Tales from London (May 12, 2013)

We arrived in London the morning of May 12 - it was a Sunday and everyone was pumped up with adrenalin. Unfortunately, Professor Lutze's bag never made it on the plane and was stuck in Chicago. Once he submitted his contact information, we boarded a charter bus that drove us to the flats. We're staying in an apartment complex that AIFS owns and operates like a dorm building. We are scattered around the building in various partnerships of roommates. I am rooming with Malika - not the ideal situation because I wanted the opportunity to meet new people but it's still nice. The flats are very comfortable - they have personal bathroom and kitchenettes for us to use. I could see myself living in a small space like that easily - which is good because I anticipate a similar set up in China. After arriving we were allotted a short break for us to shower and prep for our afternoon activity. Lutze and the AIFS people don't want us sleeping today because it would make the time adjustment more difficult, and I'm inclined to agree. By the time we were set to depart for Hampton Court Palace, everyone was still buzzing with excitement. One of our RA's (Shawn) escorted us to the Tube (London's Subway) and gave us our Oyster Cards. With these cards we can go anywhere within zones one and two of the city via bus or subway for free - the world is our oyster! Shawn didn't travel with us to the Waterloo train station, though, that part of the navigation was left up to us. Not wanting to appear like a controlling know-it-all, I let some of the other members of the group take the lead. I only had to step in once we got turned around and couldn't find our meeting location (platform 11 at Waterloo). We arrived a good 20 minutes before Professor Lutze, which caused some people to be extremely anxious. He showed up just in time for us to hop on the train - his taxi driver had gotten lost on the way to the station which is why he was late. On the train he handed out our meal stipends (60 pounds for five days worth of meals). Everything seems much more expensive here in London, but since I'm on vacation I'm trying not to dwell on how much I'm actually spending. Instead, I'm going to be conscious of how many pounds I use and how much I can save.

Hampton Court Palace (HCP) was a pretty cool place. As the name might imply, it's an old palace that has been turned into a museum. We were lucky because the day we went actors were performing "live history." Meaning, they acted out historical situations as historical figures. In the show we saw, King Henry VIII was tired of his wife and wanted to marry Ann Bolin (sp?) instead. Furthermore, he was prepared to break away from the Catholic church so he could divorce his previous wife. The actors were stationed throughout the palace for visitors to interact with and ask questions. Professor Lutze was one of the most prominent participants. He told us that, on a previous visit, he was dubbed the Duke of Illinois and he took his responsibilities as diplomat very seriously. He was concerned with the goings-on of the English court. Periodically, the actors would meet at a rendezvous point to perform a scene that furthers the plot. At one point the men and women were split into separate groups where the actors consulted the visitors for their opinions on the events unfolding. Ann Bolin wanted to leave the castle (without the king's permission) because she didn't think the king actually loved her. Additionally, she feared she would become a spinster if she waited around much longer. A funny dialog occurred between her and me that went like this:

Ann: Now I know you ladies will all step back and gasp when I say this, but I think you ought to know that I am thirty years old.
(I stepped back and gasped on cue. I was the only one to do so)
Ann: I know it's shocking but don't worry young lady (me) becoming a spinster is not contagious. You are still young and pretty and may God bless you with a good husband.

Ann Bolin thinks I'm pretty.

It was a fun trip and kept the jet lag at bay. Professor Lutze, Duke of Illinois, sent us on a scavenger hunt to find evidence that there was trade between England and Asia - I found multiple porcelain vases and figures from Ming Dynasty, China. By the time we finished and headed over to dinner, everyone was very very very tired. We were provided dinner by AIFS at a British pizza chain restaurant. Each of us got a personal appetizer, pizza, and dessert. After that we returned back to the flats and went to bed for a much needed rest.

Weekend Trip to Shanghai 2011

Trip to Shanghai

Day 1

Friday morning I woke up and I was so excited about the trip to Shanghai that I didn’t want to go to class at all – I just wanted to hop on the train and go. I didn’t get to go to Shanghai during my last trip to China, so I was excited to see someplace new.

To get to the train station we took a bus. Courtney and I shared a suit case since she didn’t have one small enough for the three day trip. Once we got to the station, we took turns dragging it around. Li Laoshi had to go find Ryan, who was meeting us at the station after his internship. This gave us time to go find something to eat before we got on the train. The group I was with – which was comprised of my four friends Lily, Courtney, Maryanne and Nicole – opted to go the easy route and got some sandwiches from Burger King. Fast food is not as fast when you don’t speak the language, by the way. Once we got our food we met up with everyone else and together made a mad dash to the train.

The trains in China are not structured like the Amtrak trains. The seats are organized based off of a sitting section rather than rows. One group of six sits on either side of the aisle and there is a small table that divides the six seats in the section in half. The three people on each side face each other, so it’s a more social environment than that of the trains back home. I sat in the section with Lily and Maryanne while Courtney was across the aisle from me. Lily was intent on studying during the train ride so she brought her dry erase board to practice writing characters. We took turns writing individual characters then phrases and finally complete sentences. I was proud that I was able to construct sentences on my own, even if I made mistakes with stroke order and overall character structure. Mistakes are the best way to learn something so I stayed positive. We created quite a spectacle on the train just being foreigners, but even more so when we were writing the characters. The people in Courtney’s section watched intently as I struggled to write the characters correctly. It was a lot of pressure, but we laughed it off. When we were approaching Shanghai and Lily began to pack up her things, I showed my ID card from Zhejiang University to the nice woman in Courtney’s section. She seemed to be very impressed and was even surprised to find out that I was only 20 years old. It was nice to socialize with ordinary people for a change. I can’t wait till I can hold a complete conversation in Chinese with someone.

When we got onto the platform in Shanghai, Li Laoshi split the group in half to see who could get to the hotel the fastest since we had two possible subway routes. My group included Courtney, Maryanne, Lars, and Li Laoshi. The entire way I was texting Penny about how we were almost to the hotel and how we were going to win the race. At one point I texted her that we had already arrived to which she asked what color the sheets were and what could I see outside my window. I responded, like a smart ass, that the sheets were white and that I could see Shanghai out the window. In the end Penny’s group beat us to the hotel ten minutes early.

The hotel itself looked like any other building in the city. The lobby was on the second floor and the building itself lacked a 4^th floor. This is an important characteristic of Chinese culture because the number four is considered unlucky. The reason for this is because of how the number four is pronounced. If it is mispronounced the word changes its meaning to death.  Interesting, isn’t it? It took a while to get checked into the hotel because the front desk had to verify our passports. Courtney and I roomed together because we were sharing a suitcase, though, I think that I could have roomed with any of the girls in our group comfortably though. I’m so happy that we all get along as well as we do. Once we got to the room (which was on the 5^th floor) we threw down our stuff and grabbed our cameras so we could go look at the cityscape.

The Bund is the section of Shanghai that is most well known because it is the most photographed. This area of the city includes the needle and the other tall skyscrapers that are featured in the famous image of Shanghai. The Bund also includes a great deal of classic Western architecture. Since this area is so close to the ports, this was where the foreign businesses set up camp. There are banks from all over the world along the bund, each with a very distinct and very European style. One of the most memorable buildings we saw was the Peace Hotel. This hotel has a very interesting history. Not only was it the first building in China to have an elevator, it was also the place where Chiang Kaishek met with foreign ambassadors during his reign as the leader of China. I found it ironic that right across the street from the Peace Hotel was a statue of Mao Zedong. Unfortunately my camera doesn’t take good pictures at night, so the photos I have of the cityscape are not that great.

Day 2

            Saturday we woke up early so that we could go eat breakfast at a famous dumpling restaurant. The restaurant was located in the center of a shopping district. The stores that surrounded it sold the same tourist junk that I’ve discovered is sold everywhere in China. I wasn’t too keen on shopping this early in the trip so I only bought a set of postcards.

            Next to the restaurant there was a really cool bridge that zigzagged across a pond. It was made of white marble looking stone and had intricate carvings all over it. The bridge was designed this way to keep wandering spirits from crossing. The spirits would get lost and confused when they tried to cross the bridge because it was a zigzag. Eventually they would give up and move on – hopefully toward the afterlife. The bridge led toward the entrance of a garden, which we visited after we finished our breakfast. As far as gardens goes, this one was the largest we had visited. Visiting gardens in China is like visiting churches in Europe. If you go to enough of them, they start to all look the same even though there are distinct differences when you look at the details. This one had a lot of courtyards for us to visit and the plum blossoms were in bloom. They varied on the spectrum from deep pink to white. I think looking at the plum blossoms is my favorite part of visiting the gardens. After we left the garden we went in search of the city temple ‘Cheng Huang Miao.’

While walking to the temple, I was reminded of how annoying it can be to be a foreigner in China. We were repeatedly accosted by peddlers selling everything from watches and purses to roller blades you can snap to the bottom of your tennis shoes. I was reminded, fondly, of my first trip to China when the most important vocabulary word I knew was “Bu-yao!” which essentially means “I don’t want it!” These peddlers were persistent, however. They followed us for a while insisting they had something that I wanted to buy. Once, when we had paused for Li Laoshi to orient herself, a man who was offering to shine our shoes bent down like he was going to start working on Maryann’s shoe. Seeing this I stepped in between them and told him (again) that she didn’t want his services. If he had started his work, even if we stopped him midway through, he would have insisted that we pay him for the work he had already done.

