Post the Sixteenth: Salons and Bites and Rabbis, Oh My!

One of my roomie's many great shirts.

Hello my peoples! I realize that I've been doing a terrible job of keeping up with this blog and I do apologize. The only excuse I have to offer is seeing the latest Harry Potter movie (SOOOO GOOOD and I'm a book loyalist) and writing a 2000+ character summary of the Rural Chinese Healthcare System (yes, all of it). Anyways, here are some shots of Harbin to make up for all of that.

Downtown Harbin. Notice there is NO CLEAR TRAFFIC PATTERN.

The last time I took a cab, our cab drive honked at a police officer before cutting him off and speeding away.

Some things:

• Haircut in China: I got my hair cut about a week and a half ago and I can tell you right now that getting your hair cut in China is one of the scariest and simultaneously rewarding experiences ever. My mother's side of the family is all of African descent, so I have dark curly hair that could be described as "nappy" or "just like a brillo pad" (even though it doesn't). Getting a hair cut from someone who has experienced my type of hair in the US can be enough of a challenge, so getting it done China was almost ludicrous. When I walked into the hair salon, the hairdressers/barbers all took one look at me and called for the owner of the shop. As he walked forward, I calmly (though it probably came out sounding downright scared) asked him if he has ever cut my type of hair before. He did not respond. After examining my hair for a few minutes, he turned to me, his expression grave, and told me that I would have to give him directions. Great. My fear ended up being unnecessary, however, since he did exactly what I told him: make it shorter, don't try to use any special hair products, don't try straightening it, just make it shorter. Scissors in hand, he began to cut my hair to exactly the length I wanted. When enough progress had been made to predict the final result, both of us sighed in relief and began talking to each other (typical "where are you from?" "are you sure you're an American?" "why on earth are you in Harbin?" questions all came up). During this discussion, some of the other hair-people in the shop came by to play with the fallen chunks of hair lying on the floor or else watch our conversation. In the end, I ended up paying $1.25 for a wonderful haircut, a relaxing head-wash, a delightful conversation, and an overall hilarious (in retrospect) experience.
• The Battle of the Night: Every evening at around 11PM, it begins. I'm finishing my last assignments when I begin to notice an itch on my leg. I scratch it absentmindedly, concentrating on the last character strokes of my composition essay. After shutting off the computer and turning out the light, I lay down in my bed and lay my mind to rest. Just as I'm losing consciousness, it happens. Bzzzzt. In an instant I turn on the light and sit bolt upright in bed, my eyes scanning the room. My leg itches again and, after closer inspection, I notice three little pimple-like bites arranged neatly around each other. MOSQUITO. Thus the war begins. It can last anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours and always ends in the death of the offending party. I silently (totally unnecessary) creep around the room while waving a pair of flip-flops near my head (NECESSARY) lest my head or neck get attacked. I check each walk. I check the bed. I check the ceiling. I check my dresser. No part of the room goes without survey. Finally, FINALLY, I find the little bugger. Adrenaline rushes. My heart pounds. I'm am breathing manually. I quickly stalk forward and POUNCE. Two hits usually does the trick, one from each shoe. As the creature twitches in death, I cry in triumph (in Chinese of course) before returning to bed and smiling myself to sleep.
• Last weekend I went to the Jewish quarter with two fellow Yalies. The quarter was really more of a single-building affair: the Jewish Museum. Inside the museum was split into three levels: the first floor with pictures and paintings of old Harbin (though they could have been of any city in China and some of them were definitely done in watercolors), the second floor of actual information (mostly facts about how nice the Chinese were to the incoming Jews), and the third floor made up of a wall of famous Jews (Einstein to Oppenheimer to Spielberg to Olympian Mark Spitz) and an assortment of Jews who had at one point or another come to Harbin. The museum was interesting in itself, not because of the factoids, but due to the very Chinese approach of self-congratulation while talking about something else.

The outside of the Jewish Museum.

Entrance plaque.

A photo of a meeting from the early 20th century taking place in the museum.

