Each day I start at 8am with two hours of class - 3 students and 1 instructor, no textbooks allowed. Essentially this means making sure that you understand the previous day's text or dialogue really well and then talking about it for hours. At 11am I have my "dan ban ke" - one on one class for an entire hour. I wrap up after lunch with another three student hour. So far it has been an intense though not unreasonable experience, and I can already feel the improvement. The teachers, of whom there are nearly 40 for about 50 students, are virtually all recent Chinese graduate students though some are older. They've been very patient with me which I appreciate. Michigan gave us good preparation, but it's a new experience to be expected to say complex sentences correctly instead of using "baby Chinese."
Yesterday we were talking about the one child policy still in effect here in China with our teacher. When you make a grammatical or pronunciation mistake, the teachers generally repeat the sentence back to you correctly and then wait for you to say it again correctly yourself.
Teacher: "Does Taiwan have a similar policy?"
Student: "Taiwan and China have really different policies."
Teacher in correcting voice: "Taiwan and the Chinese mainland have really different policies."
She was laughing as she said this (and we along with her), so don't take it too harshly :) But one always has to be aware of those political sensitivities.
If there is one thing I have come to appreciate this week it is the food in this part of Beijing. Within five minutes of my house we have a row of eight consecutive different Chinese restaurants, all offering cuisine based on a different province or style. Not to mention the innumerable small noodle places, multiple Indian restaurants, and everything else ranging from American (tried one place so far, B+ on authenticity), Korean barbeque and a Greek pita stand to Japanese-managed Italian and the usual blend of Chinese and American fast food. This is great except for the fact that, where I once expected I would live a modest lifestyle and lose some weight, I've now realized that I can eat a fabulous dinner each night for just a couple dollars. Or two dinners. Only done that once, I swear. Oh, and the Qinghua cafeterias are fine considering that they cost about 50 cents for lunch and have probably 50 different Chinese dishes to choose from.
And now, on to some pictures.
Mandi and I visited the Forbidden City, which is always worth the two hour walk through. Packed with people until you get a ways in and then it opens up and the crowds thin out.
Something I hadn't seen last time I was at the Forbidden City. This is the beginning of the "Water Palace," which was being built by the Qing Dynasty (last dynasty to rule China) in 1910-1911 before the nationalist revolution. Obviously once the revolution overthrew the emperor, construction on the palace was abandoned. It has a deep moat around it and the lower level is filled with water. I found the very European style set amidst classic Chinese architecture to be jarring. And it's really small!
Looking south on my road. The tall apartment building is where I live, way up on the 16th floor. traffic is never very heavy which is great.
The view south across Beijing from the rear sunporch where we dry our clothes. This was a very clear day, usually you can't see much beyond the tall buildings at center left. Unfortunately we don't have any windows to the west or we could see the mountains on days like this. Weather is still good with the Paralympics in town, but everyone expects that to end in a hurry come October.
The traditional Chinese street market where I shop. That's a Chinese Coca-Cola logo right at the front, next to the Cadbury's. Along with the things on the shelves, this supermarket also hand-makes really good dumplings (jiaozi) for you on the spot at the steep price of $2.50 per 50.
There are real street stands and such with produce that one can shop at, mostly tucked away in the remaining corners of old Beijing neighborhoods. In fact, we have one such area right outside of our apartment building - a small remaining alleyway T-intersection of low brick buildings from probably the mid twentieth century, crammed in between two apartment complexes and a supermarket under the (appropriately ominous?) shadow of a Microsoft logo on the nearest glass skyscraper. Dan and I have gotten ourselves on reasonably good terms with a hole-in-the-wall restaurant's owners in there, who are more than happy to suggest items from their menu and cook them up for you within three minutes of sitting down. Impossible for me to avoid the food subject I guess. Anyway, I'll post some of those pictures next time.
And since it is Notre Dame weekend, Go Blue!
