This made me very annoyed. I don't want to go with you to restock your stupid stash of bags- borrow one from the next cashier over or something, no really. I started trying to tell her this in an exasperated tone when she turned around and gave me a free, enviro-friendly, reusable bag from the cool people at the service desk!...Wait what? Huh? Where did this come from? Did I buy the product of the day? Is this based on amount of purchase? What just happened here??
These questions and many many others remain unanswered on a daily basis. It's like there's this purpose/meaning/explanation-obscuring fog continually edging in on my China-consciousness; sometimes it closes in, sometimes it clears up a bit, but it's always there- like Beijing pollution. The good news is, I can't get worked up about outcomes or methods that displease me much, because chances are grand that I really don't understand the issues. At times, this hazy lifestyle gets me down a bit, but usually it just contributes to the grand adventure and hey, language pledge. What did I expect.
On the other hand, a random Chinese guy spent 15 minutes at dinner the other day trying to explain a question to me. As I battled the fog, it slowly dawned on me that I didn't understand anything he was saying because his question was directly related to my life in Russia. Um, wrong-o China-man, wrong-o. I even told you I studied in the US, so I'ma have to chalk this one up as negative one point for you, waiguoren still cruising at zero. I would now like to finish enjoying my jiaozi in peace, so thanks and good night.
Diet Pepsi blows,
China-Cat
Monday, April 27, 2009
It's late; I'm tired
BUT
I gotta write y'all, so much has happened as of late. Summary form again:
1. You know what I miss most about the US of A? MEXICO! Oh man what I wouldn't give to hear someone throw out an "hola" greeting, or for a taste of some thick and chunky salsa on my sizzlin' fajitas. In fact, my Shanghai friend came to visit and I just asked him to bring me TORTILLAS, which are about the most awesome thing that has happened to me since..um..
2. My Shanghai friend came to visit! Mr. Fangming, or Michael as he's known at Rice, started out in 101 with me at Rice and has been studying in Shanghai for the YEAR. Nuts I know. Anyway, we had a fabulous Russian-oriented weekend which included PANCAKES WITH SWEET MILK and
4. MORE LANGUAGES THAN YOUR DICTIONARY HAS ROOM FOR! Get this- we went to a Russian restaurant where the menu was written in Russian and Chinese, the head lady taking our orders spoke Russian and a little Chinese (and English?), our interpreter-waitress spoke Russian and some English, and we speak English and Chinese. MAN was that fun. Go back and read it again. Maybe the best thing that happened all weekend except for
3. Feeding tigers! That's right, I held a strip of over-sized bacon and a FREAKIN' TIGER ATE IT OFF THE STICK. CRAZY! Harbin's tiger park has about 200 tigers, and we took a bus ride through their various habitats, watched one eat a live chicken- let me tell you that's a sucky (and surprisingly slow) way to go- and then got up close and personal to feed them. I love China.
4. But sometimes, China really sucks. Last week, a 哈工大 student committed suicide, and how did the student body find out? A memorial? Official condolences? No, of course not. We found out through the grapevine because publicizing that sort of event would make the university lose face. Um, maybe it should? I'm just saying. China, that's crazy.
5. Another example, the environmentalist club on campus. Every year, they host an awesome Earth Day tree planting activity. Students volunteer, pay 10 kuai for supplies, and then go to a place outside the city and plant trees! The same place every year! Because no one takes care of the trees after planting them! So they ALL get blown down or die EVERY year! Good thing- after all, we want to be able to help the environment again next year! And all the students know about this situation! (Secretly..this cracks me up. Oh, China.)
6. Points for China though, Harbin used to have a pretty substantial (Russian) Jewish (refugee) population, and apparently the Chinese welcomed them with open arms. The Jewish peeps established some very advanced and successful industries, built a lot of important buildings...who knew! Harbin's New Jewish Synagogue museum that's who. Coooool.
7. The CET students and roomies played pictionary last week. Oh right, pictionary in Chinese. So basically, this means you're trying to guess Chinese words for badly drawn objects as fast as possible. I would like to recount my moment of triumph, which consisted of shouting "WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD!" in broken Chinese. Okay, okay, it wasn't right, but it was definitely on the right track, 说明 point for the girls team.
8. One-on-one teacher used the example "Cat's Chinese level is sufficient" and gave me a present today. Making progress!
Nine degrees; too hot,
China-Cat
I gotta write y'all, so much has happened as of late. Summary form again:
1. You know what I miss most about the US of A? MEXICO! Oh man what I wouldn't give to hear someone throw out an "hola" greeting, or for a taste of some thick and chunky salsa on my sizzlin' fajitas. In fact, my Shanghai friend came to visit and I just asked him to bring me TORTILLAS, which are about the most awesome thing that has happened to me since..um..
2. My Shanghai friend came to visit! Mr. Fangming, or Michael as he's known at Rice, started out in 101 with me at Rice and has been studying in Shanghai for the YEAR. Nuts I know. Anyway, we had a fabulous Russian-oriented weekend which included PANCAKES WITH SWEET MILK and
4. MORE LANGUAGES THAN YOUR DICTIONARY HAS ROOM FOR! Get this- we went to a Russian restaurant where the menu was written in Russian and Chinese, the head lady taking our orders spoke Russian and a little Chinese (and English?), our interpreter-waitress spoke Russian and some English, and we speak English and Chinese. MAN was that fun. Go back and read it again. Maybe the best thing that happened all weekend except for
3. Feeding tigers! That's right, I held a strip of over-sized bacon and a FREAKIN' TIGER ATE IT OFF THE STICK. CRAZY! Harbin's tiger park has about 200 tigers, and we took a bus ride through their various habitats, watched one eat a live chicken- let me tell you that's a sucky (and surprisingly slow) way to go- and then got up close and personal to feed them. I love China.
4. But sometimes, China really sucks. Last week, a 哈工大 student committed suicide, and how did the student body find out? A memorial? Official condolences? No, of course not. We found out through the grapevine because publicizing that sort of event would make the university lose face. Um, maybe it should? I'm just saying. China, that's crazy.
5. Another example, the environmentalist club on campus. Every year, they host an awesome Earth Day tree planting activity. Students volunteer, pay 10 kuai for supplies, and then go to a place outside the city and plant trees! The same place every year! Because no one takes care of the trees after planting them! So they ALL get blown down or die EVERY year! Good thing- after all, we want to be able to help the environment again next year! And all the students know about this situation! (Secretly..this cracks me up. Oh, China.)
6. Points for China though, Harbin used to have a pretty substantial (Russian) Jewish (refugee) population, and apparently the Chinese welcomed them with open arms. The Jewish peeps established some very advanced and successful industries, built a lot of important buildings...who knew! Harbin's New Jewish Synagogue museum that's who. Coooool.
7. The CET students and roomies played pictionary last week. Oh right, pictionary in Chinese. So basically, this means you're trying to guess Chinese words for badly drawn objects as fast as possible. I would like to recount my moment of triumph, which consisted of shouting "WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD!" in broken Chinese. Okay, okay, it wasn't right, but it was definitely on the right track, 说明 point for the girls team.
