Not Letting the Wind Instrument Win

This week, I realized a few very important things.

1) My stay in China is coming to a close soon. Today was our last normal Friday. Next week we have our final and then we leave the following Monday.
2) Although our system isn't perfect, I'm satisfied with the way we treat people with disabilities in the United States.
3) My love of Harry Potter cannot be dampened by any distance.
4) I really am so isolated from the rest of the world while I'm here in China.
5) The Chinese people really like the movie, Titanic.
6) I miss music. I miss my cello and my piano. I miss being able to just sit down and play a song with no one listening just because I could. I miss hearing music anywhere and everywhere. And understanding the music.
7) I can't play a wind instrument to save my life.

I'll start with the last point. All week we've been at the Xi'an Concert Hall. I had walked past the building quite a few times and really wanted to see something there. It seems I got my wish in a round about way.

On Monday, we had a tour of the Hall. There was Orchestra Hall, which I can honestly say was slightly different from any Concert Hall I've ever been in. My Orchestra went on a road trip this year so I've seen my share. I'm not sure if the difference was because this was a Chinese Concert Hall or a Xi'an specific thing. I know a lot of the concerts they had were for Chinese traditional instruments, not Western instruments.

I loved the Chamber Hall. There were these bubble like structures on the wall and the entire room was white. I could have stayed in there a very long time, except we were rushed out of it.

We almost skipped the Pop Music Hall (Yes they had a pop music hall. This place was interesting.) They were setting up for a concert but they still let us in. There were drums and music stands everywhere. The seats were bright red and yellow.

Then we were taken to a room and four musicians played the traditional instruments for us. I recorded them so if you want to hear them I can show them to you. I'm pretty sure I can't post video on here.

After that a lady began speaking at the front of the classroom. She said the words er hu (the awesome and only stringed instrument) and then suddenly people were raising their hands and leaving the room. By the time I figured out what was going on, there were already enough er du students. So I picked the di zi, an instrument that had sounded incredibly pretty and was easy to transport. I figured if I really liked it, I could buy a cheap di zi and put it in my suitcase to take back to the U.S.

I'm going to try and buy a di zi, but not because I liked it. I hate the instrument with a burning passion. I just can't let the stubborn thing win.

The di zi is a very particular instrument. You have to position it under your bottom lip, but still fairly high and it has to be turned at a very precise angle. I was either able to play incredibly loudly or get no sound at all. The teacher would try and help, but he didn't seem to understand so he kept trying to "fix" my fingerings by singing do, rei and mi over and over again. I understand the notes (and by the way it's c, d and e not do, rei mi). I got a headache everyday because everyone was so off. I understand the philosophy. I just can't position the instrument correctly.

The best part of di zi lessons was the fact for four days straight, I got to see a beautiful double bass. I even played it a little when the teacher had to leave the room one day to take a phone call. One of my best friends plays the bass. Before orchestra, he teaches me the bass and I teach him the cello. I could actually play Mary had a little lamb on the bass (and the er hu. I played it one day during our breaks at school. It's literally a d and a string. I actually really enjoyed it and it sounded like music and not screeching).

On the day of the final performance (because this is China and you can never do anything without having a test of some type.) I was just hoping I could actually get sound. I did and then I lost it. In that split second, I looked at He Lao Shi and Noah. They were in the back and both making incredibly funny faces. My performance decreased from there (not that it was much of one anyway) because I couldn't stop laughing hysterically. I finished the song barely.

On Monday and Tuesday after music class, we did Tai chi. Let's just say there's a reason why I swim. I have no sense of balance. I fell over a lot and the fact that tai chi is incredibly slow didn't help.

On Monday, Katie wanted to stay a little longer. I took the time to take advantage of the piano in the room. Makea played it the first day we did Tai chi. I didn't want to play with everyone because a) from then on everyone would compare the two of us and b) I can't memorize things to save my life so anything I played would be very simplistic. With everyone gone though, I had free reign of the piano. There was even some spare music and although I had no idea what it was called. I could read the actual notes, after all music is universal.

