Day 9: Jianbing!

Wednesday, May 16th

My roommate Kevin and I were outside our dorm by 8:00 am, ready to face our second day this week with the language pledge. Since I wanted some time to review the keywords before class started, we decided to look for something quick to eat. We stumbled upon a vendor selling Shandong-style Jianbing (山东煎饼). I had tried this rectangular goodness in Beijing before, but I never had this province-specific variation. He poured the flour mix into the circular pan and waited a moment to throw in two eggs, which he spread on top of the mix. The cook went on to add an ingredient that I thought would ruin my breakfast experience: scallions. I remember eating them once at a restaurant in the U.S. when I confused the word with "scallops;" I did not enjoy the taste of that ingredient at all and ended up having a bad experience with my plate. Nonetheless, I told myself before coming to China that I would leave my pickiness aside and would keep every plate in its original, full-ingredient form (as I do not have to worry of any allergy restrictions). The vendor then spread some hoisin sauce (海鲜酱) along with some spices. He finally added the substantial ingredients that would give it its final form: shredded potatoes, sausage, lettuce, and a wonton cracker. Within seconds, he wrapped, cut it, and put in in a bag, ready to go. The explosion of delicious flavors in my mouth within the first bite immediately threw my fear of eating scallions out the window. For only ¥7 for both of them (about 50 cents each), no French crépe will ever match the taste, quantity, and freshness of this crispy treat. 

With a full stomach and enough time to review the key vocabulary, I was ready for my first quiz in the class. Words flowed from my mind onto the paper at a faster pace than ever before, as I usually write slowly and get stuck by not being able to recall characters. Having been immersed in China for over a week now, my mind is starting to make stronger neural connections between the Chinese characters that I see wherever I go and the ideas that they represent. I felt quite confident with my performance on the quiz and was eager to continue learning more and more during the day. I encouraged myself to not easily give up on the language pledge, even if this meant making the other person wait a few moments as a keyword comes to my mind or rephrasing the sentence correctly. 

After grabbing some dumplings for lunch, I took the time to do laundry and dry my clothes on the rooftop. I grew up seeing people do this in Colombia, where the weather is usually warm enough. However, I had never done it myself and had reluctances of doing it on such a high floor, as I felt that the clothes would fly away with the wind. But Chengdu is not a windy city like Boston, so my lighter clothes were not compromised. A few hours later, all my clothes were completely dry and had a comfortable, crisp feeling to them that no dryer has ever been able to achieve. They also surprisingly look ironed, perhaps due to Chengdu's slight humidity today.

I unlocked an Ofo bike and quickly rode to meet up with my language partner. I found that having only one person to talk to was much better than rotating with several partners. It allowed us to thoroughly address a topic before moving on to the next one, something that is more difficult to achieve on an alternating basis. It is only the third day of class, but I generally see that the group has already acquired more confidence and fluency to speak Chinese. I expect our abilities to exponentially increase as the dialogue continues and can't wait for all the learning – and food - to come!

Thank you for reading!

Alejandro Toledo (托雷)