Athena

I was beginning to wonder if I would ever distinguish personalities in China. Why do they all act the same, like robots?  Is it a cultural thing? Is it because I’m a foreigner and they have to act a certain way? Do I not understand their body language or facial expressions?  I had no clue. But Athena, she’s different. She’s not your average Chinese woman. She enjoys drinking, and rightfully admitting so. She teaches about western culture, she’s loud, she’s got her voice amped up to 10 and isn't afraid to show it. She’s confident and she tells the truth, and tells it like it is. By nature she’s 100% Chinese but by nurture, an American.  

The first time I met her was when I was in the hospital for my surgery. It was her second day working for the University and was assigned to slave away (by that I mean rotate with other teachers) in the hospital to look after me. At that point, I was still lying down at the "resuscitation area", having no energy to speak to anyone. I thought “ok, I’m in this bed for another 10 hours and got like 5 more bottles of IV fluid, so I might as well speak to someone”.

 I was expecting to speak slowly so she could understand my English (and trust me it’s exhausting), when she suddenly spoke. I was shocked at how great she sounded speaking English. Most Chinese teachers who speak English do not have good oral English, at all. I got excited because I could finally speak at a normal speed. She actually used words like, “lame” and “sissy”. Athena is someone who knows modern day English and didn't use British English like students who say, “what a pity”. She’d shared her background and how she traveled to the States back in ’07 for 3 months to visit her brother who willingly left to work for an American company because he hated the system in China.  She graduated with a master’s in English Education from Lanzhou University (considered one of the best) and has been teaching since then for 2 years. I was so happy there was a Chinese teacher in our school that could really be a benefit for the students. As I was grilling her, I found out the ugly truth. She wasn't teaching in our school, she was just a worker: working in the reference room to check-in/out books for teachers.

In a confused voice I said, “WHAT??, I’m sorry I must have misunderstood… what do you mean you are not teaching?”

“Yea, the dean isn't hiring any teachers right now but said he needed someone in the reference room and that in 2 years I can start teaching”.

There it is. Such a shame and waste of ability. Giving a mindless job that is designed for a 60 year old woman who doesn't quite want to retire yet to a 32 year old who has experience, great credentials, and great English. I didn't get it but I didn't ask any more questions because it was too depressing and I didn't want to upset her any more than she already was. After the surgery we exchanged phone numbers and promised we’d go grab a drink when I got better. When I came back to teaching I went to visit her in the reference room. I wasn't kidding when I said a mindless job. She just sits there all day, for 9 hours playing games on the computer or reading books waiting for someone to come in and take out a book. For the weeks to follow I was really busy catching up with all of the grading and lesson planning that I haven’t spoken to her for a while.

Yesterday (12.27.12) she text-ed me telling me that my final score for my writing exam was 105 and that it needed to be changed. Not even realizing that she dealt with any of that sort of business, I went down to the reference room. After revising my final (because God forbidden these kids actually receive an extra 5 points) Athena invited me out for dinner, drinks and a favor. Ahhh ha! A favor, it’s starting! But because I liked her so much, I said yes. After work, we went to eat. While we were walking to the restaurant, she asked me why I didn't go home for the holidays. I told her it didn't bother me because Christmas is not a big deal for me since I don’t celebrate it. When I told her I am Jewish, I didn't get the typical response that I always do. She asked, “Oh, do you keep kosher? I actually taught about Judaism to my students in Chongqing”.  At that moment, I seriously fell in love with her! We discussed how students and individuals in general are so naive in China. They are censored about learning other religions and in the end the Government is just making their people very ignorant.  During dinner we also had some interesting conversations. She’s the only Chinese woman I feel comfortable asking about things you would normally talk over with your girlfriends. She’s very open and speaks her mind. All of those questions I had from last month about why she couldn't get a better job were finally answered. Some universities are owned by the federal government, and it is very difficult to get a teaching job, unless you know someone (Wink, wink) “You have to sell something really expensive or sell your soul to get a job, that’s how things work in China. That’s why my brother left.” She was actually thinking about getting her doctorate while working, but you have to gain permission from the dean. Urgh! Another ridiculous rule. Just like me, she’s very observant and said that the dean notices that she’s not like the other women. He’s possibly even intimidated by her knowledge and good English that he’s robbing her of an opportunity that would be really beneficial for the students.

