Birthday Food: Yes, More Food

It turns out that my first day of school wasn’t actually an official day of school. It was just a day where students receive their textbooks and clean their classroom. I met some classmates who were really nice, and then afterwards I went out to lunch at McDonald’s with my host brother and his friends. After eating we played this Chinese card game (which I won every time), and I was actually inside a McDonald’s for over three hours. Only in China…

This past Saturday I woke up really early and went to the driving range with my host mom. I just sat there while she golfed because it was way too hot. Afterwards she drove to a huge parking lot in between a bunch of traditional Chinese buildings, and I thought we were at a shopping mall. It was actually my first touristy experience in Tianjin (and I took no pictures… oops)! The place was called Tianjin Shi Jia Da Yuan. According to my ticket, it is “the first mansion in the north of China” and “the first theatre in the cnit mansion,” whatever that means. It was a lot of fun to walk around it and see traditional Chinese buildings, though. I also saw a bunch of pictures of Mao and a miniature performance of the Beijing Opera.

On the way home from Tianjin Shi Jia Da Yuan, my host mom bought some patties with meat for me to eat. I only noticed that the paper it was wrapped in said “donkey meat donkey meat” after I had finished. For dinner we went out for hot pot, which I had been dying to try. We mostly had lamb, and it was fantastic.

Saturday was my host father’s mother’s birthday, so my host family and I traveled to Hebei province. It was about a two-hour drive, and I met my host father’s entire family. I think there were about twenty people total, and so I think you readers should know what that means by now. Food. Lots and lots of food. So much food. Too much food. After eating all of this food, everyone napped. Perhaps it was a Chinese siesta?

When we left Hubei, I thought we were on our back home. It turns out I was wrong once again. We went to the Tanggu district of Tianjin to meet my host mother’s sister, husband, and son. At their house we ate more food. My host parents left my host brother and me there, and they just kept feeding us for what felt like forever. On the train ride home an adorable girl no older than four peed on the door two inches away from my foot. Her mother held her there to pee.

Today was my first real day of school! My host brother and I were late (woops), but we somehow managed to sneak into our class’ line in the schoolyard. All the classes stood in lines and listened to different administrators talk, and then they all sang the national anthem. It was really awkward because everyone wore the school uniform except for me.

My first day of school was pretty fun. I enjoyed meeting everyone and seeing different parts of the school. My school is located in a really convenient area; for lunch there are many restaurant options. Some of my classmates and I went to a skewer and soup restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately my class doesn’t do eye exercises (more on this later), so the day just ended after my last class was over.

Tomorrow I’m going to Shanghai with my class. We’re going to see the EXPO and meet another school. We’ll go to Shanghai Tuesday night and arrive Wednesday midday.

Fireworks and Dodging Cars

A few days ago I was just sitting in the living room with my host brother, and out of nowhere I heard something that sounded like cannons being shot. So of course I had to inquire. I asked my host brother if he knew what the sound was, and he just turned to me and said, “Hmm… maybe fireworks?” I opened the curtain and BAM. No more than three feet away from the side of an apartment building, people were launching off fireworks. I asked my host brother what the reason was and he just said, “Maybe it’s their birthday or maybe they are just happy.” He then continued to casually read the book in his lap.

Since my last post I have been fed very much (of course). I’ve tried zhajiang mian, lamb dumplings, and Beijing duck, which was fantastic. Three days ago we went out for Korean barbecue, and I saw another foreigner on the street. I could not stop staring.

I’ve also become an expert at crossing the street. I enjoy crossing the street now. I’ve renamed it “Dodging Cars”. I have also successfully taken the bus to my Chinese classes alone.

Today was the last day of my language class. I previously forgot to mention that my class was at Tianjin Foreign Studies University. Tomorrow is my first day of school. I will get to and from school by bicycle. The first day is a half-day, so I might go out to lunch with my host brother’s classmates after!

On a completely different note, the mosquitoes in Tianjin are deadly. Never come here. You will die.

