Busy Weekend

This is me, sitting down and forcing myself to write out a blog post. It’s not like I don’t have much to say. On the contrary, my life plate is so full that some of the material is dripping off the side. It’s because my life is so busy that even the thought of recording it makes me want to take a nap.

Where to begin…last week of class was great. One of my films for the first week of class was voted best by my classmates, so last class my professor presented a red Chinese bracelet to me as a prize. The bracelet has seven small ceramic pieces—that are happy cat faces. So it’s pretty much perfect.

For my journalism class, I had to write a piece about one of my Chinese friends—roommate, tutor, whatever. I chose my tutor. The past two articles I sent to my professor were ripped apart by his expertise. Fortunately the article I sent him about my tutor was very, very (he used two “very”s) well received. So my future as a writer has not been completely demolished.

The interview of my tutor lasted two hours—I had so many questions. It is especially fascinating to ask Chinese students about their family. This is because every generation—hers, her parents, her grandparents—have experienced a different political period of China. And every person reacts differently to how they grew up.

That’s why I love hearing anecdotes. When interviewing you learn how to pull out nuggets of information that help shed light on how life is for that person. When a nugget is really good, that information can serve to illuminate an entire idea, theme, even culture.

My best recent example of that was talking to my tutor about her family. I asked about her father’s parents, and she said they had lived through WWII—so it’s safe to say they have experienced a lot of political change. She said that they loved the Communist Party. “Why?” I asked. She said it was because they have a color TV, which they believe is possible because of the economic development brought by the Party.

You can see how I found this interesting.

I feel like when I first arrived in China, I was doe-eyed, confused, overwhelmed, and ignorant of China’s situation. Now that I have been in the country for over a month, I am a little less so of all of these. My roommate told me that there are five major geographic sections of China, and by the time I leave I will have been to four of them. (Northeast, middle, northwest, and southeast) And I feel like my non-Chinese classes supplement my travels well—It’s always easier to study a city when you’ve had the opportunity to visit it.

The reading I complete for my English classes focus on periods of history in both Imperial China and post-1949 China, illuminating a vast array of change and instability in a country with a boasted 5,000 year history. I’ve discovered that coming to conclusions on China—whether it’s making generalizations on how the people think, how people act, or how they view themselves and their country—is impossible. There are simply too many people, too many opportunities for contradiction.

(I really feel this way every time I engage my roommate’s friends on the topic of dating in China (research for my dating column!). Even within a small group of Chinese students, there are varied opinions on how dating and relationships work in China.)

But that’s what makes China so fascinating. The fact that nothing is straightforward, nothing is easily understood. In America, we like to pepper news articles with statistics on how many people do this, how many people feel this way. As an American, I generally feel like I have a relatively firm grasp on what is going on in America. And if I don’t, there is almost always a documentary to bring an ignorant aspect to light.

But they don’t have those documentaries in China—at least not easily available and widespread. (I saw a fantastic one called “Up the Yangtze” for my film class—I highly recommend it). Also, even if they gave statistics in the state-run media, you couldn’t really trust them. (Generally, because there probably are contradictions to what I just said).

So I hope you can tell how much fun I am having dissecting the mystery that is China. This past weekend I travelled by subway to south of Tiananmen Square—Qianmen. This area used to be covered by hutongs—series of small run-down houses that operate as a connected, lively, and thriving neighborhood. Most of inner Beijing used to be covered by hutongs, but the Chinese government has been tearing these down and building pricy high-rises and Western stores in their place. My professor said Qianmen looks like Disneyland now (they even had a trolley). Please read “The Last Days of Old Beijing” for a better understanding of the hutongs.

On Saturday, I travelled to a market across from the Beijing Zoo. This market had floors and floors of cheap goods. I got a sweater with a cat on it and little flaps for ears on the hood. I’m not kidding. It’s so cute.

Saturday night I went back to that part of Beijing (about an hour by subway) to visit my Georgetown friends at Minzu University. They were in my Chinese class last semester, so it was a nice reunion. Their program is entirely Chinese, so they had a language pledge which prevented them from speaking English. They learn 100 characters a day and focus all their energy on language acquisition. Though their Chinese will probably develop miles above my own, I have to say that I really appreciate learning the culture as well as the language.

On Sunday I visited Houhai, which is a favorite dating place for couples, and houses several small shops, restaurants, and clubs. I went there with a friend, who was kind enough to accompany me while I filmed footage of Houhai for a documentary. I hope to return to Houhai many more times this semester.

It’s safe to say that I’m pretty beat after this weekend. Unfortunately I have a whole week of class ahead of me, so no time for a break. Next week though is the National Holiday, and I have gotten tickets to visit the northeast part of China, which includes visiting a town on the border of China and North Korea. No worries, I will be sure to stay on the Chinese side.