Anna's Chinese Adventure

2004-06-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

The school year is complete and my sojourn in the central kingdom has come to a close. I must admit that I am finding it a bit sad that it will be some time before I reach China again, but it turns out that my travels in Asia are not over. Currently, I am spending a brief trip in Japan before moving back to my homeland.
This trip began, as is often the case when visiting Japan, in the heart of the modern country, Tokyo. I was worried before visiting Japan that it would be difficult to find myself in a place where I literally don't speak a word of the language, but as it turns out I've found it surprisingly accessible, even like home. Which, as my cousin Todd aptly reminded me, is probably due to America's long occupation after WWII. There are copious amounts of American brands available in stores as well as American businesses popping up all over the city. But, regardless of the commercial aspects, one thing I find remarkably similar to the Northwest, is the number of trees spread all over Tokyo. While my cousins who live here lament the lack of greenery I have found it to be exactly the opposite when compared to my most recent experiences. Living in a city of six million plus next to a desert truly kills any opportunity for natural space, whereas it appears to me that in Tokyo they have taken every opportunity possible to grow trees and garden areas. It has a vaguely Seattle-esque appeal in the combination of large areas of water and trees.
Yet, even if Japan reminds me more of home than Xi'an does, it also has its distinct differences. The first being the exorbant price of everything. I could live on $50 a day in Xi'an without noticing any minor cut back in my style of life, but that was the price of breakfast for three in my Tokyo hotel. Also, at night the city of Tokyo has a vastly different appeal than that of Seattle. It infact reminds me more of Las Vegas than anywhere else. There are just copious amounts of neon lights exclaiming nightclubs, restaurants, stores, and under the table gambling establishments. It is easy to just wander the streets of Tokyo and get lost in the lights and sounds of this compact city.
Throughout it all I feel as if Japan has acted as my "Asian patch" to get over the reality of leaving China. Things are distinctively Asian, but at the same time astoundingly American. It is this contrast that makes Japan a very unique country. I can see why two of my cousins have enjoyed spending a significant amount of their lives here. Though I feel more comfortable in China (especially since I am linguistically much more functional) Japan is a country truly worth exploring more deeply than my five days here will allow. I hope I will be able to return here someday and write a significantly more indepth piece about the multi-faceted culture that I find surrounding me.

2004-06-18T02:32:00.001-07:00

I have exactly nine more days in China and the reality of my departure is slowly starting to sink in. I taught my last class, gave my last final, and my room is slowly turning from a home back into the blank canvas that is all hotel rooms. After a long lunch comparing notes with a Chinese gentleman who spent the past year in America I realized that I have actually learned a fair amount about Chinese culture since I’ve been here. Surprisingly, many of his opinions on the differences in culture between America and China were similar to mine. I have often wondered what it must be like for Chinese people to be suddenly confronted with America and how they feel about it. But, it turns out that his impressions were remarkably like mine.
The first thing he mentioned is that America is very orderly. We stop at all red lights, regardless of the time of night. We do not smoke if there is a sign. Everyone waits patiently in line until it is our turn. Remarkably, all of these things which I always took for granted are not true in China. Most signs are treated like nice suggestions, not necessarily to be followed. I have seen numerous Chinese people walk across the grass (next to the sign asking them not to) to go touch a statue (again with a sign begging them to not touch) which they stand by while their friend takes a picture (also forbidden). Traffic laws absolutely baffle me. The fact that they paint lines on the ground to signify lanes apparently just did not get noticed by a single driver in the whole of Xi’an. And, when I am waiting patiently in line, every time a decrepit Chinese woman who is a foot shorter than me will suddenly slip right in front of me the moment I am about to approach the window.
The next difference we discussed was relationships between people. Though many of my Chinese students would be appalled to here me say this, Chinese people (as a general) are not very polite to strangers. My personal example comes from the way I am treated by children sometimes. When at a restaurant, children (whose parents are sitting at the next table over) will come over and pull my hair, pick up my drink and look at it, or simply just run circles are my table periodically yelling hello. All the while their parents ignore their awful behavior. Every time I tell this story to my Chinese friends they are shocked and refuse to believe it. But, it is completely true, and ironically not a one time incident. My Chinese lunch mate told me a story about when he was in Zhengzhou and became lost. He asked a woman selling sweet potatoes on the street for directions and she simply told him to go straight. Then, he went to a cigarette stand, bought a pack, and asked that person for directions. He received fantastic detailed directions that were perfectly correct. His explanation of this story was that since he had bought something the person was willing to help him whereas the first woman wasn’t even willing to give him the time of day because he was in no way connected to her. Most Americans, though I admit there are exceptions to every rule, would gladly give directions on any occasion.
But, American’s willingness to be helpful to strangers pales in comparison to Chinese people’s willingness to be helpful to their friends and family. Within their social circle Chinese people will go above and beyond help if someone they know (or their friend knows) needs it. I know that if I had a problem, such as I am having trouble making a phone call, and I called my Chinese friends in the middle of the night, they would wake up, get dressed, walk fifteen minutes to my room, and help me to do something as inane as calling Beijing. I have very few American friends who would not kill me for waking them over such a silly problem. Plus, this circle of aid goes beyond just the general people in your acquaintance. It also works for your friend’s friend’s old classmate that you have never met. If I were to call my cousin in, say, Colorado and ask him to ask his work colleague to pick my friend up at the airport he might do it. But, after the plane was four hours late those people would definitely not take my friend to their hotel and then wait until they have rested to take them out to lunch (the exact situation that happened to me upon arrival in Chengdu). I am consistently baffled how Chinese people are willing to go so extremely far for their friends and not an inch for someone they don’t know.
But, it is these types of baffling situations that I am going to miss the most when I leave China (that and the food of course). I have grown rather accustomed to not having any clue what people around me are saying. And, I am a little worried that I have completely forgotten how to eat with a fork. Though I don’t ever plan on making China my home permanently I am going to miss this strange land where I have to speak English very slowly and fear I would never quite fit in.

2004-06-18T02:32:00.000-07:00

2004-06-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

Basically, in the past month I have travelled for all but a week. My final adventure was to Yunnan, the southwestern province of China. This trip was far and away the most planned of all of my excursions. I was actually going to visit Yunnan last summer, but, with the outbreak of SARS, after a fair amount of discussion it ended up getting rescheduled to this summer. The whole purpose for this trip was to study the Naxi minority group. Unbeknowst to many, many Americans there are actually minority groups in China, most of whom live in the southwest of the country. I (and eleven other students) spent a semester studying this particular group as part of a Freeman grant to Whitman college. To further our study the Freeman association paid for a two week trip to visit all of the places that we had been studying. How can anyone complain about that?! This ended up being a bustling two weeks of rapid travel all over the province.
The trip started in Kunming, one of the fabled locals of Chinese idioms, known as the Spring City. It was given this title due to the fact that it has wonderful weather that is supposed to be like spring all year round. Sadly, I forgot that it rains a great deal in spring and did indeed not pack enough clothing to account for the temperature changes. But, I found Kunming extremely pleasant and dramatically different from Xi'an regardless of the weather.
The first thing you must notice about Kunming are the plants. Lovely green plants that envelope the city in a way that makes me forget how dirty and dusty Xi'an truly is. The next thing that stands out is the copious amount of non-Chinese people. Kunming is basically the center for all backpacking in China (which, as it is easy to imagine, there is a fair amount of) so there are tons of roughly college aged students roaming the streets in search of a bargain. Now this influx of people has also added to the generally relaxed atmosphere of Kunming. It is significantly less traditional than Xi'an. Girls were wearing short skirts and halter tops (a style that in Xi'an is generally reserved for prostitutes) and there were tons of bars, restaurants with English menus and most importantly no one stared at me!!! I don't know if it is possible to explain the sheer relief that occurs from not being treated like you are an animal in the zoo. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to not constantly be reminded that you are different. It was heavenly. I could sit around in a park and play cards without small children pointing at me while everyone else yells "hello!" and then laughs with their friends. The staring is the thing I will miss the least about life in Xi'an and I suddenly found myself still in China without having to deal with it. I didn't know places like this existed.
But, all too soon our tour group was rushed away from Kunming and off to the more minority dominated towns to the north. To get to these towns we went on what I fear was the least comfortable bus ride in my life. We took a very famous road, called the Old Burma road that felt like it had been there for centuries instead of just decades. Apparently in China you don't just rip up a few miles of the highway when you are fixing it, instead you take out the whole thing so that the entirity of the three hour ride is on the bumpiest gravel road known to man. If you read, you get car sick. If you try to sleep, you get car sick. It was terrible. By the time we reached the first town it seemed like paradise.
This first stop was Dali, an interesting town dominated by beautiful architecture. Though I am sure it really is rather old, it had a strange feeling like Disneyland where everything is a little too beautiful to believe. But, then a small child would try to sell you a flower and refuse to leave until you bought it, thereby reminding you that yes, you are not in a theme park. On the whole, it really was a charming city, but my one night there does not make me an expert, so I will leave it at that.
My next major stop (one long bus ride later) was the city that was central to the trip, Lijiang. Lijiang is the essential home of the Naxi minority. Many people speak Naxi in the town and you see the pictographic script on many walls. This was one of my favorite cities. Though it was still a little touristy. There was enough historical and cultural background that it still made you feel like you were in a unique facet of the world. We got to witness Dongba (the naxi priests) perform dances and create ritual objects as well as view the traditional homes and living styles of the average Naxi people. And, amongst all of the intellectual stimulation I also did a fair amount of shopping.
Yet, while in Lijiang, our group also realized just how many people our professor knew. Every day we were in Lijiang a different person who was in someway associated with our professor took us out to lunch or dinner. While this at first sounds really great it meant that we had a banquet style meal for almost every meal for two weeks. In other words, we ate just unbelievable amounts of heavy fatty foods followed by grain alcohol (sometimes steeped in plums) or beer. After every dinner we were all just stuffed. It got to the point where we had gotten into the rhythm of eating copious amounts of food so that if we hadn't eaten for three hours we were all starving. I fear I am going to have to diet just because of my vacation.
After popping into many other miniscule villages of various minorities we made our northern most trip to Zhongdian, a city next to the Tibetan plateau. Zhongdian is primarily a Tibetan nationality city, though it is not actually within the borders of Tibet. The Naxi minority has many associations with Tibetan culture, so our professors though it would be good to also learn about them a bit. I think the thing I learned the most clear is it's really cold in Tibet. The highlight of this leg of our trip was getting to visit a functioning Tibetan monastery. In this monastery there was a living buddha (i.e. a nice man who was chosen as a child to be the buddha for this monastery who chants and meets people almost all day). Unlike many of our travels this actually did not feel very touristy. Which is amazing, since there were hundreds of tourists pouring into this monastery to see the large buddha statues and be blessed by the monks. But, as you walked around the complex you saw the homes of the monks as well as what they did in their daily lives. There were some younger children (I would guess about 10) who had joined the monastery as well as some very old monks and every age inbetween. While wandering the complex I ran into a class that was being held by one of the older monks. He was lecturing in Tibetan while the other monks listened and drank hot yak butter tea and roasted barley (the local staple food, not terribly tasty but a memorable experience). Also, there were many older women with large packs who would bring food to the monastery as gifts. Regardless of the influx of tourists, this place made me realize the vitality of the Tibetan culture in this area of China.
After this last city we slowly wound our way back down (through a few more small village stops) all the way to Kunming. Completing a trip that ranged from viewing farmers harvesting rice crops to artists selling their carvings for about a thousand dollars and every imaginable lifestyle inbetween. It was an absolutely packed two weeks that has left me slightly overwhelmed and astoudingly greatful that it was not cancelled in the first place.

2004-05-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

After Chengdu, I took a quick weekend trip to Luoyang. It is about 5 hours away from Xi'an by train. Luoyang is one of the ancient Chinese capitals and I have heard it spoken of in poem and referenced in literature, but for all this history, I was honestly not too terribly impressed with the city itself. The weather (i.e. pollution) was exactly like Xi'an. It was covered in smog and there were not too terribly many fantastic restaurants. Apparently, all of the people who would normally work in restaurants in a Chinese city all drove cabs in Luoyang. Everywhere you went there was a taxi driver yelling at you to see if you needed a ride. Now, the reason for this might be that the majority of the people who come to Luoyang need a taxi to get to the places of interest, most of which are roughly 12 kilometers out of town. I'm not quite sure how far away 12 kilometers is. Dave often refers to us as bumbling through the metric system, and I fear that is the most true when we are traveling. But, the wonderfully different places of interest just outside the city made Luoyang very worth the weekend trip.
My main reason for wanting to go to Luoyang is, again, to see Buddhas. Luoyang is home to a place called Dragon Gate Grottos an ancient site of Imperial patronage for Buddhist carvings. I've seen many pictures of this place in my art history text books, so I really wanted to see it in person, especially since it is so close to Xi'an. Basically, Longmen (Chinese for Dragon Gate) is a limestone cliff that has been just covered in carvings of Buddha and his attendants. These range in size from 2cm to 17.4 meters. Some are just carved directly on the face of the rock, but many have recessed caves that you can enter to view more closely. Each one is interesting individually, but my favorite thing about Longmen was just the copious amounts of them. When you are clambering next to the caves you miss the sheer scale of the thing. There is probably about three miles of a stretch of cliff face that appears like Swiss cheese due to the sheer number of carvings. Just to imagine the centuries that it took monks slowly detailing the face of the rock baffles my mind.
After Longmen I visited a few more temples, all beautiful and interesting, but the best part of the day was the Water Banquet. Luoyang is famous for its opulent dinner that is composed mainly of soup that come so quickly if flows like water (hence the name Water Banquet). This restaurant was definitely fantastic. The food was exquisite and, I must admit, a tad wasteful. We started with some cold dishes then after about 10 minutes the soups started. They literally did flow like water. I had only made it through maybe the second soup when there were already 10 more bowls to try placed on the table. Each one had a unique flavor and design. I fear it would be impossible to explain the detail that went into their cooking, but it is fair to say that no two were anything alike. Luckily, they provided you with a "dumping bowl" so that you didn't eat an entire bowl of any soup. It would have been impossible since there was a total of 22 courses. I needed another five people just to help me finish all of the food. After just gorging myself on soup (followed by sweet rice and thick dumplings with sweet red bean paste in the middle) my only recourse was to sleep and dream of the sheer grandeur that must have surrounded the ancient Chinese Emperor's and their court.

