Like A Whole Other Country

My favorite scene in “Forrest Gump” is when Forrest appears on some talk show or other after finishing a tour in China to compete in Ping Pong (yes, it really is that big here). Also appearing on the show is John Lennon. The host asks Forrest how China is different from America. The dialogue goes something like this:

Gump: In China, people don’t have a lot of nice things.
Lennon: No possessions?
Gump: And they don’t go to church on Sundays.
Lennon: No religion, too?
Host: That’s hard to imagine.
Lennon: Well, it’s easy if you try.

After a week, I have noticed a few American things that are different in China. See if you can imagine:

-Pizza Hut is a relatively high-end restaurant, with several hostesses, plush booths, elegant decor, nice cutlery and ceramic dishes. There's one on the trendiest street by West Lake.
-The potato chips in the campus store are Lays, but they come in flavors like “Cool and Refreshing” (cucumber) “Italian Red Meat” and “Mexican Spicy Chicken”. Supermarkets have still more options
-You can buy beer at the cafeteria.
-Condiments in the cafeteria include soy sauce, salt, hot sauce and MSG. A whole shaker of it, not kidding.
-A taxi to most places is cheaper than a cup of coffee.

Okay, that’s actually all I’ve got right now, but rest assured I will come up with others. Now if you’ll all forgive me, I’m going to whine about a few things, some more amusing than others.

Our classes for the most part are in this one big building that houses most of the classrooms. My electives are in 508 and 608 on alternate days. There are two elevators that serve that part of the hall. From the second (ground) floor, you get on whichever elevator opens first. On one elevator is a sign proclaiming that it only stops on odd numbered floors, on the other one that say even numbered. In the middle, a third sign helpfully informs you that there is no elevator that will stop on floors 3, 4 or 5. Basically, there is only a 1 in 4 chance that I will be able to take an elevator directly to my class. It was amusing at first, but I can tell it will get old fast.

Food is quickly becoming an annoyance. Breakfast is simple enough: I generally go to the cafeteria and choose one of an assortment of bready things, generally indicating “one of the yellow things and one of that one with the sesame” or “That one, no, the other one, on the left…” At first I sort of tried various things, willing to be surprised (after ruling out the tasteless rice pudding watery gruel soup thing that most Chinese people seem to like), but I’ve more or less settled on steamed buns with meat or veggies as my preferred morning meal. Eventually I’ll get to a supermarket and buy some yogurt, which I can just eat in the dorm and do some work before going to class at 10.

Lunch at the cafeteria is not as good, generally various choices of veggie and meat dishes and rice. I’ve only gone twice since it’s a lot of food, not as good, and I’ve wanted to explore the assortment of food stands outside our back gate. Since someone always has a 1:00 class, the last few days I’ve grabbed fried dumplings and meat buns with Yazhen, Xueqin and Jingbo for dirt cheap to bring back and eat in the common room, but that’s no way to eat on a regular basis. I think I’m going to have to alternate between finding someone who has time to get lunch and just going to the cafeteria.

Dinner is the worst, because there’s only so many times I can eat greasy fried rice at the back gate. There are several other options at the back gate area, but with more than 4 or 5 people it’s a nuisance. I’m more than happy to pick a restaurant out of a review and go, but it’s of course more expensive and can’t be done often. I’m really hoping to get a chance to try various regional specialties. Chinese restaurants (the ones with table service and menus, not small noodle shops), really require at least 3 or 4 people to be worthwhile, so eating alone is less of an option, and I’m pretty sure that sort of meal is pretty expensive for your average Chinese college student. I think cooking for myself will be a good idea, but our kitchen consists of an electric wok and a microwave. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep it interesting, plus the nearest grocery store is not near. Maybe once the other cafeterias open (class is not in session at the University yet) choices will improve.

Lastly, classes are proving frustrating (to most people, as far as I can tell) as they rely largely on rote. Texts must be prepared ahead of time (yuxi, yuxi, yuxi), and then are discussed painstakingly slowly, requiring us to repeat inane details repeatedly or answer absurd questions (it's somehow more annoying when you're not practicing a new grammar pattern, but repeating every detail of a short story you understood the first time you read it. My Literature class seems to be more reading comprehension than anything else). I'm holding out for conditions to improve, plus I think classes in China are just going to be different.

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