Caught up in week one

Beyond reach?

School is on again and I am finding myself lost for words. The first week of Chinese (no matter what level) is always a bit of a struggle for me: I forget characters, I stumble on words, I forget characters, I pronounce things wrong, I forget characters and oh.. did I say I forget characters? Characters are the biggest struggle in my learning process.

The class, at level 3, is as expected: me, and loads of Koreans and Japanese. Oh, and one Brazilian girl. We have already teamed up.

The teachers are lovely; all helpful and smiley and patient. But this is week one. Or O-week (O for Orientation) as they call it at Australian universities (they might call it that at other places too, I have no idea). Everything is a bit sugar coated and wrapped. I know that as soon as this week is over, reality will kick in and we won’t be spending two whole lessons (come on!) on one chapter. We will then have to learn about 50 characters a day and there will be a lot of reading, as well as painful writing, and we are also expected to hold presentations on different topics in Chinese. And then there will be exams. That you have to pass in order to continue on level 4. Which I really want so I have to pass. I have to pass. Have to. Pass.

At this moment, when I am still at the ‘hang-on-a-minute-what-am-I-doing-again-here?-Oh-yeah-that’s-right-I-am-learning-Chinese!’ –stage, things feel a bit blurry and overwhelming. But I suppose it is just a phase. And I have to remind my self of the reward at the end of the tunnel: I’ll be able to speak Chinese fluently. I’ll be able to write and read. I’ll be able to order the best dishes at the Chinese restaurants. And… hopefully I’ll also be able to land my dream job.

But at this moment –all of that seems beyond reach.

Now I better go and learn some characters.

Warm. Upstairs. Really.

During Shanghai’s cold winter months, you might have to work a lil’ extra to make those frozen customers choose your café...

I'm dying to find out if they during summer have a similar one, saying '2nd floor is very cold'.

I am going to the Olympic Games!! (or okey, I THINK I am going!)

Long before I even moved to China I knew that I wanted to go to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

And now I am one step closer!

We’ve finally ordered tickets (from Europe, it was waaaaaaaaaay too troublesome to order from China! And I simply couldn’t stand the suspense of all those lotteries) and in one week we’ll find out of we get them or not.

A VERY annoying and stupid thing about ordering the tickets that I really hope they change for any future game (just in case Jacques Rogge is reading this?) is the fact that if you sign up for, let’s say, the cheapest seats to the track and field and they have sold out, you have to be ready to pay up for whatever tickets available. Meaning: even though we ordered tickets for 24 euros we might have to pay 100. Sure, I can understand the thought behind this (they need to sell those expensive seats too), however, what if we end up with the most expensive seats to every competition?! Gah, I don’t even wanna think about that! (And neither does my bank account!).

We’ve ordered ticks for swimming, diving, track and field, the men’s basketball final (a pure treat for me, I am a old bballer! Played since I was 12!) and the women’s beach volley final (a treat for my boyfriend, and no, of course he hasn't played before. He just wanna check out the chicks). We wanted to get tickets for the soccer too but the cheapest seats were 50 euros so we decided to watch that one from a pub instead.

So in one week, once our tickets are secured, I guess the rest of the madness starts: getting flight tickets and booking a hotel. I am kind of worried about both. If no flight tickets are available I suppose we’ll have to catch a train. However, you cannot pre-book train tickets in China: the earliest you can buy them are 9 days before departure. NINE DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE??!?! That’s insane? I am going to get a heart attack if I have to wait until 9 days before my planned journey to know if I am going or not??

And if we don’t get a hotel.. hm… yeah well then… hm… I don’t know?! Anyone got a spare room for rent during the last weekend of the Olympic Games in Beijing? Feel free to email me: jonnawib(at)yahoo.se (But note, that I ain’t no mega rich ‘lao wai’…)

Phone call from home

I’ve been living abroad for the last 7 years. I’ve been travelling extensively, I’ve been stuck in tricky situation and I’ve lost my credit card at least twice. However, my dad normally never worries about me. Like, really. I go home to see my family once a year and then we catch up.

It is not the same with mom. Not at all. Mom and I are on the phone at least once a week and we email each other quite often. But dad.. well dad. Is just dad. He knows what he has to know via mom. So he never calls me. And rarely emails. Unless something really bad has happened.

Obviously, I freak out at those occasions. Like once, during my first work trip to China. I was in Beijing doing an interview when my mobile buzzed, and when I picked up it was dad!

-What’s wrong?! I exclaimed.
-Are you safe? He replied.
-Of course I am dad, I am actually in the middle of something… and why are u asking if I am safe?
-Well I read about a typhoon in China!
-But dad, I am in Beijing. The typhoon is in south China!
-Well you never know!

No, I guess you never know.

