So what have I been up to since the last time that I wrote? Well, and this is kind of random, I taught my host brother and mother the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. How? We were having breakfast last Sunday morning and we had toast on the table. I saw that there was a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly and I thought, hmm…I wonder if they have ever put the two together like we have in America. Of course I asked, and they hadn’t! So I informed my host brother that they were missing out on a delicious lunchtime delicacy in America. He followed me as I prepared my own, and no surprise here…he loved it! A few days later I saw my host mom making herself a PB&J. Crazy. They taught me how to make dumplings, and in return I left them the knowledge of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
One afternoon a few of us had some beers and talked about politics. It was great. I love getting into and listening to deep conversations. Sometimes the conversation was over my head, but I enjoyed listening and learning from those that knew a lot about the topic. We mainly discussed the failures of the American political system and our views on how to improve it. I just want to mention that probably 95% of Peace Corps volunteers anywhere have socialist ideologies, and thus that is where our conversation leaned heavily. I should say that often in the afternoons when we have some time we like to have a beer and talk about things. It is really nice and relaxing. Last week sometime though I opted out of the beer and went for the ice cream instead, which appealed to some others who also went and got some ice cream. Ice cream in China is a little different than ice cream in the US. It tends to be sweetened with different flavors, like corn, red beans, dates, green beans, etc. All are good, though, just different. I enjoyed the vanilla ice cream, and red bean variety.
On Friday of this week we had our host family appreciation night. It was really fun. It was set up like a banquet in a restaurant. The tables had both American and Chinese flags on them and everyone looked spiffy in their new Chinese clothes that we had made. So a digression. A few weeks ago we had Chinese outfits made. We went to a tailor shop with our teachers, picked a design and some fabric, and got measured. Two weeks later we returned, tried them on, paid and left. It was an interesting experience that I might try again. Most of the girls’ clothes were too big, like in the sense that we couldn’t even find each others’ waists under the fabric, and the clothes had to be fixed. But look at the pictures from the event and you can see the beautiful clothes. I just got a jacket because I can wear it back in the states. I don’t think I would wear a traditional Chinese dress in the states, I think I would be too uncomfortable. It wasn’t expensive either. It was 180 yuan. And the conversion is 6.8 yuan to the dollar, so you math people can figure out how much I paid exactly in US dollars for a personally made outfit. Also my host mom started to teach me a dance that we could perform together at the banquet, but we never had enough time to practice. It was pretty amazing I’m not going to lie. Basically it mimicked the movements of the crane. Anyways my host brother ended up playing his clarinet and harmonica at the banquet. He started to think about not doing it and I told him he didn’t have to, but then my site manager introduced that he would, and so he had to. He did an excellent job though. He is quite talented. We also had Jill, a volunteer, sing Chinese and English songs. All of our host families got excited when she sang in Chinese. Fred emceed. Lindsey gave a speech in Chinese and English. Stephen and Sky put together a slide show of all of our pictures, which I will put online once I get it from Stephen. And wonderful Caroline made sure everything was good. They gave certificates to all of our host families and a flower. I gave my host mom some flowers I bought earlier in the day and I wrote out the character thank you. She really liked it.
Saturday I took my language proficiency interview. It was an oral test, obviously because I cannot read or write in Chinese, with an unknown tester. The test was to last 15 minutes, with a 5 minute warm-up conversation, 5 minute role play, and a 5 minute wrap-up. My test ended up lasting 25 minutes. The key with this test is to make sure to ask questions back to the interviewer. At one point I realized that I hadn’t done this and almost panicked, but then was able to ask some questions back. My role play was “imagine that you bought a gift for your mom for her birthday and then you found out your sister had bought the same gift. Go to the store and negotiate a return of the gift and give the shopkeeper a good reason for you returning it.” Well I blanked on any good ideas for a gift, and ended up trying to return flowers which makes things more difficult than it needs to be. It ended up being okay, but I don’t think I showed my full potential in vocabulary knowledge. I asked the tester at the end how she thought I did and she said I need work on my vocabulary. Well that seems obvious to me since I have only been studying the language for a month and a half, but that’s okay. I think my structure was okay, and I hope my pronunciation was okay as well. I will find out where I place before I swear in. they have to review the tape that I was recorded on to get a specific placement. I need to place at intermediate low. If we don’t place at intermediate low it is not a big deal it just means that you are required to have a tutor, but I want to have tutor anyways so no worries. I have no doubt that I achieved intermediate low though. I am just curious now to see where I do place. My goal, which is not too lofty I don’t think, is to achieve an advanced middle level by the time I leave China. It is not impossible, I just need to be sure to put the time into studying and communicating once I get to my site.
