So far, the first day behind me, I’m sort of worried. Shanghai is definitely a great city, but it seems not so different from Beijing. Instead, it lacks a little character and replaces it with shiny buildings shaped like spaceships (seriously). But I’m staying in what seems to be an incredible hostel (Ming City International Hostel, near the People’s Square) and I certainly plan to find as much of the city’s heart as I can in the next few days. Tall order: yes, please. Bing1 de.

Drinking beer with a couple of aussies arguing about football, footie, cricket. One of them, Doug, I knew from a long while back and so there’s really no surprise. I lean back and just let the scene wash over me. Horrible remixes of pop music from 5 years ago. Smatterings of conversation: some I can understand, some I can’t. Pool balls clack. Nothing all that unconventional really.

A street food pancake for what equates to about 15c. It’s huge and hearty, just a little ma la spicy. We walk back to our apartments via sleepy streets and talk about life.

There’s this crazy chinese lady yelling scat over the top of a french cellist. A trumpeter blasts out muted improvisation over two Chinese _qin_s. I whisper about how I recognize the jazz standard they’re loosely basing this piece off of. Returned whispers mention that she’s reciting a classic Mongolian poem.

We travel to a place called Sanlitun and walk through the most international parts of Beijing. A mall courtyard blasts techno music and we end up eating at an american steak house. I don’t know if anyone really wanted to, but the surreality was too much. Later we get Coldstone.

We go out for Korean food and everyone is again amazed that I can use chopsticks. Speaking Chinese is one thing, but using chopsticks is so very unexpected.

Playing ping pong in a separate meeting room/kitchen/ping pong room just outside the lab. Chen Liu shows me how to play Chinese style, and I show them all the things I know. I get my ass handed to me, squarely, but it’s still good, good fun. A few days later I teach the girls how to play US style. It’s a hot day and I’m sweating. Every time someone gets excited it’s an explosion of words too fast for me to follow. High fives, however, are pretty universal.

In the mean time, I’m going to be working on having archives and comments here. That and staring at my feet.

How about the surroundings? My apartment is just a few minute’s walk from Beida’s East Gate and it’s right in the middle of the Haidian district of Beijing. That means that I’m a 10 minute walk from the Times Square of Beijing; from a gigantic, beautiful college campus/nationally recognized garden; from many of the Olympic facilities; from the Yihe Yuan (Summer Palace); and from hundreds of amazing restaurants.

So far I’ve eaten out at 8 different places each with a different kind of food. I’ve bought a cell phone (necessary since my American phone was locked and cheap since it’s China) an electronic dictionary and a dragon fruit (which I didn’t even know existed). I’ve met probably 10 really good friends from the lab I work in. I’ve been out Karaoking. I’ve seen a modern avant garde Jazz/Historical Chinese fusion concert. I’ve been schooled in ping pong, but I also got a lesson in the Chinese style. I even won (was part of a winning team) a singing competition by joining a group from my lab and singing M79 by Vampire Weekend. The grand prize was a fan, a mat to cool your head while sleeping, and some monitor cleaning supplies. But who cares? There are pictures and it was a blast.

I’ve been here just 5 days.

How about the people? Nearly everyone has been studying English for much of their lives so while they aren’t too confident they are more than capable and love to try it out. This has been great because I’ve been able to pretty easily make a lot of friends but it’s sort of dreadful because I don’t get to practice my Chinese that much. Worse, they insist on paying for everything saying that the only meal I get to pay for is the last one before they or I leave. This has led to a little bit of anguish and I’m trying to decide if I need to get sneaky and try to pay anyway.

It’s interesting to see all the same social stereotypes you’re used to played out in a different culture. You feel this phenomenon where everything is exactly the same and totally different. Chen Liu is rascally and outgoing, Wang Jin is nerdy but true, Zhang Yue is nervously quiet but caring, Peng Sun is intelligent and something of a leader, Hao Ying is quiet and uncompromisingly warm. Together they’re all fantastic friends and have been more than just a little welcoming making my acclimation easy and fun. I deeply want them to come to the US some day so I can return the favor.

One of the major things about Chinese culture is the idea of a relationship, of guanxi. A guest is someone you treat without question or, as I’ve seen, limit. A friend is someone who you’ll go to incredible lengths to help out, without question. In it’s worst, it can end up as a sort of cronyism, but that’s a word that gets its color from the outsiders. To the American mindset it ends up feeling like you owe everyone a great deal in order to be even with them but I’ve been trying to relax that reaction. I think it’s something interesting to learn: healthy codependence.

The nicest part of being exposed to another culture is getting to pick and choose what you like. Guanxi and the simple act of being an uncompromising host are both a bit weird and give me trouble in a deep kind of way. They also mean that I’ve already got a strong social network in this country though, so I’m not complaining.

Ha, and I’m so excited.

I’m spending my summer in Beijing, China researching at Beijing University (PKU) under Professor Zhang Jue in hopes to use Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to learn a bit more about how the brain responds to pain and Traditional Chinese Medicine. But, of course, the ulterior motive is just as strong: to immerse myself in a different culture, a different country, and see what comes of it all.

I’m 21. I’m studying to become a biomedical engineer while practicing graphic design and singing in margins. I listen to music that 90% of America thinks outlandish and have no trouble whittling through tome-sized dark humor opuses on the morality or lack-thereof in entertainment. I swing dance and peoplewatch to make up whimsical, colorful stories from the lives swirling around me. I’ve been outside the US once before for a couple of weeks touring through Italy, France, and England. I’ve studied Chinese for two years but still can barely speak it.

I’m going to get eaten alive though nobody should be surprised to learn that’s the goal.

This summer my goal is adventure. Pictures and stories to come.