Wednesday, May 14th
Photo: Rebecca and I with our language partners outside of Zeng Xian Zi (the classroom building), taken after we completed our field work today.
Today was our second day of language pledge, so it goes without saying that it was a somewhat strenuous day. This morning for breakfast I went to a small stand right outside of our hotel (Xiyuan). There are usually two stands: one stand has all kinds of steamed buns (baozi): red bean buns (hongdou baozi), vegetarian buns (shucai baozi), and meat buns (rou baozi); while the other stand has Chinese pancakes that you can fill with cucumber, tofu strips, potato strips, and so on. Many of us have discovered that eating breakfast at these little stands is not only more convenient, but incredibly inexpensive. Each bun is 1.50 yuan (about $0.24), and the pancakes are 4 yuan each (about $0.65).
After breakfast, we all headed to our respective language classes. My language class happens to be Intermediate Chinese 1, so I headed to room 308 with my classmates. Our class building, called Zeng Xian Zi, happens to be so close to Xiyuan, they are practically connected. First, we had our four-hour block class from 8:00 – 12:00. The first half of the class was taught by Zhang Laoshi, while the last two hours were taught by her grad student, Cao Laoshi. After class, we headed over to Bird Flu Alley for lunch. Bird Flu Alley is a small side street with a variety of cheap Chinese street food. Since I am a vegetarian, some of my favorite dishes to get there are egg fried rice, egg fried noodles, vegetarian dumplings, and steamed buns, but they also have a great variety of meat dishes. Last night, two of my friends tried some Chinese specialties there – noodle soup with duck liver and duck intestines!
Eating together on language pledge days is always an experience. In the classroom (from 8:00 - 12:00), speaking only Chinese is not that hard. But as soon as you leave the classroom and are only with your peers, you have to strain yourself much more to avoid letting an English word slip out. Despite this obstacle, I really think all of us did a great job today. We were not merely silent all day, which probably would have been easier, but rather were having actual conversations in Chinese. (Even writing this blog in English right now feels somewhat unnatural after speaking Chinese all day). Maybe our grammar was similar to that of a three-year old – but so be it! We were navigating streets, having conversations, and ordering food all in a foreign language.
As I went to order my three vegetarian steamed buns today, the vendor told me my Chinese was pretty good. I guess a “wai guo ren” (foreigner) speaking Chinese will always surprise them, but nonetheless, I was flattered by his compliment, and glad that yesterday's language pledge was already paying off.
After lunch, from 2:00 – 2:30, we had our first dictation, for which we had to memorize 50 different Chinese characters! I think it went pretty well, but boy did that take a lot of studying. After this short test, it was time for language partners. I really look forward to language partners. Not only are they closer to our age, so they can sometimes clarify things that we didn't understand in class, but they are so eager to help us learn. In between going over homework and reviewing grammar and so on, we can also talk about our days and experiences in China with them. They are not just our study partners, but our friends who can give us advice and help us navigate this foreign country that they know so well.
Since today's lesson was about giving and asking for directions, we reviewed that vocabulary with them, and then went out for an hour asking for directions and using the vocabulary we learned in class. I get along very well with my language partner, so the outside fieldwork is always fun, while at the same time, we are able to use the new language skills we were taught that day in class.
Along with studying every night for quizzes and dictations, we are assigned daily homework in the workbook, so our schedule is packed. Between eating, sleeping, and our course work, there is little free time, but I have made sure to make the most of the these rare occasions. For the past two nights, I, along with other classmates, have been using the outside track here at Nan Da. Although you can physically feel the pollution in your lungs after just a mile, this definitely helps me sleep better at night, and is just a fun activity to do with friends. Lots of people here exercise at night, since it is so hot during the day.
Tomorrow is our last day of language pledge for this week (we have it every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). I'm not going to lie – I can't wait to be able to speak English again during the day and express myself clearly! But at the same time, I can already feel my Chinese improving tremendously. Although there are many obstacles and sometimes it can be almost impossible to get a point across with inadequate vocabulary, I am enjoying this program so much, and can't wait for what the rest of this week has to offer.
Zai jian!
