The Art of Living...

There are a few things that I've found to be an art here in Beijing- eating, shopping, and bicycle riding. Eating is not very challenging -unless you're vegetarian... "meatless" often contains little bits of meat. Even still- eating on Wafujing Die (avenue) is quite an experience with all the food on skewers- including goats testicles. I passed on that... but I did try some fried milk and probably the best tofu I've ever tasted! Bike riding is also an adventure- even on campus (above) . Imagine how I felt when I took a ride on a pedicab (my view above) in the city! It was actually a pleasant ride. Shopping (and bargaining) is also fun- and tiring! Tonight we are off to Shanghai...

Trip to Chengde

This weekend we went to Chengde, the site of the Emporers' summer resort and 8 temples. Our first tour was at the Puning Temple (Temple of Universal Peace) and the second tour was at Xumifushou Temple (Temple of Sumeru Happiness and Longevity). Other than the rain, it was a great tour- and in some ways it made the tour a little more interesting- especially our ride on an open air van through the mountains. After lunch we headed to the Summer Palace, which was the Mountain Resort for the Emporers. It's about a 4 hour drive from Beijing, and when it was actually used it would take a week for the Emporer to be carried the distance. Later in the day we saw a live demonstration of traditional paper cutting, and then headed to a traditional Mongolian performance. The third day was reserved for our hike along the Great Wall. We went to a section called Jinshanling, which is mostly restored. It was amazing (the views and the wall) and our walk was tiring but worth it of course. Photos don't really do justice.

Things we take for granted...

Five minutes ago I had to go into another computer lab to ask one of my a students if she had any toilet paper because I ran out of what I had been carrying for the day. While I'm on the topic of bathrooms... we have "western" toilets in our dorm rooms, however most public toilets are not western. Unlike the students here, we are living in the lap of luxury because we have 1) an elevator in our building; 2) don't have to leave our dorm to shower; 3) we don't have 4 people in one room; and 4) we don't have 8 people sharing 1 toilet. The showers (which are communal) are only available between 3 and 9pm because of the hot water.

A Day at Work

This is what my morning commute looks like. It's actually nice to not have to start up a car everytime you have to go somewhere. Wouldn't it be great to never have to fight for a parking space? Or all those times you wonder why someone didn't park just a few inches further up so you could fit in a space... here you can just move someone else's bike without anyone knowing. The only downside is not being able to leave something with your bike as you go from place to place. It's still very hot...about 100 degrees yesterday. Apparently this summer's heat is record breaking in Beijing. It's no surprise that students sleep through the lectures sometimes (this is a universal practice I think). After the morning lecture I try to keep the speaking class a little more active. They say they enjoy it more that the reading and writing lessons. Their typical English lessons (since middle school) have been reading and writing, but rarely do they have an opportunity to have conversations with native English speakers. Today I gave each person in class 1-2 minutes to discuss any topic of interest to them. Then I divided them into groups and gave each group 3-5 minutes to tell a story that incorporated each of the topics that the group members had discussed. Many were very creative! I don't really know what I'm doing when I make up activities like this- but they seem to have fun with it and so do I.

I am a foreigner.

