Kung Fu and Chinese Culture

(Andrew)

It has taken me a while to fully grasp the immense culture that China presents. Prior to my participation in the China Exchange, I had always thought America’s two hundred thirty five year old history had been unique. And, that America, a nation that heavily influences those developing, could pride itself on its rich culture. This was assumed after many years of US history lessons of course, and obviously I had been wrong. The fascinating five thousand year old Chinese culture extends its roots so deep into the man’s history that I have often caught myself wondering throughout this trip why people don’t learn more about it.

Senior Privileges

(Allen)

Back again in Hangzhou, hellooooo rain and also hello new host family. Everything with my new host family is going along fine, except for one catastrophic downfall—stairs. They live on the top floor of a six-story apartment complex with no elevator, so making it down every morning is a downhill roller coaster and conversely climbing back up every evening is like comparable to scaling Mt. Everest, just kidding. All jokes aside, my new host family is pretty awesome; they even have an adorable dog, Dudu, that looks like a bear cub. When I first walked into the apartment, Dudu barked relentlessly at the presence of a stranger, but after ten minutes he was getting all cozy in my lap and on my arm. It’s definitely taken some time, but after a week, Dudu considers me a part of the family.

English Corner at Hanggao

(Mel)

One of the best parts of this trip is without a doubt our daily English Corner sessions. I’m sure they’ve already been mentioned in the blog but just in case you’re reading this and don’t know English Corner is a 30 minute block of time during the lunch break every day when we hang out in a room of the school and any kids who want to practice their english or learn about American culture can come to chat with us. In past years English Corner has been held outside but since we’ve only had 3 or so sunny days the whole time we’ve been in Hangzhou we’ve been inside for it but we’ve taken advantage of having a classroom by writing a few American slang words (with definitions) on the board every day. At first we weren’t sure if the kids would like it but most of the kids check out the slang words of the day first thing when they get to English Corner.

School in America?

(Emily)

Students who wish to go to school in America really have to take the initiative--its a lot of extra work. They must teach themselves the TOEFL and SAT vocabulary (although most get tutors). Also, the SAT is not administered in mainland China, so students must fly to Hong Kong multiple times. Our translator friends tell us that when they took their SAT’s they were surrounded by other mainland students at the airport, at hotels, and at the shopping malls. The test taking center they were at held 3000 people--and there were only five bathrooms, and they had only five minute breaks to use them. Not as much fun as our SAT’s, in short. Most students just take the GaoKao though--I think our perspective is a bit skewed because our guides and many of the kids we meet at English corner have more to do with us precisely because they want to practice their English.

Exploring the Creative World of American Film…Chinese style!

(Joseph)

Last week I embarked on a somewhat challenging and intimidating task: teaching the famous American film Citizen Kane to junior-level Chinese students with no experience studying film at all…and all this in less than 45 minutes. Of course, I did not really teach as much of the film as I would have liked, but we covered an amazing amount of film in our limited time.

Teaching Experiences at Hangzhou High School

(Joseph)

After a busy week teaching 14 sophomore classes here at Hangzhou High School, I am really enjoying the cultural exchange here. The students are rapt with attention when I speak of American history, life, education, and housing. In fact, I have become somewhat of a celebrity here.

Weekend Fun

(Mel)

This weekend, just as the one before, was completely exhausting but totally worth it. Even though our host siblings have to go to school on saturdays they found time on friday night to join us for some karaoke. Even some of our host sibling’s friends came with us as well as one of our translators, Emily. There were enough of us to get the VIP room which was large with a wrap-around couch/bench along three walls and a huge flat-screen TV on the other. We also had three microphones, an all you can eat buffet, and four hours to spend. I think it’s safe to say that everyone had a great time. By the time we left each person had sung at least one song (most of us many more than that) and we were all quite impressed by Jim’s (Andrew’s host brother) singing voice.

Reflections on Hangzhou

(Andrew)

Wow. I cannot believe it has already been a week that we have been in Hangzhou. So many things have happened that need their own separate blogs, so I will just give a short synopsis of what my first impressions of Hangzhou and its people are.

At around 10am on 2/14, our train from Luoyang arrived at Hangzhou’s train station. Ironically exhausted after our overnight train ride and journey throughout China, we were greeted by a smiling delegation, composed of administration members, faculty, and our host siblings.

A Tale of Two High Schools

(Allen)

Time has really flown by since our arrival here at Hangzhou. Since arriving last Tuesday, we’ve been at the school for over a week. During that time, I’ve grown to appreciate DSHS a lot more…let me explain.

Hangzhou Seniors

(Mel)

Saturday night we met up for dinner followed by a stroll around a night market with the group who came to DS last year. It was really great to get to see Swan, Kevin, SR and Wang Fei again and to hear what they’re all up to now. Here in Hangzhou we’re all being hosted by sophomores so it’s hard to compare their classes to ours but having an opportunity to talk to seniors really got me thinking about the two school systems in a way that’s more relevant to our lives as seniors. So here’s a warning to any seniors who are reading this if you’re sick of hearing about the college process stop reading this blog now (but I think this could be a new spin that might make the whole thing seem more manageable!).

Luoyang and Nanjie (from the past)

(Emily)

The last stops on our journey were a bit surreal, and made our final destination all the more welcoming. In Luoyang, China's ongoing and uneven transition into the present was obvious; while other cities we've seen have been shining and modern, and surpass those of America and Europe, Luoyang semed in some ways to be stuck in the previous century. ( Not the eighteen hundreds. No horses or telegraph lines.) We passed block after block of raw, dusty earth masked by temporary walls, and unfinished, wounded-looking buildings whose metal supports arched into the air like exposed bone. At first, we thought the weather as just overcast, but it turned out that the sky in Luoyang is permanently smoggy. The entire effect was rather dystopic. It is at times like these--well, all the time, but especially times like these--that I wish I spoke more Chinese. Luoyang, while not a prime vacation spot, is still home to millions of people who must have some affection for it. The language barrier bars me from the human interactions that I'm sure would round out my impression of the city.

To Eat or Not to Eat…

(Joseph)

To eat or not to eat…

...but there is no question about eating in China, where everything, including the kitchen sink, gets eaten.

(I apologize in advance. So much of our experience here has been about eating and, although I hesitate to write twice about the same subject, I am blogging once again about the food and eating culture here in China. I promise to find another topic for my forthcoming blogs.)