'I Want Putin'

I've been working on a research paper about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for a few weeks now, and it's kind of changing my life. While my paper is about his celebrity status, I've watched some videos of translated interviews with Putin, and I really agree with his ethics in regard to international relations.

And, back to the celebrity status of Putin, I have an extreme desire to join his fan girls and get a "I Want Putin / я хочу Путин" t-shirt (doesn't that just look cooler in Russian?).

Here's a music video for your enjoyment.

And if you're more into the politics, here's a really long but wonderful interview with TIME magazine.

The International Festival

The International Festival was actually great. My part was not, but the other students really went over-the-top.

My display board was pretty sharp. I had some graphs comparing the U.S. and China’s economy, geography, people, and military, as well as map of the U.S. with China placed on top (I got these materials from www.mint.com). I also had some pictures of famous places in America, President Obama, and U.S. symbols.


Me with my display board... lame.

I had made a pretty good PowerPoint presentation, too. I skipped a whole day of classes to work on it, in fact. I even rehearsed giving my presentation in Chinese. But, welcome to China, they told us at the last minute that we didn’t need the presentations because it would be too bright outside for people to see and there would be no screen, anyway. Thank you, Lanzhou University.


Korean students perform Tae Kwon Do

The main participants in the festival were Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, and all of the Arabic-speaking students worked together for a good performance. Because these groups each had 20-50 students, I felt really left out standing beside a poster board by myself talking to Chinese students about politics and economy. I ditched my display and instead learned about the cultural differences between the Central Asian countries.


A young man and lady from Kyrgyzstan dance together


Girls from Uzbekistan wear traditional dresses and dance

During the festival, sometimes I felt extremely happy and sometimes kind of sad. I felt happy when I watched my good friends sing and dance, wearing traditional clothes. They are so proud of their countries and cultures. On the other hand, I felt really awkward because America is so lame and we don’t know it. I felt a really intense longing to be part of a distinct culture and to have such a strong national pride. These Central Asian countries only recently became independent from Russia (most around 1991) and they really have a lot to celebrate. Many of my friends remember when their countries were part of Russia and how hard life was for their families.


Me being interviewed by the Tashkent news station

My Birthday

My 20th birthday was on Friday. I'm so glad that I spent it in Lanzhou.

I woke up with a hug and an Islamic blessing from my roommate. Before I left for class, a couple from Kazakhstan stopped by my room to wish me a happy birthday. As is custom in their country on birthdays, the men give the women a kiss on the cheek. This is obviously not something I'm used to, and it was a little awkward that the guy came with his girlfriend and then gave me a kiss. I encountered several more Kazakh guys throughout the day, so I was a little less caught-off-guard.

On my way to class, I was wished a happy birthday in Chinese, Russian, English, Spanish, and Korean.

Appropriately enough, my Chinese speaking lesson dealt with ages and birthdays.

I went out to eat dumplings after classes with my western friends, and then I bought birthday cake for my party that evening.

All of my friends gathered together in Zhuan Jia Lou where I live for an evening of celebration. It was quite the multicultural event. I was sung to in five different languages. As everyone laughed and talked together, those same languages mixed into a beautiful cacophony.

The gifts I received also represented different cultures. Several gifts were from China, such as tea, but I also received Korean gifts, Tibetan jewelry, potato vodka from Norway, and western music (thankfully no pop music: Mae, Escape the Fate, Enter Shikari, Comeback Kid, etc.). Everyone was also excited about an "American" treat: Skittles. On the more humorous side, I was given a Chinese-comedy DVD and an air soft gun. My friends know me well!

International Students

I can't say for sure what it's like at other American colleges and universities, but at my home college, the international students stick together. It's not that they don't want to meet Americans or that none of their friends are Americans. But they spent their first days in America together, they live together, they go to class together, etc.

Well now I'm one of “them."

I have made several Chinese friends, but I spend much more time with the other international students. We all live in the same building and are so different from those around us that we have much in common. We talk about learning Chinese, traveling in China, our impressions of the country, missing our family and friends, and what it is like in our home countries.

Also, the way Chinese language classes are set up isolates us from the other students. Most of my classes are in a classroom on the floor where I live. The other students in my class are beginning Chinese international students as well. My roommate and the other girls we hang out with took the beginning courses last semester, so are taking the intermediate courses together now.

And, finally, many of the Chinese students are too shy to speak to me. Many stare at me and laugh if I say hi to them, but not nearly to the degree I experienced while in Fugu.

Hopefully I will get to spend more time with the Chinese students as the semester moves along. But honestly, I enjoy learning about Korea, Africa, Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia, Australia, and Uzbekistan while enjoying the culture and customs of China. It's the best of both worlds, or should I say, the whole world?

Aidana

My roommate is from Kazakhstan and speaks Kazakh, Russian, English, and is now learning Chinese. Her name is Aidana and she has been at Lanzhou University for about 7 months. She has been so helpful to me by showing me around the campus and city. We went to the supermarket, the bank, and out to lunch together my first day here.

Aidana is a Muslim, and luckily for her, Lanzhou has a large Chinese-Muslim population. The most common meat served in China is pork, but there are many halal restaurants in Lanzhou that serve mutton and beef instead.

Aidana and I get along very well. We are both neat and quiet, and we study a lot, but we also like to go out in Lanzhou and have fun.

English is Aidana's third language, so she learns new words every day and fixes her grammar as we speak. I learn the Chinese words for the English ones I teach her. I forget most of them, but I have started writing them down. Also, since classes have started, I'm picking up Chinese more quickly.