I set my guidebook aside this weekend and went with the flow.
Friday evening:
I was invited to dinner by one of the Chinese teachers on my team. We went to her friend's apartment to eat with her husband and 16 year old daughter. Dinner was cucumbers and mushrooms, tomatoes with sugar, some sort of beans, rice, cherry tomatoes, some sort of sausage and beef (I passed). The nice thing is that at most dinners the food is served in the middle and shared by everyone. It feels a lot better than being handed a full plate and feeling like you must eat everything. They were so surprised that I know how to use chopsticks (but thank goodness they’re so forgiving when I spill food on the table). They were quick to pass me a tissue and when I apologized, they said, “It’s ok. You’re a foreigner.” If you’re ever in China, good luck finding a napkin- always carry your own. As nervous as we ‘westerners’ have been to ask about religion and politics, they were equally as hesitant to ask me about 9/11 in the US.
Saturday:
Hillary and I went with another foreign teacher and her students to shop. Bargaining is truly an art form here! We had a great time… the students were so helpful because they helped us bargain! It’s definitely helpful to have someone by your side who knows what a good deal is- because we could have easily said, “This is only $6 home, what a great price!” But when the students help you to get something down to the equivalent of $2, it’s definitely worth it (and fun!). Good bargainers are respected- can you imagine this happening at Macy’s? I think not. Afterwards we had lunch…once again we shared dishes, and I tried fried milk. Hmm… kind of like a mix between a Twinkie and a doughnut. It was about $30 for the 8 of us- and we were full! (I still can’t get over this) We spent the afternoon at the Temple of Heaven and exchanging slang words in our languages, then and then went to an orchestra concert for the senior students at Tsinghua.
Tonight I will have dinner at another Chinese teacher’s house. She’s getting pizza.
When we hang out with the students, they seem to think we’ll want to eat American food… It’s odd to me because if I had a Chinese guest at home, the last thing I would suggest would be Chinese food. Maybe they think it will make us more comfortable.

Never in America

Ok, as if my visits to Europe were not enough to make me feel more American than ever, this trip is even more so. I don't know whether to call it culture shock or not... it's more coming to terms with what 'America' is (and what it isn't). Students keep asking me which sport I played in school...oh, if they only knew... but being active is such as part of their daily life, it was no surprise when they were dumbfounded when I said "none." I treated 3 of my students to lunch today ($8 total, by the way) then we headed to the singing competition, for which the foreign and Chinese volunteers have been helping the students to prepare all week. There were 4 classes competing, each class cheering on the contestants from their class. Opening an activity with a song is very common here because it promotes group activities. It is not uncommon for students to sing as they ride bikes, or to listen to their mp3 players and sing aloud as they walk into a class or through the halls. Although it seems a little childish to me, they have a lot of fun with singing in groups and do not seem embarrassed when asked to perform in front of a large group. Of course, they are not trained to sing, so it's not excellent (to put it mildly), but they were so passionate! They clapped along- not beacuse they were told to, but because they really enjoyed it! Keep in mind these are 18-20 year old college students- and they are not performing arts majors. One group choreographed their choir performance to a love song- it looked like a mini-opera. At one point everyone was in a circle holding hands (even the boys). Boys brought flowers for the girls who performed solos and everyone cheers for EVERYONE! Does this happen in the US? I felt like I was in another world...(Disneyworld).
On another note...
Last night I had "English Corner"- a time when the foreign teachers and volunteers have informal discussion with the Chinese students. Afterwards an architecture student approached me to tell me she enjoyed my lecture earlier in the week (yes, I'm bragging) on Amish culture and the PA Dutch and that she thought Hex Signs are very beautiful. She asked a few thoughtful questions about the future of Amish Culture, and then went on to ask how many different "nations" (races) exist in America and if they get along. I explained that there are many races, and that defining 'American' is difficult at times...that many do get along, but there is a long history of NOT getting along, etc. She explained to me that there are 55 minority groups in China and they are treated with the utmost respect. The majority group is nearly 80% of the population. "The minorities are special because they have long family histories. Everyone loves them." This would explain the 'oohs' and 'aaahs' in class the students made introductions and one guy mentioned that he was of a particular minority group- and very proud of it.

Thomas Jefferson, Allen Iverson, & soft pretzels

What do these 3 things have in common? Students in my classes are equally excited by them. I got the same reaction to them all in my first lecture (which covered where I'm from and the schools I have attended)
The teachers in this program are gobbed into one group to teach topics on "Western Culture"- but many of us are puzzled by how our knowledge of western culture is anything similar to our British counterparts here. Not only does our pronunciation and rate at which we speak differ, which has been slightly problematic for the students, but our 'pop' cultures differ. It reinforced how often we (westerners) label 'Asians' rather than natives of a particular country.