Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

I know I haven't been posting that many pictures. This is due to the fact that I haven't been taking any pictures, which is in turn due to the fact that nothing has happened which was sufficiently different from last year to warrant taking pictures.

That changed this week, however, with our trip to Laixi, a "small town" of "only" 700,000 people.



The goal of the trip was to introduce us to the urban-rural differences in China. To this end, we visited two elementary schools and a factory, as well as participating in town-square activities.




At the first school, all the children ran to the windows to watch us arrive, waving and smiling excitedly. You'd think we were rockstars or something, but the reality is just that "Waiguoren", or foreigners, are a spectacle just about anywhere you go here. It's good to be interesting for a change.





Immediately after we arrived, we were treated to a series of presentations by the students, showcasing elements of Chinese traditional culture. Or so I'm told -- I understood about 1% of what the kids were saying. It's depressing to realize that after spending most of my time for the past two years on studying this language, I'm still getting completely schooled (literally) by little kids. I mean, even their handwriting is better than mine.

Then again, that's probably true in America too.

We were paired off with the students to make crafts. My "little friend" (a literal translation of how elementary students are referred to here):




And the crafts he gave to me:



Incidentally, he was also better at these things (calligraphy-style painting and decorative knot-tying) than I am. Apparently, Chinese kids just win everything.

To further prove this point, we went out to the schoolyard and played various games. The first of these games was something like a cross between Musical Chairs and Hot Potato. One player would sit in the middle of the circle and play a drum while the other players passed around an embarrassingly pink bouquet of flowers. When the drum stopped, whoever held the flowers had to sing a song or dance a little.



Oh, the shame of defeat. Poor Miles. On the plus side, we did manage to win a game of netless volleyball. There are nasty rumors circulating that this victory was due to our team being composed entirely of male college students and the only boy from the elementary school, versus a bunch of 4th-grade girls. These rumors are, of course, entirely true unfounded.

For the remainder of the day, we just wandered around the town, experiencing daily life there. We learned a few things:

1. Goats are disapproving of people, generally speaking.



2. Laixi is not a good place to look for a girlfriend.



These two signs declare that it is the entire society's responsibility to be aware of AIDS, and to take steps to combat it. The signs were hanging from a lightpole on a busy street. Apparently Laixi is a dirty place in more ways than one.

(We ate dinner right under these signs.)

3. The only thing more interesting than Waiguoren is Waiguoren dancing. Or maybe a bear-sized dog.




Speaking of dancing, when we first arrived on the town square, it was occupied by a gigantic conga line of sorts. Group dancing and other such activities are a regular part of Chinese nightlife -- it's not uncommon to see groups of elderly locals participating in synchronized exercises in the evening, both in Laixi and in Qingdao.



Kennedy and Andre got in on the act too:




The next morning, we visited a Nestle milk processing factory. To be honest, it was pretty much one of the least interesting things I've done in my life (which is saying something), except getting to see these flags next to each other:



Afterwards, we went to another elementary school. This one was further out in the countryside than the first, and had less advanced facilities.



(A countdown to the Olympics. It's hard to believe they're that close, especially because we're returning to the States right after they begin.)

The board at the back of the room instructs the students to study hard, cherish life, and welcome the Olympics, among other things.

The group I was with sat in on a few minutes of the students' music class, during which we were treated to a Chinese song to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne". We were then invited to sing a verse of an American song in return; we chose the first verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner", and wondered if that song had ever been sung anywhere near Laixi before.

We had a lot of fun.




Back in town, if not home,
Nathan

P.S. Andre, another one of the students here, has a blog as well. He hasn't updated it in a while, but he said he might pretty soon. If you're interested: http://tzeltal.blogspot.com

P.P.S. Kung-Fu Panda was fun, and has amazing graphics.

P.P.P.S. The above blogpost was not written in a single sitting, due to the fact that I went next door to McDonald's to meet the USA Olympic Men's Sailing team. We gave them our contact information in case they needed extra translators, and discussed getting together sometime to play frisbee and shop for DVDs. It is a pretty cool time to be in China. :-)

Far Cry

This place is a far cry from home. Just a few discoveries this week which have brought this to my attention:

1. Just because the title is in English and the slogans are in German does not mean that the disc itself necessarily contains any European language. At all.

