Ni Hao
I was trying to think of the most stereotypical way to open this post and was mulling either “Ni Hao” or “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto” or even maybe “Holy *$%ing *&^% I’m in China!!!!” (note the use of 3 exclamation marks).
Ultimately, I went with “Ni Hao” because the latter phrase has already been beaten to death on various trips to California, Hawaii, Utah, Thailand, Cambodia and who knows where else and that other one contains too many self-censored words for my taste.
But I digress, the underlying point here is that I now claim home as Beijing, China.
No, I don’t speak any Mandarin.
Yes, it’s going to be a challenge / problem.
Yes, that was my strategic intent.
Between sensory overload of living once more in a big city (for real, not just a week long trips to LA or Honolulu), the thing I feel the most is an absolute loss of independence.
This is a difficult thing to reconcile because my girlfriend has really done a lot for me in making this transition smoothly. My (temporary) roommate has also greatly assisted in making me feel at home and showing me the ropes (how to register with the police, for instance) and then showing me how to get breakfast.
It’s an important aspect of this city to note how the people here are extraordinary, competent and fascinating to interact with. There’s much to learn and exchange and I’m grateful to be here and to experience everything Beijing has to teach me.
But the loss of being able to function on my own is still at the forefront of my mind.
My rationale for coming here was to fling myself into the jaws of culture shock and be motivated to learn at an increased pace. Having come the distance, the work looming ahead of me is on the surface daunting but not insurmountable as I begin to break goals and objectives down in my mind.
This week’s goals include memorizing 10 words each day (cake) and learning to count while I work my way through Survival Chinese. I’ve identified my primary weaknesses as a disconnect between my brain and mouth when it comes to enunciating the tonal pitch of most Chinese words. I can hear it in my mind but what emerges from my mouth is sloppy and woefully ineffective.
Moreover, what’s in my mind seems to become distorted over a pathetically short period of time. Practice and use are the buzz words that carry the day.
As a result, I need to pick and choose my vocab carefully so I don’t set improper habits and patterns.
In short, I really need to get to school and fast.
On another front, I’ve started making lines to and from my (temporary) residence and becoming better acquainted with layout and design of the community.
It helps greatly to understand and place how everything operates and functions — from the local shops and governmental outposts — to noticing the subtle ways in which the architecture has been augmented from the classical Chinese designs to the haphazard post-Cultural Revolution mish mash and the more recent beautification projects spurred by China’s emerging development and Olympic preparation.
Communities here are very much centralized hubs within hubs with interconnected support services laced throughout.
Anyway, other interesting upcoming events for this week are to get situated into working 13 hours behind my primary client and camping on the Great Wall with my new branch. That and spending time with a certain someone and her now ginormously enlarged family of cats.
So this is now my life, in a nutshell.
Excuse me now while I go out and immerse myself in it.