2004-05-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things about spending roughly a week in Chengdu is the fact that the area surrounding the city is completely full of entertaining things to do: Tibetan towns, numerous mountains (many with Buddhist or Taoist associations), and tons of historical buildings. But, since it is impossible to do all of them in a week, I had to limit myself to a few highlights.
My first priority in Chengdu was pandas. Basically, I'm a sucker for these adorable animals. I've been to both the San Diego and Washington D.C. zoos, so when I found that Chengdu is basically their headquarters I was hooked. As a general, I do try and dodge zoos in China. They are really nothing but depressing, but Chengdu has a fantastic place called the "Giant Panda Research and Breeding Center." While I am sure this place does do copious amounts of research, it seems like it is basically a glorified zoo. Yet, it is a glorified zoo with copious amounts of funding. There are 37 pandas currently residing in the compound, and since I for once listened to my travel books, I went at 7am to see the pandas feeding. This was one of the best recommendations I've ever had. All of the pandas were awake and the Chinese tourists were not. I got to walk peacefully from enclosure to enclosure without being followed by people staring, yelling at me, or asking me to be in their pictures. And, the enclosures were remarkably beautiful. There were no bars, just large grassy areas with trees and tree-looking structures for the pandas to play on. Between you and the animals was a short wall and then a deep waterless moat (essentially each enclosure was its own little island). At first I was a little worried that the pandas might get a burst of energy and jump over the moat to the wall, but after watching them for the day I think that is basically impossible. Pandas are officially the laziest animals in the world. They just plop down on their backs in a reclining position with a pile of bamboo within arms reach and when that takes too much energy to grab they take a big hunk, put it on their chests and gnaw away for hours on end. Then, once that is too much, they roll over and fall asleep. I witnessed roughly 20 pandas following this precise mode of action. There were even four little ones (about 1 year old) who had more energy, but most of that was spent in wrestling between bouts of eating and sleeping just like the adults. Honestly, it was one of the most relaxing mornings I have ever spent. It is difficult to imagine stress in your life when you are witnessing the art of laziness at its finest.
But, sadly, I was on vacation so there was a distinctive lack of time to be lazy if I was to get done all of the things I wanted to do. Next stop after the pandas was the largest Buddha in the world at Leshan. Now, I've heard that perhaps this is the largest "statue" of a Buddha, but frankly, it was still attached to a mountain and was so large that I believe it easily could be the largest Buddha in the world, bar none. Now, getting to the Buddha was not the easiest of tasks. I was travelling during the height of tourist season, so I had to wait in line for about three hours to get down to the place where I could be near the Buddha's toe (which was longer than my whole body). But, at least during the wait you had a nice view, since you started at the head of the buddha and slowly climbed down the mountain. To where it meets the river. This Buddha was actually created (according to the park signs) by a government official in roughly 400AD so as to calm the river and stop the numerous accidents. I'm not entirely sure it worked since the river is still pretty treacherous, but I like the idea of a time when the government thought building a big statue would solve ecological problems. But, while seeing the Buddha was fun and interesting, I think my favorite part of Leshan was the fact that it was a huge complex of Buddhas set in a park like atmosphere and there was no one there. Most of the people came, saw the big Buddha, and left, so I was allowed to roam free uninhibited in this fun park. It was also extremely entertaining, since all rules like "don't climb on the statue," "stay off the grass" or "no smoking" are really just suggestions in China. So, I got to sit on the ear of the longest Buddha in the world (sort of a cheap rip off compared to the tallest, but you take what you can get) and there are some fantastic shots of me sitting on various Buddha's laps. They had just thousands of Buddhas from various different periods and styles set in numerous different ways all over Leshan. If you are ever in Chengdu, I highly recommend it.
Then, in case I hadn't seen enough Buddhas, my next trip was to Emeishan (also a holy Buddhist mountain). Emeishan has two main features, its high peak (roughly 3,099 kilometers, I'm not sure what that actually means) and its monkeys. I decided to start my climb to the high peak. Climbing mountains in China is often shocking to many foreign visitors, since you aren't walking up a gravel path you are climbing stairs. Slippery old stairs that are usually sloped downward and sometimes a little bit loose. I imagine it took centuries to cover almost every mountain in China with stairs, but it seems to have worked for them. Now, for some reason at the time, the idea of climbing to the top seemed reasonable. I had taken a bus to the closest bus stop to the top, so it shouldn't have been too difficult. Honestly, not a very good idea, there was a cable car I should have just taken since after walking up stairs for an hour and forty minutes my legs were sore for five days afterwards. Once you have reached the summit, you get to view the spectacular scenery and there is a large temple to visit. And, since it is astoundingly colder than the lower levels of Emeishan, you can rent a jacket to enhance your viewing pleasure.
After conquering the peak, it is all downhill. Literally, you get to slowly meander down the mountain and view the various temples interspersed with the lush green trees. It was a beautiful walk down. And, it was interesting to actually get to watch the vegetation and climate change around you. Yet, once you reach the middle of the mountain you are officially in monkey territory, and it is their territory, we are just passing through. When I read in my guide books that there were monkeys on Emeishan I was really excited. I imagined small monkeys swinging through trees in the distance adding to the lovely aura of the mountain. Well, again, I was wrong. First, they were huge. I mean it, huge. About three feet tall, roughly 45lbs. On top of this, they were really aggressive. Even though there were signs everywhere saying "don't feed the monkeys" just like the signs at Leshan, they are really more of a suggestion, meaning that they are completely ignored. So, all of the tourists who think the monkeys are cute have turned them into food stealing pros. They will just come up to people, jump on their bags and start digging through. When they find something (like your water bottle)they take it, bite through it with their gigantic teeth and drink your water. The people who work at Emeishan have to carry around huge sticks to beat off the monkeys if they get too close to people. Plus, these were not clean monkeys. You would see them digging through trash cans and then the Chinese people would send their four year old children to go pet the monkey so they could get a picture. All around, more scary then I ever thought monkeys could be. It was definitely exciting to see them, but I choose not to ever see a monkey in the wild again if I can help it. Hurray for zoos!
All in all, frightening monkeys included, Chengdu was a fantastic trip. The city was beautiful, the sites were entertaining, and I admit that if given the option I would gladly return for a much longer visit.

2004-05-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

Now that this is up and running you are going to get the highly condensed version of my trip to Chengdu:
I decided to go to Chengdu since it was one of the fabulous national holidays that happen in China. This one was called "wuyi" literally 5/1. My students translated it as "labor day" which I don't think was exactly a correct translation, but I took it to mean that it was basically spring break for workers. Now how national holidays work in China is a little different than in America. Instead of it being one day off for a long weekend, it is usually roughly 5-7 days when the entire country is on vacation. So, imagine the traffic home after Thanksgiving, multiply that in your head to account for the larger Chinese population and then put yourself on a train. That was precisely what I experienced on the ride over. Luckily, I chose the comfy soft sleeper so that there was only four people per room and the door actually closed, thereby cutting down on the sheer amount of noise that people make when they are bored on a 12 hour train ride.
In this comfortable position I got to view some of the most spectacular landscape I have seen in China. The north of Sichuan province is truly beautiful and it was this part that the majority of my ride was located in. We rode through sharp jutting mountain peaks surrounded by swirling mist and periodically punctuated by a vertical waterfall that fell directly to the river below. I have a difficult time separating the memory in my head from many of the beautiful Chinese landscape paintings I have seen since the two were so similar. Perhaps all of those arguments for Chinese painters ignoring realism were actually wrong. I felt as if the delicate brushwork of the vegetation in Chinese paintings was more textural than anything else, yet on this ride I found bushes that mimicked the soft strokes. Also, mist in Chinese paintings is sometimes depicted as almost a tangible object. Yet, rolling through the bottoms of these mountains outside my window was the thickest mist I have seen in my life. It seemed that if only I could jump out of the train I would be able to grab a handful of it and put it in my pocket. If given the option I would gladly spend weeks in the national park located in this area.
But, since my trip was only 6 days long I had to focus on some of the regional delights. I decided to highlight my trip with a nice tour of the city of Chengdu, then spend a day at the panda reserve, followed by a quick trip to Leshan and Emeishan (both mountains).
My first impression of Chengdu was that it was more international and frankly, just more beautiful than Xi'an. The air was cleaner, the streets were lined with flowering bushes as well as tall trees, and there was a plethora of international businesses. As a city of 11 million, it is also just bigger than Xi'an. I must admit, if I were to spend another year in China, I wouldn't mind at all if it was in Chengdu. There were many local gardens to visit, which, though packed with people were still nice. And, there is a river that runs through the heart of the city. In the desert like climate of Xi'an, the site of water is always treasured. Plus, it actually had a copious amount of international restaurants. There are probably a total of 10 restaurants in Xi'an that don't serve Chinese food and though I do love the local cuisine, it is nice every once and a while to have something with a different taste.
And, taste is something Chengdu is known for. Many people in America have probably had Sichuan cuisine and since it packs a spicy punch, you would definitely remember it if you had. Well, that is nothing compared to Sichuan food in its capital city. The first day I arrived I went out for hotpot and I don't think my stomach has been the same since. Basically, it was the most spicy food I have ever eaten. And, it ended up being a somewhat awkward lunch, since I was being taken out by the kind work colleague's of a friend's cousin who happens to live in Xi'an. They were nice enough to pick me up from the airport (even though I had never met them in my life) but I fear that they spoke about 6 words in English so it turned into an interesting lunch since I had exhausted all of my polite conversational Chinese on the twenty minute ride from the train station to lunch. So, on top of my struggling linguistics and burning mouth, I also had to deal with the fact that my hosts were just that, fantastic Chinese hosts. That means that they ordered mainly meat (all of which is questionable by American standards) ate almost nothing, and continually forced me to eat more. Of the things I ate that I do know, I had a strange skinny fish (I fear remarkably like the kind we would keep in an aquarium), cow and chicken's stomach lining, duck's intestines, and something that I fear might have been chicken lung (or perhaps heart I was a little confused where my host was pointing). Now, this wasn't a cruel joke. These people were honestly wonderfully polite and by Chinese standards the best of hosts, especially since I had absolutely no idea who they were. So, though the meal had its moments of awkward, it continued to reaffirm my idea that Chengdu is an interesting, international city to be in. And then there were the pandas...

2004-05-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

Okay guys, I have been having trouble getting blogger to publish my writings so this is just a test run. Mom, if you can read this, e-mail me. For the rest of you out there, just hang out for a day or two and I will get back with my exciting adventures in Chengdu and my upcoming weekend excursion to Luoyang. Sorry for the delay!

2004-04-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

A strange phenomenon that I have noticed while living in Xi'an is that the seasons change remarkably quickly. We had about two rainy weeks of fall last semester and then it was suddenly winter. Currenly, there was a comfortable two weeks of spring which has rapidly involved into a surprisingly warm summer. Most days are over 30 celcius, which I guess is around 80 Farenheit. So, it has caused me to notice that my reactions to the weather shift are vastly different than those of the people around me.
To begin with, my first reaction to any weather change is to wear different clothes. I have pulled all of my shorts and T-shirts out from the back of the closet as normal, but apparently I am the only one. Instead of wearing shorts and T-shirts, most women wear skirts. Literally, one day all of the country decided it was time to wear a dress or skirt. I found this a little bit surprising, since I have not seen a woman wear a skirt in roughly 7 months. In China they are strictly a summer outfit. Which makes sense, but the shoe options I'm having a more difficult time understanding. My summer shoe of choice is the well loved flip-flop. Yet, they are almost taboo here because wearing any shoe without socks is just not an option. Many Chinese people believe you will get sick. And, I assume it has something to do with the level of dirt prevalent on the ground. So, to combat this problem women commonly wear a nylon sock inside their sandals. It looks just like knee-highs, only short (ankle level) and they are worn regardless of the clothes. Skirts, pants, whichever, you still wear the nylon sock. I personally find myself having a difficulty in taking the nylon sock plunge, so I tend to just wear my regular shoes and wash my feet when I get home. Plus, to top it all off, sunglasses are basically non-existent. The true icon of summer a rarity. I see them in stores, but no one wears them. How can they see in the bright sunlight? Curious...
Another thing I find interesting is the food choices that people make during the summer. When it gets hot I find myself existing on cold sandwiches, melon, and salad. Here the food doesn't change at all. People have told me that maybe they eat more cold dishes, but when I present the question the main response I get is surprise. Why would you eat something different in the summer? I see many people literally sweating while enjoying spicy hot pot in the middle of the hottest day of the year. It has caused me to have probably my worst cravings for American food yet. I love hot pot, but in this weather, give me a bland turkey sandwich and lemonade any day.
But, the thing I find the most intriguing is the use of the parasol. I really can't think of a more apt way to describe it. They are just like umbrellas, but made of slightly lacier fabrics that would in no way repel water. Women carry these on sunny days to keep the sun off their faces. People in China are consistently trying to whiten their skin. There are often strange ads for products on TV showing women who look like they have been dusted with chalk. And, this isn't a new thing. My first reaction was to assume that this was an influence of primarily white western culture (since you often see ads that display blonde, white women as well), but as it turns out women in China have been doing this for centuries. They used to eat almonds and tofu (because they were white) to try and improve the quality of their complexion. So, to maintain all of their hard work, women resort to the parasol. I have a difficult time not viewing this as a strange reversion to the 19th century. My mental image of women with parasols is in such contrast to what I see on a daily basis that I almost can't resolve the inconsistency. A modern sophisticated woman talking on her cell phone wearing a top that invariably has badly written English and a pair of trendy jeans holding a dainty parasol with embroidered edges. It is a whole new way to view the summer season.

2004-04-20T00:35:00.000-07:00

Recently I have begun to realize the strange fact that I am actually leaving China. I just gave my last mid-term in China. And I have been helping my parents trip to China which in fact is my last two weeks here. After eight months of living here I am actually going to leave. I can barely believe it.
While I am definitely excited to go home (primarily to eat cheese again) I am also finding myself somewhat sad at the prospect of leaving. Don't get me wrong, China definitely has its downside. The horrible pollution in Xi'an and the fact that people stare at me everywhere I go are two things I will never miss. Never. But, there are many other things that I will be sad to let go. Obviously, the food is one. It is truly fantastic and it just isn't the same in America. There are numerous vegetables available in China that I don't think even have a name in English. Plus, it is impossible to find an oppulent meal for two for less than five dollars in the states. I can't imagine myself going to a restaurant and ordering up a big plate of Chinese noodles and seeing the price come to $15. Also, there is something exciting about ordering food in another language. When it arrives you are so grateful that it is actually what you thought you ordered it honestly makes it taste better.
Also, I will miss many of my Chinese friends. Over the past few months I have gotten to know some people so well that it just seems odd imagining that we will not be spending time together anymore after the next two months are over. It will be strange to start building new friendships with people who actually understand my slang. Plus, it is so difficult for Chinese people to get a visa to come to America that it is practically impossible for them to see me again unless I return to China. Americans are so used to the idea of being able to travel literally anywhere that I still find it mind-boggling how outstandingly difficult it is for my friends to come to America. And, I am not intending to return anytime in the near future (though I would like to come back for the Olympics in 2008 if at all possible).
The last thing I will miss about China is the easy access to history. Anytime I need a little entertainment I can pop down the street to the Small Goose Pagoda, built over 1280 years ago, and enjoy a relaxing walk through the gardens of the temple complex. And that is only one minor tourist site. There are hundreds in this city to visit and they are only a brief taxi ride away. Though I will be living in Boston next year, one of the oldest cities in America, it has nothing on the breadth of the history in China.
I'll admit sometimes living in China is difficult, especially when one of the most common phrases I utter in Chinese is "I don't understand," but I find myself surprisingly melancholy about leaving. Even with its consistent trials (and bad air quality) Xi'an is an intriguing city to live in and I will indeed miss it next year.

2004-04-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

Ah, Easter. Yet another holiday spent in a country that doesn't recognize American holidays. Not that I blame them of course, it would actually be stranger for me if they did (for those of you who follow these musings, think back to the Christmas tree fiasco). But, when faced with the decision of what to do on this most Spring-like of holidays I was suddenly stuck. I had absolutely no idea what to do for Easter in China. The entire concept of brunch does not exist here. I think it would actually catch on quite well if someone were to introduce it, but as it stands it was definitely out as an option. Next, I hit upon the concept of trying to find ham or quiche. While pork and eggs are indeed extremely popular neither one is ever cooked in such a way that it would it at all remotely connect to those traditional breakfast delights. Usually egg is scrambled or sometimes boiled (but then it is generally quail eggs, not chicken eggs) and it is always included in something else, such as with julienne style celery and carrots. Tasty, but definitely not for Easter. Ham is an even bigger problem. I just don't think it exists outside of America and Europe. So, I was stuck with no idea how to appropriately celebrate a fairly popular American holiday. But, while teaching this holiday in class, Dave suddenly struck upon the perfect idea (I assume while trying to explain to his students what a chick was), roast duck!
Roast duck is basically the most heavenly of Chinese dishes. It is relatively popular in America, so if you have had it I apologize for the lengthy description, if you have not, prepare to become hungry. Roast duck was originally eaten in the Ming and Qing dynasties, but then it was strictly by Emperors. It is a lengthy process through which a duck (or sometimes goose) is filled with water and then slowly roasted over an open flame. It takes chefs years to learn how to correctly cook roast duck and only those with the highest skills are allowed to study it. But, it is not the duck alone that you eat. At the nicest restaurants the duck is brought before your table and sliced perfectly so that you get a piece of skin, fat, and meat all in one bite. From these bits of meat you essentially make a duck taco. But, it tastes absolutely nothing like Mexican food. The wheat wrappers are often so thin you can almost see through them (and you will inevitably poke a hole in one with your chopstick while trying to grab it). On top of these wraps you add what is called "plum sauce." It doesn't really taste like plums, but it is a little on the sweet side for Chinese cuisine. Then, you add some small slices of spring onions and the pieces of duck. This combination is basically like a sweet array of flavors in your mouth creating the perfect mixture of semi-sweet and savory. Personally, I think the brilliance of Chinese cooking is in its use of layers of flavors and roast duck is one of its primary examples. But, if the heaviness of the duck becomes too much, this is counter-balanced by a light duck soup (which I assume is made out of the left overs after the carving). The soup is the perfect finish to a truly magnificent meal. What better way to celebrate Easter than to eat copious amounts of unhealthy food and enjoy every single bite?!

