Last Saturday I had the pleasure of playing basketball against some of ECNU's (East China Normal University) finest. Myself and three other kids from the states went down to the outdoor courts they have in the center of campus. It's a pretty nice playing surface for outdoors (think Tremont gym), they probably have at least ten hoops lining a fenced in area. Once we figured out how to get in we didn't have too much trouble finding people to play against (I think the assumption is that because we're American we must be good).
They play a little differently than we do back home, four on four on this particular court, make it take it, but no checking of the ball at the top of the key. Also if the ball went out of bounds you take it out like you would in a regulation game rather than taking it to the top of the key to check it first. Game's to five.
In our first game... we got stomped. We stepped onto the court cold, and I think we underestimated our opponents. They were blocking shots, playing super aggressive and overall making us look very bad. We lost 5-0.
This meant that we had to sit the next game, which was good for us, we talked strategy in English since no one could understand us, next game in we represented the states well and won 5-3.
It did get really physical later on, we had a bloody nose, cut lip, scratched eye lid, but no one was being malicious so it was alright with everyone, Chinese and American.
There were some very decent players there for sure, and not short at all, probably as tall as 6'4" and really long arms. This one kid would post me up and get the ball about 10 feet from the hoop, I was playing wicked tight defense and he would just spin away from me and drain a fade away jumper...unreal. Of course there were also some kids who just stunk.
Every time one the American players made a good move resembling an NBA player the Chinese team on the side line would shout out the NBA players name, "Tony Parker," "Kobe," "LeBron," (picture it with a Chinese accent and it's pretty funny). I was named, more for my size than basketball abilities "Shaq."
We probably played for an hour and half or so, it was fun to interact with the Chinese students they were very warm and welcoming toward us and invited us back to play again sometime.
-AL
Thursday, February 26, 2009
I'm on a roll
The weather here has been less than pleasant. It's not brutally cold, probably in the 40's most days, but is a raw kind of cold. Combined with the rain that has plagued us I believe everyday since I've been here, walking around can be a pain (and we walk everywhere). Also if you happen to get caught in the rain and decide that you can't stand to walk any longer it's nearly impossible to find a cab.
Because of this persistent rain people carry umbrellas constantly. Although I never use one at home or school, I have graciously accepted one the my host mom has lent to me. However it seems that even when it's not raining many Chinese people still use their umbrellas as they walk around the city. It's pretty odd.
Along with it raining everyday, I'm yet to see the sun shine in Shanghai, not sure if it can through the smog that lingers over the city. We were told that it will probably start to warm up in about a month and everything will start to bloom and be very pretty. This "pretty" state lasts for about two months through May and then June becomes unbearably hot (thankfully I leave the last of May).
I guess I shouldn't complain about the weather though, I could be home shoveling snow!
-AL
Because of this persistent rain people carry umbrellas constantly. Although I never use one at home or school, I have graciously accepted one the my host mom has lent to me. However it seems that even when it's not raining many Chinese people still use their umbrellas as they walk around the city. It's pretty odd.
Along with it raining everyday, I'm yet to see the sun shine in Shanghai, not sure if it can through the smog that lingers over the city. We were told that it will probably start to warm up in about a month and everything will start to bloom and be very pretty. This "pretty" state lasts for about two months through May and then June becomes unbearably hot (thankfully I leave the last of May).
I guess I shouldn't complain about the weather though, I could be home shoveling snow!
-AL
Crazy
Have to tell this crazy story. Walking to the gym earlier and there was a moped going by with three people on it, this is fairly common as usually a small child sits on the lap of the driver closest the the handlebars, an adult drives and either an adult or child sit in the rear. It appeared as though this was a family with the son in the front, dad driving and mom on the back.
From a distance you could see the mother was holding something above her head, and it wasn't an umbrella (It rains a lot here and people riding mopeds while holding umbrellas is fairly common as well. As they got closer I and the people I was with relized that she was holding an IV bag (like from the hospital) over her head and it was connected to the boy's arm in the front.
