So we had midterms yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I studied. But I had been wishing that I had been more scared about them, because then I would have been more motivated to study. But I tried, and I found that the midterms actually weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be. Totally managable. It's funny how often that happens. You work yourself into a tizzy the night before over the midterms, and then you get to the actual test? Piece of cake.
It took me forever to fall asleep last night, and I felt like a zombie when I woke up this morning. I have quite the system down now, I roll out of bed, put a bra on (I can't go outside with everything swinging!) and go down to the 7 Eleven to buy fruit and a small thing of milk. Then I make oatmeal, and check my facebook. I know, I lead an exciting life. Don't be jealous now.
I do have a confession to make though. My room is kind of disgusting. Not that there is anything growing on the floors or anything, it's just kind of messy. I have hit the point though where I don't want to clean it, because I am only going to be here for three more weeks, so it doesn't seem worth it to me. I'll let someone else deal with the mess. Although I have to admit, there is a small patch of slime on the floor in the bathroom, because it never totally dries out, and I have no shower curtain. If they don't give me a shower curtain, then I am not responsible for what they have to clean up later. That's all I am saying. But maybe I am being petty.
When I got to class today, I was on fire. We were doing a section on the population crisis, and it was a really easy section. Only one other person showed up for class today (clearly, everyone else was dreading getting our test scores back) but it actually turned out really well. The other guy in my class was from New Zealand, and between the two of us, it was a fun class. I learned how to say "exponential function" today. Think I can call myself bilingual yet?
My other class was kind of a mild disaster. There were three of us, and we were all so tired and dead. After ten minutes, our teacher just stopped, and laughed at us for looking so tired. I couldn't blame her. I would have laughed at us too. I was so exhausted I couldn't think straight. I kept getting lost half way through her sentences. In my single class, I just kept staring at my teacher, thinking, this class has to end. I was that tired.
Thankfully, I got a nap. After a trusty lunch from my favorite bao zi place. I swear, they see me coming, and they just know what I want. I love those guys.
It's bed time for me. We shall talk again soon :)
Thursday, July 21, 2011
My Realization: 7 Years in the Making
I had a realization today, one that I have been waiting for for the entire 6 or 7 years that I have been learning Chinese. I finally realized why I love learning Chinese. I have a good answer! It is one that might be a little difficult to understand if you don't know Chinese, but I will do the best I can to help you. And the reason that I love Chinese has to do with how you speak the language.
Take English for example. I can say a sentence like "I love the weather" or "The weather is marvelous." You have no idea what my attitude is when I am saying this, or how I feel about what I am saying. I could be sad, I could be happy, I could be ambivalent. And these words, when you say them, have no particular meaning in and of themselves: they make no description of the meaning, they are simply words put together to make a sentence, and the sentence is the thing that has the meaning, not the words themselves. But it is not the same with Chinese. Not by a long shot.
For every Chinese character, sure, there is an English translation, but there is also so much more. For every character, there is a meaning that can only be explained to you in Chinese. There is a feeling, a tone to every character, and small specifics as to the use of most characters. Each one also has a feeling that goes along with it. So when you say a sentence in Chinese, the wording matters. Not only are you conveying the actual words that you want to say, but you are also conveying the meaning. You are sending emotions to another person, and therefore you are connecting on a level that you can't in English. There are sentences you can say a million different ways, all depending on the feeling you want to send to someone.
The characters are the same. You aren't just writing A or B or C, you are drawing a picture of what you want to say. You don't see people writing English in beautiful flowing script. But every character is actually a picture, a description. For example, the character for "safe" is literally a woman in a house. The character for "society" is God and earth. So even just writing a typical, easy sentence, you are drawing story, and sharing a little bit of yourself with someone. You are showing them one of your talents, and they are showing you one of theirs back.
This is why I love Chinese. Because when you communicate, you aren't just speaking words, you are showing people some of your feelings and thoughts and hopes. The words you use, and the grammar that you use with it, all is an extension of what you are actually thinking. And it is that story, that connection, that I am obsessed with. There is always so much more going on with Chinese than what you can see on the surface, and getting underneath the surface to the real meaning of the characters is what I have been striving for for nearly 7 years now. That is why I love Chinese. That is what I have been working for. And there is no way, in one life time, that I can ever really understand all of the nuances of Chinese, but I am going to dedicate my life to trying.
Take English for example. I can say a sentence like "I love the weather" or "The weather is marvelous." You have no idea what my attitude is when I am saying this, or how I feel about what I am saying. I could be sad, I could be happy, I could be ambivalent. And these words, when you say them, have no particular meaning in and of themselves: they make no description of the meaning, they are simply words put together to make a sentence, and the sentence is the thing that has the meaning, not the words themselves. But it is not the same with Chinese. Not by a long shot.
