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9-8-2006 June 26, 2006 - Camping6/26/06
China Update #14 by Darrol Butler Links Darrol's webpage (with pictures): http://myweb.csuchico.edu/~dbutler1/ Darrol's webpage2 (with pictures): http://spaces.msn.com/members/darrolchina/ CSU International Programs website: www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet Gilman International Scholarship Program website: www.iie.org/gilman Peking University: http://www.pku.edu.cn/eindex.html University Studies Abroad Consortium website: www.usac.unr.edu Wang Family Scholarship: http://www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet/faculty/wang.shtml Chinese language learning software for PDA's http://www.plecodict.com
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
July 1
Hiking . . . After my finals finished, Mike, Juice and I decided to go for a short backpacking trip. Juice is the friend that accompanied my Mom, Thomas, Mike and I on the trip to the Yangtze River, the Three Gorges and the Three Gorges Dam at the beginning of May. For Juice it was her first backpacking trip so she was extremely excited about it and quite curious about the different types of gear that we were carrying with us, such as our sleeping pads, the water bladders that we put in the back of our backpacks, our camp stoves, and so on.
We decided to go hiking in the hills to the north of Beijing so we ended up catching one of the long distance buses in Dongzhimen to the city of Huairou. The bus ride, with all of its stops, took about an hour and a half to reach Huairou. Afterwards we spent quite a lot of time trying to find transportation to our destination. Eventually Juice bargained with a driver to take us the twenty seven kilometers further (about a forty minute drive), to a park in a small canyon located in the mountains. We finally arrived at around three in the afternoon and after paying the entrance fee, the three of us set off hiking. The north of China has been in a drought for quite some time now, but the canyon had a beautiful little creek cascading down it. We hiked for a good three and a half hours, working our way higher and higher up the canyon. The steep canyon walls and jagged peaks made for quite a scenic hike. There were not too many people on the trail, and it was very quiet except for the sound of running water, the chirps and whistles of birds, the various sounds of insects and mosquitoes, and the occasional call or shout of other people. I was surprised to find that the creek, though fairly small, was damned up in several places with poured concrete. The creek looked very clean, one of the cleanest I had seen in China so far, so I imagine the water was being stored as drinking water. This idea was also supported by the multitude of no swimming signs posted all along the creek. One of the workers told us that during the wet seasons and a non drought period that there would be a lot more water flowing through the canyon.
A little less than half way up the trail we came across a small gazebo with a spring in it. Quite a few hikers (all Chinese except for Mike and I) were sitting in the shade eating and talking, while others were filling up their water bottles. Everyone was quite surprised to see Mike and I and they immediately began watching us with curiosity. They became even more interested when Mike and I unpacked our water filter and began filtering the water from the spring, which they were using straight from the source, to fill up our water bottles and water bladders. I kept trying with my limited vocabulary to tell them that I thought the water was very clean, but that the filter would make it even cleaner. Anyway, it was a fun experience. :O)
After leaving the gazebo we stopped on the trail to eat what we thought would be our dinner. We snacked on cherries and brought out three of our four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Somehow the sandwiches had ended up in the bottom of Juice's pack, so we all ended up eating smashed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which we each topped with two smashed baby bananas. After eating, one of the workers came down the trail and tried to tell us to turn back because it would be dark soon and the park would soon close. We were very surprised because we had paid a fee to enter the park and we planned on staying the night there. Eventually we were able to convince him to let us continue on because we had our flashlights with us and we told him that we were fast hikers. However, he noticed our large backpacks and the tent hanging from the bottom of Mike's pack and told us that we could not sleep in the park. We were all disappointed and tried to persuade him to let us stay, but it was to no avail. Eventually we promised to him that we could make it back to the gate before it would close and then we continued up the path.
The scenery became more and more scenic the closer we got to the head of the canyon. The walls became steep cliffs and the creek cascaded over steeper and steeper rocks into deep pools that were enticing us, along with the hot and humid weather, into going swimming. Finally we reached the end of the trail where the creek slid down a rock into a beautiful little pool. We couldn't take it anymore, we were the last ones in the park, we were three and a half hours up the trail with nobody around, we were all hot and sweaty, the scenery was absolutely spectacular, and the water was calling us! In addition, Juice has been asking me to take her swimming for quite a while now, but I have no desire to go to the expensive and overcrowded swimming pools that can be found in Beijing, and because there are very few unpolluted waterways in China it is not very easy to find a natural environment to swim in. It was getting close to dark and we didn't want our clothes to get wet so Mike and I stripped down to our bare skin and hopped in. Juice seemed quite shocked with how little regard Mike and I showed to stripping :O) She, on the other hand, stripped down to her underwear and sports bra, which looked pretty much like a two piece swimming suit. I was anxious to get out of the park and find somewhere to set up camp so I hopped in and out fairly quickly. Mike on the other hand spent his time going up and down the rockslide in order to get his thrills, while Juice swam around like she had just been turned into a dolphin in a fifteen foot square pool. She was so excited she backed into a rock, slightly bruising her side, and then tripped on her way out of the water and cut her knee on a sharp rock. She wasn't hurt bad and at least I finally had a reason to use the small Sawyer first aid kit that I have been carrying with me on backpacking trips for the last few years.
After hiking back out we decided to stop at the resort (more like a small restaurant with a veranda and a few rooms for sleeping) at the head of the trail and get a bite to eat. We ended up eating a few simple dishes and some rice, but the menu had some interesting items on it that I was tempted to try, such as barbequed skewered rabbit and barbequed skewered kidneys, though we cannot remember exactly which animal the kidneys came from.
When we finished eating it was already dark and we were all fairly tired. We were discussing whether to try and find a way back to Beijing that night, possibly by hitchhiking or trying to flag down a minibus, or to find a place on the side of the road where we could set up camp. Finally we rationalized that we needed to start walking back down the road in the direction of Huairou. Mike and I put on our headlamps and Juice carried a small LED light with her so we were able to make our way down the road. We were surprised to find out that heavy trucks carrying cargo and machinery as well as regular vehicles were speeding up and down the small winding mountain road with little regard to which side of the road they were on or if another vehicle was coming from the opposite direction. In fact, it was so hairy that we began walking in the ditch on the side of the road. After walking past a small village we came to a vista where we could look down upon a flat open area below us. We searched around and ended up finding a small road going down the embankment which we followed to the bottom. We ended up in a level area next to a creek and amid the concrete and brick rubble of a demolished building. Finally the three of us settled on a flat cement pad among a cluster of trees squeezed between the remainder of the dilapidated building and a low stone wall running along the bank of the creek. The spot was perfect. We quickly set up the tent and then spent an hour or two talking, and looking at the stars. We were even lucky enough to see a huge bright object pass overhead which completely surprised Mike and Juice. I recognized it as the International Space Station and explained to them the orbit of the station, the speed it is traveling at and why it appears so bright to us. Juice was really excited because it was her first time to see a satellite.
The next morning Juice and I woke up early and went for a walk to check out our surroundings. Right next to where we were camped we found a cement structure running alongside the creek and divided into three holding ponds that looked like it was designed for storing water and regulating creek flow. The creek itself had two metal weirs going across it raising the level of the stream and forming two separate ponds. Not more than sixty yards from where we camped there was another pile of brick where some other buildings had been. Juice and I also found what appeared to be an old garden because there were several worn down ridges of soil running parallel to each other, some of which had some volunteer plants still growing on them. Additionally we came across an uncovered outdoor public toilet built of stone with the Chinese characters for male and female painted onto the two entrances. Juice and I ended up wandering across the stream and up an overgrown trail in a gully covered with lush vegetation. We wandered around in the gully, making our way farther up the densely covered trail for about fifteen to twenty minutes. Eventually we decided to go back to see if Mike had woken up and to eat breakfast. I also wanted to ask Mike if he was interested in doing a midmorning hike up the trail to see what we could find.
Juice and I both returned to camp and then woke Mike up. After boiling water for instant oatmeal, coffee and tea we sat down on the low stone wall next to the creek and talked. Juice and I told Mike about the outdoor toilet we had found, and about our little excursion up the gully on the other side of the creek. While we were eating and talking Mike discovered an old cement table top, still partially covered with tile, and decided to set it on some bricks to make a table for laying our stuff out on. Mike went over to pick it up, but it was too heavy for him to lift and maneuver by himself. After failing to convince him to give it up, Juice and I finally went over to help him lift the table. We had just lifted the table up on its edge and started to roll it towards the brick base when an L-shaped piece of the old tile top sheared off and fell vertically onto Juice's foot. Immediately Juice let go of the heavy cement table and began hopping up and down on her other foot while holding the injured one in her hand. It was quite apparent that her thin aqua shoes hadn't done much to stop the impact of the tile when it fell onto her foot. Juice said her foot would be alright, but it looked to Mike and I like she was in a lot of pain, so we made her take her shoe off and go to soak her foot in the cold creek to keep the swelling down.
Juice kept objecting to soaking her foot in the cold creek, but Mike and I sat by her, talked to distract her from the cold and the pain and continually reminding her to keep it under the water. After about and hour Mike decided to go explore the gully across the creek so I continued to supervise Juice, making sure she kept her foot in the cold water, and talking with her, while watching minnows, pollywogs, and water skippers flow by. After about and hour Mike came back and we decided to clear a spot for us to exercise. The two of us played foot bag for another hour or so while Juice busied herself using our cups to catch minnows, tadpoles and snails. By the time Mike and I were done exercising Juice had quite a collection of creatures stored in our cups and cook set. Eventually we decided that Juice's foot had soaked enough and that we should find a way back to Beijing so we could take better care of her. We shared our one remaining smashed peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a small block of Gouda cheese and some raisins before packing up and preparing to leave. Just as we started packing a couple came down the small road in their car, got out, and started talking with us. They told us that they came to this area once a week because it was pretty and few people went there. We asked them about the dilapidated buildings and they told us that the spot used to be a resort, but that it was demolished because a new road would be going through the site. In addition to chatting with them and the information they gave us about the area, they told us we would be able to get a cheap ride back to Huairou by flagging down a bus or a minivan. The three of us hiked back up the dirt road to the main road and then began walking in the direction of Huairou and Beijing. It didn't take us but ten minutes of walking before we were able to flag down a minivan and catch a ride to Huairou. From Huairou we were able to find a long distance bus back to Beijing .
Once back in Beijing we took the subway and light rail back to Wudaokou. After arriving Mike and I got some ice so we could begin icing Juice's foot. When we got her shoe off again we found that her big toe had swollen up and was forming a blood blister under the toenail. It looked pretty bad. We made her ice it for several hours and then we had her sleep with her foot elevated above her heart. The next day I got a taxi and took Juice back to her place because she had to continue with her research. The following evening I went back across town to help her take care of her foot. Because you cannot buy bagged ice in China, I stopped at a coffee shop and convinced them to give me some ice for buying some of their coffee. I also went into fifteen to twenty drink stands on the side of the street and searched through their iceboxes for frozen bottles of drinking water. Most of them didn't have any frozen bottles, but I was able to find a few. In total I ended up with one bag of ice, which was melting quickly, and six bottles of frozen water. Again I made Juice ice her foot for several hours and then elevate it while she slept.
The next day while Juice was at work, I went to several medical supply stores and eventually to the huge People's Liberation Army Hospital nearby her house to find a boot to keep the pressure off of her toe when walking. Unfortunately I had no luck, and I was surprised to find out that boots and splints are not commonly used in China. At the hospital they told me they could make a cast for her, or they could make a plastic boot but that they had to be made to fit so I would have to bring Juice in with me to get it made. After Juice got off work I took her to the hospital to have a boot made for her, but she was not willing to pay the price for one and would not let me pay to get one made for her so I ended up giving her a pair of slippers to use, though she only used the right one, and some aspirin to help keep the swelling and pain down for the next few days. I felt bad but there was not much more I could do. After about a week the swelling in her toe went down, and she was able to wear a shoe on her foot again, though she ended up losing her big toenail. To my surprise Juice told me that this was not her first time to lose that toenail.
After coming back from our trip with Toby Bodeen to Sichuan province and Tibet, I was glad to hear from Juice that her big toenail is starting to come back and that she is walking without problems. All in all it was quite an interesting trip in China, and though Juice lost her toenail, she had a wonderful time on her very first backpacking trip.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Butler
My new address: Darrol Butler c/o Office of CSU International Programs Shao Yuan, Building 2, Room 101 Peking University Haidian District, Beijing, 100871 China
Photo List:
5-7-2006 China Update #136/23/06
China Update #13 by Darrol Butler Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
June 1 & 15
Finals . . . Hello Everyone! Well, my classes just finished and I think that I did pretty well on my finals considering how rigorous the Chinese language program is at Beijing University . I studied diligently for my finals and I will probably get one A and two B's, in my twenty units of classes. In the States I would probably be hoping for all A's and maybe a B or two, but here the system is different. Like last semester there was new material (new words, sentence structure, and sentence patterns) on my Chinese reading/grammar final, however this time the amount of new material on the final was substantial. Though I studied diligently for my finals, it is just difficult to prepare for material that you haven't studied. In fact, I still don't know how to prepare for it.
Any way, my classes are done with, and I learned a lot during the past two semesters at Beijing University . Though the Chinese language is very difficult, I feel that I have made considerable progress towards my goal of being able to speak the Chinese language well enough to efficiently communicate with people. Of course I still need a lot more time using the Chinese language in order to reach the level of understanding that I desire for.
