I've made it safely to China. A great deal has happened in these first few days, so I'll do my best to re-create the adventure, but I'm sure I will leave out large segments either because 1) I'm too lazy to write it out or 2) because I honestly cannot remember. My first three impressions of China are as follows: I hate that I can't read; the close door button on elevators actually works here and it's awesome; and I love that everyone stares at me. Seriously, I feel like a celebrity everywhere I go.
To begin: Flying to China was a fairly simple affair. Getting my luggage checked and finding my way to the gate for my first flight took twenty minutes tops, so I had plenty of time to sit in the airport with my travel buddy Heather. The first flight came and went without incident. Upon our arrival in Denver we were dismayed to discover that, while we had bought our tickets together, we were not on the same flight to San Francisco. To make matters worse, both flights had been delayed due to "air traffic control" to the point that my flight wouldn't arrive in time to catch our flight to China. I approached the attendants only to be told that as long as I hurried, I should be fine. Given that my China flight literally would leave before I landed, I remained unconvinced. Eventually I found my way to the customer service desk where they reserved me a seat on a later flight to Beijing in case I missed the first one. Unsurprisingly when I did finally get to San Francisco I had missed the flight. My other travel buddy, the lovely Devin Ash, had encountered similar difficulties on her way to San Francisco. Thankfully the Air China employees were pretty much amazing and managed to get us two seats next to each other on the plane AND got all of our luggage on the correct flight. Here we are on the plane excited to be off:
And again:
Here's our first attempt at a sleeping photo:
Take two worked out substantially better:
After what seemed like the longest flight ever, we had finally arrived at the Beijing airport!
From there we met the rest of our group and hopped on a bus headed for a hotel in the city where our training would take place, Shijiazhuang. After sleeping on a plane and then some more on the bus, you'd think I might not be eager to go to bed, but an actual bed (though rather hard) was a dream come true. I don't even remember anything that took place between the bus and my head hitting the pillow. The next morning we ventured down to the breakfast area, where a kind Chinese woman pantomimed with us until we gave her our food tickets (that had been given to us at check-in) and led the way to our tables. In China, eating is communal. In the middle of the table is a large lazy Susan where platters of food are placed. You can then SLOWLY turn the lazy Susan and put food on your plate. That first breakfast we had several spills from rotating food smashing into glasses. Also chopsticks. I've become a big fan, even though my hand still cramps up from holding them incorrectly. Here's a picture of breakfast:
And here is the view from my hotel room:
Shijiazhuang isn't a particularly noteworthy city in China, but it is a good example of what you could expect to see in the urban areas. At first the air felt dirty, and I didn't enjoy breathing in the smells of gasoline and smog. It didn't take all that long for me to stop noticing, something I'm not sure if I'm all that happy about. In any event, our hotel was across the street from the entrance to a park, so we did some exploring. Here's a statue we encountered immediately after entering:
I found some elephant sculptures, so of course I needed some pictures:
The rosebushes were pretty awesome. I think we need to take some pointers mom:
One aspect of the city was the juxtaposition of opposites. You might find a flashy strip mall down one street while the next looked like a Hooverville from 1930s America. New skyscrapers are being built in almost every direction. Nothing feels complete or permanent. I took this picture while we where still in the park:
This one as well. It cracked me up a bit. The writing says "you are dog."
There also was a large stone dragon in the park. I shook its pinky just for you Steph :P
One of our first lessons during training concerned etiquette. The governor of Hebei Province, where Shijiazhuang is located, invited us all to a fancy dinner to welcome us to China. Before you think that we are really all that important, Iowa and Hebei are "sister states" and basically work to promote relationships between the two entities. The Teach in China program was actually an idea first proposed by the current governor of Hebei, before he was governor. Because of that, and because this year is the thirtieth anniversary of Iowa and Hebei's special relationship, we got to get all dressed up and attempt to not make fools of ourselves in front of the various officials. Here I am in the best clothes I had decided to bring along for the trip:
I was a little concerned that I was going to end up horribly drunk. Since we were guests of honor, every Chinese guest toasted each of us individually. In many cases this is done with a hard liquor common in China, but due to a combination of 1) our guests were aware we would not be used to this and 2) our director Kirk Martin had warned us ahead of time during etiquette class to ask for beer or juice instead, the dinner went without any problems. I even got the secretary-general's business card (it is a common practice to give out your card at social/business functions - even most students have cards). Okay, I'm concerned that if I don't speed this up you will never have the chance to see this post -.-
Here is a photo from our first night out on the town:
Bars/clubs are quite different in China. We ended up buying a bottle of whiskey for the table, and they brought it in a pitcher mixed with iced tea. Along with popcorn. And that fruit display you see above. Clearly I had no complaints about the service. However the bar/club did not have the atmosphere I expected. The other customers were quiet and unenthusiastic. You might think this meant that we had found ourselves a neighborhood dive, but the lights and the music seemed fit for a rave. There were dancers and singers, but they were hard pressed to draw a response from the Chinese patrons. I ended up leaving early with some other folks.
