Month in Review and Chinese New Years

Temp: 3C - Partly Cloudy

Time: 3pm Sat

This post is a few updates with some thoughts on the first month in China.

Go Karts

Last night (Friday night) there was a small group of us interested in going out to the local indoor go kart business.  If you have ever been to Indianapolis' Fast Times, this is roughly the same thing.  The track had best times in the low 40sec area and it was 550m long.  The best carts were going in the upper 20s on average.  I say the best carts, because unlike Indy's track, the karts here are not all identical.  In fact, the karts are from a variety of manufacturers but apparently all use a Honda 4stroke 160cc engine.  This lead to many karts not being tuned properly and therefore a few "fast karts" emerged.  We bought three sessions at 8 minutes per session for about 22usd.  In Indy, the same amount of time (8 minutes x 3) would cost 60usd ($20 x 3).

The way the operation is run is a bit different.  First, the more obvious and interesting variation - the place serves alcohol.  There is a large bar that has viewing windows from above to watch the racers from while drinking.  The more risky drinkers will then go downstairs and drive - mostly because it is China and why not.  No one from out group was about to do this, but at the same time.. who knows what the future may hold.

The other large deviation from the policies of indy's kart track is there are ... no rules what so ever.  Aside from the obvious - don't get out of the kart, don't drive against the flow of traffic.. there is nothing that said no bumping like in Indy.  Clearly if you are allow to bump, you are allow to slam the crap out of each other and spin people out.  So that is what happened.  I have never been to a karting business that allowed this, but no one mentioned it once it started, so it escalated.  While the primary objective was to get the best lap times, the secondary objective is to screw over the other people on the track so that you can get the best lap time.  Needless to say, it was an experience.  The lighting was very poor so the video I shot was very dark.

Chinese New Year

February 14th is the Chinese New Year.  Today, Saturday, is New Years Eve.  We will be going out as a group to a fancy restaurant on Purdue's tab.  I am excited for just about one reason.  China is the world's manufacturer of fireworks.  I am told that there is no match for the fireworks that will be seen tonight through tomorrow.  If the expectations have been appropriately set, this will be the closest thing I will ever come to the sounds of a war zone.  I am also told there will not be too much partying going on because it is a very family oriented holiday.  It ties in with the very superstitious Chinese folk.  There is a large emphasis on luck around these parts.  For example, to have many fours a phone number is very unlucky because it sounds like death.  Sixes are good fortune and are associated with good business.  Eights are the luckiest number.  It is a very real thought process for the Chinese people.  The holiday for students is celebrated a week before and a week after.  This is the equivalent of Christmas around these parts or winter break.

ME 497K

This week has been a holiday for many students and teachers so we only had one class, the Purdue professor taught course.  This was the final week for this course because the professor will be returning to the US this week.  Each day we had five hour sessions.  Mon - Wed we worked on our final project then Thurs / Fri we presented.  Most all of the students are glad to have that class out of the way.

Valentine's Day

It may be of interest to some people to know that V-day is celebrated here.  The same superficial crap that is promoted in the US is carried along on this side of the ocean as well.  This year, I am told, is not as big of a deal because there is a bigger holiday falling on the same day.  Since the Chinese operate on the lunar calendar on a social level and the international calendar on the business level, many holidays appear twice.  One of our teachers said it is not a big deal that V-day is on the same day as CNY because there is another V-day later in the year.  Another note, the lunar calendar is not as long as the international calendar (<360 days).  Every few years, the Chinese calendar repeats a month.  Occasionally, there are two Mays in the same year, back to back.

One Month In...

-Expats

We are consistently told that talking to ex patriots is a waste of time in China because it is not part of the China experience.  I say the longer an expat has been around, the more useful information they can share.  We routinely have found very good information from the expats in China.  It has been part of the China experience just talking to these people and finding out great places to go visit. 

-Culture

The culture is very different from home.  As I mentioned above, there is a much stronger emphasis on luck.  There are other odd parts of Chinese culture that still continue to confuse me.  It has been an interesting experience to see how different it is in this way.  It has been a learning experience from the beginning.

-Frustrations

Many of the frustrations come from a gap in communication or understanding in general.  Chinese people never appear frustrated because they have been taught from a very young age to not show emotion.  That is a large cultural difference from back home.

Coming to China is not regrettable.  The only things I'd like to change are my knowledge of Chinese so that I could really get deeper into the culture and understand the world around me better.  That being said, it is difficult to be away from home and I miss a lot of friends and family.  I like hearing from all of you and know whats going on while I'm away.  Please keep in touch.  Though only a month has gone by, it is already starting to feel like I am running out of time to see everything there is to see in China.

JBiber

Happy Chinese Lunar New Years Eve (Saturday)

Happy Chinese New Year  (on Sunday)

Happy Valentines Day (on Sunday)

Good Luck America at the Olympics!!