2004-03-30T23:28:00.000-08:00

Often China reminds me of America in the 1980's. Technologically they are very similar. About 1/4th of my students have computers, but almost everyone has at least one television set in their home. Also, it might have something to do with the fact that 80's fashion is becoming popular in China. I have heard that this trend is true in America as well, but I haven't been home for it, so it is still something I associate with China. And, the thing that reminds me the most of America in the 80's is the huge fitness craze, especially among the newly rich.
I have been attending a gym since I first came to China and it has steadily gained more and more members. Yet, I often find that there are some distinct differences between the way that Americans act in gyms and the way that Chinese people act. First, is the hand towel. It is a necessary gym item and one that I personally enjoy. Most gyms in America provide them and many even require them. But, here they are basically non-existent. So, when I go to use a weight machine I often have to wipe off the sweat off of it from the person who used it before me. Not very tempting.
The next thing I've noticed is the choice of fashion. In a country where fashion is generally much more conservative (I've almost never seen a woman wear shorts or a spaghetti-strap top) anything goes in the gym. Literally anything. I see women come in wearing what is remarkably close to a bikini. And, these are not the astoundingly pretty thin women. These are the women who I would guess are roughly 40-50 and it is quite clear why they chose to join a gym. In fact distractingly clear. Sometimes when I am on a running machine I have a hard time ignoring the person on the machine in front of me since they have an astounding amount of nude flesh jiggling to their every whim. Even men generally show a little skin. Just yesterday I saw a man who had rolled up the bottom of his tight fitting top so as to expose his mid-section. I am still baffled as to why these people's friends let them leave the dressing room.
Yet, on the other side of this, are the people who consistently wear street clothes. It is no surprise to see a few people in any given aerobic class wearing jeans and a sweater. Though they are the exception to the general rule of gym clothes, I find it surprising that they are not even considered odd or out of place.
Another small difference about the gym is the notably oblivious nature towards other people by most members. It is completely common for a person to sit on a machine for half an hour while chatting on their cell phone regardless of the fact that I am standing there staring at them hoping that they will move so I can use the final machine that I need. In addition, they often play movies on the overhead screens that I find unique to China. Some have been notably more violent then would be generally accepted. The last one was the third "Lord of the Rings" which would periodically have "This movie is for academy consideration only. Please call this number...if being viewed" thereby meaning that the movie was a blatantly pirated copy. And this is an exspensive gym!
Yet, regardless of the exspense, I still find that things here are never completely like America, even if they sell memberships promising that. It is very trendy to be "Western" in China now. Their clothes have English, they enjoy McDonald's, go to gyms and some how the closest that I find is that it reminds me of America twenty years ago.

2004-03-22T01:06:00.000-08:00

Ah, the company has departed and I have finally caught up on grading so it is time to return to the computer. It was fantastic having people visit. It was not only a wonderful excuse to go see a ton of tourist sites in the beginning of spring but also a chance to practice even more Chinese than I usually speak. I admit I was pretty shocked by how astoundingly functioning I have become in China. I can order dinner at roughly 20 restaurants, get where I want to go in a taxi (though sometimes a two minute ride turns into two hours, but we made it!), and have discussions with native speakers. That was very nice to see myself progress linguistically. Though I will admit that I often have to unabashedly tell the nice person who is speaking to me that I have absolutely no idea what they are saying, it is still getting better.
Yet, beyond the language advances, my biggest surprise about having company was my desperate need for a way to categorize the bathrooms. As a general I guess I have just accepted the state of Chinese bathrooms and stopped thinking about them. Suddenly, having recent arrivals made a description other than "it's not like home" more necessary. Well, after a few days we sorted out a system of 1 through 10. 10 is your basic bathroom in a clean American home. Toilet paper, no funky smell, and a door that closes are all a must to make a bathroom a ten. It doesn't even take a classy hotel bathroom to count as a 10. I'm not sure those exist in China unless you are a foreign dignitary. On the other hand, 1 is your basic outhouse. Terrible scent, uncomfortable squatting position, and all of those fun things that any one who has ever been camping in a not nice camp site knows way too well. Now almost no bathroom in China is a 10 due to the small factor that even when it is a nice clean Western style toilet you still can't flush the toilet paper in the toilet. It clogs the pipes. So, you just throw that in the trash can next to the toilet. This is also the hardest thing in the world to remember at 2 in the morning. On average I think toilets in China are about a 4. Western style toilets are not terribly common. And, after 7 months in China I still haven't mastered the lovely porcelain "Turkish Squatter." It is a strange life when one of your biggest challenges is not peeing on your leg. Plus, there is almost never any toilet paper. I have now made it to the point where there are tissues in every article of clothing that I own just in case I might need it. And, as a general, the smell is usually not fantastic, but that isn't true of every bathroom. So, after a few long lunches involving more beers than should be admitted, my ability to quickly (and preferably without too much description) define the state of the bathrooms has possibly become a new life skill. Sadly, I fear it might have even out stripped my ability to speak in Chinese. Well, you take what you can get...

2004-03-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

Spring has finally arrived to Xi'an. After a dark cold winter the days are beginning to get longer and the sun is starting to warm the air. Even the trees have begun blooming. There is a large white magnolia tree near my hotel that has suddenly erupted with flowers. Two days ago I wasn't even sure if it was alive. People are sitting around campus and even the fountains have been turned on. Already I can see my students becoming a little less attentive and a lot more aware of the weather outside.
To add to this general sense of well-being, I have company. Well, technically Dave has company since his mother, father and aunt have decided to visit us in China. They started their trip in Beijing and arrived in Xi'an just in time to enjoy the beginning of spring. This has turned out to be fantastic timing, since it is still cold enough to eat hot pot on any given day and now warm enough to enjoy all of the sites around town. For anyone thinking of visiting Xi'an in the future, apparently March is it. Today, we are going to spend the day wandering the city wall. After walking a long flight of stairs you can be escorted by bicycle pulled rickshaws around the top of the ancient wall, thereby getting a wonderful (though slightly obstructived by smog) view of the city. Today there was a program travel program about Xi'an on the International channel on TV. This truly is a remarkable city. It is a combination of multiracial districts, ancient history, and modern comforts. Having visitors has revived my joy of living in China. Though a little sunshine didn't hurt either. But, with the weather calling and tourist joys to be had, this is going to a very short entry. How can you stay inside during the beginning of spring?!

2004-03-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

Sadly, my fun vacations have come to an end and I have returned to the city I know best, Xi'an. Now that classes have started and the semester is remarkably like the last, I have found myself in a bit of a rut. So, to get out of the monotony I have decided to make a list of one good thing about living in China each day. Yesterday's was indeed one of my new personal favorite things about living in China. The day started out ordinary enough. I jumped in a cab to go downtown to get some lunch and do a little shopping, and as per usual I got stuck in traffic. Not terribly exciting. Apparently some large bus was blocking the road and the large truck coming the other way couldn't squeeze by due to the cars parked along the road. Usually, someone would just back up and let the other person pass, but since it is one of the busiest hours of the day, there was a string of cars on each side of the road multiplying the impass. So, after sitting in this jam for about a minute, my cab driver did something both exciting and remarkable. He just hop his cab onto the sidewalk and sped past this huge traffic jam. Though his exit off the sidewalk at the end wasn't exactly graceful I must admit I was in awe of this man. I can't think of the number of times I've sat in traffic and just wished I could just jump on the large sidewalk or the shoulder and speed past all of the suckers who were not bold enough to try it. Obviously, I have never actually had the guts to try anything so illegal, but apparently in China I have finally found a place where you can. All rules are more like guidelines here which makes such flouting of common laws really quite acceptable. And, traffic is apparently no longer a program. Things are running a little slow, use the bike path. Complete impass, try the sidewalk. No problem. Finally, a logical solution to the traffic problems flooding our nation.

2004-02-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

After the week in Fengyang I was truly ready to leave and head to Hangzhou. There is a common saying in China that "above there is heaven below there is only Hangzhou and Suzhou" I know that sounds (by Western standards) like Hangzhou is associated with Hell, but in fact it is meant in quite the opposite. It is considered one of the most beautiful cities in China and most definitely the most beautiful that I have ever seen. It is characterised by sprawling gardens in every direction and its most glorious feature at the center of the city, West Lake. Though (as every Chinese person has told me) I did not see Hangzhou at its best season I was still impressed by its beauty. The lake is covered in mist during the morning and has a long path that surrounds it so that as you amble around its edge you are constantly confronted with temples, gardens, tea houses and other happy tourists. Now, I might also be biased by the glories of the city, since Hangzhou was at least 20 degrees warmer and my hotel actually had heat so for the first time in about two weeks I remembered what it was like to feel warm. Still, the efforts of the city to enhance its beauty is obvious in every small detail. There are carved reliefs of birds and flowers in the concrete walk ways and statues of famous people on almost every corner.
Yet, aside from just wandering the lake and enjoying the splendid garden views, one of my favourite things in Hangzhou was actually outside the city. The surrounding area of Hangzhou is the place where they grow Dragon Well tea. It is a very famous type of green tea and having never seen a tea plantation I decided it was worth a look. My first stop was the only museum dedicated to tea in the whole of China. It is directly in the middle of tons of tea plantations and was both informative and interesting. It went through the history of tea in China as well as the different types and ways of making tea. Though I have always been impressed by the process this museum really brought home the astounding influence tea has had on both the culture and history of China. After wandering the museum I decided to visit one of the many tea plantations in the area. I ended up stumbling upon a large one by literally wandering through the roads in search of another. This place apparently specialized in large tour groups because they weren't exactly sure what to do with two people, but we got to see the actual tea plants (which were everywhere) and an old man drying the tea in a heated basket. Then, we were ushered to a room where they allowed us to taste one of their mid-level teas. Then, a nice woman proceeded to give us a long schpeel in Chinese about the tea and why it is wonderful. I picked up a surprising amount (having just visited the tea museum which covered the majority of her information) though she was talking at rapid speed. After this it was apparently time for the salesman to come in. Another woman entered and opened these large bags of different levels of their teas. There were a few that were not very good and then there were a few that were the best. Apparently it has to do with the time the tea is harvested and which leaves as to the level of its quality. We were invited to smell the different teas (which is apparently how you tell) and I must admit the difference was remarkable. The lower level ones smelled bitter or barely at all, while the higher quality had a rich aroma. I ended up buying a couple of the more upper level teas while Dave bought a very small amount of the highest quality (which smelled better than any tea I have ever smelled). We are still planning on doing the ultimate tea test and seeing if we can actually tell the difference in the taste of the teas. But, it ended up being both an interesting and exciting experience into the culture of tea in China. I fear that now my growing love of wine is going to have to be suplemented with a new taste for tea.

2004-02-22T23:29:00.000-08:00

The next city I stayed in was Fengyang, but I think classifying it as a city is really not correct. It has a population of 50,000 people, which in China is just nothing. This was truly a unique trip amongst my travels since I had never spent time in the countryside or with a Chinese family. My first impression of the city was that it was surprisingly green. Xi'an is basically the poster child for the concrete jungle concept but Fengyang actually had grass and trees. I was also surprised by the size of the house I was staying in. My friend, Sky, had invited me to spend the Spring Festival with his family, and having been warned that most people live in extremely small homes I was intrigued by the spacious two story house that greeted me. I had my own room (the guest room) and though Dave and Sky shared a room it easily accomodated two queen size beds. But, even though it was spacious it was not warm. Apparently the countryside never gets heat and though Sky's family was rich enough to own a couple of space heaters it wasn't quite the comfortable world of 60 degrees that I am used to in America since it was quite literally below zero every night. Still, two pairs of long underwear and never taking off my jacket makes it possible to deal with any cold. Though after a few days of this you begin to wonder if you will ever be truly warm again.
Sky's parents were both charming and extremely hospitable. They are both teachers and his mother (of course in Chinese, most of which I didn't understand) described them as middle class. Mrs. Li (Sky's mother as I shall Englishize her name) spent a significant amount of her time cooking, which along with photography are her favorite hobbies. Apparently her next favorite hobby was making me eat. There was basically no point in the day in which I wasn't supposed to be eating. After a few days at her home I mastered the skill of eating until I was about half full so that I would still have room for whatever else she was going to make me eat. Since she never had a daugher (Sky is an only child) she seemed to truly enjoy having a girl in the house. Now, my mother often gets teased by my family for being "very mothering" but Mrs. Li would put her to shame! I accepted the routine in the morning that she would sit me down in a chair and then brush my hair. One time, she even put lipstick on me (which, I fear was not a good color choice but kept Dave entertained for the rest of the day since I was too polite to take it off). Mr. Li was also extremely polite. though he spent more time with the boys than with me. It seems that in China the genders are often very noticed. But, this also might have to do with Dave's superior linguistic skills. I spent most of my trip saying "it was very fun" "it is delicious" "thank you."
In between being mothered and eating I also managed to do many traditional things that people do during the Spring Festival. I visited two different Buddhist temples, went to a street fair, had my fortune read (apparently I am going to live until 90 or more), and of course visited lots and lots of Sky's friends and relatives, which thereby involved more eating. I can't tell you exactly whose house we were at on most occassions or how Sky actually knew them, since all of his family friends were also called "Uncle" or "Cousin" so I admit I was thoroughly confused as to any sense of relationship. But, at least by being Sky's foreign friends (i.e. me and Dave) we were always welcome to eat more (and more and more). And, luckily for me I was not a boy since Dave was then invited to drink more and more Bai jiu. The technical translation for Bai jiu is white liquor, but that does not do it justice. It is basically 50 proof alcohol that smells ironically like flowers and is impossible to mix with anything so it is only drunk straight. I took one small glass and was done with the stuff for good. But, it is custom for men (even those who do not commonly drink) to toast other members of the party and then take a huge swig of the stuff.
After one such dinner we then proceeded home to light off fireworks. Though no fingers were lost it was a whole new experience in danger. Not only do they light the fireworks with a cigarette, but I swear the wicks are half the size and the actual firecracker is made of cardboard, so when it explodes you get pelted with it. And, forget the wussy six inch long strings of firecrackers. If it is under two feet long it isn't even worth buying. Since this is an important part of celebrating the Spring Festival, I felt, even after watching all of the men pound back bai jiu, that it was worth the potential life hazard (sorry Mom).
In between huge dinners and celebrations I also got to enjoy some sightseeing around Fengyang. I visited my first Ming dynasty tomb, which was basically a hill with a lot of cool statues. Also, the town itself has a drum tower (technically the largest in China) and an old city wall. But, one of the most interesting things was a renowned cave that is located behind a Buddhist temple. Walking through the cave is extremely beautiful. The stone in the walls is some sort of substance that literally makes it sparkle as if covered in glitter. And, the rock formations was truly spectacular. Then, after making it through the cave you come into this strange outdoor path that was cut directly into the rock. It is basically a gigantic maze that you wander through. Luckily, Sky had the presence of mind to find us a guide who easily navigated this difficult terrain. I for one was completely lost but it was an especially fun trip since the sun was shining and I was surrounded by the trees and rocks. Though people often speak of the poverty in the countryside I had an absolutely fantastic visit. I spent time in fresh air, got to become part of a family, and ate more than I ever thought was possible.