8. One-on-one teacher used the example "Cat's Chinese level is sufficient" and gave me a present today. Making progress!
Nine degrees; too hot,
China-Cat
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Amusing Anecdotes
Here's the latest take, neatly organized for your convenience:
Remember how I said I like to judge my progress in one-on-one class by the examples my teacher makes up? Well I'm not sure what to think about this week's example. Help me out here. About halfway through class, prof-man held up his water bottle and said, "史凯灵觉得这是一瓶水, 其实是一瓶酒," meaning, "Cat thinks this is a bottle of water, but in fact it is a bottle of liquor." Ummm...how should I take this? Our relationship is close enough for him to joke about drinking? He really wishes he could drink an entire bottle of liquor every class period? He really DOES drink 536 ml of liquor every class period?? Is this indicative of progress? I don't know.
On another education-related note, my conversation teacher recently told me she thinks my Chinese is progressing quite quickly. This made me really happy until she explained why. See, apparently I'm not afraid making lots and lots of mistakes for the purpose of getting my point across, and then she and the other teachers can help me improve! Yeah! I am willing to slaughter grammar, proper vocab, and tones in the name of communication! Progress baby! Unfortunately, I can't really deny that this really is my method. Last week, after I gave a particularly messy presentation (so I didn't bother looking up all of the proper/necessary vocab, etc beforehand) my business teacher was also really excited about my progress. I secretly suspect this common reaction is a more reflective of their desire to teach than of my progress in Chinese. These teachers are thinking, "Oh man! I really helped Cat today (here I submit: because her Chinese totally blew). Wohoo progress!" They always use that word too,"进步" ("progress" ) , to describe my Chinese...I mean, come on..one time, go for "aptitude" or "ability" or hey even "communicative competence" for a change? Please? Arghmgrupmh (translation, 怎么办).
On the other hand, a random stranger turned around in front of Sixue and me while we were walking today and said, "Hey y'all's Chinese is really good, are you Russian?" We told him nay, we're American, and everyone involved in this little exchange was very happy (people love Americans here). I also understood the plot of the latest Fast & the Furious when we saw it in Chinese theater this weekend, and most of a TV show my roomie was watching today. I think I've maybe reached like, a forth-grade level now. Maybe.
In other news, got hit by a bike today. Even worse, I saw it coming. Not in a literal, oh-crap-there's-a-biker-coming-up-fast-right way, but in a "hey, if I don't start taking bicyclists as seriously as cars while I am crossing the street, one of them is going to be the end of me" way. To my credit, I don't think I could have seen this guy (he flew into my side from the alley around a corner), and I also did manage to stay on my feet. He apologized in English, I told him "no problem" in Chinese, and we went on our merry ways. I predict this will happen again, because I still can't take bikers for a legitimate threat to my safety.
Russian student guy wore the orange suit again today,
China-Cat
Remember how I said I like to judge my progress in one-on-one class by the examples my teacher makes up? Well I'm not sure what to think about this week's example. Help me out here. About halfway through class, prof-man held up his water bottle and said, "史凯灵觉得这是一瓶水, 其实是一瓶酒," meaning, "Cat thinks this is a bottle of water, but in fact it is a bottle of liquor." Ummm...how should I take this? Our relationship is close enough for him to joke about drinking? He really wishes he could drink an entire bottle of liquor every class period? He really DOES drink 536 ml of liquor every class period?? Is this indicative of progress? I don't know.
On another education-related note, my conversation teacher recently told me she thinks my Chinese is progressing quite quickly. This made me really happy until she explained why. See, apparently I'm not afraid making lots and lots of mistakes for the purpose of getting my point across, and then she and the other teachers can help me improve! Yeah! I am willing to slaughter grammar, proper vocab, and tones in the name of communication! Progress baby! Unfortunately, I can't really deny that this really is my method. Last week, after I gave a particularly messy presentation (so I didn't bother looking up all of the proper/necessary vocab, etc beforehand) my business teacher was also really excited about my progress. I secretly suspect this common reaction is a more reflective of their desire to teach than of my progress in Chinese. These teachers are thinking, "Oh man! I really helped Cat today (here I submit: because her Chinese totally blew). Wohoo progress!" They always use that word too,"进步" ("progress" ) , to describe my Chinese...I mean, come on..one time, go for "aptitude" or "ability" or hey even "communicative competence" for a change? Please? Arghmgrupmh (translation, 怎么办).
On the other hand, a random stranger turned around in front of Sixue and me while we were walking today and said, "Hey y'all's Chinese is really good, are you Russian?" We told him nay, we're American, and everyone involved in this little exchange was very happy (people love Americans here). I also understood the plot of the latest Fast & the Furious when we saw it in Chinese theater this weekend, and most of a TV show my roomie was watching today. I think I've maybe reached like, a forth-grade level now. Maybe.
In other news, got hit by a bike today. Even worse, I saw it coming. Not in a literal, oh-crap-there's-a-biker-coming-up-fast-right way, but in a "hey, if I don't start taking bicyclists as seriously as cars while I am crossing the street, one of them is going to be the end of me" way. To my credit, I don't think I could have seen this guy (he flew into my side from the alley around a corner), and I also did manage to stay on my feet. He apologized in English, I told him "no problem" in Chinese, and we went on our merry ways. I predict this will happen again, because I still can't take bikers for a legitimate threat to my safety.
Russian student guy wore the orange suit again today,
China-Cat
Sunday, April 19, 2009
小偷
Let's see...who reads this blog.
-Friends (Buda, Houston, China, etc)
-Co-workers
-Family (Nuclear, Extended)
-Additional Family (Camp, Pseudo, Adopted)
-Teachers from Days Past
-Fellow Students
-Random Acquaintances of My Mother
Did I miss anyone? Let me know if you'd like to submit an additional category.
Anyway, hello to all of you!
Today, I got pick-pocketed. True story. This happened as a group of six of were on our way back from the movies (Vin Diesel...mmm...still sexy in Chinese). We had just gotten off the public bus and were walking on a side street off the main road that runs by campus, probably about 100 meters from the campus gate. Douning (another conspicuous waiguo CET student) and I were walking up ahead and chatting, and I had my purse slung from one shoulder down to the opposite hip and mostly behind me, as I frequently do. In crowds or on buses I am typically careful to move it in front of me where I can keep a better eye on it, but since we were on relatively familiar and uncrowded turf, this seemed unnecessary. Unfortunately, in addition to slinging my purse behind me, I apparently also forgot to zip it closed (a habit in America but I do try to keep it zipped around here), and thus presented the thief his opportunity. I didn't even feel it, but this guy, maybe 30 years old or so, just reached into my purse and grabbed my wallet as he walked past us, smooth as silk.
Now you're thinking, man, that must suck. You're gonna have to replace your wallet and whatever cash, credit cards, IDs, and Boy Scout certifications it may have contained huh. Well actually, my friends/etc, no! This story has a much happier ending.
See, I didn't notice, but Fuxiao, one of the girls who was walking behind us, DID notice and yelled "哎！哎！ 拿出来！！ " at the thief, roughly, "Hey! HEY! Give it back!!" The guy, now awkwardly caught between Douning and me and our four friends bringing up the rear, looked pretty surprised that a) he had been caught and b) a Chinese person was sticking up for the presumed tourist, but either way he pulled out my wallet and gave it back to Fuxiao before running off. Honestly, I don't know why he didn't just run first, as the two boys we were with don't really look very intimidating and he probably could have lost us in the dark, but apparently handing over the wallet looked like the best option available. I think it was a combination of the surprise and the very sharp and angry tone of Fuxiao's demand. I mean, she's small, but also at least 67% terrifying. In the end then, Fuxiao is my hero and the goods were recovered with no more harm done than giving all of us a bit of a fright. Also interestingly, much like in America, my wallet is almost completely devoid of valuable things. I had about 30 kuai (read, four dollars), no credit cards, an American bank card (which is only useful at Chinese ATMS and thus useless without the PIN), umm...said Boy Scout certifications..a Rice library copy card with $3.60ish on it..aaaand that's about it in there. The biggest lost would have been my driver's license, which I have since taken out of purse because it really serves no purpose in China.
Either way, in the future, I'm sure I will be absolutely anal about closing and monitoring my bag, as how often is a get-off-scott-free card just handed to you like that? Thank you, my lucky stars and Fuxiao.
Elicited an audible response of surprise from four guys in a car who slowed down to catcall me and a couple friends in English by replying to them in Chinese,
China-Cat
-Friends (Buda, Houston, China, etc)
-Co-workers
-Family (Nuclear, Extended)
-Additional Family (Camp, Pseudo, Adopted)
-Teachers from Days Past
-Fellow Students
-Random Acquaintances of My Mother
Did I miss anyone? Let me know if you'd like to submit an additional category.
Anyway, hello to all of you!
Today, I got pick-pocketed. True story. This happened as a group of six of were on our way back from the movies (Vin Diesel...mmm...still sexy in Chinese). We had just gotten off the public bus and were walking on a side street off the main road that runs by campus, probably about 100 meters from the campus gate. Douning (another conspicuous waiguo CET student) and I were walking up ahead and chatting, and I had my purse slung from one shoulder down to the opposite hip and mostly behind me, as I frequently do. In crowds or on buses I am typically careful to move it in front of me where I can keep a better eye on it, but since we were on relatively familiar and uncrowded turf, this seemed unnecessary. Unfortunately, in addition to slinging my purse behind me, I apparently also forgot to zip it closed (a habit in America but I do try to keep it zipped around here), and thus presented the thief his opportunity. I didn't even feel it, but this guy, maybe 30 years old or so, just reached into my purse and grabbed my wallet as he walked past us, smooth as silk.
Now you're thinking, man, that must suck. You're gonna have to replace your wallet and whatever cash, credit cards, IDs, and Boy Scout certifications it may have contained huh. Well actually, my friends/etc, no! This story has a much happier ending.
See, I didn't notice, but Fuxiao, one of the girls who was walking behind us, DID notice and yelled "哎！哎！ 拿出来！！ " at the thief, roughly, "Hey! HEY! Give it back!!" The guy, now awkwardly caught between Douning and me and our four friends bringing up the rear, looked pretty surprised that a) he had been caught and b) a Chinese person was sticking up for the presumed tourist, but either way he pulled out my wallet and gave it back to Fuxiao before running off. Honestly, I don't know why he didn't just run first, as the two boys we were with don't really look very intimidating and he probably could have lost us in the dark, but apparently handing over the wallet looked like the best option available. I think it was a combination of the surprise and the very sharp and angry tone of Fuxiao's demand. I mean, she's small, but also at least 67% terrifying. In the end then, Fuxiao is my hero and the goods were recovered with no more harm done than giving all of us a bit of a fright. Also interestingly, much like in America, my wallet is almost completely devoid of valuable things. I had about 30 kuai (read, four dollars), no credit cards, an American bank card (which is only useful at Chinese ATMS and thus useless without the PIN), umm...said Boy Scout certifications..a Rice library copy card with $3.60ish on it..aaaand that's about it in there. The biggest lost would have been my driver's license, which I have since taken out of purse because it really serves no purpose in China.
Either way, in the future, I'm sure I will be absolutely anal about closing and monitoring my bag, as how often is a get-off-scott-free card just handed to you like that? Thank you, my lucky stars and Fuxiao.
Elicited an audible response of surprise from four guys in a car who slowed down to catcall me and a couple friends in English by replying to them in Chinese,
China-Cat
Thursday, April 16, 2009
This Weak
Hey Guys,
I'm a little bored as of late. Because:
- All day, every day focusing on memorizing Chinese gets boring
This is a problem because:
- I am discovering how little work I can do to get by in this program
- It's substantially less than I previously thought
- This leads to more free time, which I spend bored and stressed because
- I don't feel like I should go out for adventures/projects/etc when I have homework that I could (should?) be doing and
- I work more efficiently when I have little to no free time so the little bit of absolutely-required homework I do have takes forever and
- The remaining "free" time stresses me out because I feel like I should be doing homework, which may or may not be the case.
Meaning today, I am bored and stressed. Ugh.
Possible Solutions:
- Take the newly-offered extracurricular "Chinese music" class. Not the ideal solution because from here, it looks to be just another class I will be forced to attend and/or be bored in. I will probably force myself to go to the first one and check it out though. Ugh.
- Explore Harbin. More difficult than you would think, though with weather warming up this has potential. Also, I should be doing homework.
- Chill with awesome people. Killing two birds with one stone, plans have been made to go walking with some cool kids in the near future.
- Drink heavily. Tipsy one-on-two class is not bad at all, but afterward I just want to sleep and typically this is not an option.
- Read / Watch movies. I need to find an English bookstore on the first front, and get some recommendations on the second. Anyone? Anyone?
- Start some drama. Too bad I really like all of the CET peeps, and only as friends. Typically I resort to facebook-flirting with people I probably ought not flirt with back at home, but even this method is rapidly losing its appeal. Siiiiigh. Suggestions?
Really though, I just ought to do my homework better. Someone motivate me.
Done complaining,
China-Cat
I'm a little bored as of late. Because:
- All day, every day focusing on memorizing Chinese gets boring
This is a problem because:
- I am discovering how little work I can do to get by in this program
- It's substantially less than I previously thought
- This leads to more free time, which I spend bored and stressed because
- I don't feel like I should go out for adventures/projects/etc when I have homework that I could (should?) be doing and
- I work more efficiently when I have little to no free time so the little bit of absolutely-required homework I do have takes forever and
- The remaining "free" time stresses me out because I feel like I should be doing homework, which may or may not be the case.
Meaning today, I am bored and stressed. Ugh.
Possible Solutions:
- Take the newly-offered extracurricular "Chinese music" class. Not the ideal solution because from here, it looks to be just another class I will be forced to attend and/or be bored in. I will probably force myself to go to the first one and check it out though. Ugh.
- Explore Harbin. More difficult than you would think, though with weather warming up this has potential. Also, I should be doing homework.
- Chill with awesome people. Killing two birds with one stone, plans have been made to go walking with some cool kids in the near future.
- Drink heavily. Tipsy one-on-two class is not bad at all, but afterward I just want to sleep and typically this is not an option.
- Read / Watch movies. I need to find an English bookstore on the first front, and get some recommendations on the second. Anyone? Anyone?
- Start some drama. Too bad I really like all of the CET peeps, and only as friends. Typically I resort to facebook-flirting with people I probably ought not flirt with back at home, but even this method is rapidly losing its appeal. Siiiiigh. Suggestions?