Just the other day, something similar occurred. I was typing away on my computer when my mobile phone rang and I saw it was dad.

-Has someone died? (I couldn't help myself. It was my instant reaction when I picked up the phone!)
-No, but I have something important to discuss with you. One of my clients is heading to Shanghai and I told him you live there and that you work for the Swedish Chamber of Commerce. So he really wants to meet you!
-Dad, I live in SUZHOU, and I DON’T work for the Swedish Chamber of Commerce. I went to ONE of their seminars.
-But you have contacts there, right?
-Not really….?
-Well it doesn’t matter! You’ve been to their seminar, you know the drill! I am sure he’ll be interested to meet you anyways! You can tell him about doing business in China!
-But I don’t do business in China!
-But you can speak Chinese!
-Yes, but that has nothing to do with doing business in China?
-Well, let him just take you out for dinner! I am sure it can be useful.
-Okay dad, but you know I have moved from Shanghai to Suzhou.
-Where’s Suzhou? Can you take a bus or a taxi to Shanghai?
-It’s a two hour trip by car from Suzhou to Shanghai. I guess I can take a train…
-Excellent! Yes! You take that train! I will give him your number okay?
-Okay…

Like I said. My dad never calls me unless he has something really important to say.

Me, mom and dad at a karaoke bar in Shanghai.

Are Chinese men whipped?

"It's so heavy.. and you don't mind, do you?"

Oh yes, they so are!!

Spotted, on a windy day in Shanghai city: A trendy looking woman in high heals strutting about.
Behind her: her boyfriend/husband carrying three shopping bags, one large, pink, fake Gucci purse and pushing on a large armchair. At one point the woman turned around and yelled something quite nasty to him. His face barely moved.

Another time, in Century Park in Shanghai, I took this picture.. sort of speaks for itself, doesn’t it?!

"And while you're at it Honey.. can u also remove the dog poo that I accidently stepped on?"

But really, what is the handbag fuss all about? Everywhere you go in China or Korea you see men carrying their girlfriend's/wive's handbags. Not only does it looks funny, but also quite inconvenient seeing that the men are normally carrying their own man bag on one shoulder, and then their girlfriends' bag on the other.

Asian men –speak now, or we will forever think that you’re whipped!

Mandarin Level 3 -here we go!

Oh the memories.. back at level 1 my class looked like this...

Yey yey yey!

I’m glad to tell you that A. I’ve found a great tutor, and B. I made it into Mandarin Level 3 at my new university! Fair enough, I mean, I have already done level 2 at old uni, however, u never know if the universities have the same level. And you do need to take a placement test (consisting of one reading&writing part and one speaking part) if you're a new student.

Even though I was a complete mess at the written test, I managed to convince the two Chinese women who interviewed me as part of the speaking test that I can manage the level 3 standard. (I’m the same in every language I suppose: bad at spelling but good at speaking).

The first thing I did when I got my new level 3 books was to see how hard the texts were, meaning: how many characters I didn’t know. And it wasn’t too bad. Sure, about 50% are new ones but it feels soooooooooo nice that I at least now read a little bit better. When I started doing level 2 (I had then had an 11 months break since I did level 1) I was a complete mess.

I suppose one reason why my Chinese has improved is because I (during level 2) was in a class that consisted of only Korean and Japanese students. Seeing that most of them already know a lot of characters, they were almost fluent in reading and writing and that triggered me to study like a mad woman in order to keep up. A good tip for anyone who wants to learn Chinese is to study together with other Asians. It'll definitely speed up your learning!

Karaoke -Chinese stress release?

During my first visit to China I couldn’t help expressing my curiosity towards karaoke.
-Why do you guys love it so much? I asked my Chinese translator/guide/life saviour (at that point I spoke 0.0 Chinese)
-It releases stress, she said with a straight face.

Releases stress?

I thought about what I do when I want to release stress. I go for a run. I sweat. I suffer. I think to myself that “damn it, I HATE running” but then afterwards, when I’m back home again, exhausted and worn out, I feel kind of good. Or actually, very good.

I tried to imagine myself singing karaoke and feeling the same way afterwards.

-I see, I said.
-It’s not that strange you know, she said, as if she could read my mind.
-You know, in Japan, people go to special clubs where they get a private room, a pen, and a handful of porcelain plates. They go into their private room, write their bosses name on the plate, and throw the plate against the wall so that it shatters!! That’s their way of releasing stress!
-Oh, I see, I said again.
-So do you think Swedish people would prefer the Chinese or the Japanese method?
-I'm not sure...

Do I look de-stressed?

(Side note: “surprisingly” none of my Japanese friends have been able to confirm the ‘write-your-boss-name-on-a-plate-and-throw-it-on-the-wall-stress-release-method).