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| 30 days until I'll be here! |
"May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions."
-Joey Adams
Friday, December 31, 2010
2010: A Retrospective
(As inspired by another Qi Zhai column in China Daily)
Perhaps in hindsight, it wasn't the most exciting year (though my life has never been what people would call 'exciting'), but a good one nonetheless. Now onward to see what 2011 has in store for me....
PS. I'm curious to know what your 2010 highlights are. If you want to share, e-mail me or put them in the comments!
Top 10 Highlights of 2010
(in no particular order)
- Welcoming the newest (though not for long) member of my family and becoming his godmother.
- Gathering up the courage (and realizing I'd regret it if I didn't) to jump off the cliff at McCloud Waterfalls with my friends.
- Meeting (more) people from all across the world that I otherwise might never have had the chance to interact with.
- Being able to meet up with family and friends I hadn't seen in a while, including a particular family friend who I hadn't seen in over ten years.
- Starting this blog and actually keeping up with it.
- Following the San Francisco Giants as they proved the naysayers wrong and went on to win their first SF World Series title.
- Realizing that there's no 'correct' path to take after college graduation and that it's ultimately up to me to choose what my next step is.
- Deciding to come to China to study for a year, despite knowing I was bound to feel homesick sooner or later.
- Starting to get a real grasp on written and spoken Mandarin.
- And finally, being able to adapt to life in China, although not without some help and some struggles of my own.
Perhaps in hindsight, it wasn't the most exciting year (though my life has never been what people would call 'exciting'), but a good one nonetheless. Now onward to see what 2011 has in store for me....
PS. I'm curious to know what your 2010 highlights are. If you want to share, e-mail me or put them in the comments!
Christmas Weekend
When I decided to come to China for a year, I knew that one of the consequences of my decision was that I was going to have to spend the holiday season far from my friends and family. But I had no idea though just how much I would miss it.
In hindsight, I probably should have stopped reading my blogs for the month of December because I'm sure all of those blog posts and news stories about the joys (sometimes miseries) of the holiday season didn't help me feel any better either. It seemed like while everyone else (well...everyone in the Western world at least), was out celebrating with friends and family, I was trapped in China far from everything I usually took for granted every holiday season.
I actually wrote a post on things I missed about the holidays at home, but stopped short of posting it since I didn't feel like raining on everyone else's holiday parade.
However, before whoever is reading this feels too bad for me, I did not end up spending Christmas weekend alone. As luck would have it (okay...more like a teacher's vacation days would have it), my family friend Ben* and his girlfriend (who are both teachers at international schools in Hong Kong) ended up coming to Beijing the same weekend as Christmas and I was able to spend my weekend with them. Hooray for not having to spend holidays alone!
On Saturday, Ben, Heidi (his girlfriend) and I headed out to the 798 Art Space in hopes of strolling around the galleries. Unfortunately though, most of the galleries were closed for Christmas. Go figure that we end up in the one area in Beijing that actually seems to observe and closed down for Christmas on Christmas Day. Regardless, I was happy to spend time with someone who's known me longer than 3 months for once on a holiday that I usually spend with 20 people who have known me for my entire life.
Anyways, special thanks to Ben and Heidi for letting me tag along this weekend and basically ensuring that I didn't spend the holiday weekend depressed and alone. :)
For those of you who think it's odd to hang out someone you'd classify as a 'family friend', you have to understand for me, it's pretty normal. Blame it on being an only child. Not to mention that Ben and my parents are really good friends (especially our dads), thus making Ben almost a cousin of some sort.
In hindsight, I probably should have stopped reading my blogs for the month of December because I'm sure all of those blog posts and news stories about the joys (sometimes miseries) of the holiday season didn't help me feel any better either. It seemed like while everyone else (well...everyone in the Western world at least), was out celebrating with friends and family, I was trapped in China far from everything I usually took for granted every holiday season.
