学ing that 中文

These past 10 days haven't been as eventful as most, due to the fact that I've had midterms. Chinese schools are big on making one or two exams worth your entire grade, so this past week I've traded in venturing out in Beijing for some quality time with my tutor Wang Miao. As funny as her name is, I really like her. At first I didn't think I would because she's a bit older than me and is definitely a Beida student (i.e., rather serious and nerdy...Beida is the "Harvard of China" for a reason!), so I was afraid that we wouldn't have much to talk about. Our second meeting changed my perception of her though. She took me to the baozi house (which is absolutely my favorite food on campus now because it's really yummy, always open, and costs less than 10 cents!). While we were there, she looked over my homework for the first five minutes, then we just sat in silence for the rest of the meal. This might sound really awkward, but I hate unnecessary small talk more than anything, so the fact that she didn't feel the need to fill the silence with meaningless conversation made me like her a lot.
She's also just a really great tutor. Every time I need to met up with her, no matter if it's even a half-day warning, she's there. Then when we meet up, she'll only talk in Chinese to me. She'll only revert to English if I say "我听不懂“ (I don't understand) multiple times, which is great for my listening comprehension. Probably the thing I like about her the most though is how she always tries to encourage me. Any email she sends me has a little "You can do it!" phrase tacked on to the end, and when we meet in person she'll always say things like "You're so hard working and so clever...I feel really lucky to be your tutor!" It's really cheesey, but it makes me want to work harder on my assignments to make her proud.
So yes, although it hasn't been an extremely eventful week, studying hasn't been all that bad. Wang Miao is pretty awesome and I can now explain such things as Venice Beach, why I love the Rose Garden, my sister Petra, and other random things in Chinese to you if you so desire. I also did really well on my midterms, which is nice :)

Other than studying, I've had a lot of interesting encounters with locals this past week. One that I thought was especially interesting happened in one of Beida's cafeterias. While I was telling the waiter what I wanted, I was bending my meal card in my palm and accidently snapped it in half. This was rather problematic because the guy had already served my food, and the meal card is the only form of payment. So I start digging in my bag for some tape, or stickers, or even gum so I could temporarily put my card back together just so I could pay for my food that was already served up. After a second, I look back at the guy and say, "I'm really sorry, I can't pay for that." And he responds, "No need, that guy just paid for your food." Me, "Which guy?" And the waiter points out to the crowd then just shrugged. I took my food, stoked but really confused. Considering most Chinese people completely keep to themselves when not around loved ones, it surprised me that someone who didn't know me would pay for my food. Then not to say anything at all...? Most people would say something like "Don't worry about it, I'll pay for your food" because they would want recognition for what they did, and if that were an American boy paying for my food, he would likely use it as a lead to "So, how you doin'?" It was definitely a cultural encounter...one that left a huge smile on my face.

Before I end this, I'm trying to think if there has been anything more exciting going on in my life this past week. I did go out to Wangfujing a few days ago, which is a famous street in Beijing known for having crazy snacks. There you can buy scorpions on a stick that are still alive until they fry them right in front of you! Other snacks on a stick include seahorses and starfish. I considered trying a seahorse, but decided to stick with the carmelized strawberries on a stick instead. Maybe next time...