Answer to "the most unexpected/shocking/baffling things"(2)

4 BOOK PRICE 

I feel sooo lucky that my classes are all great!!! And what’s more awesome is two of my classes have no textbooks!!!!

At first, I didn’t think it was great. But when I got to know my friends paid a lot to buy textbooks, I was so appreciated. I can’t imagine a textbook can cost more than $100!!!

In China, books are super super cheap, compared to most countries. 
For example, to buy a cup of coffee in Starbucks in China will cost $5, a book will cost $4. A book is even cheaper than a cup of coffee!!!!

The sad truth is, more people are willing to buy a cup of coffee instead of a book.

A lot of bookstores cannot keep running because a few people buy books in a shop.

Most people will prefer to buy books from the internet to save money. To be honest, I am one of them.

If a book is higher than $10, it is already really expensive.

Normally, our textbooks are $5. The weird thing is, we have to buy all the textbooks from school and there’s no any discount. (Not every university but the most..) And the more weird thing is, during last three Years, more than 60% textbooks I bought were never being used.

Teachers said the books were not good enough, so we won’t use it.

Instead of buying books, there’s other ways to get books. 
Searching on the Internet, you can find a lot of books. And you can download any books legally and easily. Except some books are blocked in China. 
To be honest again, I was one of them too.

I read a lot of books that I download from the Internet. Thank you and SORRY!!!!!

In my internship, I interviewed a famous writer in China. (His name is Chen Zhongshi) He wrote a really famous fiction, called Bailuyuan, 20 years ago. The book went several editions and printings. The books are still being rolled out today.

He told me he could get $2 every book, and the publisher printed ten thousand books every year. So he earns $20,000 every year from the novel he wrote twenty years ago.

It can be a good payment for ordinary people but not for a famous writer.

For now I’m in the U.S., I promise I won’t download books from the Internet. I mean it.

I will eat less and save money to buy books! I promise!:)

5 Thieves.

Last Friday, there was a foam party in OU. Because of the foam, everyone got a plastic bag to keep their phones from the water.
I didn't bring my phone with me. (Yes! I got a new phone with the help of Alexis!) 

When I went to there, and put my shoes in a corner. I found a white iPhone 5 was there flashing. 
"OMG, American people are soooo crazy!!!!" I couldn't believe someone just left their phone and put it in a corner. I mean at least the owner should keep it into a bag.
Especially when the phone is an iPhone 5.

After one week, now I'm getting used to see phones and wallets lying down alone. In gym, in library..

I am sooo relived that I can stop fighting with the thieves.

Three years ago, when I was new to Xi'an, where my university located, I went to a Macdonald. It was on a busy street.
It was a rainy day, I closed my umbrella before entering. I put my cellphone into my coat pocket casually. There's a man standing next to me, closing his umbrella too. 
I smiled to him and walked into Macdonald.

Then I found the young man didn't come in and my phone was gone. 
I realized the man stole my phone and I ran out. He was still there, didn't walk away too far. I grabbed his arm and screaming. "Give my phone back."

Maybe 20 seconds later, he hit my head and threw my phone on the ground. I let go because of the pain. 
My glasses were broken. 

I sat in the Macdonald and called my father. I cried for the whole afternoon. 
My father was angry because no one helped me.

I met thieves 5 times in my whole life. Luckily, I didn't lose anything. Every time, I got back my things.

And I helped other people many times. 
Once, I saw a man was trying to steal something from a girl's bag on a crowded bus. I was not brave enough to yell but I went to the girl. I touched her shoulder and made up a name. "Hey, Lily, where are you going? Long time no see." The girl was shocked but she answered me. 
The thief threw me a hateful look and walked away.
I admit I was really terrified.

Maybe I'll meet thieves in America too. Hope they won't hit me. It hurt! :(

And Americans, when you travel in China, please never leave your phones alone. They won't be there waiting for you!

6 People in their 20s don’t go to parties

Encouraged by my beautiful Bolivian friends, I went to a party the on August 16, the first Friday I stayed in America. 
It was my first time to go to a party in a bar.

Luckily, I talked to many people and didn't feel lonely or boring.
Someone asked me if people in China went to the parties. They were so shocked it was the first time I went to a party in a bar.

I began to think about it. I told a guy from Venezuela that people in their maybe 25 and older would go bars. But students at my age would seldom go bars. (I just know the people around me, not all the students in China.)
Maybe because the loud music, he didn't say anything in 3 seconds.
Then he said "What? I will stop going to parties at that age. I am going to get married and have family!"
Wow, this guy was so manly at that moment. (He's manly all the time though I can't remember his name and his face...)

