Hello everybody,
Well, its been another rather uneventful week here. There are a couple things that deserve mentioning, but the exciting update will come again next week, after our big trip to Xi'an. That leaves this Friday the 15th, and we'll get back on Sunday. Hopefully, I'll get a post up either Monday or Tuesday so that you all don't have to wait too long before finding out what happened there. Anyways, with that short update out of the way, lets move on to the couple of things that happened this week.
Firstly, one of the girls in our dorm from Nepal had a birthday on Friday, and we celebrated that with traditional, homemade food from India and Nepal. It wasn't exactly the same because they couldn't get all of the same ingredients here. But if it was anywhere near the same, they eat very good food in those countries, and I definitely wouldn't mind eating it more often. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone from Nepal when I return to the states... :/ I think I may have to go to more of the UNK cultural events and try out many new foods, as well as meet new foreign students on our own campus.
The second thing I did this week that was slightly less important, but still very fun, was that I went to see the new Thor movie in the 3D IMAX theater at one of our local malls. It was even in English, which made things that much better. And I must say, I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. I don't know if it was the fact that I was watching a movie in English, or if it was just a good movie, but I definitely enjoyed it more than the first.
I know, that doesn't really explain much of the culture here, but I think this next part might a little: there were actually a lot of Chinese people in the English theater watching Thor, even though there was a Chinese showing in the same theater. I don't know the reason for that, but it could be that they like watching the movies in English to practice their language skills, or maybe they like watching it in its original format, without the dubbing. I know that when I watch movies like Ip Man or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, I prefer to listen to the original actors and just use subtitles. Maybe that's what they were doing as well.
Anyways, with my pondering aside, that has really been the extent of my week. Again, there has been the usual studying, sleeping, going to class and all those other wonderful things that don't really liven a post up. We had a quiz over section two of our language book this week, and I only missed five points on that, so my language skills are still staying up there. Hopefully they just keep improving the rest of the time, and I don't lose them as soon as I leave. :P As the title of my post says, this week also marked the point in the trip where we only have one month left. Looking back, the time has really gone by quickly. There have been some struggles, but there have also been some really cool parts. Its going to be a bittersweet moment leaving Hebei Normal. Thanks again to everyone that's reading these, and I'll update you as soon as I can with the details from Xi'an.
Adam
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Monday, September 2, 2013
Fun, and Many Struggles
Hello again, anyone who may be reading this.
Well, its been almost two weeks since I landed in China. And I've had mixed feelings about it ever since. Some parts are very cool, and I have enjoyed them. Many parts have been very frustrating as I have been making the transition to living in China. I am going to start with the positive, because its always best to begin with that, in my opinion.
So, the fun. Since arriving, I have met quite a few people from quite a few different countries. Russians, Peruvians, Chinese, Indonesians, and many others. I have gotten to study with some, play ping pong with others, and attend musical shows with still others. These parts of the trip have been incredibly fun, and I do look forward to getting to hang out with these new friends more as the semester continues.
Also, the trips we have scheduled begin this Saturday. Our first trip is to "The Biggest Lake in China." That is its tourist definition from what the other abroad students and I could find online. The other trips are to interesting locations as well, spread out through the semester. I am still looking forward to those trips, and I think they are going to be very interesting.
Now, with that said, this trip has had struggles almost daily since I landed. The language barrier was, and still is, a much bigger problem than we were told before we left America. Yes, most of the Chinese students I have met know how to say "hello" and "goodbye" in English. Just like I learned how to say "ni hao" and "zaijian" before I left America. But, just like I still can't speak Chinese, they still can't speak English, and communication has been one of the hardest things since arriving here in China. To anyone looking to go on this trip in the future, I would suggest learning some Chinese before hand, and not just hello and goodbye.
Not only has communication in the country been a problem, but communication outside the country has been a major problem as well. I didn't find out until after I arrived that the Foreign Student dorm we are in does not provide wifi to dorm rooms. We had been told that the new campus would have that free wifi. Instead, the wifi is only located on floors one and four, and even then only at certain times in the day. This doesn't mean that we can't get internet in our rooms for our stay, though. In order to get a wired connection, we all shelled out almost 300 yuan. The connection didn't start until September 1. And even when it did, it has been down more often than it has been available. To make matters worse, the technicians responsible for setting it up fall in the group of Chinese people that don't know English. Meaning asking questions and getting things fixed is a nightmare in itself.
There have been other little glitches along the way, but those are the biggest things that I wish I had been told before I left the United States. I hope that I can save some other students this hassle should they decide to take this trip as well. That's really all I have time for now. I'm down in the first floor lobby again, as my wired connection hasn't worked for the past four hours or so, and people are starting to fill in and want more time before the wifi is turned off. I'll update again as soon as more happens, which will probably be after our first trip.
Thanks again for reading,
Adam
Well, its been almost two weeks since I landed in China. And I've had mixed feelings about it ever since. Some parts are very cool, and I have enjoyed them. Many parts have been very frustrating as I have been making the transition to living in China. I am going to start with the positive, because its always best to begin with that, in my opinion.
So, the fun. Since arriving, I have met quite a few people from quite a few different countries. Russians, Peruvians, Chinese, Indonesians, and many others. I have gotten to study with some, play ping pong with others, and attend musical shows with still others. These parts of the trip have been incredibly fun, and I do look forward to getting to hang out with these new friends more as the semester continues.
Also, the trips we have scheduled begin this Saturday. Our first trip is to "The Biggest Lake in China." That is its tourist definition from what the other abroad students and I could find online. The other trips are to interesting locations as well, spread out through the semester. I am still looking forward to those trips, and I think they are going to be very interesting.
Now, with that said, this trip has had struggles almost daily since I landed. The language barrier was, and still is, a much bigger problem than we were told before we left America. Yes, most of the Chinese students I have met know how to say "hello" and "goodbye" in English. Just like I learned how to say "ni hao" and "zaijian" before I left America. But, just like I still can't speak Chinese, they still can't speak English, and communication has been one of the hardest things since arriving here in China. To anyone looking to go on this trip in the future, I would suggest learning some Chinese before hand, and not just hello and goodbye.
Not only has communication in the country been a problem, but communication outside the country has been a major problem as well. I didn't find out until after I arrived that the Foreign Student dorm we are in does not provide wifi to dorm rooms. We had been told that the new campus would have that free wifi. Instead, the wifi is only located on floors one and four, and even then only at certain times in the day. This doesn't mean that we can't get internet in our rooms for our stay, though. In order to get a wired connection, we all shelled out almost 300 yuan. The connection didn't start until September 1. And even when it did, it has been down more often than it has been available. To make matters worse, the technicians responsible for setting it up fall in the group of Chinese people that don't know English. Meaning asking questions and getting things fixed is a nightmare in itself.
There have been other little glitches along the way, but those are the biggest things that I wish I had been told before I left the United States. I hope that I can save some other students this hassle should they decide to take this trip as well. That's really all I have time for now. I'm down in the first floor lobby again, as my wired connection hasn't worked for the past four hours or so, and people are starting to fill in and want more time before the wifi is turned off. I'll update again as soon as more happens, which will probably be after our first trip.
Thanks again for reading,
Adam
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