"Coming Full Circle"

(Alaina)

Hello!

It feels like we’ve been in Hangzhou for much longer than a week. We’re now getting back into the school routine, albeit a very different one. My classmates are getting used to me and becoming more willing to test out their English. A highlight of the week was when Sandy was scheduled to speak in the room next to mine, and since I was in a Chinese physics lesson, I joined her. The class was much more exuberant and curious than my own class had been during my Q&A period. Sandy deserves most of the credit for this; she has a fantastic ability to break the ice and get everyone feeling comfortable by being generally approachable and (of course) telling amusing stories. After she introduced her home and family, we asked for questions, after which there wasn’t a moment of silence. The array of questions was wide and interesting: what are your physics tests like? What kinds of pets do you have? How does a wallaby survive in your climate? What do you think of Marylyn Manson? How does Chinese and American sightseeing compare? Is it rude to take pictures of foreigners? What’s your favorite basketball team? Can you see the Milky Way Galaxy in Dover? Do you sing? No, you don’t... WILL YOU SING US A SONG ANYWAYS??!? They were very persistent with that last (unfortunate) question. Given how outgoing and friendly the students were being, I couldn’t refuse despite mild embarrassment. I copied a move that Cady made two years ago and demanded that the question-asker sing her own song first… this may not have been the best decision, as she was clearly interested in my singing because she herself is very talented. The students here LOVE Avril Lavigne and I still remember some songs from long-ago obsession, so I sang Skater Boy after the class promised to sing along. I’m still not sure if I escaped with my pride intact.

Earlier this week I was introduced to Hong Ye, a senior who wanted to meet me because she is also waiting to hear from American universities. Not only is she “Chairman” of the school, but we are applying to a few of the same colleges. (Competition!! Kidding… mostly.) When Ling told me that she wanted to talk about college, I expected more of the same questions, namely SAT scores and what schools “want” in essays. Instead, I found that Ye was feeling just like me- nervous and eager to talk about those nerves with someone in the same situation. Her English is fantastic, and she has much more confidence than most students here. College talk broke the ice, but we ended up chatting for over an hour about everything from food to internet censorship. It was by far the most natural and fluid conversation I’ve had so far with a Chinese student. She may be the first person to immediately treat me simply as a friend rather than a foreigner who (a) deserves special attention, or (b) is intimidating. Since Ye knows she’s going to an American college (she’s already into a safety), she doesn’t have to take the life-consuming Chinese university entrance exam, so she still goes to school but doesn’t really need to attend classes. A few times she’s pulled me out of the Chinese classes I don’t understand to spend the period talking. I greatly appreciate this alternative… I can hardly snub the student Chairman, after all. :)

While Ling’s classes are generally very boring, I am occasionally roused from my reading/daydreaming when placed suddenly on the hot seat. Last week I was reading during a physics class when suddenly I heard “Alaina” in the middle of a Chinese sentence and the whole class turned to me. I looked up and, sure enough, the PowerPoint featured several white men, a sign which often precludes an awkward speech from me. The teacher then asked me to teach the class about NASA and the first moon landing. I had no idea in what context they were being mentioned, and of course the teacher would specify no further. While I may have made a few valid points, I mostly blanked (given the spotlight in my eyes) and blatantly made things up. Perhaps they’ll attribute the new information to the “American perspective.” Sorry history teachers, I 50-70% failed you on this one.

That’s most of my notes for the week. Saturday was spend with the group, so onto Sunday!

