Off the Beaten Track - starting Chinese classes in Xi'An

I started my Xi'An Chinese classes the other day.  I'm actually taking two classes - my Xi'An "handler" Ethan recommended me a local tutor.  I chatted with her on Monday and setup a 3-classes-per-week schedule in the afternoons.  I'd already been in email contact with a couple of other Xi'An schools, and when I found out one was just a stone's throw away from my tutor's apartment I thought, Why not?  So I emailed and setup a regular morning class as well.  With an hour in between for lunch, just like my schedule in Beijing!

Both are close to the last subway stop, "close to the TV tower."  So I took the subway down, got off at the designated stop, and looked around for the TV tower  And guess what I saw?

Well if you guessed "A giant animatronic dinosaur with a head that moves up and down and a mouth that opens and closes and bellows," well then you'd be right:

What the heck is a giant animatronic dinosaur doing in the middle of nowhere?  No matter, this is China, nothing is impossible (or unexpected).  (Ed note:  I googled later and found that at the base of the TV tower is also the Shaanxi Natural History Museum.  I guess it kind of makes sense after all.)

A block away is the first school - Faithful Language School (or something like that).  Do you see the sign that says Faithful Language School?

No, because there isn't one.  After a bit of asking around (Ed note: I successfully talked to people in Chinese!) I deduced that it was in the following entry way:

While there are a couple of characters hidden behind the tree that mean "school", on the outside it's actually called "Bilingual Club".  They don't make it easy for you!

My tutor's apartment is in the following complex:

Not the big red one in front (which is still under construction) but the light brown one tucked in behind, labelled "华城万象".  (And not the building you can see either, another one tucked in behind.  These buildings come in clusters.)

A bit of an aside on how Chinese addresses work, because this was a great source of confusion between me and my online teacher, Valarie, and illustrates some of the "extra" challenges when you learn a new language.

Chinese addresses work backwards, so when you address something in Chinese, it's something like: "China, Xaanxi Province, Xi'An City, Zhangba East Rd, 华城万象, Building 2, Floor 12, Apt 1234, Ian Costanzo", except all strung together like this: "中国陕西省西安市张吧东路华城万象2号楼10楼1234柯一安".  And since most Chinese live in complexes like "华城万象", you have to include the building number, floor and apartment number in the address.  An average size of these complexes is about 20 buildings, and large ones ones can contain 30 or more.

I learned all about Chinese addresses during one of my online classes with Valarie.  One of the exercises she gave me was to translate my Canadian address into Chinese. "Canada, BC Province, Victoria City, 1225 Camas Court."  "No, you have to give the building and floor number."  "Um, building 1, floor 1?"  I think we were both a little clueless.  I had no idea of the scope of these living complexes, and how they actually related to the Chinese address (now that I'm here it's pretty obvious) and she had no idea of the concept if living in a western style house.  There are lots of little cultural things like this, that I think studying here in China gives me a better appreciation for.

Here are some of the other buildings in the neighbourhood.  I have no idea how many "complexes" this represents.  They all have giant Chinese characters on the side or top of the building.

TV tower in the distance, the dinosaur and Shaanxi Natural History Museum are at the base.

There are a lot of small shops and restaurants in he vicinity.  This is where the real Chinese people live!  Although in the area there are apparently a few international schools, so even though I didn't see any, the folks here are still used to seeing foreigners.