My Introduction to the HNC

Nanjing Train Station （南京火车站）has exits to the subway, the street, and a dedicated underground driveway for taxis. I was actually very grateful not to have received my luggage when I found myself walking down a few flights of concrete steps into a large crowd waiting to grab a taxi (打车). The crowd was eventually funneled into four lines, which were then combined back into a single line where a traffic-controlling policeman was standing. A wave of taxis would drive in two by two, and he would ask each person how many people were riding with them, and then direct them to a car.

I hopped in and said hello (你好－ nihao) which seemed to take the driver slightly by surprise. I told him I was going to Nanjing University, and he asked me which campus. I said I wasn’t sure which part of town (I didn’t know Nanjing) but I had been told to use the entrance off of Shanghai Road. That was enough for him, and off we went. When I studied in Tianjin I had a few very interesting conversations with taxi drivers, but I let this fifteen minute drive pass more or less in silence- I was worn out.

I was worried that he wouldn’t take me to the right place- the HNC is not in the main NJU campus. It’s right next door, but I wasn’t sure how quickly I’d be able to find it. But as the driver slowed the taxi down and asked me if this was the right place, I saw he was pointing to a sign that said, in English, “The Johns Hopkins and Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies.” “Yes yes yes!” I cried, then realized that I should speak Chinese. I cleared my throat. “It is,” I said, “thank you.” I paid him and crossed the street.

There’s decent security here at the center, though that first day the gate guard just let me walk in because I looked foreign and like I thought I belonged there. I was directed to take a mask off of a table (to keep from spreading the H1N1 I may have been exposed to during my travels) and go inside. In the lobby I was told to wash my hands with sanitizer and then asked a lot of questions in Chinese which I had to have repeated to me a few times. Finally, the staff was satisfied with my personal and travel information, I had my key and my packet of information, and I went up to my room.

This is probably the nicest dorm room I’ve ever lived in. There are large closets with hanging space, cupboard space, and drawer space. My roommate and I each have a big desk with five drawers and a bunch of shelves on top, and there is plenty of room under each of our beds to store empty suitcases and shoes. This is China, so one cannot be expected to function without hot water to drink and there is a faucet at the end of each hallway (we’re using five floors of the dormitory this year) which dispenses hotter-than-boiling water. One of my classmates used some of my Neosporin today after spilling some on his toe and burning himself a nice big blister. Most importantly: we have a private bathroom, with a large show, huge sink, and Western toilet.

I hadn't understood clearly from the people in the lobby whether I was supposed to do anything that first day, but I decided that I probably didn't and took a long shower. It was beautiful. I even had one more clean shirt in my backpack to change into. I hung out in my room for a while afterwards, wishing that I had a password to access the Center’s wireless network or my luggage to start unpacking, but overall completely relieved to have actually made it here.

I started meeting people at dinner. Most of my fellow internationals are from the US, but there are also Korean, Japanese, Canadian, Spanish, and French students. More than half of the students here are Chinese who will be studying in English with Johns Hopkins professors, the rest of us will be studying with Chinese professors mostly from Nanjing University.

This first week has been Orientation. We’ve met the Chinese and American co-directors, heard from the staff, joined the local internet network, and had presentations on using the library, on public safety, and fire safety. Most of these were in Chinese, some of these I hardly understood at all. Happily, I’m not the only one, but sadly this does not make me any more prepared for my classes next week. For which I’ll register tomorrow, after I’ve started attending them. The classes I’m hoping to register for are: 中国现代化中的社会问题 （Social Issues of China’s Modernization), 中国民法 (Chinese Civil Law), 人类学与中国研究 (Anthropology and Chinese Studies) in Chinese, and Environmental Economics （环境经济学）in English. More later on how that works out!