my 1 month anniversary!

The last two days havent been as eventful, so I decided to go around campus and take some photos of SU. Foremost is a picture of my bike. Although Chengdu has been rather cloudy these past few days, it was still a descent enough day to take pictures. I have classes everyday from 8:30 to 12 with a half hour break in between. These are my Chinese classes. Having a bike has made my life so much easier...well...almost. Yesterday, while going home in between 12 and 2 *On Thursday, we have an extra Chinese class at 2-3:30*, I discovered I had a flat rear tire. I went and got that fixed and chatted with the bike repair man. At first, it was hard to communicate with him, mostly cause he only speaks Sichuanese...and I am just getting used to understandle that dialect. Matt came along cause he wanted to look at bike seats. Most of the bike seats here in China have some sort of "spring" action, but for some reason, his didnt. With the roads and sidewalks that we have here...not having springs makes riding a bike a bit tortuous, especially for guys. As the repain man was changing Matt's seat, he commented on my English. :) He didn't think I was a foreigner. I have been getting that alot. I used to think that my Putonghua would clearly show that I wasn't English, "Me too. I'm from Seattle." Totally throwing people left and right here. It's a from around here...but I have been shocking people with my "true identity." The same for some of the foreigners here. The other day when Li Yun and I were waiting for the elevator in our apartment, there were these 2 American guys chatting, Nate and Bill. However, cause I was talking in Chinese...they figured I was Chinese. In the elevator...we all wanted the fourth floor. Nate turned around and said that he knew me. I don't even know my neighbors! I asked him in Chinese if he was sure...and he asked if I lived in this particular apartment room. I replied no...but then replied with the question "Are you from America." He said yes...and I answered inbit odd. When I first came here...I was feeling a bit like an odd ball. Among my UW friends...I felt different...mostly cause I look like the rest of the people here...and I can speak and understand. However, when I am among my Chinese friends and even with strangers...I still felt like an outsider. I actually talked to Andrea about this one night when we were having our usual Monday meetings/dinners. For a few weeks during the beginning of my stay, I guess I was having an identity crisis. See, even here in China, I am still considered different. Not only am I an American, but I am also the child of parents born in Taiwan. In all of this...it's really hard for me to pinpoint where exactly I feel like I belong. Sure, being in Seattle and especially at UW where there are alot of Asian-Americans, I feel like I sort of belong. But, I have also lived in Oklahoma and Georgia, and those places are a different environment in themselves. I certainly don't exactly fit the mainland China profile...mostly in regards to culture, history, and spoken language. And then there's Taiwan. I dont really feel like I have that strong of a tie with Taiwan...sure, my parents were born there and then grew up there...but my interest in this island has never been really immense. Speaking of which, our Chinese politics class did some reading regarding the Early Republic...the history of the early relations between the Chinese Communist Party and the GuoMingDang. Granted...this is one of the few books I have read regarding this era...but I was surprised to read alot of the stuff the GMD did. I began to wonder how much of history I have miscontrued. It also got me curious as to what my family's exact history was. I know that my grandfather is from Nanjing, my grandmother was an orphan from Beijing, my grandma was from Beijing, and my grandpa grew up in Jiangsu. Both my grandparents on my dad's and mom's side came to Taiwan before 1950. Here...let me provide some pictures. I am really interested in making a family tree. As to how and when I can get that done...I'm not sure. I guess to start...I'll add some pictures with these descriptions. The first one is of my grandfather's mother. The lady in the back is her niece, my grandfather's cousin, and her family. I don't know much about her...nothing more but I guess what this photo can tell me. The next picture is a picture of my grandparents on my dad's side. :) You guessed it...that's my dad when he was young. It's surprising...but even at that age, I can still recognize facial features. This picture is taken in Taiwan...where exactly, though, I'm not too sure. The following picture is a picture of my greatgrandma. I, again, don't know very much about her. These next two pictures are of my grandparents on my mom side and the last picture is of my mom when she was still in Taiwan. In regards to my current thoughts to everything...I still have alot to think about. But in the meantime, some thoughts about being here in China for the past month...I am really loving it here. Of course...there have been downsides...but for the most part...everything is still so unreal. Like, riding my bike among the many cars, pedistrians, and bike/motorcycle/scooter riders. Getting around is really scary sometimes...but...mostly in the mornings...when riding alongside everyone else...it makes you think, "WOW. I am actually here." I am really glad to have Li Yun as a roommate. I have learned so much about the people here...my people, their culture, their traditions, their perspectives, their motives. We often have tons and tons to talk about...sometimes...we talk until really late...and we can't really talk anymore. There's still so much to understand...but I feel, looking back at this past month, I have already learned so much, done so much, and experienced so much...and I still have another 10 months to go! I am so grateful for this opportunity to come to China.

Well, it's getting pretty late...and I'm getting pretty sleeping off of this Heineken. I'm not sure whether it's the alcohol *Li Yun and I went out to KFC for dinner. I have the best dessert there...egg tarts! Afterwards...I wanted to buy some tape for my maps...but we didnt find any. We ended up getting beers...to celebrate the end of her first portion of the GRE* or whether I'm just tired. I just finished talking to my mom over Skype...surprisingly...Skype has extremely good resolution! We chatted for about an hour and a half...my mom and brother just came back from Taiwan and Japan. James is going to head over to Seattle tomorrow.

I'll finish posting pictures from around our campus..including some of our Mao statue, where I have classes, etc. Good night!