I actually wrote a post on things I missed about the holidays at home, but stopped short of posting it since I didn't feel like raining on everyone else's holiday parade.
However, before whoever is reading this feels too bad for me, I did not end up spending Christmas weekend alone. As luck would have it (okay...more like a teacher's vacation days would have it), my family friend Ben* and his girlfriend (who are both teachers at international schools in Hong Kong) ended up coming to Beijing the same weekend as Christmas and I was able to spend my weekend with them. Hooray for not having to spend holidays alone!
On Saturday, Ben, Heidi (his girlfriend) and I headed out to the 798 Art Space in hopes of strolling around the galleries. Unfortunately though, most of the galleries were closed for Christmas. Go figure that we end up in the one area in Beijing that actually seems to observe and closed down for Christmas on Christmas Day. Regardless, I was happy to spend time with someone who's known me longer than 3 months for once on a holiday that I usually spend with 20 people who have known me for my entire life.
Anyways, special thanks to Ben and Heidi for letting me tag along this weekend and basically ensuring that I didn't spend the holiday weekend depressed and alone. :)
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| Taken at the 798 Art Space in Beijing |
For those of you who think it's odd to hang out someone you'd classify as a 'family friend', you have to understand for me, it's pretty normal. Blame it on being an only child. Not to mention that Ben and my parents are really good friends (especially our dads), thus making Ben almost a cousin of some sort.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
The Search for Christmas
Choosing not to spend Christmas eve alone and depressed in my room about not being home for the holidays, I decided to go out and search for Christmas in Beijing. Christmas 'festivities' in Beijing begin on Christmas eve, so despite the below freezing temperatures this past Friday, many people were out strolling about shopping areas and hitting various Beijing nightlife hot spots.
After a not-so-great week in Beijing, my search for Christmas was exactly what I needed to raise my spirits. It was a good reminder of why I came abroad in the first place and why I like traveling so much.
Below are some photos from my search. Please appreciate them, especially since it was literally 11 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately -12 degrees Celsius) & colder on Friday night when I took these photos.
More photos on Angela Photo Musings:
After a not-so-great week in Beijing, my search for Christmas was exactly what I needed to raise my spirits. It was a good reminder of why I came abroad in the first place and why I like traveling so much.
Below are some photos from my search. Please appreciate them, especially since it was literally 11 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately -12 degrees Celsius) & colder on Friday night when I took these photos.
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| Xidan |
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| Wangfujing |
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| St. Joseph's Church in Wangfujing |
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| Chaoyang District |
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| Yam street vendor |
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| Wangfujing |
More photos on Angela Photo Musings:
Saturday, December 25, 2010
It's the thought that counts
My dorm, along with the other international students' dorms, have been decorated for Christmas:
It may not be the best decorating job in the world, but it's the thought that counts. I appreciate the effort. Plus, the trees in my dorm light up too; the other trees in the other dorms aren't quite as cool.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas!!
...or as the convenience store next to my dorm would like to wish you, "Feliz Navidad!"
Take care,
Angela
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| No, I don' t know why Santa's speaking Spanish in a convenience store in Bejing. Maybe Santa's lost. Where's Ruldoph when you need actually need him & his bright red nose? |
Regardless of where you are and what language you speak, I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas holiday. And for those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a happy December the 25th.
Take care,
Angela
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Christmas in China
If you quickly Google "Christmas in China," most likely you'll be greeted with link after link saying something along the lines of the number of people referring to themselves as Christian in China is growing and Christmas is a becoming increasingly more popular, particularly with the younger generation and those living in the cities...blah, blah, blah.
Though this isn't completely false, there can be a religious aspect to Christmas celebrations and Christmas is indeed only mainly celebrated by the younger generations living the cities, Christmas here is basically Valentine's Day in December.
Typically, in China on Christmas, the pressure is on the male counterpart of a relationship to demonstrate his affection for his female counterpart through gifts and a special date of some sort. Pretty different from American Christmas traditions, right?
