How on earth I got to my 46th post is beyond my comprehension. I am also nearing 1600 photos from the entire trip, so that's pretty cool.
Anyway, back to today. I had my morning Chinese class (perfect tingxie, new vocab, talent show discussion, and movie), and then I had a really fun lunch conversation with Matthew and Philina. We talked about religion and politics, and it was awesome to compare ideas and opinions in such a relaxed and accepting way when we differed so much. I ate vaguely Asian chicken from the western food part of the cafeteria. It's chicken with Asian flavored sauce, vegetables, and rice, served with a spork. Then we had an hour break before the TCM field trip when I checked e-mail, YouTube, and took care of some computer business.
Our TCM field trip took us back to the hospital for a lesson in Tuina or massage/chiropractics. We were told to wear our lab coats again, which is always fun because we look like doctors, but then it didn't matter because we were in the classroom instead of the clinic. It was a very fun lesson because we had a Power Point (Chinese professors LOVE to use PowerPoint and they call the slideshows ppts after the way the files are saved), but each slide was a description of the motion and we just learned the different massage strokes and tried them out on ourselves and each other. My partner was really good at it, so I was very lucky!!
On the bus ride back and extending for about an hour, I had a high quality conversation with Matthew again. I continued one of our topics from earlier, but then it morphed into a conversation with food, and then we talked about personal philosophies, experiences and impressions of Beijing, and some really cosmic stuff. It was fantastic, and I am so happy to have had this conversation.
Tonight was take two of going to the puppet theater, but alas it was another failed attempt. We had a notecard with the name of the place and some directional hints written in Chinese characters, pinyin, and English so we could work with the taxi driver, and he was fantastically nice, but he couldn't find the place, so after driving around for a while, we had him drop us near the subway stop. We asked for directions from the guard, the tourist center, and the ticket counter for the park, and they kept pointing in the same direction, so we knew we were walking the right way. Then, all of a sudden, we found a big sign for it on the outside of the temporary metal wall surrounding a construction site that had an arrow, so we walked around the construction site, past the sweet potatoes and stinky tofu, and couldn't find it. We asked one of the construction workers and he said it was inside, but we had to enter through the other opening to the site, so we went back the way we came.
We found it! Except there was no show tonight. The woman from the theater told us there will be a show at 10AM tomorrow, and we asked about some scheduling and didn't buy tickets because of class. She was so kind and let us look around the building, and it was amazing. They have a museum component with both modern and 300 year old puppets, information about how the puppets are made, and so many puppets of all sizes. It was so wonderful to look through. She spoke only Chinese, and I understood most of it, which was also really cool. I ended up buying a ticket for tomorrow morning's show with the encouragement of my friends because this is such an important experience for me, and the Chinese class I am skipping will not be a big deal to miss and I can teach myself what I need to know for the final. Having this particular experience is more important than going over new vocabulary I won't have a chance to use, and I haven't missed a single class this whole time, so I do feel a tad guilty, but it's cosmically okay.
We left the puppet theater happy to have at least located it, and ended up taking a lovely walk through the neighboring Yuanmingyuan Park. It was a beautiful park with gorgeous lakes filled with lilies and lotus. They were actually having a lotus festival, and the park was one of the most well maintained nature settings in all of Beijing. The lakes had bridges that were absolutely beautiful, there were lots of cats running about, and we even saw a frog in the grass. It was certainly not a lost evening to have a walk in a park with good friends and good conversation.
We took the subway back, I went to the c-store for a beverage and ice cream before heading to my room to regroup, and then I went to bed, excited for the puppet show that I will see tomorrow!
Today is awesome because I had amazing conversations, learned massage, found a new park, and located the puppet theater.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
The Last Monday
Today was a pretty good day, though I had a very boring evening. I woke up at 8AM, went to my classroom early to finish studying for my tingxie, had Chinese class that consisted of tingxie, learning the new vocab, doing the textbook exercises, and watching part of a movie about food. Then everybody gathered for our final closing meeting. We went over the schedule for the week in terms of classes and field trips, learned our departure procedures, and said good-bye to Zhang Laoshi who has to go home early for business relating to his new tenured position at his university. It is sad to see him go, but he has been an amazing leader for our trip and I'm glad to have known him.
I had lunch with some friends in the cafeteria I ate in with my language partner during the first week of the program. I had some vegetarian dishes, a carrot and potato dish and eggplant, and it was tasty, but there was a lot of gloopy sauce that I didn't want to eat. After lunch, I went back to the dorm to have a break before TCM, and then went back to Building 3 for my class.
Our lecture today was on the integration of TCM and Western Medicine (WM). Our professor was the same guy who talked to us about herbal medicine, and I really like him. He's smart, thoughtful, organized, and has the deepest voice I have ever heard. The first half of class consisted of him lecturing on the history of integration, movements for and against integration, and the successes of integrated therapies. After our break, he brought us into a discussion of why integrated therapy is good or not, and we were able to voice our opinions in class. It was a very productive last lecture.
