But I haven't had time to write about it or post pictures. So while I work on the account of my journey to the west, here's a post about school!
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Contrary to what you may believe after reading my previous posts, between dramatic treks through ancient mountain passes and fine dining in Shanghai skyscrapers, I do actually have a fair amount of schoolwork here at Nanjing University. In fact, we just wrapped up midterms so I thought that I would talk more about the traditional school side of my experience here.
Monday through Thursday, I have Chinese class starting at 8am; that means I have to wake up around 6:30 in the morning so I can leave the house by 7:15 to catch a bus to school. My morning commute -- which conveniently consists of only one bus ride -- takes about 35-40 minutes with normal rush hour traffic.
Now a 6:30am start is not ideal for your average American college student, especially when you consider that I have Chinese class from 8am to noon Mon-Thurs. with just three short breaks. It can be a struggle to stay focused and I've been drinking a lot more coffee here than I ever did back in the US, but one cup almost always gets me through the day. Technically, I have two Chinese classes with two separate professors that split the four hours in half each day. Both of my teachers are wonderful, we get plenty of personal attention because my class only has 5 students, and while it's hard for me to say just how much progress I've really made in the first two months, my teachers, friends, and -- arguably most importantly -- my host family have all told my speaking skills have improved by leaps and bounds. And that's an exciting feeling.
Four hours of Chinese class each day also means about four hours of studying and homework for said Chinese class every day as well. The vast amount of new vocabulary and grammar can be tough to keep up with, but it undoubtedly pays off in the long run. In addition to the coursework, this program also has a language pledge requirement so from 8am to 8pm Monday through Thursday, all of the students are expected to speak only Chinese. Now I end up breaking that rule slightly when I need to ask specific questions to my teachers and my tutor. Side note: My tutor's name is Vera. She offers the perfect combination of encouragement and brutal criticism as she does her best to put with my botched pronunciation. But besides the occasional "Chinglish" I've been pretty diligent with the language pledge which definitely expedites the learning process. I will say that it's exhausting and it feels great to switch back into English when 8pm/the weekend rolls around, but it gets more natural with every passing day.
In addition to Chinese, I have three other classes that are significantly less intensive:
- History of Chinese & American Relations
Your traditional history class, taught in English but our Professor is Chinese. It's taught in a three hour block once a week so it's a bit of struggle to stay completely engaged, but our professor keeps the lectures moving and makes it interesting. China is fascinating because, while it's an ancient country, it's still developing in the modern economic era. - Intercultural Class
Basically, we talk about the differences in American and Chinese culture, how these differences manifest themselves in everyday life, and how we can approach them with a more open mind. The readings are a bit dense and technical, covering everything from body language to personal values, but I appreciate having a time and space to reflect on my interactions with Chinese culture, especially as I continually adapt to life in a Chinese household.
Nanjing University is also one of the top institutions of higher education in all of China. For Chinese students, it's extremely competitive -- definitely in what one might consider the "Ivy League" of Chinese Universities -- so I feel very privileged to be involved with a program that exposes us to some of the brightest minds in all of China, professors and students.
The Chinese education system is actually very interesting, but I certainly don't envy these Chinese students. The entire system is extremely standardized; from elementary school onward, each student is loaded with homework and the main focus for every school-age child is studying with the goal of getting into a good college. At the end of middle school, students are placed into a tiered high school system where only the students with the best test scores can go to the best high schools. The level of schoolwork only becomes more rigorous as they prepare for "the Gaokao": the one and only college entrance examination in China. Think of it as the Chinese SAT, except instead of it being a part of the college application process, it's the entire application process. Unless you are a musical prodigy, Chinese universities don't care at all about extracurricular activities, leadership experience, personality, etc... You are your score and that puts extreme pressure on these kids as they grow up.
As I've come to learn, it's rare to find a "kids need time to be kids" attitude here in China. While the US is continually shifting away from test scores and more towards allowing children the freedom to discover the world for themselves, China's youth is expected to spend drastically more time on their studies from the ages of 6 to 18. There are plenty of exceptions; my host brother, for example, goes to an international high school so his student life is much more similar to what you might find in the US, and this experience is becoming more and more common as the government continually fine tunes its system. But with a population of 1.3 billion people and a limited number of top universities, it makes sense that to be a top student, you have to do a nearly unthinkable amount of work. Oh, and they also have to go through puberty and all of the other difficulties of the developmental years at the same time, so there's that.
Interestingly enough, the Chinese college students I talk to here say that college is a walk in the park compared to how much work they did in middle and high school. Now they've made it and can enjoy a much more relaxed, western style education. Needless to say, I admire the work ethic of my native Chinese colleagues who have made it to Nanjing University, but I'm certainly not envious of the path they took to get here.
Alright, that's enough about school.
The Chinese education system is actually very interesting, but I certainly don't envy these Chinese students. The entire system is extremely standardized; from elementary school onward, each student is loaded with homework and the main focus for every school-age child is studying with the goal of getting into a good college. At the end of middle school, students are placed into a tiered high school system where only the students with the best test scores can go to the best high schools. The level of schoolwork only becomes more rigorous as they prepare for "the Gaokao": the one and only college entrance examination in China. Think of it as the Chinese SAT, except instead of it being a part of the college application process, it's the entire application process. Unless you are a musical prodigy, Chinese universities don't care at all about extracurricular activities, leadership experience, personality, etc... You are your score and that puts extreme pressure on these kids as they grow up.
