| It appears as if... |
[16 Aug 2007|01:26pm] |
...I'll be using this again.
It has been so long since I last kept a live journal that I'm finding it terribly difficult to write this post. I'll keep it brief.
This will be where I will tell you about my life in Togo. In fact, I might even tell you a bit about my life before arriving in Togo as well. There's a Portland, OR trip coming up and a good week of stress before I leave. This will be where you can read all about it.
I was going to do the mass email thing but I just don't like it. This way, you can take a peek into my life at your leisure--I won't be forcing myself into your morning email checking schedule (other than the email I sent telling you that I'm using this again). It just makes more sense that way.
Well, that's it. Enjoy the rest of your summer and I'll be posting very soon.
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| Last one from China... |
[04 Jun 2005|08:01pm] |
Well, this is it... the last update from China.
::breaks into sobs::
::tragically wipes a tear::
::composes herself::
Finals were fine--overall I did quite well. Friday was enjoyable: finished my last final, cleaned up a bit then dressed up for our Graduation lunch. I wore my new suit (black with white pin stripes), my Superman T-shirt, a silvery/blue/purple tie, and bright yellow flip flops. Afterwards, there was much resting, some wandering, a trip to Huxley's (my favorite bar), and then off to a club to meet up with the rest of the CET kids. After we found out the club wasn't free, we wandered over to our other favorite bar (The Hidden Tree) for pizza and good beer. I woke up this morning around 6 am quite hung over and icky feeling, but went back to bed and felt better.
Oh, It's sad that it's all ending... A couple of people have already left...
My birthday was very nice. I told Xin Xin I didn't want anything to happen but knew she wouldn't listen to me. At 12:01 am on June 2, I was studying for my final in Adam's room, and he walked out to go somewhere. I didn't take much notice. Then, Xin Xin came in and asked me to go to our room. At which point, I began growling at Greg, who I knew had helped orchestrate. When we got to my room, it was actually very nice. Xin Xin hadn't shoved in a whole bunch of people I don't know--she just had Kim, Adam, Gill and Greg come down to my room. The entire room was lit up by 21 little tea lights, and people gave me small, very nice gifts. Overall, it was a very nice and pleasant birthday.
I don't know if you've checked out Kim's pictures recently, but you should take a look at these ones. However, I'll be home soon enough, you can look at mine. Anyways... these ones:
San li tun:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16896919/
At Huxley's:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16896681/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16896681/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16896588/in/photostream/ (I'm a goldfish. Most goldfish don't smile. But I do. ::smile:: --> that's the face we're making)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16896431/in/photostream/ (Peter)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16896346/in/photostream/ (learning to make hand faces)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16896229/in/photostream/ (favorite picture of Peter)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16896013/in/photostream/ (don't know...)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16893037/in/photostream/ (I'll suck out your blood... with my lips...)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheocean/16892940/in/photostream/ (Kim and Peter with a dolphin at San li tun)
This was not a very interesting entry... I'm sorry. But, as for the next few days:
1. have not started packing yet, must do that...
2. pack all day Sunday
3. have final dinners and lunches
4. cry
5. realize I don't have enough time to pack everything
6. panic
7. pack it anyways
8. leave for Japan at 2:30 in the afternoon on Monday
9. stay over in Japan one night
10. leave for the states at 12:00 pm on Tuesday
11. arrive in the states at 11:25 am on Tuesday
I GAINED A HALF AN HOUR! I'LL USE IT TO... DRINK LEGALLY IN THE STATES! Or sleep, most likely.
OK, time to... pack... yes, I should do that. Pack.
First, a quote:
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Gvie me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
Thanks for reading--love to all,
Sian (Robin)
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| It's humid... |
[29 May 2005|06:15pm] |
OK, so, Friday was a little bit strange...
Adam, Greg and I ended up being the only ones going to Tian Laoshi's apartment for lunch. So, we got on the subway and found our way to her ridiculously nice, out of this world expensive apartment. I mean, this place was unbelievable. It was a Chinese apartment with TWO bathrooms--both of which were Western toilets. The apartment had two bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a living room, dining room and office as well as a fantastic view of the city.
Her husband is loaded. Apparently. She bought him a polo shirt for 980 kuai! That's over 100 US! What?!
So, she didn't feed us, which is ok (although we WERE starving) and it just ended up being Adam, Greg, Tian Laoshi and I sitting in her living room chatting and gossiping--nothing exciting. Then, Adam and Greg went off about politics, and Sian had to fall asleep... As did, in my opinion, Tian Laoshi. I mean, really, does she care about Bush? No. Her husband didn't come home on time, which was sad, so I didn't get to meet him. I will meet this man yet.
Then there was running back to the dorm, stuffing our faces (as we were starving) and a period of time that I seem to have lost... What did I do from then until dinner? It's gone forever...
Dinner was nice--Greg, Kim, Peter and I at our new favorite fusion restaurant. Very tasty, and very full. Then off to a couple of cute bars in the area (where they know us now) then to bed.
Saturday, I decided that I was going to go see the Summer Palace. I will chronicle my day:
~Sian wakes up at 7:30 because people are doing construction work on our building, above my room, every day, all day, beginning at 7:30 am. My do I hate them.
~Sian falls back asleep (despite the ::shwooosh shwooosh BANG BANG BANG silence:: ness) and wakes up at 10:30.
