Language barrier has nothing on me

It is in those times of desperation that we realize how far adrenaline can get us.

Yesterday I hung out with two friends (Isabella and Mike) after classes at school (yes we had classes on a Saturday- every Saturday, in fact).  We went to Mike’s host family’s apartment and played cards with his host brother and then braved the pouring rain in order to get dinner at the nearest food place, which happened to be McDonalds (ok I admit it, we all really wanted to go there. After three weeks of oily Chinese food, a burger and fries was a really welcome- and delicious- change of flavors).  We went back to Mike’s place and watched some episodes of Big Bang Theory.  By then it was about 10:30 at night and Izzy and I had to leave.  Mike helped me catch a taxi because he knows Chinese better than I do, and next thing I knew I was zipping off toward Sichuan University, because I had left my bike there. My plan was to get dropped off there, grab my bike, and ride home.

However, I had left my bike inside a gated courtyard and by that time the courtyard was locked up.  I didn’t let that phase me, though, and I just turned around and went back out the university to catch another taxi. However, the driver did not know where my address was, even though I showed him a card with it written in Chinese characters. So I let him drive off and decided I would just try walking.  After about twenty minutes of walking over slippery cobblestones that were still wet from the afternoon’s deluge, and dodging puddles, I had not gotten very far at all.  The whole trip between home and school takes about 20 minutes by bike, and I thought it would be about double walking. However, the distance I had covered in 20 minutes of walking I could cover in about 5 on my bike.  By this time I think it was after 11, and the Peace Corps asks us to be back home by 11 as a courtesy to our host families.  I wasn’t too tired but I realized the impossibility of my pedestrian pilgrimage and I really didn’t want my host family to get too worried. I also didn’t want to get home well after midnight.  I pulled out my Chinese dictionary and wrote down the words for left and right and hailed another taxi, determined that I would communicate my destination to him.  I said to the driver, in Chinese, “I don’t speak Chinese but I can tell you left and right.”  I guess that’s a pretty vague thing, and the driver did seem a little confused, but I could tell he wanted to help. I kept indicating my right and left hands and speaking as well as I could in the very limited Chinese I have in my arsenal, and finally he nodded and let me in. Ten minutes later I was walking up to my apartment complex, feeling very proud of myself.  Yes it was my fault that I had left my bike at school in a gate that would be locked late at night, but instead of panicking I rallied the little Chinese I had and was able to direct a taxi driver to my place.  As I write this, I realize it may not seem like a big deal, but I felt pretty victorious to not have had to walk over an hour on wet slippery ground late at night in a foreign country.  The main victory was the initial request of conveying to a taxi driver that I couldn’t speak his language or give him a final destination, but that I could direct him how to get where I wanted to go.

Now I just need to figure out how to say “Can you please pick me up at school” in Chinese so if this happens again I can just ask for help from my host parents. 

A note on my posts

PS I don't know why certain parts of my blog show up in white. I am not doing that on purpose so I am sorry if it bothers you! Just highlight the text with your cursor and it will be easier to read.

Also, I hope no one is expecting a post every other day! I have language training and TEFL training every day, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 to about 5:30. I come home sweaty and exhausted, take a shower, eat with my host family, then study until my brain turns to mush (around 9:30 or 10) and then sleep.  Peace Corps training is definitely one of the most intense experiences I have had. We even have four hours of language class every Saturday!! My goal is to write a blog posting at least once a week.  I am definitely not complaining, in fact I relish the challenge and I am enjoying the opportunity for growth. I just want to keep things real for everyone!

Please send me your questions about my experience!

Check your Western standards at the door

There are definitely a lot of things in China that are weird to me: squat toilets; traffic rules (or lack thereof); trash piles on sidewalks; people spitting really loudly in public; etc.  My survival strategy, though, in order to keep my own sanity, is to not judge ANYTHING by Western standards but rather just accept things as I see them.

Squat toilets really aren’t that bad, and I hear it’s more natural for your body than sitting on a toilet (Peace Corps volunteers learn quickly to get over qualms about talking about bathroom stuff so I apologize if this is TMI). 

The traffic is chaotic without a doubt but there is a rhythm to the madness, which I am adapting to every day as I ride my bike to school.  People pull out of driveways without looking for oncoming traffic. Cars move in to the bike lane to pass other cars.  Cars pass other cars- that is a BIG thing here, even on narrow two lane roads with lots of curves (like the one along the river I follow to get to school).  I have only been biking to school for a week but I already feel like I kind of understand the flow.  It’s a matter of being assertive, especially when making left turns.  The best thing is to get in the turn lane, especially if there are already cars there waiting to turn. Then you just go with them and then get back to the right side (“bike lane”).  If not you have to wait at the cross walk which can take a long time.  You have to be alert of what’s going on but also just keeping doing your thing. Like when cars are zooming past me honking like crazy I don’t freak out. And actually it’s nothing personal, but it’s just how cars communicate. This makes a lot of sense! In America people only honk if they are angry or annoyed, whereas in China it’s a whole other language by itself. You honk to let someone know you are about to pass them; you honk before going around a curve; you honk to alert another car or biker of your presence.  It’s not unfriendly, and as jarring as it can be, it makes sense to communicate with your horn and not just express negative emotions.   By the way, every time I can make a left turn without having to use the cross walk I get super excited- it’s like a little victory of integrating into the society here!  As for the trash piles and public spitting, that is still really gross to me and I don’t know if I will ever be cool with it but at least I am learning to ignore it.