After class, I made a trip to the store to buy my breakfast food for the rest of this week, then I brought my things home and got to work on e-mail and learning my characters for tomorrow's tingxie. I also tried to set up our TV so I could watch some of the Olympics, and I got it to work, but I didn't enjoy broadcasting the ping pong match with Chinese narration because I didn't understand what the commentators were saying. I really love the Olympics, but I will have to get the videos as a replay after it ends because I just can't figure out how to watch the things I want to see in a language I understand. Still, Jake Herbert for gold in men's wrestling on Saturday!
I had a simple dinner in the building 5 cafe, then came home for a quiet night of studying and video watching. I had initially planned on having dinner with people, but then the plans fell through, so I was alone tonight. I have plans for the rest of the week, so it's fine, but I'm kind of getting tired of spending time alone. I've also realized that it's August, which means I'm de facto participating in BEDA (Blog Every Day in August) since I'll have 12 posts anyway, so I might as well finish out the month or something. Maybe; I've kind of blogged every day all summer, so maybe being home will be a break from writing online. It's just interesting to be doing the thing that I've watched people do.
Today is awesome because TCM lectures wrapped on a high note.
I had lunch with some friends in the cafeteria I ate in with my language partner during the first week of the program. I had some vegetarian dishes, a carrot and potato dish and eggplant, and it was tasty, but there was a lot of gloopy sauce that I didn't want to eat. After lunch, I went back to the dorm to have a break before TCM, and then went back to Building 3 for my class.
Our lecture today was on the integration of TCM and Western Medicine (WM). Our professor was the same guy who talked to us about herbal medicine, and I really like him. He's smart, thoughtful, organized, and has the deepest voice I have ever heard. The first half of class consisted of him lecturing on the history of integration, movements for and against integration, and the successes of integrated therapies. After our break, he brought us into a discussion of why integrated therapy is good or not, and we were able to voice our opinions in class. It was a very productive last lecture.
After class, I made a trip to the store to buy my breakfast food for the rest of this week, then I brought my things home and got to work on e-mail and learning my characters for tomorrow's tingxie. I also tried to set up our TV so I could watch some of the Olympics, and I got it to work, but I didn't enjoy broadcasting the ping pong match with Chinese narration because I didn't understand what the commentators were saying. I really love the Olympics, but I will have to get the videos as a replay after it ends because I just can't figure out how to watch the things I want to see in a language I understand. Still, Jake Herbert for gold in men's wrestling on Saturday!
I had a simple dinner in the building 5 cafe, then came home for a quiet night of studying and video watching. I had initially planned on having dinner with people, but then the plans fell through, so I was alone tonight. I have plans for the rest of the week, so it's fine, but I'm kind of getting tired of spending time alone. I've also realized that it's August, which means I'm de facto participating in BEDA (Blog Every Day in August) since I'll have 12 posts anyway, so I might as well finish out the month or something. Maybe; I've kind of blogged every day all summer, so maybe being home will be a break from writing online. It's just interesting to be doing the thing that I've watched people do.
Today is awesome because TCM lectures wrapped on a high note.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Hipster Hutong
Today was my last Sunday in Beijing. I woke up, skyped with one of my best friends from home, grabbed a tuna panini for lunch from the cafe in the dorm area (which is the same lunch I had on the first Sunday), and had a generally boring and quiet day about my room. I started organizing my things for packing, watched Howl's Moving Castle, and studied my Chinese flashcards. I'm feeling pretty in control of everything in this last week and the whole upcoming international travel thing.
At 6:30PM, I met up with Professor Carmichael to go to a converted hutong for dinner and exploring. We had a lovely route planned from a slightly farther subway stop that would theoretically take us past some interesting things as we made our way to the hutong and beyond for a vegetarian dinner, but things never go according to plan in China.
We got out of the subway and started walking in the generally correct direction. It was a cool area with lots of small quirky shops and restaurants of all sorts. We eventually came to an adorable little park with a small pond, some sculptures, and lots of willow trees and flowers, and that was the highlight of the exploring. When we got out of the park, we were a little lost and ended up hailing a cab to get us to the hutong. It was the first female cab driver I had seen.
Anyway, we got caught in a traffic jam and started walking, but then we were one street too far north, so we wandered up and down there until we were tired and hungry and lost, so we got in another taxi to get there, and then we finally got to the hutong around 9PM.
It was the most hipster place I have seen in all of China, and the idea of a hipster hutong is just an oxymoron. The shops there were all unique and quirky, which I was not expecting at all because I thought they'd be like the "ancient streets" we visited in the south that were shop after shop of the same useless souvenirs. We walked into a few shops with journals to find a gift for our residential college master, and we found the right thing to bring back, which is nice a funny.