After dinner we walked to her apartment. The favor that she asked for was me editing her translation of an essay written by an 80 year old Chinese man who was explaining the concept of Tai Chi through the Big Bang. Her home was a modern take with a fusion of Asian style. She’s obsessed with plants and flowers and has little souvenirs all around her apartment. Her husband has his own room for calligraphy and she has her own room for her extensive collection of books. We looked over pictures of her wedding and her travels in the States from Milwaukee (where her brother lived), Salt lake city, Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls, Las Vegas, Los Angles  New York, and so many more! We were sipping tea and talking about Russian authors like Chekhov and Dostoevsky  It was a good, spontaneous day spent with an intellectually stimulating person who finally, finally  knows what Judaism is.  I sincerely hope that she will get an opportunity to teach soon because students can actually learn a lot and need her to have some common knowledge.

'Tis The Season To Be Jolly

Oh, December! A time for snow, negative degrees, frost bites, hot chocolate, Hanukkah, Christmas movies and songs, decorating the tree, many celebrations and I mean many. And above all it means the first semester is over.

I can still remember all the months leading up to my departure. Leaving everyone and everything behind. I measure time by periods to look forward to upcoming events, such as the welcome party in September, Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November and now Xmas and New Years Eve. Once those events arrive, it all flashes by and there I am a month later looking at the calendar thinking, "Holy shit! That was a month ago??"

People (Chinese and American) hold their breath with their hands on their heart when I say 2 years. But if you think about it, it's not that long. It actually goes by fast, especially if you measure time like I do. Now, I have a ton of stuff to look forward to in January and February. My traveling throughout China, in service training to see all of the volunteers and Thailand! Pretty sweet, eh? Vacation always zooms right past you, and then next thing you know, I'll be standing in front of the class for my second semester. That's already half a year gone by.

It has been challenging when many people asked me why I don't go home for Xmas. I just say, that it doesn't bother me because I don't celebrate it. I get really confused looks afterwards. Trying to explain that i'm Jewish is like getting your teeth pulled- they don't quite understand the concept of other religions. In the States, yea Xmas is all around even if you don't celebrate it, and basically all of my friends celebrate it and so do many of the guys I've dated. It never bothered me before, and I've actually joked around that i'm more Catholic than Jewish. In China, however, they automatically assume you are Catholic and many questions get asked. With all the Xmas celebrations, parties and music (courtesy of my site mate who is obsessed with it) I've grown fed up with the mentions of the "C" word. I've actually become-- Scrooge! (or Grinch, which ever analogy floats your boat). After a while though (and much venting) I took it for what it was- curiosity. So, I caved in and went along with it.


And so, I've spent this past month, organizing many activities and parties for Xmas and also attending parties at other volunteers' schools. China has actually made me do things I don't normally do, like sing! I just sang today in front a roomful of anxious students and my dean. Wasn't all that scary, although I noticed I was the only one with the mic actually on and signing, while the background students were swaying back and forth. Regardless, it's a great story now. I also ended up caroling with the English Club around the college for funds. First time I ever actually sang some of the Xmas songs, I felt very Catholic afterwards (Yay for integrating)


Anyway, for all of those wallowing at my absence from home in New York, I can assure you I'll be home before you know it! And in the meantime, here are some pictures to show you how my spirits have been high, despite the fact that I do get home sick.

     

                                          

So bad, it's good.

I was in class when suddenly I received this text message: 

Dear teacher,
On account of an attack of the flu with a severe headache, I shall be unable to attend classes today.
I shall be much obliged if i can get your permission. 
Respectfully yours,
Afan 

Each sentence is an expression used from different chapters from the book we use in class. Well, at least she's applying it in real life!

It's so bad, that it's so good.  Then, I thought it would be great to upload some pics of other writings from students and local places when using English. I don't ever mock my students, I just find it amusing sometimes.

My name is officially tainted by twilight

Chinglish gone wrong

Who is being recommended, David or Tom? 

My students were assigned to do a resume

Joys and Challanges

I was asked to write about the joys and challenges of my first few weeks in Lanzhou to my site director. I’ve been meaning to write about the campus life, how teaching is going, and who I work with. Since they asked to write about those experiences I just copy and pasted what I wrote to my site director. I did change and add a few things though. So here it is…

Adjusting to the life on a Chinese university campus wasn’t as hard as I thought it to be. I’ve befriended students, my counterpart, other faculty members in the English department, the waiban and the deans who are willing to help in any which way possible. I’ve noticed that the shuttle bus from the school back to the apartment only waits for 10 minutes after class is over, leaving no time to interact with the students. Some teachers even have secretarial work as well as teach. They rush to go home any chance they get. It seems as though they have the same minimum hours as I do, and it baffles me because in America a teacher’s hours are 40 hours a week, not included their office hours. I haven’t had a chance yet to observe their classes, and it is on my to-do list because I would love to see how they interact with the students within the classroom. My relationship with the waiban can be described as this:

Me: Hi zhou, how are you?

Zhou: Fine.

Me: uhh well I’m calling to let you know that my internet doesn’t work. Can you come look at it when you are free?

 Zhou: Ok. I can come tomorrow. Maybe after 12.

Me: do you know the exact time?

Zhou: NO

Me: Ok. See you tomorrow, after 12

             He is only 26 years old and it is a huge responsibility to take on two girls and insure their safety and satisfaction while staying in China, no doubt.  He does not work for the English department, so I rarely see him unless my hot plate broke again, my internet isn’t working, my toilet isn’t working, or if he needs my visa. My site mate and I are always saying how it would be nice to grab dinner with him and just have a decent conversation because he is so close to age with us, that it seems absurd not to have a good relationships outside of him being “mister fix it”. I don’t live on campus, but I spend most of my time there between classes, lunch and activities at night. There are four major cafeterias serving different types of food. One serves free drinks with it, so it is the most crowded. Before it became a university it was a regular community with apartment buildings and so there are a lot of little shops and restaurants left surrounding the campus. My favorite to eat is huo lo mian, just noodles and some meat. All the boys go there because it is bigger proportion and cheap.  Every morning I have to take the elevator to the 8^th floor walk down the hallway to the left and go down the stairs to the 6^th floor.  A lot of doors are locked because they try to get the students to use the stairs so that the elevators will be vacant for the teachers. No common sense of course, because what student who has class on the 8^th floor is gonna use the stairs? So if I need to get to my Waiban’s office (in the hallway that has locked doors on both sides) I have to go up the stairs again to the 8^th floor, walk down the hallway and just go down one more floor. It’s quite the maze, but once you know all the doors around the building, it’s just second nature.  Thanks to the help of a wonderful student, I now know where to get keys for my classes.  Erin and I keyed the term “key shifu” (the key boss) and befriended the man. We have nicknames and inside jokes about people in the school to help us remember who they are. 

                 The main dean’s name is similar to 3 other deans’ names, so it got super confusing!  I decided to have him known as “Arthur”, because I believe he looks like the 90’s aardvark cartoon character. I know it sounds bad, but really it isn’t.  I though Arthur was the cutest thing ever on TV. I used to love that show and had a lot of respect for him, so it’s really flattering. He just got his book published from translating a Chinese text to English- pretty impressive! Many teachers who work at the school also live in the same building as us. Therefore, in the morning we would see most of them on the way to the shuttle bus and have small talk. Every new person we see in the building we just say “Ni hao” to let them know who we are. We also have some favorite local dishes restaurants that we go to that is literally across the street from us. The overall environment of the students and teachers I am very much comfortable with, and I’m very happy with the site placement and I think I have a good fit within the community. Most importantly, I feel needed. I enjoy spending time during lunch with my students and going on day trips with them. I’m learning a lot about Chinese culture and I can see myself staying committed for two years.

