I hope your 4th of July is enjoyable! I hardly feel patriotic so far from the picnics and fireworks abounding throughout America.
But perhaps it is only hard to imagine home when I've been busy absorbing Beijing. My roommate's friend from out of town dropped by for a visit on Monday, so we went on an excursion after the placement test (the written portion was ridiculously difficult due to my lack of vocabulary, but it seemed that regardless of ability, everyone felt this way) and applying for our residence permits. We decided to take the subway to Tian'anmen (suicide during rush hour, but it was just the tail end), and although the cars were indeed crowded by American standards, I felt relatively safe and was impressed by the ease of navigation.
Tian'anmen was every bit as impressive as I could of imagined. Our timing was perfect- wispy white clouds swept across a blue sky that was quickly glowing orange with the setting sun, creating a surreal landscape of monuments. We wandered around the plaza until quarter to eight, when China's flag was lowered. Until I was in the presence of Mao's grave, with his portrait overlooking the plaza, I had yet to fully realize the enormous power and respect that can persist long after one's death.
Back to the subway, we went towards the northeast to a long street lined with so many brightly lit restaurants, it'd probably take at least a few months to try every single one each night. We randomly chose a smaller place, nearly full of locals. We ordered the popular spicy crayfish, some fresh green veggies with big juicy shittake mushrooms, a tomato-y soup and of course rice. The crayfish was so spicy that it made the my lips tingle long after I had finished the sweet meat, but it was so delicious that none of us could stop eating. The meal was about RMB 75, which works out to about ten American dollars- what a deal! Gary took us down a block to a cute/hip dessert cafe that he recalled from the last time he was in Beijing. We each chose a dessert from a menu filled with enticing pictures of hot, cold, fruity, creamy, red bean, grass jelly, gelatins, and so much more! Our desserts were served as if they were ice cream sundaes, wth layers of red bean, coconut, and sccops of watermelon and cantaloupe in mine. I'm not quite sure how I had room to eat the refreshing sweets after filling myself with dinner, but perhaps we have more mental control over our hunger than we think. Indeed unhealthy, but it seems that when delicious food is placed in front of me, I need only to convince myself that I can eat more.
There is a price to be paid for such indulgence, however. Currently, I am recovering from a sick day (yesterday), during which I was confined to my room with a fever, stomach cramps and frequent vomiting (sorry for the details, but just want to make sure I don't glamourize my time in China- unfortunately it is only a matter of time before the bad catches up with one's good times.) Luckily, the summer program assistants are very caring, and convinced me to go to a hospital late in the evening since my symptoms hadn't subsided since the morning.
Turns out that I had a 100F fever and my heart rate was abnormally fast too. The diagnosis was simply gastroenteritus, so I received medication (intravenously to prevent my stomach from rejecting ingested meds, and for hydration) to stop the vomiting and cramping. Almost immediately I felt better, and although I still feel weak today, I am not nearly as ill as I was yesterday.
It is hard to believe that the food I ate was the cause of all that pain, especially because my roommate and her friend Gary ate exactly the same things and were not in the least bit sick! I suppose it depends more upon each person's body and immunity to stomach bugs than the actual food. Lesson learned: stay away from extremely spicy foods (and eating them within the same meal as creamy coconut milk) until more adjusted to the cuisine; seek medical attention within a few hours of such pain, because waiting won't help when it's that serious, no matter how hard one tries to convince oneself that it will improve without a doctor's treatment (not to mention it saves after-hours care fees).
It seems that my day of suffering may have actually been better than attending another orientation lecture during which nearly everyone (students, and assistant director!) dozed off, and a not-so-tasty buffet dinner to meet our Chinese tutors. I am sorry to have missed out on meeting my tutor, as I hear she is very energetic, but with classes starting soon, I'm sure the occassion will arise soon. Placement test results were posted as well, and I was surprised to learn that I placed in the 7th class out of 9 (with 9 being the highest)!! I doubt that this placement is entirely accurate, as it is hard to believe that my elementary language skills surpass over half of the other students, but I'm sure that tomorrow's class will be the real measurement.
This morning my roommate took me to the supermarket on campus, which is much like an American supermarket in that is has EVERYTHING! Not American in the sense of American brands, but in the sense that there is food, drink, laundry supplies, statrionary, office supplies, dishes... I stocked up on a bunch of snacks (scallion soda crackers, digestives, small fluffy buns for the morning, real Chinese ramen (!!!)), cute packets of tissue, hangers, washcloth, laundry rack, scissors, folders, green tea drink, and more that I already can't remember- all for RMB 76!!! I'll definately be going back!
Well, time for me to go celebrate the 4th of July- I'm headed to Houhai, one of the quickly disappearing old districts of Beijing, then to Shisha lake for a boat ride! However, if it's still the 3rd of July in America, does the 4th in China have any meaning? Nevertheless, I'll still be thinking of the booming fireworks, fried chicken and juicy watermelon!
Love you all,
Kenzie
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