We went through the temples fairly quickly since we were all getting hungry for lunch by that time. On our way to the restaurant I saw an oil painting that took my breath away. It was a black and white picture of a little girl. She was wearing her Red Guard uniform and her hair was braided on both sides in long pigtails. The only features of the painting that had color were the red star on her hat and the red string she was playing with. The girl had made wound the string with her fingers into a star shape and was holding it up in front of her face. It didn’t obstruct, however, the view of her piercing gaze. It was a gorgeous painting and if I had been able to afford it (500 yuan) I would have bought it. But then I would have had to carry it all day and I don’t know how I would have transported it back to America. So I guess its better that I didn’t get it, even though I still think about it from time to time. Maybe if I get the chance I’ll swing by Shanghai before I leave and pick it up.

            Our final destination for the day was the Shanghai City Development Museum. Li Laoshi and Penny left us on our own at this point because they were both tired and had to prepare for the next day. The museum gave detailed depictions of how the city of Shanghai has changed and developed over time. There were pictures from the 1800s that were pretty interesting to look at. The coolest part of the museum was the enormous model of city. All together it filled a space the size of a conference room. It was mind-blowing to see how large and spread out Shanghai really is. There was also a guide of noteworthy places to visit in the city. After we finished looking through the museum I texted my friend Cheryl (she teaches English in Shanghai) to see if we could meet up for dinner.

            To kill time before dinner, a couple of us (Jamie, Lars, Lily, Courtney and I) went in search of a Pearl Market to go shopping. We had to navigate the Shanghai subway system, which was no problem. The issue arose once we got off the subway and were back on the street. Chinese street signs are not as prominent, nor are they as frequent as American street signs. We had some trouble finding the street we needed to go on. Coincidentally, the Pearl Market was in the same area of the city as the restaurant I was meeting Cheryl at later. I did my best to mentally prepare Courtney to haggle and fight off shop venders. My previous experiences in Pearl Markets (in Beijing) taught me to be an aggressive buyer. I told her that the sellers would pull her into their stores and all but force you to buy something. This was not the case, however. This Pearl Market in Shanghai was much tamer than the one I had visited in Beijing. It was a relief because, though I was prepared for it, I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of aggressive shopping. Courtney and I were pressed for time since we were both meeting Cheryl for dinner so we quickly walked through to see if there was anything she was interested in buying. We happened upon a DVD shop (all fake) and found a copy of “You’re Beautiful” – a Korean TV Drama that we had both grown to love. I already had a copy (authentic) of the DVDS at home so Courtney bought a set for herself. After that we left the market and set out to find the restaurant.

            This proved to be a difficult task, even though we had the address. We were already on the street we needed to be on, but we couldn’t figure out the address numbers on the buildings which seemed to increase and decrease sporadically. Eventually, we had to back track past the Pearl Market and back toward the subway station. To find it we had to walk down a side alley and into an area that looked like a piece from Epcot or Six Flags. All the restaurants in this corner of the city were constructed to look like authentic architecture from different countries. There was an Indian restaurant next to a Japanese restaurant across from our restaurant. The restaurant we were looking for was called “Peter’s Tex-Mex” and I had eaten at a different chain (in Chengdu) during my previous trip to China. Since Cheryl was a part of my group during that past adventure, I figured it would be appropriate to reunite at this location. The outside of Peter’s was designed to look like a ranch house and the interior was painted to look like a Mexican restaurant. It really felt like a little oasis from Texas had appeared in China. Courtney and I met up with Penny and Maryann then the four of us waited for Cheryl and her friends to show up.

            Once Cheryl, Cary, and their mutual teaching friend arrived we ordered our food and proceeded to chat about our different experiences in China. Cheryl was preparing for her second consecutive year of living and teaching in China. She enjoys her job, most days – not any different from any other employed person, I think. She teaches at a kindergarten, just like Courtney, and the two of them were able to laugh together about the frustrations of working with small children. Penny got to try all the foods we ordered so she got a good sampling of Tex-Mex foods. The food itself wasn’t as good as home, but it was enough to pacify my spirit. It was so nice to be able to see Cheryl again and visit with her.

            That night, I logged on to facebook in the hotel and saw a message from my Aunt Julie asking me if I was alright. Confused I went to Yahoo to see what had happened to warrant such a message. That was how I found out about the earthquake in Japan.

Day 3

The first thing on the agenda for us was to eat breakfast at the hotel. The hotel served breakfast in a rooftop cafe. Interestingly, the hotel did not have a 4^th floor. When numbering the floors they skipped the number four and just went straight from 3 to 5. This is because of a superstition that the number 4 is unlucky. It’s unlucky because, if mispronounced, the number four sounds like the word for death. Because of this, it’s common for buildings to be missing a 4^th floor. The conversation at breakfast mainly focused on the earthquake in Japan. I would tell people what I read online and Li Laoshi would tell us what they had said on the Chinese news stations. There was a sense of anxiety when she talked about the nuclear reactor, but there was nothing we could do about it. It was better for us to spend our energy on enjoying our last day in Shanghai. After breakfast we checked out of our rooms. The hotel let us keep out baggage in one unused hotel room while we were out and about for the day.

We took the subway to Shanghai’s Science Museum. We were given a few hours to wander around the museum. It was pretty cool as far as science museums go. It was definitely geared toward children and sparking within them an interest in the world. There was a large section of taxidermy animals from all over the world. It was strange to see animals I consider common – raccoons, possums, and cougars – on display and labeled as exotic. My favorite parts of the museum were Robot World and the Health and Wellness section. In robot world they had a lot of cool exhibits. There was a robot that could play Chinese chess. This one was very popular and people were waiting in line to play. Another robot was programmed to play the piano and people could sing along with the songs it played. This was both cool and cruel. It was cool because the robot was able to play complex songs as well as simple songs. It was cruel because every small child wanted to sing the songs – 不好聼！The best part was the archery range. You were given 3 chances to shoot a bow and arrow at the targets to see how your accuracy measured up to the robot. I did this multiple times because archery is really fun. The Health and Wellness section was a collection of fun activities. There was a room where you could play ping pong and another room with stationary bikes. The coolest thing was the soccer section. It was like an arcade game with a projection of a goal keeper on a wall. The object of the game was to score as many penalty kicks as you could. You had five chances; I made four out of my five shots. Needless to say the Chinese spectators (mostly children and their parents) were impressed by my skills.

We reconvened for lunch and afterwards Li Laoshi gave us the opportunity to visit a nearby shopping district. Due to its proximity to the ocean, Shanghai is the best place in China to buy pearls. Everyone was keen on getting a strand or two, except me. I spent this time offering my opinion to those trying to decide between ‘this necklace’ and ‘that necklace.’ Lily found a stand that was selling strands of different stones. She took so long to make a selection that I ended up buying a strand of blue tiger’s eyes. I had the vender make it into a necklace for me. I figure the only reason to go to Shanghai is to go shopping. One can buy anything and everything there. Other than that there isn’t much that attracts me to the city.

Our next attraction was the city aquarium. Li Laoshi had gone back to the hotel at this point to take a nap, leaving us with Penny as our guide. Again we were given a couple hours to look through the aquarium. I really like aquariums. It’s peaceful to just sit and watch the fish swim around in the water. My favorite animals at this aquarium were the seals because they were really fat and really cute. I could have watched them for hours. The main attraction of the aquarium was the ‘Under Sea Adventure.’ You got to stand on a moving sidewalk and it propelled you through this long glass tunnel where you could see all sorts of fish and sharks swimming over your head. The aquarium claimed it to be the longest underwater tunnel in the world. (I’m not sure if that claim is true or not, but it’s still cool to think about.) After we were finished with the Aquarium, we went back to the hotel to reclaim our bags and pick up Li Laoshi. We then took the bullet train back to Hangzhou.

Week 10 Hangzhou, China 2011

Week 10

Wuzhen

As a reward to the students and to celebrate the end of exams, the International College of Zhejiang University organized a trip to Wuzhen for all of the international students. The reserved at least 8 charter buses to take us there. I know this because I was on bus number 8, though I suspect there were more. We had to be on the bus, ready to go at 6:50 in the morning. Unfortunately, that morning, my alarm didn’t go off (probably because I didn’t turn it on the night before…). Maryann knocked on my door at 6:45 and woke me up. Thankfully I had taken a shower the night before and was able to scramble to get myself ready quickly. The bus ride to Wuzhen was mostly uneventful since everyone was sleeping.

            It was raining that day and rainy days are never fun. I probably would have enjoyed the trip more if the weather were better. That goes without saying though. When we arrived everyone piled off the bus and the teachers just pointed at the entrance to the traditional village we were visiting. I felt like we were a herd of 500 international cows being corralled toward a holding pen. Once we all got inside everyone split up and wandered around the narrow winding streets at their own pace. Traditional Wuzhen is a canal town. Within the town were various themed mini-museums you could visit. One was a traditional Chinese bed museum. I’m not a museum person, so it didn’t really thrill me. I would rather do something than walk around and look at things. I need to be engaged in my activities for me to really appreciate them.

Shaoxing

Li Laoshi too us on an excursion to Shaoxing the next day and it was a much better trip. Lars, Jamie, and Maryann opted not to go since they had visited Shaoxing the previous weekend with their Modern Chinese Literature class. Lily and Nicole are also in the literature class, but they still went with the rest of us. Lily didn’t go on the other trip because she was sick that day and Nicole didn’t mind traveling to Shaoxing again.That morning, Li Laoshi rented a van to chauffer us around for the day. This was much better than taking the long distance bus, in my opinion. On the way we talked about the things we were going to see that day.

Shaoxing is the hometown of a famous Chinese writer: Lu Xun. He wrote a lot of short stories during the New Culture Movement and most of his stories contain social commentary criticizing traditional Chinese society. His most famous story is “Madman’s Diary.” This story is structured like a diary and is narrated by a man who, the readers are lead to believe, has gone insane. The narrator has delusions of persecution, convinced that the people in his village want to kill and eat him. It’s been a tradition in this village to eat people, and even though they know it’s morally wrong they continue to do it because of the tradition. I highly recommend reading it.

The first place we visited was Lu Xun’s home, which has been turned into a tourist location. The site was a collection of homes that Lu Xun’s family owned throughout generations. All the houses were next to each other. The homes were structured like most traditional Chinese homes. There are sections of the house that have different rooms (all with individual and different purposes) and each section is separated by a small courtyard. Instead of spreading out width-wise, the homes have depth. They go back from the entrance. Every doorway has an elevated threshold that rises about a foot off the ground. When entering a room, it’s important to step over this threshold and not on top of it. Doing so would be a sign of disrespect. Just like today’s societies, the larger the homes, the wealthier the family living in it.

Directly opposite from the houses were typically tourist shops selling food and souvenirs. It was in this place that I was introduced to the scent of Chao Doufu aka “Stinky Tofu.” It’s a special kind of tofu that, when cooked, gives off a distinctive unpleasant odor. Seriously, it smells bad. I can’t bring myself to eat it because of the smell. I’ve been told that it actually tastes really good. I guess, since I’m not eating it, there will be more for those who enjoy it.

The second place we traveled to was East Lake. West Lake is in Hangzhou and it’s one of the most popular locations to visit in the city. East Lake, though smaller, was still beautiful and fun to visit. The first thing we saw when we got there were these giant inflatable balls, big enough to fit a person inside. It was an attraction that allowed you to get inside the balls and float around on the lake. We all got really excited when we saw this and immediately wanted to play in them. I was the last one to get into my ball, which was tethered to a dock so I didn’t float away aimlessly. It was really surreal – like being inside a bubble or a balloon. The only sounds I could hear were the ones I made myself. I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying to me from the outside of my ball. I immediately fell down the second my ball got in the water. It was impossible for me to keep my balance. Everyone else had figured out how to stand and run in their balls and were busy crashing into each other. I tried and tried again but it was no use. I felt like a toddler learning to walk for the first time – constantly falling down with a ‘plop’, sitting confused for a moment before stubbornly standing up and trying again. Eventually I gave up and enjoyed the sensation of laying on the cool water. That was a dangerous decision because, after a while, my paranoia began to kick in. What if the ball got a hole and water started to leek in? How would I get out? Would they be able to reel me in before I drowned? What if I suffocated while I was inside? Just as I was beginning to have these thoughts my time was up and I was pulled back to the dock. I’m glad I got to experience this because I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. I’ve scared myself too much.

We rented boats (a little larger than canoes) to ride around the lake. Interestingly, the drivers of the boats use one foot to row the boat. They have a second oar they use to steer. It’s a part of culture that is going out of style, so all of the drivers were old men in their late 60s early 70s. The boats were small so only 2 – 3 people (plus the driver) could ride at a time. All of the drivers were interested in seeing us (foreigners) and were very eager to say “Hello” to us when they saw us. They were all very nice and friendly people.

The last place we went to that day was a Calligraphy Garden. This place was made to honor one of the most prominent calligraphers in China’s history. It is said that his calligraphy (essentially his handwriting) was so beautiful, even today professionals cannot match his skill. The park is not only set up for people to observe and appreciate his calligraphy, but they can also practice their own writing as well. There are multiple venues where people can practice. First there is a sand pit where people can write characters in the sand. There are also slabs of stone that people can write on with water. The stones are special because they allow the water to evaporate quickly. A person could essentially practice writing their calligraphy for hours with these stones. Li Laoshi tried to teach me some techniques, much like you would teach a child to write. She took my hand and guided it as I held the brush. Calligraphy is difficult because not only do you have to remember the stroke order of the characters (which is VERY important) but you also have to remember how much pressure to apply to the brush in different parts of the character. Too much and the line will be too fat, too little and it will be too skinny – both are signs of ugly characters. A good piece of calligraphy is a well balanced character in size, proportion, and line prominence.

Needless to say we were all really tired when the day was over so most of us slept in the van on the way back to Hanzhou.

Week 9 Hangzhou, China 2011

Week 9

This week we took our midterm exams. The way the courses are structured the only grades that count are the two major exams: the midterms and the finals. We had an exam for every language class: grammar, speaking, and listening. As the class president/representative, it was my responsibility to make sure everyone knew where the testing room was and what time it was. There was an entire day set aside for each exam, even though the exams only took 2 hours at the most to take. This meant, for us, that after our exams were finished, we had the whole afternoon to a) study for the next exam and/or b) relax and enjoy the feeling of relief that comes after tests are over.

The grammar test was the typical written exam. We were expected to write the correct character when presented with the pinyin in one section. I still have trouble remembering how to write all the characters we’ve learned so that was the hardest part for me. Other sections were comprised of constructing and correcting sentences – which I’m pretty good at that so I felt confident about these sections. The last part of the test was to write a 100 character essay about one of three possible topics: a friend, your family, or your average day. I chose to write about Maryann because there were a lot of things that I knew how to write that involved her. I feel really good about my essay because not only did I prove to myself that I’m really learning something, but I wrote a solid essay.

The speaking test was the day after the grammar test. I was most nervous about this one. We were given six topics and we were expected to prepare a 3 minute speech for each of them. The teacher administering the exam would then pick one of the topics for us to then talk about. The topics were: my habits, my friend, my average day, my school, my birthday, and something I’ve bought while in China. Our teacher did not inform us about the other aspects of the exam, though. In hindsight they were minor and the most important thing was the 3 minute speech, but still I was thrown for a loop when I found out there was more to the exam than just my speech. We also had to recognize characters and create sentences using different points of grammar we had learned. The topic the teacher chose for me was my average day. I talked so long (because I had prepared speaking points the night before) that she had to tell me to stop when the three minutes were up. Yay!

The last test was listening and that was no big deal. It was just a test version of what we do regularly in class. Mark the tones of different words as you hear them and choose the correct answer between two similarly pronounced words. The only difference was: When we would listen to a dialog, they did not write the question on the test. They just provided us with our four multiple choice answers and we were supposed to listen and understand the question when it was asked in the recording. That threw me off because I wasn’t expecting it. So I know I missed at least a couple questions since I wasn’t sure what was going on. But that’s alright because a lot of people I talked to had the same problem. They were caught off guard just like me.

            One night this week, a group of us were walking back to the dorm from the Central Office/Apartment and we saw a new banner hanging up on campus. At first glance all we could read were the letters CUBA. Now, keep in mind, a week or so ago, we got a huge group of new students from the UK. Putting two and two together I assumed that we were getting a group of students from Cuba on campus. However, upon looking at what else was written on the banner (and having Lily explain what it all meant) we learned that CUBA was actually an acronym for China’s University Basketball Association. What we then dubbed as “April Madness” was coming to our campus.

            For the entire week basketball game after basketball game was being played at our school. During the day the games were free and at night the tickets were less than a dollar. The stands for the games during the day were almost entirely vacant, which was weird for me because I thought that more students would come watch. It was interesting to watch the games because 1) I don’t know much about basketball and 2) I was able to observe the differences between college sports in America and college sports in China. The most striking difference, for me, was that Chinese universities don’t have school colors. For example, IWU’s school colors are green and white. Since the Chinese schools don’t have school colors, the uniforms for the games were always the same. There was always a white team (home) and a purple team (away). To tell the teams apart you had to read the name of the school on the front of the jersey – and since I couldn’t read I had to rely on Felix to tell me who was who. He came and watched most of the games with me, which was nice. The two of us went to one of the night games together and that was more like what I imagined a regular college game would be like.

            The game was between Zhejiang University (my school) and Ningbo University. Felix is from Ningbo so he was interested in the outcome of the game. Since this tournament is similar to ‘March Madness’ this game was televised. Before the game started, each team’s captain came out and introduced their teammates. After the introductions were over, everyone stood and honored China’s national anthem. I felt awkward and out of place mostly because I kept waiting to hear the familiar words “Oh say can you see…” but it never came. It was interesting to see because, unlike in America, everyone was standing and even stopped what they were doing to honor the country. In America (even at professional games) you have people who chose not to stop what they are doing or even chose not to stand for the anthem. It really irritates me when I see these people, so it was refreshing to see a display of united national pride for once.

            The game itself was really exciting (or as exciting as basketball games can get). Zhejiang University won the game by one basket. And much celebration was had.

Week 8 Hangzhou, China 2011

Week 8

            I’ve recently been debating on whether to grow my hair long again, or if I should keep it short. I kept putting off making any decision because part of me was nervous about getting a hair cut in China. It’s not like I’m a boy and all I have to say is: “Just make it short.” I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to communicate what I wanted. But after three consecutive bad hair days, I decided to bite the bullet and hope for the best. Besides, I’m going to be in a lot of pictures in the months to come, I want to make sure I look good. I grow my hair out again when I don't need to care about how it looks when it’s in those awkward middle stages. Just to be sure I got something close to what I wanted, I found a picture of a similar hair style to what I had before and brought it with me to show the stylist. Chen Rong went with me to the salon because Penny was busy. And besides, she wanted to get her hair cut too. The place we went to was much nicer than any salon I had ever been to. Chen Rong explained that it was one of the nicer places in town but the hair cuts were still cheap. First we got our hair cleaned. We had the option of a ‘wet clean’ or a ‘dry clean.’ I didn’t understand the difference so I just chose the same as Chen Rong (dry clean). They just applied some product to our dry hair and it lathered like shampoo without water. The employees (who were all men, strangely) massaged my scalp while working the product into my hair. Then we went and rinsed it out of my hair. Since I couldn’t understand what he was saying to me, the employee had to physically push and tug me into whatever sitting/laying back position he needed me to be in. I felt bad for him, but at the same time this vocabulary wasn’t covered in my class yet so what could I do? The next step was an upper body massage including my neck, shoulders, arms and hands. I wasn’t expecting it but after I got over my initial shock, I really enjoyed it. It was much needed because I was still sore from riding horses and playing soccer. The hair cut itself was in a different room from the massages. Again, all the actual stylists were men. This was the first time a man had ever cut my hair so it was a weird concept to wrap my head around. He was extremely focused on his task and made sure to take his time. Or at least that’s what it felt like because it was also the longest hair cut of my life. I think he had to focus more because my hair is a different texture from Asian hair which he was used to working with. I asked if he could give me some bangs like in the picture I had picked out. I have a cowlick that usually prevents me from having bangs, but it was a part of the picture I showed to him so I expected him to just imitate the picture. He found the cowlick, however, and told Chen Rong that he couldn’t give me bangs because of it. Chen Rong explained to me that the Chinese word for cowlick translates to something beautiful. So to have a cowlick is like having a beauty mark in Chinese culture. I am happy with how my hair turned out and now I know that I have a reliable place to go to when I need to cut it again in a month or two.

Week 7 Hangzhou, China 2011

Week 7

            We had a long weekend this week because of a Chinese national holiday. The holiday was set aside so that the Chinese could visit the graves of their ancestors and clean them. They bring offerings of foods such as fruits to the graves so their ancestor’s spirits can eat them. They also burn paper money at the graves so their ancestors have some cash to spend in the afterlife. So to give people the time and opportunity to travel to the burial grounds, the government made a national holiday. I considered traveling over the long weekend, but was advised not to since EVERYONE in China would be traveling. It would be impossible to escape the crowds. Thus I decided to stay put.

            My new gloves came in the mail so Ryan and I were finally able to go out and kick the ball around with me playing goal keeper. The field that we play on is normally split in half when there’s not a league game being played. This way two small games can be played at the same time. When Ryan and I arrived only one half of the field was being played on so we went to the other side. As I was putting on my cleats, a man walked by and did a double take when he saw me. He said “你踢球吗？” which means, “You play soccer?!” I nodded while he smiled and shook his head in disbelief. Once we were ready, Ryan and I spent some time passing the ball just to warm up before I donned my gloves for the first time since July (before my most recent knee surgery). Ryan, being the nice guy he is, spent most of the time shooting on me even though he normally plays defense and is unaccustomed to shooting. I wasn’t paying attention to the people around us but after we were finished practicing, Ryan told me that I attracted a lot of attention. There was one time when made a pretty good save that a couple spectators actually applauded for me. I didn’t notice at the time so I almost didn’t believe him. Since I’m not anywhere close to being in shape, I insisted that we keep to ourselves for now. Give me a month or two of regular practice and exercise and I’ll be ready to play with the boys.

Because of the long weekend, Nicole and I were finally able to go ride horses. The buses were still crowded like last time, but Nicole was insistent that we get on no matter what. So when bus Y5 came to the bus stop, we elbowed our way through the crowd and jumped on the bus. We barely fit and were actually right next to the front door. Every time the driver opened or closed the sliding door it would hit me in the back. The particular bus we were on happened to drive by the West Lake (the most famous place for tourism in Hangzhou) which is why it was so crowded. Once we got further along the line, it emptied out quickly. Nicole’s Chinese friend Jane met us at the bus stop and walked with us to the horse stables. The stables are located on the outskirts of the city. In total the house 30 horses. It’s a really nice place with lots of trees and right in the shadow of a mountain. There were multiple tracks to ride in. One was used for riding lessons and the other was for customers like us who just wanted to ride for fun. The track we rode in was one of the smaller ones. There were three horses in our track: one for me, one for Nicole, and one for an employee. It cost 100 yuan to ride for a half hour. Believe me, that was long enough. Even though we were only riding in circles around the track, I got a variety of speeds from my horse. All the way from stop to eat grass to a gallop. I had no idea controlling a horse was so difficult. I was having fun just winging it. Nicole, being an experienced rider, was trying to get her horse to canter but was having difficulty. She asked the employee what command she should give to make her horse go faster. Little did she know what would happen. Next thing we know, the employee on the horse starts chasing our horses wielding a whip. He chased us around the track a couple times and all I could do was hold on and laugh. It was really exciting and terrifying at the same time. 

Week 6 Hangzhou, China 2011

Week 6

This week my friends Penny and Chen Rong introduced me to the Chinese version of Ebay called taobao. The stuff sold on taobao is not high quality nor is it always authentic. But it’s dirt cheap. Basically it’s an evil website that will eat all your money if you allow it. Ryan and I have wanted to play soccer for a while now but neither of us brought our gear from home. So Chen Rong and Penny offered to help us buy new stuff. For me, I needed some shin guards, a jersey to protect my arms from the coarse Astroturf, and (of course) some gloves. In total I spent around $25 on all of this via taobao. Normally it would have cost me over $100 with about $80 for the gloves alone. The shipping is incredibly fast too. I got everything I ordered within days (not weeks) of ordering it. Unfortunately, since there are so few girls playing soccer in China, it was hard to find gloves in my size. The ones I ordered came in and they were twice the size of what I needed. Even though I specified the size I needed, the gloves themselves were fake and thus did not meet the sizing criteria of authentic ADIDAS gloves. I had to send them back and order a different pair.

The weather is warming up and I’m starting to realize that I did not bring a satisfactory amount of warm-weather clothing. Also, I’m bored of wearing jeans and a shirt every day. I want to make an effort to be more presentable and more fashionable every day. To do so, I need to revamp my wardrobe. I may buy some new clothes through taobao since I can’t find any size larger than a small in the local boutiques. I should mention that I don’t want to spend 300 yuan on a shirt when I can spend 50 instead. I really only intend to buy a couple sun dresses and maybe a skirt or two. I hope I can find something that fits me. It’s not that I consider myself fat (I’ve actually lost a lot of weight since I’ve been here) it’s just that the female Asian body type is very different from my own. Also I’ve noticed that Asian fashion is quite different than the style of clothes I’m accustomed to wearing. That could either be a good thing or a bad thing. Either it will give me a fresh new look for my wardrobe OR I’ll look like a damn fool. I’m willing to take the risk because you never know… and besides, I’m on an adventure anyway, it’s only fitting that I be a little daring!

Li Laoshi is out of town for a couple weeks so she can attend a conference back in Iowa. This means that we have a couple free weekends to do whatever we want. Courtney, Nicole, Jamie, Lars and I wanted to go to Suzhou this past weekend. Only Jamie and Lars ended up going, however, due to some complications that occurred while the rest of us were in transit. Allow me to explain: Courtney and I have our ESL class till 5:00 on Fridays. It normally takes about 40 minutes to get to the long distance bus station. The bus to Suzhou was set to leave at 7:00, so we figured we had plenty of time to get there. However, we were traveling in the middle of rush-hour traffic. When the three of us found ourselves stuck down town at 6:45 with 9 stops to go, we gave up on our travel plans. Instead we treated ourselves to a nice dinner and went back to help celebrate Lily’s 20^th birthday. The three of us agreed that even though we couldn’t travel we would still make an effort to explore Hangzhou on our own.

Some of the things we considered doing were: visiting more gardens so we could enjoy the plum flowers while they lasted and going back to the traditional street to shop. On Saturday (Lily’s birthday) Courtney and I went with Lily and our Chinese friend Felix to the traditional street so that Lily could find a good birthday present. I found some postcards that had pictures from the Cultural Revolution on them and even some slogans which I thought were really cool. I didn’t buy them though because I still haven’t used all my postcards from Shanghai. Instead I bought myself a journal with Zhou Enlai on the cover. Zhou Enlai is one of my favorite figures in Chinese history, and I used his last name in my own Chinese name (Zhou Kailin) for that reason. Lily wanted to go to a garden after dinner, but the three of us got lost in the dark and before we knew it we found ourselves under the overpass of the highway. We decided that we should just take a taxi back to campus since it was already 9:30 and that we could visit the garden another time. Hailing a taxi was harder than I thought. In the past, Li Laoshi has been able to find open taxis very easily. We were not so lucky. I learned that just because their green light is turned on, it doesn’t always mean that the taxi is free. It was frustrating trying to get what a thought was a free taxi to pull over just to discover, as they drove past, that there was someone already in the car. Eventually we found a spot were the taxis could safely pull over and stop for us, that wasn’t already congested with people trying to get a taxi themselves. One taxi we tried to hail slowed down and started to pull over like he was going to stop for us, but then, at the last second, it swerved back into the street and sped away. Talk about disappointment… Fortunately we were able to get the next one that came our way.

 Nicole likes to ride horses and even has a couple of her own back in Virginia (where she’s from). Li Laoshi found her a place in town where she could go ride. Courtney and I wanted to accompany her to see the horses and maybe even ride the horses ourselves. That was our plan for Sunday but it, again, failed to happen. The bus we needed to take was too crowded for us to ride. Buses in China can get crowded fast. Riding on a crowded bus is something I haven’t grown accustomed to yet. Personal space is non-existent, so it’s common for you to find yourself pressed up against a complete stranger with someone else breathing down your neck. Sometimes there are enough people that you don’t have to hang on to anything because if the bus suddenly stops, the people are packed in so tight there’s nowhere to fall. Anyway, bus Y5, the one we needed to take to get to the horses was so full the driver didn’t even open the doors to let more people on. People were already pressed against the windows and doors so it was clear that there was just physically no room for any more passengers. We waited for three bus cycles and each time bus Y5 was equally as crowded. We gave up on that route and decided we would try to take a taxi instead. It was impossible to find a taxi in the middle of the afternoon. Every time we spotted a free one, a Chinese person would beat us to it. It’s a lot easier for them because they know exactly where they’re going. We, on the other hand, stumble through the pronunciation a couple times before the taxi driver can understand what we’re trying to say. There was no time for stumbling that day though and in the end, we had to admit defeat.

Even though we didn’t have the weekend we’d originally planned, I was able to learn something important about the Chinese public transportation system. 

Week 5 Hangzhou, China 2011

Week 5

Monday I accompanied Courtney to her internship. She teaches English at a kindergarten across town so we had to bike to get there. The Central program owns two bikes that the students can use as needed. It took about 30 minutes each way and it’s pretty exciting considering the amount of people biking in China. There is a bike lane wide enough for a Hummer to drive through and still it’s crowded with motorbikes and bicycles alike. When you’re riding you have to be careful not to run into anyone else’s bikes, any cars that might suddenly turn in front of you, anyone who happens to walk through the bike lane etc etc. Every now and then there will be a car parked to one side of the lane that everyone has to maneuver around. That’s probably the most annoying part. If it’s a bike lane there shouldn’t be any cars in it ever! Just the other day Maryanne and I saw a huge crowd gathered around front of the apartment. Apparently someone was driving their car through the bike lane and hit someone who was actually riding a bike. The driver of the car got out and started yelling at the bike rider for not getting out of the way. This caused a huge back up (thus the crowd formed) since the parked car was blocking the entire lane. I think that it would be a lot safer if the cars and trucks just stayed out of the bike lane, but obviously that is not the case. My back tire was somewhat flat and we had no way to pump it up, so I made due. I never realized how difficult it is to ride a bike with flat tires. Needless to say, I was pretty tired and sweaty when we finally arrived. The school serves the wealthier families. It is completely fenced off and also has an electric fence around the border of the walls. There are even guards at the gated entrance.

Every Monday the regular teachers lead the students in their morning exercises. They played music over the loudspeakers and everyone went out onto the ‘lawn.’ They lined up by class with a teacher at the front and the back to keep the students on task. It was nothing like the videos I’ve seen online. There was almost no synchronization among the students. It was pretty amusing to watch especially the kids who were not interested in participating but instead wanted to play with their friends. The exercises themselves were more like dance moves than actual exercises. Then they had a formal presentation by two student representatives (one girl and one boy) each of them gave a speech they had memorized to their classmates. Then the two of them raised the Chinese flag together as the national anthem played over the loudspeakers.

Courtney and I were scheduled to shadow Ms. Li – the assistant principal and language teacher. The classes we went to were the younger children (probably around 4 and early 5 year-olds). In China the students stay together in their classrooms while the teachers migrate between rooms. Each kid had their own little chair to sit in and they sat together in a straight line in front of the teacher. The kids were called by their ‘English’ names instead of their Chinese names much like how I have my Chinese name for my Chinese class. Courtney and I sat in our own tiny chairs off to the side. She was taking notes while I was simply observing. Ms. Li taught three classes total that morning, and every lesson was about the same. She increased or decreased the difficulty based on the abilities of each class.

She started each class greeting the students: “Good morning boys and girls!” To which they responded: “Good morning Ms Li!” Then she played a song for them to sing and dance to. The lyrics to this opening song went like this:

Hello! Hello! Hello, how are you?
            I’m fine! I’m fine! I hope that you are too!

Then she would ask if they wanted to sing the song faster or slower. The students who spoke the most clearly and confidently got what they wanted. For the next lesson she had a collection of flash cards with different pictures of toys on them. They included the words: teddy bear, ship, puppets, ball, puzzle, doll, and robot. She would hold up the card and the students would shout the name of the toy. Then she would ask who liked that particular toy. When she did the students would raise their hands and shout: “I DO! I DO!” She would choose a different kid each time to come stand next to her and say the basic sentence: “I like (name of toy).” Then she had a puzzle for each of the images (no more than 4 pieces each) for the kids to do. She would ask: “Who wants to make the puzzle of the (name of toy)?” The kids would respond by thrusting their hands in the air and shouting: “Let me try!” Of course some kids were more outgoing than others and some were shyer than others. They were all equally interested in staring at us, though. The last activity of the class was a game of London Bridge. Courtney and I made the bridge while Ms. Li led the class around and under the bridge. The kids knew when the song was about to end and some of them stopped short so they wouldn’t be caught in the bridge. One girl even started crying because she didn’t want to be caught. It was either that or it was because we were strangers.

            We rode our bikes back to campus just in time to go to lunch and get ready for our own classes.

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Tuesday Courtney and I went and observed a college level English class for our own ESL class. This class was held at another Zhejiang Daxue campus which was on the other side of the city. So, the two of us had to navigate the bus system to find the one that would take us to Zijingang campus. Through the various day trips Li Laoshi has taken us on, we only knew of one bus stop and (coincidentally) we were able to get on bus 89. However, we ended up getting on when it was heading in the opposite direction. We discovered this when the bus started driving by various areas near Yuquan (the campus we live on). It was confusing because we couldn’t read any of the stops listed on the bus – I figured: ‘As long as we are on the right bus, we will get where we need to go eventually.’ The key is to listen to the announcement when it comes on to declare what stop is coming up. It’s sometimes hard to hear because there is a TV on the bus as well and that audio sometimes plays louder than the announcements. That’s not a problem for people who can read Chinese, but it can be an issue for those of us who can’t. Lucky for us, it wasn’t long until the bus turned around and started heading in the other direction.

Once we arrived at Zijingang we were left trying to find the East Teaching Building #6. Our instructions told us to just ask anyone for directions. It seemed easy enough except there was no one on campus when we arrived. Everyone was in class or at lunch and so the entire campus was void of life. It was creepy, like walking onto a movie set. We managed to find where we needed to be – only getting lost once. The class room we were directed to was full of computers stationed at hexagon shaped tables (6 computers per table) so we weren’t sure if it was the right place. But we were, in fact, at the right place. We were just early, so Courtney and I sat on the ground outside the room and she quizzed me on my Chinese vocabulary while we waited.

Jiang Laoshi (our ESL professor) came and found us a little before class started. She introduced us to her colleague (I forgot her name) who’s class we were going to observe that day. The topic of that day’s class was ‘Social Problems.’ Prior to class the students had to read the chapter in their text books that dealt with social problems and familiarize themselves with the vocabulary. As a warm up activity, the professor played a segment from an episode of the Big Bang Theory. It’s a pretty popular show in China, and a lot of people like the character Sheldon. I’ve never watched it before, but after seeing that clip I may start. It was really funny and a good way to capture the student’s attention. Since the room was set up the way it was, each student had his or her own computer. The teacher had complete control over their monitors, so they couldn’t get online and be off task. With this set up, each student had a clear view of the teacher’s powerpoint – which she opened on every computer.

Before she started her lesson, three students each gave a short presentation in English. The first student discussed the earthquake in Japan, the second talked about English tongue twisters, and the third told an original story. It was an interesting way to get the students to go beyond the requirements of the class and force them to use their English in a new and creative way. After they were finished she introduced the topic of ‘Social Problems.’ She asked if Courtney and I could talk to the class about a social problem in American culture. This is the one and only time that Sociology class I took freshman year has come in handy. Together we brainstormed a list that contained obesity, illegal immigration, gay rights, and problems in the public education system. While we worked the teacher asked the class to brainstorm in small groups different social problems. The object was for each group to describe one social problem to the class and then the class would have to guess which problem they were describing. Some topics they discussed were migrant workers and overcrowding in the cities. Whenever a student wanted to speak, whether it was to present a problem or pose a possible answer, they stood up. I was told that this was a cultural characteristic of the Chinese education system. This exercise lasted about 45 minutes. Then she asked if Courtney and I could describe our social problem for the class. Courtney was nervous and afraid that she would talk too quickly for them to understand so she asked me to speak instead. I described the problem of obesity in America, because I felt like it was a problem they would be familiar with. After we were finished with this exercise the teacher allowed the students to take a break. 

During the break she encouraged them to ask us questions. We were asked the standard questions like: Why are we studying in China? Do we like living in China? But we also got asked interesting questions like: This one girl wanted to know if Harvard students really stay up till 4am studying. I told her that since I was not a student at Harvard, I couldn’t be sure. It’s not a surprising accusation, though. When break was over the teacher presented another fun exercise for the class. She let them listen to a song by Phil Collins. On the powerpoint she had typed the song lyrics with blanks every now and then. After the song was over, she led the class in filling in the blanks. After that class was over for the day. It was very interesting and it made me want to observe more classes at the college level. This is the level that I want to teach, should I ever teach English as a Second Language.

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            At the beginning of the program I was asked to participate in a recording program for the development of a new ESL textbook. Basically I would be providing the voice for the audio recordings that accompany the textbook. On top of that, I was going to be paid for my time. Sweet deal, right?

            Again, I had to travel to a different campus of Zhejiang University. This time it was the Xixi campus, which is right up the road from my campus. I wasn’t entirely sure where I was going so I asked Courtney to accompany me. We opted to take a bus. Lesson learned: Never take the number 900 bus, because that means there are 900 people on that bus. Not really but that’s what it felt like. I’ve never been in a more crowded situation than that. I was literally being pressed against another woman and there were so many people I couldn’t find anything to hold on to. I was afraid that we would miss our stop because we were trapped in the crowd. I couldn’t even hear the announcements because there were so many people talking at once. Luckily, just as we were passing the front gate of the campus I recognized the characters that said Zhejiang Daxue and we were able to escape the bus.

            We met the student assistant, her English name is Cherry, in front of the library – which I was able to recognize and locate even though the sign was written in traditional characters. Unfortunately my male counterpart was missing in action and they weren’t sure if they wanted to proceed without him. I insisted that we could make it work so she took us to the recording studio. The room that I was recording in was the size of a closet. I was given ten chapters of the textbook draft to read. They told me that if there was anything that was incorrect or unnatural, I could rephrase it. It was written in British English so that happened on occasion. Since I was by myself, they had me read the passages first. Some of the topics included: decreasing the amount of TV children watch and the history of the London Bridge - really random stuff. When I was finished reading all the passages, they asked me to just read the female part of the dialogs. During the entire recording session I was trying my best not to sound like a robot and to talk naturally – but not too fast. It was a lot harder than I thought, but it was really fun at the same time. I think I would enjoy doing more work like this in the future. Maybe work with recording audio books?

Week 4 Hangzhou, China 2011

Week 4

            One cultural difference I noticed this week was the Chinese attitude toward alcohol. There is no drinking age in China, so (theoretically) anyone can drink and purchase alcohol.  This is not the case in America because a person needs to be at least 21 years old to buy and drink alcohol. So I was very surprised by the laid back attitude the Chinese people have toward alcohol. In America there is an issue with underage binge drinking but, from what I can tell, that’s not an issue in China. I wonder if it is because all of the high school students are too busy studying for the gaokao or if it is just a cultural difference. Well, anyway, the laid back attitude is what strikes me as the most interesting. For example, my Comprehension teacher – Guo Laoshi – brought a bottle of Huang jiu to class for us to try. Literally Huang jiu translates to yellow wine but it looked and smelled more like pure vinegar. It was disgusting. Out of all of the nasty alcoholic drinks I’ve tasted (which is biased because I think that the majority of alcoholic beverages taste gross) it was the worst. Maryanne and I were shocked that a teacher would actually serve her students alcohol, even if we were all college age students. It struck us as a very strange occurrence – so strange that I have trouble explaining why I found it weird.

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This week we had visitors from the University of New Jersey come to evaluate the Central College program. They were sampling various study abroad programs throughout China to see which ones suited the needs of their university. They sat in on my Comprehension class, which I now share with Maryanne. Needless to say, they were impressed with Guo Laoshi’s teaching. Later that day they interviewed us (all of the Central College Program students) about our impressions of the program and China in general. It was a pretty standard group interview, but through this exchange it became very clear to me that these two men did not have much understanding or appreciation for China and its culture. One would think that if a university was considering adding China to their list of places to study abroad, they would send a representative with some background knowledge – otherwise the trip is pointless.

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Recently, I’ve been frustrated with my limited language ability. I know the words but when I mispronounce them or when I’m not understood, I get frustrated and my mind shuts down. When this happens it’s like I can’t think of the Chinese I need to say anymore. So I panic and switch to English. Then I get angry with myself for not trying harder to speak Chinese. Other times I think of sentences in my head but I am so unsure of myself that I never end up saying them. I tell myself that I am satisfied knowing that I was able to form that sentence on my own, but I know that it’s not enough I think I would be more compelled to practice speaking Chinese if I had more Chinese friends. Unfortunately it’s hard to make friends when you can’t fully communicate with them. Also all of the Chinese friends I already have speak English very well, so there’s no need to speak Chinese. I know this goes without saying, but it’s easier and more natural for me to speak English. Thus I find myself using it as a fall back for communication.. It’s becoming clear to me that a language barrier has multiple levels. It’s not only speaking, but also listening and comprehending. Then there’s the issue of reading and writing that seems like a near impossible task some days. I wish I had more confidence, but that comes with practice and with time.

            At the same time, though, I feel like I’ve learned and retained more Chinese during the short time that I’ve been here than I learned in a month of Chinese class back home. With this thought, I have more confidence that every day my Chinese will get better. Even if it’s just a small amount, like learning one new word or pronouncing a phrase correctly, it will improve over time. I just need to be diligent and patient.

Journal Entries from China 2009

Katie Sill

May 10, 2009

Today we went and climbed the Great Wall of China. After breakfast we went down to the courtyard outside the hotel to do our exercises. Chao made Hanni and I go change our shoes because we were both wearing slip-on shoes. I’m so happy that he did because I don’t know how I would have managed climbing the Great Wall without my tennis shoes.

It took us an hour bus ride from our hotel to the Great Wall. On the way we passed several army trucks which were filled with soldiers off to training camp. I think there must have been a military base nearby. We all enjoyed waving at them as we passed because they would smile and wave back – some even took pictures of us. It was a little unnerving at times because they were armed. Another thing I learned on this bus ride was that Sara is also from Texas. Well, she was born there and eventually moved up to Illinois. We were the only ones that knew about the game you play when you pass through a tunnel. (Hold your breath, pick up your feet, and raise your hands for the duration of the tunnel.) We were quite the spectacle but at least the other people found it amusing.

The parking lot we pulled into was lined with shops and vendors selling souvenirs and memorabilia. Luo Laoshi told us to ignore them because we didn’t have time to haggle. We distributed a healthy dose of “Bu Yao! Xiexie” to every vendor we passed. The first stop we made was the museum about the Great Wall. We learned that the section of the Great Wall that we were going to climb was a reconstruction. The original Great Wall of China has been reduced to rubble in many places. Not very many people, besides our group, were in the museum. I was thankful that we moved through it relatively fast because I was so anxious to start climbing.

This was the most crowded place we’ve been to yet. When we got past the ticket taker we took the left section of the wall because it was less populated. The further you traveled up the wall the more scarce people became. Our group stopped at the first watch tower to listen to Luo Laoshi’s lecture. While he was talking a toddler squatted near his foot and took a shit. We were all so mesmerized (and slightly horrified) by the bizarre site that Luo Laoshi was forced to bring his lecture to a halt. He said in amusement, “Well, I can’t compete with that. I'll wait till he's finished.” Once Luo Laoshi was finished giving instructions (meet back at the bottom in 2 hours) we set off to conquer the Great Wall of China.