We had a very late dinner at a restaurant in the hutong. We ordered jasmine tea, cucmbers, Chinese broccoli, mushrooms and broccoli, and tofu wrapped vegetables. I really liked the dishes, and the tofu was my favorite. I really liked the rolls both plain and dipped in the dipping sauce. It was probably my favorite dipping sauce.
We discussed a lot of favorite things from the trip: foods, meals, sights seen, places visited, parks, shopping, etc. It's really cool to be able to look back over the past two months and see where I started and where I'm ending. Overall, I came in knowing nothing, and I'm leaving having seen all the sights on my list, understanding the culture a lot better, and being able to speak some Chinese. I have mostly memorized the subway map, have visited many hospitals, and am perfectly comfortable at Bei Da. It's really been transformative.
I got home just in time to write my blog, do a final flip through my flashcards for tomorrow's tingxie, take a quick shower, and go to sleep before my final week of classes.
Today is awesome because I got to see the hipster hutong and get lost in a really neat park.
At 6:30PM, I met up with Professor Carmichael to go to a converted hutong for dinner and exploring. We had a lovely route planned from a slightly farther subway stop that would theoretically take us past some interesting things as we made our way to the hutong and beyond for a vegetarian dinner, but things never go according to plan in China.
We got out of the subway and started walking in the generally correct direction. It was a cool area with lots of small quirky shops and restaurants of all sorts. We eventually came to an adorable little park with a small pond, some sculptures, and lots of willow trees and flowers, and that was the highlight of the exploring. When we got out of the park, we were a little lost and ended up hailing a cab to get us to the hutong. It was the first female cab driver I had seen.
Anyway, we got caught in a traffic jam and started walking, but then we were one street too far north, so we wandered up and down there until we were tired and hungry and lost, so we got in another taxi to get there, and then we finally got to the hutong around 9PM.
It was the most hipster place I have seen in all of China, and the idea of a hipster hutong is just an oxymoron. The shops there were all unique and quirky, which I was not expecting at all because I thought they'd be like the "ancient streets" we visited in the south that were shop after shop of the same useless souvenirs. We walked into a few shops with journals to find a gift for our residential college master, and we found the right thing to bring back, which is nice a funny.
We had a very late dinner at a restaurant in the hutong. We ordered jasmine tea, cucmbers, Chinese broccoli, mushrooms and broccoli, and tofu wrapped vegetables. I really liked the dishes, and the tofu was my favorite. I really liked the rolls both plain and dipped in the dipping sauce. It was probably my favorite dipping sauce.
We discussed a lot of favorite things from the trip: foods, meals, sights seen, places visited, parks, shopping, etc. It's really cool to be able to look back over the past two months and see where I started and where I'm ending. Overall, I came in knowing nothing, and I'm leaving having seen all the sights on my list, understanding the culture a lot better, and being able to speak some Chinese. I have mostly memorized the subway map, have visited many hospitals, and am perfectly comfortable at Bei Da. It's really been transformative.
I got home just in time to write my blog, do a final flip through my flashcards for tomorrow's tingxie, take a quick shower, and go to sleep before my final week of classes.
Today is awesome because I got to see the hipster hutong and get lost in a really neat park.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Summer Palace and Acrobatics Show
Today, Saturday, August 4, 2012, was our final group excursion. We met at 8AM to take subway line four from the East Gate of Peking University Station to the Beigongmen Station, and then entered the north gate of the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is the complex that was built for the emperor's mother, and Empress Dowager Cixi lived there. There is a manmade lake and island, which is a pretty nice tribute that a son can make to his mother.
Side note: all places in China have gates on all sides where you have tickets and security. So, at Bei Da we have a North Gate （北门), East Gate, Southeast Gate (across the street from where I live), West Gates, etc. It actually gives me a sense of the area a location occupies and helps me find my way. Knowing the gate system was really helpful when exploring Beihai last week.
Anyway, back to the excursion. We went through the north gate of the Summer Palace, and first passed through the Suzhou city that the emperor recreated in Beijing. Apparently, he had the eunuchs and maids dress as vendors from the south and he would pretend to be an ordinary person and hang out there. We walked on a really pretty tree-lined path until we got to the marble boat on the lake. There, we stopped to take pictures and buy water before moving on to the main attraction.
The main building that people visit is a hall with a multiple-armed Buddha in it. To get there from the marble boat (by the way, this is one of two marble boats in Beijing; the other one is on Nameless Lake on Bei Da's campus), we walked on a long covered path with famous paintings on the ceiling. Bei Da scholars analyzed the paintings to determine which stories they represented from Chinese history and myth. Then we got to the buildings. We had to climb 100 stairs to get to the top, and the view of the lake was beautiful. We had thirty minutes to explore that area, and once I had done my rounds, I sat with Gu Laoshi and we chatted for a while. He told me that it is a requirement for Beijing couples to go on a date to the Summer Palace, and we chitchatted about lifey things with the program.
