My first week at CET Kunming

In retrospect, my first weekend in Kunming was quite relaxed, though it certainly did not seem so at the time. We were given several lectures on navigating CET policies, managing culture shock, etc., and we took part in activities to get to know each other better. The most daunting policy, of course, was CET’s language pledge – a promise not to speak any English, or rather (after one rather nitpicky back-and-forth) not to speak any language besides Mandarin Chinese. I think most students confronted the language pledge with a mixture of dread and determination, though there were a couple students in whose expressions one could only read the first. As for me, I had participated in a Chinese language pledge program as a complete beginner two years ago, so I approached the policy with a sentiment of “it can’t be worse than that time I could not talk to anyone.”

More than the somewhat hokey official orientation activities, what helped me feel more at ease was visiting a Chinese karaoke bar for the first time with a few fellow students and their Chinese roommates. It was quite a ride. I must have only known four or five songs, but my thorough internalisation of the classic 月亮代表我的心 (the Moon Represents my Heart) by Teresa Teng, as well as Country Roads (which has become the unofficial anthem of the Yale Russian Chorus) carried me through the night.

The beginning of our class schedule was not as fun. These past few days, I have been adapting my life to the demands of intensive Chinese, arriving at the horrific realisation that most of my weekdays will be absolutely insufficient for any extra-programmatic activity. My classes start at 8:30, end at 12, and in the afternoon, I have a floating 40-minute one-on-one session with a tutor. This does not sound like a lot, but the homework, which includes a review of the day’s material as well as a preview of the next day’s material, keeps me busy for about five to six hours. Add to that an hour for lunch and an hour for dinner, and that leaves me with about two hours of free time before I go to sleep at eleven. Having signed up for taichi on Mondays and arts and crafts on Tuesdays, I have resigned on having any time to cross off tasks from the above checklist at the beginning of the week.

That’s not to say, of course, that my extracurriculars have not been entertaining. I have never been as acutely aware of the existence of my thighs as I was this Monday. Furthermore, before this Tuesday I had no idea how to cut out cute little tiger faces from folded pieces of paper. And, of course, for all the trouble that my intense homework schedule entails, I can now confidently say the phrase “lack of familial love may cause moral inadequacy but moral inadequacy does not necessarily stem from the lack of familial love.” And more.

Reflecting on my initial plans, I fear I must make some alterations. First of all, translation exercises on Monday and Tuesday are right out. As I also found out in my first attempt, I am still absolutely incapable of translating anything from Chinese reliably. So, my personal growth schedule hour is changing to:

- Monday: Taichi

- Tuesday: Chinese arts and crafts

- Wednesday: Translate from Spanish

- Thursday: Translate from German

- Friday: Translate from Yiddish

As for Russian, I found out that I maintain my sanity better when I read a little throughout the day and between classes, so staying on track is not actually going to be a problem. In any case, if I am too busy on one of these days (I have already missed my Wednesday target and might be on course to missing Thursday’s), the weekend is a good buffer zone when I can get things done.

My progress on my other goals has had mixed results. I have stayed in touch with friends and family, and I have even sent a few memes. I have also made a visit to Cuihu Lake and I have begun to work on sorting out my pictures. Truth be told though, I was hoping I could definitively cross something off my list, which has not happened yet. Well, better luck next time.