Observations

China’s emergence as an economic superpower has garnered much attention for the country of 1.3 billion. From the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, such highly anticipated events highlight China’s swift progress and lead many to view China as a fully developed country similar to the U.S. or France. However, those who hold his image are gravely mistaken. Out of 1.3 billion, perhaps only a billion of them possess living standards comparable to those living in the west. Besides cosmopolitan metropolises such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, much of China consists of rural areas where farmers continue to live in horrible conditions and lead backwards lifestyles. Furthermore, cities such as Shanghai have annual influxes of rural laborers looking for high-paying jobs in the city. It is this side, a much darker side, that many fail to understand.

Although I grew up in Shanghai, my years spent in the U.S. seem to have thoroughly “Americanized” me. I grew complacent and took my comfortable lifestyle for granted. I forgot much of the hardships that accompany the average Chinese lifestyle, and I veered off the path of working hard for every penny and saving for the future when there is no need to. All this I realized during my short time here. Beyond the modern work facilities and aid conditioned dorm rooms, the ventures to Sanlitun road and Wudaokou, the average Chinese lifestyle is not so extravagant. Just take a walk outside the International Cultural Plaza’s walls and you will be confronted by signs of poverty, industry, and dogged determination to make a few RMB wherever possible.

There is a street vendor right outside the gates that sells fried chicken sandwiches. I see him there every day, rain or shine, from 10 am or so until 10 pm at night. Once I spoke with him, asking him why he worked so hard and how he could tolerate such a difficult lifestyle. His answer was simple. If he stopped, he would have no other way of providing for his family. His only other options included working as a manual laborer, which he was too old for, catering to people as a waiter, or recycling bottles found on the street. Our short conversation held great meaning to me; I can only feel fortunate about having such advantages and hope to make the best out of my situation

Alterations in my Chinese verbal ability

Two more weeks left in the Duke program and I’m starting to miss this place already ;) In fact, last night’s dream quickly became a nightmare when I found myself crammed into an Air Canada heading to Boston. I’m not ready to go back yet!!!

I have made some great friends here at the Duke program. Dukies are really some of the coolest, brightest, and most fun loving people that you will ever meet. In fact, I usually find myself with the Duke crowd, not because I don’t like the Yale kids in the program, but because my room itself is deep in Duke territory and my Chinese class only has one other Yalie, Alex Liu. My roommate, John Chang, is extremely perceptive and a deep thinker; I’ve lost count of how many interesting conversations that we’ve had before sleeping. I blame him completely for my sleep deprivation!

Anyways, with time winding down, I’ve taking some time to assess my currently Chinese ability. Obviously, my grammar and vocabulary have increased dramatically. I have probably learned near 1000 hanzi so that I am able to read the characters on most street signs and buildings. On the other hand, while I recognize the characters, I do not always understand the meaning of those characters combinations. This represents a huge difference between me and local Chinese, who have gradually mastered the thousands of hanzi combinations.

My verbal ability has also noticeably increased, but I feel that recently I have taken a step back in that respect. At the hospital, I was forced to speak only Chinese, since the nurses and my military roommate had only a basic grasp of the English language. However, after I returned, my verbal capability reached a plateau and has stayed at that level ever since. In part, the third year heritage speakers in my class are jokers, and we often engage in ridiculous Chinese conversations using exaggerated tones and fabricated sayings. For example, one person starts off with“ting shuo,” which translates to “I’ve heard that…” and sets off a barrage of ridiculousness such as “ting shuo chang cheng hen chang.” I.e. “I’ve heard that the great long wall is great and long.” Haha!!!

Another reason that my verbal improvement has leveled off is related to the fact that I am friends with several of the second year students and third year non-heritage students. Because their Chinese understanding is still limited, they often employ incorrect tones and speak painfully slowly. In an attempt to understand and express myself, I often find myself imitating them, and as a result I temporarily adopt incorrect tones and a foreign accent.

In all, I am pleased with my progress even though there are certain areas that I wish I could improve on more. Actually, one of my teachers called me out for slacking this past week, so I plan on working harder next week to compensate. Wish me well and I’ll keep you updated on my progress!

A New Beginning

My first week back from the hospital has been nothing less than extraordinary. I’m beginning to appreciate the simple things in life, at least for a short while. In regards to my program, that means enjoying classes more, doing homework with my friends, and sometimes taking solitary strolls after dinner merely to clear my head and observe lively Beijing street life. Oh, and going to “Hokay” gym of course. I’ve had enough of doing push ups on my hospital bed and squatting in order to use the toilet ;)

Furthermore, it seems that in the week of my absence a number of Korean students moved out while a whole flock of obnoxious American high school students moved in. I first came across them while playing pick up basketball. A bunch of Dukies and Yalies were about to start a 3v3 game when some scrawny teens showed up. They challenged us, and we reluctantly agreed to play full court against them. I won’t go into the details, but the immature, bratty high school boys began taunting some of the Duke players and nearly caused a fight. Fortunately, we had some level-headed Yalies at hand. Haha!

