Defining moments

[ChTTay]

...the other thing is middle aged / elderly men in the park at 12 noon dancing to techno/house music. I would go to the park for a stroll in Yinchuan and this would always get me. I can see the appeal generally of doing some line dancing, ballroom dancing etc together. I just can't get the techno dancing. There was this one guy who always used to wear a white vest and big black sun glasses. Man, he would really go for it. I only ever saw one women there dancing.

I kind of miss this now i'm in Beijing. I only ever see Tai Chi and "regular" dancing (line, ballroom, etc).

[Meng Lelan]

I agree about those public kiddie dumps. 

 

 

 

Are they still doing this? Back in the 1980s I was taking the stairs in a big huge shopping mall in Tianjin and this being a weekend the place was packed even the stairs. There was a 10 year old boy urinating into a huge plant pot in the stairwell oblivious to crowds going up and down the stairs. 

[Lu]

At least he was peeing in a plant. A while ago I saw a father helping his little son pee at the foot of the escalator at a Beijing metro entrance. A growing puddle of pee was covering the floor. Both gross and dangerous because slippery.

[Steingletscher]

So many, and always still coming.

 

          Of course, the first impression of the country is a lasting one. For me, my first thought after the plane landed in Beijing was "something stinks." This was in the summer of 2012. I have yet to return to the US, so after coming back from a month home I wonder how my view will change again.

 

          But the biggest moment came a few days later. After visiting some tourist sites in Beijing, I took the train to 山東曲阜 to live with a classmate's family for three weeks before school started in 成都. Since my friend was still in America doing an internship, I would stay at her place just with her family, and I had no idea what they looked like. After getting into her father's car at the train station, he tried to talk to me, but since he couldn't speak any English, and I didn't know any Chinese, we couldn't communicate at all. This was the first time I had ever been out of the US (in retrospect, those two weeks in England 7 years ago don't really count), and had never encountered a language barrier so deep and profound. Looking back, I couldn't even grasp just how little English he had as I continued to speak, vainly hoping he would eventually be able to catch something and talk. He seemed to have the same idea, speaking a few words of Chinese here and there, but also in vain. While the language barrier was settling in, his driving habits was unsettling me. Since we couldn't communicate, I had no way to telling him to stay in the lanes and pay attention to the traffic lights. After an hour of mostly awkward silence and half-scared of his driving and half-being completely numb to everything as a result of a sensory overload, we arrived in the city of 濟寧, which I should say should be avoided, unless visiting friends and/or family.

          Upon entering and putting my luggage in my friend's room, where I was going to sleep during my stay, I met her mom, who also couldn't speak a word of English, and then promptly sat down on the couch to absent-mindedly watch some of the London Olympics and continue asking myself, "What am I doing? and How did I, who prior to this had never stepped foot in a non-English country and didn't know any Chinese, let alone have memories of my former teachers tell me that languages where not my strongest suite, choose to come to China and study Chinese for 4 years? Do I actually know what I had signed myself up for?" As I sulked on such thoughts, my friend's dad pointed to the television and said 看電視 three times. I realized I had no choice but to just repeat what he had said, and armed with my pocket Chinese-English dictionary, found out that it meant "watch TV." These were the first words I learned. 

          Nearly a year later, I was in 洛陽 and during couple of days I was there, and due to somewhat similar feel of the cities and location on the central plains of China, was reminded of my time in 山東濟寧, and how much I had changed as a person and how I related to China. There wasn't any particular action or scene that encapsulated the change within, just the feeling of having been transported back to my first days in country and walking around to soak it all up. Gone was the kid to whom the entire concept of being a 外國人 in China and therefore treated differently then locals was entirely foreign, the kid who could be listen enraptured to Chinese conversations for hours despite not understanding a word, instead paying attention to the emotions conveyed in the sound of their voice and their facial expressions. They could have been saying extremely racist things, but I was shielded from all of their possible ignorance and possible stupidity (or the reverse, miss out on learning the meaning of life from them). Instead, I am now used to people being a little more curious towards me then locals and focusing on trying to understand the meaning of what people said.

 

          Another moment didn't actually happen in China. When I was traveling in Burma during last winter, after encountering squatting toilets for the first time in there, I immediately felt more at home and help put to rest the culture shock Burma brought upon me. Made me realize how much China had become home to me.

[Meng Lelan]

At least he was peeing in a plant.

 

 

 

There was no plant in there. 

[abcdefg]

@Steingletscher -- Since it looks from your post as though your China experience has all been on the mainland, how come you use 繁体字 when writing. Did I miss a Taiwan or Hong Kong phase?

 

Another moment didn't actually happen in China. When I was traveling in Burma during last winter, after encountering squatting toilets for the first time in there, I immediately felt more at home and help put to rest the culture shock Burma brought upon me. Made me realize how much China had become home to me.

 

A few years ago I moved into an old apartment in Kunming which has a squat toilet. I remember at first how it took some getting used to. Today I don't even think about it; my definitions of what is "normal" have gradually changed.

[imron]

I remember at first how it took some getting used to.

All that squatting will be good for your Taichi

[abcdefg]

All that squatting will be good for your Taichi.

 

Sure hope so; I can use all the help I can get.

[Steingletscher]

Since it looks from your post as though your China experience has all been on the mainland, how come you use 繁体字 when writing. Did I miss a Taiwan or Hong Kong phase?

 

I still haven't been to either of those two places yet, but do plan to next winter break. I taught myself 繁體字 because it is prettier, and has a more ancient feel to them. Just a personal preference as I am perfectly comfortable reading and writing both by hand. Also, I've watched a lot of shows that use 繁體字 in the subtitles, so I'm slowly getting used to the differences between some of the characters that are in 简体字 the same.

[abcdefg]

I see. Probably a good plan. I always get stumped when I visit Hong Kong.