Busy week

Sorry, this week will be lacking in posts, we have tests coming up. I'll be studying.

Until next time

-Ben

The Olympics!

I'm guessing the Olympic Village was more interesting during the Olympics. Having a 2400 meter long 160 meter wide walkway is great, unless there's not much reason for people to be walking on it. Although it was far from a ghost town, full of tourists, mostly in-country tourists.

It didn't help things that the pollution level today was pretty high too. Trying to get clear pictures was near impossible, and with the size of the stadium, also known as bird's nest, the pollution was evident inside as well.

The architecture of the stadium is pretty interesting, but it's old, faded and rusted in parts, and generally seems uncared for. They charge for admission to walk around and see the inside concourses, and the field is large, you can get a great view of the occasional segway races held for tourists around the infield track, but other than that and videos about the olympics, there isn't much else.

There's also the water cube across the way. But during the day, it's just a blue box with weird circles on it.

The long and the short, I was unimpressed with the 'tourist' site. I don't doubt it was exciting during the event, but now it's just gathering dust, almost literally.

-Ben

The more the merrier

Today, a new student arrived in Beijing from the University of Kentucky. His name is Reid, and he's come to intern in China for a few weeks. I managed to catch up with our KEI partners as we had lunch, and helped Reid get a rundown of the campus. I'm worried about him, since he doesn't speak a lick of chinese. He should be ok, but it isn't the easiest thing to just jump into a society where your communication is troublesome. We'll be going to see the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest olympic installations tomorrow. I'll bring back pictures.

In other news, I spent a long time talking with my close friends Brandon Swanberg and Maja Fus, (separate instances) it's good to catch up with old friends. I also managed to meet up with Cherry and we talked for a good while about many things. Other than that, I spent my day studying and drafting notes for a short story I'm writing for a friend.

Apologies for the lack of big news in this post, today was uneventful, although the weather continues to be stellar,*knock on wood*.

-Ben

Another day in the life...

We started a new book in class today. Our final exam only covers our first book though, so I'll be spending the next week reviewing for that test. I've got a good freling in regards to the final.

Apparently, my study company partner thing, KEI, has a new student coming in, so I'll be meeting them tomorrow, I'll let you know.

Other than that, today was pleasent and uneventful, and the weather was very comfortable.

-Ben

Dragon Boat Festival, 端午节

Today was the Dragon Boat festival, a holiday that celebrates the suicide of an ancient poet and statesman known as QuYuan, 屈原，and also celebrates the turning of the year and such not. People eat ZongZi, specially prepared rice, and have boat races with crew teams on boats with dragon-styled prows.

I spent the morning sleeping, awakening to a phone call at noon from Crystal with an invitation to hang out for the day. We were joined by XiaoBai and spent 3 hours+ sitting in a coffee shop talking and making up stories together, it was a great time. Before everyone else arrived, I spent time perusing the bookstore nearby. When I was about to leave, a man kindly stopped me and asked me to help him find a book to learn english with. Being a bookseller at heart, I didn't hesitate to search around with him until I found a certain type of book I'd used myself which had chinese and english side-by-side.

When I got back to the dormitory, I was greeted with a wonderful sight. Enjoy,

I hope that pasted,

Ben

The simple things

People talk about the things we take for granted all the time, and I always brushed it off and said that I truly appreciated those 'simple' things. Surprisingly, that is not the case. Of course, the 'simple' things I'm about to talk about aren't very simple, but they're staples of everyday life I've come to expect. 

First and foremost is reliable internet. This was important to me before, and any kind of hiccup with my connection would irritate me, but living in China, where connections are usually slow, limited by a firewall, with infrequent connectivity, has given me a new opinion.

This opinion has multiple parts, 

First, I've learned to live without, for the most part, since internet is never assured, I've realized that the things I used it for previously were inconsequential, since I get by just fine when it isn't available. 

Second, that I really rely on the internet for certain parts of my life, like news, communication and entertainment. While in China, my access to english language news is restricted to my ipad and the internet. Or out of date magazines that have biases, like the economist. So, as a result, I've started paying more attention to news stories, after discovering the ability of an ipad or other mobile platform inaccessing it (when I have internet). 

Looking at news from a perspective outside of america gives it a vastly different tint. For example, take the recent news of PRISM, most people are concerned with it being used on domestic targets. No one seems to consider the fact that it is targetted on alien subjects, non-americans. Think about the population of the world, and realize how many people that covers. I've heard several friends scoff at the restriction of companies like google, facebook, yahoo, etc. who aren't allowed full functionality in China, those services instead served by native companies. In terms of business. It is a isolationist tendency, but when you see things like this program of spying, you begin to understand why China might want business based in China.

People sometimes wonder why America has negative publicity in other companies, without thinking about why other countries may dislike us. If you're worried about someone spying on your personal activities for no reason, imagine someone who finds out they may be surveilled simply because they aren't American. 

But it's not as if America only does negative things. I recently had a chance to talk with a man fom Serra Leone. When he spoke of the US and China, he condemned china for what he explained as a selfish approach to wealth, and praised American help in constructing hospitals and defending civilians in his country.

But to get back to the original topic,

The second thing I miss is safe food. I never really think about the safety of food in America, but just assume it is safe. Here in China, I just assume the food isn't safe. For instance, I recently bought some pineapple from the campus supermarket, and was happily munching away on the delicious, golden fruit, until I felt a weird taste in my mouth, and a sensation akin to numbing or prickling of my nerves. I immediatly stopped and looked up the safety of pesticides used with pineapples. What I found convinced me to probably never eat a pineapple again, in China, and perhaps in America as well.

The problem with pineapples isn't just that some of the pesticides used to make it juicy and golden are unsafe, it's also the effects the cultivation of the fruit have on communities and cultures. For instance, in Costa Rica, the fruit barons like Dole are still exploiting the poor, politically weak residents of Costa Rica and Nicaragua in order to produce cheap fruit. In America, how often do you think about where your food comes from? Maybe you should do some research, or look at the way the animal who's muscle you're eating is raised. Who knows what you're putting in your body?

Third, when someone tells you a price of a service, or that you can't do something, are they trustworthy? Before, I just assumed if someone said they couldn't do something, that it just wasn't possible. Now, when someone says no, I no longer think, 'ok, guess not,' I think, are they really not able, or should I ask a different way, or offer them something. Maybe I was simply too trusting before or something, but now I look at a no more as a 'for you, no.' The reason being, sometimes in China, if someone says something isn't possible, it could just be apathy speaking, and if someone who is from China comes along and asks for the same thing, and persists in asking, they get what they wanted. I don't just feel that this is a difference of culture, I think it's part of culture everywhere, to an extent.

There may be more revelations I've had during my trip, but we'll stop here for now, and see if I can get some internet in order to upload this post.

-Ben

Sleeping like the dead

I spent the majority of my Sunday sleeping, falling asleep after a very late night out and waking up late. I ate, read, studied and talked, but it was a slow, lazy, rainy sunday. The rain was soft, but fell constantly. On one of my brief forays out, I found a world shrouded in dusk, clouds dark grey and cloudy. The rain fell softly upon my slightly disheveled hair with a featherlight touch. The normally slightly tarnished state of Beijing was transformed to a damp, shiny set of slightly tarnished, but wet buidlings. Despite the cool weather, despite the falling rain, some female students still wore high-heeled sandals, short cut dresses, and would still hold on to their boyfriends arm, just like if it were sunny. The umbrella they use is even the same. Protection against the sun, precipitation, all wrapped in one well designed package.

I've not got very much more to say for now, but here you go.

-Ben

Living large and in charge

 Now, you might be wondering, "Ben, what are you doing up at 1:45 AM when you have classes at 8:00 AM?" I would, of course, polite reply thusly, "Why, my dear reader, it is because I've only just returned, and I made a promise to write a new blog post daily. Promises are important!" To which the insightful reader (read: you) would exasperatingly reply, "No, not why are you writing, what did you just get back from?"

To cut to the chase, and to stop controlling what you would say, as I'm sure that is irritating, I've just returned from a 'livehouse'. A livehouse is a music venue featuring live music, every night of the week. Rules are, if you come, buy a drink, some gigs cost money for entrance. Simple enough for even a foreigner to understand (it helps that almost everyone spoke english). Now, to proceed with this story, I have to tell another one, bear with me.

Last sunday, around 9:00 PM, I got a call from my friend Juanjuan. She told me there was a student concert on cams, and encouraged me to attend. So, being the adveturous, music-loving, sex, drugs, and rock&roll soul that I am, I jumped right up out of my chair, leaving my chinese textbook unattended in the white zone (loading and unloading only) and zoomed my cute, little behind over there.

The concert was vastly entertaining and fulfilling. Listening to people from several different countries sing in chinese and english. But the details must wait for another time, this story is too long already, due to my wordy mood. At this concert, there was a girl. She had short hair, played bass, and stole my heart. Ok, maybe the last one was an exaggeration, but her voice is stupendous, and she sang english as though it was a native language to her. Obviously, I was impressed and asked Juanjuan who she was. So Juanjuan introduced me to her, and I got her phone number.