Strange if you ask me. A day in the life of Shanghai.
-AL
From a distance you could see the mother was holding something above her head, and it wasn't an umbrella (It rains a lot here and people riding mopeds while holding umbrellas is fairly common as well. As they got closer I and the people I was with relized that she was holding an IV bag (like from the hospital) over her head and it was connected to the boy's arm in the front.
Strange if you ask me. A day in the life of Shanghai.
-AL
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Chinese
Sorry I haven't written in so long, partly the reason for this is because classes started on Monday. I'm taking four classes, Chinese Modern History, Cultural Currencies (it's a Litt class), International relations and Chinese 1.
So far I think I'm going to like all my classes (I'm yet to have my International Relations class), nice part about the Chinese school system is every weekend is a three day weekend (no classes Friday).
My most intense class by far is going to be Chinese, while my other classes meet for only three hours a week, Chinese classes meet eight hours a week, plus two hours with a tutor, plus the homework, which is not easy. Everyday we are quizzed on the homework from the night before which is made up of characters, and recognition of syllables and their tones. The reason why Chinese is so difficult to learn is because first of all there is no alphabet, only the characters. Each character is it's own word (although parts of characters can go together to make up similar words). Also Chinese uses tones. There are four in Mandarin (five technically but the fifth one's neutral so I don't count it), other variations of Chinese (Cantonese for example) have as many as nine tones. So depending on how you say the same syllables determines what word you actually say. For example the syllable "tang" have four different meanings based on how you say it.
So needless to say I've been spending a lot of time practicing characters, listening to CD's and meeting with a tutor that they give each of us. Fortunately tomorrow they are taking us to Nanjing about four hours from here. It is the old south capital (nan- south, jing- capital), should be pretty cool, although the weather may not make it as pleasant (It might snow).
I'll try to write again soon, hope all it well.
-AL
So far I think I'm going to like all my classes (I'm yet to have my International Relations class), nice part about the Chinese school system is every weekend is a three day weekend (no classes Friday).
My most intense class by far is going to be Chinese, while my other classes meet for only three hours a week, Chinese classes meet eight hours a week, plus two hours with a tutor, plus the homework, which is not easy. Everyday we are quizzed on the homework from the night before which is made up of characters, and recognition of syllables and their tones. The reason why Chinese is so difficult to learn is because first of all there is no alphabet, only the characters. Each character is it's own word (although parts of characters can go together to make up similar words). Also Chinese uses tones. There are four in Mandarin (five technically but the fifth one's neutral so I don't count it), other variations of Chinese (Cantonese for example) have as many as nine tones. So depending on how you say the same syllables determines what word you actually say. For example the syllable "tang" have four different meanings based on how you say it.
So needless to say I've been spending a lot of time practicing characters, listening to CD's and meeting with a tutor that they give each of us. Fortunately tomorrow they are taking us to Nanjing about four hours from here. It is the old south capital (nan- south, jing- capital), should be pretty cool, although the weather may not make it as pleasant (It might snow).
I'll try to write again soon, hope all it well.
-AL
Friday, February 20, 2009
Host Family
So on Wednesday I moved in with my host family, I have a father, mother and older sister. They have a good size apartment very close to school (it's like a 10 minute walk to my classes), their level of English is comparable to my level of Chinese, in other words, not good. They are very sweet people though and have been very welcoming of me into their home. We spend a lot of time pointing at various objects, them saying it me repeating and them laughing (I can say, chopsticks, bowl, cup, very good, hello, goodbye and thank you fairly well).
The living conditions are pretty comparable to that of the US, but at the same time there are some differences for sure. For instance they have a nice plasma TV with surround sound and a big fish tank, but there is no shower curtain. Also there is no central heating in China (not that I've found at least) so instead of baseboard heaters they have heater/AC units on the walls, but they never use them. I can literally see my breath in the apartment, I swear some days it's warmer outside than in.
