(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.
News about Hangzhou and China
Pertinent news about Hangzhou and China from the Shanghai Daily
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, April 2, 2007
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.
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.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
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
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:
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 :)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
"Ni Hao" goes a long way ...
(Ms. Arkin)
“Ni Hao” really goes a long way. Whenever I see people and they look at me sternly, I just say in my best pronunciation possible, “Ni Hao” and their facial expressions soften immediately. They say, “Ni Hao” or “Hello” or even start a conversation with me. Sometimes people try to start a conversation with me in Chinese and then I just say “Wo bu mingbai” ( I don’t understand) and they laugh and smile warmly. I think just the effort of saying hello to people in their own language is appreciated.
Today was my first day by myself in Hangzhou. It is strange to suddenly switch from non-stop activities to all of a sudden being on my own! I like being by myself though, so I enjoy the opportunity and challenge of exploring a foreign city on my own. I am still trying to get my bearings and figure out what is around me (shops, restaurants, cafes, etc.) and how to get there (and back). For those who know me, you know that my sense of direction is somewhat compromised - to put it mildly. I wish I could implant a GPS system into my brain so I wouldn’t get lost so much. Actually, today I did not get lost at all, but I’ll admit I was not very daring in my ventures. I remember when I was in Bangkok two summers ago and it took me three days of solo venturing to get up the courage to take a motorcycle taxi. But after 2 weeks there, I was perfectly comfortable taking taxis and the subway and somehow making myself understood. I am sure I just need a little more time in Hangzhou to feel the same way. Although, it seems there was much more English spoken and written in Thailand. Here, very little is written in English (signs, maps, menus, etc.) except numbers. Anyhow, I am getting sidetracked.
I made my way out of the apartment around 11:30am. It was nice finally being able to sleep lateJ. No matter what time zone I am in, or how hard I try to overcome this, I will never be a morning person. I am entirely sure of it. Anyhow, I explored the “warehouse” marketplace across the street from the school where they have all sorts of stuff from functional clothing to souvenirs to household supplies. Of course, you need to bargain and I really wasn’t in the mood. I find it hard to bargain when things are less than a dollar to begin with. But I also know they see a westerner and quote me a price 3 times the regular price. It is annoying that they don’t put price tags on the merchandise so that it would it at least level the playing field from which to start!
After my marketplace adventure I walked around a few blocks and found a bakery that I liked (made a mental of note of how to get there). Then I went to school to get my bike (which I left there yesterday after the field trip) and went for a long bike ride. I decided to try to find the big grocery store that Rose took me to, so I could get some more diet coke and also be comforted in the fact that I could get there on my own. It was much quicker on the bike. I found a drug store which I didn’t go into, but think might be the place for the headache pills.
“Ni Hao” really goes a long way. Whenever I see people and they look at me sternly, I just say in my best pronunciation possible, “Ni Hao” and their facial expressions soften immediately. They say, “Ni Hao” or “Hello” or even start a conversation with me. Sometimes people try to start a conversation with me in Chinese and then I just say “Wo bu mingbai” ( I don’t understand) and they laugh and smile warmly. I think just the effort of saying hello to people in their own language is appreciated.
Today was my first day by myself in Hangzhou. It is strange to suddenly switch from non-stop activities to all of a sudden being on my own! I like being by myself though, so I enjoy the opportunity and challenge of exploring a foreign city on my own. I am still trying to get my bearings and figure out what is around me (shops, restaurants, cafes, etc.) and how to get there (and back). For those who know me, you know that my sense of direction is somewhat compromised - to put it mildly. I wish I could implant a GPS system into my brain so I wouldn’t get lost so much. Actually, today I did not get lost at all, but I’ll admit I was not very daring in my ventures. I remember when I was in Bangkok two summers ago and it took me three days of solo venturing to get up the courage to take a motorcycle taxi. But after 2 weeks there, I was perfectly comfortable taking taxis and the subway and somehow making myself understood. I am sure I just need a little more time in Hangzhou to feel the same way. Although, it seems there was much more English spoken and written in Thailand. Here, very little is written in English (signs, maps, menus, etc.) except numbers. Anyhow, I am getting sidetracked.
I made my way out of the apartment around 11:30am. It was nice finally being able to sleep lateJ. No matter what time zone I am in, or how hard I try to overcome this, I will never be a morning person. I am entirely sure of it. Anyhow, I explored the “warehouse” marketplace across the street from the school where they have all sorts of stuff from functional clothing to souvenirs to household supplies. Of course, you need to bargain and I really wasn’t in the mood. I find it hard to bargain when things are less than a dollar to begin with. But I also know they see a westerner and quote me a price 3 times the regular price. It is annoying that they don’t put price tags on the merchandise so that it would it at least level the playing field from which to start!
