So, 60 years. Wow, that’s a long time. The more I think about it, the longer it seems. Today my friends and I were just discussing the beginnings of AIM and AOL, all that online chatting junks, and that was only what… 10 / 15 years ago. Technology has come such a far ways since then. But 60 years… the things that have changed. 1949 to 2009. In 1949, World War II had just ended 4 years prior; the Cold War hadn’t begun. In 1949, the United States wasn’t a superpower. In 1949, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 hadn’t been passed yet. This can go on, but all this to say, in 1949, the world was a different place. It’s been 60 years since China was taken over by the Chinese Communist Party, and what an era it has gone through. For arguments sake, it is climbing as an economic power that is recognized internationally for its accomplishments with its rising GDP and whatnot, although I have varying views on this. From the land reforms, to the struggle sessions and Cultural Revolution, to the economic reforms, China without doubt has come quite a distance. Just 20 years ago, the number of foreign students allowed into China numbered somewhere in the hundreds, and now, there is a couple hundred solely at my school. I was studying at a new café today, “The Bridge” (super cute), and coming and going were probably foreigners numbered in the hundreds. It’s crazy how quickly things change. As much as we try to wrap our minds around what 60 years down the line will look like, this will only be done in vain. I’m sure if Mao Zedong was asked in 1949 whether China would be a market socialist economy (where money money money spurs individuals on), he wouldn’t respond out of shock from being asked such a stupid question. Freakish thought, 60 years from now, I am going to be 82 years old. I wonder what the world will be like then. Hahaha. (that was completely off topic) Great… this section has ended up being a very general, vague and non-academic history lesson. Hopefully I didn’t bore anyone to sleep. But anyhow, cheers, to 60 years of … change… in China… and around the world. To modernization!
And now, to my 3 months in China… wow, 3 months seems so short compared to 60 years. 3 months compared to 60 years, 60 years equating to 720 months, 3 / 720 = a very small number. What is wrong with me these days?? I hate math, but everything seems to be waiting, calling out to me, to be calculated. Maybe it’s all the counting months left, the celebrating 60 years for China, being on National Holiday for 8 days (with only 2 left now)… ok, back on track. So its come to by halfway point of studying abroad in China, I say this to point out that there is still potential of returning … eventually. An update on life abroad seems appropriate at a time like this; to reevaluate how I’m doing in Beijing, whether it’s met expectations, whether it has a future in my life, whether I can call it home, etc.
Since my Shanghai trip, I haven’t left Beijing; the life of a working woman. Weh. But being here in one place has allowed me to experience reality here. Not so much the ‘I’m on vacation, let me go here, there, somewhere else, Oh, And there sounds touristy too!’ but rather the ‘ah, let me bike to get food at my favorite café, let me go shop at the area I always hit up, let me go talk to the street vendor that I talk to all the time….’ It’s definitely a different, more… casual… local feel. I guess I can call it home. When it becomes inevitable when I go out that I will get honked at 20 thousand times, get stared at my weird men on their bicycles as I ride alongside them, get talked to in Korean, don’t get stomach aches from eating street food, and this all seems normal. Nothing out of the ordinary to almost be hit by a taxi… every time I take Cherry out for a bike ride, nor that smoking in restaurants, and any other public space is allowed and smokers will blow smoke in your face with no regard to the fact that I hate second hand smoke, nor having to yell out ‘Fuwuyuan’ (service person) loudly in order to order our food or get our checks. I recall the first time I had to do it, I felt so rude… and simply loud. I wanted to respect the service people, let them take care of what they looked busy doing, after all, in America… waiters will come by the table to ask how things are going every once in a while, but alas, I realized, that’s just not the way it works here, waiting for them to come ask me if I am ready… unless I want to be waiting all night … until they close and tell people to get out. So Beijing being called home… meaning, there is still potential for coming back and make this home for another 2 or 3 years post-grad. It’s hitting me hard, the uncertainty of what life will look like come January, when the next step in life will be wherever I feel led to go. There is no more structure that I ought to follow. Where elementary school leads to middle school, then on to high school with sophomore and junior years being time to work hella hard to get into a 4 year university, then enter university and graduate. And GRADUATE. That’s the end, of the dream most suburban families have for their children. Minus the go out and make bank. China has treated me well, has led me to question what I really want in life, whether I’m going to let money be my driving force, whether I really have a heart for helping people and benefiting people simple because that’s just the way it should be. For this, I haven’t ruled out returning … dun dun dunnn.
For 3 months, I have taxied, walked, subway-ed, biked, swam (almost, when it was pouring), ran, around Beijing and at this 3 months mark, I can legitimately point out places that one ought to see. Actually, all tour books will tell you the same thing. But for kicks, because my pictures of these places are just that exciting, and I know you guys are dying to see more pictures…
but always my friend's bikes... in the middle of the randomest places, and we have to ask the randomest people for help. but biking is still the way to go.
Places all tourists must go:
Great Wall – to be standing on something that can be seen and distinguished from space (I honestly think that is one of the coolest things about the Great Wall)
climbing climbing..
one of the many buildings...
places like these slightly bore me, especially when its like 100 degrees out = picture time..
not to say that it's not meaningful and pretty though
Tiananmen Square – to see Mao’s huge portrait
there's the potrait...
National Park (Olympic Stadium)/ Water Cube, (if it so strikes your fancy) – to touch the land the top athletes in the world touched
outside the bird's nest
inside the water cube, after paying 78 kuai to swim in it
Houhai – to experience ‘China’; although arguably it’s been touristized
rickshaw riding!
at night
Xidan – to feel like you’re not in China, with all the malls...
OOPS, i have failed to take any pictures of this area :x but not missing much, just imagine lots of malls next to each other
well, i guess there's this picture. we biked to xidan...
Wangfujing – to eat some ridicously weird foods and see way to many tourist souvenirs
weird weird bugs...
Silk Street – to say you’ve gone, and to have your skin dug into and to get ripped off
ER. no pictures again. my bad. here picture booths and booths of stores selling similar things
Temples – to … I don’t even know… OH. I know. To partake in being a tourist, because truthfully, from my point of view… I feel bad saying it, so I’ll just leave it at that… (but note from the wise :p - don’t go by yourself to these temples, unless you’re really into temples)
Temple of Heaven
... there's always these long pathways that need to another... building...
Bell thing at White Cloud Temple. supposedly if you hit the bell with a coin, you'll have good luck for the rest of the year
but architecture that these places can be interesting ..
And if you are my sort of tourist – NanLuoGu Xiang – to walk around, eat cakes and drink coffee and milkshakes… how non-Eastern.
like always, biking...
one of my first and favorites. bomb banana milkshakes!
Classes are hard. I’m taking a conversational Chinese, Writing and Reading, Modern Chinese Literature, and TaiChi. Doesn’t sound like much… but trust me, when they are language classes, where studying isn’t done the night before a midterm… 5 weeks after class has started, the time spent and the work required simply to understand and be an average student makes them hard. Being a naturally competitive student that typically isn’t okay with being average doesn’t help. Let’s just say learning Chinese is quite a humbling process.
But, with all the cafes here, studying is not so much of a pain. :p
With each day that passes here, is one day closer to my arrival back in California, but that arrival also means steps towards the unknown, and for that excitement does not come with. Having passed the homesickness phase of being abroad, I must honestly say, (although there is still 2.maybe 7 months left) besides wanting to see familiar faces and familiar places in California, I’m not wanting to leave. But rumor (or common knowledge) has it that wintertime in Beijing is COLD. Homesickness sneaks in the way money seems to sneak out of my wallet. A California girl like me just might not survive the cold. I’ll keep you guys posted as the weather changes…
Interesting fact for this post: These past few days the weather has been exceptionally good in Beijing… beginning suspiciously on Oct. 1st. Hmm. What does the government have to do with this? They shot some sort of missile into the air to clear out the clouds. Evening of Sept. 30, it poured. Morning of Oct. 1, nice and sunny, perfect day for a parade… these past 6 days… also super nice, mid 70s. Tomorrow. A sudden jump to a high of 59. Oh the things that can be accomplished….
So that's that for now. I completely suck and didn't write for the month of September, but i'll try to make that up and write more... yes. write more.
But for now, Much Love.