Renewal Application . . . I am happy to announce that my renewal application for another year of study at Beijing University though the CSU IP program was approved. So, I will be spending one more year in Beijing studying Chinese language. I think that an additional year of study here will improve my Chinese skills dramatically. Not only will an additional year help to improve my listening and speaking skills, but it will also help me to amass a much larger vocabularly, as well as increase the number of characters that I can recognize and the number of characters that I can write from free recall. I truly believe that I am lucky to be accepted for another year, and I will work my hardest to make it a successful one.
In addition to doing a little traveling this summer (my friend Toby Bodeen, the Career and Transfer Center director at Shasta College is arriving here in Beijing tomorrow for a three week trip in China), I am also planning on doing a lot of self study of the Chinese language, by reviewing my textbooks, using Chinese language software, talking with people, and probably hiring a tutor for a couple hours each week. I am also going to see if I can teach, or volunteer to teach, English here in Beijing for a few hours each week. I am told that some of the other students were able to find jobs teaching English, so I will see how it goes.
My friend Mike Williams came to Beijing after just finishing up with his one year University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC) program in Chengdu, in Sichuan province. Mike applied to the CSU IP program at Beijing University, and was accepted, so we will end up getting an apartment together, for the upcoming year of study, once my lease expires at my current apartment. Currently Mike is sleeping on the floor of my bedroom on top of his inflatable mattress, and sharing the room with me.
Making Cookies . . . Back at home in the states I like baking and cooking. Not only do I find cooking my own food to be inexpensive, but I also find great pleasure in making my own food, and sharing it with friends. By cooking my own food I can save money, and I get to eat healthier foods than I would typically eat if I were going to a restaurant. Since arriving in China I have not cooked very much as a lot of the ingredients I am used to cooking with are either hard to find, or are very expensive. In addition, I have been unwilling to buy some of the many cooking utensils that are needed when making western foods. However, I have often craved some of the foods I make back home. So, for Christmas my mother sent me most of the necessities to make burritos, which ended up being a wonderful experience. I cannot begin to explain how happy I was to sink my teeth into a burrito again.
I have also been craving some of the bread and cookies that I used to frequently bake. So, my mother brought me some of the necessary ingredients to make cookies when she came over during the Labor Day holiday. A couple of weeks ago I finally had a chance to bake them with some of my friends. Because very few Chinese houses have ovens in them, Mike, Juice and I went to the UniMax pastry shop in the Dazhongsi ( Great Bell Temple) area to use their oven to bake our cookies. Since I regularly study at the UniMax shop and I have befriended the workers, they were more than happy to let us use the oven to make cookies with. Both Juice and the UniMax workers were very excited that we were going to be making "American" cookies and they were curious about how we were going to go about making them. In fact, they were so excited that they asked us a plethora of questions without taking the time to see the results of what we were doing. Of course they had never made cookies or cakes before from scratch, so they had never mixed the ingredients together for cookie dough or beat eggs and butter together with flour. In addition to the workers, a few customers came into the shop when we were baking the cookies and they too became highly interested in the process. It was definitely a lot of fun, and Mike and I were practically drooling when the smell of fresh baked cookies started emanating from the oven. We had the UniMax shop smelling wonderful!
Juice and the UniMax workers were so curious about the cookies and anxious to see how they would come out that they were constantly opening the oven door to check on them. Mike and were kept busy making sure that they would leave the oven alone long enough for the cookies to bake properly. After the cookies were finally finished we took them out of the oven to let them cool but it was impossible to let them sit there while Mike and I were practically drooling over them, and with Juice and the UniMax workers so bent on trying them. Needless to say the cookies were only out of the oven for a few minutes before all but four or five of them were devoured!
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Butler
My new address: Darrol Butler c/o Office of CSU International Programs Shao Yuan, Building 2, Room 101 Peking University Haidian District, Beijing, 100871 China
Photo List:
Photos of Mike, Juice and I baking oatmeal raisin cookies with the workers at the UniMax pastry shop in the Taiyangyuan apartment complex in the Dazhongsi area. 13-6-2006 China Update #12 by Darrol Butler5/15/06
China Update #12 by Darrol Butler
Note: To those of you that I have previously contacted regarding my project requirements for the Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship, can you please post these emails at the discussed locations? Thank you. DB
*If you would like to be removed from this email list please let me know and I will remove you.
Links Darrol’s webpage (with pictures): http://myweb.csuchico.edu/~dbutler1/ Darrol’s webpage2 (with pictures): http://spaces.msn.com/members/darrolchina/ CSU International Programs website: www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet Gilman International Scholarship Program website: www.iie.org/gilman Peking University: http://www.pku.edu.cn/eindex.html University Studies Abroad Consortium website: www.usac.unr.edu Wang Family Scholarship: http://www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet/faculty/wang.shtml Chinese language learning software for PDA’s http://www.plecodict.com
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
Email Update for May 1 & 15, 2006
Yangtze River... My mother and our friend Thomas came to visit me for the weeklong Chinese Labor Day holiday. Because I am a geography major, and Thomas majored in water resource management we decided to take advantage of our proximity and go to see the Yangtze River, the Three Gorges and the Three Gorges Dam. Additionally, because the water level is rising at such a fast rate, we also thought it important to see the Three Gorges before they are mostly submerged, and catch a glimpse of the construction work on the dam before it is done. Besides the three of us, my friend Mike (currently studying in Chengdu) met up with us in Chongqing (Chungking), and my Chinese friend Juice (her English name) came along to finally realize her dream of seeing the famous Three Gorges as well as to help facilitate the trip by translating anything Mike and I couldn’t understand, and helping us to bargain better prices for everything from boat tickets, to daily food purchases.
Because the Three Gorges Dam is quickly nearing completion of the construction phase of the dam, the water level in the Yangtze River is rising rapidly. Currently the water is around 140 meters above the original level, and we floated past water level marker signs showing that the water level would rise to as much as 175 meters. As many of you may already know, the Three Gorges Dam is located on the Yangtze River which is called Changjiang by the Chinese and translates to “Long River.” Indeed it is the third longest river in the world, after the Nile and the Amazon. The dam itself is just about two kilometers long, and has a height of 185 meters. In addition to having two, five stage locks, the dam also has a single 3000 ton ship lift built into it.
Mom, Thomas, Juice and I flew into Chongqing where we met up with Mike, and where we ended up catching our boat for the trip down the Yangtze. Chongqing seemed to be a very lively, modern city, and was a nice reprieve from Beijing. In addition to all of the business activity there were many youths out on the streets shopping, eating and just enjoying the day. Of course part of the reason for the number of people on the streets was that we showed up during the weeklong Labor Day holiday. One of the things I found unusual about Chongqing was the lack of bicycle traffic on the streets. Later I realized that there are not that many bikes in Chongqing because of its steep hilly topography. Chongqing’s streets are lined with vendors selling all kinds of small snacks and tropical fruits, many of which are carried up and down the steep streets by porters who pick them up at the docks. I truly wish we had more time to spend in Chongqing, if only to try more of the snacks J
We boarded a boat that had around 350-400 people on it, of which 12 (including us 4) were foreigners. Our trip down the river started at 8:00pm so that the schedule would be timed right to catch all of the gorges during the daylight hours. Leaving Chongqing at night was quite spectacular because the city lights, as seen from our boat, were very impressive. For the next three days we floated down the river at a pace that was slow enough for us to really appreciate the Chinese countryside. On deck we chatted amongst ourselves as well as tried our best to carry on conversations with the other passengers. A few times Mike and I got out the two hacky sacks my mother made and started a game of footbag on deck. At one point we had a small circle of people playing with us, including a young Chinese girl and boy. It was really a lot of fun.
The Three Gorges themselves were magnificent, and it is easy to see how they stirred the emotions of countless Chinese poets and painters. Many of the mountain faces were made up of very steep, sometimes sheer slopes and they were also covered in lush vegetation. In addition many of the mountains lining the gorges were topped with fanciful rock outcroppings which seemed to beckon to me and my camera. I was also fascinated with watching the countryside role by because it seemed as if every possible open space was devoted to agriculture. Not only were the banks of the river used for food production, but what seemed to me like impossibly steep slopes were also put into agricultural use using the terracing method.
While we passed through many heavily farmed areas, we also floated by quite a few villages and cities, as well as numerous industrial areas. The first night we went past an area that was completely lit up but the persistent fog kept me from getting a good view of what kind of industrial activity was taking place. However, I could hear the coming and going of barges as well as the rumbling of machinery. In addition, upon entering the area I detected a strong chemical smell, which ended up making my throat dry and even slightly stung my eyes. I only wish that we could have passed by the area during the day time in order to get a better look at what was going on.
A majority of the barges we saw on the river were carrying coal. However we regularly passed covered barges as well as barges loaded with containers making it hard for us to determine the contents. Interestingly enough sometimes on the cliffs lining the river banks we could make out cement walled holding areas for coal, which had long metal chutes attached to them to transfer coal, using the force of gravity, down to waiting barges.
We passed by many cities straddling both banks of river. One thing that continuously surprised me when passing through these cities was the near lack of bridges connecting the two halves of the cities. When our boat docked at ports I was able to see that most of the river crossings were done by ferries. Another thing I noticed was that in anticipation of the continual rise of the water level, all of the banks are being lined with concrete. Additionally we passed by many cities that had already had their lower sections demolished or moved up to higher ground.
After stopping at a few temples and cities on the way, we finally reached the Three Gorges Dam on the third day of our trip. We disembarked at Maoping, directly upstream from the dam, and took a waiting bus to the dam visiting area. Though the distance from where we docked to the dam was not far, it took us an hour to reach the visiting area because the road was in terrible condition due to constant construction on the dam, and we frequently had to wait for large trucks, loaded down with equipment and machinery, to pass us by. In addition the bus had to stop at several security points for our tour guide to get off and show her official tour guide license. The Three Gorges Dam was absolutely impressive. It is so massive and overwhelming in size that it is hard to fathom the scale of the whole project at once. The bus took us by the two, five stage locks and then up to a viewing area just below the face of the dam. After getting to walk around below the dam for a few minutes we were herded back onto the busses and then taken to a visiting center with a vista. At the vista point we could look directly down at the locks as well as out across the top of the dam. Finally we were taken to a site just opposite the top of the dam where we could look down on the upstream side of it and the construction still going on there. There were numerous cranes still in place working on the dam, and I could see welding going on everywhere. I was quite surprised however, to see workers using poles to carry large boulders with which they were lining the banks of the reservoir butting up against the dam. It was quite an amazing experience, though if I get the chance to go back I hope I can go independently or with a tour that will allow me more than five to ten minutes at each of the visiting sites around the dam. Obviously that short amount of time is just not enough to get a real sense of the enormity of the Three Gorges Dam project.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Butler
My new address: Darrol Butler c/o Office of CSU International Programs Shao Yuan, Building 2, Room 101 Peking University Haidian District, Beijing, 100871 China
Photo List:
Note:
*Photo list and photos are attached separately in order to cut down on the total file size. *Anyone wishing for larger or higher quality photos, or for additional photos, feel free to send me an email requesting them. I will be happy to send them to you. China Update #11 by Darrol Butler5/14/06
China Update #11 by Darrol Butler
Note: To those of you that I have previously contacted regarding my project requirements for the Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship, can you please post these emails at the discussed locations? Thank you. DB
*If you would like to be removed from this email list please let me know and I will remove you.
Links Darrol’s webpage (with pictures): http://myweb.csuchico.edu/~dbutler1/ Darrol’s webpage2 (with pictures): http://spaces.msn.com/members/darrolchina/ CSU International Programs website: www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet Gilman International Scholarship Program website: www.iie.org/gilman Peking University: http://www.pku.edu.cn/eindex.html University Studies Abroad Consortium website: www.usac.unr.edu Wang Family Scholarship: http://www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet/faculty/wang.shtml Chinese language learning software for PDA’s http://www.plecodict.com
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
April 17, 2006
Sandstorms... Hello everyone. Well, spring has sprung and with it has come Beijing’s infamous spring sandstorms. In the last few weeks the winds have become increasingly frequent, and more and more of the dirt and dust on the streets is picked up in gusts and flung everywhere, including into the eyes of those out walking around. Before coming to China I had imagined thick sandstorms that would prevent people from going outside. However, I have learned from experience that most of the sandstorms here are made up of a fine dust which, although not thick, accumulates on the body, especially the face and in the hair, after only spending a short time outdoors. Indeed this may be one of the reasons, along with the high levels of smog pollution, that people frequently pick their noses and are often seen spitting on the street. I have found that after spending just a little time outdoors during these sandstorms that the combination of the dry spring air and the accumulation of sand in it causes the mucus in my nose to dry out and become rather uncomfortable. In addition I have also found that these conditions are causing me to have a dry, raspy throat.
Today I woke up at 5:30am (I couldn’t sleep because of the constant rattling of the apartment building caused by the wind), to discover a think layer of sand covering my neighborhood. I was quite surprised because until now I had not seen such a large amount of sand deposited over a big area. Everything outside, from the windows of the apartments, to the cars, bicycles, and streets were covered in it. Indeed the yellow tint in combination with the early morning silence was quite eerie. I spent five minutes wiping the sand from my bicycle before I took off to school early, leaving bicycle tracks the whole way.
After returning home from school I found out that because the sand was so thick it caused my friend Mike’s mother, who is visiting him here in Beijing, to slip on one of the uneven sidewalks and twist her ankle. Mike and I ended up taking her into a hospital for x-rays, where we ended up getting her a splint, and a walker with wheels on it.