After my marketplace adventure I walked around a few blocks and found a bakery that I liked (made a mental of note of how to get there). Then I went to school to get my bike (which I left there yesterday after the field trip) and went for a long bike ride. I decided to try to find the big grocery store that Rose took me to, so I could get some more diet coke and also be comforted in the fact that I could get there on my own. It was much quicker on the bike. I found a drug store which I didn’t go into, but think might be the place for the headache pills.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Hangzhou - First Impressions
(Ms. Arkin)
Where do I begin? I have been in Hangzhou for 3 days now. I think. I am losing track of time and the days of the week are beginning to blur together. I guess I’ll back up and start with the 24 hour train ride from Xi’an to Hangzhou. Ugh. I have to admit I was DREADING this. 24 hours cooped up anywhere but at home with TV, phone and internet is way too long for me. Anyhow, the train station was an experience in itself. Our guide, Richard, tipped one of the station employees 100 yuan (about 13 dollars) to help us get all of our bags onto the train (we have a lot of bags….heavy bags) in time. The trains don’t stop long at each station and masses of people charge onto the train so you have to be quick, tough and very pushy. Anyhow, the young man that Richard tipped was delighted to take on this task. He kept holding up the money and admiring it, then putting it in his pocket and taking it out again. He did a good job – he plowed through the crowd carrying two huge suitcases and arranged them all in the cabin so we could have space for our feet. Well not to bore you with the train details as there is really not much to say. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I read a book, did cryptoquotes, ate junk food (unfortunately I ate all my food in the first two hours) and slept. Before I knew it. we were there. No one on the train spoke English so we were lucky we noticed that we pulled in to Hang zhou station about 35 minutes early. We shlepped our suitcases down two flights of stairs and nobody was there to greet usL.
After about 5 minutes of standing in one place, we were swarmed by the Hangzhou High School welcoming crew. DS has some competition here in Hangzhou when it comes to hospitality. I have never felt so welcome to be anywhere in my life. We all got huge bouquets of flowers and our bags were whisked away by other people so all we had to carry was our flowers. The host brothers and sisters were there to meet the kids and also many administrators from the school. It was a big flurry of commotion and soon enough we were on a warm bus on our way to lunch. Candice had a big smile when they came out with many baskets of French friesJ.
Where do I begin? I have been in Hangzhou for 3 days now. I think. I am losing track of time and the days of the week are beginning to blur together. I guess I’ll back up and start with the 24 hour train ride from Xi’an to Hangzhou. Ugh. I have to admit I was DREADING this. 24 hours cooped up anywhere but at home with TV, phone and internet is way too long for me. Anyhow, the train station was an experience in itself. Our guide, Richard, tipped one of the station employees 100 yuan (about 13 dollars) to help us get all of our bags onto the train (we have a lot of bags….heavy bags) in time. The trains don’t stop long at each station and masses of people charge onto the train so you have to be quick, tough and very pushy. Anyhow, the young man that Richard tipped was delighted to take on this task. He kept holding up the money and admiring it, then putting it in his pocket and taking it out again. He did a good job – he plowed through the crowd carrying two huge suitcases and arranged them all in the cabin so we could have space for our feet. Well not to bore you with the train details as there is really not much to say. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I read a book, did cryptoquotes, ate junk food (unfortunately I ate all my food in the first two hours) and slept. Before I knew it. we were there. No one on the train spoke English so we were lucky we noticed that we pulled in to Hang zhou station about 35 minutes early. We shlepped our suitcases down two flights of stairs and nobody was there to greet usL.
After about 5 minutes of standing in one place, we were swarmed by the Hangzhou High School welcoming crew. DS has some competition here in Hangzhou when it comes to hospitality. I have never felt so welcome to be anywhere in my life. We all got huge bouquets of flowers and our bags were whisked away by other people so all we had to carry was our flowers. The host brothers and sisters were there to meet the kids and also many administrators from the school. It was a big flurry of commotion and soon enough we were on a warm bus on our way to lunch. Candice had a big smile when they came out with many baskets of French friesJ.
