Friday, September 11, 2009

Written 9/8

Yesterday morning I registered for classes. The system here was never fully explained, and it was a huge pain in the butt in order to know what classes are available to whom, but the actual registration itself was extremely easy. WebAdvisor sucks in comparison. Actually though, before we registered, every foreign student had to register for enrollment two days ago. THAT on the other hand, was a nightmare. There were crowds of people forming a bunch of lines everywhere and no one spoke English. We needed insurance from the government, which was another line (it was cheap, but I’m sort of pissed that W&J charged us for insurance if it doesn’t count in China).

Anyway, I signed up for 5 classes. I plan on taking only 4 of them, but I will decide based on which I like the least. I emailed Dr. Caffrey and he kindly got permission from the necessary department heads for me for each class. I am taking Sino-US Relations Rise of Asia; Chinese II, International Organizations; Public Policy; and the Regional Scenario of Asia Pacific. Each meets only once per week (except Chinese which is twice) so my schedule is not too full.

Yesterday was my first run in China. I had taken some time off for my Achilles tendonitis (which seems to be completely healed –knock on wood-) and I didn’t want to run until I was comfortable with the area. I went for an easy run from my dorm to the track and back. It was about a 5 mile run.

In order to avoid the heat of the day, I went at 6:30 am. By the way, the sun comes up very early here because there is only one time zone in China. The sun is up at about 5. I noticed that although the streets weren’t as busy and crowded as usual, even that early in the morning, there were scores of people out and about. I ran through the gardens on campus (which are extremely interesting and sweet). Both in the gardens and as I approached the athletic facilities I noticed hundreds of old people practicing taichi. Seriously, there are people doing taichi freaking EVERYWHERE.

I finally got on the main track, which is actually really nice, and there were a lottt of people running and walking on it. There didn’t seem to be any system of track etiquette like there is in the U.S. There were old men walking in lane 1 through 8. I also noticed that everyone was realllllly slow. It was amazingly funny to get weird looks as I leisurely passed all the aged joggers and young people struggling around the track. Occasionally some of the slow runners would stop to read a sign about the upcoming Shanghai Marathon in October. If there is a half, I will run it, but I can’t read the sign. It was funny to me that so many people were interested in it though, particularly having seen how slowly they run.

On my second of 3 easy laps around the track, an old man ran up beside me, poked me in the arm in order to urge me forward around the track, and yelled “Ni paobu hen kuai!!” (“You run very fast!!”) and then ran behind me. He was huffing and puffing unbelievably as I continued on my regular pace. I couldn’t understand if he wanted to race or just run with me, because every time I turned to ask him anything he just earnestly pointed down the track. After about 110 meters he waved me off and said laughing “xiexie xiexie” (“thank you thank you). Who knows what that was about haha.

I had my first class Monday. It seems fairly similar to a W&J class, particularly since one of the two cooperating professors is from the University of California. My classes have primarily UCLA, UCE, and UCSD students. My Chinese II class seems to be the right level for me, but my teacher has trouble with English so it will be hard defacto. She speaks very quickly. I thought she was asking me what my major was, but she was actually telling me that I was very handsome. I think it could be because I look so different from most of the other students. (97 percent of China is Han Chinese, and that makes me an extreme minority). Needless to say my friends ripped on me for being the white guy again after class. Hahaha its cool though.

One more note, Annie helped me get my bank card today so that I can get my monthly food stipend later. I owe Annie so much. She has been the biggest help ever since I arrived.

Pictures pending.

2 comments:

  1. the context of that "thank you thank you" really meant "i give up/you're too much" its like reverse chinese sarcasm

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  2. I sense you're taking a liking to this Annie character

    ReplyDelete