Right, moving along, story waits for no man. So, and this is another story shortened for the purpose of telling the original story, she invited me to come out with her and friends this night. Of course, my (see long self-praising list from above) and lazy self went out to meet her. I found the place easily, and entered to find the small bar absolutely packed with people. I made my way to the bar, and got a beer, then started looking for JiangNan, 姜楠, (Gee-ahng Nan). Found her pretty quickly, but there was a set going on, so beyond exchanging waves through the small crowd, we didn't get a chance to speak for a bit.

After I met her two other band members, 蓝han LanHan (I'm not sure what character is his first name, so just han for now) and 木帅 MuShuai, I found out that tonight, the bar had 7 bands playing in sucession, because the drummer who was in each band was leaving to return to Australia tomorrow. 

I heard jazz trios, chinese rock&roll, samba, flamenco, erhu, piano and sax trio and more. The drummer was quite talented and capable in different styles. And even though my ear and musical education are both lacking, I enjoyed myself Immensely. There were times I just closed my eyes and listned to the soulful melody of the saxophone played by a young student. And needless to say, the drummer was a treat, it almost made me want to start playing drumset again. Who knows, maybe I will so I can join a band next time I'm in Beijing.

Anyway, that's why I'm so late. 

Love traveling,

-Ben

Cats and Dogs

Today it rained, again. The weather is cool, and cloudy, almost like Kentucky in the spring time. Speaking of rain, I have a fun story to share.

Earlier this week, a friend of mine from ShangHai was in BeiJing on business, but she managed to get a free evening to spend with me. We ate together at a XinJiang restaurant, Uigher-style, with kebabs and everything. We went with two friends I've made from our Chinese Corner class and we spent several hours talking. After that, we joined my classmate Andy to go out and eat chuar, 串儿, basically, more kebabs. We were sitting in the dusk of 9:00 PM, drinking beers and talking about many things when the sky began to ripple with lightning in the distance. Being the curious sort, we watched it for a bit, then went back to eating. This happened a few more times during our conversation, and we began so see several of the outdoor restaurant cart owners setting up tents. Luckily enough for us, the tents were up pretty quickly. While we were chatting, in a matter of seconds, the weather went from cool and clear to drenching rain. We dived under the questionable cover of the tents, saving our small stools as well. The rain continued for about 10 minutes, worming it's way under the cover of the tent and still managing to drip on people. Being the hardy sort, we were willing to wait it out, and then resume our merriment.

While waiting, I got a good look at the street, and when I say it was pouring, it felt like what I imagine rainforest rains do. Part of the street was up to about 3 inches or more deep of water, and as cars would go by, they made waves in the lake collecting at the entrance to our small alleyway. Andy began telling us a story about the previous year where he'd been caught in this type of rain, only that time the rain continued for 10 hours. Cars were submerged, he was trying to run in the street with water up to above his knees. Sounds like fun, to me.

Anyway, it remained off and on, steady rain after the initial opening up of the sky, but we still had a good evening under the tents, and we parted with smiles.

Turning over a new leaf

Instead of posting long, infrequent and partial recollections of my erstwhile adventures in China, I'll try posting a minor story every day, as a way to remind myself not only of home, but to help me structure my day better.

So, to begin, as you always should, at the beginning, today is June 6, 2013, and my subscription to TrainChinese has run out. TrainChinese is a company that maintains several useful applications for reviewing and learning Mandarin, among them, writing practice, listening practice, flash cards and more. However, more important than the company or what it does is the fact that I originally purchased a 3-month subscription around the middle of March. This really emphasizes to me that time has passed, without me even noticing it. Friends back home have graduated, my nephew has grown up from a newborn to a thriving 4 month old toddler, and my fluency with Mandarin has improved enough that I almost can't believe that before I was so confident, despite knowing so little.

3 months turns out to be a long time. I came here with the intention to improve my Mandarin as much as possible, and though it has improved beyond my expectations, I know I can still push my limits, and if I'd spent more time studying, and less missing home or goofing off, I would be even better. At the same time, focusing on studying for such a long time, on top of 7 hours of class daily, with organized trips to famous places on the weekend, and frequent meetups with language partners and chinese friends, the result is that I am almost always tired. 

Add to that that almost every day of the past week has seen me waking up for no evident reason between 4AM and 5AM with no real desire to go back to sleep, and I suppose it's no surprise my focus is slipping. 

Anyway, that's enough for today, I think, look forward to my post tomorrow.

-Ben

聪聪, my new internet name, because I'm certainly not 本本, although I am Ben.