First, we have to give thanks to my host's boyfriend for my ability to get on the Internet and make posts. My host showed me the Ethernet cord where I could plug into the router, but I have never used Ethernet for this computer and when I plugged it in no install box came up. Well damnation ... now what? I admit to being almost completely reliant on my computer prompting me to do things in order to get programs install or what not. So I looked at my host, and said something along the lines of "in America I use Wifi, I don't know how to use this." Later that night her boyfriend was over, and he very helpfully set it up for me. By this I mean he tested the internet on his computer first to make sure it was working, then we two, him speaking no English and me speaking no technical Chinese (and very little Chinese at that) are squatting in front of the tea table my computer is on trying to figure out the proper click sequence to get to the proper install box. This is one of those moments where you are in the middle before you know you began and are wondering how you wound up doing this in the first place. All I can say is thank you to Bill Gates for making the Windows Icons universal so that my host's none English speaking boyfriend can find the icon he knows will get him to what he wants and get me onto the internet!
Before I left Beijing for Chengde all of my teachers would tell me to bring a book or find a hobby since Chengde is such a small town that there is nothing to do there. My brain, however, couldn't quite grasp what my Chinese teachers were telling me because when I asked how many people lived there the answer varied from 1 - 5 million people. Ummm!?! My image of small town is small town USA, where there is a diner, a bank, a bar, a gas station, a fancy restaurant, a Piggly Wiggly, and maybe a McDonald's. The population ranges between 500 - 1,000, and there really is nothing to do as an outsider because the community was so close knit. Wikipedia tells me that Metropolitan St. Louis area is the 19th largest in the USA, and has a population of roughly 2,900,000 people --- Chendge's urban population in 2009 was 450,000 people. That of course does not count in the last four years of migration or the suburbs -- St. Louis City has a population of 318,000 people according to the last census. In sum, I would say Chendge is the size of the St. Louis Metro area with a population equal or greater than it; and the people in Beijing think it is a tiny, backwater town!
There are three main options for getting to Chengde. 1) take the train, which takes 4 - 6 hours, and costs 35 - 55 kuai, but you stand the risk of getting off at the wrong stop, or missing it completely 2) take the bus, which takes 3 - 5 hours, and costs 45 - 75 kuai, but then you have to find the proper bus station in Beijing and you are stuck on that bus until it reaches Chengde 3) take a private share care, which takes 2 - 3 hours, and costs 150 - 900 kuai, you have to take the gamble on the driver and how many other passengers there will be to split the costs. I chose to take the gamble since I was not up to either task of finding the bus terminal or asking the Chinese repeatedly if this was my stop. I have little idea about the quality of my driver since I fell asleep about 30 minutes outside of Beijing and woke up 15 minutes outside of Chengde. My driver picked me up from my Beijing home-stay, and dropped me off at my Chengde home-stay; he drove a fairly new Audi with leather seats; and I got to ride shot gun so it really should have been a forgone conclusion I would knonk out. My costs was 200 kuai or about $35 USD which for the convenience and luxury, I was more than willing to pay it!
My host here in Chengde is around my age, I think I have said it before, but once a Chinese woman hits about 20, till they reach menopause there is no telling how old they are by looking at them. We live together in a small flat that has two bedrooms, a kitchen, a washroom, and an entry/dining/laundry room. The apartment is modern for China, and really well kept, but it is really the equivalent of student living in the USA where you take as much space as you can get for as cheap as you can get it in the area you need, and you just make sure all the lights and sockets work before you sign a lease. My family saw my room in Washington D.C., and really I would say this is better since there are less people living here. Pictures below:
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| My room ... there is no baby, don't worry |
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| Kitchen and bathroom sink are both in the kitchen |
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| Kitchen, definitely does not lack for ventilation |
I have been in Chengde for five days, and have yet to do much exploring because I am in class most of the day. My host has showed me where the supermarket, the enclosed day market, and the open air night market are, but really I only know about a three block radius since that is how far away the Western coffee shop that I have classes at is. The coffee shop's name is "You Are Not Alone," which is a fantastic name, but the label of coffee shop is a bit deceiving since they are really a restaurant cafe that serves coffee. So it is quite alright to order only drinks and sit there for hours, but you can also dine on western food there, or at least the Chinese imitation of western food. This is something you just come to expect in China -- all Western food is imitation, and unless there is a Western chef, the food will come close, but it won't taste like what you are used to.
In conclusion and continuation of my 4th of July post, I was able to sidetrack my teacher into a conversation about the 4th of July, Chinese National Day, and the differences between US and Chinese retirement. Apparently there is a law saying the Chinese women must retire at the age of 50 and Chinese men at the age of 60. On my way home it started to drizzle a bit, and so I was a little upset thinking that I wouldn't be able to go out and play foot birdie. Then my host came in to tell me that it was time for dinner. Dinner consisted of fried rice, pork with veggies that I could wrap up in tofu pancakes; and a bowl of fruit. Once I had sat down, she handed me a jar the she couldn't open; I miraculously got it open and she poured a bit over the fruit. After the first the bite, I damn near cried because it tasted exactly like the summer fruit salad my grandmother would make where the only ingredients are fruit, mayonnaise, and maybe a little lemon juice. The phrase "it tastes like home" doesn't really translate very well, but I think I got her to understand that my grandmother makes it in America. It also didn't rain hardly at all and so we got in a few good rounds of foot birdie before heading off ice cream.
One last thing before I sign off on this post. My Mandarin School, LTL has linked this blog to their website ... so I feel it is only proper to share that page with you.
http://www.livethelanguage.cn/lizzy-blogging-about-studying-in-china/
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