Why is Susan everywhere?

As you may or may not know my best Asain friend is Sifan (aka Susan) Liu. And no matter where I am on campus, if I'm walking behind an Asain girl or see one from afar 9 out of 10 times I'll think it's Susan and about 2 out of 10 times I'll be right. So before I left we joked about how I'd be seeing her everywhere. It hasn't entirely been that way, but I've had some close calls.

One day I got up kinda early and was looking for breakfast. I was starving, only had a few hours of sleep, and not really focusing on the job at hand. This was my first run in with a "Susan" who I then remembered was halfway around the world and couldn't possibly be in Beijing.

Later I was walking back from class when I thought I saw Yea, one of the Chinese students in the program. It was actually a good thing I couldn't remember her name at the time because it wasn't her, it wasn't her at all.

There have also been times where I'm wondering where all the Chinese people went. On Saturday I sawso many white people I didn't know what to do. I usually only here English from our group, but it was everywhere Saturday morning. I would have introduced myself to some, but, again, I was starving and on a mission.

Church is the only other place that I really feel Asain-less. It's probably because they're not allowed. The church I've been going to is for expats and people with foreign passports. There are Asains there, but they're Asain in a "I actually grew up in San Diego" sort of way.

As I'm getting used to this place I see Susan less, which is good and bad. On the plus side, when I need to see the real Susan there's always Facebook.

Chinese people

So like Chinese food, I have various thoughts on the people here. While this may be due to my relationship with the various people, I still want to write about it. So here's my thoughts about these crazy Chinese.

If you want to make Chinese people happy, just speak to them in Chinese. It can be as simple as Ni Hao or Wo jiao Jeremy. They'll go nuts. This works best if you look foreign, but I've been told by a few people here that I look Asian, whatevs. They might start speaking in Chinese to you, but you can just give them a confused look and they'll understand. Some will then try to teach you some Chinese while others will still be excited that you said something. Best example of this was my trip to KFC (which is huge in China, btw). When I got to the counter, I said Ni Hao, the cashier got excited. Then I asked for a menu in English. She smile, jumped, yelled "Menu!" and ran off and got one. Between my minimal Chinese and her not much better English plus some sign language, I got my food, paid and left. She was smiling the whole time.

Some people though, try to take advantage of this, especially venders. They like to rip you off because you can't read the prices or understand them or argue about the price with them. You just got to be firm. But they're really pushy. If you even look at something in their store, they'll expect you to buy something. You can't browse or they'll start talking to you and telling you how good this is or how great that is. It's kinda annoying.

They're also really pushy in general. Trying to get food, walking down the street, riding on the subway, it's bad. Sometimes on the subway you're so packed you can pick your feet up of the ground and not move. Or when trying to get food at lunch they'll just push you out of the way. Part of this is because everyone and their mom only has 30 minutes to eat lunch in really poorly designed dining halls. It's a challenge to get the food and a bigger challenge not to drop it once you do.

The people I live with, though, are always eager to help. They correct my Chinese, show me where to eat, help me find classrooms, and give directions to cab drivers. They make life so much easier and I feel like I can only give a little bit back through English. Maybe we'll be more helpful when they need to understand the English books.

So that's my impression of the Chinese people. They're always on the go and you need to get out of their way. I would compare it to NYC. Which makes since as Beijing is a big city. So maybe we're not that different. Except for the fact that no one would get excited if a foreigner spoke English, it's expected.

Food

So China can't make up it's mind on whether it wants me to be fat or not. Here's why.

I hate chopsticks. I mean, I can use them sometimes, but not most of the time. Thus I can't eat. Therefore China wants me to be skinny.

BUT, then it goes out and fries all of it's food giving it this nice greasy layer. Therefore, it wants me to be fat.

But the food that isn't fried or falls off of my chopsticks has a 50/50 chance of being a vegetable. And those are good for you. Thus they want me to be skinny.

Lastly, the air is so polluted I can't run outside. I rarely did anyway, but now I have an excuse.

So when I come back with an extra 50 pounds, it's not my fault. Blame China.

Guilin

Being in Guilin taught me some key things about China. First, it's still developing. Guilin is a fairly nice sized city, but still really needs some work to bring it up to par. Second, everything is cheap and I can get a lot of fake things. For example, my fake Oakley sunglasses, Foaklies if you will, cost me about $8. Asking price was over $100 when this interaction started. I also started the trip with about $70, and I haven't had to get more money yet. Third, I learned that they are no driving rules, just suggestions. People just do whatever they want when driving. Crossing the street is like playing frogger. It's not like Yale where the cars will stop. It's more like Toad's turnpike where everyone just hits you, you spin out, then keep going. But now I'm back in Beijing. Classes start Thursday. Vacation's almost over.

I'm in China!

Hey y'all. I'm here. Good times. I'm not quite so jet lagged anymore, so life is good. This is pretty much to let you know I'm alive and kicking. I'm catching a flight to southern China at 6:30 AM, so I'm not really up to doing a real post, so live with it. I'll be gone for 5 days. In six days I may or may not post it up for you with some pics. It might be a few days after that too. Anyway. I'm awesome, done some sweet things, and still alive.

Goodbye New Haven

I'm sitting in New Haven, waiting for Helen to wreak her havoc. If this hurricane interrupts my travels, I will destroy her. It rainy and dreary and hot and muggy and I can't wait to leave and be in China where it'll be hot and smoky. Whatever. I'm trying to finish packing, but I'd rather set up a blog, watch the sound of music and eat. I'll be honest, I won't do the best job keeping this up, so don't hate me. I'll post some pictures on here, some on facebook (if I have a good internet connection) and I'm planning on getting a flicker account at some point. Once I set that up I'll let you know. Just don't be pushy. Remember, I am taking a full course schedule and learning Chinese, so I'll do this as I get a chance.