How to get fluent in Chinese (for realz)

Hey kids,

So there has been an aspect of this whole China experience that I’ve by and large ignored. That is, my Chinese language journey. I came here after finishing 3 1/2 years of Chinese study for my University major. I was feeling pretty unsatisfied with the prospect of graduating with this piece of paper touting my language ability, when personally, I was pretty unsure of how far that ability actually extended to. I had never gotten myself together to take the standard Mandarin exam, the HSK, so I didnt have that score to rely upon. And besides, I found that I had trouble writing characters by hand, simply because I was more focussed on conversational ability. The HSK exam largely assesses reading, writing and grammar structures. Thus, I decided that I needed time to focus on these technicalities. Introducing…an intensive Chinese language program conducted in Nanjing university. I found studying in China vastly different to your standard exchange experience. Because we were taking Chinese classes for second language speakers, most of the people I interacted with were exchange students too. Apart from my Korean friends, we all socialised in English to accommodate differing levels in Chinese. The classes were monday to friday,   8am until 12pm. Students were placed into appropriate level classes and could choose to swap as they pleased. Classes were taught by native Chinese, most of whom spoke little more than a scattering of English. The classroom environment was entirely Chinese, regardless of level. Homework consisted of review and prep of lessons. Subjects included reading, writing, speaking, listening and bonus classes such as newspaper reading, history, ancient Chinese and HSK prep which you could choose at your leisure. I personally chose to fill my spare time with brush painting, taichi and getting private lessons on the Erhu (traditional Chinese instrument.) These were all taught in Chinese and I felt greatly benefited because I was genuinely interested in these things. I felt frustrated by my inability to meet locals though, as our accommodation and classes were held in separate buildings.  We were segregated. To get around that, I tried many different schemes. I found a local language partner, made sure to go straight to the few chinese who went to the same parties I did. I met some really great people just by being open to those really random approaches that often happen here in China. But it still wasnt forming the core of my interactions. Frustrated with my lack of immersion, even while in China, as well as feeling generally over studying Chinese (saturation point is quickly reached and there are only so many hundred characters you can stuff into your brain before needing a break and a chance to consolidate.) Deciding that I was more than happy to call it quits on the study, I started looking for other…opportunities… in China. My plan had been to go travelling, Tibet, Nepal etc. But I wasnt ready to leave my Chinese level where it was currently at. I still wouldnt feel happy upon graduating. I’d feel…dishonest somehow, like I didnt deserve my accreditation.

An internship was suggested to me, and I decided it was just the thing.
I applied for a whole heap and got a whole heap of responses. I was most interested in one in Beijing and one in small city Ji’An. Well, I decided to put in my best and go for the most difficult option. To move away from any safety blankey expat communities I might latch onto in Beijing, to go to a small city in a (seemingly) distant province. It was the best decision I could have made.

I struggled with the language and cultural barriers, but as they say, nothing worth obtaining is easy. As I am getting to the last stages of my time here, I realise that it really hasnt been that long at all. But I feel like Ive achieved a lot.

I had a breakthrough moment not long ago. I went to a social enterprise workshop with my collegues and a whole group of young people involved in the small (but growing) NGO sector in China. I was really nervous, thinking that no way would I be able to follow what was going on, it would be a complete waste of time where I would embarrass myself by asking ‘what?’ too many times. Well, it was hard and occasionally I needed a translation of some of the more complicated concepts, but overall I learned some valuable things and feel inspired about my own future in NGO organisations. It felt  amazing to be able to sit in small group discussions about project planning and troubleshooting and to be able to make a meaningful contribution. I forgot that I was speaking Chinese because I was more focussed on what I was actually trying to communicate.That’s not to say that I knew every word that was being said, or that I followed every conversation, or that I spoke with even mildly correct grammar, or that I never had to ask someone to repeat or rephrase what they said…but I still made it to the end and dammit I’m gonna take that as a victory.  When I finally finished the three day intensive, I found everything else so much easier. General chitchat, asking for directions… how could that make me nervous now?

Learning a language is all about roadblocks and overcoming roadblocks. The more you learn, the harder the roadblocks get and the harder they are to overcome.

With this new confidence in speaking and understanding spoken chinese, I feel like I can finally see past another block. I know that I need to sit down, study some more complicated vocabulary (those annoying words that I can talk around, or substitute for an English word but eventually need to learn) and take it back out onto the field.
Being fluent in Chinese isnt about a piece of paper from university, or about a number on an exam. To be fluent in Chinese all you need is the confidence to answer the question “are you fluent?” …with a defiant “yes, bitches!” Because confidence in your second language is the most valuable thing you could ever learn. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not good enough. They usually are the ones who feel the least confident in their own ability.

