Attack of the New Leaf

Having decided that last semester was largely wasted and much more Chinese could have been learnt through better employment of our time, we, as a group of three [but mainly me and Holly], decided to turn over a New Leaf. Note the capitalisation. This proverbial New Leaf includes such additions as All-Chinese Wednesdays, where we speak Chinese even at home, and such subtractions as western television. It's actually going well so far [baring in mind it's the second week of term]: I've successfully made and stuck to a new timetable, making my working day essentially 8-till-8; found and begun watching semi-OK Chinese programs; and going to bed super early whilst going out less on the weekends. It all sounds wonderful.

This preamble, however, leads me to my material point and the crux of this post: Can you be too hard-working, and therefore over-productive? The answer, of course, is yes, you can. I know this because at exactly 16:21 this afternoon (GMT +8:00) I ran out of things to do. I can hear you, though, protesting, clamouring to tell me that when learning a language such as Chinese there's always something to do. Read a book, practice some characters, watch some tv, translate some song lyrics, preview the next 42 lessons. There are two things wrong with the point you're trying to make.

First of all, you have mistaken this post for some sort of discussion or debate. It's not. It is, in fact, me forcing my opinion on to you. So shut up and read.

Second of all, I've actually already done most of these things - being one of those people who puts doing and being above and beyond at the top of her list, I've even marked all the tones on the characters for lessons we have yet to come to. But, if I preview any more lessons, I won't actually understand what I'm reading; if I read any more  'above my level' Chinese my head might just fall off; if I practice any more of the same characters, they'll be etched into my eyeballs for eternity; if I watch any more tv, I'll finish the good series too quickly and have to move onto the truly terrible ones all too soon; if I listen to any more Chinese music, I'll just throw up. And so herein lies the problem.

Why not do some other timetabled activities, like Dissertation reading perhaps, or maybe some light post-graduate research? BECAUSE IT'S A SCHEDULE AND YOU CAN'T DEVIATE FROM THE SCHEDULE. Hmph. It's OK. I'm sure my HSK [Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi - Chinese Level Test] book gets more interesting the more you read it...

Xx

News and Culture: A Place to Work

Back in the land of the Starbucks and the home of the small, private-owned cafe, finding a place to study in peace is a easy as leaving your house, spinning round in a circle and walking straight for 10 yards in whatever direction you're facing. As westerners we love studying outside of our own residences. Whether in the oppressive silence of the Library or the twats-with-ipads filled chain coffee shops, towns and cities are filled with places to suit your needs, from a socket for your charger to some afternoon Norah Jones.You may be thinking how's she going to make a post that's essentially about a good cup of coffee and a cosy chair into a 'cultural' discussion, but bare with me, there is some relevance.

The Chinese, however, don't seem to have caught on to this happy phenomenon of studying away from the bedroom/living-room/bed/kitchen table. I've never seen a Chinese student bending over textbooks in local Amici cafe, and the waiting staff all look slightly curious when you sit down at 11, spread yourself out and set up for the afternoon. This is probably because, overall, it's not all that easy to find a good place to study, at least in Dalian. I'll give you some examples to illustrate my point.

The afore mentioned Amici is probably one of the only 'ok' places, but is unhappily well-known amongst foreigners, of which there are about 13 in Dalian, and so you're very likely to walk in and recognise pretty much everyone there - not the ideal study environment. It doesn't help the the coffee and music are below-par too. There are also Starbucks and Costas around town, a nice blast to the past and very rarely filled with westerners. What they are filled with however is a lot of loud-talking, cigarette-smoking Chinese people. Even having gotten used to this, one then has to adapt to the Chinese take on 'atmosphere' which usually means dim-lighting and too-loud 80's hits. Added to this multitude of complaints is the lack of toilets, even in these western style cafes. Having to run to the nearest McDonalds every 2 hours isn't ideal, and therefore rules out half the cafes in Dalian.

Of course, there are some places that are perfect. Unfortunately, they're either quite expensive [3 or 4 pounds for a cuppa] or already 'belong' to someone. I'm a great believer in personal space, and also tend to be easily distracted, and so finding my own place is of great concern. I would, of course, just stay at home, if my bed weren't there, or just go to the library, if it weren't literally the most depressing place in the world. So the search is well under-way for a perfect place this semester. First on the list is the well-known but little visited Central Perk cafe. Yes, it is in immitation of 'Friends' eternal meeting place. No, it's nowhere near as good, but as good as the Chinese version was ever going to be. Yes, they do play 'The best of the Noughties' on repeat, but I brought my own ipod as a contingency. So far, so good I would say. The big-screen showing of series 6 of 'Friends' is slightly distracting, but at least it's on mute.

