Beijing Big Shots

Good evening, friends. I have good news and bad news. First off, a very happy birthday to my sister! Happy 22nd birthday! Love you, Muriel! Now for the bad news. Facebook has been officially blocked in China. I'm not sure how long it will stay blocked, but for the time being, I'll be rather hard to get a hold of. Now that that's over with I'll begin. It's been a busy few days here in China's capital. I began the week with a startling email from my dad regarding last month's phone bill... Sorry about that, Dad! Anyway as a result, I decided to pick myself up a Chinese cell phone and SIM card. So, now I can call people locally without racking up a bill back home, hopefully call internationally using a calling card, and (most imortantly) I can text in Chinese. But let's face it, the real reason why I have two cell phones is because I'm just THAT important. Besides, I'll need the two cell phones for when I'm a famous Chinese movie star... Which will be soon. That's right, earlier this week I was approached by a casting director to be in a movie staring none other than Jackie Chan. Now before I let you go on believing I'm about to embark on some celebrity star Lindsey Lohan life, I have to let you know I'll just be an extra in the background. Apparently, the casting director needs a lot of white people to be doing things in the background for certain scenes set in Beijing. Although that means no fame for me, I'll still get to meet Jackie Chan so I'm satisfied. Who knows? Rubbing shoulders with the big shots of Beijing might just give me the break I need... An American dream, a Chinese reality... Stranger things have happened.

An American in China

Hello, friends and family. A happy Fourth of July to you all! It has been a very busy few days. Last Friday I officially started classes at the Beijing Language and Culture University. That means that my days of waking up late and relaxing are over. Now, I start my day at 6:30 in the morning, eat a quick breakfast, and head out by seven just in time to hit the heavy morning traffic. It's about a 30 minute commute from my apartment to the college, but it can take longer depending on whether the bus wants to be late or not. Class starts at eight and consists of two 2-hour classes. Everyday we have a speaking class, and then every other day we have either a listening or reading class. My reading class is VERY difficult. It is ruled over by a sixty year old Chinese woman who cannot speak English. This five foot two ball of terror is as intimidating as her perm is big... and it's gigantic. During the first lesson, no one understood what she was saying. This made it particularly embarrassing when she would randomly call on students to answer questions only to be met with silence and a blank stare because we did not understand the question being asked. However, I must admit, the desire not to look like an idiot in front of everyone is an excellent motivation for studying. The other classes, fortunately, are much less intimidating. One aspect I particularly like about my class is that we are an international group. I sit next to a Spaniard and a Russian. In front of me are two Koreans, and behind me is a German and another American. All together, our class has representatives from ten countries. It's always funny to hear Chinese spoken with various accents. Not surprisingly, the Koreans seem to have the easiest time with pronounciation, while the Americans seem to have the most trouble. However, not to blow my own horn, but my teacher did complement me on my pronounciation yesterday after class when everyone had lefts. So even though my grammar is often incorrect and sentences are rather simple, this American can at least be understood in China. And that's certainly a start. Afterall, Beijing wasn't built in a day.