Richard Eriksson

I've been in Beijing for three days now, and we finally found an Internet cafe, about twenty minutes by taxi from the hotel.

The flight to Tokyo was long, like 9 1/2 hours. It actually wasn't bad. I watched a movie starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer. And as a group we managed to entertain ourselves. The flight attendants were very pretty and helpful, and I made sure I asked for water everytime I ran out. And the hot towels they gave at the beginning and the end of the flight were incredible. Then after finally getting to the hotel in Narita (a suburb of Tokyo where the new airport is) we headed for the local Buddhist temple, and an American pilot for Japan Airlines (the airline we flew on) showed us around the area, and recommended some good restaurants which we had to pass up, because we were only there for the night. But we found the temple thanks to his directions, and the neighbourhood was quiet but very pretty. Then we went and had fast-food seafood and rice, which was surprisingly good. The server didn't speak English, but we gave her credit for trying, and she was very helpful. On the way back we ran into the pilot again, who was heading back to the hotel himself.

Next morning we flew to Beijing, and we were picked up by Fang Laoshi and Li Laoshi. "Laoshi" means teacher, and literally translated means "old master". Fang Laoshi is a fifty year old man, and Li Laoshi is twenty-something, and she has her bachelor's degree in English Language and is working towards her masters. Her English name is Eileen. After dinner at the hotel, we went walking down one of the streets. Now, in Beijing, the traffic system is very, very different. You must understand that pedestrians do not have the right of way, nor do the bicycles. Cars have the right of way, always. People are often waiting in the middle for a break in traffic to cross. And honking seems to substitute for shoulder checking. One honks when one wants to change lanes. Our bus driver, who is a very nice man, honks very often, sometimes it seems, randomly. Crossing the street is only scary, however, if you let it be. If you get in the way, you will be honked at and you get out of the way. That simple.

So, anyway, we walked down one of the main thoroughfares, the name of which I don't know simply because street sings are scarce. We ended up hailing some taxis to go to a nightclub, called the "Nightman Disco". Yeah, Nightman. And yeah, Disco. Nightclubs are discos. Just have to get used to it. When we got there we were too early, so we walked around the market outside for a while. It opened ten minutes later, and there was no cover, probably because we were "VIP" (i.e. foreigners). When we got inside, there was this sappy Chinese pop singer singing love songs. It got tedious. And the drinks were expensive (I paid 15 kuai, $3 for a can of Pepsi). But the pop singer finally stopped, and the DJ started playing some really good dance music. Not adult dance music, but rave dance music. There were all of two white people there: Andrea, who's in our group, and myself. But we had a lot of fun, and all of us danced (actually, the girls and I danced while the other men of the group got drunk).

The next day, yesterday, was very long. First on the list after a nice, huge breakfast, was Tiananmen Square. Everything I've read about this place doesn't give it justice. It is big and magnificent. I have a few pictures of myself in front of the huge portrait of Mao Zedong, leader of the 1949 Communist Revolution and ruler of China until his death in 1976. His policy failures included the Great Leap Forward, leading to a great famine, and the Cultural Revolution, leading to many unfortunate deaths among the intellegentsia in China. A whole generation lost out on education. But the Chinese Communist Party's evalutation of him remains to be 70% right, 30% wrong. I swear, the Communist Party has a number for everything.

Then we saw the Forbidden City, which, as the name suggests, meant that in imperial days, ordinary citizens could not live there. Just the emperor and his entourage. But the Communists, being the good anti-imperialists they are, opened up the City as one of China's cultural showcases. We were led through the foreigner entrance (there being a different entrance for native Chinese). The Chinese have to wait in line, while the foreigners' entrance is lined with souvenir shops. I don't know what's worse, waiting in line or being hawked cheap crap. The Forbidden City was amazing, and I have a picture of one of the entrances where there are two small hooks above it, which were used to hang the heads of criminals to show who was in charge.

