I must say, I do already miss the US. Seeing the sun, or at least more than a square inch of a blue sky would be nice. At least I can get 20 jiao zi, potstickers, for two American dollars at every other store. I'll do my best to write this post in chronological order.
Sunday
The day started off at 7:30 am, when all of Erfuzhong (the name of my school), including the Chinese students, participated in the school's opening ceremony. Participation, for SYA, included sitting through several speeches given in Chinese and randomly standing up and sitting down and clapping. At 9 AM Lizzie, her dad, and I went to the grocery store to get more school supplies.
Let me just tell you that when I say grocery store, do not picture the inside of a Vons or Safeway or Albertsons or whatever store to which you live closest. First, I want you to close your eyes. Wait, don't do that. You need eyes to read this post. First, I want you to imagine lots of Chinese people yelling at you to buy stuff. Actually, I call it loud-talking, because they're not quite yelling, they're just amplifying the sounds of their voices without using force. Next, I want you to imagine hundreds of ginormous, bright, red and yellow banners with large Chinese characters written all over them plastered on the walls and hanging from 12-foot ceilings. Then, picture people filling spaces around you and being no more than 5 feet away from each other all moving at a speed walking space. Finally, imagine being in an endless maze with all of the previously listed things I told you to imagine. This may or may not seem like an exaggerated description of what it is actually like, but I can honestly say that the sensory overload I experiences caused me to conjure up this very accurate depiction.
At around 3:30 PM, my Uncle Sean's nephew, Dylan, and his girlfriend, Jenny, came to visit the apartment. They had been in town for three weeks and planned on leaving on Monday, so it was perfect timing for us to meet up. For a couple of hours, the three of us chatted about the Beijing life and they gave me some advice on getting around/surviving in the city. Jenny speaks perfect Chinese, so she was able to communicate with Mom much better than I can. It was really nice seeing American relatives who are close to home and even close to Jackson, as they happen to be grad students at Berkeley. It made me feel a little less homesick.
Monday
First day of junior year. We started off with Chinese placement tests. I know that I aced the listening portion, but as for the reading portion, I was the first one to finish, only because I wasn't able to answer a single question. We're on a block schedule, but my so far, my classes are Chinese History, English, AP Environmental science, Calculus, and free period. Being in such a small program, we only have about 10-15 people per class, something I have never experienced, having only been in classes with 30+ people. This is great because students get more individual help. Calculus was very exciting because we learned about limits, and while doing an example problem, Mr. Chen cited Mean Girls in saying, "the limit does not exist."
It thunderstormed last night. I, being a Californian who has never experienced a thunderstorm, much less rain more than twice a year, of course had to take pictures. I used the burst effect on my phone, so you can see the progression of the lightning flashing.
I couldn't get a clear picture of the actual lightning strike, and you can thank pollution for that.
Today
Mom didn't want Lizzie and I to take the bus to school cause it was raining, so she started to drive us. When we were halfway there, she started panicking, realizing that she wasn't supposed to be driving that day. Apparently there are laws where people aren't allowed to drive on certain days, or else they'll be given a huge fine. So she dropped us off at a bus stop.
I have never had a more claustrophobic experience than I had riding the public bus today. I could not turn more than an inch, and I was literally shoved up against the exit. This picture may not reveal much, but at the same time, it does:
It was a very uncomfortable experience. Not to mention I was drenched in sweat. I think I was the only one on that bus that was sweating, too. Chinese people seem to be able to withstand the most humid of weather, a physical quality along with minimal leg hair in which I am thoroughly lacking.
Yesterday, Mom asked me if there was anything I liked to eat. I told her I liked to eat anything except mushrooms, but she asked me again, so I told her spaghetti. She laughed, saying she's never eaten or made it before, but nevertheless, she made quite a delectable meal of Italian cuisine for Lizzie and I tonight.
The rain lasted until about 6 this evening, and I looked outside my balcony only to see this:
That's right, folks, a sunset. Sorta. It's most likely the closest we'll get for awhile, so I'm not complaining. It's much more sightly than what is usually seen out the window. By the way, here is a picture of the Pulsation fitness building that I mentioned earlier. This picture, which I took yesterday, will not only give you an estimation of the size of the building, but the severity of Beijing's pollution:
That hazy view of the twin towers-esque building contains the place where I will be doing cardio and pumping iron.
No comments:
Post a Comment