Not much new, to be honest. Our days have been consisting of fighting jet lag, pushing through culture shock, walking, and eating, in approximately that order. I think we've been pretty successful so far.
Yesterday, we walked around Houhai, a lake near Derek's apartment. It's famous for its (mediocre, truth be told) night life, but it's actually rather charming during the day. Derek wanted to check out a Catholic university that was taken by the government in 1927 - it's currently being gutted and remodeled, although thank God the building isn't being torn down and "restored," which often happens here. On our trek, we chatted with some rickshaw (actually pedicab) drivers and found some "political" graffiti, which got Derek excited. It said, in English, "Money," and below, "Utopia."
Sorry that we haven't taken any pictures yet. I'll try to get on that soon, but I'm kind of embarrased just imagining taking pictures while the myriad construction workers watch bemusedly. I'll swallow that one of these days. I promise.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
Beijing Daze
--From Tom--
We seem to be falling into a bit of a routine here, although I suppose that happens in any situation. Everyone in the apartment wakes up at Derek's 7:30 alarm (he has to go teach). He then bikes around the corner to get some fried bread for breakfast, which we all eat around the card table. Once he goes off to work, Lisa generally sleeps a bit more, and I'll read or write in my journal. Then, we go to an internet cafe, go somewhere nearby for lunch, and then head somewhere else in the city by public transportation.
Yesterday, our destination was the Bookworm on Sanlitun (a trendy road where lots of expats hang out in east Beijing). The Bookworm is a cafe with a giant collection of English-language books. It acts as kind of a library, and you can get a memership there for a monthly or annual fee. It offered a nice place to kick back, relax, get out of the heat, and read.
At the Bookworm, I came across a book called China Road by Rob Gifford, an NPR correspondent. The book is about how he traveled the 312, which goes all the way from Shanghai to Kazakhstan (which is around 3000 miles), and reported all along the journey. The interesting thing, though, is his background. He studied European languages in high school, and then decided to take Chinese in college, spent a semester in Beijing, and returned when he graduated. Strange - that last sentence could also be used to describe both Lisa and me.
After the Bookworm, we didn't do too much. Hung out at the apartment, watched a movie, and went to dinner with Derek.
Also, the weather is finally relenting a bit. It rained hard last night, so it actually feels pleasant here (minus the pollution). The humidity's dropped, and it's cool outside. I was astonished that, upon returning from my early morning walk to the bathroom, I was not sweating buckets.
Tomorrow morning, I have my first job interview. It is withe the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Although I'd still prefer the other job, I'm using this one as a backup. Hopefully that means I won't be too nervous.
That's all for now, folks.
We seem to be falling into a bit of a routine here, although I suppose that happens in any situation. Everyone in the apartment wakes up at Derek's 7:30 alarm (he has to go teach). He then bikes around the corner to get some fried bread for breakfast, which we all eat around the card table. Once he goes off to work, Lisa generally sleeps a bit more, and I'll read or write in my journal. Then, we go to an internet cafe, go somewhere nearby for lunch, and then head somewhere else in the city by public transportation.
Yesterday, our destination was the Bookworm on Sanlitun (a trendy road where lots of expats hang out in east Beijing). The Bookworm is a cafe with a giant collection of English-language books. It acts as kind of a library, and you can get a memership there for a monthly or annual fee. It offered a nice place to kick back, relax, get out of the heat, and read.
At the Bookworm, I came across a book called China Road by Rob Gifford, an NPR correspondent. The book is about how he traveled the 312, which goes all the way from Shanghai to Kazakhstan (which is around 3000 miles), and reported all along the journey. The interesting thing, though, is his background. He studied European languages in high school, and then decided to take Chinese in college, spent a semester in Beijing, and returned when he graduated. Strange - that last sentence could also be used to describe both Lisa and me.
After the Bookworm, we didn't do too much. Hung out at the apartment, watched a movie, and went to dinner with Derek.
Also, the weather is finally relenting a bit. It rained hard last night, so it actually feels pleasant here (minus the pollution). The humidity's dropped, and it's cool outside. I was astonished that, upon returning from my early morning walk to the bathroom, I was not sweating buckets.
Tomorrow morning, I have my first job interview. It is withe the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Although I'd still prefer the other job, I'm using this one as a backup. Hopefully that means I won't be too nervous.
That's all for now, folks.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
It's Still Humid and Smoggy Here
Back at the same internet cafe as yesterday. Derek showed us a cheaper one last night, but when we went this morning they wouldn't let us in without our passports, which is kind of odd. Anyway, let's be honest: the other place is only 1 yuan cheaper per hour - about 12 cents. I'm not too worried.
After our last post, we walked around the surrounding blocks and found a little market street swarming with people shopping for the day's groceries. We bought some steamed buns (baozi) stuffed with eggplant (qiezi) that were good, if a little strange. Then we started a trek to Wangfujing, a famous shopping street crammed with name brand stores and - of course - people. (One Beijing constant: people. Everywhere.) We remembered eating at a snack street there on our last visit, and we wanted to try to find it again. We had some success; we ended up at a snack street, but I'm not sure it was the one I remembered.
The subway was crowded, of course. I got my laugh of the day when a young boy and his grandparents got on a stop after we did, and as the grandma tried to sit down with the boy next to me, which were the only available seats, he cowered in fear and hid his face in his grandmother's chest. The whole ride she nagged him, "Say so-and-so to her!" and he'd reply, "No, grandma, we didn't learn that in school!" Eventually he introduced myself and shook his hand. It was pretty cute.
There are an awful lot of foreigners in Beijing these days; Derek says there have been more and more arriving, I imagine in anticipation of the Olympics. The strange thing is that they are so rude to each other! Nobody will so much as make eye contact, and they shove each other a little harder than usual on the subway.
The jet lag is catching up to us. After our excursion to Wangfujing, we laid down on the couches to rest and, to our surprise, woke up several hours later when Derek got hungry for dinner. We ate at a dumpling (jiaozi) restaurant, which was nice - so nice, in fact, that we may head over there for lunch.
Apologies that my post isn't as eloquent as Tom's last one - I'm feeling a little bit exhausted. Having to work hard to do basic tasks wears on me. That said, we're both well fed and happy, and we haven't had any trouble with the food yet (knock on wood).
P.S. We were getting worried because we hadn't heard from the woman connecting us with jobs here in a few weeks. The thought crossed my mind more than once that we were scammed - though thank goodness they didn't get my passport from me. Anyway, Tom just got an email from the middlewoman connection saying that she had just talked to our connection and that she is setting us up with a tour soon. So maybe we will be employed after all.
After our last post, we walked around the surrounding blocks and found a little market street swarming with people shopping for the day's groceries. We bought some steamed buns (baozi) stuffed with eggplant (qiezi) that were good, if a little strange. Then we started a trek to Wangfujing, a famous shopping street crammed with name brand stores and - of course - people. (One Beijing constant: people. Everywhere.) We remembered eating at a snack street there on our last visit, and we wanted to try to find it again. We had some success; we ended up at a snack street, but I'm not sure it was the one I remembered.
The subway was crowded, of course. I got my laugh of the day when a young boy and his grandparents got on a stop after we did, and as the grandma tried to sit down with the boy next to me, which were the only available seats, he cowered in fear and hid his face in his grandmother's chest. The whole ride she nagged him, "Say so-and-so to her!" and he'd reply, "No, grandma, we didn't learn that in school!" Eventually he introduced myself and shook his hand. It was pretty cute.
There are an awful lot of foreigners in Beijing these days; Derek says there have been more and more arriving, I imagine in anticipation of the Olympics. The strange thing is that they are so rude to each other! Nobody will so much as make eye contact, and they shove each other a little harder than usual on the subway.
The jet lag is catching up to us. After our excursion to Wangfujing, we laid down on the couches to rest and, to our surprise, woke up several hours later when Derek got hungry for dinner. We ate at a dumpling (jiaozi) restaurant, which was nice - so nice, in fact, that we may head over there for lunch.
Apologies that my post isn't as eloquent as Tom's last one - I'm feeling a little bit exhausted. Having to work hard to do basic tasks wears on me. That said, we're both well fed and happy, and we haven't had any trouble with the food yet (knock on wood).
P.S. We were getting worried because we hadn't heard from the woman connecting us with jobs here in a few weeks. The thought crossed my mind more than once that we were scammed - though thank goodness they didn't get my passport from me. Anyway, Tom just got an email from the middlewoman connection saying that she had just talked to our connection and that she is setting us up with a tour soon. So maybe we will be employed after all.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
A Brilliantly Shining Gray
Lisa and I arrived safely in Beijing yesterday around 3:00 pm. The plane ride and the airport reminded us of the true China, the one we lived and loved and laughed about. Then, just, a few jokes exchanged with the taxi driver later, we found ourselves in downtown Beijing, inside the Second Ring Road.
We're currently staying with our comrade from Calvin's Chinese program, Derek. He has a nice little place in the hutongs. The hutongs, for those of you who are curious, are the old alleyways on the north side of old Beijing, winding and narrow. To find his place, we simply asked where the Canadian lived, and his neighbors helped us out.
Everything's been great so far. Although we're still a bit tired, we're both excited to be back in Beijing. Last night, we went to a trendy new street just down the block and had our first taste of meat in ages, yangrouchuar, or lamb ke-bobs. They were delicious.