We went to the school and had a meeting with the principal who told us how happy they are for us to be here and how they want to do anything and everything to make our stay comfortable. After a tour of the school, Rose (an English teacher here) took me to a supermarket so I could buy some drinks and snacks to keep in the apartment. Then Rose and Wang Huo (also an English teacher) took me out for dinner for more food. Eventually I got to go to my apartment! I was a little worried when I first entered the building as there are no lights in the common areas (unless you know where the light switch on the wall is) and the cement hallways are dark and scary. But once you get in the apartment it is bright and cheery and warm. I haven’t spent much time here yet because as usual I am too busy. I have already had Chinese class, Handwriting class (flashbacks to elementary school), Physique (Chinese dance / boxing) and Hangzhou History. I will start to teach in the afternoons next week
Oh. The banquet. I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention the banquet. In addition to all of the welcoming attention we have received, we also had a formal banquet last night at another restaurant. The administrators went along with all of the host kids and some teachers. Once again too much food, but we also had wine . Mr. Hoover told me before I left that I should order wine. The reason…… whatever the guest of honor (yikes ME?) orders to drink, that is what everybody will drink. Apparently when Mr. Hoover ordered orange juice, there was some disappointment among the group. The principal made toasts through the entire evening and Naichuan (the exchange program coordinator) sat next to me and translated. He also coached me on some much needed proper etiquette as well as explaining things to me (like the constant toasting). The only thing he didn’t warn me about was the chicken head that I scooped out of the bowl of soup.
Everyone here is so nice and helpful. At school, I get breakfast lunch and dinner. The chef puts a whole festive display together at the table where we eat. While I appreciate the special treatment, I also feel bad because I don’t want to make a spectacle of myself. And when I am the only American eating breakfast in a cafeteria of Chinese people and my place setting has bright colored napkins fanned out of a glass along with paper umbrellas and long plastic curly straws with glitter trimmings, I feel like a spectacle. The chef is so cute though. He always comes to make sure I like the food and give thumbs up. The food is always good but he gives me too much and sometimes I don’t know what it is I am eating. Tonight I had chicken nuggets and ketchup. Big thumbs up!
I have been getting headaches for some reason and it is funny that no one in China that I have asked understands what Advil is. They don’t sell such products in convenient stores or even in huge supermarkets. I think they don’t get headaches here. Maybe I should drink more tea.
Hangzhou MARCH 9, 2007
I had handwriting and paper cutting classes today. They were fun but my hands were cold and my fine motor skills are pretty lousy to begin with. Oh well.
Today is International Woman’s Day. The school had a field day for all of the women teachers and I got to play badminton, jump rope, shoot baskets, pick up marbles with chopsticks and play hackey sack with a magnetic feather. I didn’t win anything but I got prizes for trying - pantyhose and dish towels. Then all the women teachers went on the bus to a fancy hotel for a huge buffet dinner to celebrate Woman’s Day some more. Helen (one of the English teachers who has been helping me with all of my questions) pulled me off the bus at the last minute and we got in a car with two computer teachers and drove to the restaurant. We drove through Hangzhou in a little red Chevy.
Hangzhou (Saturday, March 10, 2007)
I rode my bike to school at 8:30am to meet for the trip to the West Lake. I like riding a bike by myself in China. It makes me feel like I live here even though I can’t speak Chinese and my blonde frizzy mop hair is about as un-chinese as it could possibly be. Anyhow, I went to the Lake with all of the kids and their hosts (Tracy, Charles and Natalie). William (another English teacher) went too along with two of the school administrators in charge of student activities.
I have to admit, my cynicism led me to believe that the west lake was not going to be as beautiful as everyone says. I’ve heard and read so much about how gorgeous it is and read the famous quote so many times that compares the West Lake to “paradise on earth” that I was convinced I would be let down. Not true. It is stunningly beautiful. Even on a gray, dreary day like today. Some of the trees are just beginning to bloom. The willow trees are my favorite.
Everyone here is so nice and helpful. At school, I get breakfast lunch and dinner. The chef puts a whole festive display together at the table where we eat. While I appreciate the special treatment, I also feel bad because I don’t want to make a spectacle of myself. And when I am the only American eating breakfast in a cafeteria of Chinese people and my place setting has bright colored napkins fanned out of a glass along with paper umbrellas and long plastic curly straws with glitter trimmings, I feel like a spectacle. The chef is so cute though. He always comes to make sure I like the food and give thumbs up. The food is always good but he gives me too much and sometimes I don’t know what it is I am eating. Tonight I had chicken nuggets and ketchup. Big thumbs up!
I have been getting headaches for some reason and it is funny that no one in China that I have asked understands what Advil is. They don’t sell such products in convenient stores or even in huge supermarkets. I think they don’t get headaches here. Maybe I should drink more tea.
Hangzhou MARCH 9, 2007
I had handwriting and paper cutting classes today. They were fun but my hands were cold and my fine motor skills are pretty lousy to begin with. Oh well.