Really though, I just ought to do my homework better. Someone motivate me.
Done complaining,
China-Cat
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Back in Harbin
Things I Saw Over Break But Don't Have Pictures of Because My Camera is Huai le:
(but don't worry my amazing, funny, well-prepared, very chill travel buddies more than compensated for this; pictures will come)
1) The Great Wall: It's really great. It is big and long and steep and scenic and really, really old. Those emperors were totally nuts dude. Building that thing...woooow.
2) Temple of Heaven/ Center of the Universe: Nice park, really. I like the ancient Chinese worldview...it's simple and definite.
2.5) Olympic Stadium: The bird's nest and water cube and olympic tower are really spectacularly lit up at night. I felt like a kid at six flags for the first time.
3) Wangfujin Night Market: Happening place! (living) Bugs on a stick...mmmm.
4) Chinese Hospital: Suprisingly efficient, but not too much fun. Effective medicine- one Chinese prescription and one Western, standard issue apparently.
5) Massage Parlor: The best part was the bucket of warm/hot water to soak my toes in...mmm warm feet.
7) Train, sitting section: Not too uncomfortable but completely devoid of waiguorens. Not recommended for overnight travel.
8) Xi'an's Muslim Quarter: Cheapcheap decently tasty food of unidentifiable types. Made an idiot of myself here after said long train ride, as I was too tired to read the menu correctly or use chopsticks, and also fell on my butt off a tiny stool.
9) Big Goose Pagoda: Awesome history, awesome Buddha temples, awesome park, AWESOME fountain/ light show, awesome lunch/dinner...enjoyable.
10) Hua Shan: One of the five mountains you're supposed to climb to ensure...umm..prosperity? safety? an afterlife? I forget. Ah well, it was Jurrasic Park-meets-Enchanted Rock scenery, which was very unique and impressive, if a bit more crowded than we anticipated.
11) Bingmayong (Terracotta Army): Crazy Chinese emperors!! What is perhaps most impressive about this is the amount of excavation left to do. Only a tiny portion has been excavated, to say nothing of the Emperor's actual tomb itself, and that's very exciting for the anthropologist in me.
12) Ken Laoshi: He's more of a program RA than a teacher, but that makes it no less unlikely that four CET students getting off a random subway in Beijing would bump into him. What. The. Heck. HOW DID HE FOLLOW US?? Hundreds of miles from Harbin! Tens of millions of people in Bejing!! You tell me!
Probably bought you a present (yes Eric),
China-Cat
(but don't worry my amazing, funny, well-prepared, very chill travel buddies more than compensated for this; pictures will come)
1) The Great Wall: It's really great. It is big and long and steep and scenic and really, really old. Those emperors were totally nuts dude. Building that thing...woooow.
2) Temple of Heaven/ Center of the Universe: Nice park, really. I like the ancient Chinese worldview...it's simple and definite.
2.5) Olympic Stadium: The bird's nest and water cube and olympic tower are really spectacularly lit up at night. I felt like a kid at six flags for the first time.
3) Wangfujin Night Market: Happening place! (living) Bugs on a stick...mmmm.
4) Chinese Hospital: Suprisingly efficient, but not too much fun. Effective medicine- one Chinese prescription and one Western, standard issue apparently.
5) Massage Parlor: The best part was the bucket of warm/hot water to soak my toes in...mmm warm feet.
7) Train, sitting section: Not too uncomfortable but completely devoid of waiguorens. Not recommended for overnight travel.
8) Xi'an's Muslim Quarter: Cheapcheap decently tasty food of unidentifiable types. Made an idiot of myself here after said long train ride, as I was too tired to read the menu correctly or use chopsticks, and also fell on my butt off a tiny stool.
9) Big Goose Pagoda: Awesome history, awesome Buddha temples, awesome park, AWESOME fountain/ light show, awesome lunch/dinner...enjoyable.
10) Hua Shan: One of the five mountains you're supposed to climb to ensure...umm..prosperity? safety? an afterlife? I forget. Ah well, it was Jurrasic Park-meets-Enchanted Rock scenery, which was very unique and impressive, if a bit more crowded than we anticipated.
11) Bingmayong (Terracotta Army): Crazy Chinese emperors!! What is perhaps most impressive about this is the amount of excavation left to do. Only a tiny portion has been excavated, to say nothing of the Emperor's actual tomb itself, and that's very exciting for the anthropologist in me.
12) Ken Laoshi: He's more of a program RA than a teacher, but that makes it no less unlikely that four CET students getting off a random subway in Beijing would bump into him. What. The. Heck. HOW DID HE FOLLOW US?? Hundreds of miles from Harbin! Tens of millions of people in Bejing!! You tell me!
Probably bought you a present (yes Eric),
China-Cat
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Xi'an, Day #1
Stomach at 93%!
Riding a train for 12 hours on a sitting ticket? Sorta sucks. BUT, Xi'an is amazing. Actually, I've come to the conclusion that China's public face is amazing- this government can flaunt it, and flaunt it well. Better than any other I've seen in fact.
We wandered in and around gardens of the Big Goose Pagoda today (amazing), and topped off the evening with a free fountain and light show, which was amazing.
Tomorrow, hopefully some mountain-climbing goodness.
Only a few days left before I can go back through these silly little posts and add legitimate stories and some pictures for y'all.
Stupified an even smaller child,
Cat
Riding a train for 12 hours on a sitting ticket? Sorta sucks. BUT, Xi'an is amazing. Actually, I've come to the conclusion that China's public face is amazing- this government can flaunt it, and flaunt it well. Better than any other I've seen in fact.
We wandered in and around gardens of the Big Goose Pagoda today (amazing), and topped off the evening with a free fountain and light show, which was amazing.
Tomorrow, hopefully some mountain-climbing goodness.
Only a few days left before I can go back through these silly little posts and add legitimate stories and some pictures for y'all.
Stupified an even smaller child,
Cat
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Beijing Pt. II
Went to Chinese hospital/clinic.
Am taking weird medicines.
Stomach status improved from incapacitating to irritating.
Still in Beijing.
Climbed a crapton of great wall yesterday, probably not the best idea all things considered but don't have time to just squander around here.
People and weather are both still awesome.
Intending to train-it to Pingyao today, and Xi'an soon after.
Have resorted to pretending I don't speak Chinese to get rid of salespeople,
China-Cat
Am taking weird medicines.
Stomach status improved from incapacitating to irritating.
Still in Beijing.
Climbed a crapton of great wall yesterday, probably not the best idea all things considered but don't have time to just squander around here.
People and weather are both still awesome.
Intending to train-it to Pingyao today, and Xi'an soon after.
Have resorted to pretending I don't speak Chinese to get rid of salespeople,
China-Cat
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Adventuring
I am in Beijing.
With very cool people.
The olympic grounds are The Shit.
The Temple of Heaven and associated park are also cool.
My intestines have a problem in a big way right now, so I might not go to the wall. A Big Way.
Told off salespeople in Chinese,
Cat
With very cool people.
The olympic grounds are The Shit.
The Temple of Heaven and associated park are also cool.
My intestines have a problem in a big way right now, so I might not go to the wall. A Big Way.
