Busy Girl

I dislike complaining about being busy. I try not to do it, because everyone is busy and there's no use comparing and competing to see who is busier. So please don't misinterpret my next statement: Man, I've been busy!

On top of creating my year-long syllabus for the students, I have also begun Chinese lessons again (twice a week now! Though I hope I can eventually see her three time a week), started my private tutoring and teaching at Rise, hosted visitors to Nanjing, AND went to visit a new city. I've been all over the place lately. However, I have a ton of awesome stories and pictures now, which I can't wait to show you.

Unfortunately, I got back from the Nanjing airport at 3:30 AM this morning. Then I woke up at 6 AM to catch the bus to the satellite campus and taught a 95 minute class. I dragged myself to Chinese classes and did so much grocery shopping I could fill a bunker and live for a year after the smog takes over China.

I am very sleepy.

So in an effort to provide you with something, I now present my final Grinnell Corps report. "But aren't you done with Grinnell Corps?" you might ask. Yes, yes I am done. But I hated the fourth report that I wrote last May and meant to rewrite over the summer and I just kept procrastinating until it was already September. But my first week in China I had an experience that inspired me to write something that felt right, that really encapsulated my Grinnell Corps experience. So enjoy! And check back throughout the week for lots of new posts... especially if you have a fondness for 熊猫. 

China Moment 一

I love China moments. And lucky me, I get to have them pretty often.

For example, today I lost my scarf. It's not really chilly enough to wear scarves yet, but when I'm riding my bike my neck sometimes gets cold. It was an awesome, brightly colored scarf with "Dia de los Muertos" style skulls all over. I bought it last year at the Hankouxi Lu Night Market. I must have dropped it while I was walking (bike in tow) with visitors from Shanghai, my mom's college friend Joan and her two kids, Kyra and Cullen.

I checked around the cafe where we were, but I think I must have dropped it before then. I was bummed. And my neck was cold. So on my way back, I happened to bike past that very night market where I bought my scarf one year earlier. A stall with tons of scarves caught my eye, so I pulled over. I picked out one of the only scarves that wasn't covered in fake Louis Vuitton logos or crazy hot pink Hello Kitty patterns and asked how much it was.

26 RMB. That's approximately $4USD. "Can you make it cheaper?" I asked her. She suggested 24 RMB. I suggested 18 RMB. We settled on 20.

So I walked away with my new $3 scarf. I put it on right away, and my neck was nice and toasty. I actually think this scarf is softer, prettier, and matches my coat better than the skull one did anyway...

It wasn't really a China moment specifically, but it was definitely some kind of moment. The moments that make me smile. The moments I want to remember because they're so short and sweet but I often don't. Walkin' away with a super cheap, really beautiful scarf that I bought on a lark, on my way home.

Here, China Doll demonstrates two extremely fashionable ways of displaying her new scarf.

Which is better? China Doll... fashion extraordinaire...

China Doll's New Bike

Remember that girl who got lost in Grinnell, Iowa? The small city with numbered streets?

Remember that girl who had to wear a cast for the 3rd grade Newscasting Session because she hurt her arm on a bike? That girl who hurt her arm on a bike when she gently love-tapped a shrubbery?

A shrubbery, for crying out loud.

Well, that girl got a bike. It was not her brightest of ideas.

Living at Hohai University has some large advantages over my location from last year, the biggest (and maybe only) advantage being my large living space and beautiful tree-lined campus. The most drastic change is the location. Last year, my dorm was in an extremely centralized place. There were tons of buses that ran frequently from the bus stop across the street. And the food... oh the food...

Even though I am only a 25-30 minute walk away from my old apartment, the change feels drastic. There are no buses that leave from the back gate (close to where I live) and there are only a few buses at the front gate, which is a 10 minute walk at least. Plus, the major construction nearby hinders the bus routes, and has demolished a lot of the business near my apartment (including restaurants.) The lack of convenient buses and shortage of good restaurants made the idea of getting a bike appealing. I decided to go for it.

Lela and I took the bus to Tangzi Lu, the street in Nanjing known for selling cheap, second-hand (read: stolen) bikes. I've noticed that in China, there are often markets where everyone sells exactly the same thing. It's useful when you're going to buy something specific: a lot of  merchandise are centralized in the same place. It also makes it really overwhelming, since there are so many options. When my mom and I went to the Pearl Market in Beijing, it was just stall after stall of the same pearls over and  over. Just pearls for what seemed like eternity. That's what Tangzi Lu looked like.

Even though there were bikes for days, none caught my eye. Immediately, Lela picked out a pink Giant bicycle, which she able to bargain way down. But I was still on the hunt. After a few failed attempts (the "salespeople," which I put in quotes because it was basically just people selling bikes on the side of the road, weren't willing to bargain) this lady came up to us out of nowhere. 

"Buying a bicycle?" she asked in Chinese. She waved at us to follow.

I thought we were going to the visible side alley with lots of bikes lined up along the brick wall. Nope. We went further into the alley, twisting and turning. I found it hard to believe she could even wheel a bike back there it got so tight. Finally, we arrived this little hole in the wall with 20-30 bikes lined up. On the other side, some old men were spray painting bikes army green and attaching a wagon to each one. No idea.

I found a bike I liked, but again, I was having trouble getting it at the price my Chinese friend had advised me not to go above. Tired and frustrated, I ended up paying 10 RMB more than "the highest I should pay at Tagzi Lu" but included was two locks and two bells (one for me, one for Lela.) I figured Lela deserved a bell after all the haggling she did for me and after all the indecision I put her through.

Now came the scary part. Buying a bike meant biking home. Having not ridden a bike in over a year, it would have been nice to start out on the Hohai campus, biking up to Shanghai Lu, my old stomping grounds. Nope. I had to bike from a new place during rush hour traffic.

It was trial by fire, to say the least. I discovered that when the bike was going downhill at rapid speed, the breaks were not as useful as on a new, American-sold bike. Lela and I followed the bus route back to her school, then I biked home from there. Even though I led the way for awhile, I could not have done that without Lela.

There it is!

My purse just barely fits in the basket...

The next day, I biked to the technology market to retrieve my unlocked iPhone. That was a huge win for me. I had no idea where I was going and I was riding by myself. Apparently, the way to Zhujiang Lu is a "bike lane" that is actually also a pedestrian walkway, so I had to do some impressive bike maneuvering and bell ringing.

As scary as riding a bike is in Nanjing, having this bike is a lifesaver. What it saves me in time and money it gives me back in heart attacks and conniptions. Bikes seems to follow their own traffic rules here: sometimes they follow the vehicle traffic and sometimes they act more like pedestrians. The only thing I'm yet to perfect is the left turn. It's not super intuitive...

I hope that having a bike will help me learn the city better. So far, I really love it. This China Doll isn't as fragile as she seems—biking along the traffic-ridden, law-unabiding roads...

She's Back!

SHE’S BACK!

That’s right boy and girls, your favorite rambling, hyper-observant China Doll has returned to the place where it all began: Nanjing, China.

I will be teaching oral English at Hohai Univeristy, one of the many colleges in Nanjing. I live about fifteen minutes walking distance from where I lived last year, so even though I do not know this specific area terribly well; the areas I do know are not so far away.

China Doll has not had the easiest of transitions this time around. Last year, any homesickness or disgust was masked by excitement and newness. Since I had already lived here, I expected to feel fully moved in and ready to go as soon as I arrived, which was, of course, not the case. My university apartment needed a lot of hardcore cleaning (I wish I had taken before and after pictures, it was insane.) I’ve also killed, well, let’s be honest, had someone else kill four roaches so far. Even though I have sheets and more furniture now, I still need to go to Ikea for kitchen supplies… and then furniture on which to keep those supplies. Right now, I don’t think about much else than getting food into the apartment (but away from the cockroaches) so that I don’t have to worry about where I can go for my next meal that isn’t a huge inconvenience. I also don’t think about anything other than getting internet, which is supposed to happen today or tomorrow, but since it’s China I’m trying not to get my hopes up.

My expectation was that since I had already lived in Nanjing, I already had things figured out. I haven’t felt like going out and exploring this new area because I thought of this as “coming back again” not as “coming back anew” and it irks me that I have to relearn everything: where to buy fruit, where to bank, where I can get free WiFi. I quickly realized that my new home is pretty far away from everywhere I’ve needed and wanted to go, even for groceries, so I have decided to buy a bike. The thought of biking in Nanjing totally freaks me out, but I think that it’s necessary.

To be honest, my first week here was miserable. I get choked up thinking about how badly I wanted to go home. This is my sixth year living so far from my family and friends—it will be my sixth Rosh Hashanah without Grama Minnie’s apple cake, my sixth Thanksgiving without my family, my sixth year of missing birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, graduations, and the little things that other 20-somethings who live close to home get to experience. I know that I’m lucky that I get to live abroad and have different, unique opportunities, but I still get that nagging feeling like something is missing. Especially considering that after this summer I could have said, “screw China” and remained in the states, (probably) employed and close to home, this transition was even more difficult than I could have ever anticipated.

That being said, I’m back. And I can’t complain about how much I want to go home when this year is filled with possibilities. I have loved seeing all my friends from last year, and one of my close Grinnell friends, Evan, moved in with me last week. I am already getting psyched for my first upcoming holiday break. I can’t wait to start lesson planning and to meet my students. I am excited for what this year holds, but I’m also afraid that I won’t take advantage of my time here. I’ve been so reluctant to leave my comfort zone in my first week back: I am yet to explore the campus and surrounding areas. So readers, hold me accountable! If I’m not updating with awesome stories on the regular, tell me to get my butt out of my apartment…

China Doll signing off the first of many posts to come!

By the Way...

Right now, I'm sitting in my living room, rereading my blog in anticipation of my return to China. I've been emailing back and forth with my new supervisor these past few days, which has kind of gotten me back into the mindset of China life. I am having an amazing summer career-wise (find out more here), with my family/friends, and with my one true love, food, that it will be hard for me to return. I would seriously consider staying in the US for longer, but I know once I'm back in China I'll be happy that I returned. But basically, I'm feeling a bit sad about leaving the US. Hence: reading through my blog.

In doing so, I realized that I totally forgot to tell you that I figured out the lyrics to my students' twice daily outdoors exercise routine!!!!!! 

Twice-daily exercises look like this...

Here is the original post, from October 2012...

A little Wednesday treat for you:

Every morning and afternoon, the students of Nanda Fu Zhong do their outdoor exercises and it's really a sight to see. Unfortunately, YOU CAN'T SEE IT because blogger is not permitting me to upload the video. However, I will share with you my own lyrics to this exercise song. It is in Chinese and it gets stuck in my head with alarming frequency, so I have created my own English version so that I can sing along. It begins... "I've been around the world, haven't any pearls" but climaxes with this lyrical chorus:

Ay ay ay there are noodles in the sky

I like to eat them
bottles in the sky

Ay ay ay I'm a dragon in disguise

in magazines and

bottles in the sky

ayayayayayayayayay, ay hunters eat some pie
ayayayayayayayayay, ay Christmas in July

Pure poetry. More soon, I promise. China Doll

Excellent, right?

So here's the thing: the song is actually in English. MIND BLOWN!

Interested=Piqued

It's called Butterfly*. It's by SMILE.dk. It's weird. Here are the actual lyrics:

I'm searching for a man
All across Japan
Just to find
To find my samurai

Someone who is strong
But still a little shy
Yes I need
I need my samurai

Ai yai yai
I'm your little butterfly
Green black and blue make the colors in the sky

Ai yai yai
I'm your little butterfly
Green black and blue make the colors in the sky

I'm searching in the woods
And high upon the hills
Just to find
To find my samurai

Someone who won't regret
To keep me in his net
Yes I need
I need my samurai

Then it's just Ai yai yai over and over again, alternating "Where's my samurai?" with "Little butterfly." Interestingly, the link I used via youtube has lyrics that are MUCH clearer than the version NDFZ used in the exercises. I assume what I heard was a Chinese cover.

Anyway, mystery solved. No dragons in the sky, just colors in the sky. Much less exciting. China Doll is disappointed.

*FYI, if you can't make it through the whole youtube video, the two girls get abducted by a butterfly-shaped UFO with two buff Asian guys. Just sayin.

Be In the Know

Check out this article from Buzzfeed to learn a few of the things it took me a few months to learn while living in China... Plus, I've created my own corresponding comments and photos :)

1. "Don't stick your chopsticks upright in your rice"

Do the right thing. Balance those chopsticks.

I say, don't even risk it. Never stick your chopstick upright, ever! Rice, noodles, soup, anything! I always balance them on the edge of my bowl as a habit.

2. "If you're offered a gift, refuse it a couple times"

Like my red scarf? A gift from my students.

This is a lot easier said than done, because in the US I would feel rude refusing a gift a few times. But as a teacher, I've received an insane amount of gifts, mostly concentrated around Christmas and the end of school, which made it hard to refuse because people were literally piling them into our arms. Some gifts were easy to refuse, like the tiny white box shaped like a crucifix that said "Christ" in curly pink letters. Or a super creepy doll piggy bank.

I've found that instead of refusing (which I haven't quite mastered) that instead, I'll say things like "I can't accept this, you're too kind" or "This looks too expensive" or "This is so lovely I really don't deserve this." Maybe I'll perfect it next year?

3. "Same thing with compliments"

Yea, I do this anyway in the US. I've tried accepting compliments, even if (I like to think) it's true. But compliments just make me feel uncomfortable.

4. "The Chinese population is gradually declining"

 (Pre-2008) and (Post-2008)

5. "Eating dog is becoming increasingly unpopular"

Yes, though I do know a foreign friend who accidentally ordered dog. And ate it.

6. Breathing in Beijing air is not as bad as you might think"

Beihai Park in Beijing. Pollution who? Amiright?

7. "The one child policy does not apply to everyone"

Not only does the one child policy not apply to everyone (because minorities can have more than 1 child) but also wealthy people can pay to have a second child. It is my understanding that they have to demonstrate enough wealth to afford a second child, plus they need enough money to "convince" officials that they should have a second child, "convince" meaning "pay off." This is just what a Chinese friend told me, so I'm no expert. But that's what I heard along the grapevine.

SO. MANY. CHILDREN.

8. "China is not technically a communist country"

Yerp. That's correct. I have no personal photo that corresponds.

9. "Ask a Chinese person how to access blocked websites"

Or ask me. I use an Astrill VPN (or Virtual Private Network) to access Facebook, Youtube, even IMDB is blocked in China...

10. "Chinese people don't speak Chinese"

Me neither!

Although I was able to speak enough Chinese
to buy some string for my macrame bracelets

11. "You won't necessarily be the tallest person in the room"

Unless you're in a room of children!

12. "Each Chinese character [is] not an individual word"

Chinese is not just an ideographic language, it's so much more complicated than that... Reading and writing is my least favorite part of learning Chinese, but I do it anyway!

A glimpse at my Chinese notebook

13. "No one in space will be able to see you on the Great Wall"

Good thing too.
No astronauts could see my awkward selfie

14. "There is a chance you will have to use a squat toilet at some point. Don't be afraid"

No. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

15. "Explore beyond Shanghai and Beijing"

Absolutely! I got to see a few places, but there are sooo many more I want to see...

Wuxi at sunset

16. "The Chinese food you're used to eating in the USA/Europe is probably not real Chinese food"

Because Chinese food in China is SO MUCH BETTER!

Did that seem gratuitous? Good.

17. "If you feel the need to burp or stare. it's most likely okay"

HELLZ YA.

18. "English is becoming more common"

HELLZ NAH.

Bargaining. In Chinese. In a huge alleyway.
Outside a famous Beijing shopping street.
Because she didn't speak English.

And one more fun photo for good measure. Holes in pants for babies is a real thing! Really!

LOOK AT THAT BABY BUTT

` 

Woes of a Jet Lagged Doll

OK, I lied. I will still update the blog from time to time, mostly because my two biggest fans (read: parents) insist that "people" are still interested in what I have to say. People, of course, being good ol' Ma and Pop. So this one goes out to you, my dear parents.

Jet lag, ahhh, jet lag. I've travelled the world, yet I've never experienced true jet lag. I was beginning to think that jet lag was like Big Foot or Ol' Nessie of Lochness Monster fame: I believe that other people believe it exists, but do I? Could I? I was not a believer.

Yes, I used to fall asleep a mere hour earlier upon returning to Grinnell, and yes, I was a bit sleepy after my two weeks in Israel and my six months in Europe. But those weren't enough for me to believe jet lag exists. It was not until I returned from China and experienced the eye socket wrenching drowsiness, almost coma-like exhaustion at all hours of the night and day, that I began to suspect jet lag is a very real and very dangerous beast.

I kept a small diary of the jet lag/culture shock woes. Here are my unabridged and rambling thoughts that ran through my head the first week (or so) I was home:

6.16 6:08 pm - Bottled water is expensive!
6.16 6:10 pm - Chocolate and peanut butter were made for each other!
6.16 12:42 am - American beds feel like they're stuffed with fluffy bunnies compared to the cement blocks on which Chinese people sleep!
6.17 7:15 am - Macaroni and cheese can be eaten at any time, and it's always delicious!
6.17 7:56 am - I don't have to turn on my VPN as soon as I turn on my computer!
6.17 11:30 am - I LOVE driving!
6.17 11:45 am - Water comes complimentary at restaurants. Nice!
6.17 12:45 pm - Tipping is customary. My brother saved me from walking out the door without leaving a tip...
6.17 1:40 pm - Jet lag is real!?!?!?! THE HORROR!!!
6.17 1:42 pm - My bed actually feels like a magical cotton cloud!
6.17 2:45 pm - Snooze button, I'd tap that.
6.17 3:55 pm - "Briel, didn't you say you were only going to take an hour long nap? You won't be able to sleep tonight!" -my mom
6.17 6:45 pm - My mom is the best cook ever. I forgot about feta, mozarella, fresh basil, and steak!
6.17 8:45 pm - Laundry can be dried with a magical, clothes drying machine that makes your clothes feel like warm puffs of air!
6.17 9:03 pm - Soooo sleepyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
6.17 9:16 pm - Being force fed iced coffee to stay awake
6.17 11:20 pm - SO AWAKE. SO JITTERY. MAN OH MAN! 

7.17 11:55 pm - GO TO BED, BODY!

7.18 12:40 am - SERIOUSLY, GO TO BED

7.18 1:03 am - FALL ASLEEP... NOW! OK, that didn't work. Count sheep? Listen to the sounds of waves? Yoga? WHAT WILL SOOTHE YOU, SAVAGE JET LAG?
6.18 6:03 am - Go back to bed
6.18 7:56 am - Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
6.18 8:45 am - The air outside is so clean and lovely! I don't feel like I'm inhaling black smoke as I go for my (semi-not-at-all-daily) run!

6.18 9:03 am - BUNNIES! SQUIRRELS! BIRDS!

6.18 12:05 pm - What is this ATM machine, and what does it want from me?
6.18 12:06 pm - The card... came out immediately before I took out my money? I don't need to stand around and wait for the ATM to spit out my card? What?
6.18 12:06 pm - My money came out in $20 bills, not $100 bills? (Chinese Yuan comes out in hundreds...)
6.18 12:06 pm - WHERE IS MY CARD?! Oh wait, it already came out... (this may seem inconsequntial, but there were two cards lost because of this confusion...)
6.19 6:05 pm - My sister: "Why aren't you bringing your license out to dinner?" me: "I'm not driving anywhere?" "Aren't you... going out for drinks afterward?" Alcohol requires ID. Oh yea. That sounds familiar. 6.20 5:39 am - Seriously, it's been five days. Why am I still waking up at 5 am? 

Notice all the exclamation points. I felt like a newborn baby experiencing things for the first time. Or rather, I felt like someone who had been away for a long time who had returned home to all these wonderful and familiar things. Oh wait...

I've definitely experienced "reverse culture shock" since I've been home, but it's not a long drawn out thing. It's more like little moments of me remembering how things are different here, being reminded of how things are in China, but then reverting back to my American mindset. I almost say 谢谢 instead of thank you. I almost cross the street in the middle of oncoming traffic instead of obeying the pedestrian laws. Stuff like that.

After three weeks of being home, I am settling into my routines. And no, I'm not jet lagged anymore. But as for the existence of Big Foot and the Lochness Monster, maybe it's time for China Doll to reconsider?