~Sian showers. Does not fall down this time. It is a luke warm shower as, at this point, hot water had still not returned to the dorms.
~Sian walks to Xindadu (the hotel where cabs congregate) in order to get a cab driver to bring her to the Summer Palace.
Cabbie Number 1: Where to?
Sian: Summer Palace.
CN 1: No, that's too far.
Sian: What? You're a cab driver!
Cabbie Number 2: Where you wanna go?
Sian: No way. You're cab is a 2 kuai cab. His is only 1.60...
CN 2: Come on, where to?
Sian (at CN 1): Are you going to drive me or not?
::CN 2 offers Sian a cigarette::
::Sian refuses::
CN 2: Wanna go to San Li Tun (*note: a bar area that is very expensive and caters to foreigners)
Sian: No! I want to go to the Summer Palace.
::Sian spots a 1.20 cab::
Sian: Are we going or not?
::CNs look around stupidly::
Sian: Fine.
::Sian walks over to 1.20 cab::
~The drive in the 1.20 is long and relatively painful as the front seats of 1.20 cabs are ALWAYS broken and the passenger flops around like a rag doll.
~Sian finally arrives at the Summer Palace (which is very very far away from her school) and buys her ticket.
~The place is HUGE. It's literally the size of a town--one could get lost in this place and never find their way out again. Well, not really, but it would take some time. It is crowded and hot and there are a lot of foreigners and Chinese people. Sian is not impressed.
~Sian finally decides to take things into her own hands and scampers for about 20 minutes up un-paved/pathed area. Looking like a small, foreign monkey, Sian climbs up rocks and onto a roof until she finally has a good view of the entire palace. Now, it is beautiful. But the one must get down...
~Getting down proves to be troublesome and Sian discovers that she is not an armadillo. Meaning, when rolling down a hill, she has no protective shell to save her from the pointy rocks. (*note, Sian is exagerating--sp?)
~Part of the way down the hill, Sian meets an American and a man from Finland (Finnish? Finner? Fin?). They talk for a while, Sian gives them her cell phone number and leaves the palace.
~Sian catches a cab from the Summer Palace all the way to San Li Tun (where the GLBTA meeting will be held in a couple of hours.
~The cab ride is interesting...
Cabbie Number 3: So, where you from?
::thus follows all the normal, and uninteresting chatting with Cabbie::
CN 3: So, ah, I like the Chinese government.
::thus follows a conversation about how fantastic the Chinese government is::
CN 3: So, ah, America's pretty good too.
::thus follows a conversation about how fantastic the Chinese government is::
CN 3: So, ah, Chinese people have yellow skin.
Sian: Riiiiggght... What?
CN 3: We have yellow skin--you know, see, yellow.
Sian: I disagree. You have brown skin.
CN 3: No I don't. It's yellow. Your's is white.
Sian: No. Mine is brown, and your's is a darker brown.
CN 3: Nope. You're wrong.
Sian: Fine.
~Upon arrival at San Li Tun, Sian grabs a sandwich and sees (WHAT?) American teenagers. Like "I am so cool because I am a teenager" American teenagers. I wanted to shake them.
~Sian goes to coffee shop, eats sandwich, finishes The Fountainhead, gets eaten alive by scary, large, Beijing bugs.
~Sian walks across the area to her GLBTA meeting, sees pictures of the white water rafting trip, and thanks her lucky stars that she did not go on it. Mikaela then shows Sian her white water rafting trip wounsd, and Sian smiles that her body is whole.
That was long. Other things happened after that. I don't remember them.
Today, woke up at 7:30 again, fell back asleep, showered, went to a temple that was very nice but nothing can ever be as nice as the Datong cave temples so... meh. Bought Catch-22 for the flight home, went to a coffee shop, started reading Psychic Warrior.
Now, it is time for a shower, because I have used public transportation all day and I am a dirty dirty sweaty girl.
Love,
Sian
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| Last test kuai le! |
[27 May 2005|09:40am] |
I JUST FINISHED MY LAST TEST!
I still, of course, have mid-terms, but, whatever, I just finished my last Chinese test at CET. I win.
::Dancing::
::with joy::
::needs to shower::
I am also apparently going to my teacher's house for lunch today. This is a strange turn of events. It's going to be me, my Chinese teacher, her Chinese husband, and student who is fluent in Chinese. Hmmmm. Does this seem strange to anyone else? But anyways, yes, terrified, trying to convince the Greg and the Adam to go with me so I won't have to endure the "I have no idea what's going on" feeling alone.
It will be an experience.
OK, time to go shower, so I can be ready to go to her house by this afternoon.
Love to all,
Sian
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| Language Weekend |
[22 May 2005|04:26pm] |
Exactly what I expected it to be:
Awful.
I absolutely just wasted my weekend. I will not even explain how awful it was, because that would be painful for you, and would make me re-live it. But point being: sucked. Wasted my time. And I want that time back.
However, I haven't kept you updated on my recent papers. I have come to a point now, since we have three papers a week, where I am completely unable to write papers on the same, old, boring stuff. So I change it around a little bit...
How did your parents educate you when you were a child?
My parents were killed in the Great Vampire Werewolf War and I was raised by vampires to hunt and kill all werewolves...
What is your favorite time in history?
Atlantis. It was a time when people were exceptionally advanced but then used their powers for evil instead of good. Then their civilization collapsed...
Why should we protect the environment?