Let me just say that it is great to be an easy-going and adaptable person when traveling.  I am so grateful to not have any special dietary needs.  I can eat whatever is handed to me and I generally don’t get an upset stomach (knock on wood). Some of the things that other volunteers complain about don’t really bother me. Like some people still avoid the squat toilets, because their host families have Western toilets, and there is one on campus, in the Peace Corps office.  I got over my aversion to that the first full day in China. I will admit it was a little off-putting to me when I first arrived but once I did it, I no longer worried about how weird it was. It’s just what you do. Plus you can’t not go to the bathroom, so why not just get over it?  The one thing that is sometimes hard for me is the heat and humidity.  Fortunately, most days it’s overcast, which means that although it’s still hot and humid it’s a little more bearable.  Yesterday, on the other hand, was super sunny.  Normally I love sun but here it’s just makes it darn near unbearably hot and the mosquitos come out more and everyone smells bad.  Being super hot and super tired from the intense week of training and language learning made me a little crabby yesterday!

Speaking of language, today I was invited to join another beginner class that moves a little more quickly than the class I am currently in. Which is exciting because it means that I have made progress and it’s been noticed by the language teachers! I am sad to leave my class because the atmosphere is very light-hearted and we can laugh at our own mistakes.  I like those classmates. However, it will be nice to move a little bit more quickly in learning the language.  I can often understand when my teacher asks us questions and generally I can respond appropriately.  Communication with my host family is still hit or miss but I am getting used to the questions/statements my host mom asks/makes every day, like what did you eat for lunch, do you like it, eat more, and eat slowly.  There are still times when I stare blankly at her after she says something even if it’s something she’s said half a dozen times before, but it’s getting better.   

Chinese is actually pretty logical and many times a word will be the combination of other words: for example, delicious (hao chi) is a combination of good (hao) and eat (chi).  Makes sense, right? I am starting to pick up on the pattern.  It is crazy to think that I just started learning Chinese a week and a half ago, and I now know a stack of vocabulary flash cards that is over an inch high.  I can order food in a restaurant, I can call for help, I can hear a phone number and right down the correct numbers, I can distinguish (some) individual words and sounds I hear people say, I can introduce myself and other people, I can say if I like or don’t like something, I can say if I want or don’t want something, I can bargain in the market…   The Peace Corps definitely does a great job of giving volunteers a crash course in a new language.  It may seem odd to some people that I am in China knowing that I am a Spanish major, but I did request Asia or Eastern Europe because I wanted to experience a brand new culture and learn a language I know nothing about.  It is so exhilarating to me to see that I can be placed in culture as extremely foreign as China, and with a language as COMPLETELY foreign to me as Chinese and see that I can adapt and learn.  Wow, what other joys will this experience bring??

 I am so grateful to be here.  The other volunteers are all exceptional people and every day I learn something from them.  We all come with such different backgrounds and experiences.  Many are like me in that they just graduated college this May, or within the past year. However, several have Masters Degrees have taught quite a bit in the US and/or other countries, like Korea.  We have several Grad students in our midst as well.  They are all so smart, and definitely fun to hang out with.  I feel that I can hang out with anyone from this year’s group of China volunteers and be completely content.  That’s comforting, seeing as how we will be each other’s support group for the next two years! I think we are doing a really good job of supporting each other on our bad days and through our struggles.  It’s hard sometimes to explain to people back home what we are going through here, but we all understand each other.  Whether you’re experiencing diarrhea, homesickness, frustration with the language, anxiety about teaching, or whatever, there is someone else here is going through or has gone through the exact same thing.

A big part of the Peace Corps goals and expectations for its volunteers is that we establish good guanxi, or relationships, with Chinese people, starting with our host families.  They are meant to be the support system we would normally get from our family in the US.  The goal is cross-cultural exchange: we teach them English and American culture and they teach us Mandarin and Chinese culture.  I am striving to do my best to establish good relationships with my host family.  As it’s only been a few days it is still kind of awkward with the language barrier, but we can communicate the important things through isolated words, poor grammar, and gestures/charades.  It definitely pushes me to be creative in my communication!  Their English level is maybe just a little bit better than my Chinese level.  My problem is that I can’t always remember Chinese words just after hearing them. I need to hear it several times, say it several times, see it and write several times.  Many times they ask me a question like, “Do you like?,” “Did you sleep well?,” “ Do you want?”  Even though I have heard those questions several times by now I often stare back at them with a blank look, and then they say it in broken English. Good thing they are really patient! It's also nice to see that they are trying to learn English, too. We are in the same boat. I think it would be harder if they had no interest in learning English.