Told off salespeople in Chinese,
Cat
Thursday, April 2, 2009
考完了!
YaYaYAYAYAyAYAYAYY!
Finished my reasonably challenging midterms!!
Did you know, that as a fairly intelligent human being, standing in front of three teacher/judges and your one-on-one professor to present a paper in a foreign language is nerve-racking? I practiced quite a bit, but apparently I still read off my prepared outline too much. Also, I had pronunciation problems. And grammar problems. And didn't understand the last question they asked me, and when I finally did I still didn't have anything to say.
On the other hand, I definitely, definitely recommend leaving a BIG freakin' hole in the middle of your paper, namely WHAT THE HECK IS FUNCTIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY, and then preparing an answer to that question in advance, so that when it turns out to be the very first question posed by the very first teacher/judge, you can answer like the fluently-Chinese-speaking BAMF (basically awesome & masterful fellow, for you who don't know...) you pretend to be.
Win some lose some I guess.
In other news, I ate an egg with a pale turquoise shell on Wednesday, or tried to anyway. Why, you ask? Because it was chillin' with some friends in a bowl behind the counter at the cafeteria where the regular hard-boiled eggs usually hang out. I do not know what injustices were perpetrated against that poor little not-a-chicken, but little did I suspect that it had been somehow transformed into a chunk of egg-textured SALT....gEEuGHdhghH. Um, I couldn't eat it.
Moral of the Story? I don't care who eggs you on, let them call you chicken for refusing to take a crack at green eggs because that crap just ain't fly (sorry...couldn't resist hamming it up a bit).
Also, Spring Break done arrived, so internet will be a bit spotty for the next week or so but I promise to take pretty pictures to post later. I will be flying down to Beijing with all the cool kids, checkin' out the wall, then moseying by train (..and/or bus?) down to Xi'an and flying home from there. (Hey cool! I just called Harbin home!) Wish me luck, eh?
I saw a Russian student dressed from head to toe in a perfectly burnt orange suit today, just going to class,
China-Cat
Finished my reasonably challenging midterms!!
Did you know, that as a fairly intelligent human being, standing in front of three teacher/judges and your one-on-one professor to present a paper in a foreign language is nerve-racking? I practiced quite a bit, but apparently I still read off my prepared outline too much. Also, I had pronunciation problems. And grammar problems. And didn't understand the last question they asked me, and when I finally did I still didn't have anything to say.
On the other hand, I definitely, definitely recommend leaving a BIG freakin' hole in the middle of your paper, namely WHAT THE HECK IS FUNCTIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY, and then preparing an answer to that question in advance, so that when it turns out to be the very first question posed by the very first teacher/judge, you can answer like the fluently-Chinese-speaking BAMF (basically awesome & masterful fellow, for you who don't know...) you pretend to be.
Win some lose some I guess.
In other news, I ate an egg with a pale turquoise shell on Wednesday, or tried to anyway. Why, you ask? Because it was chillin' with some friends in a bowl behind the counter at the cafeteria where the regular hard-boiled eggs usually hang out. I do not know what injustices were perpetrated against that poor little not-a-chicken, but little did I suspect that it had been somehow transformed into a chunk of egg-textured SALT....gEEuGHdhghH. Um, I couldn't eat it.
Moral of the Story? I don't care who eggs you on, let them call you chicken for refusing to take a crack at green eggs because that crap just ain't fly (sorry...couldn't resist hamming it up a bit).
Also, Spring Break done arrived, so internet will be a bit spotty for the next week or so but I promise to take pretty pictures to post later. I will be flying down to Beijing with all the cool kids, checkin' out the wall, then moseying by train (..and/or bus?) down to Xi'an and flying home from there. (Hey cool! I just called Harbin home!) Wish me luck, eh?
I saw a Russian student dressed from head to toe in a perfectly burnt orange suit today, just going to class,
China-Cat
Sunday, March 29, 2009
WHOA.
GUYS. MONDAY IS COMING. On midterms week. This means I won't be able to post for awhile. Could be a loooong while; I don't know. Then again, I'm pass-failing everything here except my anth credit (thank yooouu Rice transfer credit policy) so I may be on every night. Remains to be seen.
Just thought I'd let you know, our activity this weekend was touring Japan's Unit 731 Germ Warfare Base here in Harbin. It was a bit discomforting, but I would say not much more so than the wiki site. Check it out.
After, we went out to dinner to celebrate Li Mo's and Pan MingAn's birthdays, a most gallant affair. Tasty food, tasty cake, good company, then the crew went to Sky bar.
Guys. I spoke some English. Two of the girls who came with us don't really speak Chinese, and the Chinese guys wanted to practice English (cusswords) and what was I supposed to do hmmm? It was super discombobulating to hear English and answer in Chinese for the boys and English for the girls and Chinese but then English and let alone my Chinglesh thoughts and then aaaaAAHHH!!
Also, as discovered en route to said Sky bar, here is a foolproof way to get Cat Swanson to fall in love with you:
Chinese Boy: Hey
Cat: Ni hao
Chinese Boy: (Chinese) Oh you're speaking Chinese
Cat: (Chinese) Yeah I do that a lot as of late.
Chinese Boy: (English) So where are you from?
Cat: (English) Texas. (Chinese) lol what language should we speak?
Chinese Boy: (English) Whatever you want (smile).
Cat: (Universal) (swoon)
Keep in mind this methodology is only effective if you're decently tall, have a low voice, need to lean in close in order to hear one another on the street, and you don't freaking IGNORE HER for the rest of the night. MMGghgghgrumph!
Sorry, that's the closest to entertaining gossip I can give you.
If you put a xianggua and cantaloupe in a cage match the cantaloupe would lose but at least it would be a good sport,
China-Cat
Just thought I'd let you know, our activity this weekend was touring Japan's Unit 731 Germ Warfare Base here in Harbin. It was a bit discomforting, but I would say not much more so than the wiki site. Check it out.
After, we went out to dinner to celebrate Li Mo's and Pan MingAn's birthdays, a most gallant affair. Tasty food, tasty cake, good company, then the crew went to Sky bar.
Guys. I spoke some English. Two of the girls who came with us don't really speak Chinese, and the Chinese guys wanted to practice English (cusswords) and what was I supposed to do hmmm? It was super discombobulating to hear English and answer in Chinese for the boys and English for the girls and Chinese but then English and let alone my Chinglesh thoughts and then aaaaAAHHH!!
Also, as discovered en route to said Sky bar, here is a foolproof way to get Cat Swanson to fall in love with you:
Chinese Boy: Hey
Cat: Ni hao
Chinese Boy: (Chinese) Oh you're speaking Chinese
Cat: (Chinese) Yeah I do that a lot as of late.
Chinese Boy: (English) So where are you from?
Cat: (English) Texas. (Chinese) lol what language should we speak?
Chinese Boy: (English) Whatever you want (smile).
Cat: (Universal) (swoon)
Keep in mind this methodology is only effective if you're decently tall, have a low voice, need to lean in close in order to hear one another on the street, and you don't freaking IGNORE HER for the rest of the night. MMGghgghgrumph!
Sorry, that's the closest to entertaining gossip I can give you.