Because, as we know from the movie Fern Gully, fairies live in the woods and we cannot take away their natural habitat. It's just not right...
OK, off to a coffee shop to do some work and attempt to regain what I can of this weekend.
Blech.
Love to all,
Sian
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| Wheeeeeee! |
[20 May 2005|09:55am] |
Who FINISHED her project? That would be, me.
Yesterday was the oral presentation. I went second, did not use powerpoint like everyone else, spoke for about 7 minutes on my topic (clearly and coherently), and then fielded about 8 or 9 questions (only asking one person to repeat herself because it wasn't exceptionally clear the first time).
A couple of the teachers who were there yesterday came to seek me out today and tell me how well I did and how clearly I spoke. And my one-on-one teacher, the one I've been working with the whole time, came and found me this morning and gave me a huge hug, telling me that all of the teachers were very impressed by me, found my topic incredibly interesting, and said that I have the demeanour of a politician. And that I made him proud.
::Sian struts::
::A lot::
I am very proud of myself.
Now, I will be perfectly happy if the hot water would come back on, the roaches would go away, and I didn't have to go to a stupid hotel for a language immersion weekend. I am very unhappy about this hotel crap. I don't mind the just speaking Chinese thing--that's fine. But I don't want to spend one of my last weekends at a hotel on the outskirts of the city. I just don't. In fact, I might fake sick.
Stupid CET.
Class yesterday included the following:
Tian Laoshi: Where is America's cradle of civilization? Where did the first people come from?
Jake: England.
Tian Laoshi: Um, no.
Jake: What do you mean? England.
All right. Time to go nap, because my test today was awful and I need to sleep that off. Then up for a shower and some wandering to find gifts for people (esp. the teachers).
Love to all,
Sian
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| Beijing... |
[17 May 2005|10:13pm] |
It is a beautiful night in Beijing. This means that the sky is not, as usual, a thick grey layer with a hint of blue. It is instead a deep dark blue with just an idea of grey. Also, I can see the moon. And I counted, get this, upwards of six stars. This is why I'm updating.
So, you know how your parents always told you to eat everything on your plate because there are starving children in China? Well, that's true, but here's a new, and more important one: cherish your stars, because 95% of the population of China can't even see them. Cherish the moon too.
So, I spent most of the evening at my new favorite coffee shop in the Wudaokou area, working on my presentation. I now have most of my "script" written and just need to formulate it into a sheet that I can glance down at and remember where I am (as opposed to what it is now--which is basically a paper with bulleted points and indents). So, I left the coffee shop and took the light rail (kind of like the mono-rail in Disney World) back home and was just amazed by how beautiful the city is at night.
Yes, it appears that our dorm now has gigantic, blood-sucking, kill you in a second roaches. Yes, the water heater has broken and I won't be able to shower for the next 3 days. Yes, I go to the same exact class, 3 times a day, every day. Yes, CET is run inefficiently and drives me to wanting to kick someone in the head. Yes, walking down the streets of Beijing sometimes makes me think I'm taking a stroll through a bathroom.
But I am so happy to be here.
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| Weekend kuai le! |
[13 May 2005|11:14am] |
OK, nothing exceptionally exciting to say, but I JUST HAD MY LAST 1-1!
::Dances for joy::
::rips clothing off::
::goes running through the streets of Beijing::
::receives stares::
::covers self, and slinks back home with tail between legs::
Next week is the presentation of my paper and then that gigantic monstrosity is done forever. Thank God. It's 3000 words. What?
Yesterday, I skipped classes (apologies, I know, bad student) and went and found post cards. You will all get postcards, I'll just be home before you get them. I then wandered over to a Christian church (while eating ridiculously expensive Haagen-Daz), which was very pretty, and the first one I've seen in China, but wasn't able to go in because it was closed. Then Greg and I convinced a taxi driver to drive us to a little coffee shop in a hutong, he couldn't figure out where it was, so we ended up wandering around the hutong until we found another cute little coffee shop to curl up in and do our homework. We listened to Greg's new music, chatted, attempted homework, then headed over to the nice Hou Hai area we go to often for dinner, where we ran into a startling amount of other CET students. Then home, homework, bed, and up for the test (which didn't go exceptionally well, I'd say).
OK, a hutong. How to describe a hutong. Basically, hutong living is the old living of China. It's completely square, and comprised of long alleys with grey walls. Once you come upon a door, you walk in the door and everything is a sqaure, North-South maze of homes and different places. It's really quite interesting and impossible to navigate. There used to be more hutongs in Beijing, but they are being ripped down to make room for other important-type buildings that need to be created in a city. Hutong living is not nice, there is no heating, no plumbing, your house is small and cramped. But many of the people who have lived in hutongs have lived there for their entire lives, and their family for centuries and centuries before them. It's neat, really. Point being, many hutongs, to show that they are a helpful addition to Beijing, have "tourist-ized" and offer really cute coffee shops with Western food and some pretty fantastic bars and shops. After we left the coffee shop, we just wandered about looking at all the cool new places to come back to, that is, if we could ever find our way back to the same street (which we won't, because it's impossible to navigate hutongs).
OK, so that was incredibly uninteresting.
Now I'm going to go eat, shower, then go off with my room mate to a coffee shop of my chosing, so I can interview her in English, ready for her VISA interview.
