Hey again! I can hardly believe I've only been here in Zhuhai for two weeks - it feels like I've been here forever and at the same time, like I just arrived. Even though it's only been two weeks, I've already completed two out of the three courses I am taking. On Saturday morning, I had my two final exams and in the afternoon, we had our graduation ceremony! Before I talk about that, though, I want to backtrack a little bit.
Since arriving in Zhuhai, we had all been told to ask our language partner for help in picking out a Chinese name. Since my great-grandparents were born in China, my family does have a Chinese last name so I told Katherine about it. There is a bit of debate surrounding whether or not the last name is pronounced "Tai" or "Dai" but the character is the same: 戴. It's a pretty complicated character, and apparently it hasn't been simplified so that's why it's so complicated. For anyone who doesn't know, Chinese writing developed over many centuries and through many different dynasties. Over time, writing became a symbol of aristocracy and also an art form. Because of this, the characters were very complex and difficult to draw. So, when China underwent its revolution in the early 1900s, the complex (traditional) characters were simplified as a way to promote equality and literacy in Chinese society. Today, simplified characters are used in everyday settings, but traditional characters are still used for calligraphy and any kind of artistic expression.
Interestingly, there is some debate today about the need for the simplified characters since most writing today is online using a keyboard. When people are typing in Mandarin, they will type in Pinyin, and then an option to click the proper character will pop up. So for example, if I am typing the word "I" I would type "wo" on the keyboard and then the character 我 would pop up to be selected. So the question is, since people aren't actually writing the characters out by hand anymore, why bother to have simplified characters at all? On the one hand, simplified characters are easier to write and learn. On the other hand, some people think that the simplified characters take away a lot from the original meaning of the character. Because so many characters started out as pictographs, since simplifying, they look much less like their original meaning. It's an interesting debate for sure, and I'm not sure what my opinion is. I think I would need to know more about the characters and the history to make an informed decision but I do see both sides of the argument.
Anyway, back to the Chinese name: Katherine wanted to find me a personal name that would sound good with Dai, and we ended up going with the name "Dai Ling Yu." The meaning of the name roughly translates as follows: Ling means "clever" and Yu means "rain" but it also implies happiness. "Yu" is also part of Katherine's Chinese name, so she said it makes us kind of like sisters. My name is written in Chinese as: 戴 灵 雨.
We had another calligraphy class on Friday, where we practiced writing our Chinese names in traditional characters. When writing characters, there is a specific order to the strokes and you are meant to take your time when doing calligraphy. It was really tough to get the spacing and stroke order correct, but we were allowed to keep the calligraphy supplies so I have been practicing! I'm hoping to get better at making the strokes even and precise.
On Friday evening, there was an event on campus. It's a little bit unclear what the event was for, but from what Katherine explained it was a fundraising event in support of Girl's Day, which is similar to Women's Day, but celebrated by students. As part of the event, there were singing and dancing performances and even a fashion show. My friend Ally was part of the fashion show because her language partner, Amelie, auditioned to be in it and somehow convinced the organizers to let Ally in too. It was a pretty fun event to watch!
Like I mentioned, on Friday morning we had our two final exams, which went pretty well and in the afternoon, we had our graduation ceremony. It wasn't too formal but we all received certificates of completion of the International Chinese Studies program. I was asked to give a speech on behalf of the students, which was pretty nerve-wracking, but I think it went well. To celebrate our graduation, some friends and I went to the campus pool. It is massive, but wasn't too busy. We all had to wear swim caps, which was pretty funny but when all the patrons have them on I think it would have been weirder to not be wearing one. We hung out in the pool for a couple of hours and then headed home fairly early.
My weekend was very eventful (again), and I'll be posting as updates about it as soon as I can. I have decided to send updates when I post new photos as well, so you guys should be getting updates a little more often now.
