The Market

Below is a conversation that I can imagine having after going to the market:

American Friend: So what did you do today?

Me: Well, I had breakfast and then I went to the market

American Friend: Oh that’s nice.  What else did you do?

Me: Ummm….Rested from the market and had dinner…

American Friend:  That’s it?

Me: Well…ummm…yep.

Task in America: Simple

Task in China: Complex

Completed task in America: Check it off the list

Completed task in China: Check it off the list, run down and tell a teammate, and do a happy dance.

Food from Home

Tonight Elisa, Beth, and I ate at a small diner that served Taiyuan food.  Elisa shared that she used to live in Taiyuan, which caused excited chatter to break out from the owner and cook.

The owner of the restaurant, so excited to share her love of her home city, gave Elisa a whole bottle of Taiyuan vinegar sauce as a gift…a gift from home. 

Not understanding the language can be hard.  However, when I don’t know the language the actions, emotions and expressions become the words.  Excitement, joy, sharing, pride, and generosity became her words that communicated as clearly as if she were speaking English. 

I have always said that food is my love language…

The Park

While in Beijing, our teacher told us to observe, observe some more, and then ask questions.

Well, this morning I observed.

I observed men performing synchronized sword exercises.

I observed group tai chi.

I observed people clapping and hitting themselves (It looked random but I doubt it was random).

I observed friends jogging through the park together.

I observed many people completing the exercise circuit in the workout park.

I observed men listening intently to their teacher on how to perfect their character calligraphy.

I observed hackysack, singing, and talking with friends.

I observed intentional beauty in the park.

I observed discipline, community and serenity.

My question: Why did it take me so long to come here?

Workout circuit

Calligraphy Practice

Progress Report

I have been living in China for 2 weeks now. This may not seem like much of a feat...but it is.

The #1 lesson learned in those two weeks...Chinese is HARD.

Basically, I can speak food and read directions.

I can now speak the words for the following:
Boiled water, rice, tea, bill, waitress, dumplings, north, Hi, thank you, no thank you, goodbye, how much is this, road, this, and that
(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9...)

I know the characters for the following:
North, south, east (need to figure out west), middle, gate, exit, faith (you need that to survive the chaos, I mean traffic)

...and that's about it.

In Guatemala, I could get around and understand quite a bit after one or two weeks. Here...ummm well you've seen my progress report.

According to statistics it takes the average person 20 weeks (30 hrs/week) to gain intermediate proficiency in Spanish. To gain intermediate proficiency in Chinese would take 50 weeks (30 hrs/week).

So my new goal for all the world to know: Conquer the book "Survival Chinese" by Christmas. I have lowered my expectations and raised them all at the same time...here I go!

(Oh! I also know the characters for man and woman...so I don't walk into an awkward situation, if you get my drift.)

Sprite and Water

Have you ever taken a big gulp of water just to discover it was Sprite?

That's how I would describe my early days in China.  I like water...I like Sprite...I just never know which one I am going to get.

Some examples:
I ordered beef dumplings (or so I thought):  I received mutton dumplings
I purchased vanilla cookies: nope, I purchased lemon cookies
I purchased mint gum: that would be green tea gum
I went to the park: there was dancing in the park
I thought it was a clear day: there was a monsoon in Beijing

In conclusion, China is amazing.  However, I often go out for water and come back with Sprite.

...I like Sprite.

Dancing in the Park

Basi Ping Guo!

My First English Lesson

I had dreams about giving my first English lesson in China.  I would be in my classroom, dressed ever so professionally, my chalkboard would be pristine and organized, and my students would be eager and ready to learn.  (I know, I know…I dream big)

My first English lesson happened a few days ago…in a shoe store.

Yes, I was buying shoes…but they were really cheap and cute!

It happened like this. 

Beth and I were on an adventure.  In that adventure, we found a coffee shop with a really nice Chinese barista who showed me where to buy my umbrella (different story to come later about Beijing monsoons).  We then wandered over to this mall of sorts.  I became super excited about a small shop overflowing with shoes.  I eagerly began to look around and with the help of the store owner I discovered my shoe size (with wool socks I am a size 40). 

After a few minutes in the store, I became aware that the store’s population had risen from 4 to about 10.  As the shop owner, Beth, and I repeatedly said my shoe size of forty and the price of forty five, I began to hear a low mumble.  As I tuned and looked, I saw 3 men at the front of the store repeating, “Forty – Five,” “Forty Five,” and “Forty Five.”  As I looked at the crowd that had gathered, which included the little ladies picking up the shoes I had tried on and the men mimicking my words, I realized that I had just completed my first English lesson.  Forty Five!

Firmness

Every night as I fall asleep on my Chinese bed, I contemplate the word firmness.  Those of you who have slept on a Chinese bed know why.

In my contemplation of the word firmness I decided to look it up in the dictionary.

Dictionary.com: Not soft or yielding when pressed; comparatively solid, hard, stiff or rigid; securely fixed in place

Foolish Dictionary*: That admirable quality in ourselves that is detestable stubbornness in others.

As I laughed at the foolish dictionary’s definition, I was struck by the truth of it.  Why is it that we admire stubbornness (calling it by a name of some random virtue) in our own lives, and despise stubbornness in others?

I hope that as I live in this new culture, I will leave behind my desire to remain securely fixed in place.  I hope that I will not remain firm and unyielding.  Rather, I hope to bend and flow and grow in this amazing culture that astounds me daily.

*The Foolish Dictionary: An exhausting work of reference to un-certain English words, their origin, meaning, legitimate and illegitimate use, confused by a few pictures.  By Wallace Goldsmith

My firm Chinese bed

Finding Rest in China

Tea! More waitress please!

Ok…by the title of the blog you may be able to tell that my Mandarin may need some work…

In other news, WE MADE IT!!

We flew from Denver, Co to Newark, NJ (for a 7 hour layover). Once we were all good and tired, we boarded the plane for our 14-hour flight to Beijing! Let me just say, you can watch a lot of movies in 14 hours. Also, you learn to eat on command. For example, a flight attendant comes by and asks if you want food, you auto-reply yes, start eating, and then contemplate as to whether or not you are hungry….in that order.

After arriving in Beijing, we hauled our weight in luggage out of the airport to the hotel. And let me tell you, there is a lot of luggage for 50 people to move to China. After finding our room and getting settled in, we headed down to dinner at the hotel restaurant. 50 of us then uncaringly stuffed our faces with food, which we weren’t sure we recognized, while trying not to fall asleep and jab ourselves in the eye with a chopstick. And ummmm my chopstick skills after 48 hours of no sleep are, well, they are messy.

With the travel adventures behind me, I now look forward to so many amazing discoveries in this extraordinary country!

Bus to the airport...a little crammed.

Great friends seeing us off in Colorado!