2004-02-20T23:55:00.000-08:00

After Beijing I took my first train ride to a small city called Bengbu (near Nanjing). In Bengbu I met my Chinese friend Sky, and he took me onto his hometown Feng Yang. But, before I discuss Feng Yang, I think describing the train ride is in order. Now, I have ridden on numerous trains in Europe, but trains in China is a whole different experience. Dave and I arrived at the train station in Beijing early and relaxed in the very comfortable seating area for those with soft sleeper tickets. The soft sleeper is basically equivalent to first class (which we didn't have), but since we are foreigners no one questioned us. They have cushy seats, heating, and all other amenities. Then, when our train made it onto the board Dave suddenly got very anxious. And we hurried off to the room where most people wait for a train. When we entered this waiting area I suddenly understood Dave's rush. There were thousands of people packed into a large room that resembled a warehouse. There were a few rows of plastic chairs, but they were piled with people and gargantuan packages that people were taking with them. I will admit, that my gigantic backpack outrivaled them all. But, there was no time for sitting. We had to quickly find which platform our train was leaving from and squeeze in with the other passengers waiting for it to open. Since the trains are so large they do not let you wait on the platform until roughly half an hour before the train boards. This is not very much time, and regardless of whether or not you are on it, the train will leave. Also, many passengers have standing room only tickets, so they are very eager to find a comfortable chair that has not yet been taken. Usually this isn't such a problem, since the trains are almost never full, but I was travelling at the peak season of the year, so there was not a moment to spare for those unfortunate few. All of these reasons led to a sense of urgency in the crowd, and in a place where they don't wait in lines, this means that you are literally squeezed between people to slowly fight your way to the ticket check. Once you finally make it through the check you must find your carriage and squeeze past another group (slightly smaller this time) to make it on. I had chosen to buy hard sleeper tickets. This means that my carriage had about seven sets of beds. Each set has six small beds with a pad, blanket and pillow. You pay according to which position (bottom, middle or top) that you choose. Having the lower bed is slightly more exspensive, because then you have the option of sitting or laying down. Also, there are fold down chairs on the wall by each group of beds that those in the upper and lower bunks can use. It is precisely these chairs that made the rush at our carriage door so difficult to pass. Many of the standing room only passengers attempt to sneak into the hard sleeper carriages to take one of these seats. So, the people who are checking tickets must attempt to shove aside those who do not have tickets for this carriage and allow the rest of the passengers on. As you can probably imagine, this is not terribly easy. But, once you finally succeed in getting into your carriage, locating your bed, and finding a place for your luggage, the rest of the trip is quite pleasant. The view of the countryside out of the windows is nice, and having the option of sitting up or lying down is much nicer than an airplane. You can easily move around the compartment. And, every few hours a trolley with snacks (mainly bowls of noodles you add boiling water to) passes through the cabin. The only disadvantage of train travel is the bathrooms. Though, there is a Western style toilet in the Soft sleeper area the rest are basically a hole in the train that drops straight onto the track. Not quite as nice as the comfortable trip. Then, at exactly 10pm, the lights are turned off and every one in the train sleeps until their stop. Before sleeping there are lots of options for things to do, but for foreigners, it is often characterised by entertaining the children who are absolutely shocked at seeing white people on the train. Parents hope their children will practice English, so they are basically forced to sing songs or do dances for us. If you try very hard, they will eventually get bored and leave, but I've often heard from other teachers that having crayons is a better option. Now that I have mastered the intricacies of train travel, I hope to be doing more of it in the future. Being on the train is very comfortable. Plus, it is definitely the most popular means of travel in China due to its price and convenience. I doubt I could dodge it even if I wanted to!

2004-02-16T23:54:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Quite literally, I have returned to Xi'an and begun a new semester of teaching. It is wonderfully uneventful, since I am teaching the same course as last semester. Now all I have to do is memorize roughly 90 new names and faces and I will be all set for the new year. But, since things are so comfortably the same in Xi'an I am going to now go over my holiday travels in the detail that they deserve, starting with Beijing...
I arrived in Beijing on the night of January 15th and was just overcome with the cold. I know I have said this probably four or five times, but it was just unbelievably cold and the bitter wind didn't help. Still, I had a good time. I chose to stay in a slightly more upscale part of town known as Wangfujing. Wangfujing is basically the classiest shopping street in Beijing. It is noted for its international companies and brand names that I can't afford when I'm in the states. But, it is also wonderfully located within walking distance of Tiananmen square and the Forbidden City as well as being one of the most frequented stops on the subway line. The only disadvantage is that everything costs roughly four times more on Wangfujing, so I spent most of my days trying to get off it.
I had originally planned on leaving Beijing rapidly for the countryside to spend the Spring Festival with friends but the Beijing train station during the holiday was a sight I will never forget. Since you can only buy train tickets a few days in advance of your travel many people start lining up at midnight before the day when their ticket will be sold. This meant that there was probably around a thousand plus people waiting outside the door of the train station when I arrived in the afternoon of the busiest travel season of the year. But, since Chinese people don't really do that whole waiting in line thing, Dave and I pushed and shoved our way to the front (I would like to note, just like every one else) and made it through. Luckily for us, once inside the train station there is a foreign ticket booth, so instead of having to shove through another thousand people we waited for the nice couple in front of us to finish and then get our tickets. Well, ideally get our tickets, it turns out that every ticket but hard seats (exactly what you are imagining by the sound of the name) were taken for the next four days. So, my trip in Beijing that was supposed to be two-three days lasted a week. Including two more fun trips to the train station to check for tickets.
Since I spent two weeks in Beijing almost two years I ago I decided to dodge a few of the most frequented tourist sites and enjoy some other parts of town in my now elongated stay. So, no Great Wall this trip, but I will admit that I did spend part of one day people watching on Tiananmen. One of the most interesting things I did was to wander around the Hutongs. The Hutongs are the old houses that once lined every street of Beijing. They are interesting in their organic design as well as the maze-like quality to the streets. I often hear complaints that many of these ancient houses are being torn down to make way for new Hong Kong businesses, but the tourist industry that has suddenly sprouted around them is possibly their last hope. And, though I was not there at peak season, you can still see the changes that tourism has made. The most popular way to view the Hutongs is on a bicycle pulled rickshaw. These vendors are located on every corner of the streets surrounding the houses and they are astoundingly persistent in selling their wares. Also, the teahouses that line the outside of the Hutong area (though closed due to the season) are notably different than the houses due to the astonishing amount of string lights that adorn their facades. Still, I can imagine this area being both bustling and beguiling in the Spring when it comes to life with both tourists and the families who have resided in the Hutongs for generations.
During this time I also found one of my new favorite places in Beijing, the aquarium. Now, as a general, I try to not visit zoos in China. They are not happy places and one of my teacher friends tells a lovely story about listening to two Chinese men discuss how each animal tastes during her last visit. But, the Beijing Aquarium (located at the end of the Beijing zoo) is completely worth it. It is wonderfully modern with all sorts of interesting and exotic varieties of fish. Plus, they have a gigantic (probably three stories) aquarium that has sea turtles, sharks, and all of those other fish that I imagine you would only see snorkelling. Now the best part about this exhibit is that you have to take an escalator to get out of it and you literally pass under the gigantic aquarium. Seeing a sting ray swim over the top of you is a unique experience. Though I did feel pretty guilty when they served Shark Fin soup at the banquet I attended on New Year's Eve.
Also, part of the thrill of this aquarium is that they have a Sea World-esque dolphin and seal show. I will admit that I have absolutely no idea what the announcer was saying, but seeing a dolphin jump almost thirty feet into the air is cool in any language. Plus, the wonderfully warm and humid atmosphere was the perfect break to any winter afternoon.
No trip to the Beijing zoo is complete without visiting the Pandas. I was lucky enough to get to see a baby Panda that was just recently born at the Beijing zoo. There was not a culinary word in this exhibit, since every one was awed into silence by the cuteness of this little bundle of fur. Watching it play was worth the extra four days in Beijing, anytime.

2004-01-21T00:44:00.000-08:00

I know it has been almost a month since I last wrote and much has happened. I successfully completed the semester at NPU and returned to America for the beginning of the Spring Festival Holiday (which last from now until February 15th). I had a wonderful time in America. Met my nephew, saw friends and family, and remembered what it felt like to speak quickly again. But, now I am back in China. In Beijing to be exact. And, I am running out of time at the internet bar so this will be short and informative (as opposed to interesting and reflective as I generally try to be). I will celebrate the Lunar New Year in Beijing (it is January 22nd and the biggest holiday of the year here). I am going to an oppulent banquet at a fancy hotel where I will eat until I can never eat again and watch an acrobatics troop as well as the variety show that they show on CCTV every year. Promises to be highly entertaining. And, today has already been a good holiday. I went to a temple to watch a lion dance (sort of like the dragon dances that are more commonly known in America, but frankly, more interesting with lots of acrobatics and jumping on people's shoulders) and see a fair like atmosphere. But, that was today and onto the future...
On January 23rd I am taking an 18 hour train to Nanjing and then another 4 hour one onto a small town in AnHui province near Bengbu. Two of my Chinese friends live there and Dave and I have been graciously invited to their home. We had hoped to see them for the holiday, but the tickets were already sold out! We will probably stay here about three or four days. If I can I would like to see the Yellow Mt. and enjoy being in an actual Chinese person's home (instead of a hotel!)
After this stay, it is onto Hangzhou. A beautiful city to the south. It is known for its classic beauty and its tea plantations. Even though it is winter, I am really looking forward to seeing these. Then, I might possibly go to Wuyishan (another big beautiful mountain) but this stop is primarily money permitting. Afterwards I will definitely head onto Xiamen. This city is a glorious port/island that is very close to Taiwan. It is supposed to have beautiful classic architecture and fantastic gardens. Plus, the weather isn't even in negative degrees (like the rest of China!) I plan on spending my time enjoying some sunshine and eating fantastic seafood before heading to the cold northern parts of Xi'an. I am not entirely sure how long this will take me. I am aiming to be back to Xi'an by February 8th to have a week before school starts, but honestly, Beijing has been a bit more spendy than I expected, so the trip might be cut short due to budget constraints. Or, it might end up significantly longer. I hoped to fly from Xiamen to Xi'an, but the ticket is exspensive, so instead I might take the 40 hour train back. I've got some good books and I feel it is part of life in China. From my experience with those who've spent a lot of time in China a really long train ride (especially on the hard seat) is almost a rite of passage. Well, my time is over and my milk tea is gone, back into the frigid Beijing air...

2003-12-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

Well, it is officially the start of the Christmas season in China. Many stores are playing Christmas music, my students have e-mailed me Christmas cards, and stalls selling decorations have popped up all over the city. This was a complete shock to me. I expected Christmas to be utterly ignored by the Chinese populous, but on the contrary it is widespread amongst the young generation. It seems that most of the older generation really don't celebrate Christmas, but my students are totally excited. The irony though is that everywhere I see Christmas decorations I am faced with the fact that I think the majority of the people really don't know what they are celebrating. Let's use the large Christmas tree that sits in the foyer of my hotel as an example. It is your basic plastic tree model, definitely the best choice for a city of 6 million, most people have seen the time. All of the branches fold up onto the trunk and then you unfold them when you want to put it down. Well, the people at the hotel missed that unfolding step. So, the basic form of the tree looks remarkably like a giant arrowhead. Then, they added blinking colored lights (just one string) that is in sort of an S shape on the front half of the tree, not the usual winding method so popular in most homes. Next, over the lights they places two gigantic gold bells that say "Merry Christmas" They are the only ornaments on the tree. Though they also took a few of the metallic colored tinsel-esque garlands and wrapped them around the tree too. All in all, I appreciate the effort, but am a little confused why any one think it looks like a Christmas tree. It honestly resembles a very misshapen rocket more. But, it is amazing that it is Christmas in China too, even if they don't quite understand the traditions. Still, my much smaller plastic tree that has been lovingly decorated with white lights, cheesy ornaments I bought for 1yuan and a bright gold star makes me appreciate how strange this holiday must seem to the sensibilities of the normal Chinese person.

2003-11-27T23:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Well, at least it probably still is for most of you. Currently it is the day after Thanksgiving and the holiday rush is non-existant. It was strange to be having Thanksgiving in China, but it turned out fantastic. There are nine American teachers at NPU, and a couple decided to hold a Thanksgiving potluck at their home. Even though American food was on the menu I will admit that I was skeptical as to what would actually be served. Turkey is basically non-existant in China. I didn't image pumpkin pie filling, cranberry sauce or instant potatoes to be exactly prevalent either. So, all of the food would have to be cooked from scratch with the distinctly limited amount of kitchen resources available. I haven't seen a single home that has more than two burners on their stove and I didn't think any one had an oven, so my skepticism about this Thanksgiving dinner is understandable.
Dave and I had been assigned mashed potatoes and dessert. So we spent all of yesterday trying to make these foods happen. Dave had a brilliant idea to just buy pre-cooked sweet potatoes. There are people with warm carts of sweet potatoes that have been roasted all over the city. People like to eat these as a snack or for lunch. I've never seen someone buy more than one or two. We bought twenty. We just made that one seller's day. And the other two carts nearby were looking distinctly envious of her luck.
Then, we were off to the supermarket for the rest of our ingredients. I decided that any baked dessert was completely out of the question since Dave needed my one pan for mashed potatoes, so I opted for the cookie tray. A solid standby and Oreo's are always available. Dave picked up some milk and we were off. That was when the real cooking begin. Since the potatoes were already cooked, it cut out the first step, which luckily left enough time to mash them. I honestly don't believe that there is a potato masher in all of China, so my small (and somewhat bendy) fork had to do the trick. After an hour of mashing (and two more trips to the supermarket for more milk) we were ready to go. So with our bags of food in hand we headed out to see our friends.
When we arrived I was shocked to find one of the nicest Thanksgiving feasts ever. Our host had managed to find almost every elusive food. There was turkey, cranberry sauce, broccoli casserole, deviled eggs, corn, bean salad, and the mashed sweet potatoes made for a fantastic thanksgiving dinner. We even had an apple cobbler to accompany my cookie plate for dessert. I don't know how she managed to accomplish all of this, but it is the first Thanksgiving I can remember when I was truly thankful for the food. Every year some one always says that they are thankful for the food when you are having Thanksgiving dinner, but this time when I looked down at my plate and was shocked to find completely American food I really was truly thankful for the food. Usually it is difficult to make dinner, but my plate of food represented a hard days work by not just one chef, but nine people working as hard as they could to come up with something normal, not even something fantastic. There wasn't even a roast duck in sight. It was an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving in China.