Today is International Woman’s Day. The school had a field day for all of the women teachers and I got to play badminton, jump rope, shoot baskets, pick up marbles with chopsticks and play hackey sack with a magnetic feather. I didn’t win anything but I got prizes for trying - pantyhose and dish towels. Then all the women teachers went on the bus to a fancy hotel for a huge buffet dinner to celebrate Woman’s Day some more. Helen (one of the English teachers who has been helping me with all of my questions) pulled me off the bus at the last minute and we got in a car with two computer teachers and drove to the restaurant. We drove through Hangzhou in a little red Chevy.
Hangzhou (Saturday, March 10, 2007)
I rode my bike to school at 8:30am to meet for the trip to the West Lake. I like riding a bike by myself in China. It makes me feel like I live here even though I can’t speak Chinese and my blonde frizzy mop hair is about as un-chinese as it could possibly be. Anyhow, I went to the Lake with all of the kids and their hosts (Tracy, Charles and Natalie). William (another English teacher) went too along with two of the school administrators in charge of student activities.
I have to admit, my cynicism led me to believe that the west lake was not going to be as beautiful as everyone says. I’ve heard and read so much about how gorgeous it is and read the famous quote so many times that compares the West Lake to “paradise on earth” that I was convinced I would be let down. Not true. It is stunningly beautiful. Even on a gray, dreary day like today. Some of the trees are just beginning to bloom. The willow trees are my favorite.
I had a really good day. We took little wooden boats to an island within the lake that has another lake within the island. It was very calm and relaxing. I like thatJ. Of course we had another feast for lunch! We went to a restaurant and had a private room and more food than you can imagine. I have learned the Chinese word for “full”.
I wish I spoke more Chinese but every time I try to say something in Chinese, people either answer me in English or have absolutely no clue what I said. It is hard being tone deaf and trying to learn a tonal language.
I wish I spoke more Chinese but every time I try to say something in Chinese, people either answer me in English or have absolutely no clue what I said. It is hard being tone deaf and trying to learn a tonal language.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Candice's "Home Away from Home"
(Candice)I have settled into my home in Hang zhou and i am very happy here. I confess that i have told people that i was not nervous about moving into my host family's home- but i was. I dont even think i realized myself that deep down inside i was worried that i was not going to feel comfurtable in this "home away from home". But to my surprise this nice apartment i am living in feels like a real home, not just a house. My host sister's name is Tracy speaks perfect english and is very nice. Me and her clicked instantly, laughing and talking all the time. I think we also get along because we both know the meaning of "alone time". Honestly i need my space at times because without alone time i get easily irritated. ( i think it is because i was an only child for 9 years and was used to just having my own space whenver i wanted it and she is an only child so she needs that space too). I feel like i have known her for a lifetime and if there is one thing that i would have to define as the best part of this trip, i would say it is making a new lifetime friend. I know me and her will keep intouch because i get along with her family and her so well. At dinner me, her mother, and her just talk about whatever, for hours while snacking on apples, chocolate, and hickory nuts ( SOOOOO GOOD try them if you havent) while sipping on tea. Her father is always working but when he is around he is just as welcoming, he even gave me a new name but i dont know how to spell it so im not going to try. Her mother said that i should come back every year and that she feels like she has a second daughter (tear..where is the tissue box when you need it). she has gone out of her way to make my stay here comfurtable. For example when they asked me what i use my butter with ( they dont use butter at all so they didnt know) i told them toast. Every morning when i open my door there is a stack of toast sitting on the kitchen table waiting for me. And i am not complaining because i love toast and i have been trying to get some bread in China everytime i sit down to eat. When i ask for bread the waiter looks confused and says "NO". Tracy says that i am simple because there are so many amazing foods in the world and out of all of them bread and butter is my favorite.
School is very interesting. I introduced myself to the class and for the whole period they asked me questions. "what do American students think of us? tell the truth", "what do you think about Bush and the war?" (ha ha please don't get me started on that man), "who is your favorite singer?", "your mother is puerto rican?","how do you feel about brittany spears now that she has done some very bad things?.i used to like her music but she doesn't act proper so i dont know about her anymore, tell us what you think", and so on. I really loved answering the questions and they really loved asking them. i have so much more to say about my stay here but tracy's father needs the computer so stay tuned......
