苏三起解 sū sān qǐjiè

In our Beijing Opera (北京京剧）class, we are learning and memorizing a portion of a piece that tells of a famous Ming Dynasty love story. The story is about a beautiful woman named Su San (苏三) who despite coming from a poor family and later sold into prostitution, had a kind heart. She met and fell in love with a client, Wang Jinglong, and helped him attend a prestigious medical university by selling jewelry. They were soulmates, but once accepted to the university, he left for a long time, and she heard from him little. In the meantime, poor Su San was sold to a married businessman as his concubine; this man's first wife tried to feed Su San poisoned noodles, but instead murdered her husband when he accidently ate them! However, this wife sent Su San to trial and later to prison for the death of her husband. After some time, Su San was sent to Tai Yuan for a retrial, where she discovered her beloved Wang Jinglong was an officer. With the help of kind people, they fell back in love and lived happily ever after. 苏三唱 （西流水：） 苏三离了洪同县，将身来在大街前。 sū sān lí le hóng tóng xiàn, jiāng shēn lái zài dà jiē qián. 未曾开言我心好惨，过往的君子听我言。 wèi céng kāi yán wǒ xīn hǎo cǎn, guò wǎng de jūn zǐ tīng wǒ yán. 那一位去往南京转，与我那三郎把信传。 nà yí wèi qù wǒng nán jīng zhuǎn, yǔ wǒ nà sān láng bǎ xìn chuán. 就说苏三把命断，来生变犬马我当报还。 jiù shuō sū sān bǎ mìng duàn, lái shēng biàn quǎn mǎ wǒ dāng bào huán.

"I want to be so old that I have to be scooped into a dustpan." - Zach

Well, it's been quite some time since I last posted, but I only now have enough events about which to tell. I spent this past week sick, being attacked on multiple fronts, and spent the night before our exam enduring a fever and chills. That said, last week was spent either in class, doing homework, eating, buying groceries, or napping. Thanks to antibiotics, I'm pretty much recovered, but I still have congested lungs as a result of pollution and second-hand smoking. The weekend before last, the entire group followed Zhao laoshi to a nice restaurant, where we experienced the splendors of the traditional 火锅 dish (huoguo - "hot pot"). The meat was lamb, and the little bit that I ate was very tasty. Of course, tofu pieces and vegetables were also included. It was overall a delicious dinner! Following dinner was the usual trip to Scarlet, and I went shopping the next day with enough success to keep me browsing for hours. My feet are a little big in comparison to the average Chinese woman, so I eventually gave up on that errand and returned to campus. Then, I got really sick, but there's nothing to that except the fact, and it isn't at all interesting, so I'll skip ahead to this past weekend. Friday was very laid back- all of the classes watched "活着" (huozhe - to live), which is an amazing movie once banned in the early 90's for its subject matter; I suggest everyone should see it. Following "class" was Nankai University's Olympics, or really big Field Day. John/Steve/Shi Lifu put his big American flag (which before this event was hanging on his wall) on his shower curtain rod, and waved it proudly as we approached the field to meet our opponents. I wouldn't say people were intimidated, but I do think our group of mostly non-athletic nerds surprised most. In most of the events, we placed either first or second (either overall or in specific heats), and I in particular participated in the jump-roping, basketball dribble, tug-of-war, soccer (which was really just penalty shots, so I didn't help much), and baton relay competitions. The latter was a lot of fun- the runners were me, John, Fred, and Trey, and we placed second overall! Our prize was a fantastic little Chinese phrase book each, in addition to having our picture taken repeatedly. Saturday wasn't as much fun- I felt dizzy because of the Cipro, but was quite productive; I wrote and mailed many, many postcards (which was a slightly embarrassing experience, given I had to glue every single stamp onto the cards), and finished homework so I could spend Sunday buying things. I had some great finds at our favourite bootleg DVD shop, including: Wall-E; The Tudors, Season 2; Queer as Folk, Seasons 1-5; The Piano; The Fifth Element; Death Race; Blue Velvet; Final Destination 1-3; and three Chinese movies. Again, this all cost me around $15 altogether. Richard accompanied me to a cultural shopping district in the afternoon, which was in a really neat area of Tianjin about a 20 minute taxi ride away from Nankai's campus. I spent a lot of money- a lot. I bought some souvenirs, of course, and other things for myself, including an old doughnut shaped jewelry box and two qipaos (旗袍). With some encouragement from Richard, I finally took a whack at bargaining: a certain item I bought (which I can't talk about, because it's someone's special gift) was priced over 300 kuai, so I suggested 175 kuai. The women running the store laughed at me for about three minutes and then proposed 180 kuai as the final price. As in, I got about a 50% discount. I was dumbfounded that it actually worked! It was also fun getting to speak with a lot of different salespersons and what-not, and explaining that no, I am not Richard's wife, and yes, we're looking for Mao uniforms! I kind of promised some people that I'd be back next weekend...which isn't a lie, because I loved the variety of neat trinkets! And that about wraps up the past week. I'm (finally) getting used to the culture and am really enjoying myself! I am also used to the teaching style, so am now enjoying class much more. We have two weeks and one weekend left here in Tianjin, so there's a lot of activities to squeeze in!