This morning, I woke up around 5:30 am (jet lag) and walked around the hutong. I had put on the first change of clothes available in my bag - a gray T-shirt and gray shorts. Moving through the alleys, I noticed that I blended in with the local pollution, so thick you could barely see 150 feet in front of you. I feel like there's symbolism in that anecdote, but I'm not sure what.
Anyway, we're currently in an internet cafe, and we'll be exploring more of the city, running errands, and trying to get in contact with our employers in the coming days.
We miss you and hope that all is well in the States, or wherever you may be.
We're currently staying with our comrade from Calvin's Chinese program, Derek. He has a nice little place in the hutongs. The hutongs, for those of you who are curious, are the old alleyways on the north side of old Beijing, winding and narrow. To find his place, we simply asked where the Canadian lived, and his neighbors helped us out.
Everything's been great so far. Although we're still a bit tired, we're both excited to be back in Beijing. Last night, we went to a trendy new street just down the block and had our first taste of meat in ages, yangrouchuar, or lamb ke-bobs. They were delicious.
This morning, I woke up around 5:30 am (jet lag) and walked around the hutong. I had put on the first change of clothes available in my bag - a gray T-shirt and gray shorts. Moving through the alleys, I noticed that I blended in with the local pollution, so thick you could barely see 150 feet in front of you. I feel like there's symbolism in that anecdote, but I'm not sure what.
Anyway, we're currently in an internet cafe, and we'll be exploring more of the city, running errands, and trying to get in contact with our employers in the coming days.
We miss you and hope that all is well in the States, or wherever you may be.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Frequently Asked Questions
RE: OUR TRIP
Q: Where are you going?
A: Beijing, China.
Q: When do you leave?
A: Tuesday morning, very early. We have a layover in Vancouver and will be arriving in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon.
Q: How long are you going to be there?
A: However long we feel like. No, really, we have one way tickets. (And no, we won't be home for Christmas.)
Q: Do you have a job lined up yet?
A: We have a job offer from the North China Electric Power University that is looking pretty nice. We'll be making a very good salary and the fringe benefits include an apartment, health care, round trip international plane tickets, and bonuses - and we'll only be working 20 hours a week. So, we're going to check it out in person next week and see what we think - and if we like it, we'll sign the contract. Otherwise, we're back to looking.
Q: How about a place to live?
A: Well, if we take the job with the university, they'll provide apartments for us. Otherwise... no. But we'll find one. (So you can sleep at night, parents and other concerned adults, we do have plans to stay with a friend when we first arrive - we just don't have our own apartments yet.)
Q: Are you fluent in Chinese?
A: Heck no. But we're working on it. Ask us again in 20 years.
Q: How can we contact you?
A: This website is one good way. We both have Gmail accounts - if you need our addresses, let us know. We both also have Skype, so if you want to schedule a phone call we could do that as well. We'll have cell phones, but unless you'll be in China, that will be an impractical method.
Q: Are you doing missionary work?
A: No.
Q: Can we crash on your couch when we come to visit?
A: Um, probably? Just run the details by us when you have them.
Q: Will you write a post about ____?
A: Sure. Send us your ideas, people!
A FEW VARIOUS QUESTIONS RE: CHINA
Q: What is the time difference between here to China?
A: It all depends on where "here" is. China - yes, the whole country is one time zone - is nine hours ahead of the West Coast and twelve hours ahead of Michigan. (But they don't do the Daylight Savings Time thing, so it will all change in a few months.)
Q: How big is China?
A: Landmass-wise, about the size of the U.S. Population-wise, enormous. The current official number is 1.3 billion, but some scholars estimate they might be up to 1.5 billion.
Q: Is the language really just a bunch of little pictures?
A: Well, no. Each syllable has a meaning and is represented by a character. (Words can be one character or a combination of them.) Some of the characters are highly stylized pictures of their meaning, but most characters are made up of a radical, which usually indicates a category into which the character fits (for example: food, water, fire, weather, grass, speech, tree, etc.), and a phonetic, which gives a clue (and little more) as to how the character's pronounced.
Q: Are you allowed to be a Christian in China?
A: Yes. In fact, the government supports Christianity (as well as Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and Daoism - Confucianism isn't really considered a religion). There is a government-run church that anybody can attend, and there are also so-called "underground" churches. As I understand it, these would probably be better called house churches, as you can register them with the government, and as long as they stay within a "reasonable" size, the government doesn't really mind - generally speaking. However, throughout Chinese history, religion has been a vehicle for political uprising, which is why the government is paranoid about large unofficial religious gatherings. There is also a Bible printing press that makes Bibles widely available for about $1 (so don't bother smuggling in Bibles!). It is true that some Christians are persecuted to some degree in China, but not nearly as much as some people (with ulterior motives perhaps?) would like you to believe.