During the last three years, I studied in Xi'an, far away from my parents.
Even no parents, I went back to dormitory early every night. Weekend night, I'll have a big meal with my friends. Sometimes we played Mahjong (I'm a Chinese..) or went to karaoke.
We seldom drank alcohol though we can drink at any age. (Don't jealous of us.:))
And we won't go bars. Not only because bars are really expensive, but also bars are chaotic. 

I thought people would get drunk and dance crazily that night, but everyone was in sober and enjoyed the time.
American dramas and movies lied to me! 




To be continued.:)

Answer to "the most unexpected/shocking/baffling things"(1)

Stayed in U.S. and talked to many friends from the whole world, I am really shocked by the culture shock!

Then I read the question and answers on Quora.

Just write the things come to my mind.

1 Lots of people use umbrellas in summer days!

When I was packing my luggage, I googled everything! From should I bring many clothes to should I take an umbrella!

When you wondering on the street in China, you’ll find almost every girl holds a sunshade (not sure about the name..) (To be honest, I am one of them!)

When I search on the internet, I read that it would be really stupid to hold a sunshade. So I had to say goodbye to my sunshade.

One day, my friends and I missed the bus so we had to walk for nearly 40 minutes at 2 P.M. I was totally burned by the sunshine. During the long walk, I hid under every shade I found. Trees, buildings, even traffic lights!

My friends, a boy from Spain and a girl from Bolivia. They could not understand me at all.

The boy from Spain kept saying “We are going to be more beautiful”, “Wearing a shirt now is a waste of sunshine!” and things like that.

For now, after two weeks, I’m kind of used to walking under the sunshine. I am not that crazy to chase after the shades. One of the reasons is I am much tannic now..:(

In China, girls are more beautiful if she had whiter skin and a slimmer figure.

So almost everyone girl wants to be whiter and slimmer. Sunblock and sunshade are girl’s best friends in summer days.

But things are weird because a few girls will go gym or do sports but a lot of girls choose to eat less or nothing to become slimmer.

When you walking through the equipment area, you can seldom see a girl. Thinking it would get muscle, Girls are afraid of sports. Yoga maybe the favorite one.

During last half month, I feel freer. Not because my parents are far away from me, but I feel people are not that pay attention to your clothes, your skin color, and your figure.

(I know I should control myself not to eat too much and go gym a lot.. Or I’ll be much fatter..)

My friends told me “you can choose to not be a Chinese in a year”. Wow, this is difficult but good idea!

2 The public toilet is a mess…

There’s a joke in China. When CCTV, China’s state TV station, reported something negative about KFC and MacDonald in China, the public didn’t take it seriously. On the opposite, people said “Come on.. KFC and MacDonald provide so many best public toilets in China, they should be honored!!”

When I travelled in Thailand, I had a nice talk with a guy from Chiangmai. He asked me why there’s no clean public toilet in China. At that moment, I didn’t know how to answer, “maybe because public toilet cannot earn money”.

I seldom went to public toilets in China or I just found one in a shopping mall and KFC, MacDonald of course. And there’s no toilet paper in most public toilet. So I used to bring tissues with me.

So when you are in China, please don’t drink too much when you are outside or when you are far from KFC and MacDonald. J

And bring tissues with you!

3 People, so many people…

A student media in my college once interviewed two American teachers, asking them the first impression of China. “Too many people”, they both said.

Now, I can really understand this, especially when I now live in Norman, Oklahoma.

My home university is in Xi’an, one of the oldest cities in China. On weekends, when you walk on the street, you’ll easily touch other people since there are too many. On the bus, no matter how late it is, there’s always lots of people. You can stand without holding anything. On summer days, it would be a nightmare.

My Colombia roommate saw a photo on the Internet. The photo was about China’s Metro. There were lots of people and some policemen were pushing people and helping them get onto the metro. She asked me whether it was true. My first reaction was “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA”…

It was true but not common, or the photo won’t be so famous.

But you have to wait, waiting for everything.

To be continued.

Everything before OU(2)

Next morning, I waited until 6:10. I was wondering why there were still no broadcast to inform me to get on the plane.

I went to the bathroom to wash my face again. After I getting out of the bathroom, I heard there’s a voice calling my name. I was even not sure whether it is my name because the pronunciation. I went to a reception desk. Oh my, everyone on that plane was waiting for me!!! I feel so sorry and ran to the gate.

I said sorry to a man and he was just like the Earl in 2 Broken Girls. Also, he sounds like singing when he is talking. Definitely, I can’t understand him.

Ten minutes later, the plane started flying to Denver.

It is my first time taking Ameican Airplane. I chose Southwestern because it allows two luggages. 

Though I didn’t sleep last night, somehow, I still cannot fall into a sleep. I read and looked outside.

When the plane was going to land, I was shocked by the huge land and few houses!!!

I was used to see many houses and people within a small area. It’s a waste of land!!!

It’s America, I kept talking to myself. From the plane, I could totally understand why Americans need cars. (BTW, life without a car is really difficult here.)

