Anonymous Taxi Driver Man
The taxi ride from the airport to Beida provided me with a rather intense first impression. My taxi driver, so typical of Chinese citizens (called 老百姓 laobaixing), is what I would call an everyday philosopher. He had an opinion for everything one could possibly have an opinion about and then some, and made sure you knew it. For most of the 45-minute ride, he revealed that he was both disturbed by and proud of China's rise to international power and greater wealth. The wealth thing, though, was a complicated issue in his mind--on the one hand, millions of people in China are enjoying a better lifestyle because they are now financially comfortable. Well-off, even. He talked of the fancy cars, the fancy apartments, the fancy clothes and accessories and events that people in Beijing (and in other metropolitan Chinese areas) are currently enjoying. (Fun fact: did you know that the most expensive apartments in Beijing come in at a hefty 120,000元/~$20,000 per square foot? DAMN.) On the other hand, though, the people themselves are changing, and certainly not for the better in his eyes. There is too much greed, too much materialism and superficiality, and too little of the values that once made Chinese people so great in even the most trying of times. "We are becoming weak, even as our economy grows stronger," he told me. He also doubts if China's power will be long-lasting and thinks that Japan and South Korea have it much better than his home country. As I stood in the entry of my dorm building at Beida and watched him drive away, I came to the realization that these next couple of months in Beijing will be a lot more meaningful than I had originally imagined.
Sam
Each of the Stanford students were paired with a Beida student, called our Language Partners. Mine is Guanrong, or Sam. (He's the very verbose/very friendly fellow I mentioned in my last post.) He's tall (1.8m, or about 6 ft), from Qingdao, a second-year Beida student and one year younger than me, studies electrical engineering, and talks a lot. Like a lot a lot. And only in Chinese. Not that that's a problem, since I want to practice my Mandarin as much as possible and have plenty of other opportunities to speak in English with my fellow Stanford students. (I'm beginning to suspect that he's a little English-shy, though. Maybe I'll make him speak in English next time I see him. Lol.) I like him though, even if he sucks at helping me get a cheap phone and SIM card and will probably be too busy to spend much time with me. Ah well.
Yiran
Since my arrival at Beida, the person who has helped me the most has actually been my temporary roommate, Yiran. Well, technically, I'm the temporary roommate, since I moved out yesterday from that room to our permanent dorms. (The program directors stuck all the Stanford girls in a different dorm building since not enough rooms in our originally intended dorm were ready by the time we arrived. Hence, the rooming shenanigans. Sigh.) Yiran is Spanish, as in from Spain, but is ethnically Chinese. (I know!! So cool.) She's at Beida to study Chinese, so she's not involved with the Stanford program at all. She also doesn't speak much English, so the only way I can sufficiently communicate with her is through Mandarin. It's awesome. Anyway, Yiran has been super helpful; she fed me the first night I got here (yay for ramen) and has been showing me where the best canteens on campus are, which bus to take to Carrefour (French Wal-Mart??), where to find the best prices for everyday items, etc. She even helped me Skype my parents when I didn't have internet yet. I owe her a lot, but more importantly, I can now say that I have a good friend (already!) at PKU who's not from Stanford. Things are off to a good start. :)
