UH OH! Border Snafu!

(Emily and Cady)

Greetings to America from Em and Cady,

Well, today was very eventful to say the least. By eventful, in this case, I don't mean in an entirely good way, though it was one of those days that will probably be very funny to look back on AFTER the trip. Besides, there are good things to tell as well!

Anyways, we got up by about 7:30 for our last morning in Hong Kong. We decided to go searching for tai chi by the harbor before breakfast, though we never actually found anyone practicing tai chi. It was a gorgeous morning, the nicest we've had yet- there was no fog on the water, and the sun was even out! That made the walk by the water front absolutely beautiful and a perfect ending to our time in Hong Kong. The area around the water front is a lot like the Hollywood walk of fame- there are handprints and names of many different famous chinese actors (including Jackie Chan...and Sammo Hung!!! that one's for the Ahn family...) and a big bronze statue of Bruce Lee. Hong Kong is very glitz and glam which is probably why Ella (an exchange student who came from China last year) compared it to our Hollywood.

So, after our escapades around the harbor we were all rather famished and excited to eat. Ok, enough about that. To the train station! Train ride was pretty uneventful, nice watching out the windows... reading, journaling... and now for Emily's train thoughts:
hi everyone. i don't use caps so just bear with me. viz: this is evidence that i didn't fall asleep on the train! the train ride was really interesting. besides going backwards (more on that later) we got to see a really nice view of rural parts of china. the abject poverty of some parts was emphasized by the backdrop of developing high rises, which i thought was pretty interesting. picture rice paddies with little tin shacks and farm fields with an urban skyline as its backdrop. the dichotomy of the two was really interesting to see. the sight of the yards of cloth draped over the walls of the tin shacks was thought provoking for me because in ds and even hong kong, we haven't seen this type of life, especially one that coexists with such projected luxury (skyscrapers). ok those were just some ramblings from me and cady's bored so now we will tell you the real reason as to why we're writing and why you aren't hearing from terry (who was next in line for the blog writing) or nick (who was second in line). this is all very gov- line of succession esque.

soooooo. after the train station, nick, drew, cady, and i went through customs no problemo. then after waiting for terry and ric for some time, we realized that something was up. cady went investigate.
(back to proper capitialization). It seemed like Ric was having difficulty getting through customs, and upon further inspection it was discovered that he indeed no longer had a visa to China. The problem was actually that he was technically supposed to be in China yesterday (Hong Kong doesn't count unfortunately) and since he wasn't, the visa expired. UH OH. So Terry is trying to stay calm while the customs guy, who was actually very nice all things considered, was telling her that her husband had to return to Hong Kong and re-apply for a visa. All said and done, Ric did have to go back to Hong Kong, where I assume he is now, and we continued on into Guangzhou, which is where we are now.

hi, emily again. after the whole fiasco with the ric not being able to enter the country, we decided to go on with the day. rosie, our lovely and very knowledgable guide met us at the trainstation and in a matter of minutes i had learned that guangzhou has 9 million residents and 3 million migrant workers/foreigners, so there are 12 million people in the city altogether. however, guangzhou has a 15 million person cap, so the city is close to its limit. canton is not a city, it is a mispronounciation of the word guangdong, which is the province that guangzhou is the captial of.

Ok, cady here. Rosie took us to a traditional Chinese restaurant for lunch. The food itself was delicious. We got to eat in our own room (the foreigner zone!) and had a whole array of dishes served to us. One of which were oil fried prawns which stared up at us with beady little fried eyes and we, being the gallant adventurers that we are, gobbled them up (maybe a bit of an exaggeration...) with Viz in mind the whole time. Actually, we were quite proud of ourselves because we all tried everything that was presented to us, even those who aren't big seafood eaters (snaps for Drew!). Nick, on the other hand, wasn't feeling great. He got pretty motion sick from the train ride, and took drammamine way too late to save him, so he didn't eat anything except for soup. The meal went well, and we were all quite full when Nick began to look a little pale/green. Well, he didn't actaully appear green, but looking back now it would have been a very appropriate color for him to be. As we're finishing up- popping a few last prawns into our mouths- Nick gets sick. Bummer. Ask him about the story, it's really very funny. Don't worry parents of Nick, he's fine, and getting some sleep now.

back to emily for some info about the tour and whatnot after lunch:
ANYWAYS, we went to the dr. sun yat-sen memorial where we learned about the revolution that took place and the beginnings of the kuomintang (KMT/nationalist party). i was amazed to hear that dr. sun yat-sen was indeed pro-communist and that he was all for cooperation, unlike his successor chiang kai-shek. the memorial itself is a huge theater housed in an ornate traditional pagoda shaped building complete with a 5 meter bronze statue in front. inside, the theater was painted in only blue (representing the sky), red (people's color), and yellow (emperor's color) to symbolize the things he stood for and what he was to the people (a leader/emperor).

after visiting the memorial, we went to the chen family temple, which was a nondenominational house of worship that was donated (cady and i are suspicious that donated could be a double entendre for seized, but this is all conspiracy theory) in 1949 to the government. i didn't find it very interesting but it was gorgeous with many ornate wood, ivory, and stone carvings. i thought that it was a little too touristy for me (there were trinket shops inside the temple, which kinda ruined the ambience...it's one of our words of the week).

cady's turn

Speaking of the temple, I thought it was so beautiful, it reminded me a lot of being inside of the Alhambra in Spain. Just the attention to detail inside, combined with the sunny day made for a really nice scene. Lots of good angles- yes, I have been taking good care of the camera mom.

Alright, this has actually gotten very long. Internet is going to be the first thing in mainland China we spend RMB on! Can we just turn this entry in as our position paper? Well, that's it for now. Oh wait, impressions of Guangzhou real quick:
Contrary to Hong Kong, the urban parts of Guangzhou seem to exist because cities need to. Hong Kong is all about show and excess whereas Guangzhou is a little more laid back, and a little less chic (let's you breathe a little more... no irony intended). Old Guangzhou is very romantic (Emily thinks it's like Moulin Rouge- romantic in a grungy way with laundry hanging out the windows to dry and vines growing on the apartments) as we have decided to deem it, and pleasant to walk around. Actually, Em Drew and I went for a walk and found men selling many a live sea critter. Again, we thought of you, Viz.

