July 7th - Back to School

Well its back to school for me. I want to make this the most memorable and least stressful 6 weeks of summerso I decided to follow some recommendations from my teacher, Lin Jiu Bi.

1. Stay healthy
2. Stay independent
3. Study Hard
4. Don't study too hard
5. Work on my relationship with my chinese roommate.
6. The language pledge only gets easier.
7. Keep a journal
8. Consider what you'll regret not doing.
9. It's only 6 weeks. Don't beat yourself up, make the most out of it.

It makes sense. Being back in academia is alot different in a different country. I always have to be on the lookout because 1. cars look like they will hit me.2. thieves are around and normally steal bikes. 3. most of the people in Zhejiang University of Technology are guys beause I am in an engineering school.

It hasn't been as eventful as it has been with my parents roaming in the wild withcheetah signs, birds that repeat "ni hao", and taxi drivers that keep following us to drive us to shady locations, but its still interesting in a different way. This is myfirst experience washing clothes by hand, peeing in toilets in the ground, and changing my diet. I either eat congee, noodles, or less flavorful bread for breakfast. I still can'tget over the no nutritional facts ordeal, but sometimes I can't worry so much.

My roommate is cool. Her name is XueFang, she's from the Wenzhou province, so she doesn't know Hangzhou as well as her former roommate, TingTing. XueFang is really nice. In fact, she worries about me too much. She's likea second mom. She brought me to drink Bubble Tea here. Man it is so much better. It is a white drink instead of a brown drink, and just healthier without all the additives.I hate tapioca, but something about it made me continue to drink it. Again no durian shake but it's ok.

Yesterday we took our qualifying exams. I am in the most advanced level. Oh crap, that means I have to study alot more. I accidently skipped a class field trip to the Lonjing Tea Mountainsthis morning, but I remember doing that with my parents the other day, and that was a tripI am ok about missing.

There is a girl named Ruby in my program that I met on the first day. She looked at me and asked are you Vietnamese? I said no, but ever since then, she said she could talk to me better than most people in the program. I said that's probably because we are Asian. Mostof the people studying Mandarin this summer are Caucasian. I really don't mind, but there are stares from people on campus because everyone else is from or either looks like they arefrom China. I've met alot of people.

I haven't spoken English for a couple of days. It was really funny that things are becomingmore instantaneous. Normally I wake up and greet people with a what's up? This morning, Isaid to my roommate, "She me Shi?" It means what's wrong but I think its because I stillthink in English and I am translating things into Chinese. I think the language pledge is fun because we talk about really stupid stuff sometimes and its a great way of bonding withpeople in the program. I like the people in my program. There's a guy name Nick whoreminds me of Tom Hanks in CastAway. Jonathan sounds like a bad guy in a Disney Movie.TingTing sounds like she could be in a chinese soap opera. Aya is a really striking Japanese graduate student. Interesting people. Loads of fun.

The Language Pledge: If I speak English 3 times, I am sentback home to America. That is their policy. There is no restriction with Chaozhou, so yayI can still talk to my parents on the phone. That means if you are an English speaker whoknows no other language, I can't talk to you until the program is over. I can write Englishbut that makes me look like a mute.

For people interested in learning Mandarin:
You know those skits that the teacher makes you do in Chinese class? Well its like you
actually do them in real life. Chinese sentences that you formulate just don't come from thin
air. Alot of words I have come to use has been what I've been learning in Chinese class. Coming
to China is like chinese class 24/7. With the aid of Plecodict, an online chinese dictionary, I've
learned alot of crap. Not sure about retention, but recognition is a plus. The first day I struggled
with words as with utensils, favorite foods, sleeping, washing clothes, etc. Basically, whatever
words you use on a normal basis, write it down in a notepad, look up the definition and use it
in Chinatown. I basically do that here, only chinese is a neccessity because using English will
get you ripped off by people who sell stuff. My sentences are rather short, but people understand me as long as I use the right word. If they don't understand me, they correct me, and yay I've gained something. Listening and watching Chinese expands your vocabulary. Even if you don't understand it, being surrounded by it allows you to mimic those sophisticated people on TV, and that is a plus in social situations. Its strange. I never really had the guts to do it, but now that I have no choice, its like I throw random sentences and I think I'm improving. I don't neccessarily think you have to travel to China to learn Chinese, but the culture and the environmental reminders make it easier to learn it alot faster.

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