My last post I forgot to mention that now I am just as likely to walk in the street as I am to walk on the sidewalk. Near my old school most places didn't have a sidewalk, so all traffic was on the road due to necessity. But even in the center of the city people will walk in the road, ignoring the perfectly safe and underused sidewalk. I should also mention that the people don't simply walk along the side of the road, but span the entire road including the lanes where the cars drive. In America there is a very defined area for cars, bicycles, and pedestrians. In China to make people stay in their designated area they have to put up small fences. They even put up fences in the middle of the road in the center of the city to keep the cars from driving on the wrong side (not that they seem to notice a "wrong" or "right" side of the road most times). Sometimes I try to subtly guide my Chinese friends onto the sidewalk, but it doesn't always work. Sometimes I say, "Hey, let's walk on the sidewalk," but they continue walking in the street. Usually, I just walk in the road. I really can't tell you why they walk in the road or why I walk in the road either, but when I go back to America I think I'll be able to stick to the sidewalks.
Also, I love slippers. When you go inside a home in China you immediately take off your shoes and put on slippers. I'm no stranger to taking off you shoes before you go inside, but the slippers were new. They wear slippers because the buildings are all concrete and tile so the floor is freezing, especially in winter. (During one of my nightmares last winter I jumped out of bed and ran into the living room and stood there for maybe two minutes, slowly waking up to realize there were no bad people in the apartment and my feet were so cold they hurt.) The Chinese also wear slippers because the floors are incredibly dirty, even if everyone always takes off their shoes. It is part of the Chinese dirt problem. When I went home to visit I still changed into slippers when I was in the house, and even though my new room has carpet I change into my slippers as soon as I walk in. This habit will probably stay with me. I'm quite fond of my slippers; it is an opportunity to express my inner senior citizen.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Turning Chinese
Immersion has its pros and cons in the habits acquired and frustrations and illuminations. I am acquiring more and more Chinese habits.
I feel most Chinese when I am eating my rice and vegetables with chopsticks in one hand and text messaging like a fiend with my other hand. Chinese people are constantly text messaging. At dinner, when walking down the street, in class, on the bus, anywhere and everywhere they are text messaging and so am I.
I first got in the habit because talking to a Chinese person on the phone can be terribly frustrating. Their listening skills are not good (just like my Chinese listening skills), but they read quite well, so it is more effective to send text messages. One reason the Chinese use text messaging is that the Chinese mobile phone network does not have voicemail. Another reason is that text messages a very cheap to send. It costs more to call. They do not have set free minutes on their mobile phones, they always pay by the minute and it is all pre-paid. The bad part about pre-paid phones is that sometimes a person's phone will run out of money at night when China Mobile is closed. This used to happen to me often, but it is avoidable now; mainly because I learned how to read the messages China Mobile would send telling me I had 10 yuan left on my phone.
Since I started classes at the university my Chinese has greatly improved, but I am also picking up different verbal expressions and integrating them when I speak English. Like if anything is minorly annoying or upsetting or will take require some work I will use, "Ai-ya!" It is a very useful expression. I have also adding a clicking/tisking sound to the end of my sentences which lets a person know you are done speaking but maybe can't express yourself any further. Though Chinese has verbal exclaimation points and question marks I haven't integrated those into my English speaking.
I have also picked up some good habits, like drinking tea all day. I have acquired a small collection of tea at my desk: chrysanthamum tea from Zhejiang province, green tea from Tianmu Lake, and white tea from Liyang that I am supposed to keep in the refridgerator. (I just got the white tea today and I don't have a fridge, so Thursday I will go buy a small fridge for my room. I will have to convince the hotel to take one of the chairs out of my room though because otherwise there won't be space for it.) I also walk a lot and take the bus. Though I don't like it, I am also in the habit of waking up early and going to bed early.
I have managed to avoid most bad habits, like hawking loogies on the pavement and yelling when I am talking. The Chinese yell a lot, but they are usually just talking about something. All of them have the ability to talk incredibly loudly and forcefully. However, if I am eating I will spit out the bones on the table like Chinese do. The Chinese don't believe in boneless, so when you eat any kind of meat it will still have the bones. Because I am aware of it I don't think it will be a difficult habit to break when I get back to the US.
Last year I carried a small notebook everywhere I went to write down useful words, directions, or anything else. I am pretty proud that I don't need to carry the book with me anymore, but I will keep it so I can remember all those first things I learned and needed with me every day.
I feel most Chinese when I am eating my rice and vegetables with chopsticks in one hand and text messaging like a fiend with my other hand. Chinese people are constantly text messaging. At dinner, when walking down the street, in class, on the bus, anywhere and everywhere they are text messaging and so am I.
I first got in the habit because talking to a Chinese person on the phone can be terribly frustrating. Their listening skills are not good (just like my Chinese listening skills), but they read quite well, so it is more effective to send text messages. One reason the Chinese use text messaging is that the Chinese mobile phone network does not have voicemail. Another reason is that text messages a very cheap to send. It costs more to call. They do not have set free minutes on their mobile phones, they always pay by the minute and it is all pre-paid. The bad part about pre-paid phones is that sometimes a person's phone will run out of money at night when China Mobile is closed. This used to happen to me often, but it is avoidable now; mainly because I learned how to read the messages China Mobile would send telling me I had 10 yuan left on my phone.
Since I started classes at the university my Chinese has greatly improved, but I am also picking up different verbal expressions and integrating them when I speak English. Like if anything is minorly annoying or upsetting or will take require some work I will use, "Ai-ya!" It is a very useful expression. I have also adding a clicking/tisking sound to the end of my sentences which lets a person know you are done speaking but maybe can't express yourself any further. Though Chinese has verbal exclaimation points and question marks I haven't integrated those into my English speaking.
I have also picked up some good habits, like drinking tea all day. I have acquired a small collection of tea at my desk: chrysanthamum tea from Zhejiang province, green tea from Tianmu Lake, and white tea from Liyang that I am supposed to keep in the refridgerator. (I just got the white tea today and I don't have a fridge, so Thursday I will go buy a small fridge for my room. I will have to convince the hotel to take one of the chairs out of my room though because otherwise there won't be space for it.) I also walk a lot and take the bus. Though I don't like it, I am also in the habit of waking up early and going to bed early.
I have managed to avoid most bad habits, like hawking loogies on the pavement and yelling when I am talking. The Chinese yell a lot, but they are usually just talking about something. All of them have the ability to talk incredibly loudly and forcefully. However, if I am eating I will spit out the bones on the table like Chinese do. The Chinese don't believe in boneless, so when you eat any kind of meat it will still have the bones. Because I am aware of it I don't think it will be a difficult habit to break when I get back to the US.
Last year I carried a small notebook everywhere I went to write down useful words, directions, or anything else. I am pretty proud that I don't need to carry the book with me anymore, but I will keep it so I can remember all those first things I learned and needed with me every day.
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