Week 2: 第二周
You just saw my last name
So right above here it says "第二周“ which means "number two week." It is pronounced "di er zhou" and my last name is Zhou. Well technically I should call it my family name, because last names go first here in China. My Chinese name is 周莉 which is pronounced Zhou Li. Li is my Chinese individual name, and it is supposed to be sort of similar to my American first name, Emily. Li is a type of jasmine flower: 茉莉花 which is pronounced "mu li hua", with "hua" meaning flower.
I do like how Chinese people put the last name as the first name. Having your family name first is a good reminder to put family first.
家庭是最重要的事情，所以中国人的姓是放在名字前面的。
Sugar cane
I had never seen sugar cane before, so I thought this was bamboo, which doesn't even make sense because I've definitely seen bamboo before. Anyways, once I got past the confusion, I thought it was cool to watch the magic happen. You pick the sugar cane that you want, and then the street vendor slices off the outside. He then cuts the sugar cane right into that blue basket that's lined with a bag. Once he ties off the bag, you can take it home fresh.
我从来没有看过甘蔗，所以以为这是竹子。但是我已经好几次看过竹子。我搞得糊里糊涂。
我很喜欢看路边的人在削甘蔗皮。我在美国从来没看过。我自己选了一根甘蔗，然后就拿回家去吃。我选的甘蔗没有那么新鲜。我想下一次我可能选更好吃的。
Sadly, the one I picked wasn't that fresh. But you just bite off a piece, suck out the sugary juice, then spit out everything. Hopefully the next one I pick is better.
Poor chicken
At my family's house, I saw this chicken tied to a ladder just pitifully awaiting the sweet release of death, and I could not stop laughing. This is why it confuses people when they realize I was a vegetarian for three years. I find death funny sometimes. The next time I saw that ladder, there were gloves hanging on it and no chicken.
这可怜的鸡在等着人把它吃掉了。我不知道为什么，但是我一看这只鸡我就开始笑。
They're having a meeting. 他们开会。
I was confused as to why there were a bunch of bird cages hanging in the park. My cousin said, "they are having a meeting." I was told that these birds are just chilling with their bird friends. They are people's pets, and they brought them to the park to socialize like dogs at a dog park.
我不懂为什么有看这么多鸟在公园里。原来是人家的宠物在公园里面开会，哈哈。
My grandpa's grave
The mound of dirt in the center of this picture is my maternal grandfather's grave by my family's fields. My maternal family lives in those houses in the background. Obviously this is not what all Chinese graves are like, especially since city people have graves that look more familiar to me. But here in this neighborhood, there are these dirt mounds where families lay their dead to rest. My family visited my grandpa's grave, bringing fake paper money to burn. According to tradition, you set money on fire so they have wealth in the afterlife. As the fire burned we took turns showing respect by bowing three times on the ground. I felt sadness that I never really got to know my grandfather, but I also felt gratitude that he was such a great man. I know that through his actions, my grandfather raised his children right and gave me a precious family. His hard work and devotion to his family carries on through the next generations. As a young child, he worked and took care of his family when his father died. He may not have graduated from elementary school, but he was an honest man and used his intelligence to make beautiful, dependable carpentry. While we ate dinner, we were all sitting on the sturdy chairs he crafted. I hear he was a man of few words, but he always gave my cousin a nod, a slight smile, and a thumbs up when she got good reports from school. And that was enough to know that he was proud.
我感觉有点伤心，因为我外公活的时候，我并不了解我的外公。但是我很感谢他给了我一个很好的家庭。
My grandma sleeps like a queen
My maternal grandpa apparently sleeps in this super beautiful bed. The wood detailing is handmade. I don't have any major problems with my bed, but clearly hers is superior. It is called 雕花床, or "carved flower bed".
Also, the bed I had previously been sleeping in had a mattress, but I'm currently sleeping on is wooden with no mattress. I didn't realize that a thick comforter on the wooden bed would actually be this comfortable.
我觉得我外婆睡的床特备的漂亮。
Monkeying Around
Here are two people dressed as monkeys in the local shopping center. I'm personally a huge fan of the antennae (which I just learned is the plural form of antenna), and I think this is how monkeys look in their natural habitats.
