(FINAL POST of 2011 Exchange) Last Stop Beijing

(Lizzy)

I can’t believe that five weeks have already gone by, but we have already said goodbye to Hangzhou. Our train arrived in Beijing early yesterday morning, and though it took more effort than usual to extract ourselves, and all our things, from the train car this time, we made it. After we eventually managed to then get all our things into our van, we were transported to our hotel.

Here comes the Sarcastic Five!

(Dawn) 

[Ms Viz: Yes, the Sarcastic Four have picked up a FIFTH - Dawn, from last year's Hangzhou Group! Welcome Dawn!]

I don’t know if it’s still necessary to do a self-introduction. I’m sure some of you have known me as an exchange student to DS last year; some of you have known me from the earlier blog posts. Whichever way you know me, it’s very nice to meet you! I’m here, the fifth member of the Sarcastic group… I can’t be happier to join this blog…

Life with Potato Tiger

(Ryan)

It has only been a over a week since I switched host families and so much has happened so far.  My new family lives 25 minutes away from school by bike ride.  Their apartment complex is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  Through the gigantic entrance way is a beautiful park full of large trees, flowers, jungle gyms, workout equipment, and a pool.  The apartment itself is really modern looking.  There are crisp edges and bold, popping colors everywhere.

Adiós Hangzhou.

(Chris)

It is Thursday, the 24^th and this will probably be my last blog post from Hangzhou.  I’m sitting at my desk getting ready for tonight’s banquet.  We’re hosting a dinner tonight to thank everybody who has made our experience here one of the best of our lives.  The guest list got a little long – we invited almost 50 people!  However, not everybody can make it, so we’ll have about 40.  I’ve been asked to give a speech – in Chinese.  I’m not going to lie…I’m very nervous.  

Broken Pizza and Eye Patches

(Colin)

Here goes another blog post; lets see how entertaining I can make it.

On Saturday morning, the Sarcastic Five (with temporary member Dawn) arose to a misty morning in Shanghai.  We met in the lobby at 8:30 am, ready for a day of exploration.  Having woken up at about 7:30, the meeting time of 8:30 in the lobby seemed to be a bit late for me, but nonetheless, we met.

Hangzhou to Shanghai in the blink of an eye.

(Chris)

We (The Sarcastic Four & Dawn) are now in Shanghai for the weekend! I’m sure Colin, Lizzy or Ryan has talked about Dawn in one of their blog posts. She’s a senior at Hangzhou High School and she has come with us to Shanghai. She is one of the best people you will ever meet! We are so excited that she is here with us.

“What is ‘Pancake’?”

(Lizzy)

We've all moved into our new host families, and I personally have been quite surprised by the differences between my two families. While my first family consisted of a daughter and her parents, I now have a host sister, mother, father, grandmother and cousin. Both parents work all day and often at night as well (though the father works at home), so the grandmother acts as the primary caretaker. She stays home all day, and only leaves to walk the cousin to kindergarten in the morning and go food shopping in the afternoon. She does all of the cooking and cleaning and has lived with the family since my host sister, Yi, was born. I am told that a live-in grandparent is very common among Yi’s classmates, as they often move in to help take care of kids when they’re small and never move out.

Snoopy, Guitars, and Lipstick

(Colin)

In my previous blog post, I started with an attempt to make it shorter than before.  As doing so did nothing, I shall make no such attempts in this post.  I shall simply let the words flow out of me, and whatever length this particular post chooses to be, it shall be.  Here it goes.

Last week was our last week with our first host families.  In celebration, ryan’s host family took us all out to eat at a restaurant known for a dish called “Beggar’s Chicken”, in which a chicken is encased in mud clay then tossed into an oven. 

“Are you a Professional Eater?”

(Lizzy)

None of us can believe that our time at Hangzhou is half over! It feels like we just arrived, but we are already switching host families in just a couple of days. I am excited to meet my next host family, but at the same time I know I will miss my current host sister, parents, and rabbit very much. I could not have asked for a more welcoming and generous family and I look forward to showing Apple around when she visits the US.

No, I don't eat competitively.

(Chris)

This week is turning out to be my most enjoyable so far here in Hangzhou.  In addition to visiting English classes and giving my little presentation, I (along with Ryan, Colin and Lizzy) have been invited to other classes and clubs.  The other day, we were all invited to an after-school party.  We were the guests of honor for a club that has the kids playing a bunch of games to practice their English.  

Apparently I’m a Good Cook(?)

(Colin)

Though my last blog post was rather long, I feel that it is better to do many short ones than a weekly long one.  On that note, I shall do my best to limit this particular post to a decent length.  However, as I do have a tendency to rant, I can give no guarantees in the first paragraph.

