Into the Rabbithole

Here I am, typing up my first blog entry in China on Microsoft Word. Yes, on Microsoft Word because of this bitch-ass molasses internet. Ah well, at least I have unblocked internet now. It’s not fun being behind the Great Firewall of China. :(

Look at what greeted me at the Nanjing Airport Arrivals Terminal!

My very first Engrish! :D

I landed here in Nanjing 7 days ago with 40kg of luggage and an address on hand. My temporary home was called Jin’s Place, a crappy overpriced motel near school that played host to lovely groups of people, including one anonymous individual that deposited a healthy amount of puke on the stairwell as I was on my way to my first day of orientation. Promising, indeed.

The first meal I had in Nanjing.

I was not very adventurous... :p

So much has happened in the last week, but mainly on the logistical and not the academic side. I probably skipped 75% of Orientation trying to figure out my living situation, which was priority in my book. Orientation from my perspective was a lot of ass-covering from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center (中美中心) administration to the incoming class on what not to do and what not to do. A lot of Don't, No's, and Nevers. There were a lot of rules going around that were better suited for 8th Grade summer camp, but now that I’ve been here for a bit longer, I realize that HNC has a lot to lose if there's a loose cannonball... the institution exists by the good graces of the Chinese Government.

A vast majority of HNC students live on campus, and the dorm building is literally next to the classrooms. Nanjing University also has a pretty large foreign student constituency, and they lived only 200m away. I realized that keeping all the international students quarantined in this sector was most likely a control mechanism.

Since I live off-campus though, I got to experience China for all its glory outside the Green Zone. Jin’s Puke Palace wasn’t my cup of tea, so I made quick work searching out a real estate agent around Gulou District (鼓樓區). It was actually quite easy, their office being just across the street from my 5-star motel. I made friends with 23-year old boys fresh out of college, who played my guide to Nanjing. 小貝，小農，小王 were all very very very nice and hard-working young men, albeit a little rough around the edges. I was prepared to be hustled as soon as I stepped into China, but I have yet to experience that… knock on wood. No matter where you go, people are always, always, always yelling at each other. That sort of behavior automatically puts me on edge. I was appalled at first – why are you verbally kicking that dude’s ass? But then you notice that they’re smiling at each other, or that the context is one in fun and jest. So don’t be alarmed, it’s just the way that they talk normally since I guess it’s the only way to be heard in a city of almost 8 million.

People huddled around a mesmorizing street game of cards. Big 2, perhaps?

Aside from dealing with the real estate agents, I had to interact extensively with the landlord, the internet people, the delivery people, the furniture set-up people, the police, the taxi drivers, the waiters… and I’m so happy that I do not live on campus, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to understand what real world Nanjing is like. This is my take thus far, and it is definitely subject to change: people in Nanjing are straight-forward, bossy, and relatively unhappy… but the ones that I have met have generally gone out of their way to complete a job, to answer a request, and to be an overall good person. Of course, maybe I’ve been lucky or perhaps my expectations were too low to begin with, but I haven’t had such a hard time settling in so far. Also unlike Taiwan, no one in Nanjing singles me out for being “not from this place (你看起來不是從這裡來的吧？)”, which is refreshing like hell. People here in Nanjing speak very different from how we were taught at ICLP, so even if you mispronounce or sound a bit funky, it won’t ring any alarms at all. The only way that they discern that you’re perhaps an Overseas Chinese is if you don’t understand what they mean about something (How do you say internet router in Chinese?!!!). Despite China being 97% Han Chinese, it really is quite heterogeneous.

[Edit: heterogenous purely if you're ethnically Chinese, but overwhelmingly homogeneous otherwise.]

The Chinese have no shame in square-dancing in open areas.

This usually happens very early in the morning or late at night.

Nanjing has a ridiculous population density. I almost had an aneurysm shopping at Wal-mart at Xinjiekou (新街口) the other day, and it’s possible that that experience is the exact reason why I have a terrible cold right now. Do not go out on weekends in Nanjing. It is extremely unpleasant and you will want to mow people down if you have a shopping cart at hand. And don’t be surprised with someone coughs/sneezes/farts/spits on you. Walking around is a bit stressful when you have to watch out for all sorts of vehicles that don’t give a rat’s ass that you end up plastered on their windshield. On the other hand, the pedestrians don’t seem like they care either if they get run over either. You’d be astonished by how adept they play Frogger.

I have yet to see blue skies here in Nanjing, and I think my nasty cold is being aggravated by the pollution as well as an elevated stress level. Oh well, this is China and most of the Chinese seem to be resigned to a certain health standard. I’ve had to eat out everyday this week and the sudden spike in sodium levels has made me perpetually lethargic. I’m going to hire a maid (阿姨 as they call it in China) to cook for me. Apparently they only cost 10-13 Yuan an hour, which is about $1.5-2.0 USD… a more than reasonable monetary exchange for my well-being I think!

First day of class tomorrow!

Dum dum dum...!