Another part of our training involved venturing out into the city in small groups to try and order a meal ourselves, without the reassuring (and Chinese-speaking) presence of our program director, Kirk Martin. While we were out wandering around we encountered a snazzy shopping mall. Thinking that there would be a food court inside, we ventured onward. Inside we were greeted by a strange site. The entire mall, minus the top floor which consisted of an arcade, was empty. No stores. Blank walls. Lots of signage advertising "stores coming soon!" But the mall was packed with people. We still have no idea why there were so many people in an empty mall. Also we didn't manage to find any food. We did stumble into a parent-child adventure land, where the clowns painted fangs on their mouths (I'm not normally a clown-o-phobe but that was weird), and decided it was time to leave immediately after. When we emerged back on the streets of Shijiazhuang we found ourselves in an alleyway connected to what appeared to be a street entirely devoted to food. Rather than surveying our options we jumped into the first place that looked hygienic. Here are a few photos of what we managed to find:
It was a good thing one of the employees was fluent in miming. I'm getting better myself, but it can be surprisingly difficult to convey even simple thoughts without using any words. Speaking of not speaking, our next "assignment" was the dreaded and highly anticipated home stay. We were each partnered with a high school junior that could theoretically speak English. My student (whose name I do not know) spoke fairly well, and could translate for his mother and father. One of his friends also lived with the family, though his English was significantly less well developed. We only spent one night with the families, but many of us had pretty exciting nights. I ate Mao Zedong favorite's dish, which appeared to be some form of meat and vegetables (sometimes you just don't ask what you are eating), roast duck, rice, potato, onion, and these thin little circles of dough (they looked kind of like soft taco shells) that you would put everything into. It was the best meal I've had so far in China. I spent most of the rest of the night playing various forms of Chinese checkers and two Chinese card games. I taught one of the two boys how to play our version of checkers, and by the third game he had me stalemated. After the family spent a solid twenty minutes trying to explain how to use the shower (which perhaps surprisingly I had already figured out on my own), I snapped this picture:
Apparently even the 101 Dalmatians are having population problems in China. The next morning we had leftovers for breakfast, plus a loaf of bread, some lunchmeat ham, and Kraft cheese slices. At first I thought the family ate these familiar foods regularly, until I watched them try to unwrap the cheese. It was very clear that they had bought the food especially for me. I realized that I was the only person that had drank any of the milk as well. This is a perfect example of the kind of hospitality I've experienced just about everywhere in China. Unlike in the states, where we tend to be hostile towards foreigners (especially those that don't speak English), in China the second it becomes obvious that I'm not from around here, (which takes all of five seconds) people bend over backwards to help me. Sometimes it is overwhelming. In the case of my host family, I felt terrible that I couldn't express how grateful I was for all of their generosity and their willingness to go out of their way to make me comfortable. "Thank you" doesn't seem strong enough, and my lack of Chinese language ability made anything more complex difficult to convey through translation. Basically, my host family was pretty awesome. Below are some photos from my short time there:
View from the guest room window - my host student told me sometimes they eat out on the roof/porch.
Elephant planter that was on the windowsill
Upstairs hallway
Living room
Staircase
Living room again, but this time I'm actually sitting in it
In order: host student's friend; me; host student
After the host family night, we had just one day left in Shijiazhuang. For lunch we ended up at another fancy restaurant (every time Kirk would ask our Chinese compatriots for a normal restaurant this tended to happen). For brevity's sake I'll let you look at the photos yourself:
Table setting: the smallest glass is for baijiu, a Chinese liquor that I could stand to never have again...
General overview of the table
The doors to our dining room
A private bathroom attached to the private dinning room? Why don't we have these?
After lunch we travelled to the Temple of the Happy Buddha. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the building that made up the monastery, but the highlight of the trip was a 21 meters tall (~63 feet), solid bronze statue with nine heads and forty-two arms. I did manage to snap this photo of some of the buildings, just to give you and idea of a Buddhist monastery:
This last photo I took as we attempted to exit the grounds. Our guide tried to take us out a different way than we entered, and we where greeted by the following sign:
Laugh already. I found it pretty hilarious. And so with our tourist-y sides satisfied, we prepared to leave Shijiazhuang. I'll admit I wasn't sad. The grey, smoggy, industrial city didn't win over many hearts, but even Shijiazhuang has its good sides... I just can't think of them right now. Hopefully this last photo will give it the credit it deserves:
