Home Sweet Home

This summer I had the most amazing experience in China. I feel so lucky to have been selected for this program, and to have had the opportunity to see and experience all that I did. I will without a doubt, never forget my experiences and all the people I met this summer. I hope that some day, I will be lucky enough to return again to China and be able to do something to help the friends I made, and the communities I was a part of. In the meantime, I will surely be eager to be a host family and welcome others into our home.

Although my Chinese experiences remained amazing until the last moment, traveling home was slightly insane. With a mixture of the airline losing our tickets, completely rearranging our flight home while in Guangzhou, going unexpectedly through Korea, being delayed overnight in Detroit due to arriving the same time as hurricane Irene, and ultimately renting a bus and driving the 20+ hours from Detroit to Maine (with detours to avoid hurricane wreckage), I was more than happy to sleep in my own bed that night. Our group of 20 students, was pretty easy going, and whenever things got a little crazy or disorganized, we basically just took it all in stride and said “It’s always an adventure”. No doubt that our travels home was just the perfect “adventure” to finish our trip.

Now that I have been home a little over a week I have been able to settle back into my daily life and the start of school. I still miss China and all of the friends I left behind there, but it is certainly nice to be home and in a country where I understand everything that people say to me. I have had some time the reflect on my experiences across the globe and I think the most important thing that this journey helped me to realize, is that no matter how far I go from what is familiar, people are people and no one is ever too different from yourself to connect with them on some level. It is hard to imagine a culture and a people that are more different in many ways from Americans. Certainly the customs, language and environment in many ways couldn't be more different from a typical American home and yet through my journeys, I have come to realize that no matter how different the language, how different the lifestyle, how different the culture and traditions are of a foreign place, people are people, and we all have hopes, goals, and dreams. We are essentially the same in many ways.

I hope that you have enjoyed following my travels and reading about my experiences. I want to thank you for taking the time to read my blog entries.

Goodbye and Thank you
再见，谢谢       Zaijian, Xie Xie

Stonehenge? I thought we were in China...

In China, nearly every public sign has an English translation. Finding that English is used so widely, even in a country literally across the world and so culturally different, has made me realize what a universal language English has become. I saw many "foreigners" while traveling through China too, and nearly every one I met (though most were not from an English speaking nation) could speak English fluently. I knew this, since I made it my business to start a conversation with each and every foreigner I saw. 


Although there is English everywhere in China, there are many signs written incorrectly. Here are a few funny examples.

This picture below was taken at a place called Shi Lin 石林, which translates to English as Stone Forest. 

Although the sign here says Stonehenge, we had actually arrived at the Stone Forest. Someone had used a tool like Google translate and probably thought Stonehenge fit the bill. 

I bet if they knew that Stonehenge was actually in England, they would think this sign was pretty funny.

As a school field trip one day during our stay in Kunming, we traveled out of the city to get to the Stone Forest. The Stone Forest is literally a forest of these rock pillars, high and strangely shaped that tower over you as you walk the trails in and around them. Many look like petrified trees, and therefore give the illusion of a forest made of stone. It is a special type of karst landform that was actually at one point entirely underwater. 

These rock pillars spread widely over an area of over 26,000 hectare (a hectare is equal to 100 acres). Only 80 hectare of this area is open to visitors. The Stone Forest has been named a World Heritage Site and has been added to the list of the World Wonders.

It is very hard to explain the beauty of a place like this. A camera cannot possibly capture what you see when you get to the top of several rock pillars. Looking out and seeing nothing but huge rocks that surround you for miles is unbelievable. I certainly tried to capture this on film, but couldn't possibly do it justice. Here are just a few of the hundred pictures I took that day.

Peacocks, Jade and KTV. What more could you ask for?

Prior to actually leaving for China, different people I knew, offered me tips and advice. It seemed that one common piece of advice, was to make sure I had a chance to do KTV. KTV, or better known in America as Karaoke, is extremely popular in China. Though I was not quite sure why it was so incredibly popular, I knew it was something I must try before leaving the country. I told my host family, in Chinese of course, that I had heard so much about KTV and I would love to go. On Sunday, our day off from school to spend time with our family, my sisters and I made plans for the day. These plans included going to the zoo to see the famous Yunnan province peacocks, going shopping at a traditional ethnic goods market and ending the night (or morning) with KTV. What more could you ask for?