Here is a link to the Sina English website with articles and additional photos regarding the recent sandstorms in Beijing: http://english.sina.com/z/060413sandstorm/index.shtml
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Butler
My new address: Darrol Butler c/o Office of CSU International Programs Shao Yuan, Building 2, Room 101 Peking University Haidian District, Beijing, 100871 China
Photos: Photos of the layer of sand deposited in my apartment complex 10-4-2006 China Update #10 by Darrol Butler4/01/06
China Update #10 by Darrol Butler
Links Darrol's webpage (with pictures): http://myweb.csuchico.edu/~dbutler1/ Darrol's webpage2 (with pictures): http://spaces.msn.com/members/darrolchina/ CSU International Programs website: www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet Gilman International Scholarship Program website: www.iie.org/gilman Peking University: http://www.pku.edu.cn/eindex.html University Studies Abroad Consortium website: www.usac.unr.edu Wang Family Scholarship: http://www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet/faculty/wang.shtml Chinese language learning software for PDA's http://www.plecodict.com
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
Note for or those of you interested in learning the Chinese language: After a year and a half of searching for an electronic dictionary designed to teach native English speakers the Chinese language, instead of the other way around, I have found something that has features a native English speaker would desire when learning the Chinese language. In fact, it turns out that it is a software package designed for both Palm and Windows Pocket PC's that will turn your PDA into an electronic dictionary. Like the electronic dictionaries designed for Chinese people learning the English language, this software has a built in Chinese character handwriting recognizer that allows you to not only look up characters using their pinyin pronunciations, but also by writing the character in using your PDA's stylus. This is very convenient and time saving because without a character recognizer, when a character is encountered whose pronunciation is unknown we are often stuck with only two choices, either try to look up the character's pronunciation using a radial chart which is very time consuming as many characters' radicals are ambiguous, or ask somebody who already knows the pronunciation and/or meaning of the character to help. This software has dictionaries for translating from Chinese to English, and dictionaries for translating from English to Chinese. In addition it also has a flashcard feature that allows you to make your own flashcards for study, using entries from the various dictionaries, or your own self made entries. The software is Pleco Sofware (Plecodict) and can be found and purchased online at http://www.plecodict.com . The link is also attached above.
April 1, 2006
Construction... China is changing overnight (at least in terms of the development and improvement of infrastructure). It is quite interesting to see the progress. The army of cement trucks and dump trucks driving around the city 24 hours a day makes the plethora of construction cranes look small in comparison. Sometime during the winter, just before I moved into my new apartment, new street lamps were put up on the street that runs alongside my old apartment. A swarm of Chinese workers were dropped off with their tools, and by the time I had returned home from class, a kilometer of tiled sidewalk had been torn up and had approximately a 2 foot deep by 1 foot wide trench dug down the length of it. The next day wiring was run down the trench and street lamps were installed. The following day the tiles were put back down and the process was completed. Then a week later holes were dug (approximately a cubic yard in size) by hand about every ten feet, and within two days 15 foot tall trees were also installed along the length of the street. Many of the construction jobs here are completed in this way. Work is done during the day and overnight, and the majority of the tasks are broken down so that they can be accomplished by many hands instead of by using one or two machines.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Butler
My new address: Darrol Butler c/o Office of CSU International Programs Shao Yuan, Building 2, Room 101 Peking University Haidian District, Beijing, 100871 China
Photos:
2-4-2006 March 23, 20063/23/06
China Update #9 by Darrol Butler Links Darrol's webpage (with pictures): http://myweb.csuchico.edu/~dbutler1/ Darrol's webpage2 (with pictures): http://spaces.msn.com/members/darrolchina/ CSU International Programs website: www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet Gilman International Scholarship Program website: www.iie.org/gilman Peking University: http://www.pku.edu.cn/eindex.html University Studies Abroad Consortium website: www.usac.unr.edu Wang Family Scholarship: http://www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet/faculty/wang.shtml Chinese language learning software for PDA's http://www.plecodict.com
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors: Hello everyone. I have not been very regular at sending my email updates out, so here are a few of them combined into one. Sorry for the inconvenience and for being out of touch for a while. My new address is listed at the bottom of this update. DB
February 15, 2006 Moving # 3... This is the first time I have had the chance to use my computer and to get online in a few days. I am at a coffee shop about a 10 min walk from my new apartment. Well, I finally moved the last of my stuff from the old apartment to the new one using my big backpack and a couple of duffle bags. All told it took me about three days of packing, cleaning, making arrangements, and humping my stuff to the new apartment. Using my big backpack I walked to the nearest light rail station which is about 10 minutes away by foot. After disembarking at my stop it is again about a 10 minute walk to my new apartment. I cheated two times and used taxis however. Today was especially fun because it was snowing (about 4 inches) and I had strapped my blue stool to the back of my backpack, in addition to carrying my indispensable 2 1/2 foot by 3 foot long white board in my hands. So, people not only stared at me, but many older folks even stopped what they were doing and gawked at me as I passed them by. In total I did 5 trips, though my backpack was not full every time (books are heavy.)
Back to School #1…
I am currently preparing for the start of my next semester which will begin on February 20th. I know, it seems like a long break, but we didn't get out of the fall semester until the second week of January.
Unlike our system in America, there are placement tests
at the beginning of each semester, which means instead of going through
the class levels sequentially, a student has the chance of jumping
levels if he or she tests well.
So, I took a listening and reading/grammar placement test yesterday. It was so difficult that I am sure it could ruin the confidence of even a 2nd or 3rd year Chinese language student.
Following that I had my Chinese Oral placement test
today, which I think I did pretty well on (compared to the listening
and reading/grammar test).
March 01, 2006 Back to School #2… I have been extremely busy. Classes started and because I jumped several levels due to the placement test (my classmates all jumped to different levels) I am having to study diligently to pick up the words/characters in my new books that are new to me, but that are not new for this level of the textbook (assuming that one had read the studied the textbooks in sequential order, which I have not since my placement test caused me to jump levels.) Last semester I was in Chinese language, reading and grammar level two, oral Chinese level two and Chinese characters 1-3. After taking the placement tests I tested into Chinese language, reading and grammar level six, oral Chinese level five, and I am now in Chinese listening class level six, instead of a character class. While I am very happy with jumping so many levels, indeed it has been quite challenging for me to keep up with everything in my classes. New Apartment/Neighborhood... After doing a few trips with my big backpack and a duffle bag I have finally completely moved into my new apartment. As well as cleaning and settling in I have been wandering around the neighborhood to get a better idea of my new surroundings. It turns out that I am located just a few minutes to the west of the Foreign Languages University. So, there are quite a few international students here; quite a bit different then where I was living last semester. In fact, this particular area is known as Little Seoul because of the huge population of Korean international students here. As the name suggests there are many convenience stores and restaurants catering to Koreans, with Korean names on signs and menus. It is quite interesting to see huge billboards with electric neon lights that have advertisements written out in Chinese, Korean and English. Of course, the Haidian district where I live (in northwestern Beijing) is full of universities, so there are many Chinese students on the streets too. The apartment I live in is quite a bit smaller than where I lived last semester, but it is comfortable enough. I don't have access to a balcony for drying my clothes, so I will be figuring out my clothes drying procedure pretty soon. However, I still have a kitchen, an instant (tank-less) hot water heater, and a fridge, so I am happy. This time around, instead of having a Chinese couple as my roommates, I have international students. Though I really enjoyed having Chinese roommates, I think it will also be nice to get to live with some other people. One of my roommates is Korean, and since we can't really speak each other's languages, we communicate in Chinese. This will be helpful for improving my Chinese language skills. Since my Chinese roommates' English was quite well we spent most of the time conversing in English. The other bedroom does not have a steady tenant yet. For about two weeks I had a Slovakian roommate which was quite fun. He is so tall that he had to duck his head quite a bit to get through the standard size doorways Because my Slovakian roommate can't speak a word of Chinese, we used English to communicate, and any time we went out I would do the translating (as bad as my Chinese is). However, because I am so short and he is so tall, it was quite a site, and indeed we attracted a lot of attention, any time we went out together. (Yes Radek, I tried every Czech word on him I could remember, and he understood all of them.)
March 15, 2006
CSU International Programs Renewal Application Essay I am writing this because I have decided to continue my studies at Beijing University in Beijing, China. As with studying any foreign language, studying Chinese is very time consuming and difficult, and therefore one year of in-country study is simply not enough to raise my language skills to an adequate level. I also believe that studying Chinese language, as opposed to some other languages, puts special demands on a person, especially in terms of memorizing.
Though I have now had one semester of California State University (CSU) Chico 's Self Instructional Language Program in Chinese, and one semester of Chinese at Beijing University , I have only recently been able to speak to people in any kind of detail, and of course, even this skill is highly limited by the grammar and number of words I know. While I was working in Japan when I was twenty years old, I picked up in three months, without studying, roughly the amount of words that I have worked hard to learn during the last two semesters of intensively studying Chinese. The reason for this is that the sounds making up Chinese words, unlike those of the Japanese language, are quite foreign to the ears of English speakers. This makes it very difficult to remember words because it is so tedious to properly hear the correct pronunciation of a word. Furthermore, because official mainland Chinese has four tones, and tones are so important in oral Chinese, even more time is required to train the ear to differentiate between words that essentially are homonyms except that the tone is different. So, I have come to realize that there is no possible way that I will continue to progress in proper oral speaking if I return to the U.S. before I fully know how to correctly pronounce the sounds that make up Chinese Words.
Additionally, Chinese, unlike many other languages, has an alphabet of approximately 56,000 or so characters, from which the rest of their words are formed from. It is estimated that a person needs to know between 3000 to 5000 characters in order to make the words necessary to understand around 95% of the words encountered in daily life. By my own estimates, I have met around 1000 or more characters in my studies. Of these 1000 or so characters, I have probably completely forgotten how to write, or even how to recognize, around 500 of them. Of the remaining 500 or so characters that I remember, about 300 of those I can recognize upon seeing them, and know their meanings, but I am unable to recall how to write them. The remaining 200 or so characters I can actually write from memory. Because the Chinese written language is so difficult, I have found that my spoken Chinese has a much larger vocabulary and therefore, with all of the problems that is has, is still much better than my written Chinese; I can speak many more words (though not always pronounce correctly) than I can recognize from sight, or write from memory. In other words, I am mostly illiterate. This does not mean that I have not learned many characters or that I am behind my classmates in my studies. Indeed I have learned many characters, I have studied a lot of grammar and pronunciation, and I am definitely on top of my studies. The Chinese language is very complex and demanding, for everyone, so I need more time to increase my language skills to the necessary level to meet my academic and career goals.
Because I am double majoring in Geography and Asian Studies, with an emphasis on China
and Chinese language, improving my Chinese language skills to an
adequate level or higher is absolutely necessary for my academic and
career goals. I will use the language skills I learn, to continue my
academic goal of understanding more about China
and how its people view the world. I will then return to CSU Chico and
continue my Geography and Asian studies program. After receiving my
degree I will apply to a school that offers a graduate program in
Chinese studies so that I can begin academic research on China. I am currently looking at graduate programs that will allow me to do some of my research in China
. Therefore it is imperative that I raise my Chinese language skills to a level that will allow me to do scholarly work in China
. Eventually I would like to become either a professor of Asian
Studies, or a professor of Human Geography, while specializing on China. I am also highly interested in government service. Continuing the study of Chinese language at
Beijing University is the most efficient path for me to reach my career goals.
Okay, that is the end of my latest series of email updates. I would love to hear from anyone, so you are welcome to email me or snail mail me (my favorite) at the addresses listed below.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading, Darrol Butler
My new address: Darrol Butler c/o Office of CSU International Programs Shao Yuan, Building 2, Room 101 Peking University Haidian District, Beijing, 100871 China
Photos:
30-3-2006 Email Update #9 part 3March 15, 2006
Another Year… For those of you who don’t know, I have decided that I will benefit tremendously from another year of study at Beijing University. So, to that end, I have petitioned to the CSU International Programs to allow me to study here for an additional year. Following is my renewal application essay:
CSU International Programs Renewal Application Essay I am writing this because I have decided to continue my studies at Beijing University in Beijing, China. As with studying any foreign language, studying Chinese is very time consuming and difficult, and therefore one year of in-country study is simply not enough to raise my language skills to an adequate level. I also believe that studying Chinese language, as opposed to some other languages, puts special demands on a person, especially in terms of memorizing.
Though I have now had one semester of California State University (CSU) Chico’s Self Instructional Language Program in Chinese, and one semester of Chinese at Beijing University, I have only recently been able to speak to people in any kind of detail, and of course, even this skill is highly limited by the grammar and number of words I know. While I was working in Japan when I was twenty years old, I picked up in three months, without studying, roughly the amount of words that I have worked hard to learn during the last two semesters of intensively studying Chinese. The reason for this is that the sounds making up Chinese words, unlike those of the Japanese language, are quite foreign to the ears of English speakers. This makes it very difficult to remember words because it is so tedious to properly hear the correct pronunciation of a word. Furthermore, because official mainland Chinese has four tones, and tones are so important in oral Chinese, even more time is required to train the ear to differentiate between words that essentially are homonyms except that the tone is different. So, I have come to realize that there is no possible way that I will continue to progress in proper oral speaking if I return to the U.S. before I fully know how to correctly pronounce the sounds that make up Chinese Words.
Additionally, Chinese, unlike many other languages, has an alphabet of approximately 56,000 or so characters, from which the rest of their words are formed from. It is estimated that a person needs to know between 3000 to 5000 characters in order to make the words necessary to understand around 95% of the words encountered in daily life. By my own estimates, I have met around 1000 or more characters in my studies. Of these 1000 or so characters, I have probably completely forgotten how to write, or even how to recognize, around 500 of them. Of the remaining 500 or so characters that I remember, about 300 of those I can recognize upon seeing them, and know their meanings, but I am unable to recall how to write them. The remaining 200 or so characters I can actually write from memory. Because the Chinese written language is so difficult, I have found that my spoken Chinese has a much larger vocabulary and therefore, with all of the problems that is has, is still much better than my written Chinese; I can speak many more words (though not always pronounce correctly) than I can recognize from sight, or write from memory. In other words, I am mostly illiterate. This does not mean that I have not learned many characters or that I am behind my classmates in my studies. Indeed I have learned many characters, I have studied a lot of grammar and pronunciation, and I am definitely on top of my studies. The Chinese language is very complex and demanding, for everyone, so I need more time to increase my language skills to the necessary level to meet my academic and career goals.