不太胖！

I finally realized that I have only spent about $300 since I arrived in China, and so on Wednesday I decided to go shopping. What a fantastic experience this was. Granted, I didn't go to a fancy mall or anything, but I did manage to find several strange, interesting items for only about $45 total. Overall, the experience was mistake-free, but one saleslady made the night even more enjoyable. There was a very cool blue jacket I had my eye on that I eventually decided to try on. When I pointed to it and asked, "我可以式一式吗?" ("Could I try this on?") she seemed very confused and asked, "准的吗?" ("Really (are you serious?)"). When I said yes, she seemed very disapproving but let me try it on anyway. Admittedly, my broad shoulders and long arms caused the jacket to fit on the small side, but she pointed to me with it on and exclaimed, "啊！不太胖!" ("Oh! Not too fat!"). I gave this look and replied, "对，我知道!" ("Correct, I know this!") and preceded to try on other things. She then tried to sell me a skirt once we found a little sweater that looked great, and I pointed to it, laughed, and said, "不！这件太小!" ("No! THAT is too small!"). She liked this (and it's true- most Chinese women are not only obsessed with being thin, but are so). So, more shopping is on my weekend agenda, including a trip to the nearby natural history museum. Yesterday was the big Dragonboat race, and it turned out to be a really, really big event. I mean, this was an international tournament! An Italian group had traveled from a Venice university to be there; and, honestly, they were really, really good. However, they were also really, really big. Even the women; frankly, I was confused at first when I noticed some members had female adornments. It was the funniest sight. I'm telling you- these Italians were all pretty unattractive. Their bulky muscles just didn't balance well with their overall figures and physiques. It was my luck that one of the blonde boys with a really big honker started winking and waving at me. I, of course, could only laugh in response (and from afar), because here I was, needing a shower and wearing track pants and a t-shirt. Maybe they like their women that way. Overall, we raced kind of poorly, but considering we practiced only 2-3 times, I'll give us all a big pat on the back. The first race, we came in 4th (out of five); the second race, we came in 3rd (out of three); and the third race, we came in 5th (out of six). Think what you will- it was still an awesome experience. Other good and exciting news: Professor Zhao was on national television last night (CCTV 9) and made "Carleton University" very proud. He spoke about the rise of China this year, especially, and basically what it needed to do as a nation to improve its international relationships in this modern world. Brendan has apparently made a little Chinese girlfriend already, which is interesting considering he speaks little Chinese, and she speaks no English. I imagine there must be a lot of hand gestures (bǐhua: 比划) used when they communicate. There is a man around everyday at the market who sells bootlegged DVD's, PC games, etc., and he is just one of the nicest and enthusiastic people I've come across. He complimented me the other day on my glasses and it so excited to have "American friends". So, for about 36 kuai (or, about $5) I bought: Porco Rosso, Apocalypto, Hook, Fight Club, Wall-E, and Trainspotting. He even lets you preview discs before you even consider buying them. In other words, he's the nicest pirate out there! There's a TGIF's across the road (which is an obstacle to get to, considering the dangerous nature of crossing streets here), and my friends and I finally went there last night. I got the Fried Mac & Cheese appetizer, and I have to say, haven not eaten any cheese in about a month, I was disappointed. I remember it tasting a lot better than that.