The reason for this is apparently because utilities, electricity in particular is very, very expensive. Before moving into our hosts family the staff at CIEE made sure that it was clear that we should make certain to turn off light and switches of power strips when we leave a room. I'm starting to get use to this no heat thing, I definitely did not bring enough warm clothes, but I have to keep reminding myself that it will probably be uncomfortably warm in a short month.
Another different and perhaps concerning feature of the host family life is that after dinner, rather than clearing the leftovers (which we always have, they make way too much food) they simply leave it on the table and but a mosquito net over it. We had shrimp (I didn't eat it mom) the first night I was here on Wednesday, it's Saturday now and the same shrimp are still on the table. I guess it's so cold that there is no need to refrigerate.
Overall been having a lot of fun with them so far, they have been very kind and are taking good care of me.
P.S. sorry about the lack of photos, I can't figure out how to put them on and I tried to e-mail a few home the other day and it wasn't going to happen, the Internet connection just isn't that good. I'll see if I can't get it to work later on.
-AL
The living conditions are pretty comparable to that of the US, but at the same time there are some differences for sure. For instance they have a nice plasma TV with surround sound and a big fish tank, but there is no shower curtain. Also there is no central heating in China (not that I've found at least) so instead of baseboard heaters they have heater/AC units on the walls, but they never use them. I can literally see my breath in the apartment, I swear some days it's warmer outside than in.
The reason for this is apparently because utilities, electricity in particular is very, very expensive. Before moving into our hosts family the staff at CIEE made sure that it was clear that we should make certain to turn off light and switches of power strips when we leave a room. I'm starting to get use to this no heat thing, I definitely did not bring enough warm clothes, but I have to keep reminding myself that it will probably be uncomfortably warm in a short month.
Another different and perhaps concerning feature of the host family life is that after dinner, rather than clearing the leftovers (which we always have, they make way too much food) they simply leave it on the table and but a mosquito net over it. We had shrimp (I didn't eat it mom) the first night I was here on Wednesday, it's Saturday now and the same shrimp are still on the table. I guess it's so cold that there is no need to refrigerate.
Overall been having a lot of fun with them so far, they have been very kind and are taking good care of me.
P.S. sorry about the lack of photos, I can't figure out how to put them on and I tried to e-mail a few home the other day and it wasn't going to happen, the Internet connection just isn't that good. I'll see if I can't get it to work later on.
-AL
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Migrant School
Just came back from a local migrant school in Shanghai. The migrant school is for students whose parents are migrant workers, meaning they come from more rural parts of China to work in Shanghai, not surprisingly these people are very poor. We visted the school in preparation for when some of us go to teach English once a week.
The students were very excited to see us and shouted out lots of "hi"s, they were all very cute. I'll probably have a lot more to blog about on this topic as I spend more time with them in the weeks to come.
-AL
The students were very excited to see us and shouted out lots of "hi"s, they were all very cute. I'll probably have a lot more to blog about on this topic as I spend more time with them in the weeks to come.
-AL
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Chinese Food
Got some time to kill before going and exploring the French Concession. Food and food service here has been very interesting so far. Chinese food in China is not surprisingly very different than American Chinese food, there is not the sesame chicken or pork fried rice that are staples of American Chinese food that we have been able to find so far. The food is not so much greasy but oily, dishes that are a combination of meat (mostly pork) and vegetables are sauteed, I have not been able to find any sort of raw vegetables in the time I've been here. Breakfast is a little strange, there isn't that much variation in my opinion between the three meals, we have had fried eggs and hard boiled eggs at breakfast each morning, cereal exists but is expensive by Chinese standards and coffee for those who want it is hard to come by.
There are also a lot of dishes consisting of chewy/bread type balls that are sometimes filled with pork or bean paste. They're pretty good too.
