Tsinghua 大學

      I've spoken some about China and Beijing, the interesting place that it is, and some of my ethnocentric thoughts concerning it. Now this next post will look through the microscope and I'll tell you about the university I am at: Tsinghua.
   To throw in some more ethnocentrism and egotism, I'll start with the history of Tsinghua University, which begins with the Western powers stretching their fingertips into the east. The Boxer rebellion in the late 19th century began as a cry against foreign spheres of influence and fear of colonization (which western powers would never do something like that in that specific time period...). The Qing Dynasty government supported the Boxers, and declared war on the Eight Nation Alliance (Britain, France, US etc.). The Chinese were beaten, and forced to pay an unimaginable amount of money to the foreign powers. The States decided they would reduce the debt to them if they set up schools prepping Chinese to be schooled in America, who then would return to China in hopes that they would spread the glorious, eternal light that is believed to be America. In 1911, a Qing prince's garden in northern Beijing was taken from him by the then newly formed Nationalist Party, and thus began the legacy that is Tsinghua.
   Closed during the Cultural Revolution due to student in-fighting of anti CR and soon to be Red Guards, and an active participant of the student protest of Tiananmen, Tsinghua now boasts the largest selection of the most stereotypical nerdy Asians you could imagine. The only thing is they are all smarter and more diligent than every student at every ivory league, science school, or military prep academy in America. Their ability to study, study, and only study astounds me, and to a point of jealousy almost. My friend Mia who goes here, I've mentioned a few of her achievements already, is now going to D.C. for the international speech contest in June. Another friend is an international student who studies law here, and while she is at the top of her class amoung the foregn law students, she is not so near the summit once the Chinese students are accounted for. What's the price for all this hard work? Well a suicide occurred this week, and not one student was shaken by it. As a matter of fact, this is the second one this semester (you read that right) and is apparently long overdo for another one. Bbut the ones that do pull though add to America's universities: Tsinghua is the number one undergrad school that produces the most Ph.Ds in America (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/321/5886/185.full).
   The campus is an interesting mix of 1950s buildings and the more not-the-exact-same-color-and-style modern buildings. The gym would be a tragedy for us used to TRECS, as it is a room no bigger than a classroom, and not even open until 5p.m. Treadmills are non existent here, but there are ample amounts of tracks here on campus. these tracks are all made of revolutionary technology called concrete, which absorbs all the impact from your knees. But inside every track is a soccer field, and where there's soccer, I'm happy.
  Inside the buildings, only one door is unlocked:the south facing one. This is because of Beijing's fengshui, the mountains surround Beijing save for the south.(Another reason is that we believe Chinese buildings are built to herd people, but let's be optimistic) This is all very cultural interesting, but annoying as hell when trying to find a shortcut to the outside. Not only are all other doors closed, but they are also bolted, with metal covering the doorknob. This makes for a fun imaginary scenario if something like a fire happens. And speaking those, there have been several in the dorms. Due to mostly the AC power supply is like the energizer bunny from hell, and leaving your charger in for too long starts some sparks. I always see the notices for these fires, saying nothing was harmed, or luckily the maids managed to get to it, and then realized, I never heard anything at the time of these fires. A quick inspection around my room and sure enough, no fire alarms.
   All of this happens on a large campus, that as I said before, was a dynastic garden before the acquisition of it by the government. What this means is the campus in incredibly beautiful. That is easily seen even in the winter. Here are just a few picture.

Gotta love ice

This week we have a short break, which I'll be using to visit the coast, and some parts of the Great Wall!