(WOW IM IN CHINA EVERYONE...REALLY IM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD, i am still in shock)
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Train to Hangzhou: New Friends and Our New School
(Molly)
The train ride to Hangzhou had its ups and downs. When we first saw the compartment, we were horrified. It seemed very cramped, especially since we could not fit all of our suitcases under the bed. We got used to it, though, and had a comfortable first few hours. At dinner time I started to get cranky, because we had a hard time procuring food. We checked out the dining car, but everybody was smoking and we thought maybe we could do better. What we really wanted was ramen noodles in a bowl, which we see everywhere here. We walked up and down the train, and saw everyone eating the noodles, but no one selling them. We returned to the dining car and found that it had filled up during our walk. At this point I was very, very cranky. We decided to get out at the next train station to buy noodles. This turned out to be a lot easier than we expected. At one point we thought the train was leaving, so we sprinted back to the car. It did not leave for another 10 minutes. Oh, well. We tried to get hot water, and they understood what we wanted but gave a complicated answer that we did not understand. It did not seem to be about money, because I recognize most money words. Finally they just gave us water, and I was a very, very happy camper. I expected not to be able to sleep, but I slept about 12 hours, which was pretty great.
Our train arrived early, and our hosts and teachers were very apologetic when they showed up and we were already there. They brought us each a bouquet of flowers, and then took us out to eat at a western restaurant. I had French fries, chicken wings, and spaghetti, and once again was a very happy camper. When we arrived at the school, we had a short welcoming ceremony with some administrators and teachers. It was pretty awkward, because Naichuan told Jill to save the gifts for the welcoming banquet, which turned out to be a bad call. We just sat there awkwardly for a long time.
My host sister’s name is Natalie. Her English is quite good; she is hoping to come to DS next year. Her parents speak a bit of English from college. When I first arrived, her father was on business in Beijing (he seems to help design the test to get a medical license). Her mother likes to feed me. We have a big dinner, and then we always have fruit, and then we have nuts. I’m going to put on so much weight while I’m here! Her father is delightful. When he got back from Beijing, he pulled out his English phrase book and pulled out every semi-applicable saying he could find: “have fun,” “I hope you feel at home,” “have a good trip,” “give my regards to your parents,” “remember me to your family,” etc. It was really cute. He also liked my pictures. I am having a hard time describing the kid I babysit in simple English, because he has 6 diseases, none of which is simple. They also tend to think he’s my brother – why else would I babysit him? Also, kids here call their cousins “brothers” and “sisters” for some reason, which makes it hard to tell whether they understand that Nat is really my brother. One girl was also worried that it might be too personal a question to ask how many children were in my family.
Our first class at Hangzhou High School was Hangzhou History. Calligraphy was much better. Our teacher didn’t try to speak English, which was easier because it is a show, rather than tell, class. Plus, I was not as bad as I usually am at calligraphy!
It’s hard to get a plain glass of cold water here. Yang, Steve’s exchange student from three years ago, told us that when he got back from America, he was ready to drink a glass of cold water, and his mother snatched it away from him and put it in the microwave. I guess it shocks your system. But it quenches my thirst! Every other drink tastes really sweet.
On Wednesday night the school took us out for a welcome banquet. This was AMAZING. The food was maybe the best I’ve had. Natalie must have told her mom how much shrimp I ate (bowls and bowls – it was sooo good), because we have had shrimp for dinner twice now.
At night I have been watching movies on my laptop (yes, I have a laptop in my room!). There is a website with free movies in English, with Chinese subtitles. The resolution is bad and they sometimes freeze, but there is a pretty good selection.
Our Chinese class on Thursday was great. Our teacher, Gao Li, is really good. I get confused on grammar sometimes, but he is good about making us practice the words we have just learned, and is really friendly. I also like William, Natalie’s English teacher. Mrs. Preiser refers to him fondly as “little William,” because he is short and young. Helen, who came three years ago, is very funny. She speaks very abruptly. Mrs. Preiser gave her a decorative box, and Helen was convinced that there would be something else in it, which was amusing.
Charles (Steve’s host) and Natalie took us to KFC for dinner on Thursday with a couple of their friends. I think we serve as an excuse for them to put off their homework and eat unhealthy food. KFC has awesome ice cream with hot fudge sauce. Many nights Natalie takes me to a bakery to pick out a pastry for the next morning. I have had doughnuts and éclairs, and once again am a very happy camper.
Being here is very different from traveling. I feel very out of control, because everything is planned out for me and a lot of the time I am not aware of what I am doing until an hour before I leave. I also have to eat whatever is put in front of me, which is all good food but not all to my taste. I think I will never be a picky eater again.
