4th Week at HBA:
This week has been the most difficult week for me so far, but these last two days have also been very enjoyable. On Monday I caught a cold, so all of this week I felt very bad. I couldn't concentrate very much during class, so I feel that this week I really have not learned as much as I could have were I not sick. This makes me upset, since this week was a very important week: on Friday we had our Midterm. I found the Midterm pretty difficult, mainly because most of the material (80%) came from the four lessons we studied this week. I think I will get a good grade on the test, but maybe not as good as the other exams I have had.
This Friday we set off for Shanxi, and thankfully by Friday I didn't have a cold anymore. This by the way is really a miracle, since when I get a cold I usually get it for a week or more. This time only for four days. Anyway, Friday was the first time I actually went on a Chinese train, and it was really an experience. On the train I was able to talk with other Chinese people, who found it very interesting that we were all speaking Chinese. The train was actually very safe, and nothing that I know of was stolen.
Yesterday we arrived at Taiyuan. The most important part of the day was visiting an experimental High School at Taiyuan. When we first got here, all of the High School students were very excited to see us. They gave us a tour of their school and gave us a show in which they danced and sung songs. After that, every HBA student was paired up with a few students from the High School and spent the rest of the day with them.
I spent the day with a 15 year old girl named 孙艺玮 (Sun Yiwei) and two of her friends. Sun Yiwei took me to her house where I met her parents and ate lunch. They were really nice people, and were very interested in knowing about my life, my studies and the West in general. Then they took me to travel around Shanxi to very interesting places. I also ate dinner with them, which is when I was most able to talk with them about China, Shanxi and other interesting aspects. It was really a fun experience. Below are some photos. Today we will be visiting a coal mine, and finally going to 平遥古城 (The old city of Pingyao) where I will be doing my Social Study Project. Until next week, 再见！
5th Week at HBA:
This has really been the best week so far at HBA, but also one of the most difficult. I'm already back at Beijing, but these past few days I had a wonderful experience at Shanxi. The beginning of the week was spent at Pingyao, were I decided to do my Social Study project.
Pingyao is really a beautiful city. It is surrounded by a massive city wall, and all of the construction is in the ancient style. Therefore, when you enter it feels like if you were travelling back in time, until you start to see people with cellphones and computers, of course. My social study topic was “平遥人眼中的家乡”which basically means I interviewed the people at Pingyao to understand their everyday lives, their opinion about Pingyao, and other aspects of their culture. I interviewed several people and the responses I obtained were very interesting. The responses varied a lot with the age of the person（s) I interviewed. I think I should be able to write a very good report.
After Pingyao we headed to 五台山 (Wutai shan), where we were able to explore many temples and interview Buddhist monks. Although my topic had no relation to Buddhism, I still found the experience very rewarding. Also, one night at Wutaishan all of us, students and teachers, had a private party at a hotel where we sang karaoke and danced. I discovered different aspects from my teachers I didn't know about. They all sang very well, and watching Feng laoshi (second year teacher) dance is an interesting experience. This was all a good bonding experience.
We finally returned to Taiyuan, where all of us had the most nervous experience: we were filmed for a TV program that will be aired on Chinese television! The TV program was about Shanxi culture, so they interviewed all of us students asking our impressions about Shanxi and our respective Social Study projects. It was a very intense experience, although it was not live television, so thankfully they can edit all our errors before airing the program. After they edit the program, all of us will receive a copy on a CD so we can watch ourselves!
Going to Shanxi was an excellent decision, since I was able to understand parts of Chinese culture not easy to grasp while in Beijing. I will have to say though, that when it comes to language, I had a frustrating time. I was the only 2nd year student in the group, so I felt that my Chinese was really bad. The phrase most commonly came out of my mouth when speaking with other people was “我听不懂” (I don't understand). At the time I actually felt my Chinese level was declining. Now that I'm back at Beijing, though, I realize I was totally wrong. When I started to speak again to my 2nd year classmates I realized that I had become accustomed to listening to much more complex sentences beyond 2nd year, and that is when I realized my level did improve. At the time, I was not able to realize that was the case.
Well, that was my week. Yesterday we went to see Chinese acrobatics, which was a really great show（Below are some pictures). Until next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment