The Taste of Beijing

By THOMAS KORYTKO

Working at an exhibition for the 30th anniversary of establishment of Sino-Germany diplomatic relations.

We reached cruising altitude shortly after St. Petersburg. The last impressions of Europe faded -- lights of itslesser cities, rivers and factories -- bringing us to the vast extent of Asia. There remained six hours of flight time pending Beijing: my adventure would start at the crack of dawn.

It was early morning, August and Beijing, as Dutch writer Cees Noteboom might say. On this day in late August temperatures soared. It became so hot that despite convictions stemming from past experience, I took a taxi from the airport into the city. Through tinted windows I watched the metropolis that was to become my home for the next nine weeks glide by. A year previously, inspired by a vacation in Beijing, I had applied for an internship at the Goethe-Institute in China's capital. As a student of German studies, I was interested in discovering ways and means of disseminating the German culture and language abroad. A week's vacation had fueled my enthusiasm for this giant city. But would it last for two months of working and living here?

No master of the Chinese tongue, I attempted to follow this taxi's costly passage through urban spaces on a map. Via the Third Ring Road, we traveled to Beijing Foreign Studies University in Haidian District. Adrenalin stimulated by apprehension and anxiety, and the overwhelming, sometimes surreal impressions of this metropolis, with its masses of people, cars, skyscrapers, and glass-facades, effectively canceled out any possibility of jet-lag.

Having dinner.

The taxi-driver left me and my luggage on the university campus known to international students as "Bei Wai." Looking at the Third Ring Road, carbon monoxide and deafening traffic noises clouded my senses, but I could hear behind me the murmuring of a fountain.

The Goethe Institute, where I conducted my internship, was at that time situated on the eastern rim of the Beijing Foreign Studies University. I started work there the day after my arrival. I was in the language department for most of my stay, but diverse occupational opportunities, such as the chance to observe the work of departments dealing with the cultural program and pedagogic development, also arose. After a week of supervision I was allowed to teach independently. I was pleasantly surprised at the success of my first attempts to teach German as a foreign language: I enjoyed myself and my students proved motivated and very likable. My lessons were memorable for their affluence of laughter, springing from intercultural and lingual misunderstandings and misinterpretations. I believe the true value of an internship lies in the person concerned's encountering the limits of his/her expertise and learning how to deal with them professionally. Misapprehensions and communication difficulties are everyday occurrences when teaching a foreign language. To me, a student of German studies, our discussions were rewarding for revealing to me the Euro-centricity of my views.

During my stay I was lucky enough to participate in a trade fair celebrating continued diplomatic relations between Germany and the People's Republic of China entitled "Thirty Years and the Future." Attendance was excellent, partly due to timing, as vast crowds of people from all provinces visit their capital on October 1st to enjoy the national day festivities. The Goethe Institute's contribution to the fair was a stand that gave a foretaste of German language and culture -- a highlight in the otherwise economically focused exhibition. Together with a fellow intern I was assigned the task of devising a German crash-course in the form of a brochure that taught every visitor a few words of German.

The night market.

Famous places of historic interest apart, I was fascinated by the Chinese people's fundamental love of food and took great delight in night markets and the regional specialties offered there. Where else could one enjoy scorpion or crunchy frog on a stick? As a committed devotee of Chinese cuisine, I decided to follow the local example and make eating an essential and ritualistic aspect of my spare time. I particularly enjoyed eating in the animated company of other students from Germany, Japan and China. We would order vast amounts of hot and cold meat, fish and vegetable dishes, and conclude with a glass or so of erguotou - local brand of baijiu, a strong distilled wine.

In addition to teaching and eating, I also took particular pleasure in riding my Flying Pigeon through the urban maze. After a little practice one grows familiar with routes, rules and other vehicles and learns to glide through heavy traffic. I was never in a hurry when bicycling. I would ride along the streets, stop to take pictures and ride on, only to stop again to look at a store or market, or eat. This is how I came to know Beijing. I immersed myself in its microstructures. The more I learned the more questions I had and the more my curiosity grew.

Beijing has such a mix of contrasts. I was charmed by the almost rural tranquility of the siheyuan in the hutong area surrounding the Forbidden City, only to be brought sharply down to earth when confronted head on with futuristic multileveled superhighways roaring with traffic. At times I felt like I was not moving at all, and that the metropolis was growing and changing around me at the speed of light.

My internship in Beijing was a wonderful experience, and I felt sad at leaving after only two months. When I think of Beijing, I always recall the odor of its streets: a mixture of exhaust fumes, restaurants and cooking. This distinctive scent -- exotic, raw and redolent of adventure -- almost held a taste-like quality, not unlike that I experienced when smoking the last of my Beijing cigarettes. I know I shall miss it dearly.