2003-11-22T19:53:00.000-08:00

I've often noticed that things in China don't always quite make sense to my American mind. Today, when I was walking from my hotel to the internet bar I noticed a man carrying a rooster. Now, I live in a city with roughly 6 million people, so livestock generally catches my attention, but how he was carrying it was really rather interesting. Instead of carrying it by its legs upside down or in a cage he had his live chicken in a plastic shopping bag. Not a flimsy plastic bag, but more like a mesh bag with two small handles. The rooster's head was on one side of the handles and his tail feathers were out the back with the man carrying the handles quite comfortably in the middle. This is just one of those things I usually don't expect to see in America, but I am beginning to accept the introduction of new things as a normal part of my life in China.
Another example is the clothes Chinese children wear. For a long time I have marveled at how such pudgy children grow into such petite adults until recently I realized that the children are not abnormally large, they are just wearing about thirty layers of clothing. Now, obviously the parents are worried about their children being cold, which I can respect, it's really cold here. But, this makes me even more confused about the clothes for the smallest children. Instead of using diapers, Chinese people have just designed clothes without a center seam, thereby allowing the child to just squat whenever it needs to use the restroom. Now, I am going to leave the discussion of sanitation to one side for now and focus on the practicality of this outfit. When it is really pretty close to freezing the youngest of children are wandering around with their backside completely exposed to the cold air. If you are going to bother wrapping them in an ungodly amount of clothing, why wouldn't you close the back door? Wouldn't that one step aid in their general feeling of warmth and contentment? I am still baffled by this.
Now, my final curiousity is the sight I see most commonly. Open manholes. Now, usually in the states if there is an open manhole there is a huge sign around it, probably with yellow tape, and someone obviously working in it. But, this is just not the case here. Probably half of the man holes that I see are just sitting open with no one down them (and I can't help but look) and absolutely no sign to let some one know that they are there. I've heard a statistic that about one child a year dies due to this threat, but they are still everywhere. And, this country is ridiculiously populous. If you bump into someone you don't say "oh, excuse me" or "oh, I'm so sorry" you just keep walking. Now, it isn't that Chinese people aren't polite it is just that there are so many people that bumping into someone probably happens ten times a day and there is just no reason to always say excuse me to such a common occurence. Chinese people are just much more adapted to tighter living quarters than most Americans. Which still leads to my bafflement over the open manholes. When people are getting jostled about constantly, doesn't that make them even more dangerous? Is it that difficult to cover one up? I'll admit I don't know much about the logistics of the manhole, but this is a topic I fear I will be pondering for the next few months. And, isn't that an issue when it rains? There must be something down the manhole of importance, or it would not have been opened, and yet whatever those wires or pipes might be are now completely exposed to the elements. Curious. I will keep investigating these afforementioned cultural differences, but I fear that this is only the tip of the iceburg in a country that definitely keeps me on my toes.

2003-11-20T22:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been much too long since I have written. I have been running around like crazy lately, since I will be coming home for two weeks just after Christmas. I'll admit I am very excited about coming home (and not eating Chinese food for a little while), but it takes a fair amount of organizing. Getting a travel agent, a ticket, a visa, an extension on my residency permit and permission to leave by the school are surprisingly difficult in a culture where people don't like to say "No" to your face, they just say maybe and never call you again. But, in the end it is all good and I am coming home. But, since all of you already know about home, it is time to discuss China...
The real topic of this note is about the cultural relationship between teachers and students in China. I have been surprised by the different nature of the relationship here. Traditionally the teacher is the holder of all knowledge in Chinese society and the students must treat this educated elite with respect, often bordering on reverence, so as to gain this elusive knowledge. But, I've found out recently that this is not the only role of the teacher. Students also approach teachers as mentors. They assume that since teachers are knowledgable in one subject they must know them all. I find that my students are often surprised when I openly admit that I don't know something (especially since their questions are often on the topics of aeronautics, engineering, or computer science). Recently, I have been approached by two students who were curious not about obtruse science questions, but life questions. Suddenly, I was thrust into the role of mentor and I am not quite sure I was ready for it.
My first student's question was about an English exam that all of the students have to take to graduate. NPU requires all of its students to pass what is called the band 4 to graduate from University. Now, from what I have gleened from students the test isn't that difficult and you don't need a terribly high score to pass, but my student was stuck in a hard situation in which his good friend had asked him to take the test for him so that he would graduate. Apparently his friend really didn't enjoy English and had already failed the test twice. I think most American students wouldn't even admit to a teacher that they were dealing with this issue and I think most of them would also instantly refuse. But, it is especially hard to say no to a friend in China, even more so because it was a good friend, and my student was having great difficulty in refusing. I just reminded him of what he had at stake if he got caught and expelled from school. Later, he told me that he did refuse his friend, and I'll admit I am still very proud of him for it. But the whole situation was definitely unique for my teaching experience. It was vastly different than my normal question of "How can I improve my English?"
Today I had another situation just like this occur. One of my students (an auditor techinically) who I had never spoken to before asked me to help her solve her relationship with her boyfriend. Apparently, he graduated a year ahead of her and is now living in another city. This is the first boy she has "ever been in love with" and now he has met another girl in his new city and he doesn't know what to do. She was terribly broken up and started crying in class. She couldn't work out if she should skip class, fly to see him for the weekend, and return by Tuesday or if she should wait until the next vacation. Now, this was an especially hard situation to give advice on. My American brain said, I would totally fly and see him. That way at least she can get closure if the relationship ends and focus on her studying. But, relationships, especially between men and women, are a very different thing in China. Most students are forbade to have relationships before college, and even then most of my students barely date. It seems the average age for marriage is 28-30 for college educated people. So, I decided to probe her for information and found out that her friends and parents had urged her to wait until vacation. I decided that must be the cultural norm and followed suit. But, this situation really threw me. I was very surprised to have a student talk so candidly to me in a culture that is know for its reserve. And, it wasn't even the first occurrence so I doubt that I just have brazen students. I think the role of mentor might be one of the most important aspects of being a teacher in China. The more I learn about China the more I am surprised and intrigued. I wonder what my next Dear Abbey-esque advice shall be....

2003-11-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

Well, since the class schedule got all screwed up last week I have found myself with a fabulous four day weekend, but as usual, the weather has been absolutely terrible. I was planning on going to climb HuaShan, a mountain nearby here that is considered one of the five sacred mountains of Taoism, but luckily I decided not, since today it is snowing. Now, the snow isn't very heavy and it hasn't even started to stick, but it still is a very bad thing since my heat does not come on until November 15th. Apparently, north of the Yangtze river gets heat from Nov. 15th until March 15th, regardless of the weather. Luckily, I am in an area that will get heat, but as it stands now, my room is freezing. So, to get out of my frigid room I decided to act like a tourist and went to the forest of stone.
This is one of the few touristy things I have done since arriving in Xian and it reminded me that I need to do many more. It was wonderful! Xian is a big city, so it is usually crowded and noisy, but when you walk into the front gates of the park it instantly becomes quite. There are lots of trees, ancient looking buildings covered in ivy and very few people. I must admit half of the fun was walking through the park before you even reach the artwork. But, what this place is known for is definitely the art, not the trees. In China there is a tradition of making large stone slabs and inscribing them with writing. These can either tell the story of a heroic battle, mark the passing of a person, capture a classic poem or basically anything else that could be of importance. Since Xian has such a long history, there were thousands of these made. To hit on a few highlights, there is the entire text of the earliest works in China known as the Book of Rites of the Zhou dynasty (which includes the book of changes, book of poems, etc.) This thing was huge! I couldn't believe any one would spend that much time carving into a stone. It was awe-inspiring. But, I must admit that as interesting as the steale were one of the best parts were the animals that were taken from extremely early tombs. There were gigantic carved animals (including a rhinocerous, tiger, horse, etc.) that just loomed over you when you went to look at them. The irony is that these antiquities are basically just sitting in a room without protective screens or even a guard. I saw lots of Chinese people walk up and pet the almost 2,000 year old statues (or at least pet the foot, they really are gigantic). To many of them these things are just old hat. There are tons of these kinds of statues in the history museum and probably private collections around town. But for me, the entire experience was extremely interesting since every time I go to be a tourist I am just shocked by the age of the place where I am living. When I did a year abroad in England I was amazed when I would see churches built in the 1500s, now if something isn't roughly 800 or earlier, I'm really just not impressed.

2003-11-03T21:05:00.000-08:00

There is a set of questions that I get asked on a regular basis. Usually the first is "Where are you from?" or "Why are you here?" Then "How do you like China?" After that it is generally something about whether or not I like Chinese food (Chinese people are really proud of their cuisine!) But, the next questions that invariably come (once they have found out I am a teacher) is "What is the difference between the educational systems in America and China?" Now the answer to this question is much more complex then the previous few. And, I think I might actually have reached the point where I can begin to answer it. Though I will admit that I have never really been a student in the Chinese system, so most of my information is gleaned from my students and the differences in the way that they approach education.
I think when you boil it down to a single statement the main difference is thinking-outside-of-the-box. It is a phrase that was constantly thrown around my college and one that is almost laughed at in my classroom. Chinese students are not taught to meet a problem and critique it. They are told the correct answer and then memorize it. This has made certain aspects of English study very easy for my students. I am constantly amazed by their memorization skills. If they put their mind to it, my students could probably score higher on the GRE then I did strictly through root memorization of vocabulary, but these same students cannot express their opinion about the weather. Now, and this is important, I don't want to sound liek I think the Chinese education system is bad. Frankly, I have some amazing students and I realize that they are dealing with some vastly different problems due to the sheer number of students who want to go to University and the lack of colleges for them to attend. Testing is the only tool I could think of to streamline the vastness of the students who would like to attend. But, it has given my students an interesting set of skills. When I present my students when a problem, such as "If you had an unlimited amount of money, what would you buy?" The answer I receive is usually either, "a house and a car" or "that will never happen. Why are we talking about it?" My students approach their English study as something that I have all of the knowledge of and they have none. Therefore I have the correct answer and they are just waiting for me to give it to them. This gives me a high status in the classroom that I am still not entirely used to.
I have post-graduate students so most of the time they are really good students, but they often complain if I give them an assignment that involves them finding a new way to study English. I did a Listening Activity in class where I read them a story and asked them to write an outline in a set amount of time. My best English student was absolutely mind-boggled by this activity. She didn't understand how it could have any practical value to learning English. I explained to her that often if you are working in an English company your boss will have a meeting. You will need to be able to successfully comprehend what he said and then possibly have to recall that information at a later date. After the explanation she was somewhat forgiving, but this was still much too far out-of-the-box for her to be comfortable with.
I think American students are constantly presented with challenges and rewarded if they find a new way in which to deal with the situation. I had teachers in college who would refuse to give an "A" to a paper unless it was an idea they had never thought of. But, I find that my students will generally regurgitate what I say and then present me with the idea as if they expect me to be so proud of them for listening in class. They expect me to reward them for being able to memorize my opinions. I believe my students enjoy my class not only because they get the entertainment of a foreigner twice a week, but because I try to present them with new challenges in the way that they have studied English. I think it is often the first time a teacher has ever asked them for their opinion.

2003-10-31T23:12:00.000-08:00

Once I heard China referred to as a boiling pot that it can spill over at any time. And, I think for the first time on Halloween I finally saw it. Well, to be more correct, I heard about it. Before I tell this story I should make it clear that I haven't actually seen anything dramatic and I probably wouldn't know anything was going on if the University staff weren't so worried about the foreign teachers knowing that something was going on.
Well, it all started about two days ago when I got a strange call from Tanya, the woman who helps the foreign teachers. She warned me that there had been a fight between some Japanese students at Northwestern University (about four blocks away) and Chinese students at our University. She told me that if I was going to go outside of the campus to just be a little careful and not join any large crowds.
Now a few things surprised me about this call, and it wasn't the fight. Actually, since I have been in China I have realized the deep-seated cultural distrust of the Japanese by anyone Chinese. Mainly this stems from the numerous times that Japan has invaded China and especially the significant amount of war crimes that the Japanese committed against the Chinese in WWII. Now, I must admit what shocks me the most about this situation is that it is something still prevalent in my generation. In America any one still holding a grudge about WWII is definitely at least 70, if not older, but in China my students still dislike the Japanese. Once during my office hours a few of them were asking me about WWII and it was interesting because most of them are just a little bit proud of the Americans for dropping the bomb on Hiroshima. They will begrudingly admit that it was an atrocious mass murder which killed thousands of women and children, but that was definitely not their first sentiments. The irony to this situation is that there are still lots of Japanese students who come to China to study Chinese. I sometimes think it is hard to be an American in China, but I can't even imagine what it must be like to be Japanese. So, when I heard that there was a fight it really didn't surprise me.
What did surprise me was that I was warned not to go outside campus. Basically, every time someone looks at me it is glaringly obvious that I am neither Chinese nor Japanese and this single fact gives me an almost celebrity like status. When everyone is showing passes to get into a gate, I walk straight through. When there are ten people trying to get a taxi, it pulls up for me. Now, the down side to this is that I am also a complete spectacle which people feel it is their right to stare at during any given point of any given day. My strange foreigness allows me almost unlimited access in China to anywhere considered acceptable to non-Chinese eyes (and the latter it is physically impossible to enter). So, whatever had happened must have been much bigger than Tanya was letting on if she feared that something might happen.
Through the foreign teacher gossip line I have gleaned mild amounts of information. Apparently, the Japanese students at Northwestern were doing some time of show. Something in their show offended the Chinese students and the Japanese students refused to apologize so they started fighting. This fight then escalated to a protest downtown. Now, while some unhappy studnets isn't anything all that extreme in America, protesting in China is not something taken lightly, and especially when it is students protesting. Last night during dinner a saw a group of police dressed in full riot gear with battons and helmets. So, this morning, Saturday, the school decided we were going to hold class to give the students something to do other than join the protesters. So, my Halloween wasn't exactly the fun night of scary movies I had planned when I got a call around 8 o'clock telling me to prepare for class at 8am. No one is allowed to leave the school (except of course the foreign teachers whom they don't even question) unless they have specific business. The city apparently erupted on Halloween night and they weren't even celebrating.
I do feel that I should reiterate how utterly safe I still feel in the midsts of all of this. None of it is directed towards me in any way, shape, or form and I honestly haven't even seen a large group of people, just slightly tighter security around the school. But, I can't imagine what it would take to make teachers work on Saturday in America. And, even more surprising, all of my students showed up. This will definitely be my most unique Halloween.

2003-10-29T19:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it has been a while since I have talked about Chinese food, and it is a topic that should never be ignored, so now it is time to deal with the wonderful concept of the hotpot. Since Shaanxi (the provinence I am in) is extremely close to Sichuan, we end up getting a whole lot of Sichuan style food here. Which is generally tasty, and I am slowly becoming more and more accustomed to the spicy factor that over rides every other sensation of taste in my mouth. It is actually very good, but it has made for a few mistakes in ordering when I end up with an entire plate of peppers covered in more peppers. My most favorite Sichuan dish though is called hotpot. I know you can sometimes find this in America, but it is an entirely different experience in China. How it works is that you go into a restaurant where in front of each seat is basically a camping stove with a pot on top. The waitress will light your little stove and then ask you if you want spicy or not spicy. Frankly, I really can't tell the difference between the two, but it is kind that they ask. Then, you look at the menu and order different foods to go into your pot. A combination of vegetables and meat is always a good bet. I know this sounds so simple but when you have no idea what exactly you just ordered it makes for an interesting meal of tofu, seaweed, some strange green vegetable, and what you hope is thinly sliced lamb. Then, while you wait for the food to arrive your pot will slowly work up to a boil. Once it is boiling, you throw in which ever food you think looks good and wait for it to cook. I know this sounds a little dangerous, raw meat in China is really never a good idea, but they slice it so thinly that it cooks almost instantly. And, don't worry Dad, I still give it a few minutes just for good measure.
This is such a fun meal because it is so interactive. You get to make your own soup. It reminds me of times when I was a kid and we would have make-your-own-pizza parties. Plus, the childlike aspect of the meal makes for interesting conversation, usually surrounding around, "What do you think this is?" or "Does this look done to you?" The only problem is that it is actually the most dangerous meal imaginable for children. Having your own pot of boiling liquid and personal fire doesn't sound like the ideal situation for anyone under 13 (maybe not even then). But, all in all it is a fabulous China experience that I would recommend for even the most timid of cooks. And my last burn from accidentally touching the pot is healing quite nicely.

