It is official: I’ve reached the halfway point. I cannot believe that I’ve lived here in China for 2 months already. The way the program was set up, it places our vacations about 3 or 4 weeks apart. This makes the time go by faster, in my opinion. First was the Hangzhou weekend trip, then the Hong Kong weeklong trip, next our independent trip which I’m going to Malaysia, and finally, after the program is over, my sister will be here!
There are many things in the Chinese culture that I love: one of them being how active lively they are, especially the elderly. They all value their health and try to do activities that will be better for them. This can be in the form of eating or even exercise. Fruit stands are everywhere and are considered more of a dessert, and the elderly can be seen everyday working out either in the park or just wherever there is open space. If I had to choose a place to retire, it might just be China because of this aspect, but only if their health system greatly improves by that time.
This last Sunday, we went to a park just outside of Shanghai to get some fresh air and to exercise. We rented boats and went out on them, but the boat that three other guys and I got on, ended up breaking! We were stranded in the middle of this lake. Luckily, one of the teachers was nearby and could call the workers for us, and they sent us a new boat. But once we got it, we called it a day for boating. Instead, we went and played volleyball. There were two little boys that joined us, and they wanted us to help them get better and teach them how to serve. It was so much fun playing with them and trying to teach them with a mix of some Chinese but a lot of slowed down movements.
When it comes to the younger generations, most of them are using technology in some way, shape or form. They will shop online, play video game, or watch TV shows and movies online. Every time that I take the subway, people are always on their phones playing Bejeweled or some video game otherwise they are watching either a TV show or movie on their phone. I think it is crazy how dependent on technology we are. I mean the first week that we got here, everyone was so upset that we didn’t have Internet or wifi in our room because it was a holiday week for everyone (Chinese New Year). I understand telling your family, friends and loved ones that you are safe, but I feel that we place too much of an emphasis on technology and do not enjoy everything else that the world has to offer.
As for the classroom, Chinese class has been pretty much the same the whole time. I’ve learned around 500 new words thus far and can tell that not only my speaking has improved but so has my listening and comprehension. My teacher has been great with everything and my roommate is always there if I need help on homework or to simply just teach me a new word.
My roommate has also taught me about other things. One of them is simply how to order food online from Pizza Hut so that it is delivered to my room. Ha! Another one of them is dating in China. You have to be 21 in order to get married in China. Also, if you aren’t married by 30, your parents will start to become very worried. For example, every weekend you can see parents with flyers at various parks, especially People’s Square in an attempt to match up their daughter or son with someone!
She has also informed me about the education system here. For example, all through your time in school, they will keep a file on you. Each year your teacher will write comments about you and track your academic progress. This file will be sent to future employers so you have to make sure to not do bad things that could be permanently written within this file; however, you are NEVER to know what the teachers have wrote. She made a really good connection about this to the movie Les Misérables. What she said was that in the movie, Jean Valjean got a second chance. He stole the loaf of bread and was punished, but then he stole the silver and should have gone back to prison again. Instead Myriel said that it was a gift and Jean is able to make a very good life for himself. She said that this would never happen in China. If you mess up once, you will lose face and not be respected in the same way ever again.
Sorry my posts are so long but I tend to do longer posts less often than short ones quite often.
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