Hey! It's been less than two weeks!

You may have noticed that I have been slightly more verbose this week than I have been in the past. Well, my computer has risen from the dead just in time for Halloween.  We have had a Halloween party which was a big success, which I will happily talk about, but not at the moment because I don't really have a way to tell it yet coherently.  But yeah!  Lots of writing!

Like Riding A Bike

This Friday I got a bicycle!  I haven't ridden since I was in middle school, but I got one for 130 yuan with a lock thrown in.  I should say, I picked the bike, and then Ruth and Jane (you may remember an earlier post talking about some girls who gave me moon cakes and some hand made flowers.  That was Ruth and Jane) bargained it down.  It has a white rose on it, which I did not see before I bought it, so I want to call it 薔薇 which means rose in Japanese.

(A side note about the word  薔薇.  My Japanese is not as sharp as it once was, so I checked to make sure that I remembered it correctly.  I did.  But I also discovered that there are two ways of saying  薔薇 which I was unaware of, which also mean rose.  The first, the one I knew, was 'bara' ばら.  The second and third, 'soubi' and 'shoubi' そうび としょうび are written using the exact same characters.  About a week ago I was listening to someone explain to the foreigners who speak better Chinese why they think foreigners have a hard time reading since some characters have more than one way to be read.  Ha!  I say, ha!)

Yesterday I rode my new bike around campus, especially up and down the street behind our apartments next to the track field, which has little to no traffic.  Today I rode it to the convenience store on campus and to the soccer field.  I am still too scared to ride out in street traffic, but it is amazing how those fundamentals, once learned, stay in your brain.

I have managed to have an actual conversation with Mrs. Wang王太太.  In the International Affairs building right next to our apartments live Mr. Wang 老王 and his wife.  They are caretakers of the area and live in the International Affairs building.  Mr. Wang has a strong accent and even our Chinese friends have trouble understanding him.  Mrs. Wang on the other hand speaks very clearly.  Usually I can follow a conversation she has with someone else who speaks better Chinese, but can't actually say anything of consequence myself.  Well, today she was out gardening when I came out to ride my bike, and told her that I bought it yesterday, that it was not new, and that Molly had also gotten a not new bike yesterday.  Mrs. Wang knows a fair amount about bikes, and she said many things I did not catch.  She pointed out parts of the bike, possibly commenting on the quality.  But I was just so happy I could be understood saying small talk and could understand her as much as I did.  It's shaky, but it's just like riding a bike.

On the Outside Looking In (外国人)

There are two things I want to discus here.  The first would be homosexuality in China.  The second would be the foreigner as a confidant in China.

These two came up yesterday morning when I received a text message from a high school girl I am tutoring in English.  She asked me if we could meet tomorrow instead of this afternoon, that she had some questions about the story I asked her to read, and that she had some news.  When I asked about the news, she told me her friend told my student that she is in love with her.  “She is a lesbian” my student said.  Though the circumstances could be different, I imagine that my student was unaware of her friend's sexual orientation until now.  It is possible her friend did not know about her own sexual orientation until now.  I texted my student back, and advised her that even if she does not feel the same way, her friend may be feeling very scared right now and it would mean a lot if they could remain friends.

Homosexuality is legal in China, but not encouraged.  It is under the table and not considered socially acceptable.  But it is there.  I wonder how out in the open it is.  This week, I asked my conversation students to create three laws for an imaginary city.  Two groups in two separate classes said that gay marriage should be allowed because love and marriage should be open to all people.  One of these groups said gay couples should marry and not be allowed to divorce.  The topic of homosexuality has come up more often in William and Eaaf's classes.  I am sure Eaaf has documented these episodes in much more detail on her blog, so I will just summarize my impression – I believe people our age are curious, but not sure who to talk to.  So they talk to us.

The foreigner in China is defined more so than anything else by being outside.  They are from outside the country.  They are outside of society.  They are outside of social ties, and manners.  This can be a frustrating thing, especially as one becomes more proficient with the language.  Most places in the US accept people as an insider after a relatively short period of time.  The difference between an insider and an outsider is fairly small.  But there is a perk to being an outsider.  You are outside of accepted norms.  People are very comfortable sharing very personal things, such as their feelings on homosexuality, very quickly.  Possibly, it is because some of us with low language skills are rather gossip spreaders.  There are only so many people we could tell even if we wanted to.  Beyond that, I can only speculate.  But I speculate that there is a bit of escapism and bit of a feeling that one can step outside the rules.

A Long Expected Party

It has been a bit longer than I usually post, for which I apologize.
I have not been having the greatest luck these last few weeks.  My computer first wasn't working.  Then it worked, but wouldn't connect to the internet.  Then it connected to the internet, and a day latter stopped working again.  My camera has developed AI, and knows now when I'm testing it to see if it's working, or if I'm someplace I really would like to take a picture, and will work in the former situation but not in the latter.  I've also been sick.
It has reached that point in the semester that I remember from when I was a student, when classes were no longer new and exciting and I wanted to do other things.  As a teacher, I can't quite slack off like I might have before.  My main dilemma is whether to stick to the boring text book, or run around and find interesting stuff to teach.
I have written some things on paper about my observations on various subjects, but have not typed them.  These include television, news, and the Nanjing Massacre Memorial.  So those will be coming.

In the meantime, I have not talked about Nanjing at all!  Nanjing (南京) was beautiful.  Since there were many people visiting for the holiday, we ended up having to book rooms at two different hostels, which worked out well because we got to see some very different parts of the city that way.  The main place we stayed was right next to the Confucian Temple, and seemed like the place all the hip people like to hang out.  The other place we stayed was near Zhonghuamen (中华门) and had some places with lots of money that were very western, and some places that clearly had less money but very delicious food.  Will and I saw the Confucian temple and the Nanjing Massacre Memorial together, but otherwise explored on our own.  We also saw Marta, a Beloit alumni who taught in Kaifeng for two years and is now going to grad school in Nanjing.
The photos I'm posting are from the Confucian temple and from Zhonghuamen, where they were flying kites the day I visited.  After Zhonghuamen, my camera decided to not work at places like the Nanjing Memorial, etc.
Tada!  I know these aren't very polished posts, or frequent, and I apologize for that.

Train Station 

Downtown, right next to our first hostel

First night in Nanjing

Confucian temple.  There was one night they were having a disco party in there.

Inside the Confucian temple

Looking out on the back street

The best trash bin ever!

Zhonghuamen

Nanjing skyline from Zhonghuamen

Getting an octopus kite off the ground at Zhonghuamen

Zhonghuamen city wall