If you put a xianggua and cantaloupe in a cage match the cantaloupe would lose but at least it would be a good sport,
China-Cat
Friday, March 27, 2009
Inside My Head
Here is a sample of my most important thoughts for the week:
First, who the HECK opens a window in the bathroom on a breezy 20 freakin' degrees afternoon? I don't care how badly you've gotta go, when that first listerine-cool gust greets your bare (squatting because it's China) butt, there ain't nothing gonna happen except scrambling for your pants. I'm gonna blame the Russian students for this one.
Speaking of Russians, they're a weird lot. No really, if you haven't met any true-life Russians before, you're probably underestimating this sentiment. I've met my fair share, say in Alaska, here, and a shout-out to Eugene at Rice, and my conclusion is that the cold has resulted in a slightly warped species up there. First, let's address style. Yesterday, I was walking behind a girl with unnaturally streaked blondish hair wearing tall brown boots and shiny gold tights under a long black coat that had a thick shiny black plastic belt, all under a rhinestoned floppyish black hat. She accessorized this ensemble with baby pink gloves, and an absurdly oversized blackish-purple purse/hammock. This is a fairly common look. Really, the pink gloves? You had to go there? FURTHERMORE, too much cologne/perfume is apparently a Russian cultural mainstay. I do not know why. Perhaps frozen nosebuds. Either way, for these reasons Russians do not mistake me for Russian, while because I am blonde most Chinese people do.
Lunch today at the less-then-amazing cafeteria was really interesting, though I suspect only true Sysco connoisseurs (aka camp staff) will properly appreciate why. You know that cafeteria-food taste? It is perhaps most evident in canned corn..that sorta-not-good, mass-produced, in-no-way-related-to-fresh, kinda-bland flavor that permeates everything from those sheet pizzas to soup to salad dressing. You know what I mean? Well anyway, my lunch today was a sort of porridge that was completely characterized by that flavor. Usually, you can detect its presence around the flavor of whatever the dish is supposed to be, and thus properly refer to such cuisine as cafeteria chicken pot pie, or cafeteria hamburgers, but this soup thing had no flavor except cafeteria. I found this sort of okay tasting (as most cafeteria food is) and strangely comforting because it reminded me of camp. Would I eat it again? Maybe...but tonight I'm going to a restaurant because today I've had quite enough of cafeteria the flavor.
The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. The truth of this sentiment hit me today as I realized that if and when I really do plan to get serious about washing the far-too-large pile of laundry in my closet and/or wearing something clean for a change, I will indeed have to buy some laundry tokens first. Which I did after forcing myself to stop downstairs and fish out some change, subsequently relearning how to say "laundry token" in Chinese (衣币）and later proceeding to actually xi some yifu.
A lot of doors around here open both inward and outward, but they're all marked either "拉" or "推" ("pull" or "push", respectively). I have a moral aversion to opening the door in any but the specified fashion. Why? Because it's more efficient in some master architectural sense? Because it's foolproof? No. Because I took the time to learn those goddang characters and there is no way I am going to voluntarily nullify even one tidbit of Chinese knowledge I have put the effort in to acquire. I religiously push or pull as directed.
Screw The Weather Center. Every ten-day forecast says today is cold, tomorrow will be warmer, the third day it will snow, and from then conditions will rapidly improve into the 50's. Except for the snow part, this is a blatant lie. It is f-ing cold today, tomorrow will be similar, the third day it will indeed snow, and then the process will repeat itself. Screw you and your false hope, mr. forecast, I've had enough.
China created the best possible translation for mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are disgusting, and their translation is "土豆泥," or "potato mud." Go China go. (Okay fine, it's technically potato-paste, but 泥 literally means "mud" so I rest my case.) Ugh potatoes.
I BOUGHT A XIANGGUA! (But haven't eaten it yet),
China-Cat
PS Check out the sweet new Nciku widget- it's a Chinese-English dictionary. Look up characters, pinyin or English, all xing.
First, who the HECK opens a window in the bathroom on a breezy 20 freakin' degrees afternoon? I don't care how badly you've gotta go, when that first listerine-cool gust greets your bare (squatting because it's China) butt, there ain't nothing gonna happen except scrambling for your pants. I'm gonna blame the Russian students for this one.
Speaking of Russians, they're a weird lot. No really, if you haven't met any true-life Russians before, you're probably underestimating this sentiment. I've met my fair share, say in Alaska, here, and a shout-out to Eugene at Rice, and my conclusion is that the cold has resulted in a slightly warped species up there. First, let's address style. Yesterday, I was walking behind a girl with unnaturally streaked blondish hair wearing tall brown boots and shiny gold tights under a long black coat that had a thick shiny black plastic belt, all under a rhinestoned floppyish black hat. She accessorized this ensemble with baby pink gloves, and an absurdly oversized blackish-purple purse/hammock. This is a fairly common look. Really, the pink gloves? You had to go there? FURTHERMORE, too much cologne/perfume is apparently a Russian cultural mainstay. I do not know why. Perhaps frozen nosebuds. Either way, for these reasons Russians do not mistake me for Russian, while because I am blonde most Chinese people do.
Lunch today at the less-then-amazing cafeteria was really interesting, though I suspect only true Sysco connoisseurs (aka camp staff) will properly appreciate why. You know that cafeteria-food taste? It is perhaps most evident in canned corn..that sorta-not-good, mass-produced, in-no-way-related-to-fresh, kinda-bland flavor that permeates everything from those sheet pizzas to soup to salad dressing. You know what I mean? Well anyway, my lunch today was a sort of porridge that was completely characterized by that flavor. Usually, you can detect its presence around the flavor of whatever the dish is supposed to be, and thus properly refer to such cuisine as cafeteria chicken pot pie, or cafeteria hamburgers, but this soup thing had no flavor except cafeteria. I found this sort of okay tasting (as most cafeteria food is) and strangely comforting because it reminded me of camp. Would I eat it again? Maybe...but tonight I'm going to a restaurant because today I've had quite enough of cafeteria the flavor.
The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. The truth of this sentiment hit me today as I realized that if and when I really do plan to get serious about washing the far-too-large pile of laundry in my closet and/or wearing something clean for a change, I will indeed have to buy some laundry tokens first. Which I did after forcing myself to stop downstairs and fish out some change, subsequently relearning how to say "laundry token" in Chinese (衣币）and later proceeding to actually xi some yifu.
A lot of doors around here open both inward and outward, but they're all marked either "拉" or "推" ("pull" or "push", respectively). I have a moral aversion to opening the door in any but the specified fashion. Why? Because it's more efficient in some master architectural sense? Because it's foolproof? No. Because I took the time to learn those goddang characters and there is no way I am going to voluntarily nullify even one tidbit of Chinese knowledge I have put the effort in to acquire. I religiously push or pull as directed.
Screw The Weather Center. Every ten-day forecast says today is cold, tomorrow will be warmer, the third day it will snow, and from then conditions will rapidly improve into the 50's. Except for the snow part, this is a blatant lie. It is f-ing cold today, tomorrow will be similar, the third day it will indeed snow, and then the process will repeat itself. Screw you and your false hope, mr. forecast, I've had enough.
China created the best possible translation for mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are disgusting, and their translation is "土豆泥," or "potato mud." Go China go. (Okay fine, it's technically potato-paste, but 泥 literally means "mud" so I rest my case.) Ugh potatoes.
I BOUGHT A XIANGGUA! (But haven't eaten it yet),
China-Cat
PS Check out the sweet new Nciku widget- it's a Chinese-English dictionary. Look up characters, pinyin or English, all xing.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Awww, you care!
I like getting bothered about updating, it makes me feel like if I don't clue you in you actually get upset and miss me and such.
So, here's what's up:
1. Chinese Kindergarten!! Tiny Chinese children love love loooove tall blonde American girls with silly putty and stickers. Here are a few pictures for your "aawww wook at de widdle kiddies" pleasure:
2. Dreaming in Chinese. Sounds cool right? WRONG. I am studying vocab in my sleep, but the problem is I'm not actually capable of learning news words in my sleep, so I just make up words and definitions to teach myself. Then I wake up freakin' confused and disoriented with a brand new repertoire of words never before heard by actual Chinese speakers. I'm serious. Before I can talk in the morning I have to stop and remember if I've actually studied these words or just unconciously formulated them. This is a legitimate problem. Takes my morning fog to new heights of confusion.
3. Condoms! LOOK! I ask you this: WHAT THE HECK ARE "JEANS" CONDOMS?? Now don't get me wrong, I have complete faith in the effectiveness of Chinese birth control (only kids with
a sibling in the whole dang Kindergarten class were the twins), but what the heck does this MEAN? Are they denim?? You tell me THAT!
4.Writing in Chinese. I just wrote an essay. It was painful. I thought it might kill me. It's done now though, all I have to do is re-write those couple thousand characters by hand and turn it in. Honestly, I don't really know if it is any good or not, but it's my best and I'm sure my teacher will cover it in red ink and hand it back. That's fine, this class is baaasically pass-fail anyway. And it seriously is the best I can do.
5. The average height here is about three inches shorter than in America I think. This is in no way an empirical assesment but really, what did you expect from me? Anyway, the problem is the average height of EVERYTHING is about three inches shorter than in America. My desk. Chairs. The bathroom mirror. My bed. Daylight. I'm starting to have some back trouble and I hope I can just ignore it until my triumphant American return.
6. Muslim restaurant and Old Harbin! This Saturday we wandered around Old Habin for awhile and then ate some delicious beef-oriented food (for a change). Old Harbin is...small? Dirty? Cold? I finally got to see the silly SongHua River at least...that was cool, see below:
Well, now I'm off to do the homework I typically do during the weekend but haven't yet because this essay sapped my soul. Grab some Mac & Cheese and think of me!
Planning to see the wall at Spring Break,
China-Cat
So, here's what's up:
1. Chinese Kindergarten!! Tiny Chinese children love love loooove tall blonde American girls with silly putty and stickers. Here are a few pictures for your "aawww wook at de widdle kiddies" pleasure:
2. Dreaming in Chinese. Sounds cool right? WRONG. I am studying vocab in my sleep, but the problem is I'm not actually capable of learning news words in my sleep, so I just make up words and definitions to teach myself. Then I wake up freakin' confused and disoriented with a brand new repertoire of words never before heard by actual Chinese speakers. I'm serious. Before I can talk in the morning I have to stop and remember if I've actually studied these words or just unconciously formulated them. This is a legitimate problem. Takes my morning fog to new heights of confusion.
3. Condoms! LOOK! I ask you this: WHAT THE HECK ARE "JEANS" CONDOMS?? Now don't get me wrong, I have complete faith in the effectiveness of Chinese birth control (only kids with
a sibling in the whole dang Kindergarten class were the twins), but what the heck does this MEAN? Are they denim?? You tell me THAT!4.Writing in Chinese. I just wrote an essay. It was painful. I thought it might kill me. It's done now though, all I have to do is re-write those couple thousand characters by hand and turn it in. Honestly, I don't really know if it is any good or not, but it's my best and I'm sure my teacher will cover it in red ink and hand it back. That's fine, this class is baaasically pass-fail anyway. And it seriously is the best I can do.
5. The average height here is about three inches shorter than in America I think. This is in no way an empirical assesment but really, what did you expect from me? Anyway, the problem is the average height of EVERYTHING is about three inches shorter than in America. My desk. Chairs. The bathroom mirror. My bed. Daylight. I'm starting to have some back trouble and I hope I can just ignore it until my triumphant American return.
6. Muslim restaurant and Old Harbin! This Saturday we wandered around Old Habin for awhile and then ate some delicious beef-oriented food (for a change). Old Harbin is...small? Dirty? Cold? I finally got to see the silly SongHua River at least...that was cool, see below:
Well, now I'm off to do the homework I typically do during the weekend but haven't yet because this essay sapped my soul. Grab some Mac & Cheese and think of me!
Planning to see the wall at Spring Break,
China-Cat
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
I MADE A PUN
Okay okay this was awesome! My very first Chinese pun!!! Here is how it happened:
Huangwei thought he did perfectly on a writing test. As it turned out though, he missed one stroke. The two GIRLS of the class, on the other hand, did in fact get perfect scores. He was mildly disappointed. I told him in a sympathetic tone:
你的生活太难了。。或者...太男了！！
aahhahhahahahahaaaHAAhaha!.. I'm awesome.
Spring coiled back up into its original packaging under an onslaught of snow,
China-Cat
Huangwei thought he did perfectly on a writing test. As it turned out though, he missed one stroke. The two GIRLS of the class, on the other hand, did in fact get perfect scores. He was mildly disappointed. I told him in a sympathetic tone:
你的生活太难了。。或者...太男了！！
aahhahhahahahahaaaHAAhaha!.. I'm awesome.
Spring coiled back up into its original packaging under an onslaught of snow,
China-Cat
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Spring dang Sprung
大家好!
Well, I promised to update you on this past weekend's dumpling-making extravaganza, so here are some beautiful photos for you to enjoy.
That lady is the wife of the teacher that volunteered to host this lil' get together, and she can bao jiaozi like a bamf (mother/foreigner translation: is truly exceptional at wrapping dumplings). I have some skills myself now, or at least some theoretical knowledge...if you premixed all the ingredients and conveniently laid them out before starting the actually cooking process (you know, like the pros do), I am pretty sure I could make them all by myself. Sorry I didn't take any in-progress photos; my hands were a bit dirty at the time. Let's just say that one on the bottom with green filling leaking out is not mine, but that cute fat one two dumplings to the right is a product of yours truly. Mmmm.
Dumplings aside, my time here is still passing fairly pleasantly I suppose. My one-on-one teacher (the aforementioned Mr. Tang) is happy because I am progressing quite quickly. I like to measure my progress by the examples he makes up in class:
Week 1: 史凯灵 (that's me) doesn't understand Chinese culture or language.
Week 2: 史凯灵 needs to study hard in order to advance her language skills.
Week 3: 史凯灵 is making progress in her study of Chinese.
Week 4: When 史凯灵 came to China, she studied with Mr. Tang.
I'm hoping week five will be like, Mr. Tang actually admits this class is sort of fun. On the other hand, some days I have experiences that make me realize I know so little about this language I don't even know how little I know. Even looking back over assignments from three weeks ago- assignments I thought I had a pretty solid grasp on- makes me realize how far from comprehension I really was (am?). This is moderately depressing, because it feels like no matter how hard I study and how quickly I remember words and how frequently I practice, if it takes me two minutes to remember every new word I will never, ever achieve fluency. Gosh darn it (friend translation: #$%* my life).