Funny thing happened in between going to the Temple of Heaven. We were having lunch (jiaozi, or dumplings), and a splattered some sauce on my white t-shirt. So I thought I would be going to the temple in a dirty shirt, but it turned out that somebody needed time to change the date of their return ticket, so the rest of us went shopping, and I got up the courage to look for a t-shirt. I took out my Mandarin phrasebook, and went around to the various mens clothes store in the mall we were in and asked the clerks in Chinese "you meiyou" (which means literally "have or not have") and then pointed to t-shirts in the little Chinese dictionary at the back of the phrasebook. The first clerk read it, and said "meiyou" ("don't have") so I went to the next store and asked the same thing. They had some, and then I asked "you meiyou 'XL'?", and they did. So with body language they told me I could try it on, and I did, and it was good so I bought it. I paid about $16 Canadian.

Another shopping experience in which I used my poor Mandarin skills happened yesterday. I was looking at some jade amulets, and one of them looked like something familiar, so I asked the lady there "shi Guanyin ma?" ("is that Guanyin?"). After she was startled to learn I knew some Mandarin, she responded, "shi, dui le" ("is, correct"). Then she said something I didn't know, and I said "wo bu mai" ("I not buy") to which she responded with "ni kan kan" ("you just looking")

Today we went to the Great Wall of China, and Eileen decided it would be best to go up the steep, non-tourist way, which she thought wasn't such a good idea after all. I got a bleeding nose about half way up, but after I recovered I made it all the way, and bought the requisite "I climbed the Great Wall" t-shirt, for about 15 kuai, or $3. Later we were offered one for 3 kuai, less than $1, but that was after the guy I was walking with said to the person offering it that I bought mine for 5 kuai. Then we went to the Ming Tombs, but they weren't too impressive. After that though, we went to the Summer Palace, and it was by far the best place we've seen. It was very relaxing. Well, except for the steps we climbed, but the scenery was beautiful once we got to the top of the Palace.

I've taken a lot of pictures, as you might expect. I'm trying to get pictures of old, traditional architecture and the new emerging skyline of Beijing. I'm calling them the "Beijing: Old and New" series. One time in Tiananmen Square, two pretty Chinese girls asked if I would be in a picture with them, and I happily obliged, but I forgot to get a picture of them and myself with my camera. Oh well, live and learn. I got a nice picture of myself with two children, both very pretty girls. That was today. I asked Grandfather "qingwen, tamen he wo, hao ma" ("excuse me, them and me, okay?") using the "can-I-take-a-picture" body language. I got one on my camera, and he got one on his. I can't wait to see them. All day I was thinking of getting myself and a little Chinese child in a picture, and I got the courage to do it. It's right you know: you get the courage after you do the things you're afraid of, not before. I'm also eating whatever they give me, and by far it's mostly been excellent food. Very greasy though, but no complaints here.

This is only the beginning, but I'm already having an experience I will remember forever.

I had my first day of class today, but before that, I want to talk about last night, the first night in Changchun. We had our reception, and my speech went well, I think. I talked to my buddy, Willis, and he plays a little bit of basketball, but he's more interested in soccer. So is one of the other male buddies, Lee. We talked for a while, and Benny, my roommate, brought up Falun Gong, but I changed the subject. Didn't feel right talking about it.

Then, the buddies (including a doctoral student, Daniel and two others who are still studying for their bachelor's) left for their residences, then a bunch of us wanted to see the park. Ended up we met with some Bolivian students who were living in Changchun for at least a year each, and had been studying in China for at least three years each. So their Chinese was very good. In fact, they were speaking Chinese to each other! They took us around, and showed us the park, which was very nice and peaceful, and we all are hoping to go back often. Then they showed us around the neighbourhood before leaving for their residences. They're going to take us to a nightclub on Friday.

Today was the first day of class, and before class we were all tested on our level of Chinese. I did okay on the written part, but during the oral part, the woman asked me questions I would have known if I had studied for just three months more. Then I understood the questions given to Benny (the oral and written exams were done with everybody together in the same room). So I asked for a second chance, and I had a better chance to answer, because the questions were simpler and I had some good answers. I didn't understand fully, but it meant that I understood some Chinese and didn't need to start right from the very beginning again. So there are three classes, and I'm in the middle class. The subject matter is the same (same textbooks for each levels), just more advanced talking than in some classes than others.

And we just bought four cases of water for the boys. That should last us about a couple weeks. It was only 120 kuai (24 dollars). Not bad, since it's for five guys.

It seems like everybody's been to the South Campus but me. Apparently though, you need a student card everywhere you go, which none of us have yet. And plus, it's not close to anything, and most seem glad that we are in the older, North Campus rather than the newer South Campus.