For every Chinese character, sure, there is an English translation, but there is also so much more. For every character, there is a meaning that can only be explained to you in Chinese. There is a feeling, a tone to every character, and small specifics as to the use of most characters. Each one also has a feeling that goes along with it. So when you say a sentence in Chinese, the wording matters. Not only are you conveying the actual words that you want to say, but you are also conveying the meaning. You are sending emotions to another person, and therefore you are connecting on a level that you can't in English. There are sentences you can say a million different ways, all depending on the feeling you want to send to someone.
The characters are the same. You aren't just writing A or B or C, you are drawing a picture of what you want to say. You don't see people writing English in beautiful flowing script. But every character is actually a picture, a description. For example, the character for "safe" is literally a woman in a house. The character for "society" is God and earth. So even just writing a typical, easy sentence, you are drawing story, and sharing a little bit of yourself with someone. You are showing them one of your talents, and they are showing you one of theirs back.
This is why I love Chinese. Because when you communicate, you aren't just speaking words, you are showing people some of your feelings and thoughts and hopes. The words you use, and the grammar that you use with it, all is an extension of what you are actually thinking. And it is that story, that connection, that I am obsessed with. There is always so much more going on with Chinese than what you can see on the surface, and getting underneath the surface to the real meaning of the characters is what I have been striving for for nearly 7 years now. That is why I love Chinese. That is what I have been working for. And there is no way, in one life time, that I can ever really understand all of the nuances of Chinese, but I am going to dedicate my life to trying.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Live and Learn
I slept phenomenally last night. Seriously. It was glorious. I went to bed at 11, woke up at 7:45. And I was so fast asleep when I woke up, that I didn't know what the fuck was making noise to wake me up, much less where I was, or what my name was. It took me a couple more minutes of lying there to bring myself back to present. I was quite incapable of thinking of a good reason for me to leave my bed and go to class though. Why on earth would I do that? Unfortunately, I had no choice.
I also slightly screwed up breakfast this morning. That is the one meal of the day that I still really can't figure out. What do I eat? This question is even harder to answer while I am in China. I got a small bowl of cereal and some fruit for breakfast this morning, and planned on getting some bao as a snack on my way to class. However. I ended up talking to someone on the phone for far too long, and only got out of my room with 10 minutes to spare to get across campus and back to class. I made it, but I didn't get any food.
Unfortunately, because I had slept so well, and hadn't gotten enough food this morning, my morning classes were a little interesting. I was so tired, because I still hadn't properly woken up, and I was hungry. By the end of classes, I was in full on bitch mode. I gave my speech about Persephone and Hades, and then only one class to go. And I was SO HUNGRY. I think that I might have been a little cross with some people before I got food. You know how it is.
For lunch, I went with Jan and Will to a small hole in the wall noodle place. I was ready to eat an entire field of cows at this point, so I ordered 6 dumplings and a bowl of noodles. Carbo rush much? But the dumplings were amazingly good. Super fresh, and delicious. The noodles were decent, but I am definitely going to go back for the dumplings. We ran into another Californian while sitting at the table, and I talked to him for a while, but my hunger was still screaming at me. I really shouldn't be let out in public when I am hungry. It just isn't fair.
After lunch, I made the terrible decision to go to the gym. I was full on a ridiculous amount of carbs, but I still decided that lifting a bunch of heavy weight would be a good idea. Duh. I am never doing the whole sugar low, sugar high thing again. That was a terrible idea. I feel so embarrassed. I am going to have to eat by myself for the rest of the week.
The gym did not go so well, surprise surprise. I was so full, and I could barely do anything. I did some bench pressing, but abs were strictly out of the question. It only took half an hour for my stomach to be upset and my head to be spinning. I wish I could say I was surprised. I called it quits, and headed back home. I know, I am ashamed too. I showered, and took a nap. It is so god damned hot I have to nap all the time.
My one hour nap turned into a two hour nap, and then it was time to do my homework, and get dinner.
The only other happy thing that happened was that I went to play pool. Even though there was airconditioning in the pool room, it was filled with smoke. I smelled like an ash tray by the end of the night. Don't get any ideas, I am absolutely terrible at pool: I will occassionally make some good shots, but those are totally flukes. But it was a lot of fun. I had a splitting headache by the end of the night because of the smoke, but what are you going to do? It was totally worth it.
I also slightly screwed up breakfast this morning. That is the one meal of the day that I still really can't figure out. What do I eat? This question is even harder to answer while I am in China. I got a small bowl of cereal and some fruit for breakfast this morning, and planned on getting some bao as a snack on my way to class. However. I ended up talking to someone on the phone for far too long, and only got out of my room with 10 minutes to spare to get across campus and back to class. I made it, but I didn't get any food.
Unfortunately, because I had slept so well, and hadn't gotten enough food this morning, my morning classes were a little interesting. I was so tired, because I still hadn't properly woken up, and I was hungry. By the end of classes, I was in full on bitch mode. I gave my speech about Persephone and Hades, and then only one class to go. And I was SO HUNGRY. I think that I might have been a little cross with some people before I got food. You know how it is.