Before we left the upper level, a girl from Inner Mongolia asked if she could take a picture with me. It was pretty adorable; she started asking Gu Laoshi in Chinese because she was shy, but he made her ask me herself. She could have spoken Chinese and I would have understood, but she said it in English. I happily posed with her. I was initially warned that this would happen a lot, but it really hasn't. I was asked to pose in Fragrant Hills Park and a man took pictures of me and Anabella at the Qing Tombs, but other than that, the photos have been without permission and from a distance.
The next place we visited was a bronze pavilion, and then we had lunch at the royal kitchen. Gu Laoshi ordered delicious food for us, and my table really enjoyed everything. It was the first time we had a meal entirely without pork. Highlights include fish without bones, kung pao chicken, shrimp, Beijing style breads, amazing tofu, and walnut cookies. Lunch was really good today, and I fully enjoyed my meal. I really don't eat much of a breakfast before starting the day because I don't like to eat early, so I was hungry, and it energized me for the rest of the day.
After lunch, we took a boat ride across the lake to visit the island. The boat was reminiscent of the trip to Hangzhou, except it moved faster and we had a breeze. At the island, we visited a building that has been turned into a souvenir shop, and mostly just walked across the island to the marble bridge with 18 arches to go to a pavilion on the mainland where a flautist was performing. I had my second photo ask at that pavilion, and this time a boy asked me to take a photo with him and afterward he thanked me and told me I was very beautiful. This only happens in China.
Walking over to the East Gate of the Summer Palace, one of Gu Laoshi's former students stopped him when she ran into us. It was completely unplanned, and rather hilarious to run into an alumna of our university in Beijing of all places, so we were all kind of amused by the occurrence. At the East Gate, we visited the dragon-cow creature statue that determines if you're telling the truth, looked at a gallery of chipped marble art, and then took taxis back to rest for a few hours before the Acrobatics Show. It was a beautiful hot and sunny day, so the siesta was lovely.
At 5:30, we met in the bus to drive across the city to the Chaoyuan district to see the show. I sat with Professor Carmichael on the bus, and we had a lovely conversation on the ride over. When we got to the theater, I took some time to look around. The front light system was a couple of moving lights, and I later realized that all of the instruments were intelligent fixtures: Max 700s, Mac 301s, Varilites, all the fun stuff we use for DM.
The show itself was spectacular. It began with a dance number, then a chair stacking balancing act, straw hats, umbrella pedaling, partner strength acrobatics, shoulder ballet, wheel spinning, cycling, and motorcycles in a sphere. The chair act was stacking chairs and balancing on top with handstands and such. The straw hats were juggling, tumbling, and staking people with straw hats as a prop. The umbrella thing was a woman on her back with her feet in the air, twirling and balancing a parasol. Partner strength acrobatics was two people who held each other up and did various balance and strength related feats. Then we had intermission, and the first act after intermission was shoulder ballet, where a woman stood on pointe on a man's shoulders and head. The wheel act was an axis with a wheel on either side that spun through the air and two men inside or on top doing various things while balancing as the thing spun. The bicycles were stacking people on moving bikes. The motorcycles were eight men on motorbikes driving in formation in a mesh sphere.
It was all amazing and I kept being more and more amazed at what these performers were doing. The lighting was pretty cool as well; since the instruments could change colors, each act had a color to set the mood, but it also changed when major events happened in the performance. The backdrops were various locations around Beijing.
After the show, I came home, had a snack, relaxed, and went to bed.
Today is awesome because of the Summer Palace and Acrobatics show.
Side note: all places in China have gates on all sides where you have tickets and security. So, at Bei Da we have a North Gate （北门), East Gate, Southeast Gate (across the street from where I live), West Gates, etc. It actually gives me a sense of the area a location occupies and helps me find my way. Knowing the gate system was really helpful when exploring Beihai last week.
Anyway, back to the excursion. We went through the north gate of the Summer Palace, and first passed through the Suzhou city that the emperor recreated in Beijing. Apparently, he had the eunuchs and maids dress as vendors from the south and he would pretend to be an ordinary person and hang out there. We walked on a really pretty tree-lined path until we got to the marble boat on the lake. There, we stopped to take pictures and buy water before moving on to the main attraction.
The main building that people visit is a hall with a multiple-armed Buddha in it. To get there from the marble boat (by the way, this is one of two marble boats in Beijing; the other one is on Nameless Lake on Bei Da's campus), we walked on a long covered path with famous paintings on the ceiling. Bei Da scholars analyzed the paintings to determine which stories they represented from Chinese history and myth. Then we got to the buildings. We had to climb 100 stairs to get to the top, and the view of the lake was beautiful. We had thirty minutes to explore that area, and once I had done my rounds, I sat with Gu Laoshi and we chatted for a while. He told me that it is a requirement for Beijing couples to go on a date to the Summer Palace, and we chitchatted about lifey things with the program.