Because I am double majoring in Geography and Asian Studies, with an emphasis on China and Chinese language, improving my Chinese language skills to an adequate level or higher is absolutely necessary for my academic and career goals. I will use the language skills I learn, to continue my academic goal of understanding more about China and how its people view the world. I will then return to CSU Chico and continue my Geography and Asian studies program. After receiving my degree I will apply to a school that offers a graduate program in Chinese studies so that I can begin academic research on China. I am currently looking at graduate programs that will allow me to do some of my research in China. Therefore it is imperative that I raise my Chinese language skills to a level that will allow me to do scholarly work in China. Eventually I would like to become either a professor of Asian Studies, or a professor of Human Geography, while specializing on China. I am also highly interested in government service. Continuing the study of Chinese language at Beijing University is the most efficient path for me to reach my career goals.
Okay, that is the end of my latest series of email updates. I would love to hear from anyone, so you are welcome to email me or snail mail me (my favorite) at the addresses listed below.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Email Update #9 part 2March 01, 2006
Back to School #2… I have been extremely busy. Classes started and because I jumped several levels due to the placement test (my classmates all jumped to different levels) I am having to study diligently to pick up the words/characters in my new books that are new to me, but that are not new for this level of the textbook (assuming that one had studied the textbooks in sequential order, which I have not since my placement test caused me to jump levels.) Last semester I was in Chinese language, reading and grammar level two, oral Chinese level two and Chinese characters 1-3. After taking the placement tests I tested into Chinese language, reading and grammar level six, oral Chinese level five, and I am now in Chinese listening class level six, instead of a character class. While I am very happy with jumping so many levels, indeed it has been quite challenging for me to keep up with everything in my classes. New Apartment/Neighborhood... After doing a few trips with my big backpack and a duffle bag I have finally completely moved into my new apartment. As well as cleaning and settling in I have been wandering around the neighborhood to get a better idea of my new surroundings. It turns out that I am located just a few minutes to the west of the Foreign Languages University. So, there are quite a few international students here; quite a bit different then where I was living last semester. In fact, this particular area is known as Little Seoul because of the huge population of Korean international students here. As the name suggests there are many convenience stores and restaurants catering to Koreans, with Korean names on signs and menus. It is quite interesting to see huge billboards with electric neon lights that have advertisements written out in Chinese, Korean and English. Of course, the Haidian district where I live (in northwestern Beijing) is full of universities, so there are many Chinese students on the streets too. The apartment I live in is quite a bit smaller than where I lived last semester, but it is comfortable enough. I don’t have access to a balcony for drying my clothes, so I will be figuring out my clothes drying procedure pretty soon. However, I still have a kitchen, an instant (tank-less) hot water heater, and a fridge, so I am happy. This time around, instead of having a Chinese couple as my roommates, I have international students. Though I really enjoyed having Chinese roommates, I think it will also be nice to get to live with some other people. One of my roommates is Korean, and since we can’t really speak each other’s languages, we communicate in Chinese. This will be helpful for improving my Chinese language skills. Since my Chinese roommates’ English was quite well we spent most of the time conversing in English. The other bedroom does not have a steady tenant yet. For about two weeks I had a Slovakian roommate which was quite fun. He is so tall that he had to duck his head quite a bit to get through the standard size doorways. Because my Slovakian roommate can’t speak a word of Chinese, we used English to communicate, and any time we went out I would do the translating (as bad as my Chinese is). However, because I am so short and he is so tall, it was quite a site, and indeed we attracted a lot of attention, any time we went out together. (Yes Radek, I tried every Czech word on him I could remember, and he understood all of them.) Email Update #9 part 1February 15, 2006
Moving # 3... This is the first time I have had the chance to use my computer and to get online in a few days. I am at a coffee shop about a 10 min walk from my new apartment. Well, I finally moved the last of my stuff from the old apartment to the new one using my big backpack and a couple of duffle bags. All told it took me about three days of packing, cleaning, making arrangements, and humping my stuff to the new apartment. Using my big backpack I walked to the nearest light rail station which is about 10 minutes away by foot. After disembarking at my stop it is again about a 10 minute walk to my new apartment. I cheated two times and used taxis however. Today was especially fun because it was snowing (about 4 inches) and I had strapped my blue stool to the back of my backpack, in addition to carrying my indispensable 2 1/2 foot by 3 foot long white board in my hands. So, people not only stared at me, but many older folks even stopped what they were doing and gawked at me as I passed them by. In total I did 5 trips, though my backpack was not full every time (books are heavy.)
Back to School #1… I am currently preparing for the start of my next semester which will begin on February 20th. I know, it seems like a long break, but we didn’t get out of the fall semester until the second week of January. Unlike our system in America, there are placement tests at the beginning of each semester, which means instead of going through the class levels sequentially, a student has the chance of jumping levels if he or she tests well. So, I took a listening and reading/grammar placement test yesterday. It was so difficult that I am sure it could ruin the confidence of even a 2nd or 3rd year Chinese language student. Following that I had my Chinese Oral placement test today, which I think I did pretty well on (compared to the listening and reading/grammar test). 15-2-2006 2-06-06 Note to MomFebruary 6, 2006 Hello Mom, This is the first time I have been online in a few days. I am at a coffee shop about a 10 min walk from the new apartment. I just moved the last of my stuff from the old apartment to the new one. I used my big backpack, and a couple of duffle bags and did 3 days of humping my stuff to the subway (about 10 mins to the stop) and then from my new stop to the apartment (again about 10 mins). I cheated two times and used taxis however. Today was especially fun because it was snowing (about 4 inches) and I strapped my blue stool to the back of my backpack, in addition to carrying my indispensible 2 1/2 foot by 3 foot long white board in my hands. So, people not only stared at me, but many older folks even stopped what they were doing and gawked at me as I passed them by. In total I did 5 trips. I ended up being able to get into a little bit smaller apartment owned by the same landlord but that is more comfortable and is $12.50 per month cheaper. I don't have a double bed now and the room is smaller (I have a bigger living room though) and I don't have a balcony to dry my clothes in/use for storage (I will figure out my new clothes drying procedure soon however). I can definitely sleep one extra person, and two is a maybe. However, there is no need to worry! There is a hotel 5 minutes walk away (it looks nice from the outside) and there are probably even more in this area. In addition Beijing has at least one Youth Hostel and maybe more. As for visitors, I am ALWAYS happy to accept visitors, especially my mother and people from Concow! I am glad to hear that Thomas has a desire to come. Make sure you warn him about food sanitary conditions (or just don't eat street food) and fill him in on what he needs to do to visit. Love, Darrol 30-1-2006 Assignment for Wang Family Scholarship.replbq
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Dear Wang Family Scholarship Committee:
Here are my recommendations/experiences regarding the topics for the Wang Family Scholarship assignment.
Housing
As for housing I was fortunate enough to have a Chinese friend help me find and apartment upon arrival in Beijing. I ended up settling on an apartment in the Shangdi neighborhood a few kilometers to the north of Beijing University. There are some advantages and disadvantages to my neighborhood. The advantages include having cheaper rent and living in an area that has lower prices at shops and restaurants. One of the big disadvantages to this area, however, is the general lack of conveniences. There are very few restaurants, and shops where I can purchase supplies, go to eat or study, and go to for entertainment. There are a few shops but the selection of goods is very limited. Additionally, the neighborhood is a bit far from the university. So, while in the summer and autumn I was perfectly happy riding to school, once the cold of winter came, I found that I had to get up even earlier to catch one of the many busses to school. Since classes start at 8:00am the traffic on the way to school is very dense, so taking the bus requires anywhere from 25 minutes to 50 minutes (including the walk from the bus station to class) as opposed to a 20 minute bike ride.
Following are some of the things I looked for in finding my apartment. These requirements fit my specific personality, so they may not be suitable for everyone. I wanted a place with internet access to use the laptop I brought with me from home. I also wanted to find an apartment with no more than two other roommates (think about how busy the bathroom will be in the morning). I also decided to get a furnished apartment because I did not want to spend the money or the time to buy and transport heavy items like a desk, table and bed to my room. Though it may sound obvious one of my requirements was to have a bedroom with a window, for the view, the lighting, and to keep me from feeling too much like a caveman.
Other things to keep in mind are bills, hot water, appliances/furniture, and heating. A lot of utility bills are paid quarterly so it is a good idea to make arrangements up front about paying bills. It is better to know before hand what you are getting into than to be stuck with a ridiculously priced bill that you were not expecting. You will find that landlords and prospective tenants will bargain over everything, which includes bills, so make sure you ask about everything you can think of, otherwise the landlord may pass on bills to you that you were to naive to make an agreement for up front. As for hot water, most of the apartments I looked at have small instant hot water heaters. These units are very convenient (you never run out of hot water), but some of the older ones do not work very well. I recommend turning on the hot water in the shower to make sure it works properly and to see how long it takes to get hot before you actually settle on the place. Some of the apartments don't have a temperature adjustment in the shower/bathroom; instead the temperature is controlled on the hot water heater itself which is often in the kitchen. So, if you want to have the ability to adjust your water temperature while taking your shower, make sure that there is a faucet with a temperature control located in the bathroom.
Most of the apartments I looked at came furnished with at least a desk, bed, small kitchen table and some chairs if there was a living room, a washing machine, a fridge and of course a cooking stove. Think about your needs before you decide on a place. Not all places will have these items, so make sure you get an apartment that has the conveniences you are interested in.
Beijing is cold! While every apartment will have hot water radiator heating, some are better than others. In the summer time it will be difficult to check the quality of the heating, so just make sure that there are good sized hot water radiators in all of the rooms (especially your bedroom), or you will be miserable in the winter. Additionally, while the heating fee is usually paid by the landlord, this is another one of their bargaining tools, so make sure you let them know up front that they need to pay the heating bill, and then bargain your rent down from there.
I ended up in a two bedroom apartment with a Chinese couple in the other room, whom I have become good friends with. Because they are Chinese I get to practice my language skills with them daily. In addition we often eat dinner together, they help correct my homework, and they share Chinese culture with me. Many of my classmates are living with international students, which may be exciting and more comfortable, but they speak English on a daily basis.
As for finding apartments, it is best to look at the bulletin boards in the international student dorms (Shao Yuan #3), or at the various coffee shops in the Wudaokou neighborhood just to the east of the university (about a 10 minute walk straight to the east from Beijing University's East Gate.) I am told that apartments can also be found online, though I have not tried this option yet. While the Wudaokou area has many conveniences, keep in mind that there are a lot of foreign students in that area so apartment rates and the cost of living are much higher. Rent is usually paid six months at a time, however I found that some landlords are willing to let tenants pay in 3 three month segments. I am paying about $110 for my apartment before utility bills, but that is because I am far from campus. Typical apartments in the Wudaokou area cost anywhere from $150 to $500 per month. With internet included (I am paying for it by myself) my bills average out to no more than $25 per month.
What to Pack / What not to Pack
As for packing I basically looked over the suggestions in the IP handbook, and tailored it to my needs. Remember that Beijing is a major metropolitan area so most goods, western and eastern, can be found here. For some items it may be necessary to go to different parts of the city which have large foreign communities to find some of the western goods that Chinese don't use so frequently. Think of it as going to Chinatown in the U.S. to find Chinese goods. Items like deodorant, mouthwash, floss, etc. are harder to find but can be found. Additionally because China is developing so quickly and is rapidly taking on Western culture and goods, the selection of Western items in stores is increasing daily. This year I was able to find deodorant, mouthwash, and a selection of Western foods/drinks in a Walmart store that was still under construction when I was volunteering to teach English here in the summer of 2004.
A useful website to help you plan what to pack for extended stays abroad is the One Bag website found at: http://www.onebag.com/home.html. While I used some of the recommendations from this website, I found that if I packed everything recommended I would have quite a large bag indeed. Just remember that you need to be able to get your luggage to and from the airport and that the more stuff you have the more planning you need to do in advance when traveling or moving.
A final note on packing, Beijing is very hot, and humid (compared to most of California), in the summer, and very cold in the winter. For the summer you will want to have synthetic clothes which feel much cooler and dry much faster than cottons. As for winter, I ended up buying a down jacket, several pairs of long underwear, and some long wool socks as well as a 100% wool blanket when winter came because the winter clothes I brought with me from the U.S. were not warm enough for Beijing. The winter temperatures in Beijing very, but it is not uncommon to have highs in the mid twenties (Fahrenheit) and lows in the teens or less.
Computers/ Internet Access
I decided to bring my laptop with me. Though it is possible to get buy without a laptop, I have been happy to use it to keep in touch with family and friends. I also use my laptop to keep up with current events and to complete my various scholarship requirements. As far as classes go I think it would be possible to get by without a laptop as I have not had to write any essays. However, some students did use their laptops during presentations or speeches that they gave.
I decided to get internet access at home, which ended up being about $10 a month for DSL, it would be even cheaper for me if my roommates wanted to share the cost, but they are not interested since they can use the internet at work. Many coffee shops, teashops and even places like the Subway sandwich shops have both wired and wireless internet access in Beijing. For students a convenient location is the Wudaokou area about a 10 minute walk from the East Gate of Beijing University. There are many coffee shops and other small businesses there that offer internet access to you after purchasing a cup of tea or a small snack.