Jews arriving in Harbin. Apparently the Chinese were very, very nice.

Here's a reminder of what this museum is all about.

Here's another (Star of David).

Some of the captions were hilarious. This one describes how the Harbin Jews were "very choosy" about their living room displays.

In the West, Jews are stereotyped for being good with money. In Harbin, Jews work "economic miracles".

Note: none of these hundred or so people had ever visited Harbin. I actually doubt any of them had ever heard of it.

Water-bikes!!

Dr. Joseph Rosenfeld helped out the Chinese Army during the 1940's and 1950's by performing life-saving surgeries. I kind of want to be him.

You really can't make this stuff up. Caption reads: "When Xenia Steingard was young and dead in 1939".

Einstein had a little shrine behind a staircase on the way out of the museum. There may or may not have been a word or to about knowledge in his hair.

Tonight I give a five minute presentation on the Rural Chinese Healthcare system to a panel of teachers before cramming for my three finals on Thursday and Friday. Less than a week left in China!

魏德

Post the Third: Harbin!!!

"Harbin (simplified Chinese: 哈尔滨) is the capital and largest city in Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...Harbin is originally a Manchu word meaning 'a place for drying fishing nets.'"
~ Wikipedia, keyword: Harbin

After arriving in Harbin via soft-sleeper train (see LUXURIOUS), I immediately noticed three things:

• BLUE SKIES: Harbin, unlike other major Chinese cities, hasn't yet managed to choke itself in layers of smog. As a result, the sky is still visible. Success. 

City roundabout, downtown Harbin

• Kendeji/肯德基: Upon exiting the train station, there are two KFC's approximately 200 yards from each other. We are far from Beijing, but not that far. I do want to know what's on the menu.

KFC, downtown Harbin. Notice it resides in a government-protected traditional style Russian building (it's the building, not the KFC, that's protected). I am unsure how I feel about this.

• Russian style buildings and "Russian style buildings": As the city was originally built by Russians, Harbin to this day boasts Russian-inspired architecture as well as other European styles that followed European settlers into the city. Some of the buildings date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are masterpieces of classical Russian building styles with brightly colored walls and domes. Other buildings date back about three or four years and are masterpieces of the Chinese ability to include tradition on even the most characterless modern buildings. In large cities like Beijing and Shanghai, it's not uncommon to see huge skyscrapers made entirely out of glass and steel with a traditional Chinese roof on top - it's almost as though these monoliths are wearing Chinese "hats." In Harbin, though, the original European influences still seem to dominate.

Most yellow buildings like the one pictured above have are traditional Russian/European style. The building in the background is wearing a hat!

The CET program has kept us busy for the past couple days since classes start on Monday. So far we've poked around the campus and surrounding area, toured the more central downtown area, taken placement exams (oral and written), and struggled with varying degrees of success to triumph over jet-lag. Tonight we officially meet our Chinese roommates (SO EXCITED!!!) and enjoy one last night of being able to converse freely amongst ourselves before the language pledge starts tomorrow afternoon and nobody is able to say anything to anyone. 哎呀.

Thoughts so far:

• The feeling here in this city is unique. It's a super-huge metropolis but there are local alleyways and restaurants that people go to time after time. Hoards of modern skyscrapers form an impressive skyline while small parks still draw hundreds of Chinese people for taijiquan in the morning and dancing late at night. Development is well underway (new subway lines, new businesses, etc), yet the city still isn't international. It's authentically Chinese. It's slightly uncomfortable and weird and I like it. Frankly, it's an adventure.
• Adventures aside, Harbin NEEDS to get some traffic lights ASAP. I used to think Beijing traffic was bad. There are literally NO rules here. If there is a flat surface, a car will drive on it. If it has people on it, those people can be made flat.
• Dongbei food is goooood. Dongbei coffee is not.
• Harbin people appear rather unfriendly. They actually love to talk to foreigners. They really want to know why I've come all the way from my 美国 (USA) to a city like Harbin. They don't even care that I keep butchering their mother tongue.