Xx

Shanghai

A few things have happened to me during my city break to Shanghai [yes, City Break, that's my story and I'm sticking to it].

1. I found out my mini-laptop has an SD drive, meaning that I can upload photos much easier. I don't think I would ever have found that had I not been bored.

2. I considered joining Twitter, then quickly changed my mind back. I think I was just hungry and had had a flashback to my cousin Kenneth trying to convince me to join just days before.

3. A Chinese friend offered to cook me dinner when I finally rejoined the Dalian community [absolute win].

4. I discovered that 'Mob Wives' is one of the best shows. Ever.

5. I had a day out on the town.

Now, not to offend any Shanghaiese fans of my blog out there, but, to put it nicely, Shanghai is the land that brick forgot. The land of skyscrapers, it's one of those cities where one building strives to top another, everything is made out of glass and concrete, nothing is more than about 10 minutes old [seriously, I think I'm older than some of the towers here], and, as Serrena once said, 'Everything's about money'.

Another word she used, 'Souless', may seem a bit harsh, but I can see where she's coming from. One of the places I went to on my wander was where the big TV tower thing was. Look here's a PICTURE [sorry, I'm really excited about my SD drive]:

oops, forgot to rotate.....well, you can just google it if you really care

I also went to the big, expensive, famous shopping centre in that area. Just to look around though - I ain't got dollar for Gucci. I didn't take any pictures, as there were security peoples everywhere and I felt that being a non-Chinese, non-White person in China was already suspicious enough. Even the people working in the shops didn't look happy - that might just have been because the weather was shite though. The Bund was also an interesting point to look at, but at the end of the day everything was drab and uninteresting to me, and I decided to take Holly's advice and  settle into a nice cafe in the french concession. Hours later, I returned to my hotel.

I spoke to my parents and some friends, which was nice, then took a bath, complements of my plush hotel. I've resolved to check out at 12 then head straight to the airport - I WILL be the first person in the queue, and there will be NO 'Sorry, you standby now.'

If I don't get that flight tomorrow, I will just die on the spot. Not to be dramatic or anything, but it has been a nightmare journey.

Xx

Cancelled

I was so determined that China wouldn't screw me over this term. I'd already done everything in terms of living and uni - I'd paid my rent and electricity bills for at least 3 months, I had a bank account with money in it, I knew all the teachers at uni so I could just stroll in having paid my tuition fees. I even had things to look forward to, such as seeing all my friends again and swapping holiday stories, as well as meeting people to talk about potential  jobs. In my eyes, I had it all sorted. What is it they say again? Something about smug dickheads being kicked in the arse because fate was bored?

Having traversed the whole of Asia to get to Shanghai, I was in for a surprise. My flight, as well as all other internal flights, had been cancelled. Something about fog and thunder storms. This wouldn't have happened had I gone to Beijing. Just sayin'. I was then told to come back in two days - unperturbed but slightly upset, I asked where, exactly, I would be staying for these two days. The attendants kindly informed me that they would not be paying for hotels. Everyone's flight was cancelled, so everyone would have to deal with it. Of course, that wasn't what they'd told me an hour before, but I was determined to remain unperturbed and just booked the first hotel I came across.

Not too far from the airport, getting into town would have been difficult had I actually tried. I was going to go into Shanghai, but I had readily forgotten the weather preventing my flight from taking off, which turned out to be the same weather preventing me from going outside. That was fine though, as my flight was at 11, so I didn't really have time to mope anyway.

Oh wait sorry, did I say that was fine? What I actually meant to say was my life is bulls**t, because when I got to the airport they told me the flight was full and I would have to wait on standby till a seat was available. About 10 false hopes later [literally everyone was in the same position as me, and it seemed the only people not getting on any flights were the people going to Dalian] I started looking for alternate measures of transport. Full trains to Dalian, Beijing and every other city between Shanghai and Mongolia showed that everyone had had the same bright idea as me.

Listless after hours of crying [yes, I cried. Shamelessly], not eating, queueing and running around Shanghai Pudong Airport like a mad woman, I finally settled for what they could guarantee. 9:45PM on the 26th. IF the flight leaves on time, I still wouldn't get home till midnight, which in my eyes places me firmly on the 27th, when I was meant to be home on the 22nd. Fml.

My parents - love me they do - booked me into a hotel in the centre of town so I could see Shanghai proper. All my friends that I spoke to told me to make the most of it. If one more person tries to console me, I might claw my own face off, but I'm sure that feeling will pass. Those of you who know me know that I hate not being in control. Heck, those of you who read my posts from when I first got to China probably know that too. I think this would probably count as the epitome of controless...ness. One friend told me to, essentially, f**k it, chill out and watch some pay-per-view. I don't think they know how much they cheered me up.