Other than testing on Saturday, it was also my host brother’s going away party. The party was all day at a tea house and it was for the family of my host brother. I went in the morning, then his cousin took me to school, and then my host brother and mom picked me back up after to go back. I think the fact that he is leaving in a week is starting to hit the family and my host brother. I can tell that he is getting nervous, though he doesn’t really say anything. I try to give him some advice and encouragement. I know he will do fine, but there is going to be a bit of an adjustment. Luckily he does have a cousin that lives in the same area. I plan to keep in contact with him while he is away, and would like for him to visit the Sunshine State when I return in two years. I think all of you would really like him.
I really should write on my blog daily since it is obvious that I am forgetting some things that have happened. Everything seems to happen really fast here. I cannot believe that I have been in China for almost two months and that Tuesday I am moving out of my home stay and into a hotel, swearing in and moving to Jiangyou on Friday. One good thing about moving to Jiangyou is that I can finally start to get settled after living out of a suitcase for two months.
Oh I remember something that I didn’t mention. Sometime last week I had delicious food at a Muslim restaurant with Katie, Richy and Amy. It was like our mouths were in a different country altogether. I ate rice with cumin lamb. It was amazing. Richy had the same thing and Katie had noodles with cumin lamb. I don’t remember what Amy had. The people were really nice too. The owner could speak a little English and his Mandarin was really easy to understand, probably because it was his second language. It seems that it is much easier to understand people when their second language is Mandarin versus it being their first. For example, I was on my way to the flower market with Katie, Richy and Sky for a language field trip and we needed to ask directions. We asked this man, but it turned out he was just visiting Chengdu as well and thus didn’t know his way around. But we got into a conversation with him and found out that he was from Shanghai (where they don’t speak Mandarin). We decided that was why we could understand him, because he spoke like us.
Oh and another thing about eating at the Muslim restaurant, there was the cutest kitten sitting in the restaurant and it came over to say hello to us at one point and we all freaked out. Why? Because the Peace Corps has scarred us for life here in China to be scared of all animals and most people. Almost every week they have bombarded us with information about rabies and people stealing from us. It’s really a wonder we haven’t gone completely crazy. Literally all of us are scared to be anywhere near a dog or cat. So thumbs up Peace Corps medical office on achieving your goal of making us scared of domestic animals in China. So when this cute innocent kitten came over to say hello to us and beg for food, we all pulled our legs up and yelled rabies! Kind of funny. We all laughed about it later.
There have been some bad rain storms here in Sichuan that caused a lot of flooding and some bridges to collapse. One train that was heading to Jiangyou was on a bridge that collapsed and one car ended up in the river. No one was hurt because the car slid slowly into the river and everyone was able to get out safely. Oh and don’t worry, I am not taking the train to Jiangyou next week. My waiban and counterpart teacher are picking me up in a van with all of my belongings.
Well that is all for now that I can think of. If I remember more I will write up on it later. But be sure to check out my pictures at http://cid-f6f210c0e2b65421.photos.live.com/. I try to add more every time I get new ones.
Love and miss everyone!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Chinese wedding
Saturday morning my host family and I wake up at 6 in the morning, and drive to the home of the bride and groom. Basically I have no idea what was happening during this entire morning adventure. Since my host family was apart of the wedding party they were doing a lot to help prepare for the wedding itself. So my host dad rented a nice car to take the bride and groom to the wedding. So we picked up the car and driver and had it taken to get flowers put on it at the flower shop. Then we had balloons put on all the cars that would be behind the bride and groom’s car, which included my host family’s car. Next we did a lot of waiting. The tradition in China is that the groom is to go and collect the bride from her house. I found out later that we were just waiting for her to prepare: get dressed, put on make-up, and get her hair done by her friend. So then the bride, groom, and the best man and bride’s maid (not quite the same as in America) pile into the rental car. They are mainly there to assist the bride and groom on whatever, namely holding things, opening doors, etc.). The best man was my host brother. Okay, so then we all drive to a nice hotel. This is where the wedding is to take place. Oh I forgot that at one point while we were all waiting for the bride to ready herself, we stopped and had noodles for breakfast at a nearby restaurant.