All in all, Harbin has come pretty far from its fishing net past.

Oh, you know, just some pro-subway propaganda.

Signing off,
魏德

Post the Second: Beijing & Bieber

Salutations from Beijing! I am currently stationed in my host family’s 13^th story apartment, which normally (when not obscured by heat, smog, sand, and whatever else is making my cold/allergies worse) overlooks Houhai Lake, Beihai and Jingshan Parks all the way to the Forbidden City and the Beijing National Performance Hall…Thing. Today’s temperature: HOT. Good thing I’ve got this 奶茶 (Milk Tea) to keep me cool.

Beijing hasn’t changed much. I mean, there are loads of new buildings and almost all of the Olympics slogans have been taken down (apparently 北京 doesn’t 欢迎你 anymore). The cab drivers aren’t nearly as chatty as they used to be. My host family’s cat ran away. Aside from those things, the city could be the same city I left three years ago. Traffic here is still horrendous. The third elevator in my host family’s apartment building still doesn’t work. There is still a man who sells fruit by the front gate, though he is not the same man. Twice I have been told, and not asked, where I am from (Pakistan and Brazil, respectively). The Olympics came and went and the pace of life in Beijing still slows down at night when everyone meets in the park to dance, smoke, and gossip with neighbors. All in all, 差不多.

(Lovely smog, isn't?)

(YES, PLEASE.)

I am back home.

Today I decided to go out on my own for a bit to run some errands. I needed luggage locks to for my bags since the train company won’t ship them otherwise and I forgot to get them in the US. I decided to go to 物美超市, otherwise known as Wumei Hypermarket. For those of you who have never experienced one of these establishments before, Wumei is a massive Walmart-esque store that sells literally everything in no particular order. Discounted clothes are placed next to air conditioning units, which are across from cellphone counters staffed by young Chinese 20-somethings all on their cutting-edge phones. The second floor features meat, produce, snacks, and other unidentifiable but edible things along with checkout counters with lines of 30 people each.

After nearly getting run over by a train of 100+ carts, I head downstairs to the first level in search of locks and tissues. I go to the luggage aisle and look for luggage locks. Not there. I try hardware, which has three separate areas. Also not there. I ask an employee for help, who leads me back to the luggage area. After searching for a while she turns to me and says, “Sorry, I have no idea where anything is. This is my first day.” Sigh. I ask three more people. Each one of them points me in a vague direction before they are bombarded with questions from fellow shoppers. I begin strolling down aisles at random, hoping desperately to locate the locks. Twenty minutes later, I finally find them in the toys department behind a pole. Obviously.

At 12PM, I meet my host mother at a nearby restaurant. My host father, who I had not seen until today due to his work schedule, joins us for lunch, which is fun if somewhat incomprehensible. To this day I do not understand the man when he speaks since he a) has a thick Tianjin accent and b) almost always has food in his mouth. Anyways, he, my host mother, and I are enjoying our lunches of rice, baicai, potatoes and beef (still attached to the bone of course) when none other than Justin Bieber starts playing. 

Choking slightly, I look around at the other restaurant patrons. Nobody has acknowledged the Canadian pop star. The surrounding Chinese businessmen and women continue their lunches, frequently checking phones and joking amongst themselves. No explanation whatsoever.

The last notes of “Never Say Never” play out. My host mother, who has observed me not eating for the past three minutes, asks me “吃饱了吗?” “Are you full?” I shake my head and return to my food, pondering the experience.

In retrospect, this should not have surprised me. Western music, just like a lot of Western cultural things, is super cool here, despite the fact that few people understand the songs and even fewer know the lyrics. Didn’t they used to play the Black Eyed Peas? Isn’t that why Pizza Hut is a sit-down restaurant with table clothes?

Tomorrow I leave muggy Beijing in a luxurious hard-sleeper train car. 哎呀!!! Next stop: Harbin!

**The author would like to dedicate this post to the survival of the jianbing man, the rechristening of Good Time Cofe café, and the passing of Taiping Jiaozi Guanr. Taiping, you will be missed.**