It’s Not Over Until They Bring Out the Fruit

The last day of our orientation went well. One of the volunteers even gave us a demonstration on how to use a squatter toilet. All of the students living in Beijing got picked up by their host families at about five o’clock. Then all of the other students left the hostel to go to Tianjin. The group consisted of two German girls, a Thai girl, and me.  We had to take a super crowded bus to get to the train station, and the train station was actually across from Tiananmen Square, but I didn’t get to see it. We got to the subway during rush hour, and it was super super packed. When we walked in, we had to put our bags through a security checkpoint, but the person at the checkpoint wasn’t even looking at the screen.  When we finally got to the actual train, we had to wait three times because they were all too crowded, and when we got on the train, no one could move at all. We then transferred trains and had to wait just as long for a less packed train which we couldn’t really fit on anyway. Eventually we got to Tianjin. It’s easy to tell when you get to the city because the air is much dirtier.

My host parents, host brother, and host uncle (my host father’s driver) picked me up at the train station. My host uncle drove to dinner, and on the way my host brother and I talked. His spoken English is actually amazing. I found out that he’s not even planning on taking the Gao Kao because he plans on going to college in the US. On the way to dinner, my host mother showed me the tallest building in Tianjin. For dinner we ate at the Goubuli restaurant. Gobuli (Go Believe in English) is a Tianjin baozi brand. The restaurant was amazing. We had pork, beef, vegetable, and seafood baozi with tofu soup, mushrooms, and some unknown vegetable. My favorite baozi was the one with seafood. According to my host brother, “Tianjin’s seafood is beautiful and diverse.” After eating about sixty pounds of baozi, my host family kept on putting more on my plate. I don’t think I have ever eaten so much in my life. I kept telling them that I was full, but they still fed me. Finally, after eating maybe sixty pounds more, I just refused.

When we arrived at my host family’s apartment, they gave me a pair of house shoes. The apartment is located on the fifth floor of a really nice area. I unpacked in my room, and my host mother wouldn’t let me put my shoes into the wardrobe because it’s unlucky. After unpacking I went and watched TV in Chinese that I obviously couldn’t understand. My host family then proceeded to feed me fruit.  I died. And then took a shower and went to bed.

I had to get up at six-thirty the next morning because I had to be at Tianjin Foreign Studies University at nine for my Chinese class, and we also had to drop my host brother off at his SAT class. We ate at a cafeteria-like restaurant on our way. My host mother got me a bowl of rice porridge, two English muffin-type sandwiches filled with egg and ham, and three of these famous Tianjin fried dough sticks. I can’t remember the name of the dough sticks. I died again. There was too much food.

My language class consists of the other YFU students and me. We had to introduce ourselves using “key words” in Chinese, so I said that I am an American student that likes to the play the violin. During the language class we took a bus to the bookstore to buy textbooks. The bus was once again extremely crowded, and it was about thirty-six degrees Celsius outside. The bookstore was over seven stories tall, and I sort of successfully asked an employee where the Chinese books for foreigners were in Chinese. When we returned back to the university, my host mother was there to pick me up.

At home my host mom cooked me a gigantic lunch of rice, vegetables, and shrimp. It was very good, but I obviously wasn’t hungry. I ate it anyway because I didn’t want to be rude. After lunch my host mom took me to the police station to register my residency. I actually have no idea what happened at the police station, but we just sat there for a while and then left. On the way home from the police station, we stopped to buy me a cell phone. I now have a really cheap phone, so if you readers come to China, I can give you my number (which I don’t actually know)! I just sat around the house studying Chinese for the rest of the afternoon. My host brother came home a bit after six, and when he walked in he turned to me and said, “Oh here’s some food. I thought you might like it!” I once again died. Fifteen minutes after that, we ate dinner. We ate some sort of fish, and I learned how to take the head, tail, and legs off of a shrimp. I ate as much as I could, but I was full from the beginning because my host family feeds me every fifteen minutes.

My host mom never lets me help her around the house. I keep telling her that I want to help (which I can now say in Chinese!), but she won’t let me. So instead of helping my host mom clean after dinner, I just talked with my host brother. When my host mom was done cleaning, we went for a walk. I thought I was done eating, but no. We stopped at a place called Holiland (好利来), and I tried something called bingzhou which is shaved ice with fruit and beans. It was really good, but I wasn’t hungry. My host mom bought some different Chinese bread for me for breakfast. They then showed me where Pizza Hut is and what to order because they wanted me to eat there for lunch today.  When we got home my host mother turned on the English TV channel and fed me fruit. This is a good thing. In China, it’s not over until they bring out the fruit. If you ever find yourself in China, please remember this. You don’t need to speak a word of Chinese or understand an ounce of the culture. Just know that fruit is the end.