Before we left the upper level, a girl from Inner Mongolia asked if she could take a picture with me. It was pretty adorable; she started asking Gu Laoshi in Chinese because she was shy, but he made her ask me herself. She could have spoken Chinese and I would have understood, but she said it in English. I happily posed with her. I was initially warned that this would happen a lot, but it really hasn't. I was asked to pose in Fragrant Hills Park and a man took pictures of me and Anabella at the Qing Tombs, but other than that, the photos have been without permission and from a distance.
The next place we visited was a bronze pavilion, and then we had lunch at the royal kitchen. Gu Laoshi ordered delicious food for us, and my table really enjoyed everything. It was the first time we had a meal entirely without pork. Highlights include fish without bones, kung pao chicken, shrimp, Beijing style breads, amazing tofu, and walnut cookies. Lunch was really good today, and I fully enjoyed my meal. I really don't eat much of a breakfast before starting the day because I don't like to eat early, so I was hungry, and it energized me for the rest of the day.
After lunch, we took a boat ride across the lake to visit the island. The boat was reminiscent of the trip to Hangzhou, except it moved faster and we had a breeze. At the island, we visited a building that has been turned into a souvenir shop, and mostly just walked across the island to the marble bridge with 18 arches to go to a pavilion on the mainland where a flautist was performing. I had my second photo ask at that pavilion, and this time a boy asked me to take a photo with him and afterward he thanked me and told me I was very beautiful. This only happens in China.
Walking over to the East Gate of the Summer Palace, one of Gu Laoshi's former students stopped him when she ran into us. It was completely unplanned, and rather hilarious to run into an alumna of our university in Beijing of all places, so we were all kind of amused by the occurrence. At the East Gate, we visited the dragon-cow creature statue that determines if you're telling the truth, looked at a gallery of chipped marble art, and then took taxis back to rest for a few hours before the Acrobatics Show. It was a beautiful hot and sunny day, so the siesta was lovely.
At 5:30, we met in the bus to drive across the city to the Chaoyuan district to see the show. I sat with Professor Carmichael on the bus, and we had a lovely conversation on the ride over. When we got to the theater, I took some time to look around. The front light system was a couple of moving lights, and I later realized that all of the instruments were intelligent fixtures: Max 700s, Mac 301s, Varilites, all the fun stuff we use for DM.
The show itself was spectacular. It began with a dance number, then a chair stacking balancing act, straw hats, umbrella pedaling, partner strength acrobatics, shoulder ballet, wheel spinning, cycling, and motorcycles in a sphere. The chair act was stacking chairs and balancing on top with handstands and such. The straw hats were juggling, tumbling, and staking people with straw hats as a prop. The umbrella thing was a woman on her back with her feet in the air, twirling and balancing a parasol. Partner strength acrobatics was two people who held each other up and did various balance and strength related feats. Then we had intermission, and the first act after intermission was shoulder ballet, where a woman stood on pointe on a man's shoulders and head. The wheel act was an axis with a wheel on either side that spun through the air and two men inside or on top doing various things while balancing as the thing spun. The bicycles were stacking people on moving bikes. The motorcycles were eight men on motorbikes driving in formation in a mesh sphere.
It was all amazing and I kept being more and more amazed at what these performers were doing. The lighting was pretty cool as well; since the instruments could change colors, each act had a color to set the mood, but it also changed when major events happened in the performance. The backdrops were various locations around Beijing.
After the show, I came home, had a snack, relaxed, and went to bed.
Today is awesome because of the Summer Palace and Acrobatics show.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Chinese Class Bonding at Traditional Hot Pot
Today was mostly centered around my Chinese class. I got there early to study for my oral test, and I took it first before class officially started because we had a long movie to watch. I think it went well; I was able to respond to the questions and I remembered the dialogue. I did forget the pronunciation of the word for "flash frozen" because there was a sentence about frozen dumplings I had to read, but that's okay.
We watched a movie called Fei Cong Gu Ra 2, which was the sequel to a movie about a middle aged man who is in search of a wife. The girl he proposes to wants to do a trial marriage to make sure they could last, and it ends up being a contest of who can annoy the other the most first, then the guy's friend gets malignant melanoma and dies, and it brings them back together after a lengthy separation. It ended with the setup for the third movie, and it is the basis for a dating show on Chinese TV.
After class, all of us, including Yao Laoshi, took the subway over to a traditional hot pot restaurant. Laoshi knows the place and ordered for us, and it was really good. We had beef, lamb, noodles, mushrooms, fungus, cabbage, green vegetable, tofu, chilled tofu, radish, bittermelon, maybe more stuff for the broth, and three cold dishes: Beijing tofu, peanuts, and cucumbers. I ate it with the traditional dipping sauce that was plated beautifully with the character for lamb written in sesame oil on top, but others had spicy sauce or garlic sauce. Everything was delicious, and while I swore I'd never eat hot pot again after that first week of eating only hot pot, I'm really glad I went. We had a really nice time, and I think we bonded as a class and got to know our teacher better as a result.
