funfundzwanzig-25

1/4/2011

Another Friday at last! I now remember that I’m in Beijing. Strangely, my parents also went to Beijing when I was a 3 year old kid, and I recall asking them to take them with me. 

Fast forward 14 years and I’m here on a school trip without them. Time does strange things to people. In the past my mother would not let me out of her sight, even for a short while. Now, she’s perfectly fine that I call/text back every 3 days or so. 

Speaking of that, I need to do that more often. I think it’s the texts I sent to my parents that make them smile, even at work, their jobs look really stressful, and this is the least I can do.

Visited a bird’s nest as the first stop. When we reached the place at 740 am in the morning, there were already hawkers peddling goods towards us. And I thought no one would come this early. Boy, how wrong I am. As we walked in the compound, no less than 5 of them approached us, asking us whether we were interested in any of the souvenirs they had, and they were willing to sell it at a lower price to us. Even though we walked away and ignored them, they still tailed us, hungry to earn money from us. I think I need to dress more conservatively so that I will be mistaken for a local Chinese and not get myself approached by people. It worked for me the past few times when I visited china. 

After narrowly avoiding any of these vendors, we clambered up the bus, afraid that any of them would go up and make a final sales attempt (It happened before to me, and it’s not pleasant), we left the car park and got a taste of the “famed” Beijing traffic. At 8+, the traffic congestion is so bad the cars are not moving. According to my math lecturer, heavy traffic = cars still moving. Traffic jam = cars not moving. 

I think we were caught between heavy traffic and a jam. The bus did seem to move. Strangely, nobody had their hands permanently on the horn, and the roads were quiet (or is it because of my earphones?), and they didn’t horn when there was congestion or something blocking their path, they only horned when they needed to. 

Beats shanghai hands down. The sound of car horns there is 24/7, even at 3 am in the morning. 

Forbidden City was our 2^nd stop. Old palaces are interesting places. There are so many tourists groups inside, and you can count the number of tourists groups. And then there’s the part where the speaker comes in, and you start to hear the explanations about the same places in different languages and dialects, and it’s hard to hear what your guide is saying. Not to mention trying to catch up with them moving around the place. This visit to the Forbidden City only allowed us to cover the emperor’s residential area, study, gathering hall, etc. the emperor’s living area is so huge, I don’t see how can one person live in an area which can accommodate a thousand. Doesn’t he feel bored? i don’t know how anyone can stand it

I’m going to get an audio tour the next time I go. It’s easier on me as well. 

When we walked out of the Forbidden City entrance by the main gate, we had unknowingly entered the 天安门 square, where student protests had once raged against china’s reputation abroad. There were people who approached us, asking whether we would like to take a photograph against the memorial statue. I’m starting to admire their persistence. They don’t mind asking the same question over and over again, and face rejection every now and then. I would have gotten tired by the 10^th try. Also, competition here is cut-throat. The vendors fight tooth and nail against other vendors to get as much business as possible, to the extent of fighting over a potential customer. Even though they may sell the same things, each vendor tries his/her best to package it differently, attracting the most customers possible.

Live and let live. I need to pay more attention to them in the future. 

And stop throwing them dirty looks when they approach me for business

vierundzwanzig-24

31/3/2011

First day in Beijing. Beijing is different from Tianjin, and Beijing seems like a complicated place to live in, compared to Tianjin. For one, there seem to be much more people in Beijing, and a lot more tourists. Beijing’s traffic jams are quite spectacular, and this is when walking is faster than driving. 

We visited the summer palace and the temple of heaven today. Even though the carparks may seem deserted and nobody is there, you take that impression that no one there back after you go inside. The summer palace is overrun with tourists. There were hawkers everywhere, selling things like maps, snacks, toys, instruments and souvenir items. As we walked, we were continually approached them, peddling their wares, trying to get some business from us.

I don’t know whether to pity or scorn them. I pity them because they have no choice but to sell souvenirs on the streets to earn their keep, I scorn them for not applying for a proper job, given the number of hiring notices around. In any case, they’re (hopefully) independent and living on their own money, which I think it’s the bare minimum to live your life. 

I nearly got lost today. The place was soo big, and I was occupied with taking photographs (on assignment) and I didn’t notice the rest of them walking off!

I need to be more attentive of my surroundings in the future. I don’t want to end up as a “missing person” in china that no one is able to find. That kind of news isn’t very welcome to anybody, especially to my mother.

Checked into a hotel in the evening. The hotel in Beijing compared to the one in Tianjin seems like miles apart. The room felt really comfortable and nice (so are the rates, they go by USD), and I didn’t feel like coming out any time soon.

For dinner we had a taste of roasted duck. Dinner was in a specialty restraint selling that. We were greeted by dishes and dishes of food, and as many of my friends were not feeling so well, so the table we were at for 10 people had only 6 people around it. 

