Why This Language is Sometimes Infuriating to Study

According to Wikipedia, Mandarin has only 400 spoken monosyllables, but over 10,000 characters. What this means is that even though there are 10,000 characters, there are only 400 ways to pronounce them, so many characters by default have to be pronounced the same way. 4 tones (if you can distinguish them - even after two years, I sometimes have trouble) increase the available number of sounds to 1600, but that's still nowhere near enough. Check out the following two links to get an idea of what I am talking about:

http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=shi

http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=shishi

Notice that ignoring the tones, all of the words are pronounced exactly the same way (either "shi" or "shishi"). Even knowing the tones doesn't remove all the ambiguity. Then, when you have "she" (pronounced almost the same way as "shi" - the difference is there, but it's subtle) as another sound, you're stuck trying to differentiate "shi" "she" "sheshi" "shishe" and "shishi" (fortunately "sheshe" doesn't mean anything).

I've never studied Spanish, but I can listen to someone speak Spanish and have a good idea of what he's talking about. But when a Chinese person says "shishi," and I'm stuck trying to figure out which of the 20 shishi's he meant, it's sometimes difficult to understand.

Enough complaining. Time to do my homework.

Cultural Exchange

Last week, my roommate and another HIT student took three of us to a Mahjong club. For 12 kuai (less than 2 dollars), you get a table, unlimited food and drinks, and a Mahjong set. The place is open 24/7. I can't explain all the rules of Mahjong now, but in many ways it's similar to the card game Gin Rummy. We didn't play for money, but it is often played for stakes.

Tonight, I returned the favor and taught a group of HIT students how to play Texas Hold'em, an important part of my college experience (I actually don't play that much, but I've met a bunch of my best friends through poker). All in Chinese, a significant challenge. Since it was their first time playing, we off course didn't play for money. If I accomplish nothing else this summer, I will at least have helped spread American gambling culture to China and brought back Chinese gambling culture to America.

Anyway, we leave for our weekend trip to Changchun in 7 hours. I should probably go to sleep.

Escape

One of the main goals of being here is to completely emerge myself in Chinese. And I often do. I've often try my best to eliminate English from my life. My roommate gave me about 100 of his favorite songs, so I can listen to Chinese music. I've started to take notes in Chinese (no always possible, but getting there). I try to avoid my computer as much as possible (sometimes failing, but I try).

The language pledge truly helps. Take today as an example. I woke up at 8 and spent two hours preparing for my business Chinese class test. Newspaper class. Then lunch while continuing to prepare. Test. Office hours (I just go and chat with the teachers to practice my Chinese). 3 hours of basketball. By now I actually recognize a bunch of guys at the court, so I talk to them a lot. Dinner, still speaking Chinese. And finally, I'm writing my blog, the first time all day that I'm even thinking in English. Every day, Chinese all the time.

But has anyone else ever been in a foreign country and just felt like they needed to feel a little more at home for a bit? Needed to escape from the foreign atmosphere? Chinese - both the language and the culture - all the time is great, but sometimes I just need to feel like I am back in America. So, yesterday, while starting to prepare for my test, I spent 5 hours at the coffee shop I sometimes go to to do homework. Two cups of coffee. Dinner - a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. English music. For those five hours, despite the fact I was preparing for a 20 minute oral presentation on the Chinese stock market, Chinese currency policy issues, and the challenges facing China's exports (thrilling), I kind of felt like I was back at home. Kind of. Not completely, but somewhat. Probably as close as possible.

Ideally, while in China, I would not speak or even read a word of English. I wouldn't listen to English music. But I don't really think that's possible. I think I'd go insane. Sometimes it's important just to feel at home, even if it's just for a few minutes. Whether it's listening to music, talking to family or friends, or buying bread and peanut butter and jelly and making sandwiches in my room, small breaks from complete emersion keep me going. Now, unfortunately, back to the grind. It's late, and I haven't started my homework.

Here are the pictures from our trip to Fenghuangshan (Fenghuang mountain) last weekend:

http://picasaweb.google.com/LouisGilbert15/FenghuangShan#

An Apology, A few more Random Thoughts, and an Attempt to Answer my Last Question Through Pickup Basketball

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.

Open Question

After returning from China last summer, nearly everyone I spoke to asked the same question: how are Chinese people different from Americans? How is their culture different from ours? Each time I was asked, I failed to give a coherent, intelligent answer. Yes, the food is different. They use complicated characters instead of an alphabet. They generally go to bed earlier than we do and wake up earlier than we do. But are those really major differences? Also, the people I met last summer differed so dramatically from one to the other that I never felt capable of categorizing 1.3 billion people as having a certain characteristic or behaving in a certain way.

So, in an attempt to not fail as miserably in answering the same questions after returning from Harbin 6 weeks from now, I'm curious to hear from those of you reading my blog. For anyone who has been to China, what makes Chinese people/culture unique? For those of you who have been to other countries, what differentiates the people of those countries? Maybe hearing from some of you might help give me some ideas for answering the same question. Or maybe not. But it's worth a shot...