Once we finished eating, we walked back to campus. On the way, Laoshi pointed out some spots he knows: a foot massage place, the place he and his friends used to go for barbecue and beer, the grocery store. We actually stopped in the grocery store to get ice cream, but I finally found the tea tins I was looking for, so I got them because I saw them. It was a really nice walk, and we re-entered campus through the West Gate and walked past the lake and the pagoda. I realized that I hadn't been to the north part of campus since we stopped having class in the Russian Building, so I have to make sure to do a final walk all around campus before I leave next week.
I spent the afternoon catching up and getting ahead on work. The paper for Public Health class was assigned to us after we turned in our final exams, and the assignment sheet said it was due on August 31, so I was planning on writing it on the airplane, but it is actually due on Monday, so I set aside the time to just get it done. I also wanted to finish the reading in the TCM coursepack so I could have my highlighting done before it's finals crunch time next week. Since I finished those items at an odd time, I moved on to preparing my flashcards for next week's Chinese vocabulary, and then all of a sudden it was 7:00. It was a quiet evening as afternoon turned to night, and I went to sleep early so I could be fresh for the final group excursion tomorrow to the Summer Palace.
Today is awesome because my Chinese class got a chance to socialize together and I got a lot of schoolwork done.
We watched a movie called Fei Cong Gu Ra 2, which was the sequel to a movie about a middle aged man who is in search of a wife. The girl he proposes to wants to do a trial marriage to make sure they could last, and it ends up being a contest of who can annoy the other the most first, then the guy's friend gets malignant melanoma and dies, and it brings them back together after a lengthy separation. It ended with the setup for the third movie, and it is the basis for a dating show on Chinese TV.
After class, all of us, including Yao Laoshi, took the subway over to a traditional hot pot restaurant. Laoshi knows the place and ordered for us, and it was really good. We had beef, lamb, noodles, mushrooms, fungus, cabbage, green vegetable, tofu, chilled tofu, radish, bittermelon, maybe more stuff for the broth, and three cold dishes: Beijing tofu, peanuts, and cucumbers. I ate it with the traditional dipping sauce that was plated beautifully with the character for lamb written in sesame oil on top, but others had spicy sauce or garlic sauce. Everything was delicious, and while I swore I'd never eat hot pot again after that first week of eating only hot pot, I'm really glad I went. We had a really nice time, and I think we bonded as a class and got to know our teacher better as a result.
Once we finished eating, we walked back to campus. On the way, Laoshi pointed out some spots he knows: a foot massage place, the place he and his friends used to go for barbecue and beer, the grocery store. We actually stopped in the grocery store to get ice cream, but I finally found the tea tins I was looking for, so I got them because I saw them. It was a really nice walk, and we re-entered campus through the West Gate and walked past the lake and the pagoda. I realized that I hadn't been to the north part of campus since we stopped having class in the Russian Building, so I have to make sure to do a final walk all around campus before I leave next week.
I spent the afternoon catching up and getting ahead on work. The paper for Public Health class was assigned to us after we turned in our final exams, and the assignment sheet said it was due on August 31, so I was planning on writing it on the airplane, but it is actually due on Monday, so I set aside the time to just get it done. I also wanted to finish the reading in the TCM coursepack so I could have my highlighting done before it's finals crunch time next week. Since I finished those items at an odd time, I moved on to preparing my flashcards for next week's Chinese vocabulary, and then all of a sudden it was 7:00. It was a quiet evening as afternoon turned to night, and I went to sleep early so I could be fresh for the final group excursion tomorrow to the Summer Palace.
Today is awesome because my Chinese class got a chance to socialize together and I got a lot of schoolwork done.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Clinical Training in TCM
The most remarkable thing about today is that I got to administer TCM therapy to my classmates. After the usual Chinese class and baozi for lunch, my group for TCM put on our lab coats and went to the TCM ward of the Peking University Health Science Center Third Hospital to learn in the clinic. Dr. Guo, a practitioner with 23 years experience, explained some of the therapies to us, showed us some techniques on actual patients, and then did some demonstrations and tutorials on cupping, moxibustion, acupuncture, and gua sha for us, and we got to try all of it.
Personally, I applied cupping to one or two of my classmates, I administered gua sha, and I took pictures when Dr. Guo asked if anyone had brought a camera. I let a classmate apply cupping to me, but since I didn't really have a particular ailment, it was more for getting the technique than curing me.
The technique for cupping is that you soak a cotton ball in alcohol, place it in forceps, light it on fire, stick the fire to the bottom of the jar, and then quickly apply it to the appropriate point. The timing is what takes practice. With gua sha, you run the scraper (which is really blunt and is more of a massage tool than anything else) along the jing luo meridians where it will help the ailment.
