After classes started, it seems like everything has been mellowing down a bit and there hasn’t been as much activity going on. Classes have been getting much more difficult in general though because typically when students stay for an academic year at Tsinghua University, they skip a level in Chinese. When you switch from the Intermediate level to Advanced level for example, the class structure changes and instead of a Listening class, you start taking a Writing class in place of it with the addition of some electives. I wound up taking a mix of Advanced and Intermediate classes to adjust for my own level, although they don’t typically allow this at Tsinghua University. Syracuse University students have somewhat of a privilege to be able to do this because we do not take the full semester of Tsinghua University classes, instead replacing part of the program with our two-week signature seminar trips. However, it can be really difficult readjusting your schedule because of the limited amount of classes that exist within a regular week for each subject.
Writing turned out to be a sore subject for me personally. It’s been similar to my CLS experience in that the professor guides students towards more creative writing under guidelines rather than just writing for the sake of getting the assignment done. Yet for me that has always been the issue at hand, even in my English writing courses. Listening in the Intermediate level was always difficult for me too, with the General Chinese classes being typically easier, though other students have often said that the opposite is true for them. It all kind of depends on the student. CLS allowed us to switch between the class levels just because of this, so it’s a shame Tsinghua University doesn’t typically allow mixing different levels as well. But regardless of what level you are placed in, it is important that you feel challenged in the course you are in but not so much so that you’re certain you’ll fail.
In addition to our regular Chinese and Tsinghua University courses, we also have our monthly assignments and meetings to finish the final credit of our signature seminar course. These assignments incorporate our experiences abroad and have us reflect on what we’ve seen and learned about China. Then in the meetings, we share our experiences with the other students in our group and reflect off of each other’s experiences. Along with these meetings, we still see each other monthly for lunch just like last semester. It seems as though each semester when a new group has come in, the relationship between everyone has been largely different. In the Fall Semester group, everyone was more connected to each other and stayed connected even after classes ended. Meanwhile in the Spring Semester group, people strayed off into their own groups of friends and were joined by people from other programs. Being in a study abroad program with other people can be a very bonding experience and allows you the chance to meet people from all over the world. You begin to notice how foreigners tend to stick with each other in general and form groups of their own in China based on common interests. It may feel more difficult to connect with the locals because of the differences in culture, or maybe simply because you feel out of place in the country, but that shouldn’t prevent you from getting to know them. Oftentimes, I’ve found people in Beijing to be very open and friendly, and they love making friends with foreigners. On the other hand, sometimes I’ve felt as though people only come up to me to improve their English rather than to try to get to know me, which can be frustrating if you’re trying to practice your Chinese and they only respond in English. It’s not rude to ask them to only speak Chinese under the circumstances, but it can sometimes be worth considering starting a language partnership with others.
Later in the month, our SU group took a trip to the Great Wall. At the base, you could go into some shops for souvenirs and snacks, as well as a Burger King for lunch. After riding the chairlift up to the top of the wall, I saw a beautiful mountain scenery in the background with some cherry blossom trees starting to bloom. Walking on the Great Wall turned out to be really good for exercise and a euphoric experience in itself just for the sake of being at one of the world’s greatest monuments. Although, I would say exploring the non-refurbished part of the Great Wall is a much greater experience. Continuing walking on the wall with my classmates, we saw a lot of Chinese characters etched into the walls of the towers. In one tower, there was a paper mat where people could sign their names without defacing the wall itself, although it was difficult to find any space on it. After climbing to the top of the tower, we watched as a bunch of foreigners started taking photos of themselves with a huge stretch of the wall going off into the distance for the background. Two of them started taking embarrassing photos of themselves mooning to the camera, with onlookers turning away and blushing. Once we were back on the main stretch of the wall again, some joggers ran past us. We were exhausted just walking up and down the stairs, following the contours of the hill that the wall was laid out on. It was a wonder how they had the stamina, but I have to admit that running on the wall had to have earned them some bragging rights. Finally as we were about to head back, we realized that we had only conquered half the battle and would have to start walking all the way back to where we started. Once we reached the end though, we got to leave in the best way. There was a toboggan slide people took to go back down from the top of the wall, but the workers managing the slide were really grumpy and kept screaming at all of the tourists to get on and to put their phones away. That didn’t spoil the fun though, it was kind of amusing to watch because so many people were doing it anyways, but admittedly it was a little dull going down because we couldn’t go as fast as we wanted. They had security guards watching at different parts of the slide to make sure nobody was speeding or playing with their phones. At the bottom of the slide were a couple of guys dressed in some Chinese style clothing waiting to take photos with whatever tourists were willing to pay the small fee. One of them walked up to me and offered to take the photo for free, guilt-tripping me into giving him the fee anyways. After going home that night, I realized I got a bad sunburn from our trip. It's important to either bring some sunscreen and a hat or an umbrella if you’re planning a trip to the Great Wall.