Eating out is pretty cool, Chinese food is shared family style, often there is a large "lazy susan" in the center of the table where the food is placed and then you dish a variety of foods onto your small plate. Napkins are hard to come by, usually they give you the equivalent of a wet wipe to use at the start of the meal, but no dry napkins for the course of the meal. They also only give you one menu (I assume usually only one person orders for the table) and then the waitress stands by the table until signaled to come take the order.
Bought a bottle of wine at dinner last night and we were asked if we wanted red or white, but they did not offer us a selection to choose from but simply brought us a bottle and poured it all before any of us tasted. Not sure is this typical custom or just because we are American.
One positive for sure is the food is certainly cheap, haven't paid more than four dollars for a full meal yet.
Feel free to leave me questions and comments, I'll write again soon.
There are also a lot of dishes consisting of chewy/bread type balls that are sometimes filled with pork or bean paste. They're pretty good too.
Eating out is pretty cool, Chinese food is shared family style, often there is a large "lazy susan" in the center of the table where the food is placed and then you dish a variety of foods onto your small plate. Napkins are hard to come by, usually they give you the equivalent of a wet wipe to use at the start of the meal, but no dry napkins for the course of the meal. They also only give you one menu (I assume usually only one person orders for the table) and then the waitress stands by the table until signaled to come take the order.
Bought a bottle of wine at dinner last night and we were asked if we wanted red or white, but they did not offer us a selection to choose from but simply brought us a bottle and poured it all before any of us tasted. Not sure is this typical custom or just because we are American.
One positive for sure is the food is certainly cheap, haven't paid more than four dollars for a full meal yet.
Feel free to leave me questions and comments, I'll write again soon.
Monday, February 16, 2009
First Days.
Hello followers, I'm here safe in Shanghai after a long day of traveling (30 hrs total), having a great time so far. There are 119 US students here from all over (ND, GW, Georgetown, Texas, Miami, UMass and others) theres a lot to see, trying hard to observe and take it all in.
Yesterday was the first day of orientation, lots of lectures and inital guidelines. Best part of the day was traveling to a homestay to have lunch, it just so happens that it was the family that I'm staying with. Great spread of food, not sure I'll be losing weight as predicted, the family seems very nice and happy to meet me. THEY DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. Of course I do not speak Chinese so the incentive for me to learn quickly is greater. I did manage to buy a cell phone for use in China all on my lonesome, which I thought was a pretty good acomplishment.
Today is a lot of meetings, the US consulate, local doctors and professors coming to tell us about their classes... registration is tonight.
Overall its going very well, moving in with my new family tommorw evening, and I think I'm over the jet lag.... one other thing, went to dinner last night w/ two buddies from school, less than $4 a piece!!!
I'll be sure to write again soon.
Yesterday was the first day of orientation, lots of lectures and inital guidelines. Best part of the day was traveling to a homestay to have lunch, it just so happens that it was the family that I'm staying with. Great spread of food, not sure I'll be losing weight as predicted, the family seems very nice and happy to meet me. THEY DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. Of course I do not speak Chinese so the incentive for me to learn quickly is greater. I did manage to buy a cell phone for use in China all on my lonesome, which I thought was a pretty good acomplishment.
Today is a lot of meetings, the US consulate, local doctors and professors coming to tell us about their classes... registration is tonight.
Overall its going very well, moving in with my new family tommorw evening, and I think I'm over the jet lag.... one other thing, went to dinner last night w/ two buddies from school, less than $4 a piece!!!
I'll be sure to write again soon.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Pre- Trip
Hello all, at this point I am still at home waiting to depart for Shanghai, China in a short nine days. While in China I will be studying at East China Normal University and living with a host family. It is my goal to use this blog to share pictures and stories with you, my friends in family for the three and half months that I'm am gone. My hope is to post at least once a week but I make no promises now. Can't wait to start sharing my adventure with all of you very soon!
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