Sunday
I’ve got to start doing more interesting things on Sundays, for the sake of these weekly posts if nothing else. We can keep it short and sweet: I did some laundry (somehow losing a pair of pants in the process??), took a long walk around Beijing to soak in the sun, finished my last few weekend assignments, and gabbed with a friend over the phone for a couple hours. I’ve found that my Sundays here are relaxing even though they always involve homework, whereas back at school in the U.S. my anxiety would heighten throughout the day in anticipation of the week ahead.
Monday
Monday means back to the grind. I spent breakfast reviewing my three texts for the day and writing characters for an exam in my first period, which ended up going well. After the exam, we talked about “fan culture” in China, which is totally different from American fan culture. The most prolific American fan club I can think of is “Swifties,” and fandoms here are like “Swifties” on steroids. There are a handful of bands with followings so big that people devote their entire lives to tracking celebrity movements, organizing events, analyzing online data, infiltrating comment sections and promoting sponsored products (as a full time, unofficial job). Our professor told us about how she used to be entrenched in a fandom for one particular group, and it became her whole identity. Apparently, this is not uncommon. I find it fascinating.
On the way out of our first class, we bumped into other classmates who were also headed to lunch, so we all ate together casually for the first time since the semester started. We’re all much more comfortable using Chinese now, so it was fun to observe how lively this meal was compared to the first ones we shared.
During my second class, we started discussing the Great Wall of China and its legacy today. While some Chinese people are proud of the symbol’s representation of China as a hard-working, long-enduring global power, others feel that accomplishment is overshadowed by the cruelty exacted upon the common people who built the Great Wall. I also learned that before The Defense of the Great Wall of China in 1933, most Chinese people viewed the wall as an indicator of China’s conservative attitude and weak defensive strategy.
After class, I rested for a bit before joining my cohort for a viewing of an adorable animated film called Chang An. At this event, I also fed my dried mango addiction. And that concluded Monday!
Tuesday
Tuesday was the best day this week by far because it was the Mid-Autumn Festival. Classes were moved to Friday, so I had the day off and got to sleep in a bit. I planned to leave my dorm around 11 am for a self-organized field trip, but as I walked off campus I realized my Chinese phone was dead (which I definitely need for emergency calls if I’m going out on my own) and had to turn back around. I let my phone charge while I ate lunch, and I’m actually very glad I ate before leaving because I ended up biking for a little over two hours afterward.
One of the Middlebury in Beijing professors had on Monday sent us a recommended location for Mid-Autumn festivities, so I knew I wanted to head in that direction but didn’t have more of a plan than that. I hopped on a bike and wanted to keep going forever – look how peaceful it is with these trees, even though you’re technically just on the side of the road. You guys already know about my biking obsession, so I’ll just leave it at that.
I also passed a super cute Beijing bakery with crazy long lines. A man parked next to me at this stoplight told me everyone was waiting for fresh-baked moon cakes. I have to admit, that sounds delicious.
Even so, I headed onward and stopped once I got to the National Art Museum – it was calling my name. Unfortunately, I totally stuck out here. At both the National Art Museum and the avant-garde art museum next door (pictured below), foreigners were required to present their physical passports. I only had a picture of mine, so I was prohibited from entering both museums. Devastating!
I walked around for a bit longer, finding a cluster of street vendors with tents that were fun to peruse, but ultimately I headed back to campus on another public bike. Not that I’m a fanatic or anything, but I love the public bike system. Two hours of riding cost me about $5 USD. And it was so pleasant!
I finished the night with homework (of course) and Parks & Rec. Non-cheesy Chinese shows are hard to find, and Parks & Rec is just so perfect. I stand by my choice.
Wednesday
The first day after a break is always the hardest, right? I really dragged my feet getting up on Wednesday, knowing how much I needed to accomplish, but one thing at a one. In my first class, we concluded our discussion of “fan culture” in China and gave presentations about the difference between fans and celebrities in the U.S. and China. Then, in my second class, we made posters depicting the complicated history of the Great Wall. I like group projects, but my lack of drawing skills really made this one difficult.
Afterwards, I attended a lecture from a Great Wall expert who taught us how to distinguish sections of the Wall from different eras and what to expect this weekend. I was most interested in his discussion of Wall features as a reflection of history. For example, some sections of the Wall have huge gates or openings from early trade routes, whereas newer sections are solid rock with holes just large enough shoot an arrow through.