OK OK OK we're done!! Much love to you all!

Toothbrushes and Lantau Island

(Drew)

I woke up at 6:30 to take a shower before heading to our breakfast in the hotel. The view from the breakfast room is absolutely breathtaking. As we sat and devoured our western style breakfast we overlooked the channel between Kowloon and Hongkong. Massive cruise ships and barges passed through the narrow channel.

During breakfast Ric had some news for us. A sigh of relief followed by a celebration with fireworks and a marching band (slight exageration) came when team China heard that Mitt Romney had dropped out of the Presidential Race. Nick and I have clearly not adjusted to the water situation. Everything must be bottled water. After Breakfast i heard a loud yell from the bathroom in our hotel room as nick announced that he had forgotten to use the bottled water to wet his toothbrush. Nick then rinsed his toothbrush again with bottled water. I commented how bad we are at remembering to use the bottled water. Nick nodded in agreement as he proceeded to put his toothbrush under the tap water again... another loud yell of frustration from nick and i was on the ground laughing hysterically. Only 5 minutes later i used the tap water on my own toothbrush. We have work to do.

We took the MTR to Lantau to take a lift up into the hills and see the "Big Buddha". The ride up gave us a panaramic view of all of Hong Kong and Kowloon. We arrived in the village at the top that was more of a
tourist attraction than a real "village". The "Big Buddha" was biggerthan i even imagined it to be. Many flights of steps led up to the Buddha which towered over its observers at least 40ft. At the base insence filled the air around Po Lin Temple. Many worshipers lit insence of all shapes and sizes. The outside of the temple was covered in stone work of what looked like chinese scholars and dragons. The trip was very well documented on the cameras the group brought. Unofortunatly the temple and the large Buddha seemed to be more of a tourist attraction and a good photo than a place of real worship. I found my self being rather hypocritical when i commented on everyone taking pictures of everything rather than really enjoying what was there. Of course that was what i had been doing the entire time.

We entered a tea shop before departing from the village. The tea shop showed us the traditional way of serving tea and all the items needed to prepare for it. We were given a list of many different types of tea to choose from. Our group was split in two, our group (me,nick and emily) ordered the famous Dragon Well Tea from Hangzhou. The cups given to us were similar to the size of thimbles so we must have gone through about 25 cups of tea each. It goes without saying, it was delicious. Team China are tea addicts.

We took the cable car back to the base of the hills on Lantau. The group decided that taking the ferry back would be more fun than the MTR so we preemtively boared what we thought would take us back to
Hong Kong. Unfortunatly we were quite far away from our intended destination and had ended up traveling north to the western part of Kowloon.

By the time we got back to Hong Kong we were absolutely starving and some of us (not mentioning names) were grumpy. Some honey glazed pork, garlic chicken hot pot and noodles quickly fixed that problem.

Our adventures in China have been everything i expected so far. Hong Kong is so full of life but enough places speak english so the culture shock has not killed me yet. My legs are completely dead after each day, but the girls just keep going and going. Our hotel room can be a relief at the end of the day.

Jetlag? Ha! Team China scales Victoria Peak on the first morning!

(Cady)

Ni hao and hello to everyone!

I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in Kowloon with Em enjoying some hot tea. Actually, I don't have much room for the tea because we had such a huge lunch, but I'll get to that. Well, we have been in Hong Kong for less than 24 hours, which quite frankly is amazing because it feels like it's been ages. We seem to have already accomplished so much. Come to think of it, we've spent more time traveling to China thus far than we have actually experiencing it! Now, I'm sure you folks at home are all wondering how the excruciating total of 21 hours in the air turned out. Truth be told, it wasn't so bad. I believe Terry is going to write an entry tonight about our day(s) of travel, so I won't get into the gory details of the flight. All I can say is thank god for sleeping medication- Heath Ledger here we come. Not to worry though one and all, we are all quite well and not dead in any way shape or form. Actually quite a bit of today was spent improving our form, but I'll get to that as well. We finally arrived in Hong Kong at around 6 pm last night, Wednesday, February 6. We were all, not surprisingly, quite energetic and eager to walk around once arriving at the YMCA, which is where we're staying. The hotel turned out to be very nice, and once we spent twenty minutes or so settling in we set out to find some sustenance.

When we first arrived in Hong Kong it struck us as being much like NYC: lots of skyscrapers, people, and lights. Upon walking around however, we discovered that Hong Kong is far more eclectic than New York, and much more neon as well. Not to mention, full of exceptionally trendy people. We have spotted more amazing boots here than is believable, but leave it to Em and myself to notice that. Really though, Hong Kong is vibrant and modern- very East meets West. The architecture is amazing too, I find myself snapping photos right and left because all of the buildings have so much character. Anyways, we ended up settling on a little upstairs Szechuan restaurant, whose neon sign must have particularly caught out eye. The food was excellent, taking a page out of the book of Viz we ordered a vast array of food and shared everything. It turned out that we were quite hungry and fish (yes, Nick and Drew both tried it!) szechuan beef, scallion rolls, and very spicy chicken were all devoured. First dining experience in China: success!

After filling of travel weary bellies we decided to visit the night market in Victoria Park. It seemed like literally every extremely trendy young person, group of people, or couple had come out to the night market. We waited in line for a good half hour, which served for an excellent people-watching experience. Once we actually got into the market though it was so packed that we couldn't even move! We were basically forced to surge with the crowd, it was much like a crowded concert or the opening of the first Ikea in Massachusetts... So, we decided to head back to the YMCA, but the journey was good overall because it prepared us to use the metros today. Once returning to our rooms we journaled a bit and fell into bed. Amazingly enough we all managed to be down for breakfast by eight this morning. In fact, despite the fact that we didn't end up going to bed until about 3 am, we crawled out of bed with relative ease at 7:15 this morning. So much for jet lag. The buffet breakfast at the hotel was further proof of Hong Kong's eastern and western influence as I had dumplings, steamed pork buns, scrambled eggs, and toast all on a single plate. Quite delicious. It was a bit misty in the morning, but we decided to tackle Victoria Peak, and I mean that quite literally.