The coolest part of the day was that Dr. Guo could find the acupoint based on the consultation and then diagnose the patient's problem. For instance, a girl who runs a lot but doesn't stretch said she had knee pain, the doctor found the point, and then said that she was hurting because she was tight. Or another girl with stomach pain had a point on her back that correlated with a specific kind of stomach pain that she had, but did not specifically describe. The diagnosis was really amazing to witness.
I did feel kind of guilty for us taking hospital beds when there were patients waiting. The patients were very kind and when the doctor asked if the American students could observe, they all said yes and even encouraged our intellectual curiosity.
After class, I had about an hour to myself where I watched "Once More with Feeling," the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because the songs were stuck in my head. At 6, I left with some friends to have dinner in an area called San Li Tun. This is where the western shopping centers are, a bunch of interesting international restaurants, and the bar scene. I had yet to go, and since I'm a fan of Middle Eastern cuisine, it was a good night to go.
On the way, since we were going with one of the Chinese teachers, we had some train troubles. First, Laoshi and I got on the train as the doors were closing, so we had to get off at the next stop to rejoin the group on the next train. It was pretty hilarious, particularly because she wasn't my Laoshi, but the doors almost closed on my body, which was scary. Then, on the next train, there was a man who almost got in a fight with Laoshi and was being mean to her because he thought our group was being too loud. The students nearby defended her, which was both nice and kind of scary, and we got off the train shortly after the incident. Then we went out the wrong gate of the train station, so we were late for the reservation.
First of all, San Li Tun is a really cool area. It's very modern, with gorgeous architecture that is primarily glass and beautiful LED lights in the trees. I'm really happy to have finally seen it! Second, the restaurant was awesome. It was called Bite-a-Pitta, but really Bait HaPita, or Pita House. It was Israeli food and I had hummus, falafel, pita, and shakshuka (onion, bell pepper, tomato stew with eggs cooked on top) for dinner. It was so good, and I told the owner that I really enjoyed her restaurant. Who knew I would be speaking Hebrew in China? I left dinner in high spirits.
Today is awesome because I got to be a TCM therapist for a day.
Personally, I applied cupping to one or two of my classmates, I administered gua sha, and I took pictures when Dr. Guo asked if anyone had brought a camera. I let a classmate apply cupping to me, but since I didn't really have a particular ailment, it was more for getting the technique than curing me.
The technique for cupping is that you soak a cotton ball in alcohol, place it in forceps, light it on fire, stick the fire to the bottom of the jar, and then quickly apply it to the appropriate point. The timing is what takes practice. With gua sha, you run the scraper (which is really blunt and is more of a massage tool than anything else) along the jing luo meridians where it will help the ailment.
The coolest part of the day was that Dr. Guo could find the acupoint based on the consultation and then diagnose the patient's problem. For instance, a girl who runs a lot but doesn't stretch said she had knee pain, the doctor found the point, and then said that she was hurting because she was tight. Or another girl with stomach pain had a point on her back that correlated with a specific kind of stomach pain that she had, but did not specifically describe. The diagnosis was really amazing to witness.
I did feel kind of guilty for us taking hospital beds when there were patients waiting. The patients were very kind and when the doctor asked if the American students could observe, they all said yes and even encouraged our intellectual curiosity.
After class, I had about an hour to myself where I watched "Once More with Feeling," the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because the songs were stuck in my head. At 6, I left with some friends to have dinner in an area called San Li Tun. This is where the western shopping centers are, a bunch of interesting international restaurants, and the bar scene. I had yet to go, and since I'm a fan of Middle Eastern cuisine, it was a good night to go.
On the way, since we were going with one of the Chinese teachers, we had some train troubles. First, Laoshi and I got on the train as the doors were closing, so we had to get off at the next stop to rejoin the group on the next train. It was pretty hilarious, particularly because she wasn't my Laoshi, but the doors almost closed on my body, which was scary. Then, on the next train, there was a man who almost got in a fight with Laoshi and was being mean to her because he thought our group was being too loud. The students nearby defended her, which was both nice and kind of scary, and we got off the train shortly after the incident. Then we went out the wrong gate of the train station, so we were late for the reservation.
First of all, San Li Tun is a really cool area. It's very modern, with gorgeous architecture that is primarily glass and beautiful LED lights in the trees. I'm really happy to have finally seen it! Second, the restaurant was awesome. It was called Bite-a-Pitta, but really Bait HaPita, or Pita House. It was Israeli food and I had hummus, falafel, pita, and shakshuka (onion, bell pepper, tomato stew with eggs cooked on top) for dinner. It was so good, and I told the owner that I really enjoyed her restaurant. Who knew I would be speaking Hebrew in China? I left dinner in high spirits.