This was our first Hangzhou day all to ourselves. Of course Ling and I took the opportunity to… SLEEP IN! Given 3 weeks of intense traveling and a busy school week, my first lazy morning/afternoon was very nice. I got up around 10:30, and then had several hours free to organize my life a bit. Ling and I finally reentered the world at 2:00, when her TOEFL class began. For those who don’t know, the TOEFL is a standardized test of the English language that American high schools and colleges require of non-native speakers. I thought it would be interesting for a few reasons: (a) I wanted to meet kids who want to come to America (b) I was curious how the class is taught and how advanced the material is (c) Since I’m in AP Spanish I’ll be taking a test in my own second language that’s very similar to the TOEFL, so I wanted to compare the two classes. The teacher was very small, very enthusiastic, and a bit lacking in his English skills. He began by lecturing about dangerous spelling mistakes, such as “adapt / adopt,” that change the meaning of sentences. He then launched into a two hour PowerPoint presentation, every page titled “How raters access your writing.” Once again, I was surprised by how much Chinese was used in an English class, particularly among students who plan to live in an English-speaking country. I was only slightly surprised by the number of basic mistakes in their TOEFL workbook. I was most surprised by a strange interaction I had with the teacher. While trying to explain the word “culture,” he gave the examples of architecture and food before pointing out that I had dyed my hair (my roots are slightly visible), so therefore “wanting to look beautiful” is part of my culture. Apparently, a student told the teacher he had been rude to me, so later the teacher came up to me said that’s just how he teaches so he doesn’t care. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed that in Chinese he would have found something more tactful than “I don’t care.” It was all very amusing.

Ling’s mom picked us up from TOEFL class at 5:00 and we went directly to have dinner with Ella’s parents. My family hosted Ella when she came to America from Hanggao in 2007. She’s now a sophomore at Mt. Holyoke College, and my family continues to see her a few times a year. Her parents managed to get my contact info from the school, and quickly invited me to dinner, a meeting that has been a long time coming. I believe Cady saw Ella’s mom very briefly two years ago, but that aside, we’ve known Ella for years but have never met her parents. I was very happy to finally make their acquaintance, and they were certainly happy to meet me too! Ella’s mother immediately gave me a hug and started manhandling me (in a very loving and motherly way) from place to place. Her father speaks very nice English, so he gave me a tour of the house, mainly in the context of “when your family comes to visit.” I saw where I could sleep, where my parents would sleep, and even where our luggage would be stored. We quickly sat down to a great dinner. They pointed out that the particular soup had been cooked because when “Vizzy” visited last year, she liked it very much. Viz, you probably didn’t know then that you’d be pre-ordering my menu for a year later! You did an excellent job though, so thank you. My favorite dishes: buttery chicken and peas, slices of cooked eel and the best marinated onions I’ve ever had, and a homemade yogurt with strawberries and sugar.

We spent the rest of the night sitting in the living room. I mostly talked with Ella’s father, and enjoyed it very much. He kept bringing me books full of pictures of places (Guilin, Hangzhou, Australia, NYC, Boston, Paris, Moscow, etc) that he or a family member had visited. We passed at least two hours looking through pictures and talking about the sights of China and other countries. If I was unoccupied for a moment he’d be up again finding a photo or a knickknack to show me, always explaining the significance and story behind it. He also gave me a large book about China as a gift for my family, which was very thoughtful. I’m running short on gifts of my own and I didn’t expect to meet them, so the best I could manage was a pretty postcard of Boston on which I wrote a note from my family expressing how happy we are to know Ella, and how nice it is to finally meet the parents willing to share her. It seemed to go over well (though everything generally does here), which made me happy.

I believe this is the epitome of “coming full circle.” It just goes to show how meaningful this program is, and in a larger sense, how meaningful short spaces of time can be. Ella stayed with our family for a measly 5 weeks, and we could have so easily left our relationship at that. Instead, she went on to study in America, and to sometimes revisit the guestroom she slept in while still a Chinese high school student. While I eat dinner with her parents in China, she’s an easy drive from my parents in Boston. I am so lucky to have these one-of-a-kind connections; these relationships that hold so much affection despite time and distance. This is what the China Exchange is about: building bridges around the word. Despite the cliché, it really happens, a fact for which I am very thankful.

Now that I’ve gotten all sentimental on you, I sign out.

Thanks for reading ...