First though, the metros- they are absolutely wonderful. Efficient and extremely clean, the metros are great for getting from one place to another in Hong Kong. Rick said that being in the metro here (which they call the MBT I believe) looks like an asian version of the London tube stations. I find it very comparable to the metro in Rome as well. I guess that's what a hundred years under British rule will do to a place; give it good public transportation. We've taken the metro quite a bit not, but have yet to take the Star Ferry, though I believe we plan on doing that tomorrow. This morning we took the metro over to Hong Kong Island and walked from Central Station to the Peak Tram. Seeing Hong Kong during the day was awesome, lots of hustle and bustle. So we get to the Tram and Team China decides that we'd really like to walk up Victoria Peak. It sounds easy enough- walk up past the botanical gardens, find Old Peak Road, and follow it to the top. Rick and Terry stick with the tram and we arrange to meet at the top. Team China then sets off on our adventure. The first people we asked for directions literally told us to turn back, I think they thought we were a little bit crazy for wanting to walk up the peak when we could take the perfectly good tram. Crazy? Ha! So we continue on, meanwhile the roads are getting steeper and steeper. Wow, it's just like being in the Andes Mountains again. The roads eventually give way to a concrete path that winds up the forested peak. The road was beautiful- the best word that I can think to use for the trees is craggly, which isn't even a word according to Yahoo spell check. Actually, just think Lord of the Rings and you can have a pretty clear picture of what the area was like. Of course, ascending the peak turned out to be a bit more physically draining than we anticipated, but arriving at the top, all of us quite a bit more sweaty than we were at the beginning, was a fantastic feeling.

Once we reached the top, quite a feat indeed, we relaxed for a bit in a coffee shop, and then the six of us took a walk around the top of the mountain, which to our delight was flat contrary to the vertical nature of our precious "stroll." We decided to take the tram down the mountain, and visit the Manmo temple. The walk there from the tram station was nice- it took us through the "SoHo" area of Hong Kong, which is where much of the international population comes to play. We saw the outdoor escalators and every type of international restaurant we could possibly imagine. The temple seemed very preserved, considering that everything outside of it was several stories higher and much more modern. The air inside was thick and smokey with incense and the floor was packed with people, mostly of the older generation, looking for a blessing on the New Year. We didn't do the whole routine, but we did donate some money, beat a drum, and ring a bell. Afterwards it was scrounging time again and we settled on a Greek and Mediterranean restaurant called Olive. We decided it wasn't cheating not to eat Chinese food since the international food in that section of Hong Kong is such a part of the culture. The food was excellent- complete with pita, babaganough, and olives (as the name would suggest). After lunch we were ready to return to the Y and hunt down a source of internet.

So now were we are. Nick has joined us here, so you should all be able to see the pictures he uploaded from today. Tonight is the New Year so we should be seeing a parade and fire works in about two hours. Anyways, this has gotten long enough, so zai jian everyone!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! (Happy New Years! in Cantonese)

[and here's what they'll be seeing tonight! .... Ms. Viz]

China Bound!

(Ms. Viz)

As always, the morning of departure comes with excitement and a bit of apprehension that things go smoothly and the group gets off without a hitch. Compared with the major snowstorm and the delays of last year, this morning was a piece of cake, until we noticed that Emily's name had been misprinted on her ticket! At least 10 people must have proofread the ticket before departure but never caught it. Luckily she was able to fly but will have to undergo special security searches. With her backpack filled to the brim it will make life a bit more interesting! Nevertheless, this group's good spirits could not be daunted by such a minor glitch. Their enthusiasm and excitement are unmatched. It was with a mix of joy and sadness that we said goodbye at the gate; they have been a pleasure to work with and Dover-Sherborn is very lucky to have them as this year's exchange group.

Anticipation

(Emily)

Nin Hao!!!

It seems crazy that we're leaving for China in a week! Just staring at these words makes me giddy. But at the same time, what does "I'm going to China" mean? I've said it so many times it's become a catchphrase for me, yet the reality of being on a different continent in a paltry week hasn't fully sunk in yet. I can't even begin to articulate the feelings that are swimming through my mind. All I can say is my suitcase is ready and that "China" crosses my mind every 8 seconds. At the same time, I can't help but feel some twinges of sadness about leaving behind friends and family. I know that I will probably end up missing the pastoral scenes that make up the one stop-light towns of Dover and Sherborn and being able to speak English with everyone. But the opportunity to go to China and to participate in an exchange program is far too enticing, and I know I would have regretted not going on this trip of a lifetime.

Besides seeing a new part of the world and a new country, I'm hoping to get out of the trip and exchange a better sense of who I am as both an Asian American and an American. The differences between the two cultures are vast and I believe that I will learn a lot about myself by putting myself in such a challenging and interesting environment. I'm also psyched about meeting the students at Hangzhou! I really enjoy meeting and getting to know people who have opinions that differ from mine. I think interacting with people that don't necessarily speak the same language as me will be extremely fascinating as well as deeply rewarding. I'm also excited to see tongxue(classmates) Kathleen, Ella, and Frank and (teacher) Rose Laoshi again!

Zaijian! (Goodbye!)

(FIRST POSTING OF 2008 EXCHANGE) One Week!

(Nick)

ONE WEEK.

I can't even believe it. Cady, Drew, Emily, and I have spent almost an entire year preparing for our trip to China and I can't believe it's finally coming! We spent the whole fall semester taking a Chinese language class and a Chinese history class. With so much China in our lives these days, it's put us in the position of, "Can we just LEAVE already?" Our time has finally arrived, the moment we've been waiting for, and working for, for the last ten months.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, because I definitely am. I'm not really worried about the travel part, but I am a little anxious about the actual exchange portion. What will they think of me in Hangzhou? Will my host families like me? Will I get along with my host brothers? How am I going to survive with my minimal Chinese language skills? These are all questions I ponder over, and will continue to ponder over until I get to Hangzhou after close to three weeks of traveling all over China.