            What came as a shock was the way the students acted in the class. Requesting “leaves” every time and the cheating is the most frustrating aspects of being a teacher. Three of my classes are juniors, since it is a 3 year college they leave at the end of October to start practicals/internships/jobs. I think most of them have senioritis (the act of being a jerk and not caring anymore about school), and so sometimes I felt like I came into class to teach students who did not care anymore and received a huge middle finger to my face. I think what upset me the most was that I felt disrespected as a teacher. I didn’t know whether or not they acted like this because I was a foreign teacher and they thought they could just walk all over me or it was because they were stressed out and nervous. I’ve vented out my anger with other fellow volunteers, and I was told that during their Chinese classes, they also do this. Now what angered me the most is the lack of discipline and carelessness on the part of the Chinese teachers to not have said anything. It’s just like, if you give in to a child’s tantrums, they will continue doing it until they get their way. I knew I was here to teach English and focus on what I could change so I’ve learned to deal with this and focus my energy and time on those who did care. I changed up some of the class material to be more active, so that the students wouldn’t have a chance to just sit around and play on their phones or chat with other students. I’ve also remembered that the TEFL trainers have said not to give them an opportunity to cheat. Therefore, after one test I learned my lesson, although now the dean requires a written test for the final. In order to avoid another horrible cheating escapade, I brain stormed a way that no book or cell phone dictionary could help them. One simple question on a blank piece of paper: What have you learned in my class?

Another frustrating aspect is that we’ve been told that most of the time, if not all the time we will be getting the “last minute treatment”. I’ve experienced that several times already, including a whole new schedule and classes in the mid semester and taking over another teacher’s classes and changing my hours to fit those classes. Luckily, I was able to knock some sense into the dean and let him know that I will be finishing classes in two weeks, so after that I wouldn’t mind taking over. There just comes a point where you can’t stand feeling like you are being pushed around all the time. For a while I felt like an American dummy, being pulled every direction by an upper hand that wanted to squeeze every ounce of my native English abilities to good use. Book nook, English corner, English club, topic night, speech competition, knowledge competition… these are just a few responsibilities we had to take over or help lead within our FIRST MONTH, and did I mention that I was also teaching 14 hours and grading 130 students’ writing activities? I really don’t mind being busy but sometimes I feel like all these competitions and events are for the reputation of the school as opposed to the benefit of the students. It really hit me this past Friday when I was asked to judge and give constructive criticism to the students after they have given a prepared speech for the upcoming competition in November. Everyone was silent and the dean would point to me to start speaking, since I’m native and all. It was evident, even with a blind eye, who was better or what they needed to work on. The students were chosen from non- English departments and English departments. It just seemed incredibly unfair to the students to put themselves down in front of the dean and the Chinese English teachers and then have me, the native English bitch criticize them. I mean once I started, it was like word vomit. I knew after the second or third student, I had three more to go so I just ripped the Band-Aid. I felt incredibly low after that, and I could see the look on the students’ faces that they didn’t want to part take in any of it.

I’m trying my best to organize events that can really help them improve their English as opposed to always having them be against each other and crown the winner of who has the best English. I took this as a beginning of my aggravated ambition for my secondary project. Peer Leaderships. The concept is to work together to build positive relationships within every grade and help motivate each other to do better.  It is obviously still a work in progress but I spoke to some juniors who are heavily involved with the school and the English department, and they loved the idea and even offered to help start it. I think every day I am discovering how to turn negative or frustrating situations into positive possibilities. Like I mentioned earlier, I feel that I am needed here and that is why I am willing to work out my challenges into something more meaningful. It might not be an instant change, I might not even get to see how they improved their English, but I do know that for the English majors, the level they achieve is heavily based on the future they will have. Knowing this gives me the motivation to create opportunities for them to learn on a daily basis, whether it being during class or during lunch. 

National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Vacation

I haven’t stopped moving (in the sense that my mental and physical state have been by far the most exercised it’s ever been) since the summer began, not once did I stand still. In April I finally got my official invitation and in June my friend threw a bomb that she was getting married in two months. June 29^th was my departure (and my b-day) and June 24^th was her wedding. So during May and June I was planning my friend’s wedding (and everything in between), trying to plan everything for China, figuring out how to get rid of my car that had another 2 year lease, quitting my full-time job, declining acceptance to Grad School, saying my good-byes to my best friends who I’ve known since 9^th grade, the day after her wedding. After all that, there was 2 months of training that consisted of non- stop 9-5 language classes, TEFL training and host family time, moving to my permanent site , 2 days later starting to teach and continuing for a full month just like that. Now it is October and I can honestly say what my mind, body and soul were all thinking at once- I was to the point of exhaustion and a vacation was definitely needed to finally stand still and NOT THINK about a to-do-list.