Where to go to buy certain things
Beijing abounds with shops, department stores and other markets, so there is no shortage of places to buy necessities as well as other items. For students, there is a large underground department store called Carrefour, in the Zhongguancun area about 10 minutes south of Beijing University. Just go out the east gate and then head south, the complex will be on the right side/west side of the street. Carrefour sells everything from groceries to items you would find in a department store such as bikes, sports equipment, household appliances, and clothing. Think of it as a Walmart superstore with groceries. Speaking of Walmart, I came across one at the Zhichunlu light rail/subway stop. To get to Walmart, walk 10 minutes directly east from Beijing University's East Gate until you arrive at the light rail/subway station in Wudaokou. From the Wudaokou station go south (towards Xizhimen) and get off at the next stop which is Zhichunlu. Once you get off the train, Walmart cannot be missed.
Of course the best way to experience shopping in China, and perhaps get the best price, is to go to the local markets/shops and haggle for items. A fun place to do this is at the Jinwuxing market directly to the east of the Dazhongsi subway stop.
Telephones / Cell Phones
I opted for a cell phone though I hadn't had one in the U.S. for a few years. Cell phones can be bought almost everywhere (just look around and you will find many shops carrying them). The prices don't very too much, so just shop around until you find a model and a price that you like, and then bargain it from there. The price placards are more for guidelines then being actual prices so don't be fooled into believing that you have to pay the displayed price. In China you will have to pay for the phone number (certain numbers are luckier than other and so cost more), which will get you your SIM card to make the phone work. One of the best deals I was able to find was a UP SIM card that has free incoming calls, 200 free messages a month, and outgoing calls for a few cents a minute (within Beijing). The downside is that I have to pay $2 a month on top of the money I continually put on my cell phone, for this rate. There are other plans without a monthly fee but the rates will be higher. Chinese cell phones are mostly pay as you go (prepaid) so you will also have to buy cards every so often to refill the amount of money on your account. The cards can be found at all of the China Mobile shops as well as at most news/magazine shops which are scattered all over Beijing. It will not be a problem to find cards to refill your phone.
There is another option, which I neglected, which is to get a Shaolingtong phone. These phones look like cell phones but instead use the service of the major phone carrier in Beijing. While these phones can only be used in Beijing, and they have a higher rater for calling out of the city, they are much cheaper to buy and have a much better rate for calls within the city, than using cell phones. However, I am told that they don't always have English menus in the phones, and that the reception is not always as good. It is also important to see if the Shaolingtong can send/receive SMS messages, as I am told that some can, while others cannot. You will find that many Chinese will go for both options, that is they will have both a cell phone and a Shaolingtong phone.
Postal Services
Postal offices are located all over the city, and they are basically as easy to use as those in America. Post offices, or Youju, are easy recognized because of their big green and yellow signs which say "China Post" on them. Additionally, there are two China Post's on campus which is very convenient for students. The main difference between Chinese post offices and ours is that packages cannot be pre-packed. In other words you need to take the items you wish to send in an unsealed box to the post office so that the items can be inspected before being sent.
I hope this helps.
Darrol Butler CSU IP Student – Beijing University
15-1-2006 China Update #71/13/06 China Update #7 by Darrol Butler Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors: January 1-6, 2006 Finals & Moving #1... I am starting to prepare for moving once this week of finals is over. Of course my main focus is studying for my finals right now. My last final will be on Friday January 6th. I must mention that is has been quite trying having to return to my last week of classes, before finals week, the day after Christmas. To make the situation more challenging, we don't have a dead week, and in all three of my classes we were studying new material even on the last day of class. As if that was not enough, I had my first final on Monday January 2, the day after New Year's Day. As for the moving, I am fairly sure that I am going to end up paying more than I am currently paying, for an apartment not as nice as where I currently reside, but the location will be much better for me. I will be much closer to school, and also closer to many small restaurants and coffee shops where I can eat cheaply and study easily. This is important for me because the area where I live now is not very convenient and it is pretty far from campus, making it difficult for me to get to my 8:00 in the morning classes on time. There are few restaurants in this area, and I have yet to find a good place where I can go out to study. I guess you can call this move a sacrifice for convenience. The move will also prevent me from having to move during the middle of my next semester, when my roommates will vacate this apartment. The downside is that I had to pay my next three months of rent on January 1st, so I am not sure how much rent money my roommates will be willing to return to me. In total I paid them about $340 for the next three months of rent and they already have my $115 deposit. Because they will be unable to get a new roommate to move in for such only two months, I am expecting that they will keep my deposit, and my January's rent (I will be moving out before the end of the second week of January.) I hope that they will not want to keep more of the rent. However, the apartment owner already came over and colleted the rent from them, so it is hard to say how much I will get back in the end as that amount will have to be paid out of their own pockets. Additionally, I will still need to subtract the money for the utilities/internet bills from the remainder that they return to me. I did mention the possibility of moving in January to my roommates back in the beginning of November, however I had no choice but to pay the next three months of rent on January 1st because I still had to be here for my finals week. My roommates are very kind though, so I think they will probably be willing to give me back two months or rent, while keeping my deposit and the rest of January's rent. January 13, 2006 Finals & Moving #2... As for my finals, I finally finished taking them and am pleased that I came down with a cold today (because I didn't get it two days earlier!). I think I did extremely well on two of the three exams, but very badly on the other exam. In the best case scenario my grades might be, 2 A's and 1 B. However, it is more probable that I will have 1 "A", 1 "B" and 1 "C". Though these are not the grades that I was hoping for, considering that I was taking 20 units of intensive Chinese language classes with professors who don't speak English, and a majority of the time I could not understand what the professors were saying, especially when explaining rules of grammar, and also considering the many difficulties I had to overcome in the past semester due to being sick and adjusting to life in China, these grades are acceptable. Of course, I will try my best to do better next semester, and a new location will also help with that. ***Quick note: I ended up getting a "B" in the class I thought I was going to get a "C" in.*** As for moving, I've been extremely tired lately as my flu turned out to be stronger than I had expected, (yellow phlegm and all), and I have been out in the cold (highs around 32F and lows around 20F) most of each day looking at apartments with my friends and haggling over prices. The experience is extremely different from getting an apartment in the states. There are many middleman involved who get various finder fees, sometimes up to as much as 1 month's rent, and everything is bargained for, from the price of the room to the price of each bill. This bargaining is necessary since the utility bills may, or may not, be shared with the other tenants, and in any case are mailed out to the apartment owner every two to three months, whose honesty is unknown. This means that if you bargain the price to low, he may not tell you the correct price of each bill. Additionally the apartment owner may or may not cover some of the bills, or parts of them. A good example of this is the heating bill (using the hot water radiators I explained in my Dec. 3rd email update) which is a fixed price for the whole year and which is only used during the coldest four months of the year, November-February. The hot water which heats the houses is controlled and provided by the city, with landlords paying a fixed rate every year. However, the landlords usually pass this fee onto the tenants (which may or may not include a markup). Fun, fun, fun!!! ***Note: I feel very fortunate, and I am very happy every time I receive postcards, letters, and packages from everyone. However, please don't send me anything until I get my new address posted in the next email update. If you have recently sent me mail, there is no need to be worried. I will be able to pick up anything that has already been sent since I have a close relationship with my roommates. Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading, Darrol Butler 戴龙 Dai Long Photo: My roommates, my friend Mike Williams, and I while decorating our Christmas tree.
17-12-2005 China Update #6 by Darrol12/15/05
China Update #6 by Darrol Butler
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
December 15, 2005 Hair Salon Trip # 1 There are many barbershops and hair salons in my neighborhood. As many of you may know, I rarely have my hair cut in America. This is not because I don't like having my hair cut, but because I find the prices to be unreasonably high, usually around $12-15 before the $2 tip, for a ten minute trim. So, one day back in August I decided to go with my American friend Mike, who was visiting me at the time, to get a haircut. We didn't really know how much it would cost for a haircut, or whether the end result would be stylish or not, but we thought it would be worth the adventure to at least try. When we entered the shop the stylists asked us many questions that we couldn't understand. We didn't really know how to task them for haircuts or how to explain the kind of styles that we were interested in. So, using a combination of our dictionaries, the vocabulary we already knew and a plethora of hand signals we did our best to explain what we wanted, all the time knowing that we were unable to communicate effectively our wishes. We were surprised when the female assistants first had us sit down and then started to give us each a hand, face and head massage. Following about fifteen minutes of massage the assistants then shampooed our hair before finally handing us over to the hairstylists. As if this luxury treatment was not enough, we were each given another massage after the haircuts. The entire experience was very relaxing and pleasurable, which made us both start to worry about the cost of this special treatment. Our fears were soon allayed however, when we were each asked to pay 25 RMB ($3.12) for our haircuts. Not only was the price and the service excellent, but our haircuts were also very stylish.
Hair Salon Trip # 2 Because my facial hair grows so quickly, I have to shave my face everyday in order to maintain a clean-cut look. However, Beijing 's winter is very cold and I was ready for something different, so I decided this winter I would try something new and retain my facial hair. I grew my facial hair for about three weeks, but I it turned out to look pretty unattractive. So, I decided to go back to the shop where my friend Mike and I had gone to have our haircuts, to see if the barbers there could shape my facial hair. I thought if I had neatly groomed sideburns, and a mustache connecting to a goatee-like beard I would look pretty handsome. After arriving at the hair salon I used my dictionary to explain to the hairstylist that I wanted to groom my sideburns, mustache and beard to make them look nice. The stylist told me it would cost 10 RMB ($1.25), and I accepted the price. I was surprised when he had me lie down on a bed and then began applying shaving soap to my face. He then used a straight razor to trim my facial hair. I had expected the stylist to use an electric shaver. Because I was lying on the bed, I was unable to see how the stylist was grooming my face. After about fifteen minutes he was done, and signaled for me to stand up. Of course I was very eager to see my new look. As I was walking over to the mirror I could hear the other workers and the massage girls saying "Piao liang!" which means beautiful. I was astonished when I looked in the mirror only to find that he had shaved off all of my facial hair! Quite apparently our communication had failed, and the stylists had no idea that had been intentionally growing my facial hair for three weeks (going through the various ugly stages), in order to have a neatly groomed face. It took me a while using gestures, my dictionary and the vocabulary I already know, but I was finally able to explain to them that I had intended to have the stylist shape my facial hair, not cut if off. After that everyone in the shop laughed a lot. It was very funny. The barber explained that he was sorry, but I told him not to worry, and thanked him for making my face good looking again. Then we all laughed some more, and I left.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Butler 戴龙 Dai Long
My Chinese name is Dai Long 戴龙 戴 (Dai) is a Chinese surname and has no meaning. 龙 (Long) is a Chinese given name that means dragon.
My address in China: Darrol Butler Beijing Shi Hai Dian Qu Shang Di Nan Lu 14 Hao Yuan 203 Shi 100085 China December 10-12 Emails to MomDecember 10, 2005 Hello Mom,
It looks like in the last year or two Chinese and foreign companies are trying to capitalize on the Christmas Holiday in China. And, the Chinese (at least in Beijing are hooked on it). In the last two weeks Christmas trees, christmas signs and decorations and English Christmas Carols and other Christmas songs have popped up in all of the major shopping malls, and even regular department stores. Last night at Walmart Chinese people were going crazy over the different oranments, and Christmas gift displays. Chen Meng tells me each year it is getting bigger in China, becasue the major department stores (like in the U.S.) are agressively advertising it to the Chinese consumers. What is neat, is that (like us) they don't celebrate it for the religious aspects, but instead to spend more time with the family and to give gifts to each other.
I'll send you some pictures . . . Also, Yang Fan and Chen Meng decorated their restaurant for Christmas, complete with Christmas tree, oranaments hanging from the ceiling, 3D Santa Clause decorations on the door, and elf outfits for their workers! You know, Chen Meng is a graphic/other designer and she likes western culture/style alot!
I finally got to look through the box yesterday. Thank you for the "Christmas in a Box." Mike will arrive from Chengdu at the end of this coming week, and then we will go get a Christmas tree and decorate it with my roommates :O)
Please send me more pictures of the new tree, and some pictures of previous Christmas trees. Chen Meng is very anxious to see them.
Love ya, Darrol
These pictures are in Yang Fan and Chen Meng's Restaurant. Two pictures are at WalMart (yes, I quickly whipped out my camera and took them.)
December 11, 2005 Hello Mom,
Sorry, I heard the phone ringing last night at 11:30 when I was laying in bed trying to sleep. I was so tired I only looked at the clock and then went back to sleep. You have to shift your time conversion one hour because you are now on standard time. Anway, I came down with a sore throat and I am tired and a little stuffed up. I got 100 on my test last Monday, which brought my score up to 89.6 for the last section we covered in my Kouyu class. My Hanyu teacher announced on Friday that we are going to have a test on Monday, so I am trying study for that.
Mike will show up probably on Thursday or Friday of this coming week. Love ya, Darrol
December 12, 2005 Hello Mom,
Sorry, I missed you guys. I found out yesterday, after I was expecting your call, that I didn't have any money left on my cell phone. Please tell everyone I am sorry, but I am happy that they are all thinking of me. Well, it has been very cold here, and just getting colder.High of 28degrees and a low of 12 today! But, when the wind kicks up it feels even colder, the wind actually stings the face. And, I came down with the flu again . . . More time this year then ever before in one year in my life. Actually the winter air is by far cleaner than the often smoggy days of summer. I can usually see pretty far now that it is winter. I think there are two reasons, one is having spending my first very cold winter in a developing country, and the second is that there are so many people to help keeps the bugs spreading around. (Also, you know how clean (read, not clean) many of the uneducated Chinese are). Busy, busy, busy, I have to prepare for a speech on Friday, and we are down to two or three weeks of cramming in the last few lessons in the book (regardless of whether or not we can even learn, yet alone retain the information.) As for the Christmas you gave me motivation to set up a Christmas tree with Mike and my roommates, something I wouldn't have done otherwise!