This anxiety, however, is of course low in comparison to my incredible excitement for this trip. Right now I can't even imagine how excited I will be as I am experiencing the long flight over the Pacific Ocean. This is going to be such an incredible trip, and I am so ready for it (I've been ready since my freshman year of high school). At this point I can't imagine my senior year without the China Exchange Program, and I haven't even been to China yet! I look forward to updating this blog throughout our journey, and more importantly, I cannot wait to go to China!!!

Zaijian Meiguo (Goodbye America)

(LAST POSTING OF 2007 EXCHANGE) Hangzhou: Teaching, Classes, and People

(Ms. Arkin)

I have written a lot about the different cities we have visited in China, but not so much about my experiences in Hangzhou. I don’t even know where to begin. I know I wrote about our arrival and the trip to the West Lake. I also mentioned my bike riding skills (or lack thereof), but I don’t think I have written anything about teaching, our classes or any of the people I have met.

CHINESE CLASS: We have this class twice a week. Our teacher’s name is Gao Li and he is a Chinese literature teacher, but somehow got assigned to teaching us Chinese! He is a really good teacher because he is very patient and doesn’t laugh (which I know he must want to) at the way I pronounce the words and my inability to use the correct tones. He also knows I need visuals, so he spells all of the words in Pinyin so I can see the sounds and tones that I often can’t distinguish by ear. If the weather is nice we go outside and sit by the well. If it is too sunny by the well, then we move to one of the gardens where we sit under a tree and resume the lesson. We also read Chinese poetry so we can practice our tones and learn about culture at the same time. Yesterday was a treat because we saw a slide show of traditional Chinese dresses and then we got to try some on and take pictures. Chinese class has been a very pleasant experience.

CALLIGRAPHY: I never thought I would enjoy a class in calligraphy since my fine motor skills are anything but good. But this is an example of how a good teacher can make you enjoy something you would ordinarily despise. Mr. Yang is our teacher and even though he doesn’t speak English, I think he might have the best personality in the world! I wish I could understand Chinese because I know he would make me laugh. In class, he communicates effectively through body language and the words “no” and “okay”. He shows us the right way to make the strokes and says “okay” and then the wrong way with the word “no.” He also uses chalk to write the characters on my paper, so when I paint them I only need to trace over the chalk. One day instead of class, he took us to the West Lake to see the calligraphy museum and go to lunch at one of the private room restaurants with a beautiful garden view. I think he just wanted to get out of the building on a beautiful day. Sometimes Mr. Yang smokes in the classroom next to the open window. He offers me cigarettes and I tell him smoking is “bu hao” (no good) and make a fake choking action.

HANGZHOU HISTORY: This is a hard class because our teacher doesn’t speak English and we don’t speak Chinese. It is hard to teach history through body language. I have the feeling that I could learn a lot from him, if we had a common language. He shows us pictures of the West Lake and different kinds of Chinese art. He explains the significance in Chinese, often throwing in some English words or stopping to look up the translation of a word. I feel badly that he has to teach us since we don’t understand anything he says. It must be frustrating for him. He did bring us little guide books in English of Hangzhou which has been of immense help to me. It tells about all of the tourist sites and also has an English map.

PHYSIQUE: This is where we do dance and yoga type exercises. We have this class once a week. Our teacher is very cute with a perfect figure and a short, geometric kind of hair style. She wears glasses and is always smiling. She doesn’t speak English，but doesn’t need to in order to teach us the dance steps. She knows how many steps to teach at a time, how much repetition I need, and how slowly to demonstrate the steps so that it is fairly easy to put them together and remember them. That is not to say that I am at all graceful or coordinated in my movements, but for the most part, I can remember the routine. One class was torturous, however. Instead of dance, we did one and a half hours of abdominal exercises. The next two days every muscle in my stomach, back and ribs was sore. It felt like someone took a baseball bat and swung it repeatedly at my rib cage. I could barely move when I woke up. The next week we were dreading class because we thought it would be just as hard. Although we all really like our teacher, we were happy that she was late because that meant fewer minutes to work out. When she finally arrived, we got to play 30 minutes of ping pong which made us even happier. Then we went to the gym to practice our dance. I had come prepared for this class by bringing a bottle of water with me. That way I wouldn’t have to bug her to take me to the special teachers room to get water from the cooler. That’s what I thought at least. After dancing, she told us to “take a rest”. I was in need of a rest and proudly pulled out my water bottle to get a drink. The four of us were sitting on the mats, resting, as I opened the bottle and took a big swig. That is when I started spitting and flapping and making spastic garbly noises. It is strange thinking you are drinking bottled water when in fact you are drinking some wretched concoction that is 44% alcohol. As soon as I chugged it, I felt my throat burn and I had no idea what was wrong with the water other than that it tasted totally vile. I finally spit it into a handful of tissues, allowing only a little to make its way down my throat. For a fleeting moment I thought I had been poisoned. Why would water taste like that? It is still strange to me that I bought the “water” from a display case in the supermarket that was directly next to the soft drinks and children’s juices. I guess that’s what happens when you come from a state where you can’t buy alcohol in supermarkets. I guess that’s also what happens when you come to China and can’t read Chinese characters. Anyhow, when our teacher returned, I showed her what I did. She laughed hysterically and took me to the private teachers office to get some water.

MARTIAL ARTS / BADMINTON: We have this class once a week as well. Our teacher is Mr. Zhang (I think) and he is a Kung Fu Master. We were supposed to learn Kung Fu,but he felt that we weren’t going to have enough classes to learn enough about it, so he decided to just do different sports with us such as badminton, basketball, and ping pong. I only had two classes with him because I was often scheduled to teach during this time. I did learn to pick up a badminton from the floor with the racket. I also hit 3 badmintons up into the crevice of the corner of the ceiling, where they can’t be retrieved. I think he is a very patient teacher!

CHINESE PAINTING: Another class that is not my area of expertise! Our art teacher is amazing. She showed us some of her work and she paints things that look like photographs. She can also fix any mistake at all. When I tried to paint pink flowers that looked like pink paint splotches, she fixed them and made them look like flowers again. She also salvaged a butterfly that looked more like a blowfish. We only had 3 painting classes and she always had two students who are seniors to translate for her. One of them just worked on her paintings. The other student asked us nonstop questions about America, Hip Hop, Prisonbreak, House, movies, filmstars and more. One class I painted cherries. Another class I painted flowers. The last class I painted birds. I threw them all away except for the pink flowers and butterfly that the teacher fixed. She said I had to pick something to be mounted so I could bring it home!