Moving on. ...

Apple on Ice: the Return of the UNO

(Ryan)

I have to say that weekends in Hangzhou are the most eventful weekends I have ever experienced.  I can't believe how much we can cram in into just a few days.  It makes me sad that we only have a few more weekends left.  There is so much to do here, and I'm afraid we wont be able to experience it all in our stay here.

Friday night was a fantastic way to end the week and start a fun-filled weekend.  Colin, Ray, Lizzy, Apple, Dawn, Steven (my host brother) and I met after school to go to a karaoke bar ...

Pedal Away

(Chris)

We've just begun our 3rd week in Hangzhou and I thought I'd talk about this city in this post. The school has given me a bicycle to use for the 5 weeks that we're here and I've been riding pretty much every day to explore the city. The one great thing about the layout of the roads here is that they have bike lanes on almost all the streets. The lanes are separated by cement dividers or large vertical reflectors that line the entire bike lane. It's fantastic!

Party!

(Lizzy)

While not as bad as Boston, Hangzhou has certainly been chilly the past couple days. The school (Hanggao) has the odd tendency to revel in the cold, however. Rather than shun it with heating and insulation, they embrace it by opening windows and doors as much as possible. This does help explain why the drinking water is preferred hot. To say the least, the inescapable cold (including constantly wearing winter jackets and being able to see our breath in class) is taking some getting used to among the DS group ...

Dumpling Monsters and the Curse of UNO

(Ryan)

It has been more than a week since we arrived in Hangzhou, and I am loving my stay here.  The city is beautiful!  Everywhere you look there is something nice to see, whether it be trees, parks, water ways, old architecture, stone carvings, statues, or the modern buildings.  After our hectic train journey into the city, it was nice to finally get some rest and relaxation ...

A Ray of Light

(Colin)

After an 18 hour train ride, during which I slept like a baby and saw 5 nuclear power plants, a new chapter of my Chinese experience (not to be confused with my upcoming novel about a Chinese space pilot named Hangzhou-lo, who flies the Millenium Dragon), began ...

Mucho gusto, Potato Tiger.

(Chris)

It is the beginning of our second week here in Hangzhou. I’m sitting here reflecting on what we’ve done so far and it’s hard to believe that it’s only been one week. There is so much to talk about that it’s going to be hard to condense it all into a few paragraphs - I’ll do my best to make my observations descriptive, yet brief ...

First Week at Hanggao (Hangzhou High School)

(Lizzy)

Our first week in Hangzhou has been quite eventful. Immediately upon arriving in the city after an exhausting 18 hour train ride from Luoyang, we were greeted by our respective host families at Hanggao, our new school. My host sister’s English name is Apple, and she and her family have all be extremely hospitable and kind to me; especially since my first week here has not been the smoothest.

My first day; however, seemed to indicate good things ahead. I got my first glimpses of the beautiful city, including West Lake, which the residents of Hangzhou are most proud of, and for good reason. Everything is green and fairly warm here; a drastic and welcome change from the bleak coldness we have become used to. Though the lake is technically to the West of the city, it is very part of the city center, and the parks surrounding it are often quite crowded with people out enjoying the day.

After enjoying the sights around the lake with my host family, I began to feel sick back at the apartment ...

You can call me Thunder.

(Chris)

It is Tuesday morning here and I am sitting in my cubicle in the Foreign Language Teachers’ Office at Hangzhou High School! They gave me my own little space with a computer, cappuccino mix, tea and a file cabinet. It’s perfect!

Let me start out by saying how fantastic the staff and administration here have been since we arrived! There was a welcoming committee of about 6 teachers at the train station waiting for us. With big smiles and an excited look on their faces, they gave each of us a bouquet of flowers as we got off the train on Sunday morning. They helped us get through the mob that was departing the train station and then threw us into some vans to bring us to the school ...

Last stop before Hangzhou: Luoyang

(Chris)

Well, the 4 of us are almost at the end of our tour of southern/central China before we settle down for 5 weeks in Hangzhou.  Our last stop: Luoyang.

We spent the day yesterday in the beautiful town of Pingyao.  With a well-preserved city wall and beautiful pagodas and temples, it was a delight to spend the day wandering through the streets.  We had some trouble understanding our tour guide, Wang, but he was a very pleasant man.  

We said adiós to Mr. Wang at 1:00 a.m. this morning to catch the overnight train to Luoyang.  The 4 of us had a great night’s sleep!  We had ‘soft sleepers’ - as they call them here - and we slept for almost the entire 10 hour train ride.  I think we’re all starting to run out of steam ...  