I finished off this month by getting a tattoo at a shop in Sanlitun. It turns out there are a lot of skilled artists in Beijing, but typically it seems it is more expensive to get a tattoo in China. If you save up the extra money, however, it can be a really memorable souvenir. I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity during the Fall Semester to actually design a tattoo for one of my friends while they were still in China. From my experience, the artists I met excelled at inking traditional Chinese style tattoos. They often incorporated a lot of details and vivid colors into their drawings and were very careful about placement on the body. Vicious dragons coiled around the arm, peaceful koi fish swimming in an endless cycle, and other creatures associated with Chinese lore are some of the more intricate tattoos I have spotted. I’ve seen a couple with scary demons or haunting women with children in a couple of the shops I visited, though I questioned whether those were more Japanese styled. Another couple of styles that have really been starting to become popular are the watercolor design and the geometric pattern tattoos. Tattoos in China aren’t as socially accepted as they are in America though, so relatively speaking you don’t see as many people here with them, particularly women. I went in to get a tattoo on my back of a tribal dragon and pixiu 貔貅 (a common Chinese mythical creature you can see statues of almost everywhere). After I left, I went into a bathroom to quickly fix the wrapping around my waist so that my still sensitive skin wouldn’t chafe against the shirt, and as I walked in there was a woman who was trying on some new clothing with a friend. As soon as I lifted part of my shirt, she came over excitedly and started ripping off the wrapping to see the tattoo, realizing only after that I wasn’t actually trying to take it off. When I asked her if she would ever get a tattoo herself, on the other hand, she wasn’t too keen on the idea, as neither have been the other Chinese women I have asked here. Most of them have told me it's because getting a tattoo in China can make it more difficult to get a good job, or sometimes it was simply because they saw it as being unfeminine. Although, there are definitely some women who get them.
On an interesting note, when I was still in the process of getting my tattoo done, my artist asked if I’d want to serve as a model for one of his own designs and offered to do it completely free. However, my mind had been set already on only doing tribal designs for the time being. I wonder though whether or not this may mean other foreigners may be more likely to run into this same kind of opportunity, as it seems foreign models are becoming more common in advertisements. I feel that in general, foreigners who are able to speak at least some Mandarin are more likely to run into these kinds of opportunities because it usually gets people more interested in speaking with them (though I wouldn't recommend following through on such a deal unless you could verify it was authentic- safety first!). Compared to when I was in the U.S. getting my first tattoo, the atmosphere of these shops was pretty similar, with images of women, skulls, and hip art things decorating the rooms. It came to my surprise when I walked into the shop where I got my tattoo done and there was a neon sign shaped as breasts, since China always seemed like a relatively conservative place. It seems like in general there is a little bit of awkwardness when it comes to sex topics in China. I remember hearing about this in my Chinese history class while I was still in SU, how it is in part due to the Great Leap Forward and the loss of gender identity during that time period. Although, it seems younger generations are becoming more and more open about their relationships in public, as in American culture. I was surprised when I even saw a sex shop in Jianguomen 建国门, but then again it was also in an area with a lot of foreigners and embassy buildings. On television and on the radio though, it's not as mainstream as what you see in Western culture.