Love to all,
Sian
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| Quick Update |
[11 May 2005|08:50pm] |
1. THANK YOU OVERTONS FOR MY PACKAGE
2. YEY CT! Civil Unions... Not perfect, but definitely moving in the right direction.
3. I was invited by my Westerner GLBTA frieds to go on an all-expenses-paid, white-water-rafting trip/competition, for a week in Guangzhou. I can't go because of class and my project. I am very very sad about this. Very sad.
4. I am sick to death of Chinese class. Sick to death. I do not want to memorize new grammar any more. I do not want to go to class EVERY DAY and do the EXACT same thing that we have done every other day for 4 and a half months but with new words and grammar patterns. I am going insane.
But I'm not the only one.
Adam spent about 5 minutes in class the other day, throwing himself around at the walls, screaming like a monkey.
Jake has started responding to every grammar point with something about doing drugs.
Gian no longer comes to class.
Greg spends extended periods of time looking up new, strange words in his dictionary to use whenever called upon.
I say anything and everything that comes to my head to keep me awake.
Yesterday, we were practicing the use of the word "puzzle" as in "something is my greatest puzzlement."
Tian Laoshi: Adam, what is your greatest puzzlement?
Adam: My greatest puzzlement is puzzles.
Tian Laoshi: You can't use it that way.
Adam: Oh.....
::Adam stares blankly at the ceiling for an extended period of time::
Adam: My greatest puzzlement is sexual pervert gorillas in the Congo with AIDS.
::Sian and Greg begin laughing hysterically::
Amy: What does ::repeats word for sexual pervert:: mean?
Tian Laoshi: Um...
Adam (under his breath): Sexual pervert. Sexual pervert.
Tian Laoshi: Why is that your greatest puzzlement, Adam?
Adam (without taking a breath): Because some sexual pervert gorillas in the Congo with AIDS look like humans and the ones that look like humans might one day find a plane ticket and then they'll fly over to America and give everyone AIDS.
::Sian and Greg are near peeing themselves with laughter at this point::
Greg (in English, laughing hysterically): Do you know what you just said?
Thank God they are in my class. I don't think I'd make it any other way....
OK, time to work on the project.
Love to all,
Sian
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| Camping at the Great Wall... |
[07 May 2005|01:49pm] |
...was everything I expected it to be: cold, terrifying, and poorly organized. But worth it, nonetheless.
Friday night I went out to the nice hutong area in Beijing that is basically just a maze of similarly attractive and expensive bars. I spent some time there with the others, then, when Rob got into someone's car with them and got behind the wheel, decided it was time to leave.
At 8:15 in the morning, on Saturday, we all climbed into buses and took the 4 hour drive to the portion of the Great Wall known as Simatai. Now, to throw this out there, Simatait is on the very edge of Beijing. It takes FOUR HOURS to drive from a little outside the center of Beijing to this part of the Great Wall. Most of us passed out and slept for a good portion of the ride.
Upon reaching the Wall, we discovered that our hike (which was scheduled to take about 4 hours) would go through 30 different check towers--those tower thingy's you see when you look at a picture of the Great Wall. It would be about 3 miles of straight up and down hiking on a very old, not renovated section of the Wall.
Now, last time I went, I remember telling everyone that I would never go again. Obviously, I went back on that. However, when I found myself climbing up a ladder-like, crumbling stair case (*note... Jake said something fantastic at this point: The Chinese still don't know the difference between a ladder and stairs) with involuntary tears running down my face, I wished beyond all things that I had stayed at the school for the weekend. Oh, yeah, and when we were crossing a suspension bridge over a raging river, while people swayed it about. Wished I hadn't gone then too.
But on the staircase/ladder, I stopped, took a breath, and prayed. I don't know who to. But I asked that I wouldn't encounter another one of these horifying things. And luckily, I didn't. Others were almost as bad, others made my knees weak and my legs shake, but no others forced the tears. Thankfully.
At one point during the hike, Kim began talking to a random woman who sells things on the Great Wall. She decided to accompany us until we reached our camp site. I told Kim that I was not going to buy anything, and that it was her fault the lady was following us, but Kim didn't seem to take notice to my complaints. So, the lady walked with us, chatting on about her kids and the Mongolians and how the Japanese bombed the wall (?) and walking as if she were taking a Sunday afternoon stroll. Kim and I, red in the face, sweating, and holding our legs, could barely keep up with this woman's comfortable pace. Crazy.
Eventually, she reached the area she wanted to stop at and asked us to buy things. I responded with a quick "No" but Kim talked for a while, feeling bad, and eventually told the woman she had no money on her. We reached the assigned tower (number 30) and then didn't know where to go. So then there was an hour of confusion--climbing up to 31 and 32 and then back down to 28 and 29--in which Sian decided to hate CET and anyone associated with it.
Finally, we figured out where to go and got to our campsite.
Then they made us grill our own food.
We have been hiking all day and are starving, and they give us two tiny little grills to grill chicken and vegetables on. My did I hate them.
Then there was getting our sleeping bags, tents, and mats and setting up camp on the Great Wall. Greg, Kim and I decided to set up shop out in the open on a long flat stair (again, picture the Great Wall pictures you've seen: the areas between the towers are all usually stairs, but occassionally have flat areas, that's where we were). We curled up in our bags between two tower campsites and proceeded to inform anyone who wanted to pass that they must first answer our questions three....
People ended up getting stuck, as they could not answer our questions three, and about 6 or 7 people ended up sitting on the wall around us in a circle, telling riddles, and attempting to answer ours.