2003-10-26T22:26:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the lengthy break since my last note. Actually, I have been completely swamped with paperwork that needs grading, and to be blatantly honest, I've been going through a little bit of the second stage of culture shock so I really didn't know what to write. At first when I got here everything was exciting, interesting, and different, but for the last week I fear that has started to fade. And, I must admit, that when the glossy coating of excitement fades from China you are faced with a few harsh realities. It is really dirty here. I mean, really dirty here. The air is very dry and there is permanently a layer of dust on anything you touch. Chinese people always bring a newpaper or a tissue in case any part of them has to touch something outside. The "ten second rule" for all dropped food is completely out.
Plus, the traffic is horrific. For some reason the Chinese city government in Xi'an attempted to fix the slow of traffic when someone wants to take a left turn by just making it illegal to take a left turn at large intersections. So now, if you need to make a left turn you just turn right instead and then make a U turn. Not the safest of choices, and frankly I don't think it has helped the flow of traffic in the slightest. There are just too many cars, bicycles, and people for things to flow smoothly on roads that are not well maintained.
Also, I fear I should take a moment for the state of public bathrooms. Basically, I am sure you all have a mental image of the worst bathroom you have ever seen, well, now double it. The only type of toilet that public bathrooms have is the "Turkish squatter." While this style is generally unpleasant for those of us used to the traditional seat method, I must admit it has made Chinese people extremely flexible and able to squat at any given point. Which is a good thing, since the ground is too dirty to ever sit down on. This wouldn't be so bad, since as a general you can dodge having to use a public bathroom and the one in my hotel is a lovely Western model that gets cleaned more regularly than in America. But, over the process of four hours of teaching in the morning every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you are basically forced to have to endure one or go without water completely. Neither of which is tempting.
I know this isn't exactly the most pleasant description of China, but to be fair, I think it is an accurate description of an aspect of my daily life. I still think China is one of the most interesting places I've ever been, but often I wonder why in the world I decided to go to China instead of one of the easy places to live abroad like Europe or Australia. Where everything is clean, pretty, and green. When you are in China there is never a point when you question if you are having a cultural experience. And, even though things sometimes aren't exactly pretty, I still feel like I am really living an adventure even if crossing the street is one of the most difficult points in my day.

2003-10-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I found out that a simple task, such as picking up a package, can become immensely difficult when faced with a foreign language. My mother sent me a package. It wasn't a terribly big one, so I had hoped that it would fit inside the P.O. Box that I share with about five other foreign teachers. But, when I went to look for it I found a small slip of paper telling Anma that she had a package. I first asked my students where this slip of paper said my package was, but none of them could tell me, so I figured it must just be sitting in one of the little rooms near my box. Well, when I finally found the right window it turned out that it wasn't my package they held, but another slip of paper telling me that I had a package (and thankfully where it was). Of course, I had no idea where this new post office was, so I went to ask Tanya, the woman who helps all of us poor confused foreign teachers in China. Tanya told me that it was nearby, just down the road on the left, about two or three blocks. And, it was supposed to be big, so it shouldn't be a problem for me to find it. Last Sunday, Dave and I embarked on this quest only to find ourselves sadly misguided. We walked three blocks down the street (and I don't mean like a nice city block, we probably walked about a mile and a half) crossing each of these huge intersections, until finally we saw a post office. But, when we went inside it turned out that this wasn't THE post office. They sent us down another street on the left (and by sent us down I mean they gestured, we looked confused, they gestured some more and then we decided we should probably leave). So, after wandering down the new street on the left, we found another post office. Same problem. After continuing, we found one more post office. And yes, it was the same thing. Finally, we came across the smallest (and for lack of a more descriptive term), most ghetto of all. There were three doors. The first was a man in a room with a bunch of huge boxes and only a window as an entrance. The second was a room with a lot of desks, and the third was what appeared to be a normal post office. So, after stopping in the third and second (with required gesturing and confusion) we accepted the fact that it was in fact the first closet that we had passed. Then, when we asked the man he told us to wait a minute. Apparently, we had found the right place, but it was unloading time for all of the new packages. After watching two people pile about twenty gigantic bags of boxes into this man's window and him scuttling about to move them all quickly it was finally time for him to notice the confused looking foreigners again. As a side note: after watching them handle the bags of packages if you are ever going to send me anything, make sure it is properly wrapped, airliners are more careful. But, back to the story, the man in the window took my slip of paper, but apparently I was missing something. I handed him my ID card, but it didn't seem to be good enough. Another nice Chinese lady came over and tried to explain it to Dave and I, but that just left both of us more baffled. Then, just a moment before we were about to scrap the whole thing and go home Dave noticed that the man in the window had a new package and it looked exactly like what I was expecting to see. I found out later that I apparently need my passport number on my slip of paper to pick up a package, but luckily, after all of the confusion, the man with the packages gave up and handed it to me anyway. So, after having been given completely wrong directions, no information, and all in a foreign language I managed to procure my prize and take it safely home in a nearby taxi.

2003-10-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

As many of you have probably heard, China recently sent its first man into space, and my campus is going absolutely crazy about it. The focus of the polytechnic school I am at is spacecraft, aircraft, and ships, so this is especially big news for the students here. It is interesting, since I have grown up knowing a word where man has already reached the moon. Just going into space seems almost passe to me. I assume that when someone goes into space they will come back safely. Yes, it is dangerous, but many more make it back than don't. So, watching the space frenzy that has erupted (imagine large signs congratulating China and the astronaut all over campus, which students sign to show their personal support) around campus is making me realize not only how amazing it is that we have this technology, but also how it must have felt during the 1960's when the space program was beginning in America. Over the summer I visited the Kennedy Space Center (which was honestly really interesting, if you have a chance, go) but only now that I am in China am I beginning to understand the enormity of those early missions. In China they did not play the lift off of the spaceship live since they had no idea whether or not it would succeed. It must be such a strange feeling lacking the certainty in the space program that I grew up with. I can now imagine how it must have felt watching those first shuttles and having no idea if they would return. Now that it has succeeded, it has created more national pride (in a nation with a great deal of pride!) than I have yet to see. Dave and I were debating whether or not all of the money that had been put into the space program would have been better served to aid the poverty in rural areas of China (a critique that faces America as well), but seeing the nationalism in my students has made me realize that it is exactly this feeling that the officials hoped for when beginning their movements towards space. I sometimes have a hard time understanding why so many people ask me "how did America get so far ahead? How can China do that?" (a question that is at the basis of surprisingly many of my discussions) because it seems like I am being used for information and might then be discarded. But, a conversation with my Chinese teacher from America and the sheer amount of national pride I've seen has made me truly realize that striving to be the best is engrained in Chinese society, in a way it just isn't in American culture, and most Chinese people see themselves as having fallen behind on a wordly scale. The successful launch was finally an international step ahead for China, and it is this that my students are responding to, not only the excitement of space travel. Even if their is a great deal of poverty in parts of China, they are also the third nation to successfully build and launch their own spacecraft, no one can argue with that.

2003-10-13T00:49:00.000-07:00

I've had a highly entertaining past few days since my Chinese professor from Whitman decided to come over to the mainland and visit Dave and I. She is Taiwanese and is currently on her sabbatical in Taiwan researching Chinese Opera. So, her reason for coming to Xian was two sided. Not only are Dave and I here, but there is a huge theater festival going on. It is called the lilac cup. Every year it changes cities in China, and it was lucky for me that this year it is in Xian. Each province in China sends a theater troupe to present its regional style of Chinese Opera (apparently there are huge differences between the regions, but I honestly can't tell how much of it is regional and how much is just a different play). My absolutely wonderful teacher managed to get Dave and I tickets to three of the most important shows. And, I am sure she had to try very hard to get us tickets (and even a discount!) since the house was packed for every show. Thus far I've seen two plays, the Shaanxi (province I am in) and the Sichuan troupes. The plays were both spectacular! Though I will admit to understanding about 20% of the dialouge. I will go see another play tonight by the Kunming actors.
Chinese Opera is one of the most traditional art forms in China and the people are extremely proud of it. I must say for good reason. The costumes are spectacular, and it is a completely unique art form to China. But, my only experience with it up until now was a show I was in Beijing roughly a year and a half ago that was specifically for tourists. The play was short, only an hour and a half and it was translated into English (which ran on a projector on the side of the stage). Though I was impressed by this show, it was nothing compared to what I have recently seen. I was shocked to find the plays I have seen in the past two days to be so much more vibrant and interesting than the play in Beijing. In Beijing, the actors had obviously presented this play countless times, and it felt like that to the audience. The plays I have seen recently were written for this performance and the actors are obviously excited about what they are doing. All of the sets and costumes were fabulous. I think the best way to explain the experience is to go through each play.
The first play I saw was the Shaanxi version, it was somewhat more simplistic than the Sichuan play, but the set included a huge canon and large red drape across the stage, very dramatic. The play was set in the Qing dynasty in Taiwan (very politically motivated). It told the story of a woman whose father had rebelled against the Qing dynasty and moved to Taiwan, but when the Japanese were given Taiwan as a concession the local Taiwanese leaders wanted to rebel against the foreigners who were taking over so they asked her to join with the Qing dynasty supporters. The play surrounded around her emotional dilemma about joining with the supporters and her love for a man who was one of the supporters. There was significantly more to it than this, but the play was two hours and a half hours long, and I don't have that much space. The second play was also politically motivated, but this time it was against the Qing dynasty. Both the topic of Taiwan joining China and the Qing dynasty being bad (as it was in the second play) are current and political, but acceptable enough to the government to become plays. The story in the second play was about a corrupt government official and the intelligent scholar who tried to fight against him. Since I highly doubt any one reading this will see the play I am just going to ruin the ending. In the end, the Empress Dowager has the scholar killed because it is too dangerous to the dynasty to have highly moral people around. This is obviously quite a critique against the Qing dynasty. This play was much more elaborate than the first, it used a lot of acrobatics and amazing stunts (such as people on stilts during a dream sequence) to emphasize the plot. Sichuan Opera is known for its mask dance, when a character will change faces by rapidly putting on and taking off different masks. A character in this play did one, and I didn't even see it coming. He instantly had on a new mask. I swear, you can't even see him put it on. I must admit, though the first play was beautiful, I was very impressed with the skill of the second play. The sets were more elaborate. They had a painted backdrop that would show the people moving by scrolling across the screen (much like viewing a Chiense handscroll). And they used other back drops that would become semi-transparent when the lighting was correct. It was an amazing effect, and well used by the group. Also, it had a lot of long sequences in which no one was talking, which was nice for me. On the side of the stage they have all of the words in chinese characters on scrolling electric signs. I am by no means fluent (and they scrolled extremely rapidly!) so I spent half of my time trying to read the characters, and the other half watching the action. Eventually I would give up and just watch the action, at which point my teacher would always lean over and tell me what was going on, which would then get me interested, so I would start reading again. I swear it was worth the headache I had at the end! Also, both of these plays used vibrant colors and a uniquely Chinese music style. Though it was a little depressing that one of the lead characters always dies in the end.
One of the things that surprised me the most though was the audience at the plays. Unlike a stereotypical Western audience they were really loud. People talked through the whole play. I think they were mainly discussing the play, but it still surprised me. This also meant that the microphones were up really high, so it was a loud two plus hours of Chinese drama, but an experience that was completely worth it! I think I have had my cultural dose for the week.

2003-10-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

Today is the 65th anniversary of my college, which has turned out to be a very big deal here. Though I have not been able to find a good answer to why this is so, apparently the 65th anniversary is the important one in China (much like we would celebrate the 50th) so the school has gone all out. Our campus has been under construction since I came here, and now there are large banners, new art work, and flowers all over every building. It is very beautiful, and it is the first day I have ever seen the campus without construction workers milling about. Also, there are speeches, lectures, and programs happening all day long. The first of which I was asked to attend this morning. Though I'll admit I was a little less than excited about waking up to go listen to a speech that I was most likely going to understand five words of it ended up being pretty fun.
First, all of the foreign teachers met outside of the home/hotel to walk over to the stadium where the ceremony was held. This was an entertaining time since it gave all of the foreign teachers a few moments to compare notes. As with any big event that all of the teachers have to attend some of us knew about it for days, others for five minutes. There is an entertaining information gap that seems to be part of our school's administration system. No one is directly in charge of getting information to us teachers, so sometimes one person finds out and the others don't. Or as more often happens, almost everyone finds out except for the one person who finds out about two minutes before they are supposed to be somewhere. Now, since this happens with normal things (like banquets or meetings) image an entire day of events that no one was completely sure about. Then, after a lot of debate over exactly what was going to happen today, we all headed over to the stadium. It was decorated with all sorts of colors and all of the students were wearing different uniforms (I'm still not sure what they represented). They sat all of the foreign teachers together, then we all waited for the ceremony to begin. And we waited, and waited. It reached the point where every child in the audience was playing together on the field, and Dave and I were enjoying a rousing game of I-spy (which is pretty entertaining in another culture, since there are always interesting or funny things to notice). Finally, a guy carrying a bunch of balloons (being chased by all of the bored children) headed to the podium. He released the balloons as well as about fifty pigeons (no, not doves) to begin the ceremony. And that was the last thing I understood. Apparently the loud speaker wasn't working today (which I think was what took so long to start the ceremony) so all of the teachers couldn't hear a word of the various speeches being given. I sat for about two hours chatting with all of the Chinese English teachers who I had't met (sine I work for the graduate school) and thoroughly enjoyed the morning. Their English was really impeccable, and it was fun to discuss my students with teachers who understood both sides. They are always extremely interested in the new foreigners and it turned out to be so much more fun than listening to speeches. Plus, half of what the foreign teachers do in situations like this is just PR for the school. We look like foreigners to all of the important people who came to the ceremony, so I am sure that they are extremely impressed with the education level of the school. So often in China I realize that who I am is not terribly important here, but what I represent is.
The entire fiasco is a pretty good description of how things often happen in China. No one seems to be good at giving direct information and periodically things break down, but it usually turns out to be an enjoyable day. Next, I have a lecture on something at 3 o'clock, and there is supposed to be a very famous musician playing tonight at 7 that I was given tickets to. That is the extent of my information, but I am looking forward to the anniversary day.

2003-10-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

Since it has been raining absolutely everyday since the holiday started, I've decided to take this time to discuss one of the things that I deal with daily: Chinese TV. I walk everywhere here, so the rain has put a huge damper on all of my ideas of visiting parks and markets over the holiday, so the television has become something I know well. At any given point in the day (or night) you will be able to find at least one station playing Chinese Opera. This is the traditional culture form that most people in China are extremely proud of, but I think it is safe to say, isn't shown in it's best light on TV. Though the costumes are nothing short of spectacular, the sets are designed to be minimalistic, and the dialogue is slow, archaic, and almost unintelligible due to the stylized nature. Plus, most of the characters speak and sing in the traditional Chinese style that is more high pitched than most westerners can handle for much longer than ten minutes. Now, I don't want to give the impression that Chinese Opera is bad to watch. Honestly, when it is on the stage it is really impressive to see the actors highly trained skill, but it isn't exactly what Americans expect to find on TV.
The other staple of Chinese television is the soap opera. But, these soap operas are always set in the Ming or Qing dynasty. So, much like Chinese opera, the costumes are fabulous, and I have no idea what is going on. At least in these the sets are interesting and often there are Chinese subtitles for any one who cannot understand the dialect that the actors are using. Then, there are all of the basic things that characterize American television: movies from the 80's (Chinese of course), cartoons (translated into Chinese), bad sitcoms (usually out of Hong Kong or Taiwan) and the periodic music video hour. Now the music videos are kind of interesting because they look, sound, and act exactly like MTV, but they are Chinese singers. Many Chinese people in their teens and early twenties are obsessed with American pop music, and it is on all of their videos. There is one girl who looks and sounds exactly like Mariah Carey, but, she's Chinese. These different programs are a pretty good reflection of the vast range of tastes that characterize the generations in China. Though, I think the same could probably be said for America. I can't imagine my grandmother appreciating the sound of MTV for longer than ten minutes.
Well, now it is time to go brave the mud incrusted puddles that have taken over the street and find a good shop for some warm noodle soup. The only choice on a cold rainy day.