I don’t know because we were tourists, the decision to add extra dishes was made, or simply because that is the normal appetite of the locals to eat that much food, but half of the food on the table went uneaten. The portions were simply too big for us, I felt overwhelmed just by staring at the food, not to mention eating it. 

At the end of the meal, the food would have been disposed off, and it’s such a waste to cook so much and barely half gets eaten. And there are people who can hardly get enough to fill their stomachs. I guess this is the wealth-poverty divide in china. 

I think it’s alright to cook just enough food or sometimes even less, but I hate to see wasted or uneaten food. Besides, cooking less = wasting less=buying less=higher savings. 

Caught up with my sister on the phone after roll call. The poor girl got so much going on, I think she needs a break. I shall find something nice for her. I don’t know what yet though. my parents are uncontactable for now.

dreiundzwanzig-23

30/3/2011

It appears the blog posts are getting shorter and shorter

*gasp* this is not good.

Final test for APPG at last today, Contrary to popular belief, the paper was held in the afternoon instead of the morning. I hope everybody did well for the paper, given the amount of preparation and studying we had done. 

We can do it.

So after doing the serious stuff (“Why so seriousss?”) we moved on to celebrate our “mother”’s birthday in the buddy’s café of the basement in the hotel. When we stepped out from the lift, we were greeted by the blasting of “happy birthday” on the loudspeaker, exactly the way it was when I was working in the restaurant. The more curious thing was that the Chinese patrons seemed to pay attention to us, rather that they were staring at us for making a nuisance of ourselves. 

Eeks. Talk about making an impression, we were seriously squashing ours in front of them. Then it proceeded with an impromptu cake smashing session, with many of us getting cake on our faces or clothes or both. Now they seemed more interested in us as they watched us in disgust, wasting food in front of them. I think what we did was plain inappropriate (cake smashing), but I hope they won’t let that incident form the impression of Singaporean students as wasteful, childish teenagers. 

Yiwen’s buddy insisted on cleaning up on the mess we made after many people went upstairs to wash up, I felt apologetic as someone was cleaning up after the mess we made, which was something I believe we should do ourselves. Compared to us Singaporeans, who would gladly left after a mess was made, be it after a barbeque or eating outside, we would have washed our hands after the matter and walked us, the Chinese prefer to tidy up after they were done and don’t hire as many cleaners as Singapore. 

Its evident here that we need to tidy up ourselves (a bit too late to realize that), even our rooms have someone pulling the covers once a week, and we need to keep the room in order ourselves. I think that’s going to stick with me for a very long time, no doubt. Maybe that will spread slowly and Singaporeans will soon no need cleaners to clean up after them, and the money spent on hiring them can be used to do something else. 

I think my life will soon need an overhaul in every aspect after I come back. I now need a “work in progress” sign to hang somewhere,

zweiundzwanzig-22

29/3/2011

ONE MORE DAY TO FINAL TEST! RAWRR

I and weiling had lunch with sirs today, eating at the usual 兰州牛肉拉面 at the back alley.   After we placed our order, I noticed a man of African descent sitting at the entrance. Seeing that he was alone, I was emboldened to talk to him, and ask about his experiences here. I have seen many foreign students in the school, and this was the first chance where I could actually talk to any of them.

The man seemed friendly and we conversed mainly in mandarin instead of English, which was surprising for me. Usually when overseas students talk among themselves, they would not use Chinese instead. I asked if we could speak in English, as I was a bit uncomfortable. That question was left unanswered and I had to mentally translate all the questions I had in mind into mandarin, which caught me off guard, I ended up asking all my questions straight, without bending it, sometimes putting him in a spot to answer.

I must be very bad at interviewing, as I didn’t get all the answers I wanted, resulting in a wasted interview, complete with inappropriate questions and awkward silences. I do need practice if I want to do better. Hopefully another chance comes along soon, if not I don’t have anything to write for the personal report soon.

einundzwanzig-21

28/3/2011

After yesterday’s little jaunt outside the hotel, I think I’ve got my IS module covered for now. There is a possibility that I may need to go back, but that isn’t much of a concern, given the coming tests and quizzes to occupy my time with.

So we spent the whole day doing APPG. After I bought bubble tea and was waiting for the others looking at the bakery next door, 3 European students walked inside the shop.  They conversed with the counter staff in perfect (!) mandarin and placed their order, joking and laughing with her as she made their drinks. Even as they were leaving they called out to the other staff working in the shop, it was something the local students wouldn’t have done. There is a culture of adaptation within them, given that they were conversing in mandarin, which was something many would take a long time to master. They also treated people equally, no matter who they were, they still called out to all the staff as a greeting, something that may seems as a small action, but their warm words brought smiles to their faces.