2. There is nothing quite so surreal as discovering a place called "JJ's Pizza", run by Chinese guys, in a dirty and dark neighborhood, and furthermore discovering that the pizza-tossing video which is looping on their TV contains clips of two young men tossing pizzas on the stage in the center of Ole Miss's Grove. We just stared.

3. Chinese DVD dealers possess an internal radar which tells them, "If you present this young man with a box set of Battlestar Galactica, he will buy it from you, even though he only came in here to buy a movie for tonight. Yes, he is that stupid."
3a. Battlestar Galactica seems, so far, to be an awesome show.

4. The concept of unconditional love, even for strangers, is a relatively difficult one to communicate across a language barrier, but seems to be an interesting topic for discussion.

5. "Umbrella" is a good song.
5a. It is not a good song when played in the room above you at a volume loud enough to shake your desk.
5b. Especially when it is most likely being played by an Indian med student who probably doesn't speak enough English to understand, "Turn the freaking music down. And just this time: Please."
5c. Especially when this is not a one-time occurrence.

Wearing headphones,
Nathan

FEAR

This week has been a study in fear: those times we have too much, and those times we think we have too little, but actually still have too much.

It all started Sunday. Or maybe Monday. Heck, I'm just glad I know what country I'm in right now, much less the day of the week. Anyway. Apparently, I forgot to inform the bank that I would be in China this summer. As a result, the ATM refused to give me access to my account, other than to let me check my balance. Much like watching "Jumper" on the plane (see previous post), this just made matters worse: "Here's how much money you could withdraw, if you weren't an idiot." Thus, I was left to get by on the money I had brought with me from the States -- 200 kuai, or about $29. $29 goes farther here, but still.

Thankfully, the lesson I learned this week was not about the woes of having no money, but rather about the foolishness of worrying about money in the first place. I have good family members who contacted the bank and took care of things for me, and good friends who took care of me in the meantime -- both of which were provided by a good God. Lilies of the field, birds of the air, and all that jazz.

Also in the department of fear and lessons thereof: All students in our class have been paired off with language partners. We are required to spend an hour each weekday with them, correcting our in-class essays and learning the intricacies of our vocabulary words. Originally, we (by which I mean all of us) feared the awkwardness inherent to such things; there's just something unpleasant about these kinds of forced friendships. Our fears turned out to be unfounded, however. In fact, my language partner and I have so enjoyed each other's company that a significantly widespread rumor has developed that I am "putting the moves on her".

They give me way too much credit, as you all know. I'm not sure what my "moves" would look like, but they would probably scare small children.

In reality, it's simply that Wendy and I have a lot of common interests -- we both write, we're both relatively non-sporty (if that's a word), and so on. Apparently, I have a trustworthy face or something (go figure), and so we've skipped right past the usual formalities and straight to heart-to-heart discussions. I like honest people.

One last point related to fear: Not far from our classroom, there is a cart by the side of the road. They sell the most amazing little breakfast food. It is essentially a pita, wrapped taco-style around a fried egg, lettuce, (optional) spicy pepper paste, and some unidentified brown sauce. Yes, Mom, this is one of the street vendors we were warned about. Yes, I eat there on a regular basis. But it's OK, because I let the other students be guinea pigs first.

Besides, no fear, right?

In other news, we went with our language partners to the beach yesterday afternoon. While there, we witnessed a man proposing to his girlfriend.



A short time after dark, the two of them arrived together and walked down a path lit by fireworks to this heart made of roses, where he popped the question. Unfortunately, none of my pictures of the actual event turned out well. You'll just have to take my word for it: It was very romantic.

Our class was split immediately after we arrived, based on a placement test we took Monday. I was placed into the lower of the two levels, partially because I left the second portion of the test half-blank, mistakenly thinking it was not a part of the placement process. Originally, I was upset by this turn of events. After seeing the homework requirements of the upper level, however, I'm content to stay where I am. I guess it's true what they say: the tallest blade of grass is the first one to get cut.

Now, for questions people have asked me since the last post:


(Ben, pondering the questions. Or maybe just wiping some sweet-and-sour sauce off his face at the Duzi.)

Uncle Rick asks: How has the Sichuan earthquake effected people on the coast? Is it still a major news item?

As far as direct effects, the earthquake really hasn't changed a thing here in Qingdao. It was really too far away for that. However, it is still a major news item -- the university thanked us, at the opening ceremony, for America's help during this time. Also, you can usually see continuing news coverage of the disaster and its aftermath while riding the bus at night.