On (Window) Display in Pingyao

(Lizzy)

We woke up on the train this morning, groggy and confused about when our stop would come. Unable to find anyone who could clear up our confusion in English, and no less puzzled by the train conductors hand gestures in response to our questions, we decided to wait it out. Ryan suddenly realized; however, that the captain was using Chinese finger counting, and the sign he made with his pinky and thumb meant we would arrive at 6:00 AM.

After finally making it off the train all together and with all of our things, we were greeted by our new guide, who talkatively led us to a large golf cart. We loaded our luggage and piled in, cold and tired. We checked into our very authentic hotel, complete with rock-hard beds, no heat, and a shower head in the middle of the bathroom. Though it is very cold here, people make no effort to avoid it or use heat. In everything from houses to restaurants to hotel rooms, it is very difficult to escape the cold. Doors are often left wide open, only sometimes shielded by a thick quilt hanging from the threshold ...

Gypsies!

(Colin)

On the morning of February 15^th, 2011 AD,  in the Julian Calendar of the west, the Sarcastic Four arose from a decent slumber.  I myself did not enjoy the softness of the mattresses, as I am more of a firm mattress person, but I’m not one to complain about mattresses, so I shall continue.  We ate at the hotel’s breakfast buffet for the third and final time, and enjoyed the music that they played, which was the exact same as they had played the two days before.  Though consuming bad noodles to bad new age jazz is not something that one would consider ideal breakfast, we got more than a kick out of the massive contemporary wingbacks that we sat in, and the plethora of watermelon.  Aching to get out of new age jazzland, we quickly went back to our rooms, and packed.

During packing, I had the interesting predicament of a gourd flute that I purchased in Lijiang, which I had dismantled the evening before in a fruitless attempt to repair it.  My bags were full, by back was already straining under the thought of my backpack, and I hated this flute with the force of a thousand suns ...

Space Invaders

(Ryan)

Today was the day we visited Pangliu village. We started out early in the morning by piling into the van and heading towards the outskirts of the city. We picked up Richard on the way. For those of you who don't know, Richard is the amazing person who has coordinated most of our fantastic trip so far. Because of him, we have been able to pack so much into the past few days. On the way to Pangliu, he told us about his life growing up in the village and how hard school was for him and his classmates. Of all the students in his class, only two, including him, went on to University. The testing process had been extremely difficult when he was in school. On the journey into the village Richard explained how the city of Xi'an was expanding and soon even Pangliu would be absorbed by the condo complexes and parks.

When we arrived in Pangliu, it reminded me of the Bai villages we had seen ...

K(C)ool and The Gang

(Chris)

Before I explain the title of this blog entry, I'd like to first just re-visit what Lizzy probably talked about in her post.  We had the opportunity to visit two small villages outside of the city of Dali a few days ago and these visits were very memorable for me.  The people of these villages are of mostly Bai descent (one of the 56 minority groups within China).  They were probably the nicest people I've ever met in my life!!  The women of the village invited us to a wedding reception and to their temple while a group prayer was in session.  In the pictures, these women are easily identifiable by their beautiful, ornate headdresses.  Our tour guide, Nancy, was also of Bai descent and is the most pleasant person you will ever meet!  (She's the one force-feeding Ryan at the temple.)  She was so happy and proud to share her culture with us and it was an honor to be invited to such special events within this community.  Please look through our pictures to get a glimpse of a culture that truly exemplifies what it means to be a good human being!!

Now, let me explain the title of this blog entry ...

“No!”

(Lizzy)

The past two days have been very busy, and, I think we would all agree, yesterday was one of our best yet. We were picked up by Nancy, a woman of Bai nationality and our enthusiastic guide, and taken to see a market in a beautiful nearby village where the local people sell their fresh produce. Nancy explained to us that the Bai minority is a matriarchal society in which the women do most of the physical labor and the men do crafts, especially carving. The Bai men are called “carving men” because throughout history they have been carvers of everything from jade to silver to wood. The Bai people were given their name, which means “white,” because of their white buildings and the women’s white costumes, which many, including our guide, choose to still wear today.

Nancy explained to us that the Bai people are all very kind. We soon experienced their generosity ourselves when we were led into a stranger’s home unannounced. The family living in the beautiful, ancient courtyard-style home was happy to have us look around ...

Can you please pass the Toilet Paper?

(Colin)

This morning, we started at a comfortable 9:00 for breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which is not adjacent to the hotel, interestingly.  After consuming ungodly amounts of food, we meandered through the streets of Lijiang.  As we were wandering, Chris saw an old woman peeling potatoes on the street, and went to take a picture.  At the activation sound of his camera, the old woman screamed at him in some native dialect.  Needless to say, we continued walking.