Today I woke up and had to travel to my language class by taxi. On the way home one of the other YFU students’ host mothers insisted that she drive me. When I got home I was instructed to go to Pizza Hut and order a pizza and sausages. I did not go to Pizza Hut. I did not eat. I did weigh myself, though, and I’ve gained seven pounds.

China!

I arrived in China on Saturday at about three in the afternoon. Since then I’ve been in a hostel with other YFU students. There are five students from Germany, one from Ecuador, one from Hungary, one from Thailand, and a girl from Hawaii. Everyone is really nice, and I feel really special because everyone comes to me with English questions. So far at this post arrival orientation we’ve played some games, discussed expectations, and learned a lot about Chinese culture and family life. I’m still in Beijing, but I haven’t really seen much. Our hostel is in a hutong, and so the surrounding area seems pretty neighborly. There are lots of families eating on the streets together next to local shops.

Tomorrow is the last day of my orientation. I will then take the train to Tianjin where I will meet my host family. I will have a two-week language course, and school starts on September 1^st.

再见

The Internet in Mainland China is highly censored. Websites such as Facebook, Youtube, and Blogger are banned. Many people refer to this as the “Great Firewall of China.” This firewall is blocking my blog, so I cannot post while in China. This is where my friend Stephanie comes in. If you look to the right of my posts and down a bit, you’ll notice that this blog now has two contributors. Whenever I write a post in China, I will email it to Stephanie. Stephanie will then post it on this blog for me.

Last post I mentioned that I will be attending the Chinese division of a local school. Right after posting, I found out that I might be placed in the international division for two months to give me a better transition. After two months they would transfer me to the Chinese division and have my teachers talk to me about what grade and class would be ideal for me. It sounds like I will be able to learn a lot of different people this way. Anyway, I leave tomorrow! These past few days I’ve been organizing a lot of my clothes, overdosing on all the cheese that I will not be eating for an entire year, and today I finally packed. I was pretty successful in packing a year’s worth of clothes, gifts for my host family and a few people I will meet throughout my stay, and a portable pharmacy formed by my mother.

I depart Friday morning at seven, and I fly to San Francisco. I then fly to Beijing after a short layover. I will spend two days in Beijing for a YFU orientation, and then on the 15th I will take a train to Tianjin where I will be met by my host family. I will try my hardest to post as often as I can in China. Until then, 再见！

天津

A few months ago I learned that I will be living in a city called Tianjin for the duration of my exchange in China. Tianjin is a coastal city of twelve million people located on the Bohai Gulf and is about 130 kilometers from Beijing and a thirty-minute trip by high-speed rail. It is one of four municipalities governed directly by the Chinese government, so it is essentially its own province. Tianjin is famous for its baozi (Chinese steamed buns) and is home to a famous form of traditional Chinese theatre called Beijing Opera. A fun fact: In the 2006 movie Fearless starring Jet Li, the character Huo Yuanjia is based off the real-life martial artist of the same name, who was actually from Tianjin and is known for having brought great honor to the city.

About a month after finding out my host city, I got more exciting news, this time about my host family. I received a letter from YFU which told me that I will be living with a mother, a father, and their sixteen-year-old son in the Hexi district of Tianjin. I have exchanged emails with my host brother several times, who seems very friendly, but I still know very little about the family. Nevertheless, I am very excited to meet them and am looking forward to living in Tianjin! I also have found out that I will be attending Tianjin Experimental High School, which is also located in the Hexi district. What I have learned about it so far through some Internet research is that it has over 4,000 students (about twice the size of my American high school!) and is one of the city’s top five high schools. Apparently there are two components within the school, Chinese and international, and I will be part of the Chinese component. I will be placed with sophomores, even though I will be 3 years older than them, the reasoning behind this being that juniors and seniors will be too occupied with studying for important university entrance exams to be distracted by an opportunity to socialize with a foreign exchange student.

Anyway, as of today, I officially have 8 days until I leave! Almost exactly a week. I am very elated to be leaving so soon for what will be an awesome once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!