On Wednesday, I had my first proper bubble tea (zheng zhu nai cha). Aaron (or An You Fu I can't remember what I call him on here. I'm just so used to calling him An You Fu his English name doesn't sound quite right.), Amanda, Michal and I walked to the supermarket by the school. I had gotten drinks from Coco's the little drink place in the store once or twice before, but those had been fruity and didn't have the tapioca balls. It's actually so good. I'm never getting s fruity drink again. I also ordered it by speaking instead of just pointing at the menu. That in itself was a real confidence booster.

Katie was interviewing Michal's host sister about Chinese Kung Fu for her final project. The interview was scheduled to start at 5. We were running a bit late (Aaron and I wanted to buy flash drives. The girls wanted to buy bread.) So we took one of these cart things. Okay maybe cart isn't the best way to describe them. I'm actually really surprised I don't have a picture of one somewhere. I guess I'll just have to take one. The five of us (and our large backpacks) squeezed into the tiny enclosed space. There are two benches inside. There are also no doors or seatbelts so it was definitely an interesting ride. The ride was also a fairly short one. The walk is almost twenty minutes but the ride was only about three. Definitely worth Michal's ten kuai (about $1.50).

We had our final drafts for our NSLI-Y speech due Wednesday, which of course meant that there was a hoard of exhausted students that day. Sure we've had a lot of time to work, but at the same time we haven't. We already have an insane workload and just interacting with our host families takes up so much of our time. (Luckily I had Sunday a bit more to myself.)

Our teachers seemed to realize that. Tong Lao Shi and Zhuang Lao Shi decided that we could play games for a lot of the time. One of them was very entertaining. One person would be blindfolded and they would have try and guess who was standing in front of them, to the left, to the right and behind them. We, of course, made things difficult by changing our hairstyles, our heights and other distinguishing features. My glasses got passed around a few times. By the end, we were standing sideways in groups. It wasn't against the rules of the game, but I doubt it's what our teachers expected.

That afternoon, our di zi teacher played "My Heart will go on" to tune all the instruments. It was kind of weird though. I mean, I never thought of Titanic as a Chinese movie, but it's so incredibly popular here. I started singing along with him at one point because Egg didn't recognize the song. (I mean I understand Titanic is kind of a girly movie, and by that I mean it's a romance) Then some of the Chinese teachers came into the room like bees to honey. They made me try and sing the song with the di zi accompanying me. It was a really awkward key. But it was still definitely better than my di zi playing.

Thursday was July 31st. Now for some people, that date doesn't mean anything. To me however, it's almost like a mini-holiday. July 31st is the birthday of Harry Potter. It's also J.K. Rowling's birthday. I started reading the Harry Potter books at a very young age. My mom started reading them to me when I was 3. So it's safe to say the wizarding world has been a large part of my childhood.

Thursday was also the day I was scheduled to give a presentation for the class. I chose my topic a week ago. I had decided to cover Harry Potter without even knowing the significance of the date. I had already covered music and swimming. I wanted to talk about something I really cared about.

I almost changed my topic too. Saturday is Chinese Valentine's day. It isn't a real big holiday here. Couples celebrate it but not really anyone else. I decided against switching and only then did I realize the date.

After that I worked relentlessly on my presentation Wednesday night. We thankfully didn't have any homework besides learning a few songs to teach to the kids at the orphanage (more on that later) so I had all the time in the world to perfect my PowerPoint. It was definitely the best presentation I've given in China. I started the slide show asking if anyone knew whose birthday was today. I then used "Lumos" to start my PowerPoint. I coordinated all my information to different backgrounds in house colors. Information on Harry, Hermione, Ron and Hogwarts was on the Gryffindor colored slide. Information of J.K. Rowling was on the Ravenclaw colored slide. Plot information was on the Slytherin slide. And favorite character stuff (Tonks) was on the Hufflepuff slide. More information was on a slide with the Hogwarts crest. I ended the presentation with "Nox". All in all, I was so proud of it. I really couldn't get rid of the smile on my face.

After lunch and my atrocious di zi performance, our host siblings joined us on the bus to go to a children's home. I'm still not entirely sure what to call the place. Our schedule said Kindergarten and the Chinese word our teachers gave us translated to kindergarten, but it was definitely not a kindergarten. Wei Lao Shi and He Lao Shi called it an orphanage, but that isn't quite right either. The children in this home for the most all had parents. All the children in the home had a disability of some kind, and therefore all lived at the "kindergarten." The inhabitants ranged from around three to middle aged.