After several minutes, we found ourselves on a market street, surrounded by various wares and curios.  Chris and Ryan bought ancient Chinese fake Ray Bans, Lizzy bought a nice pillowcase made in the Na Xi style, and I purchased a kind of flute thing.  We made our way up and down the street, and Lizzy realized that ...

Adventure Time

(Ryan Dougherty)

We woke up early yesterday morning vowing that we would have a Chinese breakfast.  No more sausage and egg for us!  We wanted fried noodles, hot soy milk, buns, and dumplings with mysterious black goo (which was delicious).  After breakfast, Julie met us in the lobby for our last day in Guilin.  We piled into the van for one last sight-seeing adventure.

Our first stop was Elephant Trunk Hill.  The reason for the hill's name is immediately apparent: the river nearby runs through the hill, carving out a large chunk that leaves a narrow strip to one side that looks like an elephant's trunk.  We walked around the nearby park, complete with a giant Chinese chess board, and piled back into the van for our next destination ...

The 1st rule of Chinese Driver's Education 101 - There are no rules ...

(Chris Estabrook, teacher)

Hello everybody. I'm sure that you've all been anxiously awaiting my first blog post. :) Our blog is blocked over here in China, so I haven't been able to read what Colin and Lizzy have posted. I'm sure their posts were very clever, witty and observant, so I'll do my best to match wits with those two -although I'm sure they'll have me beat. I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel in Lijiang. There are 4 people hovering over my shoulder staring at my screen. The idea of personal space doesn't really exist here.
 
First, I just have to say that I couldn't ask for 3 better travel companions.  Lizzy, Colin and Ryan have been wonderful.  They're funny, patient, adventurous...yet appropriately cautious, and downright cool!  This has been one of the most amazing and eye-opening experiences of my life so far and I'm glad I have three great people to share it with.  I'm starting to understand that Colin is going to be the prankster of the group ...

Li River to Yangshuo

(Lizzy Briskin)

Ni Hao!

It’s only our fourth day here in China, but we have already seen so much that it feels like we have been here for weeks. Yesterday we took the Li River Boat Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, a relatively small city.

The landscape in this part of China is amazing. The entire area was once an ocean, but what remains now is the thriving Li River surrounded by dramatic karst mountains that appear randomly, jutting straight out of the otherwise flat landscape. We had amazing views of the scenery on the four-hour boat cruise ...

Blogo Numero Uno

(Colin Braun)

Approximately 54 hours have elapsed since the Fantastic Four rose from their beds on Thursday, February 3^rd, 2011, at about 3:00 AM.  During this time, we have spent a good 22 hours on planes, and crossed twelve time zones.  Our initial flight departed Boston at 6:01 AM, and we arrived in Hong Kong 23 hours later, 17 years in the future.  There ARE flying cars.  Not much can be said about the flying, other than the crippling feeling of helplessness felt by at least myself, having for a majority of the flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong been absolutely clueless as to the remaining time.  Also, the food was terrible ...

Arrived in Hong Kong, safe and sound

(Andy)

The group has arrived safe and sound, and Chris has posted the first pictures (upper right).  Because the flight arrived an hour early, they were able to enjoy the fabulous New Year fireworks over Hong Kong Harbor, from the convenience of their strategically chosen room at the Kowloon YWCA!  The Year of the Rabbit has officially begun!

(FIRST POST of 2011 Exchange)The Fantastic Four's Adventure Begins ... finally!

(posted by Andy Vizulis)

After anticipating the most exciting adventure of your high school career for almost a year, wouldn't it stand to reason that a snowstorm would throw plans into disarray in the final 24 hours? But of course! This is New England after all. Though originally scheduled to depart Wednesday morning at 6:01am, the flight was already cancelled on Tuesday because of this year's "if it's Wednesday, it's a giant snowstorm" weather pattern.

But by Thursday morning, everyone had dug out, de-iced and made it safely from Dover and Sherborn to Logan Airport. 6:01am is not a pleasant departure time, especially having to be there a couple of hours early. The only positive is that getting through check-in should be a breeze, right?  Wrong! Due to the cancelled flights the day before, lines were the longest seen since the Exchange began.

With only a half hour left before departure, we all said our hasty (and tearful) goodbyes to this year's group, consisting of Ryan Dougherty, Colin Braun, Elizabeth Briskin (Lizzy), and middle-school Spanish teacher Christopher Estabrook as chaperone. If previous years are any indication, the Fantastic Four (self-dubbed!) will have indescribable experiences they will never forget.  Check back regularly to follow their exploits!