Eventually our group spread out and separated. I’m not going to lie; climbing the Great Wall was difficult. I did not have the stamina to go without stopping. It was ok though, because the people I was walking with were more than willing to take breaks along the way. The most frustrating thing about the Great Wall was the stairs. They were not of uniform size in any sense. One stair would be approximately three inches tall while the one immediately following it would be ten inches tall. They also did not have a uniform width which made descending precarious. In many places it was very steep to the point where we were climbing up stairs that were close to a vertical angle. Honestly, I felt like I was climbing a ladder instead of stairs.

My favorite part of this excursion was when I gave encouragement to an old Chinese woman. On the way up to the tallest watch tower we happened to be walking next to each other. Chao had taught me that the phrase “Jia You” was a means of encouragement. So as we were walking I said “Jia You” to her, somewhat breathlessly. She laughed and said “Jia You” in response. We repeated this two or three more times because, despite the age difference, we were feeling the same sense of fatigue, I’m embarrassed to say.

Katie Sill

May 12, 2009

Today we went to the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan). It was the site where the emperors would sacrifice animals for the prosperity of the empire. The temple was built in circular shapes and was colored blue because those characteristics symbolized heaven.

After lunch we went to the Pearl Market. We are going to come back after we do the travel around. It’s really cool that Luo Laoshi scheduled a shopping day for us at the end of the trip. Well the Pearl Market was really overwhelming. It’s like an intense, aggressive antique mall. The sales people yell at you as you go by and grab your arm if you show the slightest interest in what they have. I was grabbed by a luggage lady and I was saved by Nathaniel. She had heard me mention to Cheryl that I needed a tote bag and the lady said “Tote bag? I have! I have! I give you good price.” She wouldn’t let go even after I told her over and over “Bu-yao! Bu-yao!” Once we got to the fourth floor things mellowed out a bit. Not so many vendors were shouting so it was much quieter. Some of the vendors were even taking naps in their stalls. It was on this floor that we found a stand with a stone stamp that I really liked. I got it for 70 Yuan and it took 20 minutes to carve my name into the stamp. I didn’t know how to write Sikong Lin so we looked up Katie in a name dictionary she had and I got that carved instead. While we waited the lady let me sit on her stool in her stand. I was very amused and I started trying to sell things to Nathaniel and Cary. Eventually I started trying to sell her merchandise to those who were passing by. I didn’t make any sales though. I told the lady that I would come back and buy more stuff from her when we came back from traveling. When I got my stamp (it’s orange/amber with a phoenix carved into it) I gave her a hug. It made my day to make her happy. I can’t imagine that her job is all that fun.

We retrieved our laundry from the on campus cleaning services and headed out to the train station. The train stations are notorious for theft so I was super paranoid about my things being taken. Moore came with us to the station to say good bye. He has been really good to us. Our train was so cool! Instead of seats we each had our own bed. My compartment included Mindy and Sara on the top most bunks, Julia and I in the middle bunks, and then Cheryl was on the bottom bunk. The only thing that sucked about the train was the bathrooms – squatting toilets that were so dirty and smelly it made me gag. I tried my best to avoid going to the bathrooms at all. It didn’t work. Luckily Andy told us about the western-style toilet in first class. So, before bed, Cheryl and I ventured to the front of the train to use it. It wasn’t in much better condition than the squatters though. Sleeping was rough because the beds were small and I had to sleep with my bags by my feet so they wouldn’t get stolen. We were given comforters for blankets and I slept in my jeans, not wanting to change into shorts in the bathroom. I didn’t sleep very well because I was so hot and sweaty. So as awesome as it was, I didn’t manage to sleep well.

Katie Sill

May 14, 2009

Cheryl and I didn’t have to present today because our schedule was already full. We went to a Neolithic museum and archeological site. That was alright, pretty interesting. I bought mom a book of Chinese folk tales in English and Chinese to add to her collection of bilingual children’s books. It rained pretty much all day so it wasn’t the best weather conditions. I left my rain coat back at PKU so I’m a little bummed that I don’t have it. Then we went to the Terracotta soldiers. It took us forever to actually get to see them. Ugh! Michael, our new guide, kept trying to lecture us and no one was interested in what he was saying. In fact, on the way over to the soldiers everyone on the bus fell asleep while he was giving us another lecture on the dynasties of China. A lot of people have told me that they just don’t understand what he’s trying to say because his accent is too thick. Once we got to the site, we went into a tea house for a lecture about the Qin dynasty. I couldn’t focus on what our presenter was saying. I was busy fighting a war with people coming through the back door (which I was sitting next to). I closed the door and drew the curtain so that people would stop walking through our lecture and I could actually pay attention. Unfortunately that didn’t deter the interruptions. Then we went to a video presentation that was pretty much a visual representation of the lecture. Right when we entered the building of the first pit, Nathaniel and I lead the march to see the soldiers and vetoed Michael’s third boring lecture of the day. At that point we had heard enough about them and just wanted to see them once and for all! The soldiers were really cool. I liked the first pit the best because it had the most unburied still-in-one-piece soldiers. I wish we could have gotten closer to the floor so that we could see all of them up close. I got a ton of pictures it was my favorite site in Xi’an so far.

After lunch we went to the bathhouse where Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped. Professor Lutze, Luo Laoshi, never ceases to amaze me with his lectures. They are so much fun to listen to, by far my favorite. We got to see some dancers perform at the bathhouse which was really cool. This is definitely the most beautiful place we have been to yet. Once we had our tour we went up the mountain path where Chiang Kai-shek fled with his body guard. They climbed up a crevice before they were stuck and could go no further. The crevice was set up for people to climb with chains to hold on to. I tried twice to get up the crevice but failed each time. I don’t have enough upper body strength.

For dinner Chao took Cary, Cheryl, Nathaniel, Jason, Julia and I out to a restaurant. He ordered all of our food and it was delicious! We all had such a wonderful time. Much better than the other half of the group who went to KFC (lame). Jason, Nathaniel, Cheryl, and Cary ate some very, very, very spicy hot wings. They were so spicy it brought them to involuntary tears. Much too spicy for me! When we split the bill, treating Chao to dinner in the process, the total came out to be 25 Yuan each. It was wonderfully cheap!

Then we went back to our (Cheryl and I) room to chat. Jason was playing around with his new umbrella (cost 10 Yuan) and accidentally hit Nathaniel in the face with it. Literally, the folded up umbrella part flew off the handle and into the bridge of Nathaniel’s nose. It was really funny though I felt bad that he got hurt. Now he has three wounds on his nose and it looks really goofy. He’s going to tell Luo Laoshi that he got in a fight with a dragon, or something like that.

Katie Sill

May 15, 2009

Today we went to the 8th route army’s base of operations. We had a lecture from Li Yun Feng, the leading expert on the Xi’an incident. The lecture was quite interesting because the Xi’an incident is one of my favorite things to hear about in Chinese history. There was a man there, who was quite possibly an employee of the museum because he was dressed in a uniform, taking pictures of us listening to the lecture. He was trying to get a shot of Chao, Luo Laoshi, and Li Yun Feng but he was at an odd angle which made it difficult. Being polite and helpful, I gestured to him to give me the camera and I took a picture for him. Then he left and came back ten minutes later and gave me a key chain. It was a miniature replica of one of the bronze statues we had seen in the terracotta museum the day before. In return I gave him one of my key chains from Texas to say thank you. Later he got his cell phone out and called his wife. He handed me the phone to speak to her because she spoke English, which he did not. I had to step outside to talk to her. They were looking for someone who lives in Seattle and were wondering if I knew them. She also said that her husband was very interested in our school and what we were studying. I had Luo Laoshi talk to the man after the lecture to help apologize for interrupting. They talked and Luo Laoshi told me that the man would like my email address. I gave it to him with some hesitation; even though he was a stranger, he seemed like a really nice man.

Next we went to Xi’an city wall to ride bikes. Unfortunately it was rainy outside and the bike rentals were closed. The stones on the wall were too slippery for us to ride bikes on safely. Luo Laoshi left us under the care of Michael, Chao, and Andy while he went to set up for the banquet that night. Michael led us into a shady lecture on feng shui – no one really knew what was going on. He had distracted Andy and Nate so that he could herd the group into the building. The lady took us into a room with photographs on the walls and described to us why each building pictured had either good or bad feng shui. When she got to a picture of buildings in Shang Hai, Chao blatantly interrupted her and began telling us that the photo she was showing us was a fake. He described in detail the structural design of the real building and how it differed from the building in the picture. The lady took it in stride, so she must have not understood what Chao was telling us entirely. Then she showed us a statue of a mythical creature – some dragon with wings that’s supposed to bring about good fortune. She explained and demonstrated that if you were to rub the statue in certain areas it would bring fortune to specific areas of your life. I was actually quite interested in what she had to say because mom teaches about feng shui in her interior design class and I wanted to show her that I learned something she could relate to. However, the whole thing was an elaborate scam to get us to buy figurines of the mythical creature. That upset me and the majority of the group members. When we got back to the bus Andy asked us if anyone actually bought anything. Andy explained to us that sometimes vendors make deals with tour guides, like Michael, to get their foreigners to buy their goods. In exchange for the business the tour guide would receive a cut of the profit. This irritated a lot of people and Chao was the unhappiest I have ever seen him.