I'm still not sure what to think about this. In hindsight, it makes sense. The only person I've seen that was "different" here in China was a woman with an amputated arm begging on the street. (Later note: I saw a few people with wheel chairs today at the Terracotta soldiers but that was also a tourist site.) The building all the children were living in was unbearably hot. There was no air conditioning. I almost felt like passing out. Everything was dirty too. And the kids were covered in layers of sweat and grime. There were Christmas decorations hanging on the wall still. A part of me wondered if that was because we were the first Wai Guo Ren to visit since Christmas or if the workers were too busy with all their charges to take down the Santa posters.

I can understand why they would be too busy. The whole operation is run by a handful of women and a couple men. They're at the kindergarten all the time, helping so many children who can't comprehend Chinese or any form or instructions for the most part. The kids range from being blind to a mental disability that makes them not understand the concept of pain to being mute. They don't just help them. They try to understand them and they play with them. They give them medicine and force them to eat in the middle of a temper tantrum. These women do incredible things everyday without single break. They live in the same conditions as their charges. And by the looks of the new beds being built and crowded into one of the rooms upstairs, that number is going to grow.

To prepare for our trip to the orphanage, the NSLI kids split ourselves into three groups: a sing/dance group, a paper hearts (origami) group and a duck duck goose group. Each group was supposed to teach the kids their specialty. I had been so nervous that I wouldn't be able to really communicate with the kids. I learned the songs though and although I was nervous I knew with certainty I could teach at least one of them. The other song was a song called Xiao Ping Guo meaning little apple. The song was wildly popular because it had been in the end credits of the Chinese version of Despicable Me, which is also a big hit here. Either way I now have a couple of songs I could teach my Junior Girl Scouts that I'm sure they've never heard before. (They're my little sister's troop that I help lead.)

We ended up just performing the songs with them along with some very simple English songs like "If you're happy and you know it" "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Tows" and the "Hockey-Pokey", just some very simple songs with lots of movement.

We also watched them dance for us. Many of the children just stood there. One kid actually broke away in the middle of the performance and started climbing on the jungle gym equipment. The ones that did try though were absolutely adorable.

After the performance, we were taken to small rooms downstairs. There were three rooms so we divided ourselves up again. The plan had been to help them make paper hearts but that plan was shot almost immediately. We began making paper airplanes for them and then flying them around making airplane noises and saying "kan dao le fei ji". The children would then grab the planes and then unfold them or rip them. One little boy ripped up all of his planes and placed the pieces in an empty water bottle. The kids were destroying our creations faster than we could make them.

My paper folding is fairly subpar so I left the table to try and interact with one of the other children. I carried a little boy around on my back for a while before he got bored and wanted to be carried around by Aaron. I think it's just a Chinese culture thing but every single one of the children preferred boys to girls. The same thing happened later with a boy who was about my age. He was determined I sit and talk to him. He even pulled up a broken stool I could sit on, but then Alex came by. He, of course, needed to talk to Alex instead.

I also talked to a teenager. He couldn't really speak. He made different noises and howled a lot, but he couldn't speak or really understand Mandarin. He grabbed my hand and instantly began squeezing as hard as he could. He dug his thumb into the back of my hand and kept squeezing. I just let him. I didn't know how to communicate with the kid at all and he didn't really know what he was doing. Then he started yanking on my shirt, so I walked away. I definitely have so much respect for the women who work here every day. I know I wouldn't be able to handle it.

My favorite child was a little girl in a white patterned dress. She had been standing by herself against the wall the entire time. She also looked like she was going to burst into tears any second.

I went over to her knelt in front of her and asked the standard "Ni Hào Ma?" She automatically grabbed both of my hands and positioned herself so that she was standing in front of me and leaning against me. We stood like that for the rest of the time. She only dropped my hand once so she could reach up and wipe the sweat from her brow. She was incredibly cute.