A Few Random Things

1. Harbin happens to be experiencing its hottest summer in history. When I applied to this program, I was under the impression that Harbin is consistently 70 degrees without and not humid during the summer. Yet after having one of its coldest winters ever, the city has been in the high 90's for the past week, pushing past 100 this past weekend. Harbin has been hotter than Beijing this summer, which doesn't really make any sense... And no air conditioning in my room. I guess I'd take 100 over -30, which is what Harbin hits in the winter.

2. I've had many encounters with Harbin Institute of Technology students (many while playing basketball) in which the student assumed I was also an HIT student. I was initially kind of confused why they would make that assumption. While I've seen other foreigners here, I assumed they were on language programs similar to mine (there were many other language programs at the university I studied at last summer). Bad assumption. HIT actually does have a fairly large foreign student population. Students from around the world (Russia, Korea, all over Africa, and I even met one from Yemen) come to Harbin, many on government scholarships, study Chinese for a year here, then become full-fledged HIT students. Learning Chinese is hard enough. Taking college courses in Chinese? I can't imagine what that is like for the foreign students. I asked my roommate about it, and he said none of the foreign students can really keep up with everything in class. They all go to the professor for help. He added that it's ok because the Chinese students don't understand what the professor is talking about either (because the material is hard...)

3. I had one of the strangest and most fun meals of my life last week. One of the Chinese roommates suggested a 串儿 (chuar - meat skewer) restaurant. When we (4 Americans, 4 Chinese) arrived, there were no open tables. No problem. The manager told us to go outside. As we were waiting, a few of the waiters pulled out some old, dilapidated pieces of wood and set up a table out in the middle of the street. We proceeded to eat probably around 300 skewers as a constant stream of people walked by, staring at us, puzzled to see a table out in the middle of the street, especially given the racial makeup of the table. The meal was unfortunately tarnished when someone walked out of the restaurant and vomited while walking by our table. Nonetheless, a fun experience.

4. I had to give an oral presentation on the recent U.S. financial bill in my business Chinese class this morning. To my surprise, CET's academic director decided to sit in on our class. Fun.

5. Pictures from leaving Shanghai to the beginning of CET:

http://picasaweb.google.com/LouisGilbert15

CET Harbin

Finally something hopefully useful for anyone reading this who is considering applying to CET Harbin at any point in the future. I've been in Harbin for almost a week now, so I figured I'd briefly summarize what the program has been like so far. I apologize to anyone reading this with no intention of ever applying to CET (though it might be interesting anyway).

In general, it's been a pretty good opening week, though there have certainly been ups and downs. First, the good parts. Unlike many of the Light Fellowship programs, CET students share a dorm room with a Chinese student (from Harbin Institute of Technology - 哈工大). While essentially having a hotel room all to myself at HBA last summer was great, the Chinese roommates have been an amazing addition to the program so far. My Chinese has improved a lot simply from talking to my roommate at night while the two of us do homework (he's preparing for finals unfortunately). All 24 of the Chinese roommates are genuinely interested in getting to know us, and many of us (both CET students and HIT students) hang out together almost every day. Whether it's going out to dinner, playing basketball, or watching the World Cup at night, it's been a ton of fun and a great way to both improve our Chinese and just learn about college life in China.

HIT's campus is great too. For those of you who like to play sports, our dorm is literally 20 feet away from close to 20 basketball courts, 6 tennis courts, four volleyball courts, and a soccer field. The basketball courts are absolutely packed at all hours of the day, so you can play pickup whenever you want. There's a huge supermarket on campus that has nearly anything you will need for the summer. And there are a bunch of cafeterias on campus that are unbelievably cheap (you could easily get by on $1 a day for three fairly big meals). If you're willing to spend a little more (not much more because most things are cheap here - cheaper than Beijing), there are also some very good restaurants near campus.

So far the academic side of CET has been mixed for me. One positive aspect of CET's program is that you get to take a wide variety of classes. I'm taking a newspaper reading class (5 people), a business Chinese class (4 people), a pronunciation class (2 people), and doing a 1 on 1 summer long project. Getting through a week at HBA was always a huge struggle because it was nonstop drill-memorize, drill-memorize. While the workload here has been pretty tough so far, it is certainly more mixed.

Unfortunately, I wish the classes forced us to be a little more creative. Most of the classes so far have been tons of read or listening and repeating. That strategy has its advantages, but I really thought HBA did a good job of forcing us to try to come up with our own sentences and express our own thoughts. HBA's 1 on 1 class was purely conversational, and I don't feel like there is a similar opportunity here to simply practice freely speaking Chinese (perhaps that's what the roommates are for).

Nevertheless, it's too early to be critical. The Chinese levels of the students here are incredibly diverse, so the first week has included a lot of adjusting and figuring out how to go forward. Maybe I just need to get used to a slightly different style of teaching.

All in all, I would definitely recommend CET so far. Even if HBA's classes were stronger (which is still debatable at this point), there are many other aspects of CET that I'm looking forward to for the next 7 weeks.

That's it for now. Off to watching the World Cup (in Chinese - good listening practice) with two HIT students and my friend Dominic while doing homework.

Louis