We had our banquet at a dumpling restaurant. The final dish was a soup, as usual, but it had mini dumplings in it. The waitress recited a poem about the soup and how the number of dumplings you get in your bowl determines your fortune. I got zero dumplings in my soup which meant that I was supposed to have good fortune in every aspect of my life. After dinner Chao wanted me to go get a Chinese hamburger with him. I was surprised because I had, had more than my fill of food at the banquet. How could he still be hungry? We wondered around till we found the place he was looking for. It was weird because I didn’t attract as many stares as I was used to receiving when I was a part of the group. Chao told me that if I were to dye my hair black no one would even notice me. A Chinese hamburger is greasy pulled pork on a crispy sourdough bun. Chao let me try some and I didn’t care for it. He loved it though. We then joined up with the group at the Muslim market and did some shopping – me for souvenirs and Chao for more food.

May 20, 2009

Breakfast this morning was very strange. The hotel staff served us what they believed to be a ‘western style’ breakfast. It comprised of sliced bread, hot Tang, ketchup, and condensed milk. Of course there were traditional Chinese breakfast foods available to us in addition to our special treat. Luo Laoshi asked one of the waitresses if we could have a fruit spread to put on our sliced bread and she simply gestured at the ketchup – apparently we already had some.

Then we went to a lecture in which we learned about some ancient bronze masks and statues. We also met our new translators for our second trip into the countryside. We spent some time in small groups getting to know the history students. Their English was much better than the last student translators we had, which is good for those who have to do research.

The bus ride to the countryside was two hours long and I forced the bus to make a pit stop so that I could use the bathroom. Try as I might I couldn’t hold it for the entire trip – it was a crisis situation. Once we got to the gas station I nearly climbed over Andy (he was riding in the copilot seat) to get off the bus. I ran over to the attendant and asked him where the bathroom was. I don’t know if I delivered my Chinese well or if he simply understood my urgency, but he directed me to the bathroom with no hesitation.

This time we were venturing into the area which was hit by the earthquake last year. Countless people lost their homes and loved ones and the reality of the situation was apparent the closer we got to our destination. We passed piles and piles of rubble from homes and businesses. There were groups of people among the mounds working to salvage supplies to rebuild their homes. It was really a heartbreaking sight to see. Just like the last time we ventured into the countryside, we took the bus as far as it could go and then got off to continue on foot. However, the village we had intended on visiting was one-and-a-half hours away on foot. Professor Lutze made a deal with the village people nearby to get the 300 level students up the mountain and into the village. He paid two drivers to take the students up the mountain in their cars. So we, the lower level students, split ways with the upper level students.

The original plan was for the lower level students to go into the public housing barracks and volunteer ourselves to help the villagers who were living there with anything they might need us to do. However, when we got down to the barracks, we stumbled upon a wedding reception. The family and guests swarmed upon us and immediately welcomed us to the party. It was very chaotic with everyone taking pictures of us and with us. Amy used up all of her Polaroid pictures. Everyone was talking and I couldn’t understand a word that they were saying. Luckily Luo Laoshi and Andy were with us because if they weren’t I don’t know what we would have done. After the initial pictures were taken, they sat us down and began passing out cigarettes and beer. Andy said that we didn’t have to smoke the cigarettes but it was polite to accept them. We were sitting down at a table when they started bringing us all sorts of foods for us to eat. All of the party guests had already eaten and we were being served what was left over. I felt pressured to try everything because once we were served the guests surrounded our table and watched us eat with expecting smiles on their faces. I ate rabbit leg, duck tongue, and chicken feet among other things that I couldn’t identify.

After we were done eating the bride and groom took us to the remains of one of the houses nearby and explained to us their efforts for rebuilding their lives. Before the earthquake everyone was spread out along the countryside and once it hit they all came together to live in the public housing. Now they have each other to lean on for support. They also showed us the gardens the community was cultivating. We got to sample some of their lima beans. These gardens supply the community with some food so that they can further support themselves.

It was at that point that two police officers drove up to crash the party. They each had a gun which Andy told us was uncommon for Chinese police. Luo Laoshi told us that, had we not been there, the police would have taken money from the kind people. It made me so mad because there was nothing we could do to stop them from coming back once we had left. Haven’t these people lost enough already?

We waited until the police men had left to give the newlyweds our gift. As a group we pooled together 100 yuan each to give to the couple for their kindness and hospitality. In true Chinese fashion the groom refused the gift until we insisted that he take it. It literally took all of us forcing the envelope upon him; quite comical actually.

There was a woman there who would come up and talk to me and all I could do was smile and nod. This woman was so happy to see us that she was crying. She took a picture with me and gave me her phone number. She showed me where she lives (number 37) on the barrack. It wasn’t until we were leaving that I found out what she was saying to me. We happened to be standing next to the translator and he was able to help me understand her. She had been telling me about how her son, the groom, was a hero. He saved two people from the wreckage of the earthquake. Unable to convey how I felt in that moment all I could do was hug her. In that moment, I wished more than ever that I could speak Chinese and tell them how inspiring they are.

Katie Sill

May 21, 2009

Today we went to the panda preserve in Chengdu. Cheryl was so excited – she loves pandas. Luo Laoshi was in unusually high spirits today, I think he was just as excited about the pandas as we were. Everyone was happy to get to see the ‘mystical beasts’, as Nathaniel phrased it. My group didn’t get to see as many pandas as I would have liked. The preserve is difficult to navigate. There was no map for us to use so we blindly followed the vague signs that just pointed in a general direction. Nathaniel brought to my attention a funny thing about the preserve: there were more foreigners there than anywhere else we had been. It was like we were in a zoo in America! I took some wonderful pictures of both red pandas and giant pandas. I must say I prefer red pandas to giant pandas; they were much more active.

I paid 100 Yuan to hold a red panda. At first I didn’t want to delay our self lead tour of the place so I waited until we were sure (or so we thought) we had seen everything. Nathaniel was kind enough to walk back to the red panda exhibit with me and take my picture while I was holding it. The red panda’s fur wasn’t soft like I had expected it to be. Instead it was coarse like a raccoon’s fur. I guess they’re more closely related to raccoons than pandas so that makes sense. The red panda just sat in my lap and munched on apples while I held it, content as can be. It held onto my hand with its paw in the most adorable way. It was a good thing Nathaniel came with me because the lady/zoo keeper wouldn’t accept my 100 Yuan bill. She had examined it for quite some time before she gave it back to me. I was worried that I was going to be arrested and held captive with no way of contacting Luo Laoshi. Luckily, Nathaniel had a different bill that they did accept.

Then, after lunch, we went to a museum for bronze and jade artifacts that we had learned about in a lecture. At first I was really bored because the museum seemed to be comprised of mainly jade knife, after jade knife, after jade knife. I didn’t start to enjoy myself until we got to the second building. That’s where all the masks and sculptures were. There were masks for normal sized people and then there were giant masks that were made for the gods. The masks were really interesting to look at.

Katie Sill

May 24, 2009

Today we went to the Stillwell museum. The museum was inside of a house and I liked looking at all of the old furniture. I tried to imagine what it would be like living in that house. It was rather large so a large family would need to fill it or else, I think, it would feel empty and lonely.

The afternoon’s events comprised of us visiting a prison where communist revolutionaries were held during the Civil War. Before we went into the prison’s museum we took a break for lunch. Andy and Nate were going to set off on their own to find some street vendors and I went with them. Up until this point I hadn’t experienced street food so I was eager to try it. We found a vendor selling squid tentacles on a stick and another one who was selling a sugary pastry. The squid wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. I think I understand why Mindy and Hanni like it so much.

Once we were inside the museum I got the same feeling I felt when I visited the concentration camp. It was like some kind of oppressive force descended upon me and demanded a somber atmosphere. The prisoners were not released upon the founding of the People’s Republic of China. They heard the news from outside sources and planned to revolt and escape from the confine the next night. Having heard a description of China’s new flag they constructed what they believed it looked like. They made the red flag with five yellow stars out of a blanket and some toilet paper. Instead of having the stars in the upper left corner, as was the actual flag’s design, they placed a star in each corner with the largest star in the center. The Nationalist prison guards had other plans for the prisoners, however.

On the night of the revolt the nationalists executed a mass murder of the communist prisoners. Only a few managed to escape through a hole in the prison wall. Those who died in the massacre are remembered now as martyrs. I was supremely annoyed with a lot of the people in our group. They were not absorbing the scene as much as I was nor were they giving it the respect it deserved. Fortunately I wasn’t the only one offended by their insensitivity.

That night Chao and I went exploring. He treated me to dinner at this little restaurant around the corner from our hotel. (He owed me money) At first I didn’t want to go in because the window display contained a pig’s face, removed from the body of course. It was highly disturbing. Then, Chao wanted to go to a book store so we wandered around looking for it. Eventually we gave up and decided to go see the Yangtze River instead. We had to walk for a while along the highway to get to the bridge which over looked the river. It started raining on our way back to the hotel. Both Chao and I got soaked in the downpour. He kept apologizing to me and I couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous the situation was.