PAPERCUTTING: We practiced the Chinese tradition of paper cutting. Boy, does that take a lot of patience. Our teacher was very nice and skilled. She makes papercutting look easy. It is very detail-oriented. I lost patience on my papercutting project and by the end I was just doing everything really quickly, in order to be done. Of course rushing only made me make more mistakes. Our teacher sensed my frustration and helped me finish it, fixing it up for me as well. We also learned how to make Chinese knots. Molly and Candice took off with this and have been knotting away at lunch, during class, etc. They are very crafty. I wish I could be crafty because I like to fidget, but I can’t make the knots look they way they’re supposed to. Again, our teacher was very patient. Lots of times she just did the knots for me, so they would look good. But at one point, she stopped making my knots and I was forced to figure it out myself.

But hey, the steaks were delicious ...

(Steve)

The past two weeks with my new host family have been great. They spent two years living in Oklahoma, so they all have very good English. While this means I’ve had less of an opportunity to immerse myself in Chinese, it has also allowed for much more communication: we’ve already had conversations covering everything from politics to astrophysics. Erik, my host brother, loves astronomy and photography, and he just finished teaching me all about telescopes. Last week he gave me a twenty-minute tutorial on Chinese history for the past 3000 years. He’s also the first person who’s been able to explain Chinese politics to me – I still don’t get it, but for once I don’t think the language barrier is the problem; I think their system is just that complicated. Another favorite topic of conversation is college applications; I’ve had to explain the American system to my host parents, Chinese students, teachers – I even had to work on someone’s college essay, something I thought I was done with. I met that student, a friend of my host family’s, a few days later, and he admitted that the essay I’d worked on was drafted by his father. I’d done more of his application than he had!

I also feel that I’m having more interaction with the people at school. Erik’s English teacher had me talk about our trip to Beijing and participate in the discussion of Mark Twain’s “The Hundred Pound Note”. His geography teacher asked me to do a presentation on American geography, which went well given my lack of knowledge on the subject. The “English Corner” we do every day after lunch seems to have recovered from its post-Beijing slump (the first few days back, almost no one came), and one regular even invited us all to tea this Sunday afternoon. I’ve become good friends with a couple of Erik’s classmates, one of whom took Erik and I out to a steakhouse last week, where he treated me to a two-hour explanation of Chinese characters. Then we walked out without paying the bill, and the waitress had to run after us. But hey, the steaks were delicious.

With only a week left, I can’t help wondering what I’ve accomplished in my time here. Obviously, my goal of learning the language has failed miserably. Jill maintains that I understand more than I let on, and Tracy admitted to Candice that she and her friends speak faster when I’m around just in case, but there’s no way I could get by without a translator. Still, I’ve made progress, and I get a bit of a thrill every time I catch something someone’s saying. Besides, I think I’ve had enough other experiences to make up for it – the pandas alone would have made this trip worthwhile. When you add all of China’s natural beauty, all of its culture, its relics, and its incredible artwork, not to mention the incredible experience of submerging myself in an entirely alien culture, and when you top it off with all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way, I think this trip was a pretty good deal.

Beijing

(Ms. Arkin)

Beijing is a huge city with a tremendous amount of history. I know that is not a very sophisticated description, but I think I am forgetting my English vocabulary. Everywhere you look, there are apartment buildings. Mostly they are tall, high rise buildings or long rectangular buildings (look like the high rises tipped over on one side) that are set up in rows. The older ones are characterized by unpainted cement that has accumulated years of grime, and rusted iron cages in front of the windows. The newer buildings are obviously not as decrepit, but still look a little wilted. The ultra-new apartments are huge high rises often built in clusters of three or four identical structures. They are modern and clean looking. I was surprised that there was no laundry hanging anywhere in Beijing. The other cities have all been colorfully accessorized with clothing and sheets that hang just about everywhere (even in the rain).

If you look hard enough from the window of a moving vehicle, you can also see pockets of new wealth where they have built little communities of town homes or single family homes. The ones that I noticed were tastefully landscaped and tucked away behind fancy gates.

Something else that stands out in my mind about Beijing, besides it being enormous, is that the traffic is horrific. In fact, the traffic in Beijing almost makes route 128 during rush hour seem not so bad. Almost.

So, what did we do in this big, bustling, traffic jam of a city? The Great Wall…. The Forbidden City…. Tiananmen Square…. just to name a few. We also saw the Beijing Opera (yawn), the Temple of Heaven, the Lama Monastery and the list goes on. There is so much history in Beijing it is overwhelming. We had a very packed agenda for the four days we were there! Our guide, Da Li, was wonderful, except for the fact that he speedwalked. I think it amused him to make us walk a lot - he believed we should walk fast so we could see more places! He also had interesting things to say and I learned a lot from him without ever being bored.

We were fortunate to be in Beijing for the festivities that celebrated the “countdown to the 500 day countdown” to the 2008 Summer Olympics. We were there for days 504-501. Beijing is undergoing all sorts of cosmetic renovations in preparation for the games. Shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and even historical sites (like the Forbidden City) are all being spiffed up. It is also rumored that a public order will prohibit residents from driving their cars during the Olympic events. This will reduce both traffic and pollution.

We visited the Lama Monastery, which is a Buddhist temple. We have seen many Buddhist temples in China and I confess, with some hesitation and shame, that they are all starting to look the same. What stood out at this particular temple was not the architecture, the statues, or any of the elaborate artwork. Instead, it was a Tibetan monk (on vacation from Tibet) raucously carrying on a conversation via his state-of the-art cell phone. I thought, wait a minute, is this a commercial for Verizon or is there really a Tibetan monk, in full orange garb, with a techno ring tone? The other memory I have of this temple was “inviting” a statue of Buddha to leave the gift shop and come home with me. Da Li told us that was the proper terminology for the transaction. After giving money to the gift shop, I took the statue to be blessed by a monk who (after watching me put a donation in the donation box) told me to kneel while he recited a prayer. Then he sang something that, although I have no idea what it meant, sounded authentically devout. My Buddha is now supposed to bring me happiness and wealth.