I wasn't the only one who made a friend at the home. Amanda took so many selfies with a couple of the boys. They would automatically smile when they saw themselves on camera. Makea also had a blind boy that absolutely adored her. She made him a paper heart and he wouldn't accept it because he wanted to hold her hand instead.

After the kindergarten, we went to dinner at the grandparents. They always have the television going dinner, but typically I understand none of it. They also typically watch this auction show. It's really weird. From what I can tell, it's like a mix of antique road show, Shark Tank and Deal or No Deal. Most of the time, I tune it out. Almost every artifact the person tries to convince them "This thing is from the _______ dynasty" and then the inspector person goes "This is a fake. A very good fake." Most of the time that's really all I understand.

I do really like one show though. The English name is Joy Street. Even if I don't understand everything it's still really funny. The closest comparison I can make is with Who's Line is it Anyway? There are four regular actors (although each episode only features 3 of them), an announcer and the celebrity of the week. It's an improv show. All the actors have earpieces that are connected to the announcer. The announcer can change the situation at any point. She also tells the others when to enter or exit. The three actors are told the bare minimum about the situation. They know what they do when they first enter. They do not know what anyone else is doing. They also have no idea who the celebrity is. It's a show you can watch and still understand even if I don't quite get everything. The show on today was where two actors were trying to get the third ready for a date. The third was an utter tomboy who was just cleaning up the house and suddenly she's being forced into a wig and this awful pink fluffy dress. So I understand the basic plot and the slapstick comedy. It's enough. Next time I come to Shaanxi Province, I want to be a part of the Live Studio Audience. Hopefully by then I'll be fluent. I want to try and find some DVDs of the show so I can watch it in America.

Okay but now I'm off topic. On Thursday, I watched the news. Now that would be impressive on it's own, or it would be if Chinese news wasn't completely focused on China. There's an Ebola outbreak in Africa, A Palestinian Massacre going on in the Gaza Strip and the whole Russia/Ukraine situation. Is any of that on the Chinese news I've seen? The answer to that prior to Thursday was no. Instead they've talked about the Nanjing Children's Olympics and things like that. So what was so special about Thursday and how on earth do I know what's going on in the world if none of it is on the news?

Thursday's news was in beautiful English. It was still CCTV news but it was in English. It covered world events and even had a culture segment on Once Upon a Time. It was unbelievable and so unexpected. I was able to understand everything for once. The Chinese anchor spoke proper English, with no accent whatsoever. It was just incredibly refreshing.

And then I had to study incredibly hard for our last normal test of the trip. I still can't believe all we have left is the final. I'm so close to home yet still so far away at the same time.

The terracotta warriors, our excursion on Friday, are going to be their own separate post because
a) I have almost 200 pictures
b) the terracotta warriors are the huge tourist draw of Xi'an (although cool, I think there are so many better things to come to Xi'an for like yang rou pao mo, Hui Ming Jie, Hua Shan and Da Tong Fu Rong Yuan)
c) I began writing this post on the bus ride to the destination so I want to honor the timing of that.

I know I haven't really covered last weekend yet. I'll try to do that soon even if it's just a short little post. Here's the summary: On Friday, we went to Da Tong Fu Rong Yuan. I also discovered my favorite place in the whole city. On Saturday, Candy, Katie, my host mom and I went to Da Ming Gong, this palace thing. It's more like the remains of a palace from the Tang Dynasty. On Sunday, I had a relaxing day. I made breakfast since it was just Katie, Candy and I in the apartment (and I can actually cook). And that was basically the high light of the day. I read some of summer reading books and I did Chinese homework.

This weekend as it is our last weekend, all my classmates and I are trying to do something incredibly interesting. They had something big planned but Katie and I opted out of most of today's activities. Our family taught us to make Jiao zi instead. We might go to a night market later with the group. Katie and Michal's sister are performing Kung Fu at the closing ceremony so later we're going to the school so they can practice. I'm coming too. Candy and I will probably play Ping-Pong while they try to figure something out. Tomorrow, we're getting up bright and early and taking the subway over to Hui Ming Jie (The Muslim Quarter). They have the best bargaining and food in the city. I haven't really bought any souvenirs yet so tomorrow is my big shopping day.

I'll try to update later today if I can. I would like to be caught up for once.