Sorry, the Christmas presents are all going to be late, I have either been to preoccupied with my studies or too sick to go out and get things. I am hoping for next weekend though. I was actually set on doing it this last weekend, but my landlord (the owner of the flat) I live in, found out I am living here. So my roommates told me that he and his wife wanted to meet me. So I was stuck cleaning my room and waiting around to meet him this past weekend while studying.
Okay, I have to go. Love ya, Darrol
8-12-2005 Update: December 3, 200512/03/05
China Update #5 by Darrol Butler Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
Firstly, I want to show my appreciation for some more kind people who have donated funds to help me with my studies at Beijing University. These people are: MJ Caywood, Reene Fiack, Leah Mahan and Nancy Nelson. Thank you very much, your kindness and generosity is helping me to realize a dream I never thought possible. Hello everyone. I am sorry to keep you all waiting so long for this update. I have decided that from here on out, instead of sending long winded mini-novels, I am going to post short email updates that will hopefully be more enjoyable to read, while also making it easier for me to get my email updates out in a timely manner. I am also reducing the file size of the pictures I send out so that they are easier on email systems, and they will come as separate attachments. Hopefully this will make it easier for more people to look at the pictures I send out. For those people who still want large sized pictures they can be obtained by sending me an email request to the email address listed near the end of this update. Additionally, for more photos and a collection of all the updates, as well as links, you can visit my two web addresses at: http://myweb.csuchico.edu/~dbutler1/ and http://spaces.msn.com/members/darrolchina/
November 13, 2005 : Cold, colder I have learned that the government ordered all businesses (companies, apartment complex managers, etc...) to turn on the hot water on November 15th. I am really looking forward to having heat as I have caught either a cold or the flu again. Anyhow, I now know that the radiators located throughout my apartment, the Beijing University classrooms, and just about everywhere else in town, are not oil filled but rather hot water radiators. In each building they are all connected and the hot water circulates through them to provide heating for the rooms, (another kind of central heating). I am informed that during the middle of the day and in the middle of the night, unless it is very cold, they will be turned off. I will see . . . I also now know what all of the smokestacks I see around town are used for. I always wondered why I never saw anything coming out the tops of them. Yesterday while I was taking the light rail to study at my friend's restaurant I had a good opportunity to see one of the heating plants, and sure enough, it is now surrounded by mountains of coal in preparation for providing hot water for the winter. I have also noticed of recently that all of the hedges and other landscaping around town are being covered up with heavy cloth to protect them from the frigid winter weather. Though it will be cold for me, the temperature will not be nearly as low as in northern China , or in the northern U.S. The lowest temperature that Beijing experiences in a year will be around ¨C4 degrees Fahrenheit.
November 25: Changing seasons Hello everyone. I am missing the change of the seasons in Chico, Concow and the rest of northern California. I especially miss fall with the changing of leaves from greens to yellows, golds, oranges, and fiery reds. Of course, in the spring and early summer I will be missing the beautiful wildflowers as well. Beijing is far enough to the north that it also has four distinct seasons, however, living in a city of 16 million+ people in a developing country means that a majority of the natural indicators of the seasonal changes (except for the weather) have been paved over (or are in the process of being paved over).
Anyway, I did manage to go out with my friends a few weeks back to visit Xiang Shan, one of the many large parks in Beijing, to experience the beautiful fall leaves. Xiang Shan is situated in the Western Hills in the northwest of Beijing and along with the Summer Palace and many other locations, was another one of the retreats for emperors. While I have been to Xiang Shan a total of three times now, this time was definitely the most spectacular. In Beijing Xiang Shan is famous for its displays of fall colors, so during this season it attracts a huge number of visitors. Though my roommates and even one of my teachers advised against going because of the immense amount of visitors, my friends and I decided to go anyway. Sure enough the crowds were large, with all of the streets, alleys, paths, and any other available open spaces, being packed full of people. This is one of the reasons I came to China, so I expected no different, and it was quite interesting to witness. Anyway, the trip ended up being quite an exciting, if not exhausting day out.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Butler 戴龙 Dai Long
My Chinese name is Dai Long 戴龙 戴 (Dai) is a Chinese surname and has no meaning. 龙 (Long) is a Chinese given name that means dragon.
I love to receive mail, as I never get tired of mailbox surprises. :O) My address in China is: Darrol Butler Beijing Shi Hai Dian Qu Shang Di Nan Lu 14 Hao Yuan 203 Shi 100085 (with three zeros) China
14-11-2005 Cold, colder....November 13, 2005 Cold, colder… Hello Mom, Here is the latest update from the IP Resident Director. I have learned that the government ordered all businesses (companies, apartment complex managers, etc...) to turn on the hot water on November 15th. I am really looking forward to having heat as I have caught either a cold or the flu again. Anyhow, I now know that the radiators located throughout the house, Beida classrooms, and just about everywhere else are not oil filled but rather hot water radiators. In one building they are all connected and the hot water circulates through them to provide heating for the rooms, (another kind of central heating). I am informed that during the middle of the day (unless it is very cold) and in the deep of the night they will be turned off. I will see . . . I also now know what all of the smoke stacks I see around town are used for. I always wondered why I never saw anything coming out the tops of them. On the way to Yang Fan's restaurant to study yesterday, I saw one of the heating plants, and sure enough, it is now surrounded by mountains of coal in preparation for providing hot water for the winter. I still need to do a lot of homework, and I already don't have enough time to finish it all, so my next email update is on the backburner for the moment. I might add a little from this email to you (I will elaborate on it more) as well as put in some anecdotes. OK. I have to go, tell everyone I said "Hi." Love ya, P.S. Received a postcard from Uintah yesterday. ********************************************************************************************* From Sherry: I chatted with Darrol online this morning (it was 8am for me and midnite for him). He was brushing his teeth to go to bed, and I just finished brushing mine to start the day… He’s doing well, though he has a cold again. He’s been studying at Yang Fan’s restaurant after school. They give him a large table in the back, bring him free tea, the restaurant is heated, and Yang Fan helps him with his pronunciations and corrects his homework. What a deal, eh? He loves his new 100% wool quilt and layered wool clothes, though he would love to have the heat turned on. Somewhere I have given out the wrong zipcode for
Darrol. It is 100085 (with 3 zeroes, not
2). So please correct it, if you have it
wrong. He’d love to receive letters (80
cents US) and postcards (70 cents US). Darrol Butler Beijing Shi Hai Dian Qu Shang Di Nan Lu 14 Hao Yuan 203 Shi 100085 CHINA If you have turned on Chinese in your control panel, under
regional languages, you will see the following (Darrol's address and Darrol's
name in Chinese, if these aren't turned on, it will just look like gobbledy
gook...) Darrol Butler 北京市海淀区上地南路14号院203室 100085 北京中国 Beijing, China And from Darrol, his name: My Chinese name: 戴龙 Dai Long My Chinese name is Dai Long 戴龙 戴 (Dai) is a Chinese surname and has no meaning. 龙
(Long) is a Chinese given name that means dragon. Enjoy, Sherry ************************************************************ November 12, 2005 From the IP Resident
Director: CSU-IP
Gang:
17-10-2005 Extra Info - Calling China, Translators, Shipping to ChinaExtra Info
Calling China Sherry: I signed up for this card, which was a little convoluted, but I’m able to call Darrol in Beijing for 2 cents a minute! It’s amazing to start the call and hear that I have 16 hours remaining on my $20 card! Be forewarned that when you make a call, it starts off in Chinese, then gives directions to use English prompts, so hang in there. The reception has always been excellent. Below I’ll post good times to call Darrol. Also on their website you can register you cell or home phone number and you don’t have to key in a large pin number the, just dial the access phone number for your area, follow a couple of prompts for English, then dial Darrol’s number. I wasn’t able to get the speed dial option to work, but I’m very happy with everything else. Here’s the original note from Darrol:
Darrol: Before I forget I want to let you know about a phone card that I use to call China. After doing a bunch of research I found a phone card that can be recharged, costs only about 4.6 cents a minute using the toll free numbers, has no maintenance fee, and only charges by the minute (as opposed to 3 minute rounding from most other cards) and doesn't expire. In addition all of the transactions can be done online, you will receive the phone card pin number and access numbers online, and you can set it to "pin free" dialing from numerous phones. Furthermore, you can save 10 speed dial numbers with it so that all you have to do after dialing the access number is press one key and then you can call someone. I have been using this card, as well as all of the features, to talk with my friends in China and make arrangements there, and I love it. For you it is even better because if you have a cell phone you can use your free weekend or evening minutes on your cell phone to call one of the local access numbers and then you will get a rate of only 1.9 cents a minute!
Anyway, I thought this would be useful for you since I already did the research and I have been using it for about 4 months now. The company is ECall China. http://www.ecallchina.com/
Make sure you select the "Rechargeable Pinless Speed Dial Phone Card". I doubt you will find a better rate on a card that doesn't have maintenance fees, 1 minute rounding or an expiration date. If you do, please let me know!
Oh yeah, they often offer coupons for anywhere from 0.50 to 1.25 off the purchase of your next card (to refill your card) which makes the rate even cheaper! What else could you want?
Translators, Dictionaries
Darrol did much research on English-Chinese electronic dictionaries. The Besta CD-616 seems to do all that he needs for his classes and everyday getting along in China. It is available from www.bestausa.com/e616.htm . Plus it takes SD sim cards to expand it’s capabilities and comes with a US Britannica Encyclopedia in all languages. I was amazed at how small and compact it is.
Here are some of its features: -Million words search in 4 languages: Chinese/English/Japanese/Korean -Learn grammar from sample sentences. -Built-in English-Chinese dictionary – 270,000 words -Contemporary Chinese Dictionary and Chinese Dictionary in Simplified and Traditional versions. -Handwriting recognition, phonetic search and unlimited word expansion.
As for English-Chinese dictionaries, Darrol prefers the yellow covered Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary with a vinyl cover that is good for traveling, while I liked the Rough Guide Mandarin dictionary that we took with us last year. I’ve read great reviews for the one that Darrol prefers though. I bought both of them from amazon.com.
Shipping to China 10/14/05 Darrol Update #410/14/05
China Update #4 by Darrol Butler
Links Darrol's webpage (with pictures): http://myweb.csuchico.edu/~dbutler1/ CSU International Programs website: www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet Gilman International Scholarship Program website: www.iie.org/gilman Peking University: http://en.pku.edu.cn/ Wang Family Scholarship: http://www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet/faculty/wang.shtml University Studies Abroad Consortium website: www.usac.unr.edu
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
Firstly, I want to show my appreciation to a few kind people who I missed on my thank you list in the last email update. These people are: Paula Bielfelt, Dario Martinez, and Sarah Salisbury and Leila Newell. Thank you very much for your support in this endeavor. Your generosity is helping me to realize a dream I never thought possible.
Secondly, I would like to mention an exciting development. Both my mother and my brother have kindly volunteered to create and manage a webpage chronicling my life in China. In addition to archiving my email updates, the webpage also includes a section with pictures that I've been taking while studying in China. Later, when I have time, I will post additional information to the webpage. This will include such things as a short autobiography, and stories and anecdotes that are either too long, or inappropriate for the context of my email updates. Like all webpages, it is in a constant state of flux, so it will change as we see fit. My webpage at CSU Chico is: http://myweb.csuchico.edu/~dbutler1/
Well, after making it through class registration, getting my immigration status up to date and legitimate, getting over the flu, and settling into my classes, I thought I was in for some smooth sailing. Additionally, I was looking forward to catching up in my studies during the upcoming Chinese National Holiday celebrating the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, by Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949 . I could not have been more wrong. On the night of September 29, a little more than one day before our week long holiday I came down with the worst sickness I've ever had in my life.
Unfortunately for me, Chinese National Holiday is one of only three holidays we will have during this year of classes. The other two are the Chinese New Year, and the Spring Festival. Since China has only three holidays each year that people have off from work, these holidays are the only time that most Chinese have for travel. Therefore, as you can expect, it is also the most busy and expensive time to travel. Just like in America during Christmas or any other holiday, the rates for everything from air tickets to hotels are raised. Since I only have one holiday each semester, and then a one month break between semesters, I was really tempted to make plans to travel, like the rest of the international students, during the holiday. However, I thought I would be clever, and save some money, by waiting to travel during the winter break or during next summer. I also thought I could use the time to catch up on my studies and to do some reading. My choice ended up being a good one, but for a much different reason than I expected.
Thursday night, the night before our last day of classes for a week, I came down with a pretty bad stomachache and minor diarrhea. The whole night I tossed and turned. When I woke up Friday midmorning I had the worst stomach pain, headache, muscular pains, fever and diarrhea I've ever had. I was so sick I spent all of Friday in bed and missed my last two classes before the nine-day National Holiday. To make matters worse, I had no water, or any other kind of liquid, to take some aspirin with, and to keep my body from becoming dehydrated. As you may know, the tap water in China is far from drinkable, even when it comes to emergencies, so my only options were to buy water or filter it. However, I was barely able to make it to the toilet with my aching body, throbbing head and diarrhea. So, there was no way I could get to the living room, put my shoes on, and get down three flights of stairs to go for a five minute walk to buy water. I brought my backpacking water filter with me from the U.S., however, if you've ever used a high quality water filter, you know that they are not easy to use. Water filters require a lot of effort because you must pump the water through extremely small pores in the filter. At the moment, I did not have the kind of energy needed for such a task.