2003-10-01T04:40:00.000-07:00

Currently, China is celebrating yet another holiday. This one is significantly bigger than the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, since I won't be teaching from the first till the fourth of October. It is China's National Day and they are celebrating the founding of the PRC. It is actually the 53rd anniversary. The main activity appears to be a flag raising ceremony in every big city (especially Beijing) and often fireworks. It seems a lot like the fourth of July, but without the barbecue. Since this holiday doesn't exactly pertain to me and lacks the tradition of the moon cake, I think the best part about the holiday is the break. I was planning on going to Northern China to ride a camel in the desert, but I became painfully aware of the other tradition that is part of the National Day Holiday, travelling. It seems as if every single person in China likes to travel over this break. I heard that they took 700 trains out of retirement just to try and compensate for the influx of people. When I started asking my students if they were going to go home to see their parents and they laughed, since it was so difficult to travel, I became just a little worried. So, in the end, enjoying the many still unexplored splendors of Xian became a much better option than riding on a hard seat on a slow train for 17 hours. Yet, it has, much like the fourth of July in Washington state, been raining the entire week. So, keep posted for fun and exciting adventures that are waiting for a cloud break and I am off to go celebrate the holiday by eating at what I lovingly call "the communist restaurant" since it is covered in green and red and has huge framed pictures of all of the dead leaders of the communist party. Plus, they have the best hot plate in the city. It is literally an iron plate that they heat up, throw raw veggies on, and cover in steaming hot sauced beef. Then, you wait for it to stop boiling before you enjoy. Yummy.

2003-09-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

Usually, when I am heading to the center of Xian's downtown, I tell the taxi driver to take me to the bell tower (which is right in the middle) but that is always a little difficult, since cabs aren't actually allowed to stop next to the bell tower. So, Dave and I were told to try the drum tower. It is another large tower but it is just a little off center, so cabs are allowed to stop there. This last weekend I tried this tactic, and ended up stumbling upon the most amazing market in Xian. At first, I thought the taxi driver had misunderstood us and was taking us nowhere near the drum tower because the car was winding through these absolutely tiny streets lined with food shops (and when I mean food, I actually mean large stalls of raw meat). But, slowly these stalls started to hold not meat but the most interesting assortment of wares I have ever seen. It turns out that the cab driver dropped us smack dab in the middle of the Muslim market district at the back of the drum tower.
Now, these markets aren't how you would imagine markets in the States. Though some of them specialize in a certain type of goods (such as clothes, purses, or calligraphy supplies) most of them are a conglomeration items. These stores are cheasy tourist gifts, traditional wares, and antique shop all rolled into one small package. And, there are just miles of them. They sell everything imaginable. Watches that have a waving Chairman Mao, traditional chinese papercuts, enameled ornaments, and ceramics that look like they have sat in the shop since the beginning of the century. It is actually really easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff in these shops. Plus, when Americans wander anywhere they are a target for attention, but never more so than in a market. You can hear people shouting "Hello!" at the top of their lungs as you pass. And, the shop keepers know just enough English to sell their products, so phrases such as "Come in, you take a look, maybe you like" or "I give you low price" are all part of the day.
To be warned, the part about giving you a low price is just a lie. That is why any one who isn't Chinese is a target, since the shop keepers know that they will be able to fanagle you out of significantly more money than your Chinese counterparts. Generally, the price any shop keeper gives you is 3-4 times more than you should pay. But, bargaining is still difficult. If you choose a starting price that is too high, you are destined to pay significantly more than you should. But, if you choose a starting price that is too low, you will insult the shop keeper and they will usher you out of their shop. The best way to deal with this is to speak Chinese. It automatically gets you half off. Plus, Dave and I always use the "but, we're students" excuse. It works wonderfully. And, even when I tell people that I am a teacher here they don't believe me, since I look so young. Then, in the end, you always end up arguing over the last kuai (i.e. 1/8th of a dollar) and feeling a little silly about it when you realize that you just spent ten minutes arguing over less than 20 cents.
Though it is a little intense, the markets are definitely one of my favorite things to do in China. No matter what, you will always be amazed by something you find, and it is a lot more entertaining that my 40 channels of bad Chinese television.

2003-09-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

Now that I have been teaching for two weeks I am starting to make relationships with students, teachers, and superiors and I am beginning to deal with a particular aspect of Chinese culture known as guan xi (pronounced gwan she). It is usually loosely translated as face, but that is a limited definition in the slightest. What it is is both a quid pro quo relationship and a process of not embarassing either party. Sound confusing? It is. Even Chinese people are a little sketchy on the correct behavior in a given situation. I think the best way to explain this is through example. My laptop computer recently gave me the worst warning I have ever seen on a computer in my life. Literally "Warning: Hard drive 0 failure is imminent" Now, I don't know a whole lot about computers, but I know the hard drive is the last thing you want to have fail. Luckily, there is a tech support place in Xian, but since I can barely order dinner I wasn't exactly looking forward to the idea of trying to translate what was wrong with my computer. But, Chinese people (especially boys in my age group) know a lot about computers, so I asked one of my students. He agreed to go with me to the tech support place and help me out. But, now, he has done me a huge favor, and the guan xi problem enters the picture. I owe him. And by chinese standards, I probably owe him big for this favor. He went with me in a tax and spent the afternoon explaining all kinds of difficult computer things to me. So, how to repay the favor? I don't want to do something too big, because then he is in my debt. And, since I am already his English teacher and my spending time and practicing English with him counts as a minor favor it is definitely a fine line. I can't think of a gift that would be appropriate, so I decided to fall back on the good standby of buying people food. But, when I invited him to dinner, he was interested, but obviously not ecstatic. So, I tried inviting him over to my house to cook American food. Plus, his roommate helped with the computer a little, so I promised both of them that I would make them dinner and get the other American teacher (i.e. Dave) to come along. Now, not only is there the process of greater English practice, but they get two foreigners (a distinctly rare commodity) and food they have never been exposed to in some one's home. This was definitely a better option since neither of them said anything. I am beginning to learn the exact sound of the silence that many Chinese people make when they really want to do something. I think it occurs since they want to do something so much they feel they are being forward by asking for it. So, this Saturday I now have the challenge of making dinner in the limited kitchen space in my apartment, and doing such a good job of it that I no longer owe any one a favor. I'll have to go find American beer.
But, this is only one example of guan xi. The other part of guan xi is basically trying not to undermine, embarass, or insult any one who someday might give you a favor. The other day I was in the waiban office looking for one of the people who work there when I ran into the director. Since the director is every one's boss I had to tread carefully. I didn't want to appear that I was put out by the absence of Mr. Liu (who I was looking for) because I really didn't want to get him into trouble (though I think he is actually in his office once every 3 days). Also, since I was there to see Mr. Liu about possibly teaching more classes (which I declined) and I wasn't entirely sure if this was okay as far as the director is concerned (since Mr. Liu made it clear to me that I should only speak to him). I also had to quickly come up with a reason why I was looking for Mr. Liu that was neither the truth nor important. Since I really didn't want to teach the class it was important that I didn't get Mr. Liu into trouble and thereby owe him a favor.
It is amazing how much gets done through this system in China. It gets jobs, supplies, information, basically whatever you need through a system of relationships and favors. It seems as if Chinese people kind of have a running total in their head of who owes them and who they owe. I came to China thinking the language was tough, but I fear relationships are possibly even more difficult to navigate.

2003-09-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

Well, after a few poignant e-mail questions, it dawned on me that I've been a little vague in the minute details of what I've been doing here. Currently, I am teaching three classes that meet for two hours twice a week (or a total of 12 hours teaching). These classes all meet MWF morning from 8-12 (luckily with a few breaks inbetween!) I am teaching all of the same class which is a conversational English class focusing on increasing the students speaking ability. Though most of my students have taken 10 years of English and passed large written exams, their spoken English is honestly not amazing. Most of my students have never had a native speaker as their teacher nor any extended contact from someone who is a "foreigner" (as I am constantly called). I think this has led to an exstensive progression of mistakes in their spoken English that gets passed down through the generations of teachers and students in China. So, right now, this is the majority of what I am doing. I have three office hours a week. These usually are not much like office hours and are actually much more like small conversation groups for whoever chooses to show up. Also, I am continuing with my Chinese study Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8-10. I fear that they stuck me in a class that is a bit above my level, but I am managing to struggle through. Luckily, the text book has English definitions. Which is honestly surprising since all of my other classmates are from Japan or Korea. But, since there are only four of us, I think I will be able to catch up quickly. This is a far cry from my English classes, which have roughly 40 students in each class. This makes my biggest problem of every week how to teach 40 students to speak English when I barely have time to make each of them talk once. Well, we do a lot of small group discussion, and I keep tally of every one I've had speak (or do a role play, or voiced an opinion, etc.) so that even if I miss some one they will have to speak the next day. I am using a text book designed to teach English that has topics like: shopping, weather, or restaurants. So, I am just basically trying to get them to talk and teach them a little culture inbetween. I get much bigger response from my culture lessons. It is funny suddenly have 40 people stare at you when you are explaining about shaking hands, or going to the mall. But, that's my life right now!

2003-09-19T00:22:00.000-07:00

I have now successfully completed my first week of teaching, and it feels good to have that under my belt. I think I might have permanently damaged the rate at which I speak, but I think it is often still too fast for my students, even though i feel like I could count to three between words. I have a lot of empathy for them. I also started my first Chinese lesson this week, and I don't think my Chinese teacher breathed between sentences when she was talking. It is strange to be both a student and a teacher in the same week. But, I think my students appreciate the fact that I am in the struggle with them to acquire a new language. And, they are much farther along than I am. I am teaching vocabulary such as rational, versatile, or diplomatic, but I am learning gorilla, tiger, and courtroom (I'd like to say the story that combined those three words was pretty entertaining).
In class our theme is introductions. I am focusing on talking about people's personality and how you meet someone. It was interesting going over what is acceptable to discuss when you have first met someone and what isn't according to the American standard. I am still working on breaking my students from always saying "I hope we will become good friends and share happiness and disappointments" or something like that. I see how it is extremely polite in a Chinese sense, but what would you say to someone you just met who said that to you? Thanks, I feel awkward now. Also, a difficult one to break my students from was asking about how much money some one makes. And, then there is the loving way in which they tell some one they're a little bit fat. It is supposed to be some what of a compliment here, like they are looking happy and healthy. But, it might make some one cry if they told them that they look a little fat today. Since it is Friday, I am too tired to debate the cultural implications to each society for being hyper-sensitive about money or weight. Instead, I will leave them for all of you to discuss at length and enjoy the mental image of a poor Chinese exchange student meeting their American boss without the aid of my informative class.

2003-09-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my first day of class at NPU. Finally, so many of my still unanswered questions were solved. I had just shy of forty students in each class, and their English level I am going to categorize as advanced intermediate. They couldn't always understand what I was saying, and their vocabulary was definitely limited, but they could express themselves pretty well. Since my courses are conversation classes I started by having every one in the class chat with a partner for roughly ten minutes then I would randomly choose people to come to the front and introduce their partner to the class. This turned out surprisingly well. I had only planned on having a few students come to the front, but once I started, other students kept voluteering, so I went with it.
It was interesting hearing a brief biography of my students. The basic biography is that they are 21-23, graduated from university in an obscure aspect of science (i.e. molecular engineering, telecommunications, space technology), and would like to make friends with the class (apparently this is something you say when meeting people in China). Also, I had a few boys that turned this into a good time to advertise their friends to all of the single girls in the class. The dating scene in China is interesting since there are less girls. Most of the boys in my class appearred very eager to meet the woman and hopefully procure a girlfriend.
Many aspects of their lives were much different than I had expected. The thing that surprised me the most was that most of my students had siblings. I had thought with China's one child policy that about 90% of my students would be only children, but it was more like 1/3 of them, or maybe even 1/4. And, many of the students who had siblings had two. I am not entirely sure how things worked out this way, but I think the one child policy is much less stringent than most Americans believe it to be. But, I have to admit that there was distinctively more boys in my classes than girls, and that most of the girls also had male siblings.
Also, there was a huge discrepancy between where they came from. I had roughly 10 students out of the 80 that had graduated from NPU. Most of them went to different universities all over the country, and their hometown was somewhere else entirely. I had a few students who categorized their parents as peasants, which I thought was interesting. Those students must have worked very hard to get to school, and I am sure their families sacrificed a lot for their education. I also poignantly realized how little money many of the students have when the topic of the text book came up. The book is published in Beijing, and is a small paper book that costs 13 yuan (just under $1.50), but most of my students asked me if they had to buy it. Most of my lunches cost more than that book.
I am making each of my students take on an English name. My theory behind this is that if they ever go to an English speaking country they need a name that the majority of the population can pronounce. And, in every language class that I've taken I've been given a name, it's fun and I don't think I'm being unorthodox. But, in the process of trying to find a name for the students I reached a very interesting different in the cultural understanding of what a name is. I think most Americans give their children names that either honor a friend/relative or just sound good. In China, you take a name that sounds good, but most importantly has a good meaning. I have some normal names like Tony, Bill, or Nancy, but I also have a King, Stone, Rainsplendid, and Potato. Plus, I've been warned that my students will probably change their names on numerous occassions throughout the year since names are something more fluid in Chinese culture. Each student has an individual number used to differentiate them in case they change their name. Next week in class I am going to bring in a list of some names and their meanings so as to help the rest of the class choose names that are slightly more comprehensible to the English tongue.

2003-09-13T00:09:00.000-07:00

I have now officially had my first experience with a Chinese hospital. Now, before you get worried, I only had to go to take a couple of minor tests so that China would let me get my green card. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm not sick! But, it did end up being a highly insightful, though not exactly pleasant experience. Dave and I started the day by meeting with our waiban host. The waiban is NPU's office for foreign relations and our host (a woman about my age who uses Tanya as her English name) is the one who I call if I have to do anything in Chinese. So, she takes us to the doctor, helps us with any problems with our room, and picked Dave and I up from the airport (even when our flight arrived just shy of 1am). Basically, the woman is a saint. She goes above and beyond her job to help us out at any point, and her English is really pretty good. She promised to take the foreign teachers on a tour of Xian once the school's 65th anniversary is over in October.
But, I have gotten off the topic. Tanya, among her many graces, also took us to the traveler's hospital to get the tests done. This in itself was a distinct inconvenience to Dave and I since both of us had taken a fair amount of time in the states getting just a ridiculious amounts of tests and check-ups before we left so as to fulfill the Chinese requirements. Included in this was an EKG, HIV test, chest X-ray, eye exam, and a few other forms that had to be filled out. But, apparently they were unsuccessful and we needed to redo the Chest x-ray and the blood test. It took us roughly half an hour waiting in the doctor's office before any one could figure out exactly what we needed though. Then, after waiting, we went to get the X-ray. In the states, getting this X-ray had been an ordeal. I had to change into one of those blue smocks, then they took roughly six X-rays, then I had to wait for the results to make sure the X-rays were successful. Not so in China. Here they didn't even ask me to take off my watch, snapped on shot, and we were off for blood tests. This is where it started to get painful. To be honest, I'm really not a big fan of the idea of a needle being stuck in my skin (really, who is?) but something penetrating my skin in China is even less enticing. I was warned before coming over that they often re-use needles at hospitals (because they are so exspensive) and to make sure they open one in front of me. Luckily, they did just that, but it was about the largest needle I've ever seen for a simple blood test to find out that, just like it was written on my sheet, my blood is A+. Then, to add injury to the insult of having to take the test, the woman couldn't find my vein on my left arm (after poking around quite painful for a little while) and had to open another needle for my right arm. Which she did successfully draw blood from after the wiggling the needle process. Plus, and I know this is childish, but my doctor's office at home has an extremely relaxing picture of a sleeping pig on the wall next to where they take your blood, and I believe having the pig to stare at makes it hurt less. In China, it was cracking walls, or one large sign that I couldn't read. Then, once all of this was over, Dave and I paid $236 yuan for the tests.
Now, after hearing the pessimistic aspects of my hospital trip, I must admit a few things. First, the hospital was pretty clean. Second, the whole process took roughly 45 minutes (which I would like to say was significantly less than when I did it in the States). Also, whenever in situations like this, it reminds me that China has very different priorities in employing people than America does. In America, our top priority for a business is does it work? Does it make money? Is it moving efficiently? In China, it seems to me as if the top priority is: does this business employ people? Ever time I get tired of the red tape that you often have to go through here I remember that unemployment is a huge issue when you have the world's largest population. Making traveler's retake these tests took roughly twelve people. On a mass level, this is a huge amount of jobs that the government is providing. I have to respect that, even if it is inconventient.