The Great Wall was very steep. It was sad thinking about all of the workers that died constructing it. I wonder if they ever imagined that tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world would journey to see it every day. I don’t know what else to say about it. It looks like the pictures you see in books, except that it is steeper and packed with people (which made it kind of colorful). All along the wall there are salespeople hawking various souvenirs. They don’t have stands; they just walk around with armfuls of goods. I couldn’t resist buying a t-shirt that says (in both English and Chinese), “I climbed the Great Wall”.

The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square were pretty much as I imagined them to be. Our guide did not offer much commentary as we walked across Tiananmen Square. The events that took place there were reduced to the words, “there was some social unrest here in 1989”.

What I found most remarkable about the Temple of Heaven, was not the Temple, but the park that surrounds it. It is literally a playground for Beijing’s senior citizens. There are jungle gyms and monkey bars and swingsets that are used by hundreds of men and women over the age of 50. It was kind of surreal. Our guide told us that citizens are being encouraged to retire early in order to create more jobs for young people. When the men and women retire, they come to this park to participate in dance groups, singing groups, etc. They also make friends and play games.

I guess my journal entry can’t be complete without some mention of food. Beijing is famous for duck. There are many duck restaurants and even duck boats. That makes two things in common with Boston. Anyhow, the duck was delicious. Quack. We waddled out of the restaurant with full tummies.

Another experience we had in Beijing was taking a pedicab tour through one area of the city (known as the Hutong). As part of the tour, we stopped at the home of an elderly couple and got to visit with them for a few minutes and see their home. From the outside, the home looks like a dilapidated shack. From the inside, it is a little better, but still sparse and lacking many of the comforts we take for granted. The couple is retired from working in the factories and now they spend their time relaxing and opening their home to tourists. Their home consists of a small outside courtyard, a living room, a bedroom that is basically an extension of the living room, a small kitchen and a fair amount of clutter. They also have birds, fish and turtles to keep them company and help provide a warm, homey feeling. For heat, they heat up water in the living room. Their bathroom is the public lavatory which is about 50 meters down the street. The woman laughed at our muffled gasps when she told us this, and then went on to explain that it doesn’t bother them, because that is the only way they know.

Chinese-speaking computers ... and the Blue Monster

(Ms. Arkin)

I have finally learned how to make this computer stop writing in Chinese characters. You probably know by now that my computer crashed and died. After about 48 hours of panic-stricken grief, full-blown crisis mode and being utterly consumed with trying to fix it, I gave up and accepted it. So now I am using a laptop from Hangzhou High School. It is a bit of a struggle because, although several people have switched it to English for me, it still has everything in Chinese. I have to rely on my basic knowledge of Microsoft to navigate which so far is working (thanks, Bill Gates).

It has gone from winter to summer without passing go. Today was 30 degrees Celsius which I believe translates to the high 80’s in Fahrenheit. Last week it was in the 30’s(Farenheit) and we were going to school bundled up in winter jackets and hats, barely able to feel our toes. When we went to Beijing, the weather was fabulously perfect. Everyone said it would be cold, but it was in the mid sixties with sunny blue skies. I think I might have had some influence on this. You see, the night before we left for Beijing, I went out and bought a new winter coat for the trip. Need I say more? I really like my coat though. It is purple and puffy and very warm and tumbly.

I am having trouble riding my bike. It is way too scary. I have reduced my bike riding to going back and forth to school (since the route is relatively simple). One day I took a ride to the grocery store around 6pm when the roads were really crowded. Bad idea. I didn’t even go into the store – I was too distraught. I turned around and went home, praying to avoid bloodshed and vowing never to ride the blue monster again. You see, in China there is a constant flow of bikes merging into the street from every direction. There are also cars bombing down these narrow, crowded streets with little to no patience for bicycles. The cars come up next to me, getting only a few inches from my body, and then accelerate in order to pass at full speed. I try to move to the right to make space for the cars on the left, but there never fails to be another biker buzzing by me on the right. How I have avoided an accident so far is beyond me. Also, while it is one thing to avoid being struck by an automobile or colliding with another bicycle, there are also a gazillion pedestrians that you have to dodge. And I haven’t even mentioned the electric scooters.

Speaking of bikes, as I was riding mine to school today, I was behind one of the many parents who use a bike to drop their child off at school. While in Dover, kids get strapped into the back seats of minivans and SUV’s, in China they hop on the backtrap of their parents bicycle (their legs hanging straight down – they don’t touch the ground yet) and go to school that way. Sometimes they read a book on the way.

Hangzhou Happenings ... and The Great Wall!

(Molly)

So much has been going on, I keep forgetting to write!

Our time at Hangzhou High School is going really well. The weather is especially great – if anything, it’s too hot and sunny! Our favorite teacher is our Calligraphy teacher. He gave us each names and then acted them out. Steve’s was “strong and great man,” for which he flexed his biceps. Mine means “accomplished girl,” which was a hilarious action – I’m not sure if he was flopping, dancing, or what. He often motions for us to dance during our breaks, which is also a great motion. The only English words he’s used to us are “OK,” “no,” and “disco.” I suspect he knows a little more, but he doesn’t use it. Our Chinese teacher is also very good. His English is surprisingly good, seeing as he teaches Chinese at the high school. He has been teaching us how to buy things, what the school buildings are all called, how to describe the weather, and how to describe our trip to Beijing. I really like one of our gym teachers, but resent the other because she makes us work too hard! Also, she is in such good shape, and we have to do the whole workout facing a mirror. I get so self-conscious. We were all sweating and aching after the last aerobics class. It turns out, however, that I am a pretty good badminton player J A lot of the boys here are killer at ping-pong. I have a table at home, so I am really ashamed when I see them playing – they are fantastic. Our paper-cutting teacher is sweet. I generally enjoy the class for the first hour, but I am not a very patient person, so after that I get really fidgety. Our classes are each two hours long. Next week our paper-cutting teacher will teach us how to make Chinese knots or macramé! Our Hangzhou History class continues to be awkward, as our teacher speaks to us in full paragraphs of Chinese and we stare blankly back at him. It would be pretty comical if it weren’t so pathetic.

