When I decided to write this column, before I came to China, I had thought a good topic for an installment or two might be college social life here and how it compares to a weekend at Tufts. As the semester rolled along, however, I came across very little worth writing about. The end is here, and the situation is the same, but I think the lack of source material makes for an interesting story in itself.
As you might imagine, there is no naked quad run at Beijing University next Monday- nor any Monday, for that matter. Chinese students tend to find decidedly more reserved ways to spend their weekends.
To better understand the Chinese student's attitude towards work and play, a brief Chinese lesson might be in order: much like the way we quantify some nouns in English-a pack of rats, a set of silverware, a gaggle of schoolgirls-the Chinese language has similar words that are used with all nouns. These words, called "measure words" are attached to their nouns; every noun has its respective measure word.
Well, the measure word that goes with "class" is jie, which translates to English as "festival." As in: "This afternoon I have two festivals of class," or "I'm sorry I can't meet you for lunch, I have a festival of class."
A festival of class? What fun! Why, I wouldn't miss it for the world!
It is probably true that I am observing a skewed sample at this particular institution: Beijing U. is the undisputed best university in China, and it attracts all of the country's top students. There is a saying here: "In China, if you're one in a million, there are a thousand other people exactly like you."
Actually, the number is more like 1,300- my point being that Beijing University is home to a rather intimidating crowd of students. All the same, every Chinese person learns the habit of hard work at a young age.
Chinese middle and high school students arrive for class promptly at 6:30 AM every morning, 6 days a week. They take roughly 11 classes, each of which meets every day, and they leave for home at about 7:30 in the evening. I'll save you the math: that's a thirteen-hour school day. This kind of work ethic, which seems downright insane from an American perspective (to say nothing of a European perspective), is endemic in China.
Sitting in a Beijing teahouse recently, I fell into conversation with my waitress, a young woman by the name of Zhang Li'a. I asked about her work schedule, and she casually replied that, because she was a student, she only worked part-time: 5pm-Midnight, six days a week. Curiously enough, that amounts to more hours per week than most full time jobs in the United States.
This is all a roundabout way of saying that the weekend at Beijing University doesn't tend to begin on Thursday afternoon. But even when students here do cut loose, it's a mellower experience than at your average American college.
In most Chinese high schools, having a boyfriend or girlfriend is forbidden, discouraged, or at least very rare. Come college, though, the vast majority of students are paired off, and they don't tend to go through many sweethearts before the topic of marriage comes up. As a result, many students spend free hours in peace and quiet with the paramour.
Weekends tend to be laid-back for the unattached, as well. My single friends here spend the time with classmates, hanging out and talking in teahouses, taking walks around the campus, and sharing meals. Besides, the electricity in the student dormitories is cut off at 11 p.m. every night, so late night debauchery is a challenge, at best.
To be sure, there is decidedly less emphasis on drinking here, though I don't mean to suggest that alcohol has no place in Chinese society. Indeed, a liter of Tsingtao beer goes well with most meals, and drinking is an important part of doing business. Many a career has been made or broken based on the amount of baijiu the given parties can consume before collapsing under the table. But for college students, it's not particularly important.
I'll be back in the United States soon, back at Tufts, back to living the life of an American college student. It will be different, not better or worse, just different.
It was, undoubtedly, an invaluable experience; I would urge everyone with the chance to live in such a foreign land not to pass up the opportunity. There is no better way to gain perspective on one's own culture, habits and values than by stepping outside it, and into something-completely-different.
Sam duPont is a junior studying Chinese in Beijing. To read more about his adventures, visit his blog: redskyatnight.blogspot.com.