Beijing

       This post is going to be about the, how shall I put this, quirks of Beijing. I say Beijing and not China, which is something I feel is very important. If someone visited only New York City and claimed that's how all Americans are, there would be a minor altercation/reeducation. So here goes.
   Let's start with a interesting yet serious matter, which incidentally, does pertain to all of China (my bad). I have made a good friend here who is a regular student at Tsinghua. Now first let me tell you what it is to be a Tsinghua student. In 2011, 10,000,000 Chinese high schoolers took the standardized test that decides what kind of college you are allowed to apply for. Of those 9,500,000 students, 3,300 are allowed into Tsinghua. Around .00035%, give or take. The education that these kids go through make the Marines look like kindergarteners. They would wake up at 4 a.m. (their teachers would insure this was so) then go to class at 10, then study all day until 11 at night, when they fell asleep. Every single day. And they pride themselves in this(which in all honesty, they have every right to), and my friend has more than once said that I grew up a "lazy American" (which, save for soccer, in all honesty.....). How important is education to these families that only get one, sometimes two kids? My friend's Chinese name says it all. QiHua, a.k.a. Mia. Qi means chess, and Hua is art, so that her name would not only grant her cleverness, but ability as well.
    Onto other, more local things. How about the weather? A clear blue sky day, trees swaying in a gentle breeze, walking to class on a wonderful end-of-Winter day. Sounds great huh? Except here's the Beijing version. Wake up, the forecast is for a beautiful sunny day. I get outside and take a good, long hard look at the sun. That's right, you can stare at the sun here. Clear blue skies here equals, the smog is so damn thick it might as well be about to rain. I fear for my lungs everyday. It truly is terrible. These past few days, extreme winds came from the mountains, which blew much of this south, so they have to worry about it now. But for the first month, I never saw the sky (no that is not a hyperbole). Smoke stacks never stop pumping...whatever it is that seems to perpetually need to be forced into the air. On an actual weather note, the temp is around 29 degrees, and the wind chill brought it down to 12 for the past three days.
   I might have alluded to the taxi drivers here, and I honestly say a quick prayer before everytime we start getting in one. Traffic light? Just a suggestion. Road lines? Who needs 'em? Pedestrians? Five points for a Chinese, twenty for a whitey. I'm not even sure if there are driver's tests, because no one, not one taxi driver, would ever legally be allowed to get behind the wheel in the States.

   Oh the potty squatties, how wonderful you smell. Not only does your inadequate plumbing have you smell like roses on a fresh spring morning, the lack of toilet paper anywhere around you just makes me smile in happiness. In all seriousness though...yeah I can't take these things seriously. I have thus avoided the squat usage of these(sometimes I'm so glad to be a guy). My friends claim they are getting used to these, and, well I won't give any more details about these conversations, but let's just say I'm happy that my room comes fully equipped with a I-sit-on-my-ass toliet.
   And speaking of my room, here's my mattress.

                                                     The bottom white is my mattress

   My Chinese pengyou says this is good for your back. My back says that it hates all my Chinese pengyou's.
  Some other quirks of my current hometown
     Alcohol is more than likely not what you think you're ordering
     An entire Chinese conversation always ends in 拜拜 (ByeBye)
    The food is incrediable (but super super oily. Watching the muffin top grow is not enjoyable)
    You also never really know what you're eating.
     There are more basketball courts on this campus than in Tennessee entirely. Not only are they always full, but everyone is really bad at basketball.
   Brothels are next to English schools(I accidentally found this out first hand on my way to a job interview)

How do YOU dry clothes?

       Most of blogs have been/will be deeper and more thoughtful. But letely, I got so homesick thinking of UT coming alive and me not being there, that I needed to look at everything in a different light. This is a place of extreme mystery, that I know I never will fully understand. But I'm starting to enjoy myself again, doing things like this.
                                                                   

I'm eating something that may or may not use to bark...

 But mostly, my days, nights, and sleep all consist of my education of Chinese. One of my new found study tips I have labeled "Character Suicides" after the soccer conditioning exercise.

You try it

         All I do is study, study, study. One day, after two full weeks of nothing but writing and remembering, I fell asleep while riding my bike. All I had done was class, eat, sleep, and study. My brain quite literally declared mutiny on this never before experienced abuse. The reward, I hope, will be worth all this effort, and China will have been worth the visit. It certainly is so far.