For lunch, I went with Jan and Will to a small hole in the wall noodle place. I was ready to eat an entire field of cows at this point, so I ordered 6 dumplings and a bowl of noodles. Carbo rush much? But the dumplings were amazingly good. Super fresh, and delicious. The noodles were decent, but I am definitely going to go back for the dumplings. We ran into another Californian while sitting at the table, and I talked to him for a while, but my hunger was still screaming at me. I really shouldn't be let out in public when I am hungry. It just isn't fair.
After lunch, I made the terrible decision to go to the gym. I was full on a ridiculous amount of carbs, but I still decided that lifting a bunch of heavy weight would be a good idea. Duh. I am never doing the whole sugar low, sugar high thing again. That was a terrible idea. I feel so embarrassed. I am going to have to eat by myself for the rest of the week.
The gym did not go so well, surprise surprise. I was so full, and I could barely do anything. I did some bench pressing, but abs were strictly out of the question. It only took half an hour for my stomach to be upset and my head to be spinning. I wish I could say I was surprised. I called it quits, and headed back home. I know, I am ashamed too. I showered, and took a nap. It is so god damned hot I have to nap all the time.
My one hour nap turned into a two hour nap, and then it was time to do my homework, and get dinner.
The only other happy thing that happened was that I went to play pool. Even though there was airconditioning in the pool room, it was filled with smoke. I smelled like an ash tray by the end of the night. Don't get any ideas, I am absolutely terrible at pool: I will occassionally make some good shots, but those are totally flukes. But it was a lot of fun. I had a splitting headache by the end of the night because of the smoke, but what are you going to do? It was totally worth it.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Sincerest Apologies
I know that I have been gone for a while. Why, you might ask? I couldn't honestly tell you. I just kind of ran out of steam. I started really just enjoying being in the moment, instead of always waiting to run home and write about being in the moment. Hypocritical much? And I didn't like thinking about the task of making every day life seem interesting. I didn't know how I was going to make two months of class seem fun and exciting. But I think I am going to come back.
I'll start with a proper blog post tomorrow. Or possibly tonight. Who knows?
I'll start with a proper blog post tomorrow. Or possibly tonight. Who knows?
圣诞节
This is a speech I wrote for one of my classes about Christmas.
在历史上，圣诞节是为庆祝耶稣的生日。人们以为耶稣的生日是12月24号，但是很多研究指出，耶稣实际上生于圣诞节的两个月以前。现在，圣诞节已转变为一个Hallmark节庆了。
圣诞节充满了寰宇祥和的感觉，人潮一波接一波地回家，跟爱人一起过。但是，到我们现代的社会情况，人们认为圣诞老人是圣诞节的主人。根据圣诞节的神话来说，每年他和他的工人忙着准备礼物 （给小孩子的礼物），到12月24号才给他们。为了感谢圣诞老人， 小孩给圣诞老人小饼和一瓶牛奶，以满足他的食欲。但是，圣诞老人来他们的家的时候，小孩子不能出去他们的房间，不能看圣诞老人。
在我的老家，每到圣诞节的时候，我们的城市有一个比赛。这个比赛的重点在于房子的装饰。谁有最时髦的装饰就赢了。因此，多个又敏捷又有朝气的年轻人来帮他们的父母把房子装饰亮丽。屋子上的圣诞彩灯反映家里的淳朴和享受的环境。在很多屋顶上，用圣诞彩灯来做的圣诞节老人坐着，像一个卫星一样明亮。
城市倒数到最后一天，然后市民一一来看每个家，然后裁判每一个家。到12月23号，才决定并告诉市民比赛结果。这个比赛结束了以后，人们才可以开始跟他们的家人一起过。
在历史上，圣诞节是为庆祝耶稣的生日。人们以为耶稣的生日是12月24号，但是很多研究指出，耶稣实际上生于圣诞节的两个月以前。现在，圣诞节已转变为一个Hallmark节庆了。
圣诞节充满了寰宇祥和的感觉，人潮一波接一波地回家，跟爱人一起过。但是，到我们现代的社会情况，人们认为圣诞老人是圣诞节的主人。根据圣诞节的神话来说，每年他和他的工人忙着准备礼物 （给小孩子的礼物），到12月24号才给他们。为了感谢圣诞老人， 小孩给圣诞老人小饼和一瓶牛奶，以满足他的食欲。但是，圣诞老人来他们的家的时候，小孩子不能出去他们的房间，不能看圣诞老人。
在我的老家，每到圣诞节的时候，我们的城市有一个比赛。这个比赛的重点在于房子的装饰。谁有最时髦的装饰就赢了。因此，多个又敏捷又有朝气的年轻人来帮他们的父母把房子装饰亮丽。屋子上的圣诞彩灯反映家里的淳朴和享受的环境。在很多屋顶上，用圣诞彩灯来做的圣诞节老人坐着，像一个卫星一样明亮。
城市倒数到最后一天，然后市民一一来看每个家，然后裁判每一个家。到12月23号，才决定并告诉市民比赛结果。这个比赛结束了以后，人们才可以开始跟他们的家人一起过。
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