So then all of the guests while waiting for other guests to arrive go down to a tea room to drink tea and play mah jong or cards. At one point, my host brother’s cousin who is staying with me during the day so I don’t get lost or confused, invites me to go to the main floor. She doesn’t speak hardly any English, so I just followed along the entire day not really sure what was going on. Anyways, we arrive on the main floor and I see that the bride and groom are greeting the guests as they walk in. The song that we play at the end of the wedding ceremony is playing in the background. Lewis, my host brother, is holding a tray of cigarettes and red matches. The bride’s maid is holding what looks like miniscule gift boxes. So when a guest comes in the groom shakes his hand, Lewis gives the man two cigarettes, the bride lights one of them, and the bride’s maid gives the woman two gift boxes (which I found out contained candy). Giving two items is to indicate that the couple is now two, and it is a sign of good favor in a marriage.
After several hours of mah jong, we all go into the restaurant part of the hotel. There is a sign that says wedding, a cake, and some champagne glasses. It basically looks like the set-up for a reception. We are all sitting around and drinking juice, and the bride, groom, Lewis, and bride’s maid process in together. The bride and groom go to the stage at the front. There is a young man on the side that is announcing something so that everyone hears. I believe he is announcing some wedding vow or something because at one point the bride and groom take a microphone and say one sentence. Then they exchange rings. After this the bride and groom are given some glasses and we all toast to them and drink. Next the bride and groom present some flowers to the groom’s parents. Then the groom’s father gives a speech. Then we all start eating. The room fills up with the smell of cigarettes and bai jiu (a strong liquor in China). The bride and groom, and the mother and father each go around to all of the tables and toast everyone. After everyone has eaten more than we could ever eat, we all leave and go across the street to a place to play mah jong and cards and drink tea. We stay here until about 6 or 630 and then go back to the hotel to eat dinner, which most people just pick at. My host family and I left around 7 or so, congratulated the bride and groom, and then went to say hello to my host mom’s college classmates who were having a reunion. Then we went home. WOW. That was the longest wedding celebration I have ever been to. It was really interesting and fun, but the fumes from the cigarettes were really starting to make me sick after so long. I took some pictures of the wedding day, and are posting them to the Windows Live account. Oh and we didn’t even eat the cake, which I found to be a little disappointing. The cake is one of my favorite parts of a wedding. Lol. The children enjoyed putting their faces and fingers into it, though, which was really funny and adorable.
So then all of the guests while waiting for other guests to arrive go down to a tea room to drink tea and play mah jong or cards. At one point, my host brother’s cousin who is staying with me during the day so I don’t get lost or confused, invites me to go to the main floor. She doesn’t speak hardly any English, so I just followed along the entire day not really sure what was going on. Anyways, we arrive on the main floor and I see that the bride and groom are greeting the guests as they walk in. The song that we play at the end of the wedding ceremony is playing in the background. Lewis, my host brother, is holding a tray of cigarettes and red matches. The bride’s maid is holding what looks like miniscule gift boxes. So when a guest comes in the groom shakes his hand, Lewis gives the man two cigarettes, the bride lights one of them, and the bride’s maid gives the woman two gift boxes (which I found out contained candy). Giving two items is to indicate that the couple is now two, and it is a sign of good favor in a marriage.