As I've come to learn, it's rare to find a "kids need time to be kids" attitude here in China. While the US is continually shifting away from test scores and more towards allowing children the freedom to discover the world for themselves, China's youth is expected to spend drastically more time on their studies from the ages of 6 to 18. There are plenty of exceptions; my host brother, for example, goes to an international high school so his student life is much more similar to what you might find in the US, and this experience is becoming more and more common as the government continually fine tunes its system. But with a population of 1.3 billion people and a limited number of top universities, it makes sense that to be a top student, you have to do a nearly unthinkable amount of work. Oh, and they also have to go through puberty and all of the other difficulties of the developmental years at the same time, so there's that.
Interestingly enough, the Chinese college students I talk to here say that college is a walk in the park compared to how much work they did in middle and high school. Now they've made it and can enjoy a much more relaxed, western style education. Needless to say, I admire the work ethic of my native Chinese colleagues who have made it to Nanjing University, but I'm certainly not envious of the path they took to get here.
Alright, that's enough about school.
Sticking Out like a Sore Thumb
Surprise, surprise, there aren't a lot of Americans here in Nanjing! Yes, it's a big city and I don't get too many odd looks when I'm hanging around the international students' campus here at Nanjing University; however, when I go just a few blocks down the street, it's a whole different story.
In my last post, I compared being here in China to being a zebra in the New England wilderness. I've honestly lost count of the number of times that I've been asked for a picture. And the farther you get away from campus, the more shocking my presence becomes. I'm almost certain that I'm the only white person living in my apartment complex, so I've become somewhat of a celebrity with my neighbors and the security guards at the gates who were, for the first few evenings, very skeptical when I returned home and told them that, yes, I did indeed live here.
Last week, I was sitting in a cafe just around the corner from my school, and a Chinese guy (probably 20 or so) walked up to me and told me -- in decent English -- that his friend thought I was cute and asked if he could take a picture of me. After I obliged, he insisted that smiling wasn't enough and I needed to pose for the next picture. So I threw up a peace sign and he was satisfied, so that was probably the weirdest picture experience I've had so far. But it happens quite a lot, especially when I'm hanging around tourist attractions with Sophie, my fellow pale-skinned, blonde-haired friend. Even in downtown Shanghai, a much more international city, we had one girl ask for a picture with us.
As an American, it seems pretty silly, but you have to remember that the United States is, compared to China, a very diverse place. When I tell locals that I'm a study-abroad student from America, the most common reaction is actually, "Why China?" To me, it's a ridiculous question; China is the most populous country in the world, it's a rising economic superpower, and it's a huge country with a rich historical background. Sure, it's a very difficult language to learn, especially for those who have only studied romantic languages, but I'm very excited about the possibilities that this will open up for me. Here in China, there's an intense commercial focus on the west, especially the United States. For example, almost all of the fashion billboards you see in the malls here have white models on them. It's much less common for American students to come to China than for Chinese students to go to America, so, while I think it's weird to be stopped on the street by strangers just because of how I look, I suppose I might react in a similar way if I were in their position.
Fun Stuff!
Before we left on our week-long trip, we visited two really awesome museums! First we perused the oldest museum in China, the Nanjing Museum.
Then we went to the Nanjing Urban Planning Museum, which may sound horribly boring at first and I'll admit that my expectations were low, but it turned out to be really interesting. It showcased the history of how Nanjing has developed as a city and where the city government plans to take it in the future. These types of museums have popped up in many big Chinese cities because so much development has occurred in the last decade. Additionally, the Chinese government really enjoys showing off said development to tourists.
Last week, I was sitting in a cafe just around the corner from my school, and a Chinese guy (probably 20 or so) walked up to me and told me -- in decent English -- that his friend thought I was cute and asked if he could take a picture of me. After I obliged, he insisted that smiling wasn't enough and I needed to pose for the next picture. So I threw up a peace sign and he was satisfied, so that was probably the weirdest picture experience I've had so far. But it happens quite a lot, especially when I'm hanging around tourist attractions with Sophie, my fellow pale-skinned, blonde-haired friend. Even in downtown Shanghai, a much more international city, we had one girl ask for a picture with us.
As an American, it seems pretty silly, but you have to remember that the United States is, compared to China, a very diverse place. When I tell locals that I'm a study-abroad student from America, the most common reaction is actually, "Why China?" To me, it's a ridiculous question; China is the most populous country in the world, it's a rising economic superpower, and it's a huge country with a rich historical background. Sure, it's a very difficult language to learn, especially for those who have only studied romantic languages, but I'm very excited about the possibilities that this will open up for me. Here in China, there's an intense commercial focus on the west, especially the United States. For example, almost all of the fashion billboards you see in the malls here have white models on them. It's much less common for American students to come to China than for Chinese students to go to America, so, while I think it's weird to be stopped on the street by strangers just because of how I look, I suppose I might react in a similar way if I were in their position.
Fun Stuff!
Before we left on our week-long trip, we visited two really awesome museums! First we perused the oldest museum in China, the Nanjing Museum.
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| The Nanjing Museum |
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| Big Old Tablet Thing |
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| Replica of a Chinese street during the '20s |
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| Dinosaurs! |
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| Sophie really liked the ancient pottery |
Then we went to the Nanjing Urban Planning Museum, which may sound horribly boring at first and I'll admit that my expectations were low, but it turned out to be really interesting. It showcased the history of how Nanjing has developed as a city and where the city government plans to take it in the future. These types of museums have popped up in many big Chinese cities because so much development has occurred in the last decade. Additionally, the Chinese government really enjoys showing off said development to tourists.
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| A giant replica of the city! |
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| An elaborate presentation (including a film) about city attractions |
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| Some more models and charts about future development plans |
Hey man - you forgot to mention your Tai Chi class where you get to play with swords!!! :-)
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