May 03, 2002

Woo-hoo!! Midterms are finally over and I am happy to report that I survived with passing scores! Thank God, because these were the hardest tests I have ever taken, and that includes the Microsoft Certified System Engineer tests from a couple years ago. Like I may have mentioned before, the test spanned 3 days and consisted of 3 main parts: Listening comprehension, speaking competency, and vocabulary and writing. There are some pluses and minuses to being tested for three days in a row. On the plus side you have an opportunity to cram in the different areas of focus the day before each particular test. On the negative side you are stressed-out for a full three days and at least for me, by the end you just want the whole damn thing to be over with. Not sure how my classmates feel about it, but that's my simple take. One frustrating thing we encountered was our teacher giving us about 20 to 30 new words or phrases that were on the test, but we didn't study in class, and this just 3 hours before one of the tests were to be taken!! Pretty ridiculous I think and with everything else we needed to know, I didn't even bother worrying about it. By the way, the most difficult for me was the listening comprehension test. We sat in a classroom and wore headphones listening to a recordings of people speaking Mandarin and most of the time doing so much too quickly to be easily understood. There were times I was laughing to myself in frustration at not being able to understand the point of some of the dialogues. Looking around the classroom, I was relieved to see I was not alone in my take on things, as many of my classmates were leaning back in their chairs and shaking there heads and laughing at how crazy difficult the thing was! Anyway, It's all over and I'm just glad to have passed and to be on a vacation!!

One of the bright spots in the process of learning Mandarin has been my studies with a Chinese student named Karen (Sorry, forgot her Chinese name and will have to enter it later.). Anyway, a popular and beneficial means of improving your Mandarin skills is locating a "language partner" who needs assistance with English. Unfortunately, I had some very bad luck in trying to locate a decent one until being hooked up with Karen. All the prior candidates spoke English so poorly, that it would take a half-hour on the phone trying to make arrangements to meet somewhere. Constantly repeating yourself and using incredibly dumbed-down English is not my idea of effective learning! But working with Karen is much-much better and I am glad her English skills are much better than average. Wanna know how I met her? Well, one weekend night while having a couple drinks with friends at "Blah-Blah" (The campus bar.) I met a guy from the U.K./Hong Kong who was enjoying a night out with his language partner. We talked about we did professionally, shared thoughts on the school, and when the subject of language partners came up, I mentioned the difficulty in locating a good one. His language partner and friend said she wanted to help and asked for my phone number. Three days later I receive a call from Karen and there you have it!! And I have the "Blah-Blah" and Tsing Tao beer to thank for it!! Working with Karen is VERY helpful, and I think she also appreciates working with a native English speaker like myself. Usually we split the time together in half, each of us assisting the other in whatever needs to be worked on. For Karen it is usually speaking English, and she provides me with large lists of sample questions similar to those seen on language proficiency tests that need to be passed in order for mainland Chinese students to study abroad. Karen's plan is to study in Australia and then return to China with a degree in child education or something similar. I think she is going to do very well, and I am impressed at her level of dedication, and even more so at her abilities. I am sure her boyfriend is thinking her has a real keeper on his hands!! On a final note, one of the great things is our "freeform" talks about many different things like American culture and attitudes compared to Chinese, world politics and heck, just about anything.

Let's see, what else has been going on? Well, really nothing more than your average everyday sort of things. I have been doing a little exploring of new restaurants and shops very close to where I live and have met some really nice people. Oh, here's an observation for you: One of the "hazards" ,if you want to call it that, of my going to a restaurant more than a couple times is the seemingly inevitable bonding that takes place with the people who work there. Now, I don't really consider it a hazard at all, but it does rule out the low-key quick in and out type of meal. Ha-ha-ha! I have a new favorite restaurant that I go to at least 3 times a week and the people there are just super friendly and helpful. The food is also really really good and I haven't ordered anything yet that has been a disappointment. Recently, one of the girls there asked me if I would have my picture taken with them. I told her it would be great and she asked for me to come back a couple days later in the mid-afternoon. On that day I brought my camera, showed up, and was surprised to find all the wait staff dressed especially well in and out of uniform, and here I was wearing just your everyday sort of duds!! Felt a little bad about it, but enjoyed taking the pictures and seeing how much the employees liked the whole event too. One other nice place I stop at for pop or smokes is located near the restaurant and is run by a nice lady and her husband. The place is kind of a strange setup because they sell a few simple things like ice-cream, and some munchies, but it also has a little room where this lady makes cakes of all sorts. Pretty unusual, but the smells coming out of that little room are just fantastic, and I am waiting for any excuse possible to have her make me one.....maybe the end of mid-term tests would be good enough??? :)

One last thing to mention before closing this journal entry, and that is the difficulty of living in China. For myself, the overall experience has been just about the best thing ever in my life. It's the challenge of learning this incredibly difficult language, and the challenge of conducting your day to day basics that has me enjoying things beyond belief. Is it for everyone? Definitely not, and in fact I would say that it is for the very very few as you will have to simply give up most of the things you are used to at home. Personally, I don't think a lot of people could hack it unless they worked for a Western-based corporation that basically builds around you a bubble of security and a semblance of "back home" social life. The negatives with this approach, I think, is the inability to go out on the street, accept the sometimes major and incomprehensible differences of life here, and more importantly, speak with anyone about anything you want to. I am a few months into this whole thing and I still can't do these things I mentioned with the ease and ability that I want to!! Do you like driving your car and going anywhere you want to easily? Forget it, and you might not be able to find a parking spot once you do miraculously find wherever it is you're looking to go!! Wanna grab a quick bite to eat at a local drive-through on the way to the theater? You can forget that too as there aren't any drive-throughs here, and if there were, you couldn't read the offerings, and it would be almost impossible to drive and eat the food they serve here. The theater? Well, good luck finding one that shows a Western film in English!! Want to go the local drugstore and pick up a stick of antiperspirant? Forget it, forget it, forget it!!!! Ha-ha-ha!! I am speaking from experience as I can't find the stuff anywhere!!! Thank goodness my mother is sending some my way via a care package. He-he. You know, it's the little things like these, and many many more that will have the typical Westerner fleeing this country after just a short stint. Do I blame them? Definitely not, as there are just so many good and beneficial aspects to life in the West. That was the environment I was brought up in and it's still what I am really used to. The lack of red-tape, the ease of doing what should be simple things, the lack of dust and grime, the food, and oh so many things!! Back home you are not stared at, people don't spit with alarming frequency anywhere and any time they want to. People don't <very infrequently> look at you like you are the foreign devil, your clothes stay clean, you can drink the water, you can take long-long hot showers, you can watch just about anything you want on TV and understand it, and you can move around freely without worry of unknown or obscure regulations. Any regrets on my part? YES, that I didn't come out here sooner!! :)