Ah well, I suppose I will have to get off my arse and go and see Shanghai. But not too much - I'm staying in the nicest hotel.....

My hotel room is bigger than my rooms in London and Dalian put together

Xx     *sigh...*

Playtime is Over

Having spent the entire of my holiday playing [and completing] the new Legend of Zelda game, I have woken from my reverie to discover I have under a week left till I return to China. I'm looking forward to going back, of course, though I will miss the comforts of home. And the fact that reality is coming crashing down around my ears all together and all too soon. I haven't even touched the myriad of revision and HSK [lit. Chinese Level Test] books that I brought with me, and I'm probably going to go through a whole new bout of culture shock involving cheese withdrawals and the frustration of forgetting characters I've already learnt as soon as I get back to China. Safe to say my panic-mode has well and truly kicked in, and I'll probably start desperately trailing through my textbooks sometime this weekend.

Like any good student, I've taken up studying whilst watching TV as a way to slowly ease myself  back into the process of learning. Turns out copying out characters once learnt is much like riding a bike that you were never really good at riding anyway. So we'll say skiing, for those who can ski. Recalling characters however, is much harder. No matter if it's the simple 是, or the slightly more complex 警察 [jingcha, Police], looks like everything's going to have to be memorised... again.

Don't even get me started on speaking. My mum introduced me to some of her Chinese friends during my holiday period. Honestly it was like a bloody oral test. Though my listening comprehension level never seems to vary, I find that speaking ends up as spluttering syllables with tones that 'feel good' as opposed to 'sound correct'. They were impressed, the Chinese friends I mean. Of course they were. Not to call them easily impressed, but I once saw a group of 30 Chinese people standing around filming 2 dogs shagging in a park. Now think of the effect of my being able to say 'I have been studying Chinese for 2 years' in Chinese would have. Please.

Well, besides downloading all the TV my hard-drive can carry and buying Western products for Western friends in China, it's not like I've got anything else to do in the 4 or 5 days I've got left.

Oh hey, my gameboy! Haven't seen that in a while...

Xxx

She's not dead

To my avid followers,

I'm very sorry for the delay in between my last post and...these ones - why, it's been over a month now. What happened was I went travelling, got back from travelling, then did nothing but drink for about 2 weeks. As if that weren't enough, I then had to pack for, and come back to, the UK, where I have been for just over a week.

So you see, I've had pressing matters to deal with, but never fear! I have included some posts about my travels [nothing else, as that's all I've really done], the links for which you can find here.
Xi'an Part 1
Xi'an Part 2
Beijing

I'm very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you three.

Yours,

Edi x

The Lone Wolf Travels Part 1 - Xi'an

Look at that title, you know you love it.

Xi'an, the root of history in China. I knew I was going to have a lovely time here when the girl who worked in the hostel told me I was beautiful, despite being sniffly and dishevelled from a day of travelling and being surrounded by Chinese people in a small space. My room is frickin' freezing, but lovely and, hey, the heating works so I'm sure I'll live [if there are no more posts after this one, disregard that last statement].

My Room

The day I arrived it was 9 o'clock before I got settled and I was far too tired to even move so I went straight to sleep after having booked my tour to the 兵马俑 【bingmayong，Terracotta Warriors 】. I woke up with a full cold but determined nonetheless [seriously I've been ill like 7 times since I got to China]. Looking probably as ill as I felt, I set out with my guide and, obviously, two handsome German guys. They were nice, good German humour, and the guide was lovely and gave us many a history lesson as well as a lesson on 西安话【xi'an hua, Xi'an dialect】which was just far too difficult and will never be remembered nor used by myself.

The Warriors themselves were interesting, but not overwhelming - they are just statues after all. The whole place is really interesting though, and I definitely recommend going, especially with a tour guide, otherwise all you're gonna see is a lot of holes in the ground. After that we were treated to some local food, which was very nice, and were then taken home where I took a nap after a long morning. I hope you guys are enjoying the story of my life - I'll try and intersperse it with some pictures.

Saving up my shopping and the famous Muslim Quarter for day 2, I decided to take an evening ramble to a park that I found on my map, not too far from the hostel. It turned out to be beautiful - Dalian is a very modern city with no ancient sites or generally picturesque locations just lying about, so I'm probably exaggerating slightly, but it was still nice. Afterwards, I went to a local restaurant, instead of eating at the hostel like a real 外国人【waiguoren, foreigner, she says sitting at the bar using the free Wifi. After confirming the fact that I was, indeed, not Indian, I got recommended some splendid local food and then returned home.

All in all a pleasant first day on holiday. Alone. Let's just hope it stays this way.

XxXx