The English Corner has also been going pretty well. We have lots of customers every day. Yesterday Steve and I talked to someone who plans to apply to school in America, so we gave him some advice about which schools to check out. Another girl comes to us with a sheet of questions every day.

I got a haircut here. It is the most Chinese thing ever, and I love it. I have side bangs and hair that is short on top, long on the bottom. I am the most Asian one.

Our weekends have been busy. We went to the West Lake Museum (a little boring), the West Lake itself (several times – very pretty), climbed a few hills. One of the hills had rocks that Steve climbed on – he was in heaven! I was walking down the path at one point when he suddenly leapt across in front of me from one high rock to the other, just like a monkey. My favorite day so far was spent with two of the students who came to America three years ago, Yang and Jackie. They took us first to the West Lake, where we rented a dingy. We got tired of rowing really soon, so we mostly just drifted and sunbathed. Yang and Jackie are very good friends, and for our benefit did all their playful sparring in English, so we had a very amusing ride. Jackie’s ringtone is “Beautiful, pick up the phone!” Yang English is phenomenal. He is going to restart college in the fall in San Diego. Then we went to a Starbucks on the lake. Starbucks + beautiful day + pretty view = very happy Molly. We went back to Hefang Street, with all the cool shopping, for a bit so that Yang could buy Steve’s family a porcelain tea set. Yang bargained a watch for me down from 85 to 45 Yuan, because we were actually serious about walking away and she yelled at us. For dinner they took us to a Japanese restaurant. It was awesome. I think I am getting to be a much more adventurous eater here – I rarely eat raw fish at home, but I took one of each kind on the plate. After dinner I finally got my Kareoke! We went to KTV, and got our own room. There was a couch along three sides, and a TV on the fourth. For someone who hates Kareoke, Yang was singing a lot. It’s one of Jackie’s favorite things to do. Steve loved it but can’t admit it now that we have left the room. He says it’s in the MAN-ual.

One Saturday we went to the Wansong School. According to the legend, a boy and girl (who was dressed as a boy – girls couldn’t go to school back then) fell in love there, and were forbidden to marry so committed suicide and turned into butterflies. Now it is a gathering place for aunts and uncles with nothing better to do to come and set up dates for their single nieces and nephews. It was insane. There was a clothes-line with classified ads hanging from it, and all around us our hosts could hear old men and women saying “my nephew has a good job,” and “my niece is very beautiful.” Steve was offered the choice between one man’s 30- and 40-year-old daughters.

This past weekend we went to Beijing! We took an overnight train (6:30 PM to 7:30 AM). When we got there we were swept away to have breakfast and then run off to a Museum. It was actually the nicest museum we have been to, but we rushed through it because I wasn’t feeling well, and maybe he could tell that none of us are crazy about museums generally. Maybe it was so good because we didn’t have time to get bored. There was a big event going on in the lobby, for the 504th day to the Beijing Olympics… don’t even ask. They’re obsessed. There were teams of adults and children wearing t-shirts in the five Olympic colors. Half were painting a huge banner that went all the way around the room, and half were sitting in the ring formation on the floor.

Next we went to a Lama Monastary, which was pretty neat. The buildings were beautiful. In one building was a huge standing Buddha (or Sakyamuni) maybe 50 feet tall, made out of a single sandalwood tree and painted gold. Steve and Jill both bought Buddha statues at the temple, and then got them blessed. Now that they are blessed, they can’t say that they bought the buddhas, but that they “invited” the buddhas from the temple.

The food in Beijing was awesome. We ate at the same place for lunch and dinner on the first day, because our dinner reservation was overbooked. That was fine, because the restaurant was great. The noodles were good, and we had pear with caramelized sugar all over it (pineapple like this is my new favorite food, I think).

On our second day, Saturday, we went to the Forbidden City first. It was huge, but not as breathtaking as I expected it to be. The back, where they kept the concubines, was quite beautiful, but the front all looked the same. The Summer Palace, however, was breathtaking. It has a huge lake, with an island in the middle. There is a cherry tree on the island that was in full bloom when we went, which was very beautiful. The Palace itself is great too, with intricate corridors and pagodas. Along with the Forbidden City, we went to Tiananmen Square, which is not very notable except that it’s huge, and the guide didn’t mention anything about the massacre.

For lunch, we had an Imperial Banquet. The restaurant was set up when the emperor was overthrown in 1911 and his eunichs didn’t know how to do anything but cook for the emperor. We had over 10 courses, and stuffed ourselves silly. Our favorite was Chinese hamburger, which was a little bit spicy!

In the afternoon, Jill and Candice opted to go back to the hotel while Yang took us to visit his school and Beijing University. His school, The Peoples’ University of China, was a dump! No wonder he’s moving to San Diego! There was one nice building, which was MASSIVE – nearly all the classes are held there. We were not allowed to enter his dorm room, but he said 5 people live there, and from the outside it looked pretty nasty. Beijing University, on the other hand, is gorgeous. A prince used to live there. It has a lake that looks like Central Park with cherry blossoms. You can’t even tell that you’re in a city.

On Sunday we drove out of the city towards the Great Wall. First we stopped at a Ming tomb with an underground palace. It was very impressive – very large and all marble – but bare, since the excavators had taken everything out to protect it from the oxygen. The museum about it was pretty neat.

Lunch was not great – it seemed to be the only place around and was full of tourists. They had gelato, though!

THEN WE CLIMBED THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!!!!!!!!! Coolest thing ever. So worth the steep climb (it was quite a workout). It was quite crowded. It was windy but the walking was demanding enough that I was hot in just a t-shirt.

Dinner was Peking duck, which was pretty awesome. You get a whole duck, and then put pieces in moo shi pancakes with sauce. We also got lo mein for the first time in China – it is not really common here.

After dinner we went to the Peking Opera, which was rather hilarious. They speak in REALLY high voices, so when they talk about war it’s ridiculous. “I will fight you fiercely,” they say in a voice two octaves about a regular voice…. The costumes were crazy, but the percussion was really grating. I’m not a big fan of Chinese music.