Words are indeed powerful tools. They may seem meaningless compared to material wealth, but how they are used makes a world of difference.

zwanzig-20

27/3/2011

After camping in study town for quite a long stretch, I decided to break out of my “jail cell” and get on with a walking trip with my buddy in the 5 streets area.

We took a public bus to the area, and the bus route was right in the middle of the district. We got off, unsure which direction to start walking from. To make things better (or worse), there were black plagues of stone placed about 15m away from each other, showing the different postal codes and the rank of protection authorized by the district government (general protection for normal houses, very special protection for residences of key historical figures), and we had fun walking down the street, trying to get the postal codes in order. I must say being a postman in the past isn’t the best job around. The codes were arranged in such a way it was hard to get the running order. Even if you did, it was gone whenever there was a turn. After getting horribly lost in the area, we decided to stop for lunch in a small “district” called 安乐村 for a bite. We stumbled across a small eatery and experienced a very different kind of customer service.

When we walked in, the place felt as though it had closed for a nap. The television was on, and the boss and his assistant seemed like in the middle of their lunch (which looked rather nice, with a number of side vegetables) and the boss proceeded to let us take our order. The eatery felt like a eating area of a house kitchen and the pace was rather relaxed and easygoing, unlike in Singapore restaurants where everything is about “chop chop”, “fast fast” and “hurry up”. He took his own time to prepare the food, letting the food take its own time to cook, and then served it to us, no trouble at all. I think that should be the way we should be cooking; we cook for the taste and heat, and not as a necessity to fill the stomach. Nevertheless, I managed to finish what looked like a giant bowl of noodles, and I think that was another good meal in a long while.

Talk about swinging to the other side,

After lunch, we proceeded to the Italian food street. The Italian food street had cobbled line roads and eateries along the way, and it was streamed with tourists. Seeing a desert shop, we went in, eager to try the cakes. The waitress at the counter showed us to the counter with different deserts on display. Before we could decide fully on what we wanted, she was already staring at us, with her pen poised on the paper, eager to catch my order. I was taken aback by her impatience. Upon placing our order (1 cheesecake slice to be shared), she asked us whether we would be eating it in the shop or outside. Seeing the look on her face, I quickly decided to take it outside and dragged my buddy out of the shop. Even when I paused to take a photo of the interior, I felt as though we were being chased out by the waitress for bringing in a little business. The worst was when we stepped out on the street; my buddy overheard someone saying to another, “That desert shop? Don’t go in.”

Maybe that explains the poor business the shop has. Even if their cakes are good, I would not come back, given a choice. I don’t feel welcome inside it, like a stranger.

neunzehn-19

26/3/2011

Saturday.

Went to lunch in school with my buddy today. We went back to the “zi char” store on the 2^nd floor of the 综合楼。The girl who helped us with our order recognized me as the only foreign student daring enough to buy her meals from them (their main customers are the local Chinese students), so she gave me a spoon after she remembered me asking for one during the last time I came。 I was amazed that she could actually recognize me and knew the small things I preferred （a spoon with my meal）, even though I didn’t even know her name. After feeling particularly happier that someone actually remembered my preferences, we stumbled upon a graffiti wall at the back of the student dormitories. My buddy told me that she didn’t even knew this was existed, and no one in their right mind would want to walk at the outside of the dormitory buildings (my mind is on the left), hence no one found out about the wall, unless you were also part of the graffiti crew. 

I must say that their thinking is pretty straight for university students. There may be one destination, but there are plenty of routes leading to it. And we should know at least 1 other route, so when the one you use is blocked for some reason, there is another way of getting through instead of staring and being stuck. 

 

After deciding against staying in the school and going back to the hotel, we decided to take a walk down the block to try and get ourselves in the housing district where the nice houses we saw are. When we exited the school, I was quite eager to turn left and go inside. She showed me otherwise, and we ended up walking for 20 minutes down the same block(!), until I saw just how far the distance was. And then we stumbled upon the entrance of the area, we got turned down by the guard, who firmly insisted “no outsiders allowed”, and you needed “permission” to get inside the district. I don’t think the guards in Singapore would have done that. I would have walked right in. 

But my buddy didn’t. She asked for permission from the guard, to respect his authority. I think there’s where the difference lies. She preferred to seek approval for something we were about to do (and got turned down unceremoniously) and there is the power distance gap present. In Singapore, we’re less restricted in our actions and thoughts, and we have greater liberty to express ourselves openly. They have a more “submissive” thinking and prefer to do as they were told. 

She also shared with me that the foreign students in their school have the liberty of having classes starting later for them (830 instead of 800) because they have trouble adjusting to the habit of waking up early for classes. I think the school’s giving in too much to them. In Ngee Ann we would have gotten marked absent for being late, not mention come into class half an hour late 

Life isn’t fair-.-