Q: What do you know about the one-child-policy?
A: I wrote my honors thesis on it. Here's the summary: girl babies are still abandoned, aborted, or killed, but it's becoming rarer and rarer. There are a lot of doomsday warnings about China's demise due to the policy, but they'll most likely work themselves out. And, in my opinion, a population growth policy is necessary for a country as big as China is. As you probably wouldn't guess, it's kind of a touchy subject for me personally, but I can give you many more details if you're interested. Just ask.
Q: Where are you going?
A: Beijing, China.
Q: When do you leave?
A: Tuesday morning, very early. We have a layover in Vancouver and will be arriving in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon.
Q: How long are you going to be there?
A: However long we feel like. No, really, we have one way tickets. (And no, we won't be home for Christmas.)
Q: Do you have a job lined up yet?
A: We have a job offer from the North China Electric Power University that is looking pretty nice. We'll be making a very good salary and the fringe benefits include an apartment, health care, round trip international plane tickets, and bonuses - and we'll only be working 20 hours a week. So, we're going to check it out in person next week and see what we think - and if we like it, we'll sign the contract. Otherwise, we're back to looking.
Q: How about a place to live?
A: Well, if we take the job with the university, they'll provide apartments for us. Otherwise... no. But we'll find one. (So you can sleep at night, parents and other concerned adults, we do have plans to stay with a friend when we first arrive - we just don't have our own apartments yet.)
Q: Are you fluent in Chinese?
A: Heck no. But we're working on it. Ask us again in 20 years.
Q: How can we contact you?
A: This website is one good way. We both have Gmail accounts - if you need our addresses, let us know. We both also have Skype, so if you want to schedule a phone call we could do that as well. We'll have cell phones, but unless you'll be in China, that will be an impractical method.
Q: Are you doing missionary work?
A: No.
Q: Can we crash on your couch when we come to visit?
A: Um, probably? Just run the details by us when you have them.
Q: Will you write a post about ____?
A: Sure. Send us your ideas, people!
A FEW VARIOUS QUESTIONS RE: CHINA
Q: What is the time difference between here to China?
A: It all depends on where "here" is. China - yes, the whole country is one time zone - is nine hours ahead of the West Coast and twelve hours ahead of Michigan. (But they don't do the Daylight Savings Time thing, so it will all change in a few months.)
Q: How big is China?
A: Landmass-wise, about the size of the U.S. Population-wise, enormous. The current official number is 1.3 billion, but some scholars estimate they might be up to 1.5 billion.
Q: Is the language really just a bunch of little pictures?
A: Well, no. Each syllable has a meaning and is represented by a character. (Words can be one character or a combination of them.) Some of the characters are highly stylized pictures of their meaning, but most characters are made up of a radical, which usually indicates a category into which the character fits (for example: food, water, fire, weather, grass, speech, tree, etc.), and a phonetic, which gives a clue (and little more) as to how the character's pronounced.
Q: Are you allowed to be a Christian in China?
A: Yes. In fact, the government supports Christianity (as well as Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and Daoism - Confucianism isn't really considered a religion). There is a government-run church that anybody can attend, and there are also so-called "underground" churches. As I understand it, these would probably be better called house churches, as you can register them with the government, and as long as they stay within a "reasonable" size, the government doesn't really mind - generally speaking. However, throughout Chinese history, religion has been a vehicle for political uprising, which is why the government is paranoid about large unofficial religious gatherings. There is also a Bible printing press that makes Bibles widely available for about $1 (so don't bother smuggling in Bibles!). It is true that some Christians are persecuted to some degree in China, but not nearly as much as some people (with ulterior motives perhaps?) would like you to believe.
Q: What do you know about the one-child-policy?
A: I wrote my honors thesis on it. Here's the summary: girl babies are still abandoned, aborted, or killed, but it's becoming rarer and rarer. There are a lot of doomsday warnings about China's demise due to the policy, but they'll most likely work themselves out. And, in my opinion, a population growth policy is necessary for a country as big as China is. As you probably wouldn't guess, it's kind of a touchy subject for me personally, but I can give you many more details if you're interested. Just ask.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Welcome to our Blogspot!!
Well, we've finally settled on a blog name (maybe?). We decided to try Blogger because it's probably the only site to which we can post while we're in China - although we probably won't be able to actually see our page, as all blogspot blogs are blocked by the "Great Firewall." It's kind of complicated.
Anyway, in a few days - Tuesday morning, to be precise - we'll be "hitting the plane" to China. More soon.
Anyway, in a few days - Tuesday morning, to be precise - we'll be "hitting the plane" to China. More soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)