Landing at Denver Airport, I felt so nervous about the time.

I was still not familiar with the time difference within a country. China is big but we still use one time zone. But Los Angeles, Denver and OKC use different time.

Somehow, my iPad could not figure out the time by itself. So I was extremely nervous after I almost miss my plane LAX.

I ran to the gate and thank God there were still people waiting. I kept looking at people waiting there.

A lady sitting next to me was making a phone call to say goodbye. A young couple with a little baby, they kissed!

If it was in China, it would be really weird to kiss in public. Every time when I saw someone kissing on the road, in campus, I always wanted to say “Please stop and find somewhere privately”.

But somehow, this time I even could feel their happiness.

Then people started to wait in line to get aboard. I’m not sure when should I go so I just wait.

Again, no fixed seating. I sat next to a nice lady. I mean I could tell she is nice just the first few seconds we met. We said hello to each other then we stopped.

Usually I will keep silence but that day I didn’t.

Maybe it was because I come to a new country so I want to change too.

To be honest, I was a little bit upset before that because I found I could not understand what other people’s words. Every time, I had to say “what?”, ”Sorry?” or just looked at them. I even doubt whether I could survive especially when I failed to make phone calls.

I encouraged myself for at least 5 minutes and then I started to talk. Not too surprise, the lady is so nice. Her name is Alexis, she just lives in Norman, where OU is.

She even said my English was good after keeping repeating simple things. We had a nice talk and the plane was going to land again.

We were supposed to say goodbye and would never meet again. But I just did something crazy for me. I asked if I could have her email address. I just wanted to thank her at that moment.

So, we changed email address and said goodbye.  For now, I feel so lucky that I did this kind of crazy thing!

We exchange students have a Facebook group. A few days before I leaving, I got to know I can share a shuttle with some girls. I had no idea who they are and can’t even remember their names.

Luckily, after I got my two big luggages, a hot and beautiful girl came and we met each other!

During the half hour journey, I already fell in love with the city. All the buildings are cute. They are all special and not tall.

Every city in China has lots of high buildings. You cannot even tell which the city is if you don’t see the name. Every building looks same.

Sharing a shuttle, we arrived at OU finally. In that half hour, we had already become good friends.

I am soooo lucky!

Everything before OU.(1)

Last November, one day, I got a news that there’s one student could get a chance to be an exchange student in University of Oklahoma.

I didn’t take it really seriously and just want to have a try. I always love new things.

I went to an interview and all the teachers in my college sat there. I answered a lot of questions with my ChinglishJ. Next day, I got to know I succeeded!

A few days before I am leaving, my mom said she Won’t go to the airport with me. I was about to say “NO”, then she said she would cry if she goes. At that moment, I just want to hug her.

My father drove me to the airport after I hugging my mom.

On our way to the airport, somehow, I felt so conflict. Excited, a little bit afraid, looking forward to a whole new life.

My dad left until I walked across the Custom.

We even HUG!!! It was my first time to hug my father. At that moment, I thought no matter what would happen next year, it worth!

After 8 month wait and 13 hour flight, I arrived at Los Anglos Airport. Going through the customs, I was exhausted but smiled.

A totally different country, a country I’ve seen from TV and dramas, I can see it by myself!

Without a phone (I lost mine three days before I coming here L) and no phone card, I had to get some coins to call my parents. I travelled the LAX again and again for at least 2 hours and kept encouraging myself to talk to people to change coins.

BUT

It seems no American has coins, even for one dollar!!! At last, before the exchange closed, I got two dollars.(But now, after 10 days here, I have no coins with me neither!)

The pay phones are different from ones in my country. I didn’t find any instructions so I just pulled into money and began dialed. According to my experience, I dialed 86, which is the Chinese code and my mom’s phone number. I was so happy that I could talk to my parents.

BUT

Nothing happened. There was no sound and no money back. Thank god, I still had one dollar.

I found the instruction this time. I pulled the money and dialed as I was told. This time, I was even smiling! I wanted to say HELLO and I MISS YOU to my parents.

There was sound!

“Mom?”

“Sorry, the phone you are calling is busy now. You can try it later.”

“…….”

And the most upset thing was no money back again!

I hung up the phone, stand against the phone, almost crying.

After that, I sat in the airport for whole Night with my two big luggages and my computer bag. A problem came. I wanted to go bathroom.

I am not sure but pushing the luggage cart into bathroom looks ridiculous I believe.

I fought with myself for two minutes, then I talked to a man sitting next to see to ask him to keep an eye on my things.

Not so surprising, he said yes.

I was happy that people can trust each other!! Of cause, I was so happy that I can go bathroom without being rediculous!

To be honest I may not do this in China, leaving all my things to a total stranger.

Wow, I began to love this country.