The train ride to Hangzhou had its ups and downs. When we first saw the compartment, we were horrified. It seemed very cramped, especially since we could not fit all of our suitcases under the bed. We got used to it, though, and had a comfortable first few hours. At dinner time I started to get cranky, because we had a hard time procuring food. We checked out the dining car, but everybody was smoking and we thought maybe we could do better. What we really wanted was ramen noodles in a bowl, which we see everywhere here. We walked up and down the train, and saw everyone eating the noodles, but no one selling them. We returned to the dining car and found that it had filled up during our walk. At this point I was very, very cranky. We decided to get out at the next train station to buy noodles. This turned out to be a lot easier than we expected. At one point we thought the train was leaving, so we sprinted back to the car. It did not leave for another 10 minutes. Oh, well. We tried to get hot water, and they understood what we wanted but gave a complicated answer that we did not understand. It did not seem to be about money, because I recognize most money words. Finally they just gave us water, and I was a very, very happy camper. I expected not to be able to sleep, but I slept about 12 hours, which was pretty great.
Our train arrived early, and our hosts and teachers were very apologetic when they showed up and we were already there. They brought us each a bouquet of flowers, and then took us out to eat at a western restaurant. I had French fries, chicken wings, and spaghetti, and once again was a very happy camper. When we arrived at the school, we had a short welcoming ceremony with some administrators and teachers. It was pretty awkward, because Naichuan told Jill to save the gifts for the welcoming banquet, which turned out to be a bad call. We just sat there awkwardly for a long time.
My host sister’s name is Natalie. Her English is quite good; she is hoping to come to DS next year. Her parents speak a bit of English from college. When I first arrived, her father was on business in Beijing (he seems to help design the test to get a medical license). Her mother likes to feed me. We have a big dinner, and then we always have fruit, and then we have nuts. I’m going to put on so much weight while I’m here! Her father is delightful. When he got back from Beijing, he pulled out his English phrase book and pulled out every semi-applicable saying he could find: “have fun,” “I hope you feel at home,” “have a good trip,” “give my regards to your parents,” “remember me to your family,” etc. It was really cute. He also liked my pictures. I am having a hard time describing the kid I babysit in simple English, because he has 6 diseases, none of which is simple. They also tend to think he’s my brother – why else would I babysit him? Also, kids here call their cousins “brothers” and “sisters” for some reason, which makes it hard to tell whether they understand that Nat is really my brother. One girl was also worried that it might be too personal a question to ask how many children were in my family.
Our first class at Hangzhou High School was Hangzhou History. Calligraphy was much better. Our teacher didn’t try to speak English, which was easier because it is a show, rather than tell, class. Plus, I was not as bad as I usually am at calligraphy!
It’s hard to get a plain glass of cold water here. Yang, Steve’s exchange student from three years ago, told us that when he got back from America, he was ready to drink a glass of cold water, and his mother snatched it away from him and put it in the microwave. I guess it shocks your system. But it quenches my thirst! Every other drink tastes really sweet.
On Wednesday night the school took us out for a welcome banquet. This was AMAZING. The food was maybe the best I’ve had. Natalie must have told her mom how much shrimp I ate (bowls and bowls – it was sooo good), because we have had shrimp for dinner twice now.
At night I have been watching movies on my laptop (yes, I have a laptop in my room!). There is a website with free movies in English, with Chinese subtitles. The resolution is bad and they sometimes freeze, but there is a pretty good selection.
Our Chinese class on Thursday was great. Our teacher, Gao Li, is really good. I get confused on grammar sometimes, but he is good about making us practice the words we have just learned, and is really friendly. I also like William, Natalie’s English teacher. Mrs. Preiser refers to him fondly as “little William,” because he is short and young. Helen, who came three years ago, is very funny. She speaks very abruptly. Mrs. Preiser gave her a decorative box, and Helen was convinced that there would be something else in it, which was amusing.
Charles (Steve’s host) and Natalie took us to KFC for dinner on Thursday with a couple of their friends. I think we serve as an excuse for them to put off their homework and eat unhealthy food. KFC has awesome ice cream with hot fudge sauce. Many nights Natalie takes me to a bakery to pick out a pastry for the next morning. I have had doughnuts and éclairs, and once again am a very happy camper.
Being here is very different from traveling. I feel very out of control, because everything is planned out for me and a lot of the time I am not aware of what I am doing until an hour before I leave. I also have to eat whatever is put in front of me, which is all good food but not all to my taste. I think I will never be a picky eater again.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Xi'an Remembered
(Molly & Ms. Arkin)
Day One
(During the day, Pang Liu Village. See previous entries Pang Liu Village and Pang Liu Cont'd .)
