ni shi beijing ren ma?

(are you a beijing person?)

bu shi (nope)... and so are most of the people here too! the longer i stay here in beijing and the more i hear about other parts of china through teaching and talking to other teachers (especially about my future home in harbin) i realize how limited my knowledge of china is and how much i DON'T know about this country! there were 3 sayings during our "asian culture and communication" class this past week to remember while being here... and surprisingly they sum up life in China and are QUITE true!

1. Nothing is as it seems!
Beijing is like a modern China-America... transportation is WAY better here with subways and buses and taxis... there are KFC's, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Dominoes, Cold Stones, and so many other western stores that make you feel right at home. BUT this is a very small representative of wealthy, modern, and rich China... right behind a big electronic store there's an urban village and small children going to the bathroom on the streets. nothing is as it seems.

2. Plans cannot keep up with changes.
plans change, but for some reason they change a LOT more in china and people are okay with that.. it's like a normal part of the culture and things are EXPECTED to change, almost. i still do not know what class i'll be teaching for SURE in the fall or when exactly we even start... from my experience even if i did know and did start teaching it could STILL change. :P


3. If you’re not confused then you’re not paying attention.
confusion is a common feeling... everything said about china is probably true but at the same time the opposite thing about it can be ALSO true.. at the same time in a totally different part! i still ask the question "why??" a lot but also learning to be okay being confused, very confused. china doesn't make sense a lot and us American's like things to make sense, be predictable, logical, etc.. that's where the clash comes in and then you learn to let go and be confused (because you're paying attention!)

hanging out in a chinese/foreigner tourist crowd at the forbidden city!

my new friends at a local restaurant i eat at.. EVERYDAY. :) (they are also not from beijing but from hebei... i think!)