Sian: What is lighter than air, but 20 men could never hold it up?
::Silence::
Ted: An airplane.
::Hysterical laughter::
Ted: Well, 20 men couldn't hold it up, and it flies, so it has to be lighter than air... forget it.
Austin: Helium.
Sian: No.
Austin: 21 men filled with helium.
And this continued. As it got later, the group wandered off, and we curled up to sleep for the night. My bag, which was fantastic, kept me snug and warm, and I ended up curling up like a house cat right in the middle of it, with just the top of my head sticking out. Kim, whose bag was awful, ended up moving into the tent. About 1:30 am, I woke up a little bit cold, poked Greg, and moved into the tent with Kim (who was still freezing) and Greg. Around about 4:30 am, a whole bunch of people woke up to watch the sunrise.
I crawled out of my sleeping bag.
Wrapped it around my shoulders.
Walked outside.
Looked at the sky.
Then promptly went back into my tent, crawled up in my sleeping bag, and went back to sleep.
6 am we went down for food (which we did not have to cook this time) and then were told we weren't leaving until 9:30. So Kim and I grabbed our books and walked back up onto the wall to sit for a few hours and enjoy China.
And we did.
Now I'm home and smelly with lots of homework to do, but I had a wonderful morning and just finished my NEC paper.
The semester is rapidly closing!
Eeeek!
Love to all,
Sian
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| Dear Ksenia |
[06 May 2005|10:14am] |
"When do you get back? What are your summer plans? Can we go to Da Lat at some point? And would you have or will you be getting course credit for TAing or being paid?"
June 7th.
Working a lot. A lot. Lifeguarding 9 to 4, working at a restaurant from 5 to 12ish, and attempting to take one-on-one Chinese classes in New York. I also would like to explore NY as much as possible, because I will be understimulated in Stratford, CT. There will be many trips into NY to find art and clubs and bars and coffee shops. And everyone will speak English!
Of course we can go to Da Lat. We can go almost immediately when we get back to Worcester.
TAing is course credit.
And now your turn!
-Sian
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| Today's test... |
[06 May 2005|09:41am] |
Well, I have nothing exceptionally interesting to say, but I'll tell you about today's test, because, why not?
Oh wait. I went out wandering yesterday, as usual, and found a FANTASTIC coffee shop that has now become my favorite. I will go back many times before I leave the country. While at the coffee shop, I was preparing my test for the next day, which means writing out an aproximate idea of what I want to say in my oral test... Greg and I ended up spending an hour in the coffee shop, discussing which animals would be placed with what people we know. Here was my oral test:
Tian Laoshi: Please tell me how we should save the animals.
Sian: OK, I have a really good plan. So, in the future, all countries will be a part of the United Nations. The UN will pick one country, probably Canada (because no one likes Canada), that will be our country for industrial production. They will produce all of the worlds materials and can pollute as much as they want. In all the rest of the countries, pollution and industrial production is not allowed. And every person will be assigned an animal through a personality test--the government will assign them an animal that they most resemble. The animal will, of course, not live with you, you will live in the wild with an animal. So, if you have a sloth, you live in a tree. If you have a shark, you live in a boat. If another person hurts your animal, you have to pay a gigantic fine. In this way, everyone will want to save their animal. Also, all the people working in Canada are criminals.
My teacher called me "li hai"...
Greg would be an arctic fox. Kim, a dolphin. Peter, a kangaroo. Austin, some kind of gigantic mutt with floppy ears. Adam, a gorilla. Jake, a snake--a gigantic one. And me, a seal. That was what we decided on. A seal.
I think it fits for some reason...
OK, I'm off to go to my one-on-one and get ready for camping on the Great Wall.
Love to all,
Sian
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| Updating twice... I know, I know... |
[02 May 2005|06:37pm] |
OK, sorry, didn't mean to update twice, but I forgot something I wanted to write...
At the art festival we wandered around a bit to look at the other "living art" exhibits and such. In one large factory hall, we found the following.
::6 people are standing on a make-shift stage in the middle of the hall::
::music begins playing::
::all 6 people raise one arm above their head, then point at the audience on the beat::
::this is done once::
::the music ends::
::all 6 people begin milling about, practicing the same part::
::the music begins again::
::all 6 people raise one arm... etc::
Sian: So, is the stopping part of the act?
Peter: I don't know...
::the above occurs again::
Peter: Yes.
Sian: So... What's the point? Wait, I know, it's in "what they're NOT doing".
Greg: What they're not doing. Which is being productive.
Also, this afternoon's class was fantastic.
Our one teacher (Tian) had to go to the doctor, so we only had Liu Laoshi left to teach us. She was very sick and had no voice.
::Liu Laoshi attempts to say something, anything, to the class::
Lu Laoshi whispering: Class....::cough:: starts...::squeaks in pain:: now...
Sian: No, no, no, you need to rest. You can't teach.
::Liu Laoshi laughs::
Sian: No, really. You can't talk and your throat hurts.
Adam: Yeah, sit down, I'm going to teach.
