I currently have free moment between tutoring and modern Chinese history class.
Chinese classes have been fairly intense. I've quickly realized how little Chinese I know. Over the course of the week, I currently am taking 19 hours of Chinese, as well as two hours of tutoring and many, many hours of studying. Both of my Chinese professors have been educated or teach at Beijing Language and Culture University. So they know what they are doing...it's just that I don't.
At least I have a few classroom phrases down, such as "is this word similar to this one?" "Can one say this?" and "I've forgotten this new word." The phrase that I've gotten the most milage out of, however, has been "I'm sorry, I don't speak Chinese very well." When the language barrier is too large, I just try to endear myself to the server/cabby/pedestrian and hope for the best. So far, things have worked out well.
I'm feeling more at home here...maybe "at home" is not quite correct, but I at least feel confident in the area surrounding Beida. The discovery of the century has been a couple of coffeehouses in the neighboring commercial area called wudaokou. It's helped immensely to have a quite place to study, particularly with cappuccino in hand. Of course, it's a very Western experience, with Western prices to boot.
This is currently my life: class, coffeehouses and studying. Not a bad life, I suppose. This weekend, however, I hope to discover more of Beijing, including Space 798, a factory/warehouse turned modern art venue. It's the epicenter of a SoHo-esque movement in it's district of Beijing, in my understanding. I'm particularly excited to see it.
Everything is different here, from the food to the old people on their bicycles to the endless pedestrian/auto warfare to the smog that's been hanging in the air lately. I wish I had the ability to communicate the way in which Beijing feels so very "other," yet also so familiar at the same time. Perhaps with time I'll be able to communicate this more adequately.
But enough pontificating.
君宁
1 comment:
I well remember the feeling of being both overwhelmed and enjoying the challenge of language learning. I remember headaches from the constant effort of mental translation to and from English... I found one of my most decisions to be carrying a little pad of paper to write down words I wanted to say and words that I didn't know that others said so I could look them up. Over a week or so at a time, you begin to notice the patterns of words that are repeated. And those are the words you learn... Maybe that'll help. :) Or maybe it's too late and you learned this already. At any rate, I identify with your experiences in some way and wanted to share that.
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