(Side note: LGBT acceptance, at least from what I've seen, still seems dicey in China).
Now, for the most part, I at least try to keep an open mind about other people's traditions that differ from my own, but I have to admit that if this Christmas-as-Valentine's-Day tradition is not one that I care for very much (and no, it's not because I'm bitter and single either).
To me, China's version of the holiday reeks of consumerism. For all the slack Christmas gets in the United States about over-commercialization and consumerism, I have to say China's version of Christmas seems at least 10 times more guilty than the American version of the holiday.
At least at the end of the day in the United States, when all the shopping and present opening is said and done, Christmas really is about gathering with those you care about to for the sake of being together and being grateful to have one another. Or at least, that's what I've always felt like Christmas meant to me. But to each their own, I guess.
As for me, this Saturday, I will be going out and hitting all the shopping hot spots in hopes of observing Chinese people celebrating Christmas (in a non-stalker, non-creepy sort of way). It should be interesting and hopefully, I'll have something to report back to you guys about.
Though this isn't completely false, there can be a religious aspect to Christmas celebrations and Christmas is indeed only mainly celebrated by the younger generations living the cities, Christmas here is basically Valentine's Day in December.
Typically, in China on Christmas, the pressure is on the male counterpart of a relationship to demonstrate his affection for his female counterpart through gifts and a special date of some sort. Pretty different from American Christmas traditions, right?
(Side note: LGBT acceptance, at least from what I've seen, still seems dicey in China).
Now, for the most part, I at least try to keep an open mind about other people's traditions that differ from my own, but I have to admit that if this Christmas-as-Valentine's-Day tradition is not one that I care for very much (and no, it's not because I'm bitter and single either).
To me, China's version of the holiday reeks of consumerism. For all the slack Christmas gets in the United States about over-commercialization and consumerism, I have to say China's version of Christmas seems at least 10 times more guilty than the American version of the holiday.
At least at the end of the day in the United States, when all the shopping and present opening is said and done, Christmas really is about gathering with those you care about to for the sake of being together and being grateful to have one another. Or at least, that's what I've always felt like Christmas meant to me. But to each their own, I guess.
As for me, this Saturday, I will be going out and hitting all the shopping hot spots in hopes of observing Chinese people celebrating Christmas (in a non-stalker, non-creepy sort of way). It should be interesting and hopefully, I'll have something to report back to you guys about.
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| Now, New York is a city that always does Christmas right. |
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Hong Kong Film Photographs
For those of you who only look at this blog for pretty photographs, I apologize for the recent dearth of them. To make up for it, here are are some photographs I took last year during my trip to Hong Kong.
All of the photos were taken using film; hand processed, and developed by yours truly; and later scanned into the computer. Enjoy.
For more photos, go to Angela Photo Musings:
All of the photos were taken using film; hand processed, and developed by yours truly; and later scanned into the computer. Enjoy.
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| Hong Kong Harbor & Star Ferry |
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| Temple |
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| Old Hong Kong Trams in Central |
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| Tai O |
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Forget Jack Frost,
...have you met Jack Ice?
This is what I woke up to this morning--a icy window. Just to clarify, my window is frozen from the inside. And yes...the heater was on last night.
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| Please excuse the clutter that lives on my windowsill |
This is what I woke up to this morning--a icy window. Just to clarify, my window is frozen from the inside. And yes...the heater was on last night.
Monday, December 13, 2010
You don't always get what you bargain for
For decades, China has coveted the Nobel Peace Prize, in hopes that one day one of their own citizens (while living in China) could claim it as a recipient. To China, winning the Nobel Peace Prize would ultimately prove to the world that China has indeed become a country to reckon with and has finally caught up to, if not surpassed, the Western powers. This year, China's wish was granted, although not in the form they were expecting it. What can I say? You can't always get what you bargain for.
