Second Week

Last Sunday my "brother" and I went to our Zhongguo Jiating or "Chinese family"'s house for dinner. "Mom" is a professor of Chinese at BLCU, teaching foreigners who have never had any previous experience in Chinese. "Dad" recently finished his post-doctorate in political science and sociology and now does research in those areas. We drove to their apartment through nightmarish traffic; next time, they're trusting us to take public transportation, notorious for pickpocketing. The area near their apartment has gone through extensive transformations in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. The ditch-ish area has been widened, planted with trees, and filled with beautiful clean water as a sort of beautification project. Many buildings have also been torn down to make room for more impressive, modern, Westernized ones.

*This is actually one of the things I'm very interested in, the change in Chinese architecture. One of the social study projects available during the fifth week is the art and architecture of Beijing. In order to appear more modernized, many ancient and "Chinese-looking" buildings are being replaced by structures of steel, glass, and concrete. This path of modernization follows the Western World, as traditional designs and architecture are rendered antiquated. In my view, Chinese culture is slowly deteriorating as Western influences infiltrate every aspect of modern Chinese life. I think one way to slow the descent is the preservation of the traditional "Oriental style," which doesn't mean that the buildings have to be unsafe or unusable. Practicality and aestheticism can definitely coexist.*

Dinner conversation focused a lot on Chinese society and way of life, especially the problems of the poverty-wealth gap--ping fu cha ju--and the unncessesarily pressured education system. Mom and Dad recently had a son who is now 7 months old. He is very cute. Apparently Chinese baby fashion revolves around the onesie for easy peeing and pooping. This saves time and money changing and buying diapers. "Zhong zi," our little brother is looked after by Mom's parents as are many other Chinese children. Chinese culture places great value on family, so it is not unusual to see 3 or 4 generations living under the same roof, all taking great care of each other.

They live in a modest apartment, impressive for a couple who have recently finished studying and finishing school. The collection of books mostly deals with political philosophy, economic theory, and social study. However, photo albums and children's stories also occupy some bookshelf space. When I mentioned to them that I play the violin, the first thing they asked was if I know anything besides standard classical, and the answer I gave was the one I had in mind: Liang Zhu, or the Butterfly Lovers' Concerto, the most famous Chinese piece for violin, roughly equivalent to Romeo and Juliet. Tonight when we go have dinner again (we're helping make jiaozi), they want me to play for them.

Week 2 was much easier than the first week. Everything seemed to fall in place as we developed effective routines and methods of studying and sleeping, and trying to balance the 2. For Yale students, as final grades don't matter, there is considerably less pressure, but of course we are all trying our best to learn as much Chinese as possible. I discovered the nightly office hours this week since a friend highly suggested going to them. For 2 hours Sunday to Thursday nights, teachers from all levels make themselves available in a conference room on the second floor to help with homework, lesson questions, pronunciation, and any other problems students may have. It's a great place to do homework because help is so readily available.

This week, I also met with Bo Kang, my Chinese language partner. He's a third year student at BLCU majoring in Korean. We had dinner a few times and we talked about the difference in student life in China and America. He is very patient when I'm struggling to find the Chinese word to describe what I'm thinking. We had dinner a couple of times and he's been telling me where the best food around BLCU is.

Friday's test was significantly harder than last week's test, but it was doable. It made the weekend that much more welcome. After Zhongguo zhuozi, or Chinese language tables, at the Muslim restaurant, I slept for the rest of the evening. Saturday was a great day. After waking up at 10:30 and eating a quick brunch, a few of us went to the Silk Market, a huge department store with hundreds and hundreds of vendors selling everything you can think of. The best part about shopping in China is bargaining. Since this was my first time bargaining, I was incredibly nervous, but I had some good advice accompanying me. There was everything from jewelry to clothing, from electronics to Chinese art. Even though it was raining pretty heavily, all 6 floors were teeming with tourists who were being physically pulled by the vendors into their stands. The place was understandably noisy as people were haggling and arguing over prices.

In the evening, HBA arranged for us to see a performance of Beijing Opera. I had my doubts since I had heard some Beijing Opera on tape when I was younger. I can't even watch Western opera since a soprano's voice's range and vibrato make me nervous. Beijing Opera is even more nasally and high-pitched. One of our lessons this week was about Beijing Opera, which rebuffed the common misperception that it is merely vocal. Acrobatics, comedy, and martial arts are often integrated into the performance. The opera house, in an opera-themed hotel, is fairly standard. The front 2 sections have tables adorned with snacks, tea, and peaches, and the rear sections are for sitting only.



The opening intermezzo had the characteristic Chinese instruments: gongs, cymbals, a drum, erhus, and Chinese flutes. It was really enjoyable since it was so familiar.


The first act was about a nymph with a really obnoxious voice. She sang about spreading flowers and meeting a scholar she really admired. They got married a few minutes later. The second act, however, was much more fast-paced and interesting. Some emperor was angry the nymph got married to the scholar so he ordered her to be arrested.


But she had superhuman strength and defeated the emperor's minions. There were lots of acrobatics and impressive spear throwing, kicking, and catching. And then it was over. I expcted it to be longer, but I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. With all the rain, Sunday is looking to be a very clear day (for once). Here's the view outside my window this morning.