::Liu Laoshi laughs::
::Adam stands up, moves to the front of the class, and takes the vocab cards from Liu Laoshi::
::Adam begins quizzing the rest of the class on todays new words by giving us descriptions and having us tell him what word it is::
::The entire class does this, just as we normally would with our teacher::
::Adam finishes quizzing us and tells Sian she's up next::
::Sian gets up in front of the class, splits the class up into 3 2 person teams, and does a vocab game::
::The game goes on for 20 minutes +, just the way it would normally during class::
::Amy then gets up and quizzes us on grammar patterns::
::Class ends::
Liu Laoshi sat the entire time, looking amused and in pain. And I was proud of us. Because we could teach class to each other, get everything right, impress our teacher, and have a good time.
Yey for 200 class.
We win.
This weekend we will be going to camp on the Great Wall, so that's exciting. But I'm getting nervous--I don't want to travel any more, there's not enough time left in Beijing. I still have so many more things to discover! Coffee shops, ex-pat hang-outs, art districts, restaurants! I'm going to leave and there's still going to be so much of Beijing that I haven't seen! I don't have enough time! Eesh, it's going to be scary coming back home--I'm going to be just as nervous flying into America as I was flying into China...
OK, I'm done updating for now. Really.
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| Happy Monday... |
[02 May 2005|11:12am] |
Eeesh, tired.
So, my Chinese living art debut was a little confused, but fantastic nonetheless. Well, not confused. We showed up late... We got to the art district late, walked quickly to the changing area, changed into our new Chinese workers uniforms, then ran to the picture area, only to find that the picture had already been taken. So, instead, we wandered about, chatted with the other Westerners I knew, then went and found Kim and her parents in the same district. And I have a new blue workers uniform.
It's neat to actually know OTHER people. It was Greg, Peter, Xin Xin and I who went and it was a very cool feeling to be calling other people and asking them where they were... I actually know people who aren't in my program. I know OTHER Westerners... Wow.
So, today is Monday. And I'm tired because I'm still revising and concluding my NEC project (Homosexuals in Beijing) and preparing for my English class as well as doing all of my normal homework. However, class today went a little like this:
::Students began practicing "nong", a word that means get... kind of::
Tian Laoshi to Jake: What do you need?
Jake: I need narcotic drugs.
Tian Laoshi to Adam: What do you like?
::Adam is sitting balanced sideways in his chair, with only one butt cheek actually resting on the chair and his hand resting on the ground::
::He looks like a bobble toy (because his butt hurts)::
Adam: I like monkey prostitutes.
::Adam begins making screaming monkey noises and swatting at Greg in front of him::
Adam: Are you a monkey prostitute?!
Tian Laoshi: I think Adam has young person dementia.
Adam: Who are you?!
And now, I'm going to attempt to email the people I need to email.
I hope.
Love to all,
Sian
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| I'm going to complain... |
[30 Apr 2005|05:12pm] |
You were warned.
I would like to make a list of some current events...
~Time of Chinese course at Holy Cross is changed a number of times, it is finally decided that course will be at 2 pm MWF
~Chinese course conflicts with all RA meetings... Meetings which Sian is supposed to attend because she is Head RA
~History department rejects my Honors Thesis because the proposal is too broad
~History department suggests I take a course entitled History of Sexuality as my Directed Reading course for my thesis...
*note: History of Sexuality traces Sexuality from 1770 to present day in EASTERN EUROPE
**note: My Honors Thesis is on ancient China and the roots of Western civilization, NOT Modern day Eastern Europe
~History of Sexuality conflicts with Chinese class
~Professor Ropp sends me an email telling me that perhaps I will have too much on my plate to be his TA next semester and that he, instead, should choose another TA for Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, as well as telling me he thinks I should take the course
It's like a really weak man is kicking me repeatedly in the butt...
It's not a big deal, of course, because these things always smooth over, but it just always seems so much worse when you're not able to fix anything quickly and conveniently.
I'm in China people, China. Of course I didn't get to research my thesis extensively. Had I been in America, I promise, it wouldn't have been as broad...
Grrrr.
OK, time to answer emails and do homework. Tomorrow (Sunday, I wrote the wrong day last time) I make my living art debut. I convinced Greg to do it too and we'll meet up with the GLBTA foreigners tomorrow too. Fantastic.
Can't wait.
Love to all,
Sian
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| The Vanishing of Xin Xin... |
[28 Apr 2005|07:25pm] |
So, yesterday I updated and it must have been so painfully boring that one would cringe to read it. I apologize. As soon as I had updated, things began happening...
I went back home and napped (this is not yet the exciting part) and ended up sleeping through my English class which was ok because all she did was show a movie I had already seen. Upon waking up, I decided to take a trip with Peter to the little French coffee shop that we like in the San li tun area.
We curled up in a corner of the coffee shop, me with my homework, Peter with a book, and sat around chatting, reading, eating, etc. At some point, Peter looked over my shoulder and asked why those two women were staring at us. I turned around and discovered that it was two of the women I had met through the GLBTA group--the first two I met who later introduced me to a lot of Chinese people. I chatted with them for a while, then sat back down to finish my homework. At this point, I notice a white man (have to distinguish race as I am in China) staring at us...
Sian: Hi...
Man: Hello! So, I have a question. Will you two be in Beijing this upcoming Saturday?
Sian and Peter: Umm... Yes...
Man: That's great! You see, we're doing this show in the Art district... We're going to take 400 foreigners--you know, non-Chinese people--and dress them up in the classic, blue, Chinese workers jumpsuit, shoes and everything. Then we're going to walk from this one place to another, take pictures of all 400 people in classic Chinese style, then have refreshments and such afterwards. It should be fun. Are you interested in participating?
