Work AND play!

After a very dull Monday (I was given neither anything to edit nor any story to write), I decided to do some research. I was looking for a tour or some trip I could attend and also write a story about. My search led me to this website, www.chinaculturecenter.org, a cultural center that offers classes in Chinese culture and tours across the country.

While of course I really wanted to attend these classes and learn to paint and make Chinese noodles and anything else they could teach me, I thought it might be a better use of my time to write a story about the place or about a class, and attend as an observer rather than a participant. I proposed the story to one of the editors and waited.

That was about it for Monday, except for a satisfying gym workout and grocery store trip, which I think I mentioned in the last blog post.

Tuesday I came in to more non-work, but was told that I had to have more information before the important people in the office would approve my story. I called the culture center and found that the class I wanted to attend for Thursday night was cancelled but they had a similar class Tuesday night. Well, why not?

There was no charge because I was not participating and because I'm a journalist, but I had to have a press pass to prove that, and because I'm an intern I don't get one from China.org.cn. As a compromise, Lu Na, one of the sweetest and most soft-spoken people in the office--maybe even in the whole of China--was asked to come with me, since she has an I.D. pass. I'm glad she did; the hour-long cab ride flew by as we chatted.

Lu Na is from a province in the middle of China. She thinks that her English is not so good, but we didn't really have any problems communicating, and I was particularly impressed given that she's never studied English outside of China. I discovered that she and most other employees in the English department here are actually language majors, not journalists. She studied English as her first major and Japanese as her second. I could communicate with her in two languages that are both foreign to her! I also learned that she loves Japanese anime shows and movies, which made me like her that much more.

The culture center seemed very professional. The class was small, and the instructor really seemed to know what she was doing. Her English was pretty good during her lesson, and I was surprised to find when I interviewed her afterward that she knows a lot of English to talk about her craft, but not much else. I was glad that Lu Na came along.

Here are some photos I took during the class:

The class was from 7 to 9 p.m., so we returned to the office very late, and after cleaning up my notes I went to bed.

Today I spent most of the day writing my story. It wouldn't have taken nearly as long as it did if I wasn't sitting next to Fiona--and that's not a bad thing. In addition to our fun, friendly conversation, she also asks me to help her with headlines and sentences every now and then. She works for the environmental section of China.org, and many of her stories come from the World Wildlife Foundation or other similar organizations that post headlines that sometimes need to be cut in half because they're so long. Alternatively, some of her sources use words like "whip" instead of "hit" to describe the weather, and in situations like these she'll ask me if those phrases are correct, and why or why not.

I suppose the story will go up tomorrow. I submitted it this afternoon, and when I asked what to do with the photos, the editor said to hold onto them until it was time to publish, and someone would get them from me then.

Tonight I'm off to Lush, the bar my friends and I went to for the Fourth of July. I'm going with Brian, P.A. and Stephen, the permanent employee from Missouri. Wednesday nights Lush has trivia night, and I'm hoping my old quiz bowl days will give me an edge. :)