That morning I went to the Kunming Zoo with Cici, Frank and 2 of Franks roommates from the University (he has 5 in a room about the same size as a typical American University room). The Zoo contained many different types of animals, but what was most interesting was that as a whole, the animals in this Chinese Zoo differed from what you may find at an American Zoo. There were still of course the classic monkeys, elephants, giraffes, zebras, and tigers, but there were also animals like black and grizzly bears, deer, goats, and horses (the types of animals that we may be more likely to see in the wild in America). One of my favorite spots was watching the legendary Yunnan province peacocks. The peacocks were essentially wandering around freely. We were able to walk right up to them. Frank bought some peanuts for us to feed to the peacocks. They would come right up to our hand and peck the peanuts right out.

After leaving the Zoo we then went out shopping at what they call the “Old Market”. Yunnan Province (where Kunming is the capital) is very unique, known for many things. One of its traits is that it is the proud home to 26 of the 55 ethnic minority groups in China. The majority group (with I think is about 93%)  is the Han ethnic group. The Han people are what we often think of as “Chinese” but I soon learned that just like in America, there are many different types of Chinese people. Each of these ethnic groups also have their own unique type of jewelry, clothing, and little "trinkets". All of those things were sold at this large market that Frank, Cici and I went to.

In the market, there were colorful chicks for sale

It seemed the most popular item sold at this market was jade. Jade was everywhere, and it was all real. Frank showed me how to verify its legitimacy. As a result of my stellar bargaining skills I managed to get a jade beaded bracelet down from 200 yuan to only 60 yuan (approx. $9).

Finally we ended that evening with a night out at KTV. I was not sure what to expect, but I had imagined a small Karaoke bar that you may find in America.

When we arrived at the Windsor KTV Hotel, we were greeted with valet parking and a huge maybe 10 story building. Our room was waiting for us on the 6th floor. Each group that comes in, gets their own personal KTV room with a long semi-circular bench, a large screen to see the words and watch the video, a computer touch screen to create a list of songs, two microphones, and even tambourines to cheer on your friends. We began with an exceptionally long list of songs as everyone put in their favorites. Of course when an American song came up (American music is surprisingly popular in China) it was my turn to sing, whether I knew the song or not. The time flew by, as we danced on the benches and sang our hearts out. Definitely a great way to end the day.

Forever Spring Kunming

So with less than 48 hours of exploring Xi'an, we were off to the airport, and ready to begin our next adventure in the Spring City, Kunming. Kunming is on a plateau with an elevation significantly higher than Denver. Although I do not know the science behind this yet, I understand that because of this plateau, Kunming is forever spring. Cool, breezy, and beautiful all the time (except when it rains).

Our schooling here takes place in a university setting. There is no doubt that our host leader is clearly very organized. For example, the first night we arrived, we received a calender with a schedule for every day in Kunming mapped out for us. Each of us had our host families waiting, and our personal university volunteers calling our name. The first night was slightly awkward, which is of course to be expected, but I feel as though I became much more comfortable even more quickly with this family than in Harbin. Either my Chinese is improving, or maybe I am just getting much better at adjusting more quickly. After only a few days, I am already part of the family. 

I am pretty sure I have met every one related to them as well. I have a host mother, father and two older sisters. In addition I also have two older "brothers" as well. My host father is a businessman. He is a type of tea merchant. He travels selling the famous Pu er tea unique to Yunnan Province (where Kunming is the capital). He also has a cute tea shop which I visited. I even made tea for my family this evening.

This picture above, is my host father, myself, Cici, Jingjing, my host mother, and my wai po (my mother's mother).

