Week 16 of 23: 第十六周
Beijing 北京
I took a weekend trip to Beijing, and I was super lucky to have tour guides since my mom's best friend since childhood lives in the city. I feel like I should write about the history of Beijing, but I probably won't. I will say that it's hard to fathom how people built the Great Wall without all our modern technology. Standing in the beautiful mountains of northern China, looking at the wall that stretches for thousands of miles, I kept thinking of Louis CK saying that we as a species tend to just throw human suffering and death at something until we build something beautiful. Sounds awful, but it's an interesting thought. There's no way of knowing the exact number of people who died in the unforgiving conditions of the construction of the Great Wall. But the Great Wall itself has endured tribal wars and invasions, it has stood tall during the rise and fall of entire dynasties, and it remains a symbol of China's enduring strength.
I also went to the Forbidden City, and everything there was beautiful. This was where royalty lived, and now all these years later, I was lucky enough to see a glimpse into the past.
Kitty Cafe
My mom's former classmate's son's girlfriend (oh my word, I don't know how I ended up in this situation) took me to a cat cafe. I guess there was nothing special about the cafe except they had Western-style drinks and food. And cats, obviously.
I wasn't sure if I was correctly saying the Chinese word for "pregnant" so I asked like 3 times if the cat was pregnant, using hand gestures to make it clear what I was asking. I was told 3 times, no the cat is not pregnant. Some people just think fat cats are cute.
Thanks for reading!
In 1 week from Sunday, I take the HSK 4 exam. (Also, why is it on a Sunday?) Then 2 weeks after that, I have finals. I'll hang around in China 3 more weeks afterwards, but it already feels like my time in China is coming to a close.
There are so many things I've gained in China:
I now have a better understanding of Chinese culture and lasting relationships with my family members. With that came a stronger sense of identity and belonging. I remember not too long ago, I couldn't differentiate who was who when looking at pictures of my extended family or hearing their names. And I remember feeling like I was Chinese, but not really knowing what China was like except from stories and movies. Now I feel more connected.
I also now have somewhat not terrible Chinese language skills. When I got here 4 months ago, someone accidentally bumped into me, said "excuse me" and I didn't even know what she said so I had to ask my dad. For shame. I didn't know what "excuse me" was. The first 3 weeks where I couldn't really understand most of what was going on around me were stressful. But I guess if you're immersed in the language you'll pick it up eventually. My immersion in the language kind of felt like drowning in confusion but it's okay now.
Unfortunately I another thing I gained in China was more pudge around my hips from all the yummy food, and my roommate told me if I don't lose it then I can't be a model anymore. Sigh. It hurts because it's true.
I also have more confidence and independence. I really feel like I could pick up and move anywhere and still be okay. With that confidence and independence came even more wanderlust. I was hoping that my wanderlust would kind of settle down after coming to China. But now I cannot wait to go to Italy. I really want to visit China every year until I graduate and then work here for a year or two after I graduate. I guess making new life plans is a good thing that came from this study abroad.
I've also been thinking about what I want from my remaining time in China. I like to set goals, but they're not really always good goals. I only had 2 goals for this semester.
#1: Buy a water bottle. Done. I bought 3 for $4. So I think I now have like 19 water bottles, and I think my parents are not happy that most of them are occupying space in the house.
#2: Ride rollercoasters. Not done. Hopefully I go to Shanghai Disneyland soon to ride rollercoasters, because otherwise I only completed 50% of my goals.
Overall, I feel satisfied with my trip to China. It's gone even better than I imagined. A year ago things felt so different.
"To feel connected, free, and capable is to enjoy a good life." -David G. Myers, the awesome author of my favorite psychology textbook.
See you next Thursday, and thanks for reading!