Since there is a rule that for the first 3 months you cannot travel, I decided to do day trips around Lanzhou. After all, it is my home now so it made sense to explore and know my way around. During the weekend I mostly saw other volunteers just hanging out, going to bars, and seeing one of the volunteer perform with his band and just relax. My waiban (the man who is responsible for me) finally fixed my internet so I was able to set up my blog and post new pictures. Monday was a lazy day, Tuesday on the other hand was eventful. I wanted to start the day trips and so I decided to go to the White Pagoda Hill Park (Bai Tan Shan) which is directly North, across the yellow river and the Zhongshan Bridge. Luckily it was only 20 minutes from my home, so I hopped on the bus and in no time, there I was right in front of it. It was foggy, rainy and a gloomy day. I don’t mind these kinds of days because the weather is actually nice and cool, the pollution is less noticeable and it keeps away crowds of people, so I had the place for myself. What fascinated me the most was the architecture: overhanging eaves, red columns connected by pavilions and winding corridors that are detailed with paintings of flowers in blue, red, white, yellow, green and orange. The place spans to nearly 8000 square meters and is covered by pavilions, rest areas, sculptures, buildings designed for prayer rooms for Taoists and stairs leading to the peak of the mountain to see the White Pagoda. The stairs were in every direction imaginable, so it didn’t matter which path you took, it would still bring you to the top. It was cool just walking up and finding new pavilions and things to see, without a plan. I finally made it to the top, after having a horrible stomach ache and being completely out of shape and panting and breathing heavily as if I just ran a marathon. Little did I know they closed of the White Pagoda.

I went to the right of it and followed the path to find another Taoist prayer room. There were two monks switching their shifts to oversee the area and to talk to the visitors. One of the monks was signaling me to come speak to him, so I walked over there. He started speaking in Chinese and slowly raising his voice. He asked where I was from and so without thinking anything of it, I said “America, New York”. He starts raising his voice and all I heard was Obama’s name thrown into the yelling. The other monk started pushing him away and apologizing. I didn’t really know what to think about that situation, except that I took his willingness to talk to me as a sign of curiosity, and then that just turned into an ugly confrontation and all I thought afterwards was, “Aren’t monks supposed to be nice, or keep quiet?” I just walked away and finally got back down to the hill and sat for a while.

I was then approached by 4 students who wanted a picture with me. One moment you get yelled at for being American (at least that’s why I think the monk was yelling at me) and then you get treated like a celebrity. Talk about a bipolar day! They thanked me and ran off. I finally got up the courage to walk around some more, leaving the park and crossing the bridge. I bumped into the same 4 students and decided it was a good time to practice my Chinese, since these were students that didn’t attend my University or knew English. One girl in particular was just saying “Ting bu dong” (I don’t understand) every time I opened my mouth. Was my Chinese that bad? I mean her friends were able to understand me, so I didn’t get it. There was an awkward silence for a minute then she said, “You are so beautiful” with a mumbling of “ I love you” or “in- love with you”. Clearly she didn’t mean that, it’s just more Chinglish. I just didn’t know the exact translation. It finally clicked, maybe she was just speechless that she was even walking side by side with a foreigner that everything I was saying just went over her head and her response to everything was “Ting bu dong”. I couldn’t have possibly been that bad, I mean every person I talk to tells me for the short period of time I studied it, I’m pretty good.  We finally parted and I went to hang out with some awesome China 17’s to celebrate one of their bday’s. I got a text message from my site mate asking if I wanted to hang out tomorrow and go to Bai Tan Shan with some of the students. At that time I had no idea what it was or where it was, I just responded with an enthusiastic “sure”.