Today was pretty exciting, and warrants an update. Class was uneventful, except for the fact that today we didn't have Wang Laoshi, who apparently likes me but not my roommate. We had Li Laoshi, who was a woman about the same age as Wang Laoshi, but she doesn't give preferential treatment. She does give out more homework than the other teachers combined, but I think she's okay. Better than Wu Laoshi, whom we understand, but whose voice makes us want to go to sleep.

Today, after class, I went to the Internet cafe and found out that the United States Congress granted China permanent normal trading relations, which is not essential for WTO approval, but certainly helps. The Chinese government, according to the state newspaper (there are only state newspapers here), is happy, but doesn't like the human rights provisions. No surprise there. Then I went with Sophie to the zoo. Since I can barely remember things that happened yesterday, if I'm re-introducing Sophie, I apologize. Sophie is a young woman that during some of my classmates' aerobics, came up to them and asked if she could talk to a 'pure' Canadian. My classmates, who are Cantonese but born and raised in Canada in English, apparently aren't 'pure' Canadians. They think she wants to talk to a white person, but wanted to be delicate. But my classmates suggested Andrea, who is Caucasian, but Sophie said she wanted a guy. My classmates think she wants a white boyfriend, and I'm starting to believe them. But Sophie, her English name, wants to practice the English she learned in high school, because she has an interview, entirely in English, for admission to a prestigious university in Nanjing. At least that's her story. So I met her on Monday, and we talked for about two hours, comparing how things were in China to how they were in Canada, and I showed my pictures that I brought. I knew they would come in handy: they're a good conversation starter.

Today Sophie and I went to the zoo. The zoo is actually pretty close to the hotel, so we didn't have to walk far, and it was actually pretty big. I saw tigers, giraffes, and lions (first time I've seen all those animals up close). And of course the zoo has a panda, which we saw. One cage had dogs, apparently still not domesticated as they are in North America. I'm pretty sure she's looking for something more than just practicing English, but I've made a friend, and she wants to introduce me to her friends, and she has a friend at the hotel kitchen who might teach me how to cook a Chinese meal. That might be a challenge, because I can barely cook a Western meal. We'll see what happens with that.

Then, in the evening, we met our guide in Beijing, and pretty much our guide here in Changchun, Fang Laoshi. He's a cool guy, always in a chipper mood, and could probably drink all of us combined under the table, which we found out today. The restaurant was very busy, but, because we're foreigners (and therefore assumed to be rich) we had a secluded room, and two tables each with a propane stove. We were given a hot pot with boiling soup, and then came the lamb meat. We put the lamb meat into the boiling soup, waited for a couple minutes, then took the lamb and dipped it into the sauce. It was delicious. Then came the pijiu (Chinese for beer). Fang Laoshi kept on ordering beer, and I finally had to fill my glass with tea so that he couldn't pour beer into it. Everytime he filled our cup, he said "ganbei!" (bottoms up!) and we drank. Some of the girls even joined in. My roommate Benny got drunk, and the girls tried to take advantage of him by getting him to tell them what his girlfriend's name was, but he succeeded in frustrating them. Even in his drunken state, he knew that if they knew his girlfriend's name, they would bug him for the whole trip. I think he saw how I got bugged when my classmates told the rest of the group they thought Wang Laoshi liked me, and they still bug me about Sophie. But hey, I'm having fun.

My English lessons with Sophie is the only extra-curricular activity I have the energy for. Everybody else feels compelled either to wake up at 5:00AM and do tai qi, or do Shaolin kung fu in the evening. Some do both! Nope, not for me. I think I will go to class, study, rest, and have a weekly visit with a nice Chinese woman, and that will be enough. And of course the field trips. This weekend we are going to Harbin and Jilin City, and we're going on at least one boat ride, which I'm in favour of. The more boat rides the better, I think. Then in a couple weeks we should be going to Inner Mongolia, and some other time (not sure when), there is a nice boat ride in some caves. This trip is proving more and more interesting as it progresses.

I still have to change the date of my plane ticket to the second, but some of my friends are going to Shanghai, and I'm told it's not-to-miss. So far I've only decided that I want to go back to Tiananmen Square, except this time during the evening, when there aren't as many tourists, and when it's more tranquil.

