I admit that I might have had it slightly easy when I first arrived to China. My mother is Chinese, so I was familiar with some of the Chinese customs that the rest of H-23 might not have been. However, that does not mean that I was immune to culture shock at all. In fact, even in my last week here in Hangzhou, I observe new cultural habits that still surprise me.

Something that has really surprised me about China is the importance of “face”. No, not just your physical face—the Chinese mind sees face as sort of how a person is represented to other people. It is how other people basically see you. This idea of “face” is very important in Chinese culture, and it really helps you understand some of the things you will see if you travel around to any city. For example, one of the big things we have noticed here is the obsession with brand name items. There is definitely a preference for brand name items, whether be Louis Vuitton bags or Apple phones. And here in Hangzhou, BMW cars litter the streets everywhere. In fact, there’s an infamous scene from a reality dating show here in China where one female contestant stated to an unemployed suitor that when it comes to money and happiness, she would prefer to cry in a BMW than laugh riding on a bicycle.

The concept of keeping “face” is also seen when going out to dinner with Chinese friends. In America, whenever I go to a restaurant with my friends, we usually each select our own meal and then pay for it individually. But here in China, that is almost unheard of. Chinese dinners consist of people selecting multiple dishes and doing what we call “family style”, in which everyone shares whatever dishes were ordered. And instead of splitting the bill equally, usually one person will pay the bill. While the cheap college student in me cringes at the thought of being the one person who pays the bill for multiple people, Chinese people see it as respectful towards the person who pays. So if you ever have the chance to dine with some Chinese friends, don’t be surprised if one person offers to pay the bill. Instead of offering to compensate for your portion of the bill, just thank them and next time make sure you are the one who treats!

As young college students, I think we can all agree that one of our favorite things is the weekend. Some spend the weekend partying while others relax or hang out with friends. Here in China, when I ask college-aged Chinese people what they enjoy doing when they’re not studying or doing work, there is an extremely popular answer: KTV. 

KTV is just karaoke, but it is much different than the Western sense of karaoke. Western-style karaoke usually involves someone gathering enough courage to go on stage and belt out a song in front of a crowd of strangers in a bar. Karaoke in the East is so popular that there are actual designated karaoke buildings. Eastern-style karaoke involves you and a group of friends getting your own private room with a huge screen and a comfy sofa. These rooms are rather high-tech—there is a touch-screen pad that you can use to select what song is next, call a waiter over, choose to do a duet with the original singer of the song or if you want do belt out a solo, etc. KTV is very popular in China with everyone- I have seen teenagers crowded in a room, and I have also seen middle-aged Chinese partying in their own KTV room…sometimes what looks like to be an after-work party!

I have done KTV 5 or 6 times here in China, and every time I go it is a blast. Each KTV place has a different selection of songs but for the most part you can find a decent selection of English songs, both new and old. This past weekend I indulged in our last day of KTV with some Chinese friends and the rest of H-23. They stuffed 13 of us in a small room, but in a way that is what made it even more entertaining. At first, KTV generally starts off sort of slow, especially if you have some shy people in the group. But once you get the ball rolling, everyone has an awesome time. My own personal motto is: It doesn’t matter whether or not you are a good singer; all that matters is that you try to enjoy yourself. I can’t carry a tune to save my life, but I don’t mind getting up and backup dancing to Beyonce’s “Love on Top” or attempting to sing “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. Let me tell you, it is just great to see a shy Chinese person stand up and croon along to “Rolling in the Deep”. A few of us even took a shot at singing Chinese songs! All that matter is that we enjoyed each other’s company—and it doesn’t hurt that we got a mini concert out of it!

This last week has been pretty hectic, as all ZJU students (international and nationals alike) took their mid-term exams. Everyone’s last exam was Thursday, giving us a well-deserved 4 day weekend to relax. My family came to Hangzhou to  come and see me, which was really fun. It was great to see familiar faces and to catch up on what was happening back home.

When you’re in a completely different country cultural/language wise, at times you can’t help but become homesick. At times like this, you really might need to depend on some of the people in your group. Most of H-23 are Crusaders except two. Bert is from Rowe and Oak in Virgina while Joel goes to Simpson in Iowa. I won’t lie—you’re not all going to become best friends right away at the start of the program. But over time, as you continue to be around each other more and more, you can easily adjust to each other and it is possible to find yourself naturally becoming friends. Bert admitted that he was slightly worried about joining our Hangzhou program because he didn’t get the chance to meet any of us in person. But he was “pleasantly surprised because everyone is actually really nice. We bonded as a group pretty quickly and we’ve been hanging out ever since then.” Before we met Bert in person, we had Skyped with him occassionally, which led to an add on Facebook. He thinks this is a good step for anyone looking into joining a study abroad group, so that you can become familiar with the people who will be a big part of your life during your semester abroad.