2003-09-09T23:29:00.000-07:00

In two days, people all over China will be celebrating the Autumn Moon Festival. I admit, I'm not entirely sure what they are celebrating, but the information I have managed to extract from travel books and experience is that September 11th is the day when Chinese people celebrate the full moon. It isn't always the eleventh, but since it is based on the lunar calendar and the time of the full moon, that's when it is this year. This holiday is traditionally a time for lover's (sort of like Valentine's Day) and you are supposed to sit under the open sky, eating a moon cake, and gazing adoringly at the moon, which is supposed to be its fullest and brightest right now. There are a variety of legends why people gaze at the moon. But, the basic outline of the one I have heard most often is that one day ten suns appeared in the sky, a mythical archer named Hou Yi was ordered to shoot down all but one. Upon completing his task he was given/stole the elixir of life that made you immortal. He had a beautiful wife named Chang Er who stole the elixir and drank it. She was then forced to live in the moon for eternity and it was enhanced by her radiant beauty. The stories I have heard differ in whether Hou Yi was a tyrant or a hero, and whether Chang Er was a savior or a thief, but the outline is the same.
Though the traditional story is interesting, I must admit, my favorite part is without a doubt the moon cake. Oh, sweet goodness of moon cake. They are yummy little sweet buns with pretty decorations cut out of the pastry on the top. They are filled with some sort of sweet paste. I've come across red bean paste the most, but there are also some with a sort of dense fruity jelly inside. I think there is supposed to be an egg yoke in the center traditionally, but I haven't actually seen one like that yet, which is probably a good thing. They really aren't cake like we think of it, but more a thin layer of sweet bread. The moon cakes can either be square or round, depending on the bakery, and they are generally given as gifts. All of the stores are selling nicely packaged mooncakes in red and gold boxes. Right now, all of the freshman on campus are just arriving, and I constantly see parents forcing boxes of these gifts on to their children. Go to a Chinese market now and find one if you can, they are absolutely delectable. I am dreading the end of the Autumn Moon festival and the subsequent loss of the moon cakes. I'll admit, I usually can't wait until night to eat mine.

2003-09-07T23:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the rain in Xian finally cleared. It has been just pouring over the past week, with only mild breaks, so it has made doing much more than reading teaching material or watching DVDs pointless. But, with the sudden sunlight, Dave and I decided to wander around the city to the park that surrounds the Xian's wall. It turned out to be a day of enjoying the antiquity and traditions of the city I am now living in. As I think I've mentioned earlier, the wall was built during the Ming dynasty (c. 1500) and is one of the few walls left in China after the cultural revolution. It both confines and defines the downtown area of Xian with only a few entrances in and out. It is a formidable stone structure with large towers over the entrances and a mote around the outside. I can image Xian as a vibrant capital city that defended itself against all sorts of foreign invaders during the Tang dynasty, but now the wall has less of a militaristic feel and I might be the only foreign invader. There is a path that runs directly between the wall and the mote, creating one of the city's nicest parks. There are chairs scattered about under the trees to provide a nice place to sit in the shade, which many people take advantage of. Across the mote, there are some classically designed buildings, one of which was having a concert that afternoon on a covered terrace. From this vantage, it is strange to see the high rises standing farther in the distance. They see much more out of place than the old men fishing in the mote.
When we entered the large south gate, Dave and I headed to a market right along the inside of the wall. It seems that Chinese stores generally (though by no means always) group themselves according to category. Outside of the East gate of my school are mainly bakeries, DVD, and flower shops. Whereas the South gate is mainly coffee shops, restaurants, and bars. The market we wandered into yesterday happened to be much more traditional, with the stores specialized in paintings, calligraphy supplies, jewelry, or bronze/jade carvings. It was the perfect end to our walk, since the architecture matched the wares in style. The buildings were all traditional, making the whole area appear to be the set of a film about China. Apparently Epcot misplaced its China section by about two continents. The only thing missing was the English translations. Since we only get four channels on TV in English (and it has been raining) I fear I've been watching too much of the Discovery channel and National Geographic, but yesterday I actually found a place that could rival the temples of Cambodia or the tombs of Egypt for their cultural appeal. Often, Xian just feels like a big city, but yesterday I couldn't get over the sensation that, wow, I'm in China.

2003-09-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

Since I have copious amounts of free time on my hands right now, Dave and I decided to visit the Shaanxi history museum today. The museum itself was interesting not only for the objects inside, but for the building itself. The architecture of the building was one of the best combinations of modern and traditional China that I have ever seen. Every travel book complains about the modern style of Chinese architecture, commonly referrred to as "white tile architecture" since it is just that, an entire building covered in gigantic bathroom tiles. They aren't always white. The hotel I live in is actually kind of peach, but it is the same basic idea. I'll admit, I must agree with the travel books, the style lacks charm, to say the least. But, the traditional style of Chinese architecture (picture buildings with rooves of ceramic tiles overlapping each other and ending in graceful curves) is hardly practical when cities are dealing with more people than I think I can even fathom. But, the history museum actually managed to unite these two styles. It had the traditional lay out of a Chinese home (beautiful grass courtyard surrounded by walls) with the traditional roofing, but the walls were actually white tiles. It really worked visually. As I was wandering around the museum looking at its display of artifacts from the history of the Shaanxi province (which has been inhabited by people since roughly 5000BC), I was contemplating the difficult challenge that faces modern China. How can you take a culture that has been around for just thousands and thousands of years and unite it with a world that is consistely globalizing and becoming more homogenous each minute? I don't think any one has the answer for that. But, I see the question asked almost everywhere I look. Xian is a huge city of sky rises and traffic problems, but on the side of the street, rural farmers with large wheelbarrow like carts bring in vegetables to sell. I am teaching at one of the best polytechnic universities in China. It's students will most likely go on to be leaders of their fields in engineering, space technology, etc. These students will help change their country. But, here they are, living in a city that is surrounded by a wall with its central core being made in the Tang dynasty (c. 600-900). It is easy being from America. Our culture teaches us to consistely challenge what is known, and progress to the farthest reaches of the world. Our history is so small in comparison. In the museum, the youngest items were made when Spanish explorers were just starting small colonies. Nothing even from when we declared ourselves an independent country. The challenges facing China make it a difficult country to describe. It is definitely not a third world country, but what do you call a place that is in transition from a distinct cultural past? I just hope that modern China manages to unite itself with its past in the same way as the museum's architect adapted two divergent styles.

2003-09-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Today is officially the beginning of term for the students and staff at NPU. At least, that is every other staff member. It appears that Dave and I will be teaching graduate students, and their classes don't begin until the 15th. So, now I have another two weeks to enjoy the longest vacation I can ever remember having. But, that to one side, the start of term did mean that last night I attended my first Chinese banquet. Banquets in China are a very specific cultural entity that was luckily covered in my weekend of training before departure. This banquet was put on by the Foreign Affairs office for all of the foreign teachers. All of the staff, including the director for the office were all present, so the pressure was on for all of us since the uber-boss was throwing the party. I didn't realize that this dinner was going to be as formal as it turned out, yet well timed advice from one of the other teachers led me to not arrive in my old jeans and a t-shirt. The dinner was held in the private dining room of an expensive hotel. The room was decorated with oppulent fabric covered chairs and there were two tables with lazy-susans already covered in somewhat strange looking dishes. Apparently, any one throwing a banquet tries to impress their guests with the delicacies of Chinese cuisine. I was relieved when nothing appeared to be feet or other such delectables that Americans find to be the most appauling. Obviously, our host knew his audience. The food looked delicious (accepting to one side that Chinese people consider the fatty part of the meat the best, so every piece was almost half fat) but now is when we reach the etiquette side of the banquet. Most importantly, you absolutely must wait until the host tells you where to sit. The seating arrangement is traditionally ordered by rank (the highest facing the door, or sitting south, facing north. Something like that) and then that person can tell every one else where to sit. I ended up smack dab next to the director. I am still not entirely sure how this happened, but now it was fate that I would drop something off of my chopstick and down my front before the night was over. I had a little while to wait before finding out which food it would be. No matter how hungry you are, it is polite for you to not eat until the host has insisted a few times that you try a certain dish. So, here I am, stuck next to the director, salivating over the tempting food, and knowing that I really shouldn't touch it even when he is insisting I try a bite. Even once you start the actual taking of the food, it is a little while before the eating gets going, while the director is telling every one around the table to eat more, or try a new dish. As if this didn't take long enough, then there was the toasting. Every one is giving a small glass of red wine, which is strictly used when someone makes a toast (which I realized when I went to take a sip of it during the meal and got a few random sideways glances from the Chinese people). So, first the director toasts the dinner. Then, the staff toasts the director. Then the teachers toast the director. Then, the teachers toast the staff. Then, the people at the other table toast the people at our table. Each time this happens, you stand, clink glasses with the eight people around you (which takes a little while) and then sit back down, only to stand for yet another toast. So, once this process is finally slowing down and the eating is beginning to progress, I realized that I really needed to start pacing myself. I originally thought that the dishes around the table when we came in (which were plentiful) was dinner. But no, apparently they are only the appetizer. So, the main meat courses arrive. Then, there is soup. Then, there is noodles in soup. Finally, there is a fruit plate and the tea that has been neglected to make way for toasting. At this point, it has been three hours of food and I am beginning to think they are going to have to roll me to my hotel room. Every time I would take a hiatus from food, the director would be putting some new dish on my plate insisting that I try another. And, I must admit, the food was fabulous. Chinese people are extremely proud of their cuisine. It is beautifully presented, varied in taste and texture, and aside from a few unmentionables that I hope never to try, completely appetizing. The night ended rather well. I only dropped food on the table, not myself, though the chopsticks were especially long and slippery plastic. I understood a bit of the Chinese when the staff members would lapse back into their native tongue (though their English was really very good). And, for the record, I promise my next entry won't be about food.

2003-08-26T20:25:00.000-07:00

I think that thus far, my favorite thing to do in China is to eat. Meals are definitely one of the most diverse and interesting parts of the day thus far into my year in China. Now, this might be due to the fact that I haven't actually started teaching yet, so most of my day consists of wandering the streets, sleeping, or unpacking, but regardless, eating is definitely the top of that list. First, finding a restaurant is a fun little search around town. They are generally grouped together and marked by bright doorways or red lanterns with gold tassels at the bottom. Neither of these signs guantees that what lurks behind the door is food, but it is usually a good bet. Once inside, the process of ordering is one of the most difficult aspects of Chinese language. You are not expected to take long debating the menu or what dish you would like. Generally you just ask the nice woman who sat you (and is currently staring at you as you look baffled by the menu) what type of the thing you want they have. So, a conversation (translated of course) goes like this: YOU:"Do you have broccoli?" Waitress: "yes" (points to an item or two on the menu) "spicy?" You: "no, sour?" Waitress: points to one of the items "that one" then you just nod yes. i would like to pretend that it is always as smooth as this, but most of the time when Dave and I talk it Chinese it is followed by a confused look and a bit of a giggle. Or, often, they don't have the thing you want, and then you just resign to pointing at the food someone at another table is eating and say "that." The most exciting part of the meal comes when your food arrives. Assuming you know you just ordered a dish that is sour with broccoli in it, that doesn't actually mean you have any idea what you just ordered. So, when food shows up it is always somewhat like receiving a present at Christmas. You might have had a wishlist, but you have no idea what is inside the box. Usually the dish will have something other than just what you thought might come, or will turn out to be a completely different part of the animal than you expected. But, I have yet to have a bad meal in China. The combination of flavors, and textures in Chinese food is really delicious. Plus, sometimes it might be better to just not know what you are eating. At least there is always tea to wash it down.

2003-08-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

Hello All, Dave and I have successfully arrived in Xian. It ended up being a total of 27 hours of travel time just to get here. And, definitely not the smoothest of traveling. First, the line at SeaTac was ridiculious just to check in for our flight to Vancouver. Then, the Vancouver flight was just shy of an hour late. Finally, we arrived in Beijing. Now, all of our traveling mishaps up to this point are pretty basic airport stuff, but the Beijing airport is an entity within itself. The sheer lack of logic on which its layout is based is almost mind boggling. Luckily, we happened up on a man roughly our age who decided we looked lost enough to help. He was dressed as if he might work for the airport, though I highly doubt he actually did. He took us through the entire process of checking in for our next flight. Which was truly ridiculious. You would think logically that the same airline would have all of its check-in desks in the same place, but in Beijing they are just randomly strewn about, so you just wander around until you happen to see your airline with a shortish line. Then, you have to go somewhere else to pay the overweight luggage fee and pay the airport usage fee (I think this was for airport repairs?). Our enterprising young guide took us through this whole process in roughly 15 minutes. Granted, it cost 200kuai (divide by 8 for US dollars) but it was so worth it. Then, after all this confusion, our plane to Xian was an hour and a half late. The woman from the University was nice enough to wait that extra hour at the airport and then personally check us into the Hotel where we will be living for the next year.
Onto the hotel. It is the nicest accomidations in China imaginable. We have everything you could ever dream of in our little suites. It is basically a one bedroom apartment with a bathroom and small kitchen to the side. But, the kitchen has our washer, a microwave, small fridge/freezer, and a stove. Plus, our bathroom looks like a western bathroom (yea!) it has a bathtub/shower thing as opposed to just a shower with wood slats over a drain in the floor like Dave had in Beijing. Also, though it is hard, there is actually a mattress! I was expecting a small foam mattress over plywood (also what Dave had in China). We even have cable with four english channels. Which is funny since they get HBO, discovery channel, the national geographic channel, and Stars. Why movies and stuff about animals? I don't know. So, after sleeping like a rock, Dave and I decided to explore the city itself. Our apartment is located on the campus which is basically a microcosm of a city with a supermarket around back, two banks, a post office, and more. The weather here is really hot and humid, plus it is pretty smoggy, but it is definintely a big city. There area about four coffee shops near the entrance to the University, as well as a bunch of restraunts and small stores. Dave and I get stared at a bit (which he doesn't even notice) since we are the only white people I've seen on the street, but generally it is out of curiousity. Chinese kids especially. I feel really safe here. I saw two seven year old girls wandering around the streets together without a guardian. I figure if their parents think they are okay I probably am too. Well, it is time to return to the hotel for the second round of water for the day. There is only water from 7-8:30am and then again from 4-11:30pm. The toilets still flush, you just can't take a shower. Yep, definitely not in America anymore. But, everything in China is looking good. It's nice to have a few answers to some of my questions.

2003-08-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Family, Friends, and internet wanderers:
Since this is my introductory blog, it is going to be significantly less exciting than those commencing next week when I will actually be in China, but I thought it would be good to just run over the format and make sure this works before I leave the country.
I've chosen the blogger format for two reasons: 1. I think it will be easier for all of my family and friends to access this information at their leisure, as opposed to me sending out mass e-mails and 2. I type faster than I can write in a diary, so it will also work as documentation for my year.
Now, to introduce what I'm doing. I will be teaching English (of some sort) at Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xian all of next year. For those of you who don't know, Xian is in central China. It is a city of roughly six million people and used to be the capital of China from the Qin to the Tang (i.e. a really long time ago). It's supposed to have more of a feel of ancient China since it is one of the few cities that didn't get its city wall torn down during the communist revolution. Also, and probably most notably (thanks National Geographic!) it is extremely close to where the Terracotta soldiers of Qin Shihuangdi are buried. And that's about all I know. I will be teaching English courses of some sort (I think mainly conversational) to most likely college students and I will have housing of some sort that is supposed to include access to a kitchen, bathroom, and washing machine (apparently China doesn't do dryers). So, two years of Mandarin, one thesis based on Chinese art, and a weekend of training in teaching ESL and I am off to Xian (pronounced She-on). So, hopefully, many exciting stories involving markets, chopsticks, and cultural misunderstandings shall begin in just under a week. Stay posted.