The next day (Wednesday) right before we were supposed to leave, I googled it and sure enough it was the White Pagoda. I was contemplating on skipping it since I already went there. She convinced me to go and we would do something else instead. Once we met up with the students we decided to go on the cable cars up to a different area of that same mountain. The view was breathtaking seeing the mountain in clear daylight and the sky scrapers, as well as going over what seemed to be a huge hole covered with plants and paths leading to the same side I was on yesterday. We decided to buy a one way ticket up and walk the rest down. I’m glad I went back and saw it again in a new light, literally I was actually able to see everything today as opposed to the fog. Sometimes you just have to visit the same place twice in order to appreciate its beauty. To end the night on a perfect note, I had pizza and a brownie with ice cream. To those of you who do not understand why this is such a big deal, here is the reason:  pizza + brownie = western food, therefore super expensive given the allowance a volunteer has. Every once in a while I’ll splurge, and today was no exception. With my stomach full and satisfied, I go off to bed to wake up early tomorrow and explore the 5 Spring Mountain. Who knew I was such a big fan of Mountains?

 

list of things I never did, ate, or experienced until I came to China

 The list will probably grow in the next two years...

- (most recent) Surgery, to remove my appendix 

- Stayed in the hospital for 3 nights 

-        Had a Chinese name

-     Lived with a host family

-     Spoke Chinese

-        Ate Pork

-        Drank cola since it was the only beverage they served cold

-        Slipped on a banana peel

-        Craved KFC and McDonalds at least twice a month

-        Drank green tea for two months straight with no sugar

-        Ate a bowl of rice every day for the past two months

-        Had no bread for two months

-        Did not watch TV for 3 months straight

-        Ate ice cream after each spicy dish of dan dan mian (Sichuan specialty noodles)

-        Brought tissue to a public toilet

-        Used a squat toilet

-        Drank boiling water in a 100 degree weather

-        Dripped in sweat just by standing outside for 2 minutes 

-        Blogged

-        Been soaking wet , twice

-        Ate duck egg

-        Tried preserved eggs

-        Taught a practical writing class for nearly 50 students

-        Played ping pong

-        Played mah jong (Chinese game, equivalent to rummikub)

-        Been on a train ride that was 21+ hours long

-        Had my own apartment

-        Hear the sound of spit on a regular basis that could cover your face if it came your way

-        Hear an obnoxious “Hello” at least 5 times a day

-        Been at a tea house for 10 hours straight

-        Get stares every day

-        Have my picture taken by 300 freshman (my cheeks began to hurt)

-        Ate bamboo

-        Saw babies with slits in their pants so they could do their business out in the street

-        Girls and boys aged 2-4 peeing in the street

-        Been so afraid of traffic

-        Went rock climbing and joined a club with only Chinese speaking members

-     Went to a Kareoke bar (KTV) as the highlight of my night, and spent 5 hours there

-        Been so talkative with strangers on the bus/train

-        Had to accompany my site mate to the hospital and helped her after she fainted in the grocery store.

-        Bargained for a price

-        Been certified and signed a contract to work in a university

-        Toasted more than 7 times with the deans of my school at a banquet.

-        Had a banquet dinner from the Government of a province to celebrate foreign teachers

Chengdu: Environment, Food & Traffic

 I’ll try to do my best in describing the imagery of where I lived with my host family.

         My host family’s apartment: The apartment is on the 5th floor (no elevator) within a gated community. When you walk out there are tight streets that cars, scooters, bikers and walkers all migrate towards each other. There are other buildings surrounding you and small sitting areas to grab food and convenient stores on the ground level of the apartments. Children will be playing with the stray cats and old folks will play Chinese checkers on the wooden stools of the food place. When you finally exit out of the gate, you arrive on the main street which is really busy. Before you actually get to the main street you have to pass a huge rectangular dirt box. There is no path way to avoid the roads that are being deconstructed for future subways, so there is mud mixed with water and dirt everywhere.

        To get anywhere you must take the bus, bike, get a scooter or walk. Most, if not all have a scooter or a bike. There are 4 lanes on the road- 2 for cars, 1 for buses and 1 for scooters. The scooters and cars are bullies of the road. They chose whichever way they want to go and when to cut the buses and the people walking. They don’t stop for you; in fact they are oblivious that you even exist. There is no principle of rules and regulations or even penalties. The road is very much like the game “traffic madness” combined with “road kill revenge”. Yes, I’m basically willing to wear a helmet just walking to the bus station.

