Chinese face

A few things had made me happy today but one of them is iffy (I’ve been knocking wood all day), so I won’t share that one yet just so I don’t jinx it.  The others follow:

• Daniel had told his former Chinese teacher (who teaches English at Heida) that one of the foods he missed from home was cheese.  So she had her husband bring back cheese from his most recent trip to France to share with her former student, who in turn shared the Laughing Cow cheese with me.  It was teh yum.
• Today, when getting dinner in the cafeteria, the server asked me directly if I was Canadian.  When I asked her how she knew, she smiled and said that the other servers told her.  It felt nice.  Sure, it’s kind of strange that the cafeteria staff talk about me (I would otherwise expect it to be that I order the same food all the time) but it’s a nice change from the taxi drivers who hear my not-so-Chinese voice and ask if I’m Korean or where I come from, just to be told I 显得 look Chinese.  I don’t mind it, of course, obviously I look Chinese (I had been talking to Andy† and Seth about this yesterday and it proves to be more convenient getting around without sticking out like my white friends do), but it was nice not to have to explain the whole 华裔 ethnic-Chinese origin thing as if it’s something particularly exciting.‡  The last time I heard something so refreshing was when another server asked me if I was Russian, or when one of Seth’s Koreans (the one they now call Cher) told me I looked European (she meant to say Asian, but it was still funny to hear).

好玩儿 Hao wan’r

Tonight I went out for dinner with my classmates in 初级A班.  If it weren’t for my fear of an icy April (truth be told, I don’t know that it can be much worse than Montreal as Montreal’s winter infrastructure wasn’t so great anyways), I’d consider staying in Harbin for the spring semester just because of tonight.  We went to a knock-off franchise of a Chinese buffet chain for German-styled food on 学府四道街 Xuefu-4 called “Hansa” *sp, where almost every class has had their 晚会 parties (it’s the closest place that is likely to seat comfortably 20 or more to a party).  I left with Daniel and Amanda/Beyonce† and the rest from A区 and even after we arrived and the Koreans took their cameras and Asian poses out, I worried it would be one of those awkward mixers, but it turned out to be super fun. 

Hitch

I finally found the motivation to ask the reception staff at the foreign students’ dorm about moving in with Jacki and I encountered my first hitch.  At first, they cited their policy of no room changes two months into the school year, but of course that was just their automatic initial response.  When I explained my situation and Jacki chirped in about her problems with Katya, they were more sympathetic but not so much that they would let Jacki move into a room with me, leaving Katya and another Russian girl in two half-empty rooms.  The idea is that they want as few half-empty rooms as possible, which I understand, but irks me.  Jacki will ask different receptionists when there is a different shift at the desk, because someone told her she could move into a single room if she paid for the difference (which is what I planned to cover by moving in) the last time she complained about Katya to them.  We’ll see how it goes.  I can technically afford to cover paying for a single room myself, which they allow for some reason, but it only solves one of our problems and I’d prefer not to pay double to live on my own but let Jacki hang out 24/7 when the Chinese government is technically covering the cost of one bed for her.   *fingers crossed this goes better when she asks later on*

Randoms

1) I had an extended conversation with a Russian in Chinese for the first time since we used to talk to Jacki’s roommate Katya.  It was with the new guy in my class from Vladivostok, Ivan.  It turns out most of the Russians in my class are all from the same Confucius Institute in Vladivostok.

2) I am sick.  I thought my throat was sore from karaoke Friday night but the only other ones who are sick are Jacki and Jenny.  Jenny says half of the Mongolian students are also sick, so I guess I got it from them.

3) Charlotte Gainsbourg apparently isn’t a cure for illness abroad.  Maybe she only helps with swine flu.  I watched Prête-moi ta main last night and it was good, but I am still sick.

4) I took a taxi home from campus again this evening because I figure I should spend less time in the cold when I’m sick (hopefully I can move onto campus soon).  Anyways, the taxi driver put on his seat belt halfway through, and I thought wtf! I think it was the second time I saw anyone wearing a seat belt in my entire time in China, and the first time, I was putting my seat belt on in Serena’s car and I felt that she was slightly offended by it.

Not in a time machine

I’m hanging out in Jenny’s room, though she is just dozing because she does not feel too well.  At the end of the last post, Andy and his friend Younis *sp showed up and we chat a while before heading to C 区.  I bought stamps for my red postcards (expecting them to print the appropriate value directly onto the cards at the counter, but no) and head to see Jacki where he roommate was getting ready to spend the afternoon with the Chinese boyfriend she accidentally acquired about a month back (heavy perfume).  we left to give them some privacy and Jacki tried to tap dance a little before deciding the cement would ruin her tap shoes.

Time evaporates

It’s weird thinking about my time here in China.  I am studying, and not traveling as much as I had planned to (fortunately, maybe, since I did not budget so well for it), but it certainly is a gap year.  I wonder if this is how it feels for exchange students still in their courses.  I take my studies fairly seriously, I think, but my grades are not so consequential, and I can’t exactly say that studying Chines eis the reason I am here ~ perhaps like a means to being here… here being away, or simply abroad.  That said, I think my Chinese is improving and it isn’t totally empty flattery when locals tell me it’s decent (for a foreign student anyways).

Yesterday, a taxi driver mentioned Norman Bethune to me. 

Routines

My sister asked me to update my blog, so here are some things: I’m pretty satisfied with my life in Harbin these days, so much so that I almost regret my decision to go elsewhere next semester… almost.  Natasha, a classmate with brilliant blue eyes from Moscow who began 黑大 Heida in the spring semester, said it stays icy here until April and I don’t think I could handle that.  It won’t be difficult to visit my friends by train if I end up in Beijing anyways.

Recapping the last ten days

Kat taking one of many photos at the 颐和园 Summer Palace

I can’t actually remember what I was doing on specific days but fortunately I am an adept stapler (if that makes sense… basically I am keeping ticket stubs and the like in a notebook).  By the way, this gets really long:

Boarded safely

20:58 Boarded safely with time to spare and hanging out on my bunk already which I’m sure is not the norm.  In my cabin, in the berth across from me is a Chinese dude, probably in his late 20s, but really, who can tell.  This T train is a bit older than the first sleeper I took to Xi’an with Ally and Laurence back in 2007 but it does the job.

At least it’s consistent

It wasn’t a late night last night so of course I woke up before 7am.  It’s good to know I haven’t lost the inability to sleep in while on holiday.  Around quarter after, it occured to me that I could get discount breakfast at Bridge Cafe (between 4 and 8am), so I left a note by Ben and Verena’s water cooler and headed out.   When I got there, the cafe which is supposed to be open 24 hours (the sign’s still there) was closed, so I now I’m at Lush, just about the only customer.  In the corner there was a table of Corona-drinkers, but now it’s just two guys at the bar and the staff.  At least this means the service will be fast.  I spilled sugar all over the table trying to pour exactly half a  spoonful.