After several hours of mah jong, we all go into the restaurant part of the hotel. There is a sign that says wedding, a cake, and some champagne glasses. It basically looks like the set-up for a reception. We are all sitting around and drinking juice, and the bride, groom, Lewis, and bride’s maid process in together. The bride and groom go to the stage at the front. There is a young man on the side that is announcing something so that everyone hears. I believe he is announcing some wedding vow or something because at one point the bride and groom take a microphone and say one sentence. Then they exchange rings. After this the bride and groom are given some glasses and we all toast to them and drink. Next the bride and groom present some flowers to the groom’s parents. Then the groom’s father gives a speech. Then we all start eating. The room fills up with the smell of cigarettes and bai jiu (a strong liquor in China). The bride and groom, and the mother and father each go around to all of the tables and toast everyone. After everyone has eaten more than we could ever eat, we all leave and go across the street to a place to play mah jong and cards and drink tea. We stay here until about 6 or 630 and then go back to the hotel to eat dinner, which most people just pick at. My host family and I left around 7 or so, congratulated the bride and groom, and then went to say hello to my host mom’s college classmates who were having a reunion. Then we went home. WOW. That was the longest wedding celebration I have ever been to. It was really interesting and fun, but the fumes from the cigarettes were really starting to make me sick after so long. I took some pictures of the wedding day, and are posting them to the Windows Live account. Oh and we didn’t even eat the cake, which I found to be a little disappointing. The cake is one of my favorite parts of a wedding. Lol. The children enjoyed putting their faces and fingers into it, though, which was really funny and adorable.
A week in Jiangyou
So all of this week I have been visiting the site of my future volunteer endeavors. In two weeks I will make myself permanent at Jiangyou in Northern Sichuan. This is the birthplace of Libai, one of the most famous poets in China. The town today is rather small (maybe 500,000) people- remember this is China. The town is mainly comprised of farmers and there is a lot of construction. The university in which I will be teaching is located on the outskirts of Jiangyou, maybe a 15 minute public bus ride into the downtown area. Oh, and the university I will be teaching at is Sichuan Preschool Educators College. The students I will teach will graduate and teach in primary schools, and mostly kindergarten. Most of my students will be girls. There are four student dormitories, and only one is for boys. There are a total of 4000-4500 students that will be attending school this term. I will be teaching Oral English and American/British Culture. I will have a total of 14 hours of teaching this semester. There are two other foreign teachers at this university. They are a married couple from Canada. They will be returning to the university, about the same time as I will, with their newborn son. They have been teaching at this university for a couple of years. The campus itself is small. I could probably jog around it in 15 minutes at most. Outside of the campus are farmers and some convenient stores that were built for students’ needs. The campus is silent except for cicadas making their noises and the shouts of neighbors to one another. There are two housing buildings for teachers. I will be in building one on the fourth floor. There is a track/soccer field, swimming pool, 10 classroom buildings, a library, a performance art center, administrative building, staff dining hall (with free lunch for teachers at 11:50!!), student dining hall, drivers’ education building, and lots of green space. It is a really nice and peaceful university.
Most everything I will need I will have to go downtown to get. I take the number 16 bus into downtown. It is the only bus number that goes across the railroad tracks and into the neighborhood of the university. I like this. It makes it really difficult to get lost, which many of you know I am quite susceptible towards. This is much different than Chengdu which has a multitude of buses that range upwards of number 500 something. The main shopping center is called Mall Mart. Here I can look at expensive clothes if I so choose and electronics, but most importantly there is a large grocery store on the bottom level where I will get most of my staples that I can’t pick up at the convenient stores near the university gate. The rest of downtown Jiangyou is made up of shops, restaurants, and markets. You can take a pedicab to get around, walk, take the bus, or take your bicycle. It really is rather small. I could probably bike around the city in an hour or two. I plan to get a bike once I get settled. My counterpart teacher says that he and the Canadians like to bike, and I need to fit in, right? Lol. It is also quite convenient to have a bike to get around rather than wait up to 20 minutes for bus 16 to arrive.
From what I witnessed this week, the people of Jiangyou are really laid back, proud of being from the same town as Libai, and very nice. Some are curious of me, of course. My counterpart Kerry made a joke about why the store would write the word SALE when I was probably the only foreigner in town to read the sign. So, being one of 3 foreigners makes people curious. I would be too. Oh there might be other foreigners, but I know for sure of 3. Me and the Canadians.
I will be uploading pictures of Jiangyou throughout my first semester, so that by January you might be able to see the whole town on my Windows Live account.