I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing my poster before heading to Wushu Martial Arts. I am going to miss Wushu when I’m back in the States – I have been loving it here and this Wednesday was no exception.
A good shower and a few hours of homework later, I was out like a light.
Side note: I also tried and failed three separate times on Wednesday to make a Telehealth appointment, so I brought the issue to my program director. Of course, the second she looked at it, it worked. Classic.
Thursday
For no real reason, Thursday was one of my more difficult days so far. I studied from the moment I woke up to the second my classes started, so that might have contributed, but I overall just had a rough day.
My politics class was super interesting – we talked about Communist Party recruiting, and how Chinese elementary school students can join a “Little Communists Team” (ages 7-12) if they earn top grades and a “Young Communists United” group (ages 12-18) if they maintain them. No one can officially join the party until age 16, but most members join in college after taking classes about the Communist Party and testing into the Party. This conversation reminded me of my high school Chinese teacher who would always talk about the United States having no educational requirements for its political leaders. She must have been contrasting our political party system with the Chinese Communist Party, which requires all members to pass an exam before joining.
In my second class, we presented yesterday’s posters. Here I am looking very studious while presenting:
Finally, in my last class of the day I researched the effect of the Age of Discovery on Taiwan and how its earliest colonized history involved multiple regimes (mainly Spain and the Netherlands) plundering its resources and starting internal wars. I also had a conversation with my professor about how I’ve felt for a few weeks that I’m not performing well in this class, and she responded by being very surprised to hear that. She said that she can tell I’m preparing for each class and that I’m actually doing very well; I shouldn’t put so much pressure on myself. This was a conversation I needed to have!
I rested until dinner, then ate and worked on assignments for the rest of the night. I also listened to a true crime podcast that made me afraid to sleep, which wasn’t my brightest idea. Back in high school, I suffered with major anxiety, and luckily I rarely experience that level of anxiety anymore, but anxiousness is such a deep-seated habit that it sometimes feels comfortable to me. I’m realizing that I occasionally engage in anxiety-inducing activities to replace less familiar emotions (like the sad/lost feelings I was having on Thursday) with something I know I can manage. Enter: true crime podcasts.
Friday
Friday started out with a bang, a.k.a. the most amazing breakfast ever. I picked at random a soft bun filled with seasoned chicken and potatoes, and I didn’t even get a picture because I was so busy gobbling it up. That’s how you know it’s going to be a good day!
In my first class, Modern Chinese Politics, we were still discussing the Communist Party Constitution, but we made a hilarious discovery. Apparently, the Chinese Communist Party has a mandate to understand societal trends and popular culture. As a result, they occasionally release raps (written in-house) about the Communist Party to engage with Chinese youth, and the songs aren’t half bad. Our professor mentioned this off-handedly, and we immediately spent the next 15 minutes finding and listening to CCP raps. Absolutely fascinating that this is baked into their party doctrine.
Riding that high, I skipped to lunch with two of my friends from class. We reviewed for our next classes together, and then I headed off to my one-on-one. I usually don’t have classes on Friday, but because of the holiday, our Tuesday classes were moved to Friday. That meant back-to-back days of my Taiwan class, and my brain was totally fried at this point. I did manage to learn about Taiwan’s societal structures before and after colonization, which developed at a completely different rate than Taiwan’s economy and modernization. Taiwan had roads, electricity, and public transportation before it had a set of unified social groups.
After class (gloriously) ended for the week, I headed to the mall with my roommate and a friend from my program. We’re traveling to the Great Wall tomorrow, and I was afraid that my shoes wouldn’t be sufficient, so I wanted to buy a new pair last-minute. I know it’s risky to break in a pair of shoes with a four-hour hike, but I was willing to take that risk, so off to the mall we trekked.
I know I’m on a public transportation kick in this blog post, but you can’t tell me this isn’t cool. We took the subway, and our final subway station literally turned into the mall, first with a cool floral, mirrored walkway and then with shops covered in LED lights eventually leading to the full outdoor mall. It felt like the Disneyland of capitalism.
There was so much to see at the mall (including a cat café!!) that we ended up staying through dinner. Afterward, I took the subway back to campus and started packing for our trip tomorrow.
That’s a Wrap: Week Four
Highlight: That breakfast sandwich on Friday. I’m not even kidding.
Lowlight: Not realizing I needed my passport to enter art museums. Now I know!
Next up, The Great Wall! I can’t wait to share pictures and stories. 🙂
很想你们，
婉婷