Bananas, Boats, and Bunniculas

This morning, I asked Duncan, "How do you feel about China today?" He responded with, "I miss pancakes." I find this to be the perfect answer to that question I often find myself (and others) asking. Since I last wrote, a lot and little has happened. I completed my first week of authentic Chinese class, which has been one of the toughest adjustments so far. We have about 3.5 hours of class Monday through Friday per day, followed by the fun classes, which include Tai Chi, calligraphy and painting, Wushu, Beijing jingju, and Chinese civilization. The language class is a bit more tougher than I expected- apparently, some students from the previous Tianjin seminar brought this issue up, and so the current group is getting actual challenging language courses. It is a bit of a struggle, going from 8:30am-12:15pm doing nothing but learning tons of grammar and coming across many, many characters I'm expected to know but have never come across. Thankfully, we have three 10-15 minute breaks to recoup. The teachers take a completely different approach than any other language teachers I've had in the past- they think that by simply repeating a grammatical structure over and over, you understand it. We don't get English explanations for anything, and many times the examples provided to us on handouts use phrases or many characters that I never learned. Also, one of my teachers doesn't like for me or anyone else to take notes in class. (Also, the teachers speak little to no English.) Granted, while most of this is good for me- I don't want my hand held through it, and I want to be challenged- I do wish they would just let me know what characters they expect me to not only know but to write, since many come up on quizzes! Yikes. One week down- four more to go. Thursday evening was a blast. I went to Nankai's gym to get a month membership, and I discovered many strange things about the place. First of all, I went to pee before my workout, and I walked into the bathroom to discover two naked Chinese women showering. Sure, I thought, whatever. Then after ten minutes on the treadmill- without a TV to watch- the room's hot temperature started to make me sweat even more than I do running outside on a hot, southern day. Once sick of this, I lifted weights, but found it hard to adjust the settings because nothing made sense. The translations, though, on the machines were of course funny. The trip's legendary hero and hottie is Shi Lifu (John), who is this massive (in comparison to the Chinese people) Carleton football player, but also the most fluent of us all. As a result, he makes the most foreign friends and all love him to death. Anyway, he was in the gym, lifting weights and running shirtless, and all the despising Chinese men in there were staring and glaring at him. It was truly a hilarious sight, and I could hardly contain myself. It was also a little strange to be the only female in the weight section. They don't, though, have light enough free weights for weaklings like myself. It has been really interesting to see how much people- women especially- are obsessed with being skinny and losing weight. I have had many run-ins where someone has commented on the fact that I am so 漂亮 (pretty) and slim. It is surprising for them, in general, to meet Americans that are this way, and most of us on the program are. Also, on sunny days, women and some men cover themselves with umbrellas or visors and long clothing to keep from getting sun. They all want to be as fair skinned as possible. Friday, after class, we had about an hour's worth of Wushu class, followed by (for most of us) about three hours of Dragonboat practice. I am so unbelievably sore; it truly is terrible. In fact, I think the pain is a cause of my being sick this weekend. Yes- I have finally fallen a bit ill. I am thinking it is a combination of excessive exercise (without the normal diet I am used to when doing such activities); cold weather (which has been very surprising) combined with frequent rain; lack of sleep (from bugs and rooming with someone); and possibly having eaten something that has upset my stomach. Who knows. But I've lost a weekend to sleeping, re-watching a 5 dollar collection of Mad Men (Season 1), studying, and watching hilarious Chinese movies about vampires that hop around like bunnies and can only see you when they smell your breath! So, I woke up yesterday morning sick around 6am, and then had to get up around 8am for what I thought was a tour of a fascinating architectural part of Tianjin. Though we were told to NOT BE LATE, we didn't leave until 8:40am, and then we were handed Chinese and Nankai University flags upon loading the bus. We were driven to the Opening Ceremony of some celebration of this aforementioned area, and while I enjoyed getting to see the Ceremony and the performances (though the ones from Germany, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and a local sports college were laughably terrible in comparison to the Chinese ancient drumming one), I didn't like being photographed over and over for being a white American girl. They also kept telling us to wave the flags. As it turns out, our group was blocked by police officers so other local Chinese people couldn't stand with us. In a sense, I feel like we were being used as propaganda. What I find most disappointing is that the program coordinator lied to us- and no one bothered to tell us for what we were really waking up at 8am on a Saturday. After the Ceremony, we just went back to campus; that's it! No architecture! I at least got a cool little rainbow-flower-pinweel of some sort out of it. I was too sick to care at the time, but I'm thinking about letting Zhao know what happened, because I'm pretty sure he doesn't. I went to bed relatively early last night and have had a relaxed day, and the main breakfast item will become a cromlet. They are so, so, so delicious, and completely worth waking up an extra 30-45 minutes earlier for. This coming weekend, I hope to go shopping and visit the local natural history museum. The post office line is always ridiculously long, so if you're still waiting on the postcards- be patient! I'm still getting bitten left and right; I can't drink anymore bubble tea because of the milk crisis; I can't get used to the spitting; and I'm a little homesick, but all-in-all, it's still neat to be here. I can already tell that my hearing, writing, and listening abilities will have drastically improved by the end of the trip. I still have to work on my speaking, but that'll come with practice. Plus, I found out that I can safely eat bananas and oranges- or any fruit with peels you don't eat. The Dragonboat race is on Wednesday!

I'm everyone's xiǎojiě

So, in Chinese 101, you learn that "xiǎojiě" means "Ms.", or "Miss". Turns out, it also means "whore". This has become a joke amongst the group, of course, and so I've become a xiǎojiě in class according to my teachers (they, of course, mean "Miss" 凯琳 when addressing me). Of course, I've learned some other words to use in my defense: qíba and wǒngba. Since our exam, I've done a few activities, including signing up for a Dragonboat race with some other Carleton kids. We've practiced a couple of times, and I just found out today that we get free, awesome track suit-like uniforms. I hope we win, though I know we won't, since our main competition is a group of ripped, attractive, and serious Chinese men. I went to a club on Saturday night, which reminded me of the Japanese club from Collateral, if you replace all the blue lights with red ones. It was extremely Asian and just a lot of fun. Many of the people we met there were so excited to welcome us to China- well, to welcome us to a fun, awesome Chinese club. I also saw about an hour's worth of a Beijing opera, here in Tianjin, and I hope that on a weekend, I'll get to go see one all the way through. The costumes were very beautiful and extravagant, and although I couldn't really follow the story, the songs were interesting and funny in parts. On the down side of things, I discovered yesterday that my Wachovia debit card doesn't work in this area at the ATM's, so I'm currently living on 50 kuai and without a way to withdraw money at least until the weekend. Hopefully, I got rid of my bed bugs today when I got the hotel to change my sheets. I am pretty fed up with having new bites every morning! Well, Trey and Fred are bugging me to hurry up and get dinner and study for our quiz tomorrow, so I'll write about the Chinese teaching style sometime this week.