So, I laid in bed both dehydrated and racked by fever and stomach problems. Finally, around 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening the dehydration and fever became so bad that I realized I was going to have to make water regardless of my condition. It was a challenge, but I made it out of bed, got out my water filter, and managed to make it to the kitchen to start filtering water. My head pounded the whole time, my muscles were very sore, and I broke out in a sweat, but eventually I was able to filter two liters of water. Just as I finished filtering the water, but before I could remove the excess water from the filter to put it away, the exertion caught up with me, my fever started raging again, and I had to do another race for the toilet. It was quite a miserable experience, but finally I was able to take some aspirin and to start re-hydrating my body.
I spent the entire night alternating between intense sweating and bone racking shivering, as well as making the occasional mad dash for the toilet. At 1:00 am I took two more aspirin. Needless to say, I did not sleep very much that night. Saturday morning I was happy to find that my fever had been dramatically reduced. In total I had spent a full day and a half in bed. My friend Zhao Lin was so worried about me that she took an eight hour night train (Friday night) from her hometown in Datong in order to come to Beijing as quickly as possible. She brought me some Chinese medicine and then she went to the grocery store to pick up some vegetables. When she returned she cooked me some soup. It was the first food I had eaten in about 36 hours. After breakfast she even called my professors to explain my situation to them. As it turns out, they were very worried about me. They gave her my homework assignments and told her to wish me well. In addition she told me that I am not doing as poorly in my classes as I keep telling her. They both said that I am one of the better students, and that if I get over being sick and turn in my homework on time I can do very well. I am indebted to Zhao Lin for her overwhelming kindness and selflessness.
My fever slowly receded, leaving me with extreme stomach discomfort which just recently went away. That Saturday I had to do thirteen trips to the restroom! The Imodium pills finally started working on Sunday and the diarrhea mostly went away. However, I had major discomfort and stomach cramps several times a day. Fortunately I had brought some antibiotics with me from the U.S. in case of a bad bout of Travelers Diarrhea. I immediately began taking the antibiotics once I realized that the stomach cramps were not going away. The medicine didn't seem to be working as I spent the entire week of National Holiday, Oct. 1-9, with abdominal cramps and extreme stomach discomfort. So, once classes began again on Monday the 10th, I finally went to the Beijing University hospital. With the help of a friend I was able to see a doctor, and get some additional medicine. Tuesday the 11 th, I had to return to give them a stool sample. I am happy to report that the sample was clean, and later that day (twelve days from when I originally became sick) my cramps receded and then went away altogether. I guess the antibiotics finally killed the parasites in my body.
As you can imagine, for the past two weeks I have been eating very cautiously, which means I have been avoiding street food altogether. While I really miss the delicious street food, my stomach problems gave me more motivation to familiarize myself with the numerous cafeterias on campus. Though the learning curve was high, and I still cannot really order food, I have found out which cafeterias have food that I can just grab, or point at. Additionally, I learned that the cafeteria food is delicious, the choice of dishes is nearly unlimited, (imagine having almost every dish from your top five favorite Chinese restaurants, as well as numerous other dishes, available all at once and for as little as $0.10 per plate) and the food is subsidized by the government, making it very cheap. For as little as U.S. $0.50 I can eat two or three plates of Chinese food, as well as have a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup!
As for my classes, I've been doing my best to keep up with the Chinese lessons and the plethora of homework that the professors give us. As usual, I am quick at catching on in class, but always a little behind in my homework and studies. It is difficult for me to remember everything that the professors teach us. We have so many new words, sounds, and characters/combinations of characters each day that it is hard for me to keep on top of it all. Unfortunately we don't have very much review in the classes, and since we are going through material at a very fast rate, I have become quite anxious about my three midterms next week. Additionally, because I missed a few classes while I was sick, my ability to keep up is being pushed to the limits. The good news is that regardless of whether or not I can remember everything my professors teach me, my Chinese language skill is increasing rapidly. I've found that I am communicating more with people, my vocabulary getting larger and I have more that I can say. Additionally, I have found that I recognize more and more of the characters that I see in my daily life. Though I do not always know the meaning of combinations of characters (forming new words), just that I am recognizing more of them means that my character knowledge is increasing. I know that understanding will come with time, and diligence in my studies. Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading, Darrol Butler
戴龙 Dai Long
My Chinese name is Dai Long 戴龙 戴 (Dai) is a Chinese surname and has no meaning. 龙 (Long) is a Chinese given name that means dragon.
My address in China: Beijing Shi Hai Dian Qu Shang Di Nan Lu 14 Hao Yuan 203 Shi 100085 China 9/27/05 Darrol Answers Questions from CSUC studentSeptember 27, 2005 Hey Darrol~ 1. How friendly are the students and other Chinese toward Americans? Do you feel welcome? 6. Have you traveled outside of Beijing yet? Sincerely, ******************************************************************************************************************************** Hello Katie, I am glad to hear that more students in Chico are interested in studying in China. It is too bad that we do not really have a Chinese language program at CSU Chico. Here are my quick answers to your questions:
1. The students are very friendly and welcoming to Americans as well as other international students. They do not confuse our individual personalities with the actions of our government (past and present administrations). When ever I need help, I always ask a Chinese student (complete stranger). They are always ready to help us as they are curious about us, and like to practice their English. Yesterday a Chinese student helped me to get my lunch card, because I didn't know how to do it. Afterwards she took me to one of the cafeterias on campus and bought me lunch because my card would not work until later that day!
2. Neither. I am living off campus in an apartment with a young Chinese couple. They are very friendly, and I am learning a lot about Chinese culture from them. The downside is that it takes me longer to get to school, and I am sometimes out of the information loop. Like everything both living on campus and living off campus has advantages and disadvantages.
3. My professors are very kind. In fact, I became so sick with the flu (my body was also adjusting to China) that I missed a few classes, including two quizzes. The professors let me make up the homework and the quizzes! Of course, I called them at home (they care that much about our studies here) to let them know my dilemma.
4. I love the food, but some people don't. As for tap water, DO NOT DRINK IT. Chinese also don't drink the tap water. I brought my water filter because I am an avid backpacker. However, a filter is not necessary, and I do not know anyone else that brought one. Water here is very cheap and can be found everywhere (including mountain tops and 5 hours hiking down the Great Wall!)
5. You can do some quick research on the internet to find out Beijing's weather. However, it does have 4 distinct seasons, like Chico, though it is colder in winter here (snow guaranteed), and the early summer is rainy.
6. I have already fulfilled the requirements for my majors, so this is more for language experience for me, and to complement my majors. I am a Geography (Human/Cultural and Physical/Environmental) and Asian Studies double major. Most people would apply it to either a language requirement for a specific major that requires language, for the language requirement at our university, or to the upper division theme. Tasha Dev and your advisor are the ones you want to talk to regarding that stuff.
You can read all of my email updates (they are supposed to go out every two weeks, but I have been terribly busy so I have not been that frequent yet) at the study abroad office, in the geography department, or at my CSUC webpage: http://myweb.csuchico.edu/~dbutler1/ I hope this helps you. Darrol 9/24/05 Sherry's updateSeptember 24, 2005
I called Darrol this morning, using my wonderful ecallChina card (with 15 hours left to go on it!) http://www.ecallchina.com/ It was his late Saturday evening and 7:30 in the morning for me (Beijing is 15 hours ahead of us.). He has a new number, bought a new sim card for his phone that has a better rate on incoming calls. Call or email me if you want the new number. (Also, if you’d like to call him, but don’t want to buy a $20 card of your own, call or email me, and I can register your phone number with my card, and you can then call him, after finding a local access number on their site http://www.ecallchina.com/access/45_.aspx.) If you have questions, feel free to email, I’ll help walk you through it.
The best time to call him is: Saturday, between 6am and 8am PST (which is 9pm – 11pm Saturday evening in Beijing), or I’ve also called on Friday or Saturday evenings between 7pm – 10pm, which is 10am to 1pm on either Saturday or Sunday mornings.
He sends his love and best wishes to all, and apologizes for not having been in contact yet. He hasn’t been able to get any time on line, and if you’ve sent him an email in the last 2 weeks, he hasn’t read it. Access isn’t what he thought it would be, but he’ll be working on improving that in the next week. He just hasn’t wanted to spend $3 for a cup of coffee to use the internet…
School is going well, he is enjoying his classes, though he has tons of homework. They are learning 40-50 words a day, which includes the sounds, tones, Chinese traditional characters and simplified characters. He has about 4 hours of class a day, 5 days a week. He said the teaching style is totally different, a lot of memorization and will elaborate more on that in an update. (Which he promises will be coming soon…)
He’s feeling better, and got over his flu and acclimating to the local flora and fauna with Chinese herbs.
This last week he joined the Cycling Club on campus (they were encouraged to join two clubs, so this is the first). Friday they went on a 25 km overnight ride, which he really enjoyed.
He’s discovered that there are many cafeterias on campus, and at another campus nearby, with excellent food in huge quantities for about $1.50 to $2 a meal. So that is where he is doing the majority of his eating.
And that’s about it. I caught him up on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which he has heard very little about. I sent him some Time, The Week and National Geographic magazines which he really enjoyed since English reading material, especially up-to-date is hard to come by. Enjoy, Sherry (the Mom)
9/25/05 Darrol Update #39/25/05
China Update #3 by Darrol Butler
Links CSU International Programs website: www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet Gilman International Scholarship Program website: www.iie.org/gilman University Studies Abroad Consortium website: www.usac.unr.edu
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
First I want to make two notes: I want to send my condolences to everyone who was affected by hurricane Katrina and the following storms. I hope that all of your families and friends are safe and healthy. Though there was an initial lag in logistics for helping the victims I am proud to know that so many people came together from all over America, and the international community, to donate money, food, supplies, labor, and other items or services to the affected during their hour of need. It is this spirit of helping each other, even those who we do not know, which makes us human. Secondly, on a more personal level, I want to thank everyone who has so graciously helped me to realize a dream that I never thought was financially feasible for me. Your kindness and generosity are allowing me to learn another language and culture halfway around the world from a perspective not possible while residing in the U.S. The people who have helped me on this journey, in one way or another, are numerous, and I am sure that I have missed many on this list, but, I want to thank: Michael Ashlock, Art & Marilyn & Paula Bielfelt, Jan Bielfelt, Toby Bodeen, Dr. Scott Brady, Mary Broderick & Cole Spohr, Eileen Brownell, Mavorette Butler, Dr. Weikun Cheng, Debi Connor, Alex & Devora D'Angelo, Dr. John & Julia DeMartini, Tasha Dev, Rosie Finmand, Lindy & Emma Hoppough, John & Melissa Jewitt, Dr. William Loker, Dr. Susan Place, Elizabeth Rivers & Mimi Mitchell, Uintah (Ramona) Shabazz, Dario, Kevin Butler, Sarah and Leila, and Dr. Jerry & Terry Williams. Again, I would also like to thank the donors of the CSUC Asian Studies Scholarship, the selection committee at the Institute of International Education for the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship and Trustee Emeritus Dr. Stanley Wang and his family for the Wang Family Scholarship. Additionally, I would like to thank my father, brother and sister, and the rest of my family and friends (some who are already on this list and others who are not) who have either encouraged me in this pursuit or helped me emotionally prepare for it. And, finally, I want to give a huge thank you to my mother whose tireless efforts, both before I left and now that I am here in China , have helped me in more ways than I can possibly express. Thank you each and every one of you. Darrol O'Doyle Butler Please excuse my lack of timeliness in getting out this third email update to you. This past month has been very trying for me. There were many challenges, some I had anticipated, and others I had not, that I met in my registration process at Beijing University and at the beginning of my classes. The first issue appeared on August 29th when I found out that my blood tests (showing whether or not I was HIV+) attached to my physical examination form from the U.S. were copies instead of the originals. Not having the originals halted my registration process and also prevented me from finishing my household registration process to get a resident permit (more on this later). So, I had to wait until the 1st of September to go with a group of other international students who either, had not taken a physical exam prior to arrival in China, had not completed all of China's requirements for their physical exams, or did not have all of the original/official paperwork or test results. They loaded all of us who needed to correct issues with out physical exam forms onto three busses and took us to a hospital. For me it turned out to be completely unnecessary. After waiting in line for about fifteen minutes, a nurse looked at all of my paperwork, made some marks on it, and then sent me to another counter where I had to pay about $8. After that I figured out that I needed to go to the lab to get new blood tests. However, once I was in the lab the nurse couldn't seem to find me in the computer system. So, I waited for the other students to get registered one by one and take their blood tests, until the nurse finally found a gap in the arrival of students. She then ran out to the front desk and promptly returned. Using a lot of words in Chinese that I didn't understand, in conjunction with vivid hand signals, she got the point across to me that I didn't need to take the blood tests after all. Apparently the first nurse had accepted the copies of my blood tests as originals. The next interesting challenge came when I showed up for my Chinese language proficiency test. The students were not divided into groups based on length of study of Chinese language, or by some other requirements. Instead, we all took the same test, which meant that it was set at a level high enough to challenge those who are most skilled in Chinese language. So, I spent the better part of one hour listening to an oral test over the speakers in a large lecture hall. Each question or dialogue was said once, and then repeated five seconds later. Not only could I not understand the words, but I also could not read the characters to answer the questions being asked. The next hour was spent looking at passages and questions, and then trying to choose the appropriate answer. Even though I had studied very diligently at CSU Chico, spending the majority of my time learning characters, it proved to be completely useless for the proficiency test. Regardless of which characters I recognized, they were always surrounded by many other characters that I didn't know, making it impossible to even guess at which answer was correct. In the two hours, out of 116 questions I was only able to take a stab at answering four of them, and I have know idea whether I answered them correctly or not. Needless to say, I later found out that I placed in the lowest levels of the Chinese language classes. My next hurdle caught me by surprise. I decided to go to campus one morning to try and find