Haters gonna hate (Photo: Emccall 2014)

Least favourite fashion trend

Let’s keep this one short (no pun intended).

So, it has come to my attention that maybe some women are quite self-conscious about their height and many take to wearing ridiculously high and uncomfortable-looking shoes (see this earlier post https://soaringredbucket.wordpress.com/2013/09/27/platform-thongs/)

When I had some time off I went to Ganzhou, a considerably large city located some time out of Ji’an. My friend decided to take me to check out the particular bulbous mountains and traditional Hakka fortified villages (See wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka_walled_village)

The bus ride was for four hours and was followed by another half an hour ride to get to the mountain base. The climb was steep although there were steps for most of the way and the day was hot and humid.

As I puffed my way up the mountain in my hiking shoes and sensible clothing, I was amazed at the amount of women who had insisted they dress up for the photo opportunity a mountain may present them with and complete the outfit with a remarkably high pair of shoes.

This particular woman needed her boyfriend to ensure she didn’t topple head first down that flight of stairs onto the rocks below.

Everyone should be free to their own choices in life. But really, shouldn’t high heels and tight dresses be reserved for…you know…flat, stable surfaces?

Just saying.

My favourite (optional) fashion trend

Hey Kids!

This is something I’ve been meaning to blog about for a while, but with the coming of summer and the surge in the amount of girls wearing tshirts and short(ish) shorts, this has really come to my attention.

Prepare yourselves, Western women (and men) for some shocking, radical and…earth breaking news.

Female body hair is optional.

[Shock, horror, women begin to hyperventilate and pass out at their desks, men walk away in stoic silence to mull things over in a faraway land. In the background, a child begins to weep piteously at this unknown assailant and its mother can offer no comfort because she is currently slumped over the computer with her nose pressing down on the keyboard jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj]

That’s right, for you who have not succumbed to the above. Here in China it is actually pretty common for women to simply let their natural body hair…be all, well natural. Why is this? Some may argue that it’s because Chinese simply have less body hair than their Western counterparts and therefore it is a non-issue because they didn’t have any to begin with.

Well, just like everything there is natural variation. True, on average, Han Chinese people naturally have less body hair than Westerners, but that doesn’t mean that every Chinese woman walks around with all areas of her body a smooth as the sale of donkey meat to ignorant tourists (which is to say, very.)

I can say this, because I have taken many a yoga class during my time here and let me just say I was enlightened in more ways than one during the Salute to the Sun pose.

I have to say that I found that tuft of black hair under a demure woman’s arm, and the shadowy look to the calf in those rolled-up jeans  at first confronting, then fascinating and finally enviable (always with the jeans and exercise, what is with that?).

Here I am, wasting precious time with a bar of soap and a sharp object in my hand veritably  hacking at my body hair to fit in with a societal norm which was pressed onto me at the unquestioning age of 12 and which I have been following ever since.

Well, I say, it’s unfair!

I’ll tell you why women cringe, men snigger or girls blush when they see hair anywhere but on a female’s head (although, granted sometimes even even that hair isn’t completely real.)

Because the treatment of body hair is based on cultural practice. Why are 11, 12 and 13 years old girls  in the West shamed and handed a razor quietly by their mothers? Because some high class snobs thought that 15th Century french prostitutes were simply delightful to emulate. (And, of course because shaving companies enjoy making a profit.)

Well, it seems those french ladies didn’t make it to China. And those shaving companies were not exactly allowed into China until recently. Now, I know as China rapidly urbanises and globalises that there will be more of this Western cultural influence putting pressure onto Chinese women to shave (and, of course, for Chinese men to demand that it be thus) but for the time being I am so happy that a woman is allowed to choose what she does with her own body hair. That, like makeup, it is optional and can be adhered to in various degrees of ‘giving a shit’.

I’m just sad that my cultural programming doesn’t include an easy ‘opt-out’ function.

It’s summer, and as I rip open my packet of razors sent to me from home because they didn’t have any going for cheap in China, I shed a tear. Caught in thoughts of my Chinese friends outside playing badminton in short(ish) shorts, not even thinking about the shadow on their legs or the extra keratin under their arms.

 

Getting my point across Photo: Emccall 2014

 

Things China just does better

I have a lot of rants to do with China, so I decided it was time for a post about some things that China just does better than back home in Australia.

