The Middle Kingdom

At last I have arrived! After months of hairpulling preparations and fiascos, I am a student of Tsinghua University Language Program. Getting off my plane and getting my luggage was routine. Queuing for the taxi was simple. The “black taxi” drivers were there as well, trying to lure me in. But one thing I’ve discovered to differentiate between legitimate taxi drivers and the black taxis is the fact that no real taxi driver speaks English.

After a fairly long ride I was on the campus. A few more fiascos later with the foreign office I had my keys to my room. By this time it was well into the evening, and I’d not eaten. I chose KFC in Wudaokao (a shopping mini district inside the Haidian district). After eating my first KFC meal ever (and probably my last) I returned to my dorm and moped around, waiting for sleep to overtake me.

The morning dawned and with it came my 20^th birthday. Most people say that 20 is a very dull celebration, for it lacks any sort of milestone, but to spend it alone in a strange land was even worse than a dull night out with my close friends.  

At this point I again have to say I am abbreviating. For the next few hours is indescribable. In the dull roar that was the student coffee shop, over a dozen different accents could be heard. I shook hands with people from around the world; all brought together by the desire to further study Chinese. The Canadians with their funny o’s were easy to hear. The Dutch kids, speaking rapidly to their newfound friends from the same country. Australians and their “English”. There were Finnish, Swiss, French, Columbians, Malaysians, Chinese, Russians, Koreans, and a smattering of Brits and Americans. It was an amazing experience just to feel and see and hear all these cultures interact and form friendships in a matter of minutes, and now, over a week.  Not only was everyone amiable and  sociable, but once word got around that some American sap was entering his third decade of life that very day, a cry for celebration was called for. Everyone seconded and third this notion, and all of a sudden, I had a birthday party in front of me.

This hospitality has continued on to this day, a week after I arrived. As would be expected, it is less of one big group and many more small groups have formed.  It is not clickish though (save for the group from Georgia that came together) and everyone is always happen to have a few more people join them in whatever endeavor they happen to be on at that moment.  I myself have made good friends with a Brit, a Canadian and one person from Indiana.

Having brought my blog up to speed with the current events, I would like to do a small “thinking” section, and not just talk about happenings. China is a very odd country. Besides having no traffic laws other than “every man for himself” and a discouraging lack of manners, I mean. I can see the oppression at work, but then not really. For the most part, it is easy to see the fact that it is hidden, behind this facade of capitalism. It is very difficult to understand, but even harder to explain. Cameras are at every corner, a soldier wearing a color I have deemed “party green” is present every so often, guarding nothing more than a patch of grass it seems. Facebook, YouTube, as well as googling the word “liberty” are all blocked, yet nearly every city person has access to all of these, without consequences. Books denouncing the evils of the west can be found at nearly every book vendor, who is probably sitting next to a McDonalds, Nikon, and Vera Bradley stores, whilst a massive screen above him advertises Coca-Cola and American movies.

                I will continue to watch and understand China, or at least Beijing. I am extremely anticipating going outside the city and to see mountainous areas. Until then, I have 30 degree weather with a fantastic wind-chill and less than 0% humidity.

South Korea

I left my family on a quiet Sunday morning early February. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world; I am for the most part an adult (at least on paper). But it had an odd bitter sweet taste too it. My family includes my parents and other relatives, as well as my good friends, and a comfortable city which I had grown to appreciate and enjoy. My dreams of learning a new language where finally about to be thrust into the forefront of my priorities however, and how eager I was for that to happen. As a young kid I would sit in the library listening to the German tape our middle school had, trying to grab a sense of the gibberish being spoken. I once “borrowed” a book from my father about learning Latin. But now, at the age of twenty, I was finally making a decision to become serious about learning languages, and gathering an understanding of the world outside my little valley.

      But first, I was to first journey reunite with a recently travelled family member: my brother. The flight to Chicago was routine. The international terminal security was so speedy and efficient that I was not at all frustrated by the time I had to nearly undress and walk through the X-Ray machine bare naked three times. Upon entering the plane and checking the rows, I found out I would be sitting in the middle seat of the middle row. As I approached my number, I saw a rather large man sitting on the aisle seat of the middle row. Rather large is a wee bit of a nicety. I did a quick little prayer to the airplane seat gods in desperation. They seem to have been busy that morning though, and grudgingly I took my cramped seat next to him.