Molly
Photo: Rebecca and I with our language partners outside of Zeng Xian Zi (the classroom building), taken after we completed our field work today.
Today was our second day of language pledge, so it goes without saying that it was a somewhat strenuous day. This morning for breakfast I went to a small stand right outside of our hotel (Xiyuan). There are usually two stands: one stand has all kinds of steamed buns (baozi): red bean buns (hongdou baozi), vegetarian buns (shucai baozi), and meat buns (rou baozi); while the other stand has Chinese pancakes that you can fill with cucumber, tofu strips, potato strips, and so on. Many of us have discovered that eating breakfast at these little stands is not only more convenient, but incredibly inexpensive. Each bun is 1.50 yuan (about $0.24), and the pancakes are 4 yuan each (about $0.65).
After breakfast, we all headed to our respective language classes. My language class happens to be Intermediate Chinese 1, so I headed to room 308 with my classmates. Our class building, called Zeng Xian Zi, happens to be so close to Xiyuan, they are practically connected. First, we had our four-hour block class from 8:00 – 12:00. The first half of the class was taught by Zhang Laoshi, while the last two hours were taught by her grad student, Cao Laoshi. After class, we headed over to Bird Flu Alley for lunch. Bird Flu Alley is a small side street with a variety of cheap Chinese street food. Since I am a vegetarian, some of my favorite dishes to get there are egg fried rice, egg fried noodles, vegetarian dumplings, and steamed buns, but they also have a great variety of meat dishes. Last night, two of my friends tried some Chinese specialties there – noodle soup with duck liver and duck intestines!
Eating together on language pledge days is always an experience. In the classroom (from 8:00 - 12:00), speaking only Chinese is not that hard. But as soon as you leave the classroom and are only with your peers, you have to strain yourself much more to avoid letting an English word slip out. Despite this obstacle, I really think all of us did a great job today. We were not merely silent all day, which probably would have been easier, but rather were having actual conversations in Chinese. (Even writing this blog in English right now feels somewhat unnatural after speaking Chinese all day). Maybe our grammar was similar to that of a three-year old – but so be it! We were navigating streets, having conversations, and ordering food all in a foreign language.
As I went to order my three vegetarian steamed buns today, the vendor told me my Chinese was pretty good. I guess a “wai guo ren” (foreigner) speaking Chinese will always surprise them, but nonetheless, I was flattered by his compliment, and glad that yesterday's language pledge was already paying off.
After lunch, from 2:00 – 2:30, we had our first dictation, for which we had to memorize 50 different Chinese characters! I think it went pretty well, but boy did that take a lot of studying. After this short test, it was time for language partners. I really look forward to language partners. Not only are they closer to our age, so they can sometimes clarify things that we didn't understand in class, but they are so eager to help us learn. In between going over homework and reviewing grammar and so on, we can also talk about our days and experiences in China with them. They are not just our study partners, but our friends who can give us advice and help us navigate this foreign country that they know so well.
Since today's lesson was about giving and asking for directions, we reviewed that vocabulary with them, and then went out for an hour asking for directions and using the vocabulary we learned in class. I get along very well with my language partner, so the outside fieldwork is always fun, while at the same time, we are able to use the new language skills we were taught that day in class.
Along with studying every night for quizzes and dictations, we are assigned daily homework in the workbook, so our schedule is packed. Between eating, sleeping, and our course work, there is little free time, but I have made sure to make the most of the these rare occasions. For the past two nights, I, along with other classmates, have been using the outside track here at Nan Da. Although you can physically feel the pollution in your lungs after just a mile, this definitely helps me sleep better at night, and is just a fun activity to do with friends. Lots of people here exercise at night, since it is so hot during the day.
Tomorrow is our last day of language pledge for this week (we have it every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). I'm not going to lie – I can't wait to be able to speak English again during the day and express myself clearly! But at the same time, I can already feel my Chinese improving tremendously. Although there are many obstacles and sometimes it can be almost impossible to get a point across with inadequate vocabulary, I am enjoying this program so much, and can't wait for what the rest of this week has to offer.
Zai jian!
Molly
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