History and the Future

I am in the middle of "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi. I read her second memoir "Things I've Been Silent About: Memories" when it first came out in 2008, and her descriptions of typical life in Iran during times of turmoil intrigued me enough to go back and read her first memoir.

Nafisi grew up in Tehran, studied in Switzerland and the United States, and returned to Tehran as a professor of English literature. "Reading Lolita in Tehran" compares certain novels to the revolution and women's rights issues in Iran in the 1970s when Nafisi taught at the University of Tehran. In reference to "The Great Gatsby" Nafisi says this:

"We in ancient countries have our past - we obsess over the past. They, the Americans, have a dream: they feel nostalgia about the promise of the future." (p. 109)

I have to admit that several times during my semesters abroad, I would listen halfheartedly to my Asian and Central Asian friends' recollections of history. On the outside I was smiling and nodding my head, but inside I was impatient and restless, waiting for the monologue to end. I wanted to hear about what life in their countries was like for them today and where their countries were headed for the future. The past? We can and should learn from it, but we shouldn't cling to it. What an American attitude!

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!

No Distractions

My life in China is simple. I like it. There is a pattern and pace to each day and each week.

I brought my laptop and I have the option of having the internet in my room. I have decided to do without it. I can get online at an internet café down the street when I want. I enjoy not having the distractions of instant messenger, Facebook, email, and just generally being online.

I do wish that I could be more connected to family and friends back home. But this way, I'm not missing out on anything in China. I spend more time writing about my experiences here and I'm not distracted when I study (or should I say, I actually study!).

I'm even to the point where I dread getting online each week- it's almost like a chore.

I also don't listen to music as often as I did in the states, either. I must admit, I miss working at a radio station and being around friends who are so into music. I have nothing new to listen to (except my roommate's Kazakh hip hop and rap). But as with the internet issue, I'm better off without the distraction.

Westerners

I have met two other western students. One of them is Tracy from New York. She is in an intermediate-level Chinese class, but I met her because she stopped by my room to say hi. We went to dinner and grocery shopping together and talked about studying abroad and funny things we've noticed about China. Tracy has been here for seven months and she said she wished she had written more of her thoughts and impressions down.

I write several times per day. I'm filling up a notebook very quickly, and sometimes I wonder why I write so much. As I'm writing, I feel that much of what I'm recording is mundane. Tracy says to keep writing! I know she is right- when I get back to America, I will want to remember the everyday things about life in China. I hope that as the semester moves along, I will still write as much as I do now.

Anyway, the other westerner I have met is named Dustin, from Winnipeg. He is in all of my classes.

Usually conversations with international students begin with "What's your name?" in Chinese. We all have Chinese in common, so after that we can easily figure out each other’s native languages. The next question is "What country are you from?" and I am always asked what state. Not many foreigners know about Ohio, though. (Is it near California?) When I met Dustin, our conversation went like this:
“I'm from Winnipeg. You?"
“Columbus, Ohio.”
“Awesome.”
“How'd you end up at Lanzhou?”

I find it interesting that three westerners are at Lanzhou University. The first thing we wanted to know about each other, other than names and where we are from, is how we got to Lanzhou. Tracy was randomly placed here. She received a scholarship from the Chinese government and they decided she would study at Lanzhou. Dustin and I are both exchange students.

I have heard that there are one or two more American students who haven't come back from break yet. I wonder if I will be able to pick them out easily and I am curious as to how they came to Lanzhou.