I'm a terribly irresponsible student. I skipped my Chinese classes yesterday. What's worse, though, is how I find ways to have fun. I skipped class yesterday in order to attend my friend's History of Political Theory class in Chinese. Whoa, I'm cool.
Actually, though, I had a great time in his class. There are only two foreign students in the class, my friend who is African and a Russian girl. They've told me that they probably understand less than 10% of what goes on, so I knew I wouldn't do much better. But it was actually really interesting. Seven students gave presentations, each on a specific theorist or movement in Western Europe from Thomas Aquinas through the Reformation. Although it was fun to learn words like theocracy, the Rennaisance, feudal system, and dualism, I have to say that I was most excited for the presentation on John Calvin. How awesome is that?! (For those of you who don't know, the college I went to is named after him.) Unfortunately, I really didn't understand much of what was said, except to know that the speaker really only talked about his political thinking and not his theological works. But still, how often do I have the chance to hear about John Calvin from a Chinese perspective?!
But like I said, skipping class to go to a political theory class that's entirely in a language I hardly understand probably does not strike most people as fun or exciting. Eh. What can I say?
In other news, I have made a new friend. I had some free time the other day, so I decided to walk up to Carrefour, a French multi-purpose store (groceries, clothes, etc). There are Carrefours all over China in the big cities, but it is definitely only a middle- or upper-class store. I don't go often because the prices aren't the best and it's a 35 minute walk down there. Occasionally, though, I like to go stock up on the few international products they sell that interest me (i.e. chocolate) and see what else might strike my fancy. So I went there Tuesday afternoon. As I was leaving, a Chinese lady holding a young child was walking next to me and looking at me, so I graciously acknowledged her with a "ni hao!" ("Hello!") Unlike most times when I greet the people staring at the strange foreigner, this one actually turned into a full conversation. Turns out, she doesn't speak any English but wants her son (who's probably about 4) to grow up learning it well. She also lives near my school and wants to make a foreign friend, but can only use Chinese to do so. So we exchanged phone numbers, and now I send and receive long text messages entirely in Chinese with her. Hopefully soon we will be able to get together as well. Although most Chinese people who talk to me want to be friends, this is the first who actually wants to make friends with me entirely using the Chinese language. What a great opportunity to practice and learn! So I'm excited about my new "jie jie" ("big sister"). And her son is adorable, too.
My involvement in the various fellowships around the city is getting quite extensive. I never imagined coming to China that I would have so many opportunities of this kind, although none of them are entirely comfortable or familiar to me. The latest example is that I have been asked to be the speaker at a different university's fellowship next week. What an honor and a privilege, but what a responsibility! Thankfully no one has officially asked me to speak on Sunday... yet...
Finally, a few random comments: Jasmine tea mints are better than they sound, personification is a word I will probably never use in Chinese again after learning it in class today, and this whole "Chinese milk is bad for you" thing is really annoying. I'm ready for powdered milk to be available in the stores again.
No comments:
Post a Comment