Sian and Peter: Umm... YES!
Peter: Do we get to keep the jumpsuit?
Man: Yes.
Peter: I'm in.
Sian: And the shoes?
Man: Yes.
Sian: I'm in too.
So now, I'm going to be in some kind of living art exhibit.
::blow on knuckles::
::rubs them on shirt::
Who's worldly and educated now?
Upon returning from the coffee shop, I found my room deserted. On my desk was a sticky note. It said:
Sian,
I have decided to leave Beijing for two days.
I need Xin Xin time.
Don't worry.
I'm sorry to tell you this way.
Xin Xin
I immediately began worrying and ran to find her recent male interest. Upon not finding him, I found the next best thing--his room mate (Greg). Greg told me that he too had no idea why she had picked up and left and was looking for me in the hope that I could perhaps explain. Eventually, his room mate came to my room and told me that she was currently at the train station buying the only ticket they had out of Beijing. She was going somewhere in the South with nice weather for the next 2 days.
As to why she has left, we still don't know.
Today, I went to my first class. Well, my second class, I don't go to 15 minute "reading the book" class any more. Anyways... I went to my first class and then skipped my last 3 classes so I could spend the day exploring Beijing with Kim. We set out for the art district and ended up finding a very cool labrynth (sp?) of little art galleries in this gigantic factory area. Everything was an old factory with a series of modern Chinese art galleries. We spent the entire afternoon wandering around, looking at art and taking pictures (I'm finally taking pictures of Beijing--but don't expect them to be interesting, they're all architecture and such). Afterwards, we took a bus to one of our favorite spots in Beijing--a hutong area that is entirely bars and coffee shops--and curled up and did our homework... Well, I began studying for my exam and Kim read. We then began discussing our favorite poems, which was nice, because it reminded us that we ARE literate, at least in one language.
Kim recited "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" from memory. We then tried to remember what the line "I will not go gently into the night" was from. We, sadly, realized it was from Independence Day.
Now, it is time to go study more.
I just found out that the History Department has, for the moment, denied my proposal for an honors thesis because my proposal was too broad. I am to work over the summer with Professor Ropp to revise my proposal and to take ANOTHER class in the fall called History of Sexuality as my Directed Readings course. The person teaching it is an Early Modern Europe expert.
I think I would possibly rather stick a burning hot needle into my eye.
And, on top of this, the course conflicts with Chinese at Holy Cross. Which means either I'm not taking Chinese, or I'm not making the History Department happy...
Fantastic.
However, I bought The Little Prince today in Chinese. And I can read, I'd say, about 50%. This actually IS fantastic. Be proud of me. It's going to be my summer project. Well, that and my thesis proposal...
Oh, darn. It's such a good way to give me a kick--I feel like I've embarassed Professor Ropp.
Ok, done complaining. But I've been wanting to read this poem for about a week now, so I'm going to give it to you too:
Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old-
This knight so bold-
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be-
This land of Eldorado?"
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied-
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
-EA Poe
Love to all,
Sian
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| Got Nothing... |
[27 Apr 2005|11:09am] |
So, what has been happening recently in my life?
I'm not exactly sure...
Sunday night, we treated our teachers to dinner at a trendy Thai place. It was very tasty, but sadly there wasn't a lot of Chinese spoken because Greg's parents also went out to dinner with us, and anything that was said in Chinese then had to be translated by someone into English. It's amazing how bothersome it is to do that... But, since we've all been there (and at many times are still there), we understood that it was only fair to translate and help them out.
Monday... hmm, I've already forgotten Monday... Oh, wait, in class we talked about different teaching methods and were told we had to do individual skits pretending to be certain kinds of teachers...
Adam: I'm a history teacher... So, in the future, aliens are going to come down and fight a civil war with the humans. At this point, the eastern mountain will rise again ::note, this means one will make a come back::, and the robots will take over the world.
Greg: Aren't you a history teacher?
Adam: You are a very good student.
Sian: I'm a CET Teacher. Adam! Use this grammar!
::Sian then makes an mmmMMMMM noise mimicking Mmm Laoshi::
::Adam stares in disbelief for a moment::
::Adam loses it and starts laughing, unable to use the grammar::
::Sian loses it, then composes herself::
Sian: Adam! Use the grammar!
Adam has also taken it upon himself to caress Greg at any point possible. Tuesday, Adam's entire body was hidden under the table because he was reaching so far in front of him to pet Greg's back that he had to sprawl under the desk.
Hmmm, what else? Tuesday, our teachers took us out to dinner at a FANTASTIC restaurant--I can't wait to go back. But, because I was out late, I ended up not doing some of my homework, which turned out to be fine, because apparently my teacher loves me.
New decisions on CET:
~I am never ever again going to the 15 minute "we read the book out loud" class at 8:25 in the morning.
Never ever again. It is a waste of time. And if someone asks me why I am not going, I will tell them that it is a waste of time, and they should not expect to see me in that class.
~From this point on, I will not prepare my 1-1 with Tian Laoshi (it's a one on one class in which I record myself reading a Chinese excerpt, she then listens to the recording, and we practice my accent and pronunciation for 20 minutes) because class is much more interesting and enjoyable if I go in unprepared and she and I just chat. Today, I showed her pictures from Hainan Dao, we talked about women problems and who's "shuai" (handsome) or not at CET, and then about whether monkey's inately (innately?) know how to drink out of a coke can or have learned it from humans.
