ting bu dong

Well, my first 10 days in Asia have been pretty interesting. The first week I spent in Taipei, which is a very pretty city. It is very Westernized; Subway, Starbucks, pizza, & burgers are easy to find. So I didn't feel very far removed from my normal life there. But, on Monday I arrived in China and the real cultural experience began :)
My roommate and I are here to study language in a local university, so we expected to be living in school housing. However, we were offered an apartment on campus and we accepted it. It's a really nice place and we each have our own room, so we're excited about it! Our first night here, it was 40 degrees inside. The heating wasn't turned on until a few hours before we arrived, so we froze the first night. But gradually it has been heating up and it's now about 64 degrees, so it's great! We live on the 5th floor of the building, which has no elevator, so I'm getting a lot of exercise!
One thing that I've really noticed is how much we are getting stared at here. The city is fairly small and foreigners aren't that common. So, everywhere we go we get a ton of stares. As we were waiting at the bus stop yesterday, a bus pulled up and stopped at the curb. Other people were getting on and we were just standing there waiting for ours when I noticed a young guy staring really intently at us. I looked away and continued talking to my friends. The next time I looked up, I saw that he was taking our picture! I started thinking about how different it is here and at home. At home, staring is considered rude. Here, it is perfectly ok. As I thought about it, something we used to say as a kid when someone was staring at us popped into my head: "Take a picture, it'll last longer." Well, he did. :)
Another thing I've really noticed the past couple days is how easy we have it back home. It is unbelievable how much trouble it can be to accomplish the simplest thing here. We waited an hour at the bank and still didn't accomplish our purpose; in order to have usable water it has to be boiled in a kettle or pot; clothes must be hung out to dry; and getting a taxi can mean waiting forever in the bitter cold. In just a few days I have realized how blessed we really are. I think that this experience is going to teach me that there are so many things that I think I can't live without that really aren't so important, and just how blessed I really am.
The people here are nice, and for the most part their curiosity is well meant. Many speak English so that's helpful, but many more don't. Today a friend insisted that I ask where the bathroom was in Chinese. I fought her, but it was no use. She is very persistent. So, I walked up to a sales woman in the mall, and very nervously and unclearly, asked for the bathroom. She gave me a strange look, so I tried again. Finally, she said "Do you speak English?" HAHA. That's the first time the question has been reversed on me. So after that fail, we went up a floor and my friend made me ask again. This lady understood me! Success! I'm excited to start classes so that hopefully I can learn some Chinese soon. As for now, "ting bu dong" (I don't understand what I'm hearing) will just have to be my catchphrase. :)