First, an apology. I've kind of flaked out on consistently keeping up this blog. Not to make excuses, but unlike last summer, I have very little time to myself here. And that's probably a good thing. While having a roommate is a major part of the difference, CET has been much more of a group atmosphere than HBA was. I spent many nights at HBA locked up in my single, not really talking to anybody. That never happens here. People - either other students or our HIT roommates - pop in and out of our rooms. We eat meals in groups all the time. We watch the World Cup together (even last night, despite the fact that it ended at 5:00AM China time). It's fun and good for my Chinese, but my blogging might be a little more infrequent. Sorry...
Anyway, a few quick minor interesting things. Some people I've spoken to at home seem to have the impression that certain topics of conversation in China are absolutely forbidden. Don't even bring them up. Without going into too much detail in case... whatever... in three weeks I've had plenty of interesting conversations regarding these "sensitive" topics. Government censorship, Tibet, Taiwan, human rights, the currency manipulation issue. The HIT students in general are aware that they are somewhat controversial topics, but they are more than willing to have real discussions about them. And they are curious to hear our thoughts too. Again, without going into too much detail, there seems to be a huge divide in thought between older and younger people here. So before we bash China too much, I think we should give it some time and see what happens in the next decade or so. Based on conversations I've had, I think there is going to be fairly dramatic change.
On to something else. Sometimes before class, I find an empty classroom and do some last minute review. On one of the desks in one of the classrooms, someone carved in the words "我找对象," pronounced "Wo Zhao Duixiang" and meaning "I am looking for a boyfriend/girlfriend." HIT's male/female ratio is about 7 to 1. Of all of our male HIT roommates, I don't think a single one has a girlfriend. Yet many of the female roommates have boyfriends. So while either a boy or girl could have written those words, there's a 7/8 change it was a lonely guy. Of course, American engineering schools have unbalanced male/female ratios as well. But China's male to female ratio is about 120/100 and growing (mainly due to the one-child policy). I don't think millions of young, lonely guys is beneficial to the stability of a country. While it's not really a topic discussed very often, I'm curious to see how the "我找对象" phenomenon ultimately plays out.
One more quick thought: this language is so unbelievably, frustratingly difficult. What was I thinking starting it? I continue to spend countless hours trying to figure out the subtle differences between the pronunciation of "chu" and "qu." I can barely even pronounce my own name right ("My name is Qi Yuanshi" "Ji Yanshi?" "No..."). Then there are the characters. For example: 已, 己, and 巳 are all completely different characters. Or how about: 戎, 戊, 戍, 成. and 或. In many ways, I think my Chinese is getting better. For example, in my business class I explained to my teacher how the Chinese government artificially lowers the value of the renminbi. I had a pretty sophisticated conversation with one of the HIT students on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet I still find myself in situations where I have absolutely no idea how to say anything intelligent. Oh well.
On to part three of this post. Rather than try to explain how I think Chinese culture in general is different from American culture, it might be easier to start with one small part of each country's culture: pickup basketball, something I'm fairly familiar with in both countries. Each country's version is surprisingly different from the other.
Basically, Chinese pickup basketball abandons every formality of American pickup that slows the game down, much more fast paced. Instead of playing full court 5 on 5, Chinese almost always play half court 4 on 4. Why? Because 16 people and two basketballs gets a lot more people playing than 10 people and one basketball. For choosing teams, 7 of the 8 people stand in a circle and put out either a fist or an open hand. Fists play with fists, open hands play with open hands. It usually takes about 10 seconds to get to 3 of one and 4 of the other (the extra person joining the group of 3). In America, we divide teams by shooting foul shots - you make it, you're on one team; you miss, you're on the other. Not only is it not a fair process (the better people usually make the foul shots), it takes forever. I've been in lines where all 10 people miss...
The game starts without checking the ball. In America, whenever a play starts, the offensive player first gives it to the defensive player who then gives it back, kind of a way of making sure everyone is ready. Not checking in China. As soon as the offense passes the ball in, the game is on, whether the defense is ready or not. Games are always first to 5 baskets, and there are usually 3 teams on a half court. So as soon as one team reaches 5, the losing team is off. The waiting team immediately gets on and within 30 seconds, the next game begins. No breaks. In America, games are usually to 21 by 2's and 3's. At the court I play at in New York, they are to 12 by 1's only. While the games themselves are longer, the breaks in between are much longer. In New York, after each game, the winning team goes and takes a 5 minute water break. Then there's usually an argument as to who has the next game. By the time everything is figured out, an entire game could have been played.
Though I did witness one massive fight break out (two teams starting beating each other up - it got really vicious), the games are usually much smoother than games at home. When I play in New York, every two minutes someone yells at someone else or argues a call. Very infrequent here. Nevertheless, the games are incredibly competitive. While the people I play with at home are generally bigger and stronger, I've played against many teams here that would give teams at home a run for their money. Basketball is taken very seriously here. The courts are packed from 6AM until midnight. Every day.
Obviously, one shouldn't read too much into a culture based on its style of pickup basketball. But it is interesting that some aspects of Chinese pickup basketball appear in other ways. As I've mentioned before, restaurants often ask for money first, then they give you food. And no tip. No extra formalities to slow down the process.
If I didn't have an absurd amount of homework due tomorrow (that I haven't started because I played 3 hours of basketball today), I might try to continue. But hopefully this wasn't a bad start. To be continued when I get some again.
Here is the link to pictures form weeks 2 and 3 (I'm trying the direct link to the album - if it doesn't work, go to an old link to my public albums and look for "CET Weeks 2 and 3"). I have tons of new pictures from this weekend's trip to Fenghuang Shan (Fenghuang mountain), but they're not online yet. Coming soon...
http://picasaweb.google.com/LouisGilbert15/CETWeeks2And3#
Warning: there may or may not be pictures of me with alcoholic beverages in this album. But it's ok, because it's legal here.