My classmates have told me, though, that the earthquake has indirectly effected the country's young people (this is according to their language partners and friends they met last year). Apparently, the pervasive coverage of the disaster has somewhat broken through the success-centered mindset of Chinese young people. It has made many people my age become more aware that there is a world out there, populated with people who all need help in one way or another. In a culture that has raised them (much like America) to focus on getting good grades so they can get into a good school so they can get a good job so they can get lots of money and teach their children to do the same, this is a huge difference, potentially the seeds of a revolution in Chinese thought.

Richmond asks: Was "Jumper" good?

In the same way that playing Rock-Paper-Scissors is good -- it passed the time, kept me entertained, but I can take it or leave it.

K'Ann asks: How much KFC have you eaten so far?

None, actually. We went out and ate pizza to celebrate my classmate's birthday, and I've been to the Italian ice cream place twice, and Starbucks twice. That, so far, is the extent of my western eating. (Full disclosure: I'm about to go hit up the McDonald's next door to the Starbucks I'm sitting in now.)

Things to pray about, for those of you reading this who pray:

-My friendship with Wendy, my language partner. These kinds of insta-bond relationships don't happen for no reason. Pray that I would see what that reason is and handle it accordingly.
-Having a little allergy/environment adjustment trouble right now. Pray that it won't last long.
-The Sichuan earthquake's impact on young people here. Pray that this increased awareness of others' wellbeing would flourish.
-We have to take the HSK next Sunday, a test which is used by most organizations to assess your fluency in the language, much as colleges emphasize ACT/SAT results. We took a practice version of it Monday -- it was the section I left half-blank, if that tells you anything about its difficulty. Pray that we would all perform adequately on the test, or at the very least that our heads won't explode from just looking at it.

Drinking an amazing dark chocolate mocha,
Nathan

(P.S. If you guys happen to know where I could find Chinese subtitles for "The Princess Bride", please send me a link. I tried to explain the story to Wendy, and she seemed interested. I have the DVD, I just need Mandarin subtitles to tack onto it.)

New Horizons

Well, if I could see the horizon, that is. Behold, the fog of the century:



We made it safely with all our luggage intact after just over 24 hours of travel. Our trip took us through Memphis, Chicago, and Beijing before we hit Qingdao, and I have to say that I was disappointed in Chicago; we spent 5 hours there, and I didn't see a single gangster. I guess they don't hang out at the airport.

Random place to eat at O'Hare:




We interviewed one student about his experience with this "world famous" Billy Goat burger.

Interviewer: How is it?
Student: Well, it's world famous for a reason.
Interviewer: Is it good?
Student: ...no, not really.

And there you have it, a harrowing tale of greasiness above and so far beyond the call of duty.

One of the in-flight movies shown between Chicago and Beijing was "Jumper", a sci-fi action flick about a man who can instantly teleport to any location he's visited before. It was as though United Airlines was saying, "See, wouldn't it be awesome if you could do this? But, haha! You have to endure 13-hour flights with us! Doesn't real life suck?" I console myself with the fact that real life contains far more character development.

We spent part of the interminable terminal wait by playing with Jessie's 20Q, a hand-held computer which is scarily good at guessing any object you can think of within 20 questions. Some of the things it successfully guessed:

-Mountain
-Platypus
-Water
-T-Rex

We stumped it with "Zeus", however.

Speaking of questions, please comment with any questions you'd like me to answer here. I'd hate to think I was writing a bunch of stuff no one was interested in.

And speaking of writing things, here's my address for the summer:

Nathan Taylor (University of Mississippi)
Qingdao University International Center
308 Ningxia Rd.
Qingdao 266071
P. R. China

Feel free to send cards, letters, cash, or proposals of marriage, all of which will be given due consideration. Also, if you'd like to receive a Qingdao postcard or something, e-mail your address to me at: timorDOTnonDOTestATgmailDOT you know how e-mail addresses end, and I'll see what I can do.

Settled in,
Nathan

Link To The Past

On June 6th, I'll be returning to Qingdao for another summer of language study and cultural immersion. I'll be using this blog to record my adventures for public consumption. I recommend you check out my blog from last year, if you haven't already -- the link is on the right side of this page. For some reason, MySpace decided that all the links on the page should be in Chinese, but it shouldn't be too hard to find your way around.

Stay tuned for epic tales of daring, excitement and, knowing me, stupidity.

~Nathan