Back in early October, it was announced that the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissent currently jailed for subversion of state power, after co-authoring Charter 08, a highly critical political manifesto on the Chinese government. Liu was also a notable figure in the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests.
To say that China wasn't thrilled upon learning Liu Xiaobo was awarded this year's Nobel Prize would be an understatement. As soon as the announcement was made, China quickly called the Norwegian ambassador to express their anger and publicly retorted by calling the decision "blasphemy."
Additionally, the story of that the first Chinese man ever had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was shushed quiet throughout Chinese media outlets. News story concerning the prize form international news outlets, such as CNN or the BBC were also blacked out (CNN and BBC are only available in apartment complexes catered to foreigners and in nice hotels.). Many western news websites featuring stories about the award and Internet searches on "Liu Xiaobo" and "Nobel Peace Prize" were also blocked by the Great Chinese Firewall. Lastly, and perhaps the most creepily, as the news of the decision spread, the Chinese government erased the characters composing the characters of Liu Xiaobo's name out of the SMS (texting) database so that no text messages containing his name could be sent out. Those who succeeded prior to the big erased found their messages blocked and sometimes SIM cards deactivated.
Not surprisingly, this past weekend as the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony was held in Oslo, Norway, many Western news websites were blocked once again.Without using a VPN, I couldn't access CNN.com; although ironically, I could access the NY Times where the "Empty Chair" was one of the leading stories of the weekend. (Since Liu Xiaobo was obviously not allowed to attend the ceremony in Oslo and accept his award, the award was given to an "empty chair," thus all the "Empty Chair" headlines about the Nobel Peace Prize this weekend.)
Back in early October, it was announced that the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissent currently jailed for subversion of state power, after co-authoring Charter 08, a highly critical political manifesto on the Chinese government. Liu was also a notable figure in the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests.
To say that China wasn't thrilled upon learning Liu Xiaobo was awarded this year's Nobel Prize would be an understatement. As soon as the announcement was made, China quickly called the Norwegian ambassador to express their anger and publicly retorted by calling the decision "blasphemy."
Additionally, the story of that the first Chinese man ever had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was shushed quiet throughout Chinese media outlets. News story concerning the prize form international news outlets, such as CNN or the BBC were also blacked out (CNN and BBC are only available in apartment complexes catered to foreigners and in nice hotels.). Many western news websites featuring stories about the award and Internet searches on "Liu Xiaobo" and "Nobel Peace Prize" were also blocked by the Great Chinese Firewall. Lastly, and perhaps the most creepily, as the news of the decision spread, the Chinese government erased the characters composing the characters of Liu Xiaobo's name out of the SMS (texting) database so that no text messages containing his name could be sent out. Those who succeeded prior to the big erased found their messages blocked and sometimes SIM cards deactivated.
Not surprisingly, this past weekend as the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony was held in Oslo, Norway, many Western news websites were blocked once again.Without using a VPN, I couldn't access CNN.com; although ironically, I could access the NY Times where the "Empty Chair" was one of the leading stories of the weekend. (Since Liu Xiaobo was obviously not allowed to attend the ceremony in Oslo and accept his award, the award was given to an "empty chair," thus all the "Empty Chair" headlines about the Nobel Peace Prize this weekend.)
Friday, December 10, 2010
On a horse...
Undoubtedly, one of my favorite Chinese terms is "马上," (mǎshàng) which means immediately or right away. Now the reason why I like this phrase isn't because I'm an impatient person (although I am), it's because when you directly translate the characters 马 (mǎ) and 上 (shàng) it means "horse" and "on," respectively. Meaning, whenever someone tells you something (or someone）is immediately coming (马上来 mǎshàng lái），that speaker is literally saying the thing/person is coming on a horse, i.e. it's coming as quickly as it can. Since for a long time historically horses were the fastest mode of transportation, it makes sense that saying something is coming on a horse would logically mean it's coming right away and as fast as it/he/she can.