Today is awesome because I got to be a TCM therapist for a day.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Puppet Show Fail
Today was pretty good and much better than yesterday. It was still raining, so I wore pants for the first time in China. Apparently it has been unusually rainy this year, so on the one hand it's been less hot, but on the other we've been wet and unable to do things. Chinese class was normal and we had lunch as a group with announcements. The announcements were about today's field trip for TCM, the changing of the due date for our Public Health paper from August 31 to August 6 (Monday), and the second cancelling of our herb picking trip. At this point, it's cancelled for good, but there's still hope that we might have the trip at the last minute. I'm saving my jeans.
For TCM, half the group did clinical training in acupuncture and cupping, and my half of the group got some background on the Peking University Health Science Center and watched a movie about a child abuse trial based on the marks from the TCM therapy Gua Sha (scraping). Gua Sha is a home remedy for colds, stomachaches, and the like, so the child's grandfather did it to make a tummy ache go away. The kid then hit his head and was taken to the ER, where they found the marks on his back, and then turned him over to child welfare services. The movie was infuriatingly unrealistic about the legal system and the characters were caricatures, but it got its point across about cultural literacy.
We got back from the field trip just after 5PM, which gave me an hour to get ready for the puppet show. I went with Marissa and Professor Carmichael to the Chinese Shadow Puppet Cultural Club, which was recommended by the Beijinger (a magazine for expats in Beijing). Seeing a Chinese shadow puppet show was something on my list since I learned about the tradition in my puppetry class last February. The puppets are intricately cut, painted so they cast in color on the shadow screen, and have lots of joints that let them move very dynamically. Needless to say, going to this show was something I was VERY excited about.
Well, we left at 6 and took the subway to the appropriate stop then walked in the direction the internet said to walk. We walked the 100 meters, but there was no theater. Then we kept walking, and stayed on one street, but it ended up turning into another street that was not the right street, so we started walking back the way we came. Then it was 6:35, so we hailed a taxi to take us to the address. The taxi driver took us back to the East Gate of Peking University. At that point, it was 6:45, we weren't going to make it to the show, so we walked home with plans to see the puppet show next Tuesday. I'm pretty disappointed that it's taking until the last week to go because it's something I've been wanting and trying to do for a long time, but we have come up with a new plan to get there. I'm sending the website to Marissa and Professor Carmichael and we're all going to look up the characters and directions and take a taxi next Tuesday. This WILL happen.
I ended up doing homework tonight. I read about acupuncture and learned my characters for tomorrow's Chinese test. I'm looking forward to learning acupuncture tomorrow afternoon, and I'm planning on writing my paper on Friday afternoon to get it out of the way. I really hope it stops raining for these last 11 days so I can keep doing things.
Today is awesome because I got a perfect score on my tingxie.
For TCM, half the group did clinical training in acupuncture and cupping, and my half of the group got some background on the Peking University Health Science Center and watched a movie about a child abuse trial based on the marks from the TCM therapy Gua Sha (scraping). Gua Sha is a home remedy for colds, stomachaches, and the like, so the child's grandfather did it to make a tummy ache go away. The kid then hit his head and was taken to the ER, where they found the marks on his back, and then turned him over to child welfare services. The movie was infuriatingly unrealistic about the legal system and the characters were caricatures, but it got its point across about cultural literacy.
We got back from the field trip just after 5PM, which gave me an hour to get ready for the puppet show. I went with Marissa and Professor Carmichael to the Chinese Shadow Puppet Cultural Club, which was recommended by the Beijinger (a magazine for expats in Beijing). Seeing a Chinese shadow puppet show was something on my list since I learned about the tradition in my puppetry class last February. The puppets are intricately cut, painted so they cast in color on the shadow screen, and have lots of joints that let them move very dynamically. Needless to say, going to this show was something I was VERY excited about.
Well, we left at 6 and took the subway to the appropriate stop then walked in the direction the internet said to walk. We walked the 100 meters, but there was no theater. Then we kept walking, and stayed on one street, but it ended up turning into another street that was not the right street, so we started walking back the way we came. Then it was 6:35, so we hailed a taxi to take us to the address. The taxi driver took us back to the East Gate of Peking University. At that point, it was 6:45, we weren't going to make it to the show, so we walked home with plans to see the puppet show next Tuesday. I'm pretty disappointed that it's taking until the last week to go because it's something I've been wanting and trying to do for a long time, but we have come up with a new plan to get there. I'm sending the website to Marissa and Professor Carmichael and we're all going to look up the characters and directions and take a taxi next Tuesday. This WILL happen.
I ended up doing homework tonight. I read about acupuncture and learned my characters for tomorrow's Chinese test. I'm looking forward to learning acupuncture tomorrow afternoon, and I'm planning on writing my paper on Friday afternoon to get it out of the way. I really hope it stops raining for these last 11 days so I can keep doing things.
Today is awesome because I got a perfect score on my tingxie.
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