我喜欢在购物中心看到的这两只猴子。
Nap time. 现在可以睡觉了！
My cousin gave me an eye mask so I could take a nap in the warm sun room without shutting the curtains and making the room cold. Each eye piece has a chemical heat pack like a hand warmer. My mom wanted to take a picture, and when I looked at the picture I thought I looked like I'm wearing a feminine hygiene product on my face. Naturally, I wanted a better angle so I took a selfie while blindfolded.
我睡个懒觉，喜欢戴这个眼罩。我觉得特别好看，所以我就拍了照片。
I want to be a fuzzy marshmallow
It's pretty cold in February. But when there's no central heating in the countryside, it feels different. I'm used to just going inside when I'm cold. But when the inside is cold too, all you can do is bundle up and drink hot water. I'm enjoying looking like an Eskimo. I'm wearing three pairs of pants as I write this. I noticed that as we were sitting in the countryside, most of the people wearing hats were the city people. A little girl asked me, "Why are you always wearing a hat?" My best answer was that most places I go are heated and I'm not used to it. The good thing about the cold is that you don't have to remember to refrigerate your food because your whole house is a refrigerator. Plus yawns are more fun when you can make dragon breath. The bad thing is my relative was taking exams for school without heating, and now she has a frostbitten finger.
我不习惯没有空调，没有暖气。我现在穿了三条裤子，喝热水，戴帽子。有个小孩子问：“你为什么天天戴帽子？“ 我说我怕冷。
Chinese New Year
I can't believe it took until age 20 to experience my first Chinese New Year in my parents' hometown. Chinese New Years feels like a bunch of holidays happening all at once. For several hours we walked from house to house like Halloween, except I was related to everyone in the neighborhood and they gave me huge boxes of cookies.
We set off fireworks like the 4th of July, only there were fireworks for several days. (Side note: Fireworks is one of my favorite Chinese words. "Yan hua"（烟花）translates into "smoke flower" and I think that sounds so pretty.) We ate good food like Thanksgiving, but instead of one good meal, there was a good breakfast, lunch, and dinner day after day at so many different houses. And it's kind of everyone's birthday, with everyone saying they are now a year older.
(Another side note: So now instead of saying I'm 21 like I could last week, I can now say I'm 22, even though in America I'm only 20 and my birthday is actually in November. To clarify, your first birthday, instead of being 0 years old, you are 1. So if you're born the day before New Year, you're 1. Then on the second day of your life, you have your next birthday. So a 2-day old infant can be called 2 years old, which definitely confuses my poor American brain.)
But just as with the New Year in the Gregorian calendar used in the US, Chinese New Year on the lunar calendar comes with cheesy jokes. Right before Chinese New Year, people started saying the classic, "see you next year!" This was confusing for gullible ole me and I started wondering why I wouldn't see them until January of 2019. But I eventually was reminded that they meant they would see me in a few days. After Chinese New Year, I was talking about a relative, and someone said, "You haven't seen them for so long!" I was confused and said, "I just saw them a few days ago." They replied, "Well, you haven't seen them at all this year." I love the corny jokes. So bad, yet so good.
Every Chinese New Year comes with red envelopes. When I was young, my parents gave me red envelopes with just a dollar or two and I thought it was all fun and games. I was wrong; it is serious business. I don't understand all the intricacies behind red envelopes, but what I picked up from my first real Chinese New Year is that you're essentially trying to trade equal money. People give huge amounts of money to your kid, and you try to give back that same huge amount of money to their kid. I guess you kind of lose out this time of year if you don't have kids, because then you have to give red envelopes to everyone else's kid, but you don't have a kid to collect any red envelopes.
One of my favorite things during Chinese New Year is the decorations. I ordinarily don't love red that much, but there are lanterns and banners everywhere. It feels so happy.
Chinese New Year is a time of renewal. Throughout the year, everyone has the tendency to get overwhelmingly busy. But with this yearly break from the stresses of work, everyone visits their family members and old friends to let them know they still value their relationship. In the countryside, there aren't many cars usually. But with family driving in from the cities for the holiday, there are cars everywhere. Slowly as the festivities die out, the cars become fewer and fewer in number as people fall into their normal routines. The older generations stay in the quiet countryside and the younger generations go back to their bustling cities.
It was all a whirlwind, and I'm glad I came to my parents' home for the New Year.
新年快乐！我从来没有见到这么多好吃的东西。我们在一家刚吃完，然后又去下一家吃。我来中国好像不是为了好好学习，而是吃喝玩乐。（我妈妈这个星期教了我这句话。）