So ends another update, and my day at the Internet cafe, which is conveniently close, but slow. There is apparently a faster one, but that means more walking. I'll try it, and see whether speed is more important than convenience. Plus it's really smokey in here, but I really shouldn't complain about that, because it's smokey everywhere. No WCB regulations in China.

A lot has happened since the last update, as always. We just got back from Harbin, which is a 4 1/2 hour drive north from Changchun. The first interesting thing wasn't in Harbin, but on the way there and back. I got my first glimpse of the countryside of China, and the small part I saw was vast. I saw rice fields and vegetable fields, and workers toiling all day in the sun. The countryside of China has played an integral part in Chinese history, especially the twentieth century. Even though the Communist Party started as a group of urban intellectuals, a peasant from a fairly well off family, Mao Zedong, was instrumental in convincing the Communist Party that the revolution would spring from the peasants, which made up (and still makes up) the vast majority of the Chinese population. After Mao Zedong stormed the cities (and betrayed the countryside by ruling from the cities), he launched the Great Leap Forward, a policy which called for the doubling of agricultural output every year and the collectivization of farmland, and caused a famine that killed tens of millions of people in a span of 3 years. The Cultural Revolution, another of Mao's disastrous policies, plunged the urban areas into chaos. The countryside was affected only when those who were purged were sent to the countryside, to "learn from the peasants". This just ended up further alienating both the urban population and the countryside from the Communist Party. The People's Republic of China was built from the blood and sweat of the countryside. Things have eased since the 1970s, but the government continues to subsidize the urban growth with food seized from the farms.

Harbin itself was okay. The hotel didn't have a shower (well, okay, it did, but shower water would have made us dirtier, not cleaner!). The first thing we saw was the Harbin Tiger Park. Okay, think of the movie Jurassic Park, when they were led through the park in automated Jeeps. Instead of automated Jeeps, we had a bus with no bars to protect us. We drove to the first couple of tigers, and they came up close and didn't even think of going after us. And the windows were wide open! Then a small truck (with bars) drove up, and the tigers got excited: feeding time. The driver of the truck threw out a couple of live chickens (yes, live chickens) and we got to see the tiger catch, pluck, and proceed to eat the chicken alive. It was a lot less violent than I expected. The chicken didn't try to get away when it was being plucked, and the tiger just took its time. Still, three of the girls in our group had to look away, and two of them were crying at the end of it.

Then we saw the Sino-Japanese Friendship park. Not too interesting, except there were some beautiful women dressed up in brightly coloured dresses who got married before we got there. Then we went to a Russian church, right in the middle of department stores. Totally out of place. And they were demolishing old houses behind it. This morning we went to yet another Buddhist temple (even though they are all very beautiful, they're really all the same). And then the Russian Market, which meant cheap 'Russian' souvenirs sold by Chinese people. Being Northeast China, there is a big Russian presence, but the only things they sold at the market were Russian dolls (you know, the ones where there is a doll inside, and then a doll inside that one?) and binoculars left over from the Russian Red Army.

While I was in Harbin, I was mistaken for Dashan (check out his website, it's worth it) not once, not twice, but 5 times!! That's okay, I let them point at me and think that Dashan had entered their stores.

Anyway, next week we go to Jilin City, which should be more interesting (plus we get to miss class). At least there will be a boat ride.

Harbin is a more developed town than Changchun, but the surroundings of the university (we stayed overnight in the dorms) aren't as nice as the North Campus of Jilin University. There was a field school from Calgary staying at the university there, but I didn't get to meet them. They were doing their thing and we ours. The South Campus is about a half hour away by shuttle bus from the North Campus. The North Campus is older, and closer to the downtown core of Changchun, while the South Campus is newer, but there is no night life and not very many stores. The consensus is that we are better off here in the North Campus than at the South campus, but I haven't been there, and hopefully I'll get to go soon.

This week is crazy. This Friday and Saturday we are supposed to participate in a sports meet, but I think it's track and field, not soccer or basketball. And Friday we are invited to a party with 40 Jilin University students, and we all have to come up with a performance. I've volunteered to read (or memorize, not sure which) a children's poem from a book that I bought. Another person is going to sing a song by Jacky Cheung, famous Hong Kong pop singer, and there might be a skit. And then Monday (Sunday is a rest day!) we go to Jilin City and come back.