While the Americans were loud, arrogant, and obnoxious, they weren’t acting in such a way in order to mask their own uncertainties. They were merely being immature teens, and if I were to guess, they probably acted likewise back in the states. They’ll grow up… hopefully.

As for the students in my program, they all seem pretty comfortable with themselves and their current environment. However, the one particular behavior that I frequently observe is that Americans are much more gracious towards store and restaurant employees, so that sometimes they are even embarrassed by our goodwill. Well, I think it’s a great opportunity to represent Yale and America at the same time. “Yi Ju Liang De!!!”

Mumps

I have the mumps. Yea you heard me right. What’s worse is that I already suffered through the mumps as a four year old in Shanghai, and now its coming back to bite me in the ass. Consequently, I spent the past five days in a Chinese hospital without TV or internet access… truly the worst sort of punishment in the modern world. I was quarantined in the contagious disease ward at 空军总医院, the “Air Force Hospital.” Ok my experience seems fit for FML.com, but in all honesty I’m glad I was afflicted with this illness.
My mindset made those five days bearable. When the doctors first ordered my hospitalization, I was shocked to say the least. However, I chose an optimistic route rather than feeling sorry for myself. First, I asked my roommate and friends to bring me necessary supplies such as my laptop, iPod, toiletries, Chinese books, and food. Next, I made a plan for the week. For example, I would study Chinese characters, finish certain chapters, go over grammar, write letters to friends, and so on and so forth. I even handwrote a letter to my Korean friend Soowoo, an epic piece of work that took over two hours to complete. For the first two days, my schedule consisted of waking up at 6 am to take my temperature, providing the myriad Chinese nurses with urine and feces samples, allowing them to poke me with needles several times a day in order to extract blood and to inject intravenous fluids, studying Chinese when I felt like it, and listening to music.
Things changed drastically on the third day. On Wednesday afternoon, a young man with swollen cheeks walked into my ward, nodded curtly, and introduced himself. His name was Fang Shui, and he was a 20 year old soldier in the air force who had also been diagnosed with the mumps. According to him, hospitalization was preferable to life in the air force because it allowed him some respite. Life as a soldier is hard in any country, but it seems as if Chinese soldiers may have it worse than most. A typical day for Fang Shui begins at 5 am sharp when soldiers get up to run and go through their morning exercises. Next comes breakfast, some more training, and then a short break. Soon afterwards follows lunch, training in the midday sun, some studying, dinner, reading, and lights out at 10 pm. Furthermore, in his two years with the air force, he only saw his family twice. That sort of existence is almost inconceivable to America college students such.
I drew much strength from Fang’s experiences. His word made me realize just how easy I had it, how comfortable and pampered my lifestyle is compared to his. With this in mind, I knew I could endure another week of confinement in that damned hospital room. It was a test of character, of my strength, willpower, and ultimate ability to endure. Ultimately, I’m glad that I was confined to a dirty, primitive Chinese hospital room, and even gladder that I met Fang Shui. Had I not contracted the mumps in China, I doubt I would have undergone such a life changing experience. Despite how broad and far Yale’s curriculum spans, I wouldn’t have gained such an experience at Yale such an education at Yale. Such experiences are hard to come by in America ;)
I’ll put up pictures of the hospital whenever I learn how to do so!

Hoping for the Best

The past week has been a roller coaster of emotion… who knew that an intensive Chinese learning program like DSIC could offer such a multi-faceted education?

Learning Chinese itself continues to grow easier as I become accustomed to the program. With three weeks under my belt, I have improved drastically and become more or less fluent in the language. Furthermore, I have established a routine that allows me to memorize characters without any problem.

In all, this program is a lot easier than I expected it to be. Back at Yale, our teachers were extremely nitpicky and their grading was brutal. Liang laoshi and Zhang laoshi took off a point for any small mistake, whether it was a missed stroke or messy handwriting. Here, I could make twelve mistakes and still end up with a 96. It’s actually kind of ridiculous. Knock on wood though, this upcoming week is going to be hell with our cumulative midterm and all.

All Chinese aside, I have experienced difficulties in the social aspect of this program. On the first day of DSIC, a cute Korean girl caught my eye. With the help of my roommate and her friends, I finally worked up the courage to invite her over to study and hang out. One fateful night, we went out to Sanlitur together and ended up dancing and cuddling. After that outing, we grew even closer. Although I never asked her out officially, there was a sense of closeness and entitlement that only comes with being in a relationship.

It has been a week already, and now I am having self-doubts about this whole situation. Soo is the nicest, most genuine girl that I have ever met, and my feelings towards her are tender and pure. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I like her enough to actually be in a long-term relationship with her. I don’t want just any summer fling, because hurting Soo is the last thing that I want to do. I love this girl, but I just don’t feel romantically inclined towards her. Now I’m in a predicament, because I want to make it clear that I don’t want to “break up” with her but that I also don’t want to go too far before shit hits the fan. I won’t disclose too much because this is a private matter between myself and Soo. Hopefully things work out between us so that we can stay good friends in the long run.