         Breakfast here consists of hard boiled egg, some kind of water with rice in it, cooked vegetables, hot pockets with meat in it and a bun that is pretty much tasteless and sticks to the roof of your tongue. For those who do not know, food in China is far from the American Chinese food. Apparently, chicken lo-mein is not even a real dish. So far I’ve had different types of noodles (mian). Noodles in soup, noodles with beef or pork, rice, preserved eggs, duck egg, duck, dumplings, and lots of other dishes with excruciating spices! Sichuan is known for spicy food and basically putting pepper in EVERYTHING. So far I’ve been lucky not to have too much of it, but some of the other volunteers took a bite of one pepper that makes your tongue numb! The areas where you get food is cramped usually among other “whole- in -the –wall” places, in an alley-way. From the first sight, you would not even consider walking in there, but you soon learn to love it. You sit where ever there is an available seat and you literally yell out “boss”(Laoban) in Chinese to get the attention of the “waiter” , who is caring a fanny-pack with a bunch of money to take down your order. It’s baffling to all of the volunteers who are paying only 5-8 kuai, which is a dollar and some change worth of lunch. Other places that are in nice restaurants are very expensive compared to the alley way food chains we always go to. Western food is THE most expensive, which is why we are leaving that for when we really feel home sick or want to splurge.

Few thoughts

Since I’ve been gone from the states starting June 30^th, I haven’t had the urge to blog mostly because I was waiting for a grandeur moment to record and deliver for people back at home. To me it seemed like every day during training was a regular routine so I didn’t bother sharing what happened. From talking to other volunteers, maybe the grandeur moment for family and friends isn’t something new that happens, but simply being involved in the process of traveling, living and experiencing China every day in different ways. So here I am writing after being in China for three months.

To be perfectly honest, Chengdu, Sichuan didn’t feel like I was going to be a volunteer. Back at home everyone asked, how did I like china so far. Of course I loved it, because it was new and exciting and there was so much to observe. However, I knew where I would be after training was going to be different, therefore, I didn’t want to generalize all of China based on one location. Everyone has this image of the Peace Corps experience of you living in a mud hut, carrying an empty bucket of water to the nearby river, and teach to children in a rugged 4-walled building (if you are lucky). Most people’s reaction to the Peace Corps being in China was, “Why?” I had the same reaction when I arrived to Chengdu. Chengdu is one of the common places for tourist scenes and for foreigners to study and live there. There are also a bunch of foreigners that own a bar and make a living, perfectly content with their lives in Chengdu. The level of education is solid, there are many bars and clubs, huge malls with designer clothes and apartment complexes for wealthy families. Mixed into all that is the old streets and apartments that have been there for decades-the old and new generation. If you turned to a different street corner it would feel and look like China, characters on every sign and stores that were aligned next to each other, spanning nearly 20 miles, in a small 10 by 10 space. Other times it looked like any other street in the world with busy people rushing to get to work or to school.   

Training began as soon as we arrived July 1^st. 74 of us were taken to our training site in Chengdu, Sichuan- the southwest part of China. We were divided into 4 groups and I remained in Sichuan University prior to being relocated to our permanent sites.  We attended classes discussing the health and security issues, rules and regulations, TEFL training, language classes, different aspects of our service, and model school. My site manager’s name is Xiao Ping. If you sound it out it sounds like “Shopping”. He told us that was the reason why his wife loved him. We loved him because he had an amazing attitude and a surprising sense of humor. Our language teachers were the most incredibly patient people I have ever met. We would need to pronounce every word at least 10 times (individually) until we at the slightest sounded like we were saying the right tone or the right word. Safe to say, thanks to them I learned basic Chinese survival skills. I can still however, mess up saying “peach” or “condom” based on the difference in the tone.  During training, I met people who become great friends. We’ve created inside jokes, had quotes held against each other, played ping pong, random nights of walking around the neighborhood, exploring, and helped each other through some confusing times from “What the hell am I really doing here?” to “How do you say this in Chinese?” It was definitely bitter sweet when we received our site placements and knowing that some of us were 30+ hours away from each other.

