Tuesday, June 5th, 2018
7:30 am: 张阿姨 goes to work.
8:00 am: 弟弟 heads to class.
8:05 am: Me: Unlock a bike, go right out the gate, start my podcast, right at the first big stree�C223 thousand…that is in jobs, 3.8…that is in percent, 69…that is in minutes…from American Public Media, this is Marketpl�C left at the park, turn right when you see the statue of Mao�Cwhat impact do the tariffs that went in place on Mexico and Canada have on NAFTA negotiations�Cgo straight for a while…take a left at the Louis Vuitton store…don't remember that building�CDow Industrial's 9/10ths a percent today, NASDAQ gained a percent and a half, S&P 500 up one percent �Chuh don't remember a school here…oh wait how am I at the river already…is it too dangerous to start another podcast now…I still need to take that left at some point…yeah probably too dangerous…this small street looks like a good place to avoid getting hit by a bus…who was Terry Gross' last interview?...let's take this left�Coh look, Chuanda, hey I know where we are.
I made it to class with a full two minutes to spare. After a second day of biking to and from class, I think I have a grasp on of both my route and more so Chengdu as a city. Another upside of my seven-kilometer bike ride is I get to catch up on my podcasts. The downside, however, is I have a seven-kilometer bike ride to and from class. And no midday naps. That one really gets me.
Class today really started to reflect that out time here in Chengdu is almost over. When we weren't all excitedly chatting about our host families�Ca fair amount of which is in Chinese, but English is whipped out as soon as there is a really juicy tidbit of information that is Chinese skills just won't do�Cwe labored through chapter nine vocab and sentences, followed by our plans for the remaining days.
After class, we had a final remaining dialogue in Chengdu. Today's speaker was Xi Shan, a distinguished local author known for his analytical works of the everyday culture of Chengdu, specifically its teahouses, which just so happened to be the site of our talk. Lots of the talk revolved around how Chengdu as a city holds dear to its heart a strong idea of individuality. This central trait is apparent in the strong presence of Daoism throughout the city's history and manifests itself in the daily lives the Sichuanese people who adopt a more open-minded, easy-going, sort of lifestyle that runs contrary to a more rigid sense of Confucianism that permeates through most of the rest of China. This whole idea of 盖碗茶 , runs through the blood of Sichuanese people and allows for all walks of life to congregate in a central, public space to read a book, do homework, play majiang, or just chat�Call without feeling rushed. Xi even drew a comparison between Sichuan and California�CI suppose it wasn't just happenstance that I took such a liking to Chengdu.
Back at with the host family, things are progressing at a steady rate. Lots my我不懂了's are slowly being phased out for a 我明白了. I went with my host mom and little brother to drop the son off at his evening English class. This gave my host mom and myself about an hour and a half to wander around the nearby park. Conversations ranged from where we have traveled, how I was supposed to interview people for my independent research topic, to even an impromptu lesson on a few compound sentence structures that I should practice using. 张阿姨 had a good laugh when I asked why so many old men walk around with their shirts folded up and their 啤酒肚 hanging out. She explained that it was just because the weather is hot; possibly it's that laid-back Chengdu atmosphere at play. Once 弟弟got out of his English class, we returned home and I helped my host brother with his English homework as well as gave a little lesson on the difference between "a little" and "a few". I thought I did an okay job; at least he told me he understood.
- Eliot S.
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