My host mother (and father) speak little to no English at all. In a way though I actually prefer this, since it affords me the opportunity to use my Chinese without a backup. One sister is 24 and is working towards her graduate degree in some technical design. Her English name, or what I call her, is CiCi. My other sister is 22 and is studying for her GRE's (is preparing towards a post-graduate education). Her English name is Katherine, but I just call her Jingjing.

Only some of the extended family

Myself with my two host sisters and Tsun behind us.

My two older “brothers” are friends of the family who are ALWAYS around, literally part of the family. Frank is CiCi's boyfriend of 5 years and future husband. He is really sweet and picks me up from school everyday. Tsun is a good friend of my host mothers son, who is working in Kunming. My host family takes care of him and he spends almost all his free time with us. Both are roughly 25 and are lots of fun. I like being a part of this older family. I feel it gives me a window into the lives of the young people of China. Mid-20 year olds in America are almost always living away from home in America, but in China it's quite the opposite. They really do not leave home until they marry. I had learned about this before coming to China and I was curious about the type of life that 20 year olds in China have. The truth is, that they go out at night, have fun just like we do, and are not studying at home 24/7. I definitely feel lucky to have been put into this great family. We go out all the time. I have really been given the opportunity to see the city from a different angle than many of the other kids on this program, whose siblings may be very young. As much fun as this is, it does result in significantly less sleep than needed. Warning: I may be ever more exhausted than expected when I return home in about a week!

Cici is teaching me to play the gu jin (a traditional Chinese instrument).

The Xi'an Blur continued

The next day we decided as a group to forgo the historical museum on our agenda, and instead travel out of Xi'an to a small village in the “country side”. I couldn't have been happier. It was just incredible, and has definitely been one of my favorite experiences so far.

This village was designed to let tourists see into the life of a small Chinese community. At first it just looked like a big tourist spot. It actually seemed fake, as if it literally could have come out of the movies. Once I realized that the people working each of the stands literally made everything that I saw and ate, I realized that I was actually in these people homes. My outlook quickly became a lot different and I began to talk to anyone and everyone I could. I practiced my Chinese more than ever because they knew zero English. They were also not dying to practice their English on me. 

 

It didn't take long for me to become buddies with an artist who showed me how to make designs and animals out of grass and straw. He even let me help him make a dragon fly. Although he did the majority of the work, I have a few stitches in there. He gave me the dragon fly as a gift when we finished. He would not accept any yuan as payment either, so I instead offered him a single U.S. Dollar as a gift. The look of gratitude he had for something we see as pretty minimal was certainly something I will not forget.

Here I am showing off one of his more 
complex works. The intricate work that he did with grass was completely amazing. What an incredibly talented man. 

That afternoon we were off to the airport. Now you know why I call it the Xi'an blur. The time spent in Xi'an was less than 48 hours. It was memorable, but we were now preparing to begin our next adventure in the "Spring City" Kunming.

The anticipated Xi'an

After an extremely late night flight, we arrived in Xi'an, ready for about 3 hours of sleep, before we began the Xi'an blur. We were lucky to have a tour guide for the two days of our stay, so our schedule remained structured, and we were able to see and be informed about some of the highlights of Xi'an.

Our first day began with the City wall of Xi'an which raps around the old city.

Xi'an's history dates back 3,000 years ago. At that time, the wall surrounded the city. The more modern Xi'an has expanded and grown, so the wall now really just goes right through the city.

That morning when we got to the wall, we all paid 20 yuan (about $3) and rented bicycles to ride the 14 kilometers (9 mile) long wall. It was completely flat making for an easy and fun ride.

The afternoon of that same day, we were off to see the Bingma yong, the legendary Terracotta warriors, and the landmark I've anticipated most on this trip.

We first went to the Terracotta warrior factory, where we were able to see not only the making of full size replicas of the real soldiers, but also the process showing the exact way these soldiers were made thousands of years ago for Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. This was all part of the Qin Dynasty tomb.