Living with an Asian family

The day came for meeting our host families, July 6th. It was a Friday and we had all morning and lunch to spend with the other volunteers before we all left. We went back to our hotel rooms to bring down our luggage, when I came down stairs I glanced to my left and saw my name on a blue  piece of paper with my name and mini description of who I was. When I took mine out, they caught the paper and ran towards me. The mom locked arms with me and dragged me to my luggage to help me carry it out. The dad carried a camera that would not leave his sight, literally, held it up until we arrived home and even then he was clicking away. I was also greeted by their friend and his 10 year old  son,  who was the only one who knew English. We went to a little whole-in-the-wall place to have lunch. Much of what was talked about is kinda blurred but I remember just smiling a lot and being slightly overwhelmed.

When I spent the first night there, I didn’t think it was too far from how I grew up and I noticed a lot of similar characteristics. For example, we all take showers at night, the mother urges me to dry my hair  after the shower so that I won’t get sick, feeds me until I look like I’m at least 2 months pregnant and showers me with affection. They were really the sweetest family who had me there for the right intentions and not just having their daughter practice English. Most host parents would like us to call them “mama” and “baba”, however mine insisted on calling them “aunt” and “uncle”. Somehow, I avoided using their real names and calling them by their preferred titles. 

A typical day with the host family and training went like this: “Yi Lin, get up”, my aunt’s voice would greet me at 6:30am through a small cracked space between the door. Second came breakfast. I would usually get a piece of "cake"(which is their version of wonder bread) and green tea or a glass of milk. Sometimes, I would eat stale cereal or this pyramid looking type of dessert with sweet red beans. My aunt would always stare at me with fascination that a white person could actually, drum roles please…. EAT! She would then ask me, “How do you feel?” – this is chinglish, meaning “do you like it?” An umbrella, a bus pass and a bottle of water would be thrown into my bag and a wave of goodbye sent me to the university for a full day of training. I would get back around 5:30 and have dinner at 6:30. Dinner was my favorite part.

One thing I cannot deny is that my host mother was an amazing cook! Chinese food is not easy to make, especially trying to add all those spices and cooking in the small kitchen with the bear necessities. We would have about 3 to 4 plates in the middle of the table. Chinese style eating is communal, which means “your germs are my germs”.  You use your own chop sticks to pick at the dishes, and you just keep going back and forth. Every meal is served with a small bowl of rice (mifan wan). I have had 60+ days of eating rice for each dinner meal.

My host sister was the one who could speak English. When we were sitting around the dinner table she would ask me questions about America and the American culture. The questions and comments often made me giggle because they were naive and mostly because they thought it was so much better in America, or that everything was free. Here are a few questions I was asked:1. All Americans have perfect teeth, right? 2. Going to the Doctor is free , right? 3. Do you have any religious beliefs? 4. Why do people have religious beliefs? 5.Not a lot of Americans have eye glasses. 6. They all like coke and eat fast food everyday.

What they know about Americans is just from the media and what they heard of from the grape vine. It was always stressed during training to be a good representative of American culture by dressing professional, trying to integrate and have a mutual understanding of eachothers' culture. In a way, no one wants to be responsible for all of that as a sole individual to represent ALL of  America, but when asked questions about America and you hear statements that couldn't be farther than the truth, you bounce up at the first opportunity to say it how it is, and so I did. Just as they were amazed by my routines, traditions and culture, I was amazed with theirs.

My host dad was obsessed with tea. I mean he had huge amounts of it stored beneath the coffee table with every type imaginable. Offering tea is symbolic to respect of the household and host of the family. The tea set was beautiful. It contained miniature cups, brushes and rocks. I asked why he would cover the rocks with tea and than brush it, so that the tea would spread all through out the rock and cleanse it. He said that "tea is a rock's best friend". Among other things I learned while living there was calligraphy. He would always show me pictures he took since he loved photography and one of them was of calligraphy. Right then and there he decided to show me how to do it. I spent most of the morning practicing words he wrote down, including my own name in Chinese while my host sister was inspecting errors and my host mother leaning over and smiling.. It was my favorite moment with my host family. My experience with my host family was definitely one that will remain with me as one with great significance to my future stay in China. If all families are like this, sign me up again for two months!