        The fourteen hour plane ride proved not to be terrible. Both of my partners in uncomfortabelness were nice, and small talk was easy to come by. The free wine made also made it more bearable.  The plane descended and soon I was in my first foreign country: South Korea. It was dark, and I was not able to see much. I did however manage to acquire a ticket in very broken English to Gwangju in the south. I had two seconds to spare before the bus left, and was not able to tell anyway where I was or tell my brother when I would be at the bus station. This was solved at the pit stop two hour later (yes a fourteen hour plane ride then a four hour bus ride). After yelling frustratingly at the complicated payphones, I finally figured out through my jet lagged fog how to use one of them. Two hours later my brother picked me up, and we went to his place. Midnight now, I passed out.

This is all an abbreviated version of what happen, and I hope my China posts are a little bit less formal and stiff. I have not had time to sit down and write in some weeks, due to the excitement of everything. My first day in Korea was very enjoyable however. Gwangju was what Logan and I called “a big little city” Not extremely busy, the hustle and bustle of other major cities seemed absent. What were not absent were shops. More specifically, bra, shoe, and coffee shops. Never have I seen such a great number of bras and shoes in a small area. I mean they were E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. There could not be even that many girls to buy all that, it was insane. And the coffee shops were so populous they made orange on a UT football game day seem rare. I did find one I liked, and studied there while my brother was at work.

   Seeing Logan was definitely a great way to start my adventure. It had nearly been a year and was thoroughly happy to stay with him. We had never been particularly close until I went to college. But now our interests and age had grown closer, and we (well I at least) were able to enjoy my week there. My favorite memory of Korea was walking through a completely silent Gwangju at one in the morning with Logan. Snow had fallen for the past two days, and was still continuing to at that time.  All was silent save our footsteps in the snow, crunching our way back home. The lights illuminated the drifting snow, and no cars broke the scene. It was a serenity I had never seen nor felt before.

For my birthday, Logan had booked tickets to tour the DMZ between North and South Korea. I knew virtually little about the history between the two, but was greatly educated by the tour. I learned all about how Korea was only a pawn for the USSR/US cold war. And now, one side has no trees and we worry about even today, and the other is a flourishing society. We learned all about the hope for unification so one day families could be reunited. By far however, seeing the actual guards at the border and being able to step into North Korea was an amazing experience. It was by no means truly dangerous, and even though it was only a few feet, it made me realize that it was still only a few feet. It amazes me what humanity will do to protect a few yards or so, just because. WE squabble over this tiny Earth, and even though I know some alliances cannot be made, and some damages repaired, I wish we have the foresight to prevent such horrible atrocities such as massive wars all because of a mineral or resource. Some would say (and I would probably agree) that that is too naïve or innocent, but it is a wish nonetheless.

 Sunday afternoon I hugged my brother goodbye, and hopped onto a plane taking me to my true destination: the ever changing world of Beijing, China.

Departure

      I wanted to use my first post while I was still in the states. I leave soon for China, where I'll be studying abroad at Tsinghua University. My goal is to have mastered speaking Chinese after my six months there are completed. This will be an absolute immersion program, and boy am I nervous. It never really registered that I was leaving until yesterday. All this time of preparation and red tape, it just felt like some other chore I had to do, another quirk in the life of growing responsibility. Now, I realized I won't be living in the fort, with the highest crime rate in Knoxville being one attempted armed robbery every four weeks. No, now I'll be in the northwest district of  just shy of fourth largest city in the world Beijing.
       I would like to take this post and use it to thank a few people, first of which is my family. Without the support of them(despite some of the "true" hearsay stories they've heard) this would never be possible. My friends, naturally, have been supportive as well. Mostly in the way of cookies and cake, which received no complaints from me. There are two people in particular that deserve name recognition. The first would be my brother, Logan. I get hell from everybody saying how much we look/talk/laugh/write like each other. Add that to the fact that I'm earning a history major like him, it's hard to argue the point. Regardless of all that though, without him living in South Korea it never would have seemed possible to go abroad. I come from a family that has stayed in Knoxville for centuries, and even in college I never fully understood that I was old enough to make my own choices. Not just ones of drinking or going to class or studying, but true decisions, where I decide the course of my future. The second, and very prominent person, is my mother. After a few deep breaths (actually a couple of days worth) when I told her I too, her younger son, would be leaving, she was gung-ho about it. She paid for passport expenses, and countless other things, as well as making sure I was well prepared for every step of the process. She has been the unsung hero of my life, and these last few months have been no exception.
    With that, I now prepare to pack up the last few things and leave the country for the first time ever (Canada never counts).  The next time I write I will be in my spacious and luxurious corner of a room.
                                                                  再見美國