So what did I do this week? Monday I left Chengdu by train at 11 am (my host mom and brother here drove me to the train station, which is about an hour and a half from their apartment). It was my first experience on a train, and it wasn’t bad. There was a very cute 3 year old girl sitting in front of me making faces at me. It was very typical of a 3 year old, and very cute. I arrived in Jiangyou around 2, and my counterpart Kerry picked me up. A counterpart is a Chinese teacher in the English department that I can assist me in anything that I may need. Kerry, which is his English name, is also my waiban (foreign teachers office) representative, and he was my host during my stay. This made me feel as though I was walking on egg shells the entire week. At every moment of the day I was trying to impress this man and his wife, and show them that the Peace Corps is a good program to have at their school. This is the first time the Peace Corps has sent a volunteer to this site, so I am trying to make a good impression. So we went back to his apartment, and we chatted and looked at each others pictures to help break the ice. In the evening we walked around the university and I saw my first star in China. There were three visible stars in the sky, and I was mesmerized. In case I haven’t mentioned this yet, stars and the moon are rare sites to see, at least in Sichuan.
Tuesday I met the dean of the foreign teachers department, who incidentally does not speak any English. I also met the vice president of the university. The president was away on business. We also had a look at my apartment. It was really big. I was surprised. It was a lot bigger than my counterparts apartment. There are three bedrooms, a living area, dining area, kitchen, and bathroom. I have a couch, desk, tv, bed, western toilet, and some dishes. I don’t have any sheets, I didn’t see any pots, and I don’t have a table to eat at. But other than that, everything is nice. I will see more of what is needed once I move in. Later we took a bus to downtown, had lunch, saw the market and set up my Bank of China account so that the Peace Corps can deposit my monthly stipend, so that I can eat and pay my landline phone bill. The phone is there for emergencies, since cell phones are not as reliable). In the evening I met some of the other teachers at the university and played some Chinese checkers. Kerry does not have a tv in his house. It was destroyed during the 2008 earthquake, and he never got another one, so we did a lot of talking, playing games, and sitting in silence.
Wednesday I had breakfast of beef noodles with Kerry’s wife Eliam because he was tutoring in the morning. Then we went to Libai park to walk around. We had lunch and tea, and played cards. I taught them ERS and blackjack. Oh I forgot to mention that I also taught my host brother and his dad ERS and they LOVED it. It was so funny. Anyways, during lunch Kerry gave this cat some chicken and the bone from the chicken got lodged in the cat’s mouth. It was obviously in pain, and couldn’t get the bone out. I thought the cat was going to die, and Kerry found this whole thing funny. It mad me so mad. I wanted to help the cat, but the Peace Corps scared the living daylights out of us about rabies in China. But then Kerry came to the rescue and saved the cat. I have pictures to prove it. For dinner we ate food from Guizhou province which is where Kerry is from. Kerry is from the Miao minority group in China. Both him and Eliam come from poor rural farming backgrounds, but went to university and got out of that life. A lot of the students that Peace Corps focuses on teaching are from these rural backgrounds. Anyways, later that evening we played Chinese chess and cards.
Okay so around Wednesday I just got really tired of being in Jiangyou. Kerry has this bad habit of basically quizzing me on English the entire time I was in Jiangyou. This is not an exaggeration either. All day it was: what is this, have you heard this phrase, can you use it in a sentence, let me tell you how much I know about English. I was just getting rather irritated and tired about it. I started wishing to go back home to Chengdu. Then I thought, oh no, that’s not good. My host family has been way too nice to me, for me to be wishing to return home to Chengdu. But that was exactly what I was doing. Wishing to return to the comfort of my host family in Chengdu. I knew I was lucky to have the host family I do in Chengdu, but I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I left.
Thursday Eliam and I walked around the downtown area, and I saw some of the damage from the earthquake and a beautiful park area by the river. Later that afternoon I met the convenience store owner by the university gate. She was a student of Kerry’s. I bought Eliam some chocolate. That evening I took Eliam and Kerry out to eat to show them my appreciation.
Friday we took a pedicab around the downtown area, had lunch, and took a bus back to Chengdu. So in Chengdu when I arrived I had to go to the bathroom so bad, but bathrooms seem to be quite rare in China in public areas. Kerry said to take the number 1 bus and then switch to number 56. So I took the number 1. There was this Buddhist monk on the bus who captured a dragonfly that was hovering around the bus and released it out of the window. I thought this was a very Buddhist monk thing to do. Anyways, so somewhere along the line I got confused about where to switch the buses. Kerry said to call when I got into Chengdu, and I tried but the number wasn’t connecting. Having to use the bathroom, unable to speak Chinese, completely at a loss for where I was in Chengdu, I almost cried. But of course crying solves nothing, so I eventually found a taxi and told him where to head back and eventually got back to my host family’s house. A little tired, a little stressed, but relieved.
