“The guzheng, also spelled gu zheng or gu-zheng (Chinese: 古箏; pinyin: gǔzhēng, with gu 古 meaning "ancient"); and also called zheng (箏) is a Chinese plucked zither. It has 16-18 strings and movable bridges.The guzheng is a similar instrument to many Asian instruments such as the Japanese koto, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh”
Okay, so in English that means the gu-zheng is like a zither, or a flat-laying harp (in my opinion). I was playing piano last night, and I walk by these gu-zhengs’s, and I asked the guy at the piano store, and the conversation went like this:
Kailin: “what are those!?”
Man: “Oh, those are gu-Zheng’s”
Kailin: “Do you offer lessons? ”
Man: “Ugh,” (he grunted).
Kailin: ”Oh! How much?”
Man: “100 Kuai!”
“Cool!”
So I told my roommate, and she said that the school’s recreational center offers lessons for 29 kuai per hour, and you don’t have to pay to practice. Not bad. Ha, well when in China right? I don’t exactly get the chance to play the 古筝in Phoenix, Arizona.
Other than that, I was up until 2 last night; my internet keeps going in and out. But today was a rather slow, cloudy day. Kind of strange, but the day started with a waitress asking me if I was done studying or not, or if I should order food. I was only in the café for two hours? Goodness! I left, did some tone practice with my roommate before leaving today. I get to Negative-journalism-broadcasting class (the teacher’s accent is so thick!!! – that class with only 10 people). And for two hours, we spoke of main differences in East and West in regards to the topic. Being the only person in the class from the West, of course, the end of the class he turns to me and says “and this American girl must have something to say about it.” Ugh! Such pressure! I answered, but I was nervous, so it wasn’t as good as it could have been, but I put my ideas out there. “ Blah blah bla, bla… and then -We’re not all as up font and straight, there are conservative opinions among Americans, you know.”
It seems the most common opinions between my teachers and classmates is that Americans are extremely independent. We are independent, I mean we have an attitude about the right to have our ‘own’ this- that-and-the-other; but in one of my classes, for example I hear “oh you know, Americans are so independent, Try and imagine it this way, when raising kids they make them sleep in their own bed at a very early age.” LOL My goodness it makes me feel like I live in a wolf-like society, my word- children not sleeping in bed with their parents when young… that’s preposterous! Outrageous! Unheard of! Actually I didn’t sleep by myself until older, my mom and I still fall asleep talking about boyfriends and nonsense into my teens and to this day. I would never mention this or correct a teacher in the middle of class; however, you should know that is very impolite in Chinese culture!
Anyways, off to HSK class… We had to read out several papers she handed out to perfect our tones. She is a sharp one, I feel like her eyes scratch away at my soul as she waits for my every little mistake~ eek! “Oh good job Kailin, What’s your name, oh Kailin, so much better than last week! You are a very 努力Nuli (hardworking) student, you all listen!” -Yes folks, if in class you outright suck at something, or are fantastic and deserve a gold star… everybody knows about it. In this example, observe I obviously had horrible tones last week, she must have thought I was the worst student (out of five). But now, everyone should work hard to get a gold star… like Kailin. hehe
Sadly, at the end of class my coffee spilled on my papers, I bought a music CD for only 12 kuai and accidentally left it on a counter while I was paying for something, was hungry -but couldn’t think of something I was hungry for, got home –couldn’t get on the internet, one of my shirts fell into the great abyss from my bamboo poles where I dry my clothes outside my balcony, my mom asked how I was and I said it was a “cloudy” day, coincidentally Tim called and I couldn’t hear him (lately I don’t get service in my own house), shower water was cold, no snacks at home (too late to go out again), and then mom sent me a letter my friend Kyle sent me on Facebook… … and… when I saw it, I just started crying! I don’t know why? Maybe the shock factor of being away from loved ones? Mixed in with the pressure of class today? Is this culture shock? I don’t think so, that sounds like some sort of illness. I’ll tough’n up, I have no idea, I think honestly, it was just a cloudy day – not every day can be sunshine =) or else, I think the good would become… ordinary. Oh well, at least this weekend there is guzheng 古筝 practice to look forward to ;)
<3 爱 ~ 凯琳
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