So, things have pretty much settled down now. We’ve all been doing research now for about a week and a half – which means no more touristy stuff in Beijing (although I am going to Qing Dao with some people this weekend!)
However, research has been an interesting experience so far, in itself. I have gotten to know some of my lab mates and had some meals with them. My lab mates eat lunch ridiculously fast. I’ve come to the conclusion that it must be an unspoken competition of some kind: we all pile in the main cafeteria (万人 - “Thousand People”) on Tsinghua’s campus, get our food, plop down, and from then on, it’s about 6 or 7 minutes of frenzied eating, interspersed with few words, until the person who finishes first gets to bask in the glory in having triumphed over the others in our speed eating competition. He or she then sits for an additional 3 minutes, while waiting for the rest of us to finish, and then gets to say 走吧，走吧 – “Let’s go” as additional proof of their victory. Hahahahah.
As far as the actual science of the lab goes, I was pleasantly surprised at our working conditions. I felt that many of their safety standards were comparable to the labs that I have worked in in the U.S. And as far as a typical day goes in the lab: I usually arrive around 8:30, have lunch around noon, and leave anywhere in between 5-8 PM.
In other news, life in China is unrealistic, in a certain sense. I mean, when you can walk down an alleyway and buy a 包子 “Bao Zi” (a delicious Chinese pastry) for 70 毛, the equivalent of about 10 cents, it’s just kind of unbelievable. More on this later…
I have also experienced my first case of food poisoning in China. Haha. Well, I guess a trip to China just wouldn’t be complete without getting sick. The interesting thing is, I didn’t get sick from eating food from the street vendors – it was from a restaurant! (Note to future visitors: DO buy food from the street vendors, unless it looks bad, because I’m almost certain – the sketchier the food, the MORE delicious it is!)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
不到长城非好汉
So, each day, for about the last 10 days, I woke up and told myself: I am going to sit down and blog today. And each day, it just never happened.
We went to a whole bunch of places, which I’ll spend a little time detailing now:
- Lama Temple/ Confucius Temple: Despite the tourism, I still had the feeling that it was a really solemn and sacred place. A lot of people light incense and bow down in front of Buddha sculptures and such. We went the day before the national Chinese “Gao Kao” exam (which essentially and solely determines the college you can go to, if you are a high school Chinese student) so there were a lot of students there that day...
- Hutong: Beijing’s historical old family homes. To be completely honest, it was really strange, I didn’t feel that it was that historical. I saw the old style architecture and stone roads, but to me, it seemed a bit contrived. Especially because we were contributing to that, riding through the streets in a touristy pack of like, 12 rickshaws. Hah. But, anyways, there was also an eccentric old guy there (now referred to as “crazy cricket man” by many of our group) who showed us his prized fighting crickets who won thousands of yuan. I’m not going to lie, he was pretty riveting. Especially if you could understand Chinese. Haha.
- The Great Wall: Okay, listen, this thing is a LOT harder to climb than it looks. Maybe it’s because we went to one of the slightly less renovated sites (a.k.a. not Ba Da Ling) but some of the steps were like, higher than my knees. But, it’s okay, because in the words of Chairman Mao himself, I am now a great man. (不到长城非好汉。)
- Ming Tombs: Meh.
- Olympic Stadium: This place had a really futuristic feeling to it. We went there and it was like, really mystical (word choice?) because they were playing some ethereally subtle music in the background, people were strolling around casually, little kids were playing, and the buildings were like huge and modern looking. It was like straight out of a brochure for an (idealistic) future.
- Quan Ju De (全聚德): The birthplace of Peking duck. I, along with Chistine, Jerry, and Justin, had the opportunity to experience this dining delight. It was (almost shamefully) expensive – 1300 yuan – but also ridiculously good! – and very classy (I wonder who all the other Chinese people there were??!). Peking duck is roasted until the skin is very crispy. Then, it is sliced up into thin pieces. You then put it in the wrap along with sauce and slivered green onions. And then consume it ALL because it's so good.
- Beijing Zoo: So, I heard from a lot of people that the zoo isn’t exactly the most humane place on earth and that the living conditions of the animals is pretty bad. But, when I went, I was actually pleasantly surprised that almost all of the animals seemed to be okay, no outrageously small cages or anything like that. The one thing that was BIZARRE though was this exhibit which had lemurs in it … and chickens … and a baby monkey. I am quite certain that none of those animals have ANYTHING to do with each other in the wild.
- Xian: I was so glad I went on this trip. (For people in the program next year, I highly recommend going.) China’s ancient capital is awesome! We went to the Terra Cotta Soldier Museum (兵马俑) where Emperor Qin, the first emperor of (unified) China, erected thousands of soldiers to protect himself in the afterlife. It’s interesting, this huge army was only found again in 1974 by a farmer digging a water well. He was actually there, basking in the fame and glory and eating a bowl of noodles (no really, he literally was.) Hahaha. We also went to the Wild Goose Pagoda, but in my personal opinion, the fountain outside of it was better. This fountain, as big as Tiananmen Square, has a show once a day at 12 noon. Of course we were there. Of course we were tourists and jumped in. Haha.