For dinner we went to a dumpling restaurant. Downstairs they had a display out of all sorts of different dumplings shaped like chicken, turtles, pigs, flowers. You name it, they had it in the shape of a dumpling. We ate upstairs and they gave us rice wine to drink. It was warm and extremely sweet. The dinner must have been 10 courses of assorted dumplings. It was overwhelming but very tasty!
Day Two
On Saturday we went to the Terracotta Warriors. It was about an hour and a half from the city so on the way we stopped at a few museums and shops. First we went to the hot springs museum in which the name is deceptive. We froze to death. It was pouring rain and our umbrellas kept turning inside out and our clothes were soaked. We saw the ruins of a king’s bath houses and learned about a romantic(?) love affair between an emperor and the concubine whom he stole from his son. After the museum we went to a pottery workshop which was more like a giant souvenir shop in disguise. At first you get to see how they make the molds for the replicas of the terracotta warriors and see a few artists at work making lacquer furniture. Then you are released into a gigantic room full of souvenirs which included the replica warriors that were priced ten times higher than everywhere else!
Finally we got to see the terracotta warriors. It was very impressive. Many of them have not yet been excavated because they are waiting for improved technology. Also one thing we learned was that when they were first excavated, some of the statues still had paint on them. However, the paint has disappeared from too much contact with the atmosphere.
We had a Muslim dinner that night, which was amazing. We all liked it! There were many snacks – our favorite was the red bean pastry that was quite sweet. First they brought out a piece of thick half cooked pita bread that we tore up into TINY pieces and put in our bowls. They took our bowls and cooked the bread with lamb and cilantro soup. It tasted amazing but was very filling. Richard talked the servers out of giving us each four pieces, so we each got one. None of us even finished that!
Day Three
We went to the city wall and Molly and Steve rode tandem around the wall. Jill and Candice walked around and waited. We saw some amazing kites in the park in front of the wall. The wall was decorated with lanterns in every shape and size for the lantern festival that night. They had one lantern set of life-sized 101 Dalmations. We left and visited a mosque in the middle of the city. The architecture was in the traditional Chinese style and the mosque’s minaret was a tall pagoda in the middle of the complex. Then we went shopping in the mosque’s bizarre which had every type of souvenir we could possibly want for very cheap. That night we met Steve’s climbing friend, Liz, who is staying in xi’an for about four months. She was surprised to hear that we would stay with our host families for only two weeks each because she only stays with one host family the whole time and after three weeks still felt like she was just settling in. We went to dinner with her and then walked on top of the wall for the lantern festival. The lanterns were not much changed by being lit up, but the fireworks were impressive. People were setting them off all over the city. It was nice to be able to see them, after only hearing them all week. All sorts were going off in every direction, and it was very exciting.
Every night in Xi’an Molly. Steve and Candice went to the internet café across the street from the hotel. Jill used her computer in the room.
Day One
(During the day, Pang Liu Village. See previous entries Pang Liu Village and Pang Liu Cont'd .)
For dinner we went to a dumpling restaurant. Downstairs they had a display out of all sorts of different dumplings shaped like chicken, turtles, pigs, flowers. You name it, they had it in the shape of a dumpling. We ate upstairs and they gave us rice wine to drink. It was warm and extremely sweet. The dinner must have been 10 courses of assorted dumplings. It was overwhelming but very tasty!
Day Two
On Saturday we went to the Terracotta Warriors. It was about an hour and a half from the city so on the way we stopped at a few museums and shops. First we went to the hot springs museum in which the name is deceptive. We froze to death. It was pouring rain and our umbrellas kept turning inside out and our clothes were soaked. We saw the ruins of a king’s bath houses and learned about a romantic(?) love affair between an emperor and the concubine whom he stole from his son. After the museum we went to a pottery workshop which was more like a giant souvenir shop in disguise. At first you get to see how they make the molds for the replicas of the terracotta warriors and see a few artists at work making lacquer furniture. Then you are released into a gigantic room full of souvenirs which included the replica warriors that were priced ten times higher than everywhere else!
Finally we got to see the terracotta warriors. It was very impressive. Many of them have not yet been excavated because they are waiting for improved technology. Also one thing we learned was that when they were first excavated, some of the statues still had paint on them. However, the paint has disappeared from too much contact with the atmosphere.
We had a Muslim dinner that night, which was amazing. We all liked it! There were many snacks – our favorite was the red bean pastry that was quite sweet. First they brought out a piece of thick half cooked pita bread that we tore up into TINY pieces and put in our bowls. They took our bowls and cooked the bread with lamb and cilantro soup. It tasted amazing but was very filling. Richard talked the servers out of giving us each four pieces, so we each got one. None of us even finished that!
