Hi Yโall,
Iโm sorry I didnโt post a blog last weekend. Iโve been preparing for my summer class midterms, since I am in China to learn after all. I canโt believe Iโm halfway through the program! Itโs been amazing how fast four weeks has gone by and how much we could squeeze into it! I bet the next four weeks will pan out similarly. So last Saturday was our scheduled site visit to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Thanks to a lot of tourist advertisements and Chinese documentaries Iโd seen previously, as well as the history I was learning in my China in Transformation history course, I was very familiar with the two sites and their cultural and historical relevance in China, which made me excited to visit. Plus, my Chinese Language teacher Yao laoshi was leading us again!
We didnโt have to depart so early since we werenโt leaving Beijing, but I kinda wish we had because when we arrived at Tiananmen it was packed! The square, flanked by the National Museum of China to the east, the Great Hall of the People to the west and Tiananmen Gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) to the north, was huge, but the crowds still seemed to fill it up. The square is said to be able to hold 600,000 people, and it seemed like every last one of them were there that day! Two things immediately caught my eye on the square: first, there were guards with rifles stationed around the perimeter, which was a little intimidating, and second, the Greek flag was being flown all over the square, which was very confusing (I later learned the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras visited China).
Later, we walked across the square and through the gate (past Chairman Maoโs portrait) to get to the Forbidden City, which was also massive (and also very crowded). Inside, the city just seemed to go on and on, changing from spectacular palace to spectacular palace as we moved through the gates. The ancient Chinese architecture was beautiful, and the few inside furnishings I got to see were elaborately decorated. It was hard to imagine how just one man, his family, and his servants wouldโve been the only inhabitants of the literal city, especially in contrast with the mass of bodies that were there that day. Disappointingly, many of the palaces were off limits and some of the other buildings had been converted into gift shops. To be honest, I wasnโt too impressed with my palace visit. The crowds were too big, we only had a few hours to see what could easily take a whole day, and it was way too hot to be alive. I hope to visit again one day during the off season.
That following week, a group of us ventured out to an English movie theater to see the new Finding Dory movie. We had to navigate the subway system of Beijing to reach the theater, but I learned the ropes of it pretty quickly and felt much more confident using public transit more often. The movie was funny and entertaining, and baby Doryโs eyes were stupid cute! A few days later on the Fourth, I lead a different group to the same theater to see the new Independence Day: Resurgence movie to celebrate Independence day in the most American way we could think of in China (we ate at McDonaldโs for dinner). My adventures through the subway system of Beijing has led me to plan other trips around the city, like to the Olympic Stadium park.
I took my Chinese language midterm this past Friday, and I think it went pretty well. Iโm really proud of how many characters Iโve learned, and I get excited every time I can pick up a snippet of conversation or a written phrase out on the streets, but I still have a long way to go (Iโve only learned about 70 characters, while 3,000 are required for literacy). I have my other two exams this week, so wish me luck!
โ Jakim Johnson, ็บชๅฎถ็