I try to also be patient with myself and keep a sense of humor, which is easy for me, as you may know.  I enjoy joining them in their evening walks around the neighborhood and observing all the people walking around.  I’m not used to that, because in Ventura everyone is pretty much in their homes in the evening except for a few people out walking their dogs or exercising.  But here it’s so hot that the whole community takes to the streets to walk and chat.  That is kind of nice. I have always wanted to live in a place like that, and to know my neighbors.  One night we walked to a little shop to get a house key made for me, and while the guy was carving it, I talked with some young kids who are learning English. I taught gave them high fives, which they loved, and taught them to say “what’s up” which I am not sure that they understood!   I also watch Chinese TV with my host parents, and one night we watched Up with Chinese subtitles!  I have gone with my host dad to watch him fly his model airplanes with his buddies.  I really want to be a part of their routines and activities! I am hoping to learn mehjong which is a popular Chinese board game.  I also review what I learn in my Chinese lessons with them, and they help me with my pronunciation.  I think I am really lucky with my host family because some of the other volunteers live with families that are less patient or less understanding of personal space. My host parents don’t seem to mind that I spend hours on my computer, on Skype or reading materials for my Peace Corps training sessions.  My host dad is really funny and he loves American culture. He loves the movie Kung Fu Panda, Celine Dion, and KFC.  The other day he demonstrated to me the difference between the way Chinese and Americans eat: the Chinese people shovel their food and make a lot of noise slurping their noodles. But Americans will take a bite, put their fork down to say something, wipe their mouths, and then take another bite.  It was really funny to see him do impressions of both groups!

Firsts

     Seeing as how this is my first official blog from within China, I thought I would start off by sharing my firsts so far. There are going to be so many new experiences and mile stones. Here’s to my many more!

(Just a note on terms I will be using in my blog: As of last Friday when we had our Staging, or Pre-Departure Orientation Training, in LA, we are no longer Peace Corps Invitees but Trainees.  We won’t be official Volunteers until we commit to serving in China and swear in on August 29, and then we will start teaching sometime after that. We are now doing Pre-Service Training, or PST, for the next eight weeks or so until that date. We will be learning Chinese and how to teach English. We also receive training on how take care of our health. Until this Friday, we are all together for Orientation at Sichuan University, and then on Friday we will move in with our host families and separate into different training sites, which are all in Chengdu but at different universities, meaning we will all be 30-40 minutes apart from each other).

First impressions of Chengdu, Sichuan, China

• ·         We walked out of the airport to a wall of humidity, and a light drizzle. It was also very hot.
• ·         Lots of car dealerships
• ·         Lots of construction and building new apartments (there is a house boom so everyone is trying to buy a place to live)
• ·         Sichuan University is huge, and if I understand correctly, there are several large campuses spread out throughout the city so it’s kind of like Oxford where many different schools make up the university

Other Firsts

Yesterday marked the first full day, and so naturally there were a lot of firsts to experience!  The following bullets were all from the same day… keep in mind that I had training from 8:30 until about 3:15. That will give you an idea of how packed (and awesome) my first full day was.

• ·         First time using a squat toilet (twice actually, and it’s not as bad as I thought it would be- in fact, I kind of like it because it’s pretty quick).
• ·         First training sessions of Pre-Service Training, which is the time until the end of August before we actually start teaching. We had our first Mandarin lesson (so exciting!!!!!) and our first health information meeting (there’s a lot to take in! We did get an awesome medical kit that should help us handle anything from diarrhea to itchiness to dehydration to the common cold.
• ·         Ate out at my first restaurant in China. I had delicious dumplings with pork and leek which cost 8 RMB which is the equivalent of about $1.50, which makes me very excited.
• ·         Played Frisbee for the first time in China, with three other trainees.  Several Chinese people walked by us and stared curiously.
• ·         Had my first hot pot. Similar to Korean or Japanese barbeque where you cook your own stuff. We did the all-you-can-eat buffet where you pick up trays of uncooked meat and vegetables and pour into a boiling pot of sauce that’s set into the table.  You wait until it’s cooked and then pull stuff out with your chopsticks or the ladle, and then pour more stuff in. So fun!
• ·         Had my first more-than-three-hour dinner. This was at the hot pot place and we just sat and talked and digested and then got more food and ate more. It was great. We were actually eating with some awesome current volunteers (part of the China 16 and 17 groups. I am China 18 meaning I am part of the 18^th group to be sent to China with Peace Corps since 1993). They had some great stories and advice for us.
• ·         First time at a karaoke bar. After the long dinner, we walked with the current volunteers towards some night clubs and on the way we spotted some friends outside a karaoke bar so of course we ran in and sang some songs (Billie Jean and Sweet Caroline).
• ·         First time dancing at a night club in China, with many Chinese people. We actually went to two different clubs.  Both places had a little stage/ raised areas so we all danced on that, and random Chinese people would come and dance with us.

Without a doubt, that was a highly successful and epic first day.