But, hopeless as the process is, I am here for another two and a half months and will study diligently because I bloody well don't have any other options now do I. This notion is actually comforting more so than depressing.
As a final aside, I would like to brag that today's weather has been absolutely marvelous. A nice warm breeze (36 degrees baby), open windows (so I left my jacket on for class), and ice melting (at least 40% gone). Awesome.
Wo shasi Mufasa,
China-Cat
Well, I promised to update you on this past weekend's dumpling-making extravaganza, so here are some beautiful photos for you to enjoy.
That lady is the wife of the teacher that volunteered to host this lil' get together, and she can bao jiaozi like a bamf (mother/foreigner translation: is truly exceptional at wrapping dumplings). I have some skills myself now, or at least some theoretical knowledge...if you premixed all the ingredients and conveniently laid them out before starting the actually cooking process (you know, like the pros do), I am pretty sure I could make them all by myself. Sorry I didn't take any in-progress photos; my hands were a bit dirty at the time. Let's just say that one on the bottom with green filling leaking out is not mine, but that cute fat one two dumplings to the right is a product of yours truly. Mmmm.
Dumplings aside, my time here is still passing fairly pleasantly I suppose. My one-on-one teacher (the aforementioned Mr. Tang) is happy because I am progressing quite quickly. I like to measure my progress by the examples he makes up in class:
Week 1: 史凯灵 (that's me) doesn't understand Chinese culture or language.
Week 2: 史凯灵 needs to study hard in order to advance her language skills.
Week 3: 史凯灵 is making progress in her study of Chinese.
Week 4: When 史凯灵 came to China, she studied with Mr. Tang.
I'm hoping week five will be like, Mr. Tang actually admits this class is sort of fun. On the other hand, some days I have experiences that make me realize I know so little about this language I don't even know how little I know. Even looking back over assignments from three weeks ago- assignments I thought I had a pretty solid grasp on- makes me realize how far from comprehension I really was (am?). This is moderately depressing, because it feels like no matter how hard I study and how quickly I remember words and how frequently I practice, if it takes me two minutes to remember every new word I will never, ever achieve fluency. Gosh darn it (friend translation: #$%* my life).
But, hopeless as the process is, I am here for another two and a half months and will study diligently because I bloody well don't have any other options now do I. This notion is actually comforting more so than depressing.
As a final aside, I would like to brag that today's weather has been absolutely marvelous. A nice warm breeze (36 degrees baby), open windows (so I left my jacket on for class), and ice melting (at least 40% gone). Awesome.
Wo shasi Mufasa,
China-Cat
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Weekend posting time!
Hey guys,
It snowed a crapton this week. I fell on my butt twice (*ed: biffed it twice).
My conversation class has covered the following topics thus far: health, marriage, extramarital affairs, remarriage late in life, society's historic division of labor, and the life of handicapped people. Needless to say, I am well-equipped for the real world.
I read "Good Omens" (should be underlined but this program doesn't have that capability). It was pretty good and funny and exciting, but reading good and funny and exciting books stresses me out. Once I get into the story I don't want to put it down and will stay up all night reading, and/or forget whether the story-world or my life is the true state of affairs. It's most inconvenient when you have to force yourself to reprioritize homework as an actually consequential affair.
I had a salad today at the newly opened "Western Coffee Shop" on campus. The salad was terrible in that seven-shreds-of-lettuce-with-fifteen-cherry-tomatoes-and-some-corn-topped-with-mayo way. Salad is really not very complicated at all people. Just start with a lot of lettuce, look around your kitchen, throw that stuff on top, and then develop a concept called "ranch dressing," which I don't even like but am accustomed to turning down. That being said, the coffee and chocolate cake were not at all bad.
Tonight is "visit a traditional Chinese home" night. I'll keep you posted.
Ratatat is just awesome,
Cat
It snowed a crapton this week. I fell on my butt twice (*ed: biffed it twice).
My conversation class has covered the following topics thus far: health, marriage, extramarital affairs, remarriage late in life, society's historic division of labor, and the life of handicapped people. Needless to say, I am well-equipped for the real world.
I read "Good Omens" (should be underlined but this program doesn't have that capability). It was pretty good and funny and exciting, but reading good and funny and exciting books stresses me out. Once I get into the story I don't want to put it down and will stay up all night reading, and/or forget whether the story-world or my life is the true state of affairs. It's most inconvenient when you have to force yourself to reprioritize homework as an actually consequential affair.
I had a salad today at the newly opened "Western Coffee Shop" on campus. The salad was terrible in that seven-shreds-of-lettuce-with-fifteen-cherry-tomatoes-and-some-corn-topped-with-mayo way. Salad is really not very complicated at all people. Just start with a lot of lettuce, look around your kitchen, throw that stuff on top, and then develop a concept called "ranch dressing," which I don't even like but am accustomed to turning down. That being said, the coffee and chocolate cake were not at all bad.
Tonight is "visit a traditional Chinese home" night. I'll keep you posted.
Ratatat is just awesome,
Cat
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Erring on the side of American
Hey, nobody's perfect. Case Study A:
I have this one-on-one "History of Chinese Anthropology" class, right? It's just me and good 'ole Mr. Tang, who is a professor at a nearby college and can read some English but doesn't really speak any per se, as if he was allowed to speak English to me anyway. I'm pretty sure he doesn't much like spending four hours a week teaching me anthropology vocab words in the framework of a bare bones survey of Chinese anthropology, but I like it so hey, good enough.
Anyway, today he asked me to make a sentence using "核心," which is Chinese for "nucleus" or "core" or "center." Well, after mulling it over in my head for a bit, I proffered the following:
"哲学古代的核心是欧洲," or "The center of ancient philosophical thought was Europe."
My surprised and visually offended teacher responded with "No. No, what about China?? China was the center of ancient philosophical thought! China!"
Oh riiight...sorry...my bad. I sorta...forgot. No really, sorry. You're right, or at least not at all wrong...Please excuse me and my cultural discrepancies....ok thanks. We both laughed.
Yeah whoops.
Blonde in any language,
China-Cat
I have this one-on-one "History of Chinese Anthropology" class, right? It's just me and good 'ole Mr. Tang, who is a professor at a nearby college and can read some English but doesn't really speak any per se, as if he was allowed to speak English to me anyway. I'm pretty sure he doesn't much like spending four hours a week teaching me anthropology vocab words in the framework of a bare bones survey of Chinese anthropology, but I like it so hey, good enough.
Anyway, today he asked me to make a sentence using "核心," which is Chinese for "nucleus" or "core" or "center." Well, after mulling it over in my head for a bit, I proffered the following:
"哲学古代的核心是欧洲," or "The center of ancient philosophical thought was Europe."
My surprised and visually offended teacher responded with "No. No, what about China?? China was the center of ancient philosophical thought! China!"
Oh riiight...sorry...my bad. I sorta...forgot. No really, sorry. You're right, or at least not at all wrong...Please excuse me and my cultural discrepancies....ok thanks. We both laughed.
Yeah whoops.
Blonde in any language,
China-Cat
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