Beijing, here we come!

So, my original blog was konganhe.livejournal.com, but it hasn't worked very well for me in China so far, so I'm trying out a new one.

We arrived in Beijing today (June 11th) via overnight train. There is a LOT less pollution here than any of the other cities we've seen, probably because they are preparing for the Olympics. It is almost like a cloudy day with a hint of blue sky! My room is in Donglou (West Building), where only about 12 of the 76 people are staying...the rest are in the Xilou (East Building). I am excited to meet everyone!

Classes start on Monday with orientation the next few days, so I hope to work on outlining my visit to Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou.

A couple of cultural observations I made in the past couple days.

1) Rule: In China, if you comment or compliment someone on something, they are likely to give it to you.

Truth or Fiction: We were walking on the streets of Hangzhou at night and saw an older couple relaxing and enjoying their watermelon (xigua) outside of their family restaurant. We said hi and I said "Xigua zenmeyang?" (How is the watermelon?) They immediately cut up the second half and emphatically insisted that we eat it and take some to the rest of the group across the street. I felt kind of bad after this incident because I'd just denied this couple the rest of their watermelon! However, I decided I should put past my feelings and learn from this experience. My innocent (and intended to be in passing) question turned into a gift of 1/2 watermelon as a sign of respect? kindness? generosity?. Whatever the case may be, this experience was an excellent example of this cultural tendency.

2) Forming a line is an abstract concept. We've experienced this in many places; checking tickets at the train station, waiting in line at the museum, waiting in line for food. Similar to their driving habits, it is not uncommon to have people "ditch" you in line or simply walk in front of you. Just as with sneezing or burping, bumping into someone (unless it is a hard bump) does not warrant an excuse me. In fact, there is no word that means "pardon me" as it does in the English language. If I were to accidentally injure someone in some way, I would say duibuqi, but simply going through a crowd involves making way for someone else or pushing your own way through. This is probably the easiest way to feel the sense of the collective society: in some ways nice because people don't think it's a problem if you push through them, in other ways annoying because when you are hefting a 60 lb suitcase through a narrow hallway, it's hard to get anywhere. The feeling is that if you get there first, go for it. If you are slower, you will get there in time. We'll all get there eventually.