The term 马上 (mǎshàng) is hardly the only term in Chinese that have an occasionally humerous, yet logical literal translations that somehow relate to a larger or different term. In fact, most terms in Chinese make some sort of sense when broken down character by character partially in order to make terms more easy to remember (aside from terms that are phonetic translations of foreign things or places). Here are a few additional examples:
1. 马上(mǎshàng)
The term 马上 (mǎshàng) is hardly the only term in Chinese that have an occasionally humerous, yet logical literal translations that somehow relate to a larger or different term. In fact, most terms in Chinese make some sort of sense when broken down character by character partially in order to make terms more easy to remember (aside from terms that are phonetic translations of foreign things or places). Here are a few additional examples:
1. 马上(mǎshàng)
- Character-by-character translation: On a horse
- Actual translation: Immediately, right away
- Character-by-character translation: Rent-out car
- Actual translation: Taxi
- Character-by-character translation: Fire leg
- Actual translation: Ham
- Character-by-character translation: Cowboy pants
- Actual translation: Jeans
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Chinese pop music
Lately, my huihua (conversation) teacher has been starting each class by playing different Chinese pop music videos. While I'm sure listening to music in foreign languages (along with films and television) is a great way to aide our learning of Mandarin, I must confess from what I've heard of Chinese pop music previously and after coming here to Beijing, I'm not much of a fan.
Perhaps it's just the music I'm being exposed to and that seems to be very popular, but all the songs seem to be slow, dramatic power ballads with music videos featuring even more over-dramatic story lines, e.g. right after a couple moves in together, they discover the girl has some sort of fatal cancer. Call me a cynic, but watching the music videos and listening to the songs make me cringe.
To me, listening to the songs and watching these music videos is much like taking an already super-sweet candy, drenching it in even more sugar syrup and then eating it. There's no way the overly saccharine tast of the candy, or in this case the music, appeals to me. I feel like I'm getting cavities just by listening to it.
Many other people in my class and other people I know in the US seem to like it though, so maybe it's just me. I also do realize that our musical taste is very much influenced by our respective cultures and I do like some sappy, slow longs from time to time (yes, James Blunt, I'm looking at you), but from what I've heard Chinese pop seems to be too much for me.
Of course, I don't profess to have very much knowledge on Chinese popular music. So if you perhaps want to prove me long or know of a Chinese band/singer that may appeal to me, please by all means let me in the comments or via e-mail. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
Sorry, I have no access to YouTube here in China, so I can't embed or link you to a Chinese pop music video. I'm sure if you search on YouTube "Jay Chou" or even "Chinese pop song," plenty of videos will pop up.
Perhaps it's just the music I'm being exposed to and that seems to be very popular, but all the songs seem to be slow, dramatic power ballads with music videos featuring even more over-dramatic story lines, e.g. right after a couple moves in together, they discover the girl has some sort of fatal cancer. Call me a cynic, but watching the music videos and listening to the songs make me cringe.
To me, listening to the songs and watching these music videos is much like taking an already super-sweet candy, drenching it in even more sugar syrup and then eating it. There's no way the overly saccharine tast of the candy, or in this case the music, appeals to me. I feel like I'm getting cavities just by listening to it.
Many other people in my class and other people I know in the US seem to like it though, so maybe it's just me. I also do realize that our musical taste is very much influenced by our respective cultures and I do like some sappy, slow longs from time to time (yes, James Blunt, I'm looking at you), but from what I've heard Chinese pop seems to be too much for me.
Of course, I don't profess to have very much knowledge on Chinese popular music. So if you perhaps want to prove me long or know of a Chinese band/singer that may appeal to me, please by all means let me in the comments or via e-mail. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
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| Jay Chou, a big Chinese pop star from Taiwan. |
Sorry, I have no access to YouTube here in China, so I can't embed or link you to a Chinese pop music video. I'm sure if you search on YouTube "Jay Chou" or even "Chinese pop song," plenty of videos will pop up.
Happy Holidays!
Since Hanukkah began last week and the holiday season has officially begun, I thought it was time to wish anyone/everyone reading this blog a happy holiday season. I hope you have a great holiday season where ever you may be, whatever it may be you celebrate (or not celebrate).
And to my friends and family that are reading this, I hope your holidays are extra great and please know I'm thinking of you all especially during this month of family, friends, food and celebration.
Films, girls and sajiao
While perusing ChinaDaily.com the other day, I came across a column written by Qi Zhai entitled, "Time standing still for Chinese-style love affair," in which she examines the central relationships in two different Chinese movies (Street Angel and Under the Hawthorne Tree) made 70 years apart. In her examination of the two films, Qi Zhai realizes that despite that one was made in the 1930s and the other in 2010, the relationship archetypes both films remains the same.
In both these two films (and many others), Qi Zhai points out that the female character in the story is portrayed as very "childlike", while her male counterpart is more of the "eternally cheerful, silently suffering, unbreakably strong type." She goes on further to write that the relationship between both characters remind her much of a father-daughter relationship rather than a relationship between two people of equal maturity.
This portrayal of the ideal female counterpart in a relationship as being a naive, childlike is a large part of why I've never been drawn to to the Chinese and Korean soap operas (and films) that are very popular in China, Korea and abroad. I often find the female leads annoyingly dependent and difficult to relate to.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm hardly the type of girl who relies on others to take care of things for me. I take pride in the fact that I can (mostly) take care of myself. Consequently, I find other people who are overly needy or dependent very trying and seeing characters with such qualities on film or television, cringe-worthy. However, in Chinese culture, this archetype of a naive female and her strong, silent male counterpart is often portrayed as the ideal relationship.
Nothing demonstrates this more than the idea of sajiao ((撒娇), which the Modern Chinese Dictionary defines as, " to deliberately act like a spoiled child in front of someone because of the awareness of the other person's affection."*
From my understanding of sajiao, it's typically used by the female in relationships in order to invoke the male counterpart to do something for them as a sign of affection. Often times, the girl will act much like a spoiled young girl (as opposed to grown woman) in order to get her male companion to do whatever she wants him to do, even if she can do it perfectly well by herself. The only Western/English equivalent to sajiao that I can think of is the concept of a damsel-in-distress, but even that doesn't seem like an appropriate equailvent.
In both these two films (and many others), Qi Zhai points out that the female character in the story is portrayed as very "childlike", while her male counterpart is more of the "eternally cheerful, silently suffering, unbreakably strong type." She goes on further to write that the relationship between both characters remind her much of a father-daughter relationship rather than a relationship between two people of equal maturity.
This portrayal of the ideal female counterpart in a relationship as being a naive, childlike is a large part of why I've never been drawn to to the Chinese and Korean soap operas (and films) that are very popular in China, Korea and abroad. I often find the female leads annoyingly dependent and difficult to relate to.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm hardly the type of girl who relies on others to take care of things for me. I take pride in the fact that I can (mostly) take care of myself. Consequently, I find other people who are overly needy or dependent very trying and seeing characters with such qualities on film or television, cringe-worthy. However, in Chinese culture, this archetype of a naive female and her strong, silent male counterpart is often portrayed as the ideal relationship.
Nothing demonstrates this more than the idea of sajiao ((撒娇), which the Modern Chinese Dictionary defines as, " to deliberately act like a spoiled child in front of someone because of the awareness of the other person's affection."*
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| Wuzhen |
From my understanding of sajiao, it's typically used by the female in relationships in order to invoke the male counterpart to do something for them as a sign of affection. Often times, the girl will act much like a spoiled young girl (as opposed to grown woman) in order to get her male companion to do whatever she wants him to do, even if she can do it perfectly well by herself. The only Western/English equivalent to sajiao that I can think of is the concept of a damsel-in-distress, but even that doesn't seem like an appropriate equailvent.
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