I Only Bowl at Hotels

So. Three weeks of classes down. Is it easier? Maybe a little. Has the stress level decreased? Not really. Nice of you to ask, though!

But really, though, things are getting better, but I do have the occasional freak out about once a day. The work load is really heavy and I spend pretty much every waking moment with flash cards in front of me. Last night alone I attempted to learn about 75 words (not characters, words, many of which were more than three characters each). Let's just say I was not entirely successful.

My roommate, Wanqin, and I

So, since my last post (which was almost two weeks ago, yes, I know, I'm an awful blogger. I apologize profusely.), I've really only done a few things, so I'll try to fill you in. Last weekend was spend studying. And I mean studying. This week began with two tests, which always makes for an awesome weekend, right? Can I get an 'amen'?! Honestly, the only thing I did for fun was to go bowling with my program. It was my roommate's first time bowling (not a traditional Chinese sport!) and I think she bowled better than I did, at least score-wise! I really am a depressingly poor bowler. :P The bowling alley was essentially the same as a Western alley, although they provide little footies to put over your socks when you wear the rental shoes. Also, apparently I wear about a 6 in Chinese shoes. My feet have never felt so small! The only real difference between this alley and a standard Western alley was its location. Never bowled in the basement of a swanky, first-class hotel? Well, you haven't bowled in China.

Tuesday evening was spent at my first cooking class, which takes place at a professor's home. In China, universities are even more of a city within a city than they are in the US. You thought the Trinity Bubble was bad? Just imagine your campus having all the standard amenities (giant three-story cafeterias (and countless of them), branches of every bank, hospitals, etc), then add in the fact that everyone related to the university lives on campus. This includes students, professors, faculty and their families. Ma Laoshi (my cooking teacher) is about 80 years old (and oh yes, you can totally tell) and has retired from teaching, but he and his wife still live in their campus apartment. I haven't yet had an opportunity to take a photo of his apartment or kitchen, but I hope at some point I will be able to show you what I perceive to be a standard Chinese home. Ever seen House Hunters International? And I don't mean the episodes when they go to the Bahamas and act all rich and stuff. I'm talking about the episodes where people are buying little hovels in Cambodia. Now picture their kitchens: small, lacking in appliances (and by lacking, I don't just mean a small, non-industrial-style oven, I mean no oven), having minimal counter-space provided only by a few mismatched cabinets at unusual heights, with an exposed gas line and dated and damaged tile. You know how you always wondered how people lived there? And you just assumed they didn't really cook? Yeah, you're wrong.

Ma Laoshi is an incredible cook, most remarkably because of the lack of space or resources he has in his possession. He's got one small cabinet (about 2'x2') on which he/we can lay out ingredients and prep, an oven which is only slightly larger than a toaster oven and a single gas burner which looks remarkably like a hot-plate upon which (likely permanently) sits a wok. The only modern piece in the kitchen was a surprisingly fancy electric hood (which has probably been installed to avoid burning the place down by way of burning oil). Regardless, for our first class, we prepared 地三鲜(di san xian), which roughly translates as 'Three Delights of the Earth', a traditional dongbei dish made of eggplant, potatoes and green peppers which are lightly fried and served in a slightly sweet and savory brown sauce. I've kinda started to become a fan of eggplant. I can't believe I just said that.

Outside of this, the last two weeks really have been a lot about school work. Oh! Evidence that China is definitely another culture: one of my dialogs to read for my Conversation class was the story of a boy and his dad in which the boy was really proud about his report card. That dad was going to give him a good chunk of money as a reward. Instead, the son asked for a promise. What was the promise, you ask? That the dad doesn't beat him the next time he gets bad scores. Good to know corporal punishment is still alive and well somewhere...

On that note, I'll be spending tomorrow on a bit of a hiking trip to Yaguo (don't bother wiki-ing it, it's not there), which is about an hour and half from our location in Harbin, but is known for its foliage (not that I'll be seeing any of that). It should be quite the day of it, with some good (and needed) exercise, and you all know I'm always one for hiking!  You can expect picture of the mountains and such next week!

Until then, um...I am laking a cute sign-off phrase. Leave suggestions in the comments.