On Monday, we went to the Temple of Heaven. The structure itself was beautiful but not unlike anything we’ve seen. The park around it was most notable – all around there were hundreds of retired old men and women doing exercises – dancing, playing with a string and spinning weight toy, working out, playing hackey sack, ribbon dancing, even choral singing. It seems funny that they don’t really get a childhood here until they are old.

We went to lunch at a noodle restaurant, which made Candice and I very happy! After lunch we went on a pedicab tour. We toured an old couple’s house, which was rather bizarre… their house is a tourist attraction. Whatever. They were nice, and had a talking parrot.

We flew back to Hangzhou Monday night, and we three kids were picked up at school by our new host families. My host sister’s English name is Lavender, which fits her personality but I don’t feel comfortable calling her because it’s such an uncommon name. I also somehow got it into my head that her name is Jasmine (I’ve had Aladdin stuck in my head, and my Chinese name, Mo Li, translates to Jasmine), so I’m afraid of calling her the wrong name. She is 16, but looks 13. She is very sweet though, if a little immature. Her parents are very nice. Her father is a policeman, and her mother is a businesswoman. Her mother’s mother lives with her, and is hilarious. She fits every stereotype of a Chinese grandmother. She always grabs my arm to make sure I’m not cold, or tugs my jacket to see if I’m hot, and urges me to eat more and more food. She also shows up in my room and tucks me in if I’m sitting in bed with the laptop they put in my room. She tries to talk to me in hand motions, and I never understand. She also laughs at my lack of chopsticks skills. Lavender has a little brother. I wasn’t sure that she was serious at first, because students here tend to refer to their cousins as brothers and sisters, but she actually has a little brother who lives at his school during the week.

One night this week, Lavender took me to see the dancing fountain in the West Lake, which was really neat. The fountain dances to Carmen, the Nutcracker, and some funny Chinese songs. It was impressive, and also really funny because there two rouge spouts off doing their own thing – the two klutzy members of the dance company.

On Tuesday Helen (the English teacher who came to America with Yang and Jackie) took us to buy fabric for the dresses (or in Steve’s case, jacket and pants) that we are getting made. Candice and I are both getting prom dresses. Picking out the fabric was very dramatic. We started by looking at samples. Candice fell in love with one that they didn’t have. I came in looking for purple, and didn’t like any of the purples. I finally liked one, but they didn’t have that either. Then we found a pile of ones we really liked, but it turned out that those were reserved. Then we took to searching through the actual fabric, since the samples were lying. Candice wound up finding the fabric she loved and they had said they didn’t have, and was a very happy camper. I found a fabric that was in the reserved pile, but was black, and Ms. Arkin and Candice talked me out of it, saying that black is not a good color for prom. I finally found a purple in the same pattern as the reserved fabric, that I like a lot. Helen tried to convince Jill to get a hot pink or red fabric, which was pretty scary. She finally found a purple and black one that was really nice. Steve’s choice was not as dramatic – blue and black, pretty easy. We were there for a total of an hour and a half.

The next day, the tailor came to take our measurements, so we didn’t go to class that afternoon either. Lavender kept asking me when I would come to class, saying that they were really anxious to meet me. When I finally showed up on Thursday, the class broke into applause. They are a much more raucous group than my last class – I enjoy it a lot.hhhERz

Classes ... and Food!

(Candice)

Its been a while since i last wrote, sorry. All of this traveling has got me drained, i knew i was going to be tired but i had nooooo idea what tired was until I came on this trip. All that aside i have moved into my new host sisters home. Saying bye to Tracy was hard becasue we have become best of friends and I can’t picture China whithout her. But i email her everyday and i am going to her house Friday for her birthday. My new host sister is Jenny, she is very nice and her family is too, but it seems like time is flying by, i can’t keep track of what day it is :).

My classes in school are very interesting. My favorite is Chinese painting (of course) dance (even though it hurts, are teacher knows what she is doing. And she can do it well for a long time unlike us who are in pain within a few seconds), and i lloooooovveeee callligraphy. The man who teaches that class is my favorite teacher in the whole school. He is the funniest man, and is really good at teaching us how to attempt to be good at Chinese writting. He is forever laughing and smiling. I remember the first class i had with him, he was so serious. I thought he was strict and to the point. But after a couple of classes i guess we all got more comfortable with each other and every class sicne then it’s been nothing but laughs, especially when he tries to get one of us to disco at every break.

I have met alot of new students since the last time i wrote. Angela is very interested in American culture, especially music, and she is always bringing me candy (becasue of my name). Michael is a musician who raps, and listens to jay-z, he is also in charge of all the clubs- Mr. Popular. Bruce has hosted exchange students from all around the world including Germany, and is mad that the school wanted to give someone else a chance this year (so he wasn’t able to host Steve). The class 10 boys are my favorite. They are all so down to earth and funny. They visit me at the English corner alot and i talk to them between classes.

Now lets talk about food. It is hard for me to find things that i love to eat in China because the food is so different but let me make some suggestions to some of you who may be visiting China in the near future HHmmm MMhh:

• The tea house- very good buffet, fried chicken, dunplings, and the tea is OOOHH MY GOODNNESS good lol
• Chinese burrito- i don’t know what it is called but it is vegetable and some meat seasoned very well stuffed in a wrap (sold across the street from the school)
• Corn on the cob- Sold on every corner but i eat the ones sold in front of the market across the street from the school.
• rice wrapped in leaves- Brown rice in some good sticky stuff wrapped in leaves ummmm.
• Hangzhou breakfast, a piece of bread rapped in another piece of bread with some sweet stuff inside.
• baozi?- steamed bread stuffed with tofu
• Noodles- many different flavors, fills you up, great for long train rides.
• apples- the apples are so big here and according to tracy i need to eat healthier because candy and soda is bad for my health so an apple a day will help me stay slim (so true but still funny)
• and anything from the Sichuam Province, because it is spicy and delicious!

Oh one more thing, while traveling through China i have met the most interesting people. My favorite is a man named Peter (English name). he is from Singapore, knows 12 different languages. Lived in San Francisco was a professor, and was invited to Beijing by the Chinese goverment to open a business......what a life, and i thought visiting China was a big thing :)