I Should Never Be A Gambler

This Wednesday there was a lot of relief when we could all speak English again which manifested into taking it easy and napping often. I, of course, didn’t partake in such frivolities like “naps.” It was the day that I fell to the pull of Western food though and for dinner ended up with a plate of what I had originally thought was Spaghetti Bolognese (which I ordered), but when the name translated to “Spicy Beef”...I was concerned. It was definitely one of the better pasta dishes I’ve had, just hard to eat at times. It stayed very true to the name “Spicy Beef.” Later that night we gathered again in Jonathan and Brandon’s room to play some Dokopan Kingdom, which is that strange version of Mario Party. We all spent the next couple hours laughing our heads off and then went to bed,

Thursday, Brandon wasn’t in class. Generally this wouldn’t have been an issue. Sure, Chinese classes are small but the difference between ten and nine people isn’t a whole lot. In Kunming though my class is two people: Brandon and myself. So the difference was definitely felt. I went into the day a little apprehensive and expected the usual rigor just with no partner to share the pain, but it turned into one of my actual best days here. My first teacher and I didn’t progress very far in the text book and she instead took every opportunity to tell me about particular cultural aspects in China. We talked about fashion, technology, even giant Pandas! I tried my best to talk about similar topics about America in Chinese, but sometimes had to resort to English. All in all though it was a great class. We spend so much time here under the guise of “Language and Culture” but apart from weekends, the “Culture” aspect is severely lacking. We have a two hours each week with something China-like, but our other days are filled with things we could do anywhere. It just seems like there’s more we could do, so doing some of that and learning about Chinese youth was really cool. What I found kind of scary though is the College admissions process.

In China, there is one state-produced test given annually for kids trying to get into College. It’s over two days, and entire streets shut down with extra police presence focused solely on making sure cars don’t honk and upset the students. Taxis give free rides to students taking the exams, people come out in droves to cheer them on….where was my SAT procession??

Second class was more traditional in nature. It started with a discussion on the vocab words but then the teacher and I spent a long time discussing what would help me the most in learning Chinese. I definitely struggle to keep up with Brandon and I’m so happy she noticed. It turned into a 1-on-1 tutoring session and I went back to the room that afternoon with a bunch of new ideas on how to study. Best possible outcome.

I went out to lunch with Alec, Brandon, and Jonathon. We actually ended up at the restaurant Kyongnam, Bradon and I went with a bunch of language partners a couple weeks ago. It was delicious and had a lot of the same artwork as the other location, which was kind of crazy because it wasn’t exactly the same. Instead they opted for blown-up segments of the art. Odd, but still cool. In the afternoon, Alec and I tried the Chinese card game I’ve been obsessing a little over: It’s called Seer, and there is no English translation. So, I had made my own. There were still a few holes in my understanding though so I was hoping to iron those out. Instead, we just sat with our “duel mats” and our decks feeling like children and trying so hard to stay serious when one of Alec’s cards told him to yell “Happy New Year!” and it would get more powerful.

That evening Alec and I headed to the Amor Cafe close to the hotel for some consistent wifi that would help us complete our International business project for the presentations on Friday. I think we were there for a solid five hours...we put out a very solid minimalist power point, and spent a lot of the time hashing out ideas that we think could be good if we can actually put time and money into making the idea a reality. I come home wiped at eleven and just passed out.

Friday. Brandon and I were able to avoid a test on top of our presentations but class dragged along real slowly in the morning. I just couldn’t wait until the afternoon and in the meantime I just wanted to get through class. When it eventually did end, we left quickly and met Alec again at the Amor cafe so I could email our power point to Jonathan. They actually have decent food for a cafe, and because I kept my order simple I was able to order entirely in Mandarin! I may or may not have ordered a Coke just because I knew I could…After that we rehearsed for a little bit and then it was presentation time!

So these International Business presentations I think are supposed to be one of the final projects of the Culture class. Brandon, Alec, and I did one together so it was in front of the rest of the dialogue and a panel of 4 judges. Each group gives their idea of a product or business that could create a relationship between the United States and China with three winning teams receiving cash prizes. Grades have gone out, but they’re not going to tell us who won until “graduation” next week. It was a little nerve-wracking, but a lot of fun.

After all of that, Alec and I taught our language partners how to play Texas Hold ‘em and we just played games until the afternoon time was up. I quickly realized the gambling life isn’t for me, and went bankrupt twice in the time we played. Or maybe I just need more practice…Either way, it was fun to do something other than work with the language partners and just relax for a little bit. A great ending to a stressful day. After that, we took a little break before dinner. Julie, Mary, and I went to the Korean Restaurant where I finally tried this thing called Bibnbop? It’s basically a bunch of random ingredients with an egg on top in a hot bowl. It turned out better than I thought it would! We met up with Brandon for drinks at Salvador’s right after and Julie told the rest of us all about upper level Comp Sci at Northeastern. She actually walked at Graduation last May, but needs this dialogue for a comparative cultures credit. So really she’s a wealth of Computer Science information and has offered to reach out and talk to the various companies she has connections with for future co-ops. Woohoo connections!

The night was pretty tame after that, we came back and met up with a couple other people and just talked for a while, then Duncan and I caught Pirates of the Caribbean on TV.