Joel, however, had never been introduced to us before we met him in person. No Skype, QQ (China’s instant messaging system), nothing. I thought it would be much harder for him than for any of us, since he REALLY didn’t know any of us. But he said that Julie, who is a big help with the study abroad programs, helped him ease into the program and told him she thought he would fit right in. And once we really got to know him, Joel insantly clicked with the rest of us. Additionally, for anyone outside of Valpo that is looking to join any of its’ study abroad programs, he suggested:  “I think studying abroad is a must have experience. It is important to go to a place that you are really interested in, and since I couldn’t find it at my school, I searched outside and found Valpo. You should take the chance, because you never know what you’ll be missing out on.”

(Note 1: Forgive me for the lack of pictures in this entry, wordpress has been very difficult for me to access here lately and each time I have tried to post pictures in the entry, the page will crash and lose the entire entry. I promise pictures in the next post!

Note 2: the title comes from a famous Chinese saying)

Last Wednesday, H-23 had the priviledge of having dinner at one of the most well-known teahouses in the Zhejiang province. It was sort of a bittersweet event: we were there to greet Professor Lin and former basketball coach Homer Drew who would be in Hangzhou for a few days. It was a pleasure talking with the two of them and slightly relieved our homesickness- even if just a little bit. But the dinner also marked our last night with our resident director and his family. At the beginning of the trip we knew that they would be leaving about two months earlier than us, since their children needed to return to school and the parents had to return back for important work matters. But honestly, I can’t think of any better way to send them off back to the US.

Only some of the many snack plates

We first started off with plates filled with different sorts of nuts and fruits. And each time we cleaned off a plate, the waitresses would waltz in and bring us snack after snack. It seemed like the food would never end! We snacked for a least an hour before we were given the tea menus to look at. I couldn’t believe my eyes..most of the tea prices ranged from 150-350 yuan! That’s about $24-56! H-23 was really getting treated that night.

We each ordered our own individual teas, and they came in their own sets. I cannot remember what tea I ordered specifically, but I do remember it was delicious! In addition to our tea, we were given a menu that had about 6 items that we could endlessly order…probably because of the price on the tea.  After gorging ourselves on snacks for the past hour, I was by no means hungry..but I couldn’t pass up more food.  We ordered noodles, dumplings, rice and all that good stuff. By the end of the night I was more full than I EVER have been in my life. We bid farewell to Prof. Lin, Homer Drew, our resident director and his family. I was really lucky to have this opportunity to dine at such a nice teahouse and sharing it with such wonderful people. (FYI: I was still full the next day..)

The tea that Kate ordered

So now we are all preparing for our upcoming mid-term exams. We will be taking an exam for each class in about two weeks- I am slightly nervous but I know my Chinese has improved greatly since taking these classes. All the classes are taught in Chinese and at times it is difficult to keep up and understand everything completely, however, I feel that you really need to be immersed in the language in order to have a better feel for it. Side note: I am super bummed that I am missing out on the Halloween fun back in the US. Halloween is not really celebrated here in China- actually, when I talk to my fellow international students from all over the world, it doesn’t seem like Halloween is a big deal anywhere besides America. There are a few bars and clubs in Hangzhou that are having costume/Halloween parties, but it is still not the same as the US! So a few of us are planning on dressing up later that night and maybe hopping around the city in our costumes to see if we can find our own Hangzhou Halloween fun.

During our time in Hangzhou, we have been fortunate enough to have many natives and locals help us around while we are here. One professor named Cherry has been especially helpful, basically showing us the ropes and answering any questions we may have since the day we arrived. This past Saturday, Cherry’s daughter and her class invited all of H-23 to hang out with them! Finally, some people whose level of Chinese is about the same with mine! (though theirs is still better obviously) So we grabbed some taxis and made our way to the other campus, which was actually very reminiscent of Valpo for me. Cherry herself said so as well- maybe it was how spread out things were and the beautiful outdoor scenery (though I do think this campus beat out Valpo…)

The pretty campus scenery~

Once we arrived the children (about 10-11 years old) shyly greeted us. At first they mostly kept to each other and would giggle or whisper excitedly about the foreigners visiting them. We all started off bouncing a volleyball around in a circle, sort of like an icebreaker to show the kids that we were here to have fun with them.  Soon enough, game after game ensued and we ended up having a lot of fun with the kids! We played badminton, jumped rope  and even had a three-legged race. There was also a game where everyone sat in a circle and played a game of hot potato. Once you lost, you had to stand up and either sing, dance, show a talent or speak Chinese/English [obviously not the one that is your first language].

The kids had a blast with the jump rope!

Almost everybody lost.  There was everything from Tai Chi demonstration to beat boxing. What more can you ask for? Seriously though, it was so much fun being able to just relax and spend time with the kids. Once they felt comfortable, they were more than willing to play games with you or make small talk. It was a good opportunity for H-23 to have an active day as well.. we have been missing sports severely!! And while our campus has a lot of areas where you can play different sports, we have just been overall too busy/slightly lazy. So I think it was a good opportunity for both parties! (Note: In case you wondering, the title of this post is “跟小朋友们玩” (gen xiao pengyoumen wan)/ “Playing with the kids”)

...so did our big kids.