TEN

Considering the fact that only ten days remain in my semester abroad, I figured I would spare you all of my typical babbling and give you a list of the top ten things I regret about my stay in Jiamusi, along with the top ten things that have surpassed my expectations here in one of China’s northernmost cities.  

Regrets, I’ve had a few…

I always ask to hear bad news before good news, so why stop now? 

Here are my top ten regrets:

10. Not bringing a winter coat and NEW running shoes

I was limited in the luggage I could bring, so I figured I would buy a winter coat here.  Easy, right?  Wrong.  It is not only that Jiamusi is not exactly a shopping mecca, but it is also that the sizing stops at about two sizes smaller than I am.  Every coat I tried on was short in the sleeves and tight in the shoulders.  I ended up buying the largest I could find for about fifteen dollars.  Let’s just say, it’s not coming back with me.

I did bring my running shoes, but they were already pretty worn-in.  When I went shopping to replace them and was asked my size they looked at me in horror!  Like I was Sasquatch.  Store after store they couldn’t believe it! I was afraid they might ask me to join the circus. OK, I do have an unusually wide foot, but the length is just an 11 – pretty average in the US, but unheard of here.

 

9. Not Obtaining Fluency

Wasn’t going to happen.  Nobody learns a language in five months -especially not Chinese.  Still, I had to put it in here.  It’s not what I would call a painful regret, but more of a nagging aggravation.  Part of me always thought I’d head back to Goshen ready to make a speech in perfect Chinese, at which point everybody would clap as I flew away like superman. 

8.  Not getting back at the taxi drivers

This sucks.  I really wanted revenge.  They try to hit me on roads, they pretend they don’t understand me, they never miss an opportunity to rip me off and they honk their horns constantly.  Then again, I do still have ten days…

7. No Kung Fu

I really wanted to learn some Kung Fu.  Alas, I could find none.  Do I Kung Fu?  Of course, I taught it to myself.  Can I show you?  Uhh, No.

6. Developing a Thick Northern Accent

I realized in Shanghai, that although they speak Mandarin, the same dialect I’ve learned, their accents are completely different and they use certain idioms I don’t understand.  If I don’t understand them, how do you think they felt about the kid with the American accent speaking Mandarin with a really weird Northern accent?

5. Not Working Harder to Find a Gym

I found one, eventually, so it doesn’t impact me quite as much now.  However, it would have been nice to have been able to go work out in my first days in Jiamusi.  It helps get rid of the stress and gives me a chance to get away from everything for a while.

4. Not Showering With My Host Bro

Just kidding.  I wanted to see if you were still awake.  A more appropriate location for this would probably be the Thank You section of my nightly prayers.

3. Limited Exploration of China

Jiamusi, Beijing, Shanghai, from North to South.  Include an afternoon in Hangzhou and an afternoon in Suzhou, and that rounds off the list.  It’s a good thing I’m not leaving China for good (I hope).

2. Speaking Too Much English

I feel my Chinese could have been better had I limited my use of English.  It was tough, though, considering the fact that anybody who could speak any English pretended they didn’t understand my Chinese so that they could practice their English. Most of them had never met someone who had English as their first language.

1. Not studying my Chinese Characters enough

My Chinese Characters are pretty awful.  I think I focused too much on the spoken part of Chinese and not enough on the characters.  I can still pick up different characters, enough to know what I’m eating or what kind of store I’m heading into, but other than that, it’s pretty limited.  Fortunately, the US is just as good a place as China to learn characters.  It’s all memorization, so I don’t plan to stop here!

Good Things:

Ok, now for the things I feel pretty good about…

10. Having a Genuinely Kind Host Family

They were really nice people, and they really did care about me.  We had some interesting difficulties, you could say, but that’s expected when you live with somebody from a completely different culture for half a year.  They’ve been a huge help to me since I’ve arrived, and I don’t think I would have profited from the experience nearly as much had I been assigned a different family.

9. Having a Great Group of Exchange Students

The four of us were quite different, but I am happy to say that the Europeans treated the ridiculous English Colonist as one of their own.  Having a group of westerners was key on this trip, and now, with the other three off in different parts of China, I really see how important it was to have them here.  I’ve had absolutely nothing to do for days.

8. Trying Different Foods

The only thing left is a living animal.  Or a really, really big bug.  Or a snake for that matter.  

7.  Keeping an open mind  

“It is not right, it is not wrong, it’s just different.”  This is the AFS slogan that was first introduced to me when I attended an orientation in Hartford.  While I found this is a lot easier to embrace when sitting in Hartford, I still feel I did a pretty good job of living it here.   Let's just say this is a very different world.

6. Not Gaining Eight Hundred and Twenty Pounds

That’s always a big plus.  Sure, I’m not coming back in Bruce Lee shape, but at least I don’t need to nervously look over my shoulder every few seconds, wary of Captain Ahab and his harpoon.

5. Getting to Understand Chinese Culture

This is, of course, a biggie.  Jiamusi has let me experience pure Chinese culture – whereas Shanghai and Beijing are more of a fusion of Western ideas.

4. Having the Opportunity to Visit Shanghai

Another biggie.  I don’t know if I would’ve made it without this.  Shanghai was indescribably enjoyable.

3.   Reading

Who would have expected this would find its way onto the list?  Not being capable of participating in classroom exercises, I obtained a kindle, and had the opportunity to read numerous fiction and nonfiction books that I would not have had the chance to read otherwise (at this point in my life, at least).

2.   Improving my Chinese

What did I come here to do?  Apart from the disappointment with characters, I would say I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made with the Chinese language.  Being in Jiamusi has given me the opportunity to be in an almost completely Chinese environment, enabling me to learn the language a lot faster than I could in any school.

1.  “Doing China Hard Core” and showing everyone “I wasn’t kidding (I really did go to China)

No explanation necessary, except that I would like to thank my Uncle for the first quote.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with my trip here.  I feel that looking back on it, twenty years from now, or maybe even five, I’ll be able to name all of the good things and very few regrets.  

Well this ends the Chinese portion of my Blog.  Thanks for reading.  I am not sure yet if I will be able to continue it in DC.  If so, you will be hearing from me....signing off until stateside,  PK