Okay so my host family’s home phone kept ringing, but I didn’t pick it up because it is not my home, and I don’t speak Chinese anyways to get a message. Well then my host mom’s cell rang, and the number looked familiar so I picked it up and it was Kerry. I was supposed to call him when I got into Chengdu, but the number wasn’t working. Then my host family said they had spoken with him, so I assumed that they called back to let him know I was in Chengdu safe, but they hadn’t, so he was calling now at 9:45 at night to see if I was okay. I hope this doesn’t leave a bad impression of me in his mind. AH!! I stress myself out so much. I will have to try really hard when I go back to Jiangyou in two weeks, just to make sure of that he doesn’t think ill of me or the Peace Corps.
Anyways, tomorrow I am going to my first, and maybe only, wedding in China. This is a family member of my host family. I will post pictures maybe Sunday from the wedding. That’s all for now. The next couple of weeks are going to be really busy. This week is my last week at my host family, and the week after is my last week in Chengdu. So sad, but exciting all the same.
Oh I forgot to mention that Kerry asked if I go to church in America. I said that I do. He said he knew of a church in Jiangyou that he could show me. I was really excited to see. So we went…to a mosque. I didn’t bother explaining that a mosque is not the same thing as a church. Lol. Oh well.
Most everything I will need I will have to go downtown to get. I take the number 16 bus into downtown. It is the only bus number that goes across the railroad tracks and into the neighborhood of the university. I like this. It makes it really difficult to get lost, which many of you know I am quite susceptible towards. This is much different than Chengdu which has a multitude of buses that range upwards of number 500 something. The main shopping center is called Mall Mart. Here I can look at expensive clothes if I so choose and electronics, but most importantly there is a large grocery store on the bottom level where I will get most of my staples that I can’t pick up at the convenient stores near the university gate. The rest of downtown Jiangyou is made up of shops, restaurants, and markets. You can take a pedicab to get around, walk, take the bus, or take your bicycle. It really is rather small. I could probably bike around the city in an hour or two. I plan to get a bike once I get settled. My counterpart teacher says that he and the Canadians like to bike, and I need to fit in, right? Lol. It is also quite convenient to have a bike to get around rather than wait up to 20 minutes for bus 16 to arrive.
From what I witnessed this week, the people of Jiangyou are really laid back, proud of being from the same town as Libai, and very nice. Some are curious of me, of course. My counterpart Kerry made a joke about why the store would write the word SALE when I was probably the only foreigner in town to read the sign. So, being one of 3 foreigners makes people curious. I would be too. Oh there might be other foreigners, but I know for sure of 3. Me and the Canadians.
I will be uploading pictures of Jiangyou throughout my first semester, so that by January you might be able to see the whole town on my Windows Live account.
So what did I do this week? Monday I left Chengdu by train at 11 am (my host mom and brother here drove me to the train station, which is about an hour and a half from their apartment). It was my first experience on a train, and it wasn’t bad. There was a very cute 3 year old girl sitting in front of me making faces at me. It was very typical of a 3 year old, and very cute. I arrived in Jiangyou around 2, and my counterpart Kerry picked me up. A counterpart is a Chinese teacher in the English department that I can assist me in anything that I may need. Kerry, which is his English name, is also my waiban (foreign teachers office) representative, and he was my host during my stay. This made me feel as though I was walking on egg shells the entire week. At every moment of the day I was trying to impress this man and his wife, and show them that the Peace Corps is a good program to have at their school. This is the first time the Peace Corps has sent a volunteer to this site, so I am trying to make a good impression. So we went back to his apartment, and we chatted and looked at each others pictures to help break the ice. In the evening we walked around the university and I saw my first star in China. There were three visible stars in the sky, and I was mesmerized. In case I haven’t mentioned this yet, stars and the moon are rare sites to see, at least in Sichuan.
Tuesday I met the dean of the foreign teachers department, who incidentally does not speak any English. I also met the vice president of the university. The president was away on business. We also had a look at my apartment. It was really big. I was surprised. It was a lot bigger than my counterparts apartment. There are three bedrooms, a living area, dining area, kitchen, and bathroom. I have a couch, desk, tv, bed, western toilet, and some dishes. I don’t have any sheets, I didn’t see any pots, and I don’t have a table to eat at. But other than that, everything is nice. I will see more of what is needed once I move in. Later we took a bus to downtown, had lunch, saw the market and set up my Bank of China account so that the Peace Corps can deposit my monthly stipend, so that I can eat and pay my landline phone bill. The phone is there for emergencies, since cell phones are not as reliable). In the evening I met some of the other teachers at the university and played some Chinese checkers. Kerry does not have a tv in his house. It was destroyed during the 2008 earthquake, and he never got another one, so we did a lot of talking, playing games, and sitting in silence.
Wednesday I had breakfast of beef noodles with Kerry’s wife Eliam because he was tutoring in the morning. Then we went to Libai park to walk around. We had lunch and tea, and played cards. I taught them ERS and blackjack. Oh I forgot to mention that I also taught my host brother and his dad ERS and they LOVED it. It was so funny. Anyways, during lunch Kerry gave this cat some chicken and the bone from the chicken got lodged in the cat’s mouth. It was obviously in pain, and couldn’t get the bone out. I thought the cat was going to die, and Kerry found this whole thing funny. It mad me so mad. I wanted to help the cat, but the Peace Corps scared the living daylights out of us about rabies in China. But then Kerry came to the rescue and saved the cat. I have pictures to prove it. For dinner we ate food from Guizhou province which is where Kerry is from. Kerry is from the Miao minority group in China. Both him and Eliam come from poor rural farming backgrounds, but went to university and got out of that life. A lot of the students that Peace Corps focuses on teaching are from these rural backgrounds. Anyways, later that evening we played Chinese chess and cards.
Okay so around Wednesday I just got really tired of being in Jiangyou. Kerry has this bad habit of basically quizzing me on English the entire time I was in Jiangyou. This is not an exaggeration either. All day it was: what is this, have you heard this phrase, can you use it in a sentence, let me tell you how much I know about English. I was just getting rather irritated and tired about it. I started wishing to go back home to Chengdu. Then I thought, oh no, that’s not good. My host family has been way too nice to me, for me to be wishing to return home to Chengdu. But that was exactly what I was doing. Wishing to return to the comfort of my host family in Chengdu. I knew I was lucky to have the host family I do in Chengdu, but I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I left.
Thursday Eliam and I walked around the downtown area, and I saw some of the damage from the earthquake and a beautiful park area by the river. Later that afternoon I met the convenience store owner by the university gate. She was a student of Kerry’s. I bought Eliam some chocolate. That evening I took Eliam and Kerry out to eat to show them my appreciation.
Friday we took a pedicab around the downtown area, had lunch, and took a bus back to Chengdu. So in Chengdu when I arrived I had to go to the bathroom so bad, but bathrooms seem to be quite rare in China in public areas. Kerry said to take the number 1 bus and then switch to number 56. So I took the number 1. There was this Buddhist monk on the bus who captured a dragonfly that was hovering around the bus and released it out of the window. I thought this was a very Buddhist monk thing to do. Anyways, so somewhere along the line I got confused about where to switch the buses. Kerry said to call when I got into Chengdu, and I tried but the number wasn’t connecting. Having to use the bathroom, unable to speak Chinese, completely at a loss for where I was in Chengdu, I almost cried. But of course crying solves nothing, so I eventually found a taxi and told him where to head back and eventually got back to my host family’s house. A little tired, a little stressed, but relieved.
Okay so my host family’s home phone kept ringing, but I didn’t pick it up because it is not my home, and I don’t speak Chinese anyways to get a message. Well then my host mom’s cell rang, and the number looked familiar so I picked it up and it was Kerry. I was supposed to call him when I got into Chengdu, but the number wasn’t working. Then my host family said they had spoken with him, so I assumed that they called back to let him know I was in Chengdu safe, but they hadn’t, so he was calling now at 9:45 at night to see if I was okay. I hope this doesn’t leave a bad impression of me in his mind. AH!! I stress myself out so much. I will have to try really hard when I go back to Jiangyou in two weeks, just to make sure of that he doesn’t think ill of me or the Peace Corps.