Playing

After work my Chinese friends usually ask me to  出去玩 (chuqu wan) However, when they literally translate this sentence into English and ask me whether I want to “Go out and play,” they subsequently ask me why I’m laughing. They get really confused when I say that children will “play” but everyone else just kind of…Hangs out. Chills. Has a drink or something. Which got me thinking…why is it unacceptable to ‘play’ back home, but here, I always ‘go out to play.’ ? And I’m not exaggerating either. Most of my activities here consist of games and sports. Like, after work we’ll grab a ball and muck around for a couple of hours. It doesn’t even matter that none of us are very good. Whereas I kinda get the feeling the only people who play sports back home are people who are actually somewhat decent at sports. It’s not really ‘playing’ it’s ‘practicing.’ I also run this theatre workshop in the office every Sunday, and it always surprises me how damn enthusiastic everyone is about playing theatre games.

The University is about five minutes from my apartment and at all times of the day there are people utilising every bit of space with their activities. It’s about 6pm and students are out practicing a  dance routine together, teaching each other kungfu on the basketball courts or even rollerblading (I am so keen to get myself some rollerblades and join in!) And that’s just the students. The infamous ‘square dancers’ come out at about 8pm and proceed to take over the school grounds. These dancers are groups of old (50+) women who gather and spend hours dancing together in a strange pop/aerobics/traditional Chinese fusion dance. I don’t know how they get themselves so organised, but anywhere you go in China, the ‘square dancers’ will be there. So, maybe the community has a bit of a problem with them (think: noise complaints, see: http://www.chinasmack.com/2014/stories/residents-buy-speakers-to-yell-at-noisy-public-plaza-dancers.html)  But I think they are absolutely wonderful. Because this desire they have to get together, be outside and be active is so healthy! The phenomenon of isolated, lonely, unhealthy retirees happening in the West can be combated with this sort of activity. It would be great if I could start dancing in the park for the old people back in my town.

Overall, we could definitely learn from the Chinese attitudes of being outside, in groups, having fun. It is my favourite thing about China.

Also, to anyone who says that Chinese people are generally ‘shy’ or ‘quiet’ I will laugh in your face, because there is definitely a lot more noise and enthusiasm on the streets here than I’ve ever seen in Rundle Mall.

 

A pretty standard afternoon on one of about 20 University courts (Photo: Emccall 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not giving a shit about what others think

I went to a theatre performance the other day and was pleasantly surprised yet again by people’s willingness to laugh. I say that, because, I dunno, if I went to a theatre performance back home people would feel that they would have to keep the laughs to a polite level, make sure that everyone else was laughing too, so as not to show that they were enjoying it too much and thus risk looking like a fool. At this show, people were standing up and laughing, guffawing, my friend was actually slapping her knee and tears were coming from her eyes. All from a skit that went for about two minutes and was somehow mocking Titanic. But it’s something I love about a lot of people I meet here, they’re quick to laugh and smile and don’t seem to care whether anybody else found it funny or not. They always seem to be looking for the next joke.

Also, I’ll add to this category with sneezing and burping in public. I have never heard one of those weird ‘stifled’ sneezes here. If you gotta sneeze, you gotta sneeze. And burping cracks me up. On a public bus? No worries. Nobody turns around or gives the perpetrator that squinty eyed look of disapproval. Everyone continues as normal and it’s only me, the foreigner, feeling like a should be offended. But somehow I can’t bring myself to care.

Recycling

Ok, so overall China isn’t exactly leading the way with this whole environmental stuff. But at the grassroots level, I would have to say that people are always looking for ways to reuse things. They don’t seem to like throwing things away (although as to where those piles of rubbish are coming from…?) I  bought a little convector stove top for my apartment and I put all my rubbish in the box it came in to throw it away later on. My friend comes over and she asks me whether I’m just going to throw that box away, didn’t I have any use for it? I said that I didn’t, so she took the box and gave it to the landlady who accepted it happily. I also give all my bottles to the landlady and she uses them for various things.

Those are just small examples, but my favourite instances of recycling usually involve gardening. Since a lot of people around here used to live in the countryside and farm, they are very good at growing things in the most seemingly inhospitable environments. I’ve seen a construction site with piles of slag rock and dirt which have been planted out with seedlings in perfect rows. They don’t seem to mind that ‘one day’ their little gardens will be destroyed for the next apartment block. They’ll just keep planting. In buckets on the street, on the nature strip next to the road. It is all fair game. And it is beautiful to walk past these flourishing little gardens everyday, old women harvesting their veggies from down the road while chatting to passer-by’s, old men sitting outside their homes in the evening selling bunches of organic produce for one RMB a piece.

I think the thrifty culture of China persists to this day, strangely in juxtaposition to the rampant materialism which also is very visible here. It’s funny how hard people try to be ‘environmentally friendly’ back home (paying through the nose for organic produce and setting up complex recycling systems), but here reusing materials and eating your own organically grown vegetables is just a way of life. I hope this way of life can persist as more and more Chinese are moving (either forcefully or by choice) into the big cities.

Peace Y’all

Reusing an old suitcase for some plants is really quite common (Photo: Emccall 2014)

打太极拳、拉二胡、画中国画：Studying Taiqi，Erhu and Chinese brush painting

I decided to write a little summary some of my studies here, since my classes are quickly drawing to a close and I’m sadly moving onto other things for the time being. I wrote it originally in Chinese, because final exams are next week and I really, really needed some practice. Enjoy!

　　我学了太极拳三个月了，我现在能打一个很简单的２４步骤态样，也学了一半的太极剑态样。　我的老师，杨老师，的父亲是一位太极拳名家。杨老师老了，　不过还很康强、手脚灵活，　老了的时候要打太极拳，我觉得你要现在开始。　在公园跟老人打太极拳是一个我的梦想，我喜欢在中国老人能自由行动、健身、社会化、尊重的，比西方不同的，我想退休以后在中国花时间打太极拳、搓麻建、等。原初.我看过太极拳以为很漫漫的，所以容易的，然后打太极拳觉得很不舒服，我的身体不太自然的，我真知道每个奥妙的步子才能觉得强力的、大大方方。但是，　还有一些很难的步子，我要联系努力．．．很高兴有足够时间啊！

For my three months here I have been taking Taiqi classes, so far we’ve finished the basic pattern and over half of a sword combination (with my new practice sword!) The late father of our teacher (Yang) is apparently a very well-known Taiqi master in this area, although she hasn’t really mentioned much about him, we hear rumors…Teacher Yang is incredible, she is an older woman but she continually surprises us with her strength and flexibility, I know a lot of people think they will take up Taiqi when they’re older, but really you have to start as young as possible to get to her level. My little fantasy with Taiqi has always been to practice Taiqi in the parks with the old folk, it’s such a common thing to see around China, I love the way that seniors here are very independent, they go out with friends, exercise everyday in the outdoors and enjoy the general respect of their community. It is quite different to the Western culture of loneliness and isolation so prevalent in the older population. When I’m retired, I will come to China, do Taiqi and play Mahjong all day long. Bliss. When I first watched Taiqi, I thought it was slow and therefore easy, when I started practicing I was at first quite awkward and off-balance but when I learned the moves thoroughly it felt as natural as breathing, although some moves are just crazy-hard (how does Teacher Yang keep her leg above her head for ten seconds without breaking a sweat?) luckily, I have plenty of time to improve…

　　在南京大学我也开始学了二胡，我第一次来到中国看到一个老公拉二胡，我觉得是很特别的乐器，二胡自然的声音比唱歌差不多， 我不会唱歌，所以我要拉二胡我的老师很熟练的、友好的和用汉语为教我, 学什么东西用汉语你的汉语水平一定提高了，因为二胡是一个特别的中国乐器，为什么用英语学吧？二胡不太难的，我已经会弹钢琴，不过我的手很小，有时候不太舒服，我也觉得为把那个弓比把筷子办法一样的，对西方人很麻烦。我拉二胡以后，不会用筷子，因为我的手疼痛的。

I have also started studying the Erhu (Chinese traditional instrument, a two-stringed cello), when I first came to China I was fascinated by this instrument that old beggars would play on the streets, it has a really ‘Chinese’ sound to it, and it’s pitched similar to the human voice. Because I can’t sing for peanuts, I might as well play the Erhu. My teacher is great, she is incredibly skilled and has toured Europe playing in orchestras, she also insists on using only Chinese in our lessons. Can I just say, the best way to learn a language is to study something, anything using that language. Also, why on earth would I study a Chinese instrument in English? It would just be strange, like reading Shakespeare in Chinese (apparently, they really struggled translating the ambiguous line ‘to be, or not to be’) Erhu isn’t too hard to learn with a bit of patience, but my hands are quite small and some positions can be uncomfortable. Also, the technique for holding the bow is actually the same as holding chopsticks, so a bit of a disadvantage for Westerners…after a long session of playing Erhu my hand hurts so much I can only eat my rice with a spoon.

　　最后，我每个周一学了中国画，在家，我学人物写生了，不过在这儿没有地方能随便画画儿吧，我了解能画中国画的时候我很高兴！我们学了很传统的中国画，比如画了果园、竹子、梅花、对虾、等等。我画了很多画，要联系很多，能中国画送给我家人。我买了毛刷和墨水，所以我能继续画中国画，我很败兴的因为我想画金鱼，我最喜欢的中国画，不过我的老师说了比较难的，没有时间，能自己画画儿。

The last thing on my busy schedule, every Monday I took classes in Chinese brush painting. At home I do art classes, so I was really excited when I found that these brush painting classes were offered at the University. We studied really traditional figures, like orchards, bamboo, plum blossoms, shrimp etc. You get shown the method for this and that and then you just have to practice it over and over until every brush stroke is perfect. I did a wardrobe full of paintings, I think I know what all my family will be getting for Christmas this year, and next year too. I bought my own brushes and ink too so that I could do my own stuff once classes were over,  I was disappointed because we never got to learn the fish design, which is my favourite in traditional Chinese art, our teacher said it was a bit more advanced and we ran out of time. I guess I will just have to work it out myself (maybe with a little YouTube help too…)

我学了三个特别中国的技艺，连时间不太长的，也了解了三个重要的学语言办法：

Three things that  I learned about studying language from studying some random stuff in China:

1。如果在将来要做什么东西，要现在开始吧。(If you want to do it well when you’re ‘older’, you have to start now.)

2。如果你要语言学得好，不能只学语言，要学每个东西用那个语言，也很有意思的。(If you want to study language, don’t just study language, study random things using the language, it’s way more interesting.)

3。如果要改进什么水平，与其等待为老师教你，不如自己尝试。 (If you want to improve, rather than waiting for the teacher to teach it, just go ahead and try to work it out for yourself.)

Peace ya’ll

Lea, Teacher Yang, Martyna and I in our Taiqi outfits (Photo: 11/13 LKorva)

Learning the technique for painting plum blossom (photo: 11/13 emccall, painting by lecturer)

The Laowai effect

The Laowai 老外 (laowai-foreigner) effect. I’ve probably mentioned before that being a foreigner in China means you will encounter many interesting, strange phenomena. It’s mostly limited to staring, photos (hiding in the background of your photos so it looks like you’re posing together.. ) random people wanting to make conversation with you more than they would at home, free drinks, overpriced clothing, shouts of ‘hello’ or ‘welcome to China’ without an attempt to converse any further, being discussed by people whilst they’re standing right next to you, being told “I don’t speak English” even when you’re already speaking Chinese and old people trying to pawn their son/daughter/niece/nephew/family-friend/that guy onto you.

So what can one do with this mix of positive and negative experiences, positive and negative attention brought on simply because of how you look? Everyone reacts differently; unphased, aggressive, embarrassed, amused, uncomfortable, etc. Some people glory in their new-found fame, and some people use it as an opportunity…

Today, I asked a 30-something Westerner guy in my class how his weekend was. He began to regale myself and the other students with a tale of his trip to a mountain village with a Chinese woman he had been chatting to for at least a week on popular IM service, WeChat. He told me how lucky he was that she didn’t ask him to meet her parents, because in China-speak that apparently means “we’re getting married!”

Or so he’s been told.

Anyway, so he goes on a wonderful hike up the mountain with her and her two young children. At the top, she tells him why the husband is no longer around. She was really upset and in tears after telling him of her tragic past. Leaning forward he taps his nose knowingly, a serious look on his face, “Chinese men are awful” He tells me “There’s something totally wrong with them and the culture here.”

That night he, like the model gentlemen that he is, decided to not make a move.

“It didn’t feel right after she told me about her ex.” he said with a frown. Suddenly his expression clears,”… I definitely had the opportunity…My mates were disappointed though when I told them, we all thought it would be a  more…interesting trip…ah, well, I have this date next week with a Chinese woman, she’s a fashion designer…”

Myself and the guy sitting opposite me shared equally bewildered looks, before turning back to our books without comment.

This is not the first time I’ve heard this guy say things like this, gloating about how many Chinese women he dates. This is not the first guy here I’ve heard say things like this, for example the 20-something who told me that he had so many women chasing him just because he was white, he dated some of them and his girlfriend broke up with him when he mentioned this (‘she wouldn’t marry me,’ he told me, ‘and now she wants me back because there are so many women here who will.’) Looking to the perpetuated stereotypes of Chinese women, some expat men say that they want a Chinese girl because they are ‘traditional women’ who know how to ‘treat men’, who are so much more attractive and more feminine than these gosh-darn Western women. Apparently, it is because Chinese men ‘don’t respect women like we do’ that Chinese women are so ‘crazy’ about Western men.

I think anyone who has spent any period of time in China has met at least one laowai who has said a combination of the above.

I raise it here, because it is shameful, inexcusable behaviour. These people and these sorts of statements manage to be racist as well as sexist and to offend both Chinese men and Chinese women…actually, all women everywhere!

So, yeah, I’m kind of sick of hearing this sort of thing.

I’d say ‘go home’…but I wouldn’t want anyone there to have to endure your bigoted attitudes either.

I’d warn the women here about you…but they’ll figure it out even before you refuse to see their family and slink off back to the WeChat ‘find-a-friend’ function.

What some Laowai must think happens in China… (Image: CharismaMan.com 2013)

My Chinese study experience (now with extra Chinese!)

Hey kids!  A kinda-translation-thing for ya’ll

I have been in China now for nearly 3 months now and I could be here for another half a year or so yet. Recently I heard the saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” This got me thinking, what was the start of my ‘thousand miles’?  This is my third time to China, the first time I was here I toured Beijing with my highschool, I remember having very severe culture shock, I was only 17 and hadn’t seen much of the world. It was overwhelming, the smell of pollution, the traffic and people swarming the streets speaking in a language I didn’t understand. Up until that point, I had always wanted to study Fine Arts in University. After being in China for two short weeks, I decided to study something which was a complete mystery to me… linguistics and languages, so that I could experience more of the world. I changed my university choice to linguistics at the last moment and I often wonder how my life would have turned out if I had studied art instead.

The second time I came to China was in late 2011, I had the opportunity to show three friends around Beijing and Shanghai.  It was really exciting to be able to understand and speak some Chinese this time around , but still I felt very nervous about using Chinese and possibly (probably) making mistakes or misunderstanding people. The day after after we arrived in Beijing, I went to the train station to buy tickets,  I was so tired and I was asking the sales assistant whether or not there were tickets available to Haerbin departing “Yesterday” “Yesterday!” Another customer in the line then prompted me, “Do you mean…Tomorrow?” I was really embarrassed, but the people around were so forgiving and so genuinely pleased that I was even trying to speak Chinese that I felt marginally better about the whole ordeal.

To this day,  I still occasionally mix up “tomorrow” and “yesterday.” I have no idea why…

When I returned home, I continued my Chinese study in University, but I didn’t work particularly hard in some of my classes, as I felt that the content was not particularly relevant to my reason for studying Chinese. I couldn’t believe that I had struggled to order train tickets in China, whilst back at home we were being taught advanced vocabulary related to policy/business/bureaucracy/transactions/intercultural/transatlantic/transparency.

I realised that I had been so nervous about speaking Chinese, because I was feeling so overwhelmed by the endless grammar structures and hundreds of words I had been studying, difficult to recall and utilise when you’re trying to have a conversation with a Chinese taxi driver who speaks rapidly about American films in his thick, regional accent.

So, back in Australia, I was meeting many Chinese people who were studying at my University. It was easy to speak both Chinese and English with them, to learn from them and to befriend them. We are very lucky in Australia, we have so many people wanting to live, study and work in our country from all over the world, what an amazing chance to learn about foreign languages and cultures…

This time around, as soon as I stepped off of the plane in China I consciously let go of my insecurities and decided to embarrass myself by speaking to everyone I met in very loud, enthusiastic, grammatically incorrect Chinese.

I often remind myself that is has only been four short years since starting my escapades into China and Chinese, and in that time I have been able to venture out and make friends and have amazing experiences and overcome many challenges.

Some people study Chinese because they hope to take a high level HSK (the Chinese proficiency exam) for future employment options in both China and other countries. This is a very admirable goal, but it is not my main reason for being here. I’m here to meet, understand and befriend people from all walks of life. I want to  have fun with it! Learning a second language doesn’t have to be a chore, used solely as a tool for future employment use, make it your play thing,  laugh at yourself, make mistakes and revel childishly in the smallest achievements.

Peace Out!

中文学习

    我已经住在中国三个月了，可能继续另一半年，　我最近听过了这个有意思词语　＂千里之行，始于足下”　用心思索，我的千里之行什么时候开始吗？我第三次来到中国， 第一次我去过北京跟我的中同学们一起，我记得，在北京的时候我大吃一惊，我十七岁了，在一个很小、隔绝的城市长大。 在北京，污染的臭味儿、不断度车和太多人们都用那么奇怪外语，当时我明白世界那么大，我很感兴趣。我本来想在大学学美术， 反而我决定了要学语言学， 对我是一个不解之谜，所以我能去别的国家，也会认识很多不一样文化。 我串换了大学专业 ，我常常暗想，如果没 串换了，没去了中国， 我的今天生活怎么样？

去 年， 我再来到中国， 我对三位朋友们介绍了北京和上海， 很高兴， 因为我会听得懂， 用了中文一点点， 不过我还用中文的时候很担心， 谁想说错啊？我在一个车站买票，当时我很累，我问了服务员，“有没有火票昨天离开…昨天…昨天！”　然后别人建议　＂啊．．．要用‘明天’，对吗？＂我很发窘了，但是人们都很友好的 、很高兴我连尝试说中文，我觉得了好一点儿。至今，我没时混同　“昨天＂和　”明天“．．．ಠ_ಠ

我回家了，在大学继续学中文，　不过我学了不太努力，因为我觉得除了我们的功课也对我的梦想用不着。　我为什么要学正式词汇，　比如讨论环境工商业，　有什么办法？在我的看法，在中国说中文担心的，因为语法或白上千生词不会记得好，不会用跟那个出租司机说话带特别口音。横心改进我的中文口语，我在澳大利亚见面很多中国留学生，跟他们说中文一起。　我们住在澳大利亚很有幸，因为有机会见面很多不同的国家人，能发现不同的文化、语言。

今年，我刚下飞机了，就开始说跟每个人用很热肠的、不对的中文。这下，　四年我来了中国和用不了三年学中文了，我能在中国适应、交朋友、能长见识。　我学中文，所以我能感受这些东西，不一定，所以我能在中国公司工作，或者做ＨＳＫ好多了.

我学中文为了游玩吧！

（不好意思，你能看，我不是一个很好的学生，所以如果不能看得懂这个作文， 请到看英语翻译的 (ー_ー)!! ）

Nanjing Massacre Museum

I decided that it was time to face something which I had been dreading, the Nanjing Massacre Museum, detailing the mass slaughter of Nanjing civilians by Japanese invading forces during the Second World War (December 13th, 1937). The grey, November sky was a perfect backdrop for our visit to that sombre, black stone building.  The first thing that you see as you walk to the entrance is a series of statues, human figures, bodies and faces distorted in various states of pain and panic. Look at the translated plaque beneath them, “The Devils have sent the bombers again, the poor orphans. Frightened by the vicious laugh of the brutal devils, Terrified by the corpses piling up in the alley…” Gritting my teeth, I mentally prepared myself for an afternoon filled with human tragedy and undisguised, volatile hatred towards the perpetrators. Visitors walk past a series of square-cut, grey structures. A monument stands with a repeatedly translated “300,00 victims” cut deeply into the side. Finally inside the museum. One of my group recognises the entrance-way as being built from the stonework from the destroyed old city wall. After an impressive light and sound show simulating a battle-field, we walked through to a room with a wall covered from top to bottom with the names of all the known victims. The character “女“ (nv, female) was written after many of the names, presumably to demonstrate that they are civilians rather than soldiers (I thought it was unnecessary, undoubtedly the males were just as innocent and defenseless). The memorial wall was a beautiful gesture and my defensive stance against the museum relaxed a little.

I waded through the swathes of highschool students in order to stand in front of each individual display, to read the plaques (translated from Chinese into English and Japanese) and to ponder on both the massacre as well as the present-day attitudes towards it. The first thing I noticed was that everything seemed very…disjointed. Each room had a loose theme, but it seemed as though someone had hoarded together everything which had a connection to that period in history and had scattered them throughout the exhibitions in a sort of “Find the Odd One Out” treasure hunt. You are looking at a torch used by a Chinese general moments before being shot in the leg, then you sidle along to the next artifact to read “This is a number plate from a wheel barrow used in 1937.” Wait, what? At best, it was bemusing, at worse, confusing and even insulting. Why would the curator place a photo of three children who had been killed by the invading force, directly next to a photo of the British ambassadors Mini? Are these two things somehow of the same import? How about the photo of a woman who had just been raped, next to a card about China’s financial situation of the times.

Smack bang in the middle of the building is an open mass grave, bones litter the ground and you can go around the outside to read in what horrific ways these people were killed. It was definitely too much, I cannot imagine why the bones needed to be on display, were the curators so desperate to make sure that the evidence was irrefutable that they would display human skeletons from only a couple of generations ago? I assume that these skeletons had not been identified, relatives would not know that their grandmother was down there, permission was not sought. In the same room were gruesome photos of the victims, next to them was a picture of two Japanese soldiers, noted for boasting about killing hundreds of Chinese single handedly. I noticed someone had slashed across their throats in that black and white photo.

Slit throats on photo of Japanese soldiers (Photo: emccall 11/13)

It was at this point I just wanted to walk straight out of the museum, indeed two of my friends left quickly after that. When I inquired as to why, they just said that they “got the idea pretty quickly.” However, hold strong and linger at the last couple of rooms. Bland, in comparison to the grand displays of the other rooms, but I stopped and read every bit of text and was very glad for it. A wall of pictures of present day survivors, as well as their testimonies, hung next to the quote “What we must remember is history, not hatred.”- Li Xiuying  “要记住历史，不要记住仇恨”－李秀英

Yes…YES!Was this the same museum? I felt like I was suddenly dealing with a whole different place. In that same room, the opposite wall was lined with present-day images and video archives of the people who had taken part in the massacre, with their testimonies. It made a strangely poignant juxtaposition with what we had been shown so far. These old Japanese men, crying and apologising for what had happened, taking full responsibility for their actions, saying that it must never happen again. Both sets of testimonies were used as evidence in the law suit which successfully brought the war criminals to justice. At the memorial site, were piles of paper cranes, folded by Japanese highschool students, wishes for ‘Peace’ were attached to them. A garden, donated by Japan, with a white statue of Lady Peace standing out amongst the grey buildings leads you out and back onto the streets of Nanjing.

My thoughts drifted back to the last thing visitors see before exiting the museum.

“Under the inspiration of the patriotic enthusiasm, we should struggle unceasingly for the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the realisation of the peaceful reunification of our motherland, and the maintenance of world peace.”

I can’t help but feel disgusted by the governments use of a tragedy, the loss of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, for their own propaganda purposes. They had clumsily added and subtracted from what could have been a poignant reminder of this incident and in doing so, had confused and dulled the lessons taught by history.

Paper cranes and wishes written in Japanese in memorial (Photo: emccall 11/13)

Thoughts on a long bus ride… Shanghai

So here I am.

I’m currently sitting on a bus on my way to a small mountain village roughly 5 hours from Shanghai.
I’m watching the battery bar on my phone cautiously.

The group we’re travelling with consists of about 15 or so people from various parts of the world. Since it is 黄金周 (Huangjinzhou: golden week) the National holiday marking the founding of the PRC, most of these people who are here are making the most of their time off of work or study.

The group left from Shanghai, so myself and Anja (also studying at nanjing uni) made the two hour trip to the most modern of china’s cities.

We spent a couple of days in Shanghai enjoying a very low level of air pollution (due to the coastal positioning), the food (chillies, fresh, seafood, 汤包 ‘tangbao’ dumplings filled with soup) and of course the city lights. Personally, I couldn’t help but be ecstatic by the hotel bathroom and the abundance of bread.

We went to the Shanghai museum but the line was huge, so instead we wandered around people’s square and did some market shopping. It can be quite expensive in Shanghai and unfortunately the market stall owners seem quite reluctant to haggle with us.

We also went clubbing with some classmates from Nanjing Uni and some other exchange students. We went into the fanciest club that we could find and were immediately greeted by a ‘host’ working at the club whose job it is to ensure that you are always having a good time. Their duties include providing you and your friends with free entry, endless free drinks, telling the DJ your music preferences and regularly drinking with you to the call of 干杯!  (ganbei: cheers)  I’ve decided that the clubbing scene in China is…strange. The Chinese people prefer to sit down together at a table, eating fruit and other snacks whilst drinking copious amounts of alcohol through playing dice-related drinking games. Completely ignoring the loud techno music, strobe lighting and dancing foreigners.

Com on, a club is where you go to dance, because it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to make yourself heard for more than the shouted ‘HI HOW ARE YOU!!?” Although to be honest, it seems like the Chinese people do much the same thing in pubs and karaoke bars. Both which are impossible to hold any form of discussion in.

Also, did I mention that there was a live karaoke dance performance by Russians wearing studded leather and a clown making people balloon animals. Yeah. Weird.

For our recovery day, we watched an epic 3D IMAX mainland Chinese movie called ‘Young Inspector D.’ I think it was Part 2 of a series, but can I just say the following things…

“Sherlock Holmes in the Tang Dynasty, swamp creature, ninjas shooting killer bees, sea serpent, riding a horse underwater, reoccurring eunuch urine jokes.”

Yeah, it had everything.

When we got bored of all this, we grabbed the metro to a random station called 老门站 (laomen) and stumbled across an incredible street market of fresh food. Wandering around that area, barely 20 minutes from the international brand commercial district of shanghai we pondered on the wonderful dichotomy that exists in china.

So now, we are escaping the cities in favour of a trip to a small village followed by hiking up a largely- unknown mountain called ling’an Shan.

My battery bar is fading, so peace ya’ll.

Bustling metropolis, Shanghai (photo: Emcall 10/13)

Shanghai clubbing with a clown
(Photo: Emccall 10/13)