Day Three
We went to the city wall and Molly and Steve rode tandem around the wall. Jill and Candice walked around and waited. We saw some amazing kites in the park in front of the wall. The wall was decorated with lanterns in every shape and size for the lantern festival that night. They had one lantern set of life-sized 101 Dalmations. We left and visited a mosque in the middle of the city. The architecture was in the traditional Chinese style and the mosque’s minaret was a tall pagoda in the middle of the complex. Then we went shopping in the mosque’s bizarre which had every type of souvenir we could possibly want for very cheap. That night we met Steve’s climbing friend, Liz, who is staying in xi’an for about four months. She was surprised to hear that we would stay with our host families for only two weeks each because she only stays with one host family the whole time and after three weeks still felt like she was just settling in. We went to dinner with her and then walked on top of the wall for the lantern festival. The lanterns were not much changed by being lit up, but the fireworks were impressive. People were setting them off all over the city. It was nice to be able to see them, after only hearing them all week. All sorts were going off in every direction, and it was very exciting.
Every night in Xi’an Molly. Steve and Candice went to the internet café across the street from the hotel. Jill used her computer in the room.
Internet Bar in Xi'an
(Molly)
Every night in Xi’an, we three kids would go to an internet bar across the street from our hotel. It was not marked in English, and to get there we had to go up an escalator in a store, but once we got there we were amazed. There must have been over 150 computers there; I kept expecting it to end, and it never seemed to. Everyone was playing video games, a big screen was displaying what looked like a DDR game (and was playing the music), and from another corner we could hear some sappy pop music that reminded me of Celine Dion (that happens with a lot of the music here). It was cheap, too! The internet cost maybe 50 cents an hour.
Every night in Xi’an, we three kids would go to an internet bar across the street from our hotel. It was not marked in English, and to get there we had to go up an escalator in a store, but once we got there we were amazed. There must have been over 150 computers there; I kept expecting it to end, and it never seemed to. Everyone was playing video games, a big screen was displaying what looked like a DDR game (and was playing the music), and from another corner we could hear some sappy pop music that reminded me of Celine Dion (that happens with a lot of the music here). It was cheap, too! The internet cost maybe 50 cents an hour.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Pang Liu Continued
(Candice)
Yesterday we went to visit an elementary school. This was the highlight of the whole trip for me. We sat down with two teachers and the principal and got to ask them questions. I found this so interesting because i want to study education in college. All the students were so happy. I really enjoyed talking to them in English because they were happy top practice with me.."HELLLOO!" And "THANK YOU!" were the most popular phrases. Me and Jill taught the 5th graders the hokey pokey and they had a blast, i walked around an gave eveyone a sticker and they all were so grateful for them, i was happy to put a smile on their cute faces. This trip to the school really made me positive that i do want to work in the education system...because i loved being at that school, it wasn't a tourist spot. It gave me a good look at what life in China is for students in rural areas.
The students are not the only people who were amazed by our presence. I knew we all were going to stand out but I don't think i am ever going to get used to all the stares. When the children stare and smile its nice, they are so excited to speak to you. But when the adults, the ones who aren't smiling, stare and whisper, or switch seats with their daughter so she doesn't have to sit next to you, it gets annoying. I decided not to just sit there and stare back. I was standing outside and a group of people who were a few feet in front of me just turned around and stared at me and whispered. I put a big smile on and said "hello" and then they gladly smiled back and said "hi". I know its not them trying to be disrespectful, i would probably stare too if roles were switched. In America almost everyday i am reminded that i am Black and Puerto Rican. But in China i am reminded every second that i am Black, Puerto Rican, and American. And that is something that i had to adjust to.
Speaking of adijusting lets talk about asthma :). China is not the fresh air capital of the world. It is so wierd to walk into the hotel or a restarunt and always smell the strong scent of cigarettes. I haven't gotten sick from it but it is so irritating! It makes me soooooo grateful that i live in a place where people have to smoke outside...i have had to get used to sitting down chomping on my delicious rice and noodles (fried rice with egg is sooo good mami take notes lol) and then getting a wiff of the strongest cigarettes i have ever smelled.
Besides that i really do like it here. I admit it took me a while to get used to it. The toilets ( i avoided any toilet besides the one at the hotel for the longest time) the time difference, the food, crossing the busy streets ( cars don't stop at all!), and passing my nike shoes (air force ones) without being able to buy them :)...but i am adjusted and excited to get to Hangzhou.
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