~Level of importance of homework has changed: 1. sleep, 2. food, 3. exploring Beijing, 4. homework
I think that's all I have for the moment...
OK, off to eat some food, then nap, for an extended period of time... Possibly so extended that I do not go to my afternoon class...
Love to all,
Sian
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| Crazy |
[22 Apr 2005|10:02am] |
Just checked my email, and apparently I've been nominated for the Tom Dolan Award... Crazy. Just sent a "resume" to Dean Ohotnicky... I feel like in the past couple of months, I've just been given a million different resume fillers, and haven't really taken it upon myself to care, nor apply. I'll apply for this one though, Tom Dolan likes me... :-)
So, I just had a fantastic walk, and that's the reason I decided to update. Because I wanted to tell you. That's all, really. I was walking from Starbucks back home to school, listening to my new favorite playlist on my iPod, and it just... fit... and made me happy. Also sad, because I'm leaving so soon. But mainly happy.
Oh, also, didn't want to forget this one:
Last night, we decided that we didn't have much homework to do (I think this was because Tuesday was absolutely insane with homework, as we--the New England Consortium students--had to write 1600 character essays and a coherent English essay as well as do our homework and study for our quiz... thus, Wednesday seemed like a cinch) and wanted to go out. Kim, Peter, Greg, Jason, Austin, Rob and I decided to go to a concert in the Sanlitun area, so, first, Kim, Peter, Greg and I congregated in Kim's room to drink wine. I'm not exactly sure how this topic appeared, or how the conversation came to this...
::Kim mumbles something incoherent about creating water::
Greg: WHO created water, Kim?
Kim: Moses. You know, he said "Let there be light" and there was water.
::The room erupts in laughter::
Kim: Whaaaaaat?
I note, she was not drunk.
OK, that's all.
Thinking of you all,
Sian
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| 1600 Characters? Done. |
[21 Apr 2005|06:34am] |
Yesterday, I started and finished my first draft of my Homosexuality in Beijing paper--1600 characters, all hand written.
My teacher called me "li hai".
"Li hai" is a Chinese equivalent to "hardcore".
This is a complement, and I was pleased.
I can't believe I wrote a coherent essay, in Chinese, that was that long. I'm so proud of myself. Now, I just need to finish my research...
Now that spring break has ended, things are back to normal, or as normal as China gets. It's funny to realize that this is now my home, and where I'm comfortable, but I guess thats just the way it works... I found that on Wednesday in Hainan Dao I was ready to come home. I was enjoying myself and the weather and the company, but I just wanted to be somewhere familiar, where I know my way around and know I can get around.
On this note, I am not in a familiar place! Why would I feel this way? I do NOT know that I can get around. But it's home now, and I know Beijing better than Hainan Dao, so I longed to be back to new home.
Classes are uneventful. We learned about "Water, the source of life" and it was long, and complicated, and boring. But now I know how to say pollution. So, good for me. At one point, we were playing a game, and my role was "Environment Expert." The game was for the other students (who were sitting) to ask the person (who is standing) questions about their area of expertise.
Adam: What kind of pollution is the worst kind?
Sian: Hmmm... Well, water pollution. Maybe not really, but I don't know how to say any other forms of pollution.
Maura: Why are you an Environment Expert?
Sian: Because the teacher told me I have to be.
Greg: What is the worst kind of animal for the environment?
Sian: Ostrich. They really like polluting.
Jake: Can you please explain to us ::says something long and confusing in Chinese while reading from his dictionary::
::Teachers laugh::
::Hard::
Sian: No. This expert doesn't understand.
Jake: The Greenhouse Effect.
Sian: No.
::Sian sits down and shoots a glare at Jake::
::Sian starts laughing, attempting to imagine explaining the Greenhouse Effect in Chinese::
::You know, it's that thing. That bad thing. It's pollution, but not really. Come on, you know! It's from that thing... I don't know how to say it. That thing that isn't the ground and is above us. It's blue. Well, not really, but it looks blue. Forget it::
I finished all of my homework early today, so I think I'm going to curl up with Kim to drink wine and watch a movie, and then apparently Greg and Peter are heading out to some punk concert, so I might tag along for that as well...
I've realized I'm a bit of a loner, as well. This is funny, because I never really recognized it, but I find myself constantly reminding myself that I SHOULD be going out to dinner with people, or going to people's rooms to say hello. But I just so much enjoy my own time, and discovering things on my own, and getting things done, and not waiting to go out to eat for a million people, etc etc etc. I go out with people on the weekends... Isn't that enough?
Hmmm, I felt like I had more to say, but it appears as if I don't...
This is the song I'm listening to constantly at the moment:
My my my it’s a beautiful world
I like swimming in the sea
I like to go out beyond the white breakers
Where a man can still be free (or a woman if you are one)
I like swimming in the sea.
::other verses::
All around is anger automatic guns
It’s death in large numbers no respect for women or our little ones
I tried talking to Jesus but He just put me on hold
Said He’d been swamped by calls this week
And He couldn’t shake His cold
And still this emptiness persists
Perhaps this is as good as it gets
When you’ve given up the drink and those nasty cigarettes
Now I leave the party early at least with no regrets
I watch the sun as it comes up I watch it as it sets
Yeah this is as good as it gets.
(Colin Hay, Beautiful World)
Hope your world is treating you well.
Love you much,
Sian
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