To sum this entry up, I LOVE CHINA!
We went to a whole bunch of places, which I’ll spend a little time detailing now:
- Lama Temple/ Confucius Temple: Despite the tourism, I still had the feeling that it was a really solemn and sacred place. A lot of people light incense and bow down in front of Buddha sculptures and such. We went the day before the national Chinese “Gao Kao” exam (which essentially and solely determines the college you can go to, if you are a high school Chinese student) so there were a lot of students there that day...
- Hutong: Beijing’s historical old family homes. To be completely honest, it was really strange, I didn’t feel that it was that historical. I saw the old style architecture and stone roads, but to me, it seemed a bit contrived. Especially because we were contributing to that, riding through the streets in a touristy pack of like, 12 rickshaws. Hah. But, anyways, there was also an eccentric old guy there (now referred to as “crazy cricket man” by many of our group) who showed us his prized fighting crickets who won thousands of yuan. I’m not going to lie, he was pretty riveting. Especially if you could understand Chinese. Haha.
- The Great Wall: Okay, listen, this thing is a LOT harder to climb than it looks. Maybe it’s because we went to one of the slightly less renovated sites (a.k.a. not Ba Da Ling) but some of the steps were like, higher than my knees. But, it’s okay, because in the words of Chairman Mao himself, I am now a great man. (不到长城非好汉。)
- Ming Tombs: Meh.
- Olympic Stadium: This place had a really futuristic feeling to it. We went there and it was like, really mystical (word choice?) because they were playing some ethereally subtle music in the background, people were strolling around casually, little kids were playing, and the buildings were like huge and modern looking. It was like straight out of a brochure for an (idealistic) future.
- Quan Ju De (全聚德): The birthplace of Peking duck. I, along with Chistine, Jerry, and Justin, had the opportunity to experience this dining delight. It was (almost shamefully) expensive – 1300 yuan – but also ridiculously good! – and very classy (I wonder who all the other Chinese people there were??!). Peking duck is roasted until the skin is very crispy. Then, it is sliced up into thin pieces. You then put it in the wrap along with sauce and slivered green onions. And then consume it ALL because it's so good.
- Beijing Zoo: So, I heard from a lot of people that the zoo isn’t exactly the most humane place on earth and that the living conditions of the animals is pretty bad. But, when I went, I was actually pleasantly surprised that almost all of the animals seemed to be okay, no outrageously small cages or anything like that. The one thing that was BIZARRE though was this exhibit which had lemurs in it … and chickens … and a baby monkey. I am quite certain that none of those animals have ANYTHING to do with each other in the wild.
- Xian: I was so glad I went on this trip. (For people in the program next year, I highly recommend going.) China’s ancient capital is awesome! We went to the Terra Cotta Soldier Museum (兵马俑) where Emperor Qin, the first emperor of (unified) China, erected thousands of soldiers to protect himself in the afterlife. It’s interesting, this huge army was only found again in 1974 by a farmer digging a water well. He was actually there, basking in the fame and glory and eating a bowl of noodles (no really, he literally was.) Hahaha. We also went to the Wild Goose Pagoda, but in my personal opinion, the fountain outside of it was better. This fountain, as big as Tiananmen Square, has a show once a day at 12 noon. Of course we were there. Of course we were tourists and jumped in. Haha.
To sum this entry up, I LOVE CHINA!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Hello China
So, the last few days have been a whirlwind, pretty much. The flight from China was interesting, but I ended up with a major case of jetlag. I thought that if I slept as little as possible, I would be able to have a good night’s sleep when we arrived… My plans were foiled when I went to bed at 3:00 AM and promptly woke back up at 6:30 AM.
The visit to Tiananmen was also interesting. Although I was born in China, I’d never been to Beijing before. Incidentally, our visit also coincided with the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival – meaning that many people had a 4 day weekend, meaning that there were not many people at Tiananmen at all. (Later on, I sent my dad some pictures of our visit and he asked me if I was SURE that I didn’t just visit a wax museum-type replica of Tiananmen, because there was only ONE PERSON in the background. Haha.)
Now, each day sort of falls into the general outline of language in the morning, followed by a vegetarian (although unintentionally so) lunch, followed by exploring in the afternoon and a large dinner (also consisting of mainly vegetables). The sheer amount of vegetables (and lack of meat) that I have consumed on this trip has made it clear to me why America has such an obesity pandemic and Chinese L t-shirts are about a smallish medium in the US. Haha.