There are estimated to be about 8,000 clay warriors buried with this emperor. These were found along with the bones of approximately 3,000 real people buried with the emperor as well. All of this was discovered by a few farmers working their fields only about 40 years ago in 1974, totally unsuspecting of “the Eighth World Wonder” below them. There were 3 pits in the Terracotta museum, but we learned that there were many more that remained uncovered. These other uncovered pits are intentionally kept hidden, to both preserve their beauty, and to protect them.

The physical danger of uncovering them is serious. Along with thousands of clay soldiers, chariots, and horses, there were also real people, like officials, musicians and more. The Emperor also wanted to bury "rivers of gold" in his tomb. To do so, tons and tons of concentrated mercury was buried with him. If the warriors are uncovered, this huge well of dangerous mercury would also be uncovered, which could have serious effects on the entire city of Xi'an and potentially the greater area.

I found this entire Terracotta experience more than fascinating.

Goodbye Harbin, Goodbye Xi'an, Hello Kunming!

Duibuqi, That means, I am sorry in Chinese. In the mist of trying to really delve into the language and culture of my Chinese family, it has been challenging to make computer time a priority. Blog posts have no doubt fallen by the way side. Since my last post, so much has happened. I have said my sad farewell to my host family in Harbin, literally ran through Xi'an, which now leaves a lingering blur (separate post to follow), and I have said hello and been welcomed by my new host family in the city of "forever Spring", Kunming.

So a little about our Harbin farewell...

Feifei and I in Harbin No. 1 High School

Tears were shed and emails swapped as we left Harbin. Even now as we look back, Harbin was definitely a special place. I think I can speak for the entire group when I say "We loved it there!".

It's hard to imagine that after only 3 weeks, it was so terribly difficult to say goodbye to my host sister and family.

My host father, myself, Feifei and my host mother standing in front of the school

As much as I would like to see them again, China is not exactly nearby. My next trip to China is not yet planned, and could possibly be far out on my horizon. The internet certainly cuts out the distance until we figure out how to study and learn together again.

We left from Harbin No. 1 High School after many pictures were taken. We boarded the bus to get ready for our next adventure. We were now going to study in Kunming, where we would be in a University setting.

Not quite Tigger the Tiger

Today being a Saturday, it was field trip day at Harbin No.1 High School. We had been anticipating our trip to the Harbin Tiger Zoo for a while, or as the Chinese call it, Hu Yuan. The bus ride over was buzzing with excitement the moment we heard it was a safari style zoo. The entrance to the zoo had many tiger statues to greet us. 

Without delay, our entire group boarded a bus, that actually looked more like a cage. The bus was surrounded by steel cross bars. We drove around through the different areas where the tigers were living. There were hundreds of tigers in this zoo, but thanks to the physical vastness of it, it didn't look like they were over crowded at all. It is the largest natural park for wild Northeast tigers in the world. We were told there were over 500 tigers there, but only about 100 that were visible to travellers.

As we drove, most of the tigers seemed unphased by our presence there at all. It was clear they were used to the routine buses. When a few wandered over toward our bus to say hello, it was definitely exciting to see them close up. They were something to see too. These cats are HUGE. The safari ride ended by delivering us to the start of these tunnel-like passage ways that looped in and around different tiger cages. We walked up and down and all around those passage ways, some actually going over the Tigers.

On a passageway over the Tigers

While in the passage ways above the tigers, there were different places where you could buy food in which to feed the tigers. As opposed to animal feed, or maybe even a strip of meat that you would buy at an American zoo, the food that was available to feed the tigers here, was LIVE chickens, ducks or even cows. There were cages filled with chickens and others with ducks. 
 
When someone wanted one, they would reach in, grab the bird by the wings and hand it to their customer who would then drop the live crying animal to its death. 

Man carrying live chicken

I couldn't believe that none of the Chinese people thought this was the slightest bit strange or even sad for the poor birds. Through my experiences here it is obvious that the things which people value here are much different than those that people value in America. No question that animal compassion is valued very differently here than it is in America.

When finally content that we had seen our fill of tigers, we reloaded the bus and headed back to school for lunch.

Jin tian wo qu le hu yuan.  今天我去了虎园   Today I went to the Tiger Zoo.