out more information regarding our schedule. When looking through my study abroad paperwork I noticed that the Chinese oral test was repeated for two days (the 31st of August and the 1st of September). I assumed that it was being offered on two days to give the international students some flexibility, but I wanted to make sure. I also needed to get some other school related questions answered. When I arrived on campus at 10:35am I happened to see one of the other students in the CSU IP program. I began to ask him about the schedule and then he interrupted me and asked how I did on my oral examination that morning. I was not aware that we had to take another exam, as there was nothing mentioned about it on my recent Beijing University schedule. He informed me that it ended at 10:30, so I raced over to the building where it was being held. I just caught the examiner as she was walking out the door, and persuaded her to give me the test! Later that day I found out that many students had missed the test because it was not listed on our schedule. After returning home I looked over my study abroad paperwork again and I found one paper sent about a month before I left the U.S. with a schedule that had an oral test marked for that day. However, the time of the oral test was not listed, nor was the location of it, and furthermore, the schedule did not include all of the other appointments listed on our recent Beijing University registration schedule. Class registration was also quite challenging. On Friday the 2 nd we were finally allowed to register our classes, just three days before classes would start. I showed up at the location to find a large group of international students standing around two sets of bulletin boards that had Chinese written all over them. The only English I could see were several dozen names in English on a list of a few hundred names (both in Chinese and English) on one of the bulletin boards. Of course, there were no instructions, and everyone was unsure what to do. I decided to look at the list to find my name. Unfortunately, after scanning the list I was unable to find it. However, I remembered the characters for Meiguo (America) and for nan (man). At least this way I could narrow the list down to American males from the few hundred international students on the list. Then, hopefully I could recognize the Chinese name I had been given just the day before, though I had not tried to write it yet. It took me about half an hour by looking over each character (name) but I finally recognized the characters for my Chinese name. Next to my name, were two numbers, a one and a two, and I had no idea, at the moment, what they meant. I noticed that everyone's name had two numbers after it, ranging anywhere from one to thirty-two. The next set of posters was even worse. It took me more than an hour to figure out that the poster was listing the classes based on our Chinese grammar level and oral level. The two numbers next to our names on the other bulletin boards were the scores from our placement tests from two days before. Other sets of numbers on the board were listing the period (not the time, because that would be too easy) that the classes meet for, as well as the building name where the classes would meet, the room number for the class, as well as the number of units for each class. Finally after about two hours I managed to get my class schedule down. As it turns out the process was more for getting my class schedule than for anything else, as there were absolutely no class choices at my Chinese language level. I was placed at grammar/language level one, and oral level two. As for the character class, the third class, it was the same class for both level one and level two. Anyway, I was glad to finally know my class schedule. Between the three classes I have twenty units, meaning I have twenty hours of class each week. My classes start at 8:00am everyday. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I have class for two hours and then I have a two and a half hour break, then I go back to class until 2:20pm. On Wednesday and Friday I have classes for four hours straight, starting at 8:00am and ending at 12:00. After the first day of classes on Monday I received some good news. The professor for my grammar/language class said that the class would be too easy for me, and had me moved up to the level two class. So, I am now at level two in all of my classes. As if these challenges were not enough fun, the most exciting one was to find out that my visa was going to expire on the 16 th of September unless I completed the resident permit process. I arrived in China with a one year X or Xuesheng (student) visa attached to my passport, so I assumed that my visa would be good for one year. At the airport the immigration official pointed to a piece of paper in my passport and reminded me that I needed to complete household registration within one month. Next to the Chinese visa in my passport is stapled a small piece of white paper which reads, "Important: You must complete household registration within one month of arrival in China." However, nothing on the slip of paper mentions how to complete this process, or how to get the necessary information to find out how to complete it. Furthermore, nothing on the Chinese Embassy's website mentions this process, nor was I able to get any additional information at the airport in Beijing upon arrival. So, I was not aware that the process was actually mandatory to make my visa valid for my length of study in China. On Wednesday the 31st of August, at the international orientation, which turned out not to be a school orientation at all, but instead, a lecture by the senior Chinese immigrations official, we were notified that we must go along with the landlord (not another tenant or an apartment manager) to the local police station to get a temporary resident permit. We would then need to return to Beijing University with the temporary resident permit by Friday the second (only two days later) to have them fill out paperwork and start the process of getting our actual resident permit. We were told that if we could not get the necessary documents and temporary resident permit to the international office on time, that we would have to complete the process on our own, without the school's help, that it would be tedious and difficult to do, and we could risk overstaying our visas! For me it became a real problem because I arrived in Beijing on the 16th of August, which meant I had only two weeks left before my visa would become invalidated. And, I was told that I would need to apply for my resident permit at least one week prior to that date because government paperwork takes time. To make matters worse, after talking to my roommates they let me know that they were subletting the room to me, and that they had no intention of letting the landlord know that I was living with them. The best they could do was to ask their friends and colleagues if anyone was willing to let me get registration at their house/apartment. So, I contacted my good friend Yang Fan to ask him if I could get registration at his brother's apartment where I stayed last year. Unfortunately, however, their father was out of town (under the Chinese household registration system the senior male in the household, or woman if there is not a senior male, keeps the household registration for the family members) so even though Yang Yang (Yang Fan's brother) owned the apartment, I would have to wait for his father to return to get the registration. I completely missed the two day deadline as Yang Fan was not able to get his family's household registration documents until Monday the 5th (the day classes began). So, Monday after classes I headed down to Dazhongsi where Yang Fan's restaurant and his brother's apartment are, and met with him to go to the local police station to get my temporary resident permit. At the local police station they did not want to give me the permit because Yang Yang was not there. However, Yang Fan persuaded the officer to let him call Yang Yang so that Yang Yang could give the officer his personal identification number over the phone. I am indebted to them for their help. Tuesday morning after my classes I went back to the international office with the temporary resident permit to see if they could help me finish the resident permit process even though I had missed the deadline. As it turns out, there was a huge line going out the door as many other students were unable to make such a tight deadline. Fortunately for us the university decided to extend the length of time it would help students with the process. All of the stress from the week of registration before classes started finally caught up with me, and I came down with a terrible flu. I guess my body finally decided to adjust to China. So, I spent the first two weeks of class downright miserable. One of my Chinese friends got me a bunch of Chinese medicine which helped out a lot. I also went through all of the Airborne supplements that my Mom made me bring to China. My flu became so bad that I had to miss two days of class, but my teachers were very understanding and let me make up the homework. I am glad to say that I am now caught up, and struggling along with the other students to learn the complex Chinese language. The first three weeks of classes and the stresses of resident permit registration and class registration are over with. I am now settling in quite well, and cruising along in my studies. Since I have an enormous amount of new vocabulary, sounds and characters to memorize each week, it is taking all of my concentration. However, I hope it will be smooth sailing from here on out.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Butler
9/3/05 Darrol UpdateUpdate emailed on September 3, 2005
Links CSU International Programs website: www.gateway.calstate.edu/csuienet Gilman International Scholarship Program website: www.iie.org/gilman University Studies Abroad Consortium website: www.usac.unr.edu
Dear Family, Friends, Fellow Students, and Professors:
I finally arrived in Beijing on the evening of August 16 th. Though I had come to Beijing to volunteer as an English teacher last summer, I was still anxious about going through customs and immigrations. Fortunately my apprehensions were ill-founded and both of them were a breeze.
I then made my way to the international arrivals lobby where a friend was waiting for me. Anyone planning on going to Beijing in the future, once you get out of the airport lobby, make your way past the swarms of people trying to get your attention by offering you "inexpensive" taxi rides to town. Once outside they will still vie for your attention, but you will then notice there are numerous busses that head to various places in town. If you know where you are going (preferably in Chinese or written out in Chinese) you can then check with each bus driver to see if that route goes near your location. You can then get a taxi from where you are dropped off in Beijing. This simple step can save you a lot of money since the busses going into town are only 16 Yuan ($2) per ticket, while many of the "taxi drivers" will be charging anywhere from 160 – 220 Yuan ($20 – 27.50). If it is absolutely necessary to go by taxi, make sure you get one of the regulated taxis with posted prices on them. These are usually the red, or yellow and blue taxis, and they will have either 1.2, 1.4, or 1.6 posted on the window, which is the number of Yuan per kilometer one must pay for the ride. Since 1 Yuan is only $0.12 there is not much of a difference price wise for us between the 1.2 and 1.6 rates. The main difference is that the highest rate taxi is bigger and will have air conditioning (regardless of whether or not it is being used.)
After making it into town my friend took me to my apartment. I feel that I am very lucky. Compared to the apartment I was in last summer, this apartment is spectacular. Indeed it is very nice for any large city. I have my own sizeable room, and I share a bathroom, living room, kitchen, and laundry room with my roommates. It is a furnished apartment, so I already have a desk, vanity, bed, fan and lights in my bedroom. The apartment has an instant hot water heater giving us hot water 24hrs a day which is very nice. My roommates are a very friendly young Chinese couple. They are both computer engineers and are gone all day during the workweek. Additionally they can both speak a little English, so we can communicate, but still learn each others' languages.
I am located at the end of a residential district not to far from the Old Summer Palace. There is a large two-story grocery store nearby with fixed prices for fruits and vegetables, and numerous other small shops and convenience stores. I also found that there are a few busses (coming every few minutes) at the nearby bus stop that go directly to Beijing University. In addition, a few days ago one of my friends helped me to get a bicycle and we rode to Beijing University. It took us only 15 minutes to get there, so I am sure that this apartment will be close enough for me to get to my classes in a timely manner. And, when it rains or snows, I can take the bus. There is also a light-rail stop nearby that I can walk to in 5 minutes and which I can use to go downtown. In fact, it is located only three stops north of Dazhongsi, where I was living last summer.
My friend Mike has come into Beijing for a few days, so we have been going to the many historical and cultural monuments in town. Since we are both Asian Studies majors these outings have been very rewarding for us.
I am now trying to wrap up things such as finding the nearest post office, learning the correct way to write my address, and getting a phone number. As soon as I finish some of these tasks, I will pass on my contact information to those of you who want it. In addition to these errands I am working on the many tasks that I need to complete before classes start. I am also preparing for my classes by studying my Chinese textbook. Orientation, registration and class will begin soon. I am glad that I arrived early so that I could get over the jetlag, become familiar with my surroundings and get many things done before classes start.
Until the next email update, take care, and thanks for reading,
Darrol Butler
9/2/05 Letter from Resident DirectorSeptember 2, 2005 From the Resident Director at Peking University to the International Program students:
2005-6 Cohort Members: Maybe it is also the typical old-fashion way of learning: swim or sink. Or maybe it is another time-honored approach in language acquisition: immersion until you're familiar with it, without the translating medium. Anyway, as a courtesy, here is the next week schedule of events to which you should pay close attention: 8/30/05 Update by DarrolAugust 30, 2005
Hello Everyone,
I finally got the chance to check my email again. It has been very difficult to find an internet bar where I can use my usb drive to send my update and photos. Unfortunately, since I don't have a floppy drive there was no quick way to transfer my information to the internet. Today my friend Zhao Lin helped me to find a coffe shop that has wireless. It is expensive becuase we had to buy a drink to use the wireless (about $3). Soon classes will start and then I can use the computers at school.
Been very busy lately taking Mike around Beijing with Zhao Lin, to see the sights. We also went to the Simatai Great Wall (starting at the end of the Jinshanling Section of Great Wall that Shad and I hiked last year.)
Also spent all of yesterday at Beijing University registering as a student. I have to go back later today, and every day this week to wrap up other things: Orientation, class selection, student ID, Resident Permit, etc. Also, because the Aids test and bloodtest results I had were a copy of the original form, I have to retake the aids test and bloodtests tomorrow. Also, tomorrow I have my Chinese language proficiency test. I really need to study my textbook tonight. I don't want to be in the lowest class with the no-brainers.
OK, that is my quick update. Here is my address:
My address:
Darrol Butler Beijing Shi Haidian Qu Shang Di Nan Lu 14 Hao Yuan 203 Shi 100085
Love,
Darrol
8/18/2005 Arrived in BeijingAugust 18, 2005 Hello, Nihao!
Well, I made it to Beijing everyone. My friend found such a nice apartment for me. It is much nicer than the apartment Shad and I had last summer. The apartment has nice wood furnishings (it is prefurnished, including a double size bed!), and is very cozy. I only met my roomates briefly, but they seem very friendly. I think they are about my age, and they look like a very happy couple. The man, (I didn't catch their names yet), works for a tech company called Oracle. He says it is an American software company. Now that I am starting to adjust to this time zone, and the jetlag is wearing off, I will visit with them more.
Today I briefly went to Beijing University for the first time. It is such a large campus. I will go back later this week to do a real tour, and to find the foreign language complex. I also wish to meet the CSU IP Resident Director. As for the immigrations and customs, they didn't ask for any of my documents. I was so surprised. I even asked if they needed to see my physical examination recordf for foreigners form and my letter of invitation from Beijing University, but they said no. And, customs didn't even look into my bags! I was relieved that I didn't need to take all of my stuff out and then repack it in the customs line.
Okay, that is my quick "Nihao", I just wanted you all to know that I am alright, and finally resting a little after the stressful last 9 months. As of tomorrow, it will be exactly one year since I left China the first time. Who would have thought . . .
Love you all,
Darrol in Peking Butler |
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