What’s pretty interesting is that I didn’t really get the huge culture shock (in the traditional sense of the word) that I had anticipated, in the sense that sometimes I actually forgot I was in China – Beijing is very similar to what a large American city would be like, with the exception of Chinese signs everywhere and everyone having the same color hair and eyes. Haha. That is, I feel pretty much the same here as I do in Ann Arbor, except it’s hot as hell here. However, I came to the conclusion that it was really the subtle things in China that really made it so much different from the U.S. Such as: when going to the supermarket, it sort of dawned on me that Chinese people rarely shift their glance from straight in front of them in public – I asked LV Hong about this, and she says that it may partly stem from the old Chinese belief that looking straight in front of you is supposed to be representative of a straightforward and honest character. Which I thought was very interesting. (Later on, I also laughed out loud at something LV Hong had said – managing to attract some looks in doing so – and she told me that Chinese women would never laugh that loudly in public. She followed this up by a small giggle, hidden by her hand.) That, and just many other little ways that people do things here are really what, to me, makes Beijing so much different from Ann Arbor.
On a somewhat related note, I have come to the conclusion that my Chinese speaking ability is not so great. Also complicating things, people have told me that I have an accent from southern China, which tends to come out when I feel nervous speaking – a.k.a. pretty much all the time. Haha. To me, it seems like many of the non-Asian people on the trip don’t have much of a problem when going out – Chinese people know that they are foreigners and are often very interested in them, making them very willing to help out. However, I feel as though my poor language skills are probably just interpreted as awkward and weird. Haha. Therefore, I have made a resolution to improve my Chinese speaking/ writing skills as a whole on this trip.
I also had the opportunity of meeting some people from Bei Da and Tsinghua, who are going to the U.S. for the other part of the exchange program starting next month. I think very highly of them – as Bei Da and Tsinghua are the two best universities in China, accepting literally only the top of millions and millions of people, meaning that those students must be the best of the best. It makes me eager, but also slightly nervous, to begin research in about a week – I hope that my performance will be up to par!
The visit to Tiananmen was also interesting. Although I was born in China, I’d never been to Beijing before. Incidentally, our visit also coincided with the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival – meaning that many people had a 4 day weekend, meaning that there were not many people at Tiananmen at all. (Later on, I sent my dad some pictures of our visit and he asked me if I was SURE that I didn’t just visit a wax museum-type replica of Tiananmen, because there was only ONE PERSON in the background. Haha.)
Now, each day sort of falls into the general outline of language in the morning, followed by a vegetarian (although unintentionally so) lunch, followed by exploring in the afternoon and a large dinner (also consisting of mainly vegetables). The sheer amount of vegetables (and lack of meat) that I have consumed on this trip has made it clear to me why America has such an obesity pandemic and Chinese L t-shirts are about a smallish medium in the US. Haha.
What’s pretty interesting is that I didn’t really get the huge culture shock (in the traditional sense of the word) that I had anticipated, in the sense that sometimes I actually forgot I was in China – Beijing is very similar to what a large American city would be like, with the exception of Chinese signs everywhere and everyone having the same color hair and eyes. Haha. That is, I feel pretty much the same here as I do in Ann Arbor, except it’s hot as hell here. However, I came to the conclusion that it was really the subtle things in China that really made it so much different from the U.S. Such as: when going to the supermarket, it sort of dawned on me that Chinese people rarely shift their glance from straight in front of them in public – I asked LV Hong about this, and she says that it may partly stem from the old Chinese belief that looking straight in front of you is supposed to be representative of a straightforward and honest character. Which I thought was very interesting. (Later on, I also laughed out loud at something LV Hong had said – managing to attract some looks in doing so – and she told me that Chinese women would never laugh that loudly in public. She followed this up by a small giggle, hidden by her hand.) That, and just many other little ways that people do things here are really what, to me, makes Beijing so much different from Ann Arbor.
On a somewhat related note, I have come to the conclusion that my Chinese speaking ability is not so great. Also complicating things, people have told me that I have an accent from southern China, which tends to come out when I feel nervous speaking – a.k.a. pretty much all the time. Haha. To me, it seems like many of the non-Asian people on the trip don’t have much of a problem when going out – Chinese people know that they are foreigners and are often very interested in them, making them very willing to help out. However, I feel as though my poor language skills are probably just interpreted as awkward and weird. Haha. Therefore, I have made a resolution to improve my Chinese speaking/ writing skills as a whole on this trip.
I also had the opportunity of meeting some people from Bei Da and Tsinghua, who are going to the U.S. for the other part of the exchange program starting next month. I think very highly of them – as Bei Da and Tsinghua are the two best universities in China, accepting literally only the top of millions and millions of people, meaning that those students must be the best of the best. It makes me eager, but also slightly nervous, to begin research in about a week – I hope that my performance will be up to par!
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