Anyways, tomorrow I am going to my first, and maybe only, wedding in China. This is a family member of my host family. I will post pictures maybe Sunday from the wedding. That’s all for now. The next couple of weeks are going to be really busy. This week is my last week at my host family, and the week after is my last week in Chengdu. So sad, but exciting all the same.
Oh I forgot to mention that Kerry asked if I go to church in America. I said that I do. He said he knew of a church in Jiangyou that he could show me. I was really excited to see. So we went…to a mosque. I didn’t bother explaining that a mosque is not the same thing as a church. Lol. Oh well.
One thing I forgot to mention about the KTV, was that I had first gone back to my host family’s house to see if it was okay to spend the afternoon at KTV. So whenever I got to the area where the KTV was, all of the other volunteers were already inside. I had no idea where this place was, so I started wandering around hoping that something would jump out at me. I knew roughly where it was, but I didn’t know exactly. So I went into one place that looked like a KTV, but it was really dark and quiet, so I immediately left. Then I asked someone (in Chinese obviously) where the KTV was. She answered that it was across from where we were at the time. So I walked over there to a KTV and went inside. I started looking around and trying doors, and nothing. I stopped and talked with a bartender and said that I was looking for my friends who went to KTV, and that they were Americans. He seemed really confused, but tried to help me. I eventually left, and wandered into a third KTV looking place, and saw someone working there. Again I said that I was looking for my friends and had he seen any Americans. This guy did! And he proceeded to direct me to my fellow Peace Corps volunteers. It was such a relief to see everyone, I did the sign of the cross. But it was a good adventure for trying out my Chinese. Survival Chinese at its best.
Okay, so this morning I went with my host brother to (are you ready for this Chris Kehoe?) an anime convention. We went with his best friend, stood in line for 3 hours, and walked around inside for maybe one. It was crazy, and quite interesting. I let my host brother have full control over my camera so he could take lots of pictures of his favorite characters and things. There were a lot of people dressed up, various comics being sold, and many other items for sale (including figurines, shirts, buttons, cards, etc.). I’ve never been to an anime convention in the States, but I am sure it is similar. I have included my host brother’s pictures, as well as pictures from Tianfu square which is the center of Chengdu. It was an interesting morning.
Then, probably because I am super tired right now, the plastic toilet paper roll slipped out of my hands and landed in the drain of the squat toilet in the bathroom I use. I have yet to figure out how to get it out, and will embarrassingly have to confront someone in my host family to explain that there is a plastic toilet roll in the toilet. Lovely.
Okay, so this morning I went with my host brother to (are you ready for this Chris Kehoe?) an anime convention. We went with his best friend, stood in line for 3 hours, and walked around inside for maybe one. It was crazy, and quite interesting. I let my host brother have full control over my camera so he could take lots of pictures of his favorite characters and things. There were a lot of people dressed up, various comics being sold, and many other items for sale (including figurines, shirts, buttons, cards, etc.). I’ve never been to an anime convention in the States, but I am sure it is similar. I have included my host brother’s pictures, as well as pictures from Tianfu square which is the center of Chengdu. It was an interesting morning.
Then, probably because I am super tired right now, the plastic toilet paper roll slipped out of my hands and landed in the drain of the squat toilet in the bathroom I use. I have yet to figure out how to get it out, and will embarrassingly have to confront someone in my host family to explain that there is a plastic toilet roll in the toilet. Lovely.
My site announcement!!
Okay so the last week has been one of the most exciting and fun weeks of my life. First of all on Tuesday I invited my host brother to play ultimate Frisbee with me and a few other volunteers. It was so much and a great time to get outside and run around. My host brother loved it! Maybe we can spread the awesome game into China (if you are unfamiliar with ultimate Frisbee, it is best to ask someone who plays in the States because it can be difficult to describe over the computer). Anyways, he wanted to know when would be the next time we would play and that his dad might come too. His parents came to watch us play and they were so cute. They were the stereotypical soccer parents in America, with their umbrella in the rain and jumping up and down whenever their son got the Frisbee or their son’s team scored. It was wonderful. All of the volