Hello all,
On Thursday (Wednesday in the US) I arrived in China after two flights, one of which was another (glorious) United flight from Dulles Airport to Beijing. Following that flight, we then had a prolonged 6 hour layover in Beijing's mammoth capital airport, where I had to go through customs in a line bluntly marked "foreigners." Going from part one to part two of a single terminal required a five minute train ride, so as you can imagine, our journey from terminal three to terminal two required a twenty minute train ride. Our flight from Beijing to Xi'an arrived fairly late, however were still able to view much of Xi'an from the bus that took us from the airport to Qujiang, the neighborhood in which all NSLI-Y Xi'an students live and attend school. Qujiang is one of those regions of China that has not yet found a means of controlling itself. It could possibly be described as a very large version of Times Square without the tall buildings. It is full of American stores, as well as original Chinese franchises with huge illuminated signs, and an adoration for Tang Dynasty China. It fulfills this love for the Tang Dynasty by building as many buildings as possible in a classical Chinese style. The entire neighborhood surrounds the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, an seven story giant pagoda that (actually) hails from the Tang Dynasty, in the middle of an enormous park full of statues, as well as Tang Paradise, a theme park without rides that is also constructed in a Tang Dynasty style.
After arriving late in Xi'an, I was introduced to my host family, a very nice family, with three kids, however only two of their kids are currently at home. They have an adorable three year old, as well as an eigth grader. I am told their 16 year old son will arrive on July 15th. They host parents and three year old don't speak any Chinese, which is definitely best from improvement. My host brother speaks some English, but not enough to carry on a conversation, so it's only used for occasional speaking. My speaking is basically limited to only Chinese, providing for occasional communication difficulties.
After arriving, we had a free day, which I spent playing with my three year old host brother, going over certain important characters, registering at the police station, and later, going to see Transformers 4. Chinese movie theaters are definitely more comfortable than those in the United States, seeing as they give you very comfortable armchairs rather than seats. The next day, we had an orientation in Qujiang No 1 High School, which consisted of many introductions in Chinese and English from students and teachers, as well as a Chinese test, which I hope will place me in an appropriate level of Chinese classes. After a lunch in the school cafeteria, I was brought to 曲江南池, a beautiful giant park, containing a huge lake on the outskirts of Xi'an, full of many more Tang Dynasty style buildings. Afterward, I went with my host brother to KTV, a Karaoke bar where groups of friends can rent rooms, which is incredibly popular among Chinese teenagers.
Today, I got to experience much more of Xi'an's history, by heading to the city center, within Xi'an's grand walls. Here my host mother dropped me off at her brother's apartment, where her brother, and his granddaughter took me around various parts of Xi'an's old city. We first stopped at Xi'an's great mosque, which was a beautiful syncretic place, constructed in a classical Chinese style, contrary to our traditional Middle Eastern images of mosques. It is filled with wonderful mixtures of Chinese and Arabic steles, all of which contain carefully sculpted calligraphy. We got there by walking through Xi'an's Muslim Quarter, which features many small market stalls run by local members of China's Islamic Hui ethnic group. This reminded me a lot of the various souks that can be found in Middle Eastern countries, even featuring similar smells. This was followed by a short walk to Xi'an's drum tower, a giant Ming Dynasty structure, that occupies a large portion of the City Wall. Afterward, we headed to their apartment for a delicious lunch, and a bus ride back to Qujiang
Looking forward to the next six weeks,
Ben Weinstein
On Thursday (Wednesday in the US) I arrived in China after two flights, one of which was another (glorious) United flight from Dulles Airport to Beijing. Following that flight, we then had a prolonged 6 hour layover in Beijing's mammoth capital airport, where I had to go through customs in a line bluntly marked "foreigners." Going from part one to part two of a single terminal required a five minute train ride, so as you can imagine, our journey from terminal three to terminal two required a twenty minute train ride. Our flight from Beijing to Xi'an arrived fairly late, however were still able to view much of Xi'an from the bus that took us from the airport to Qujiang, the neighborhood in which all NSLI-Y Xi'an students live and attend school. Qujiang is one of those regions of China that has not yet found a means of controlling itself. It could possibly be described as a very large version of Times Square without the tall buildings. It is full of American stores, as well as original Chinese franchises with huge illuminated signs, and an adoration for Tang Dynasty China. It fulfills this love for the Tang Dynasty by building as many buildings as possible in a classical Chinese style. The entire neighborhood surrounds the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, an seven story giant pagoda that (actually) hails from the Tang Dynasty, in the middle of an enormous park full of statues, as well as Tang Paradise, a theme park without rides that is also constructed in a Tang Dynasty style.
After arriving late in Xi'an, I was introduced to my host family, a very nice family, with three kids, however only two of their kids are currently at home. They have an adorable three year old, as well as an eigth grader. I am told their 16 year old son will arrive on July 15th. They host parents and three year old don't speak any Chinese, which is definitely best from improvement. My host brother speaks some English, but not enough to carry on a conversation, so it's only used for occasional speaking. My speaking is basically limited to only Chinese, providing for occasional communication difficulties.
After arriving, we had a free day, which I spent playing with my three year old host brother, going over certain important characters, registering at the police station, and later, going to see Transformers 4. Chinese movie theaters are definitely more comfortable than those in the United States, seeing as they give you very comfortable armchairs rather than seats. The next day, we had an orientation in Qujiang No 1 High School, which consisted of many introductions in Chinese and English from students and teachers, as well as a Chinese test, which I hope will place me in an appropriate level of Chinese classes. After a lunch in the school cafeteria, I was brought to 曲江南池, a beautiful giant park, containing a huge lake on the outskirts of Xi'an, full of many more Tang Dynasty style buildings. Afterward, I went with my host brother to KTV, a Karaoke bar where groups of friends can rent rooms, which is incredibly popular among Chinese teenagers.
Today, I got to experience much more of Xi'an's history, by heading to the city center, within Xi'an's grand walls. Here my host mother dropped me off at her brother's apartment, where her brother, and his granddaughter took me around various parts of Xi'an's old city. We first stopped at Xi'an's great mosque, which was a beautiful syncretic place, constructed in a classical Chinese style, contrary to our traditional Middle Eastern images of mosques. It is filled with wonderful mixtures of Chinese and Arabic steles, all of which contain carefully sculpted calligraphy. We got there by walking through Xi'an's Muslim Quarter, which features many small market stalls run by local members of China's Islamic Hui ethnic group. This reminded me a lot of the various souks that can be found in Middle Eastern countries, even featuring similar smells. This was followed by a short walk to Xi'an's drum tower, a giant Ming Dynasty structure, that occupies a large portion of the City Wall. Afterward, we headed to their apartment for a delicious lunch, and a bus ride back to Qujiang
Looking forward to the next six weeks,
Ben Weinstein