Let the Great Experiment, BEGIN!

And oh how it has. I arrived in Hangzhou around 11pm August 31st, thrust into my Chinese roommate's loving arms. Zhou Li (or Joker, as he goes by in English) is one hell of a roommate - well, it would not do him justice to call him just a roommate. He's a guide, a friend, a teacher - he's been a lot to me, and this is only after Week One.

I arrived early compared to the rest of my classmates, so Joker and I spent my first full day taking care of necessities - we went to the nearby supermarket, bought an international SIM ka for my phone, and shot the shit all the while. I would later learn from the programs residential direct, Su Aimei (Amy, in English, who hails from Illinois and has lived in China for the past 13 or so years in various places), that Joker and the other 12 Chinese roommates were chosen from a group of 105 candidates which explains their awesome patience and aptitude in accompanying us through this experience. Though only speaking Chinese feels anything but natural right now, Joker has done an inhumanly good job at making me feel comfortable doing so.

At first, I tried (to my own detriment) the age-old technique of pretending to understand by nodding, saying dui (the Chinese equivalent of a "right" or "uh huh") but I must be bad at selling it since Joker knows right away everytime ("ting de dong?" he'll ask me after just about everything he says). So I've since ditched that routine, asking him to zai shuo yici whenever I don't know what he's saying, and he's been a champ so far at repeating, explaining, simplifying, or slowing down if I need him to. I gotta give props to Lucas Chwe who, in reflecting his first months at high school in Ridgewood recalled how sick he got of asking people to repeat what they were saying. I can totally relate now, as that's the life I'm currently living. But I see his fluency now as a goal - hell, the guy got into Cornell while I had to settle for University of Crotch-fester: a serious showing-up if I've ever seen one.

I've got to skip over a couple days since I'd rather not bore you with every little detail, as I realize I'm trending towards. Here have been some of the highlights so far:

-Playing frisbee (da fei pan or "playing flying plate") with Shou Wei Wei (another Chinese roommate) and Joker. Joker is a serious natural - already has a whip of a forehand, if a bit unruly. I brought him one as a gift, and my goal is to make a real champ out of him.

-Played never have I ever in Chinese with all the Chinese kids and my classmates: started with 10 fingers, ended with negative 10 by the time the last person was gone.

-Got a new Chinese name from a cell phone salesman.  While Joker, myself, and several others stuck out a storm in the cell phone store after we finished purchasing our international phones, he continued to give me suggestions for a new Chinese name. The salesman overheard, and got in on the conversation. His first suggestion really stuck with me, and that ended up being the one I chose: Dai En Ge. So much better than my previous name, which Joker informed me "isn't really a name" (thanks a fucking lot Chang Laoshi).

I still don't have internet, so I've been using Joker's comp. Classes started today, though my schedule is still pretty light - everything ends by 2pm, after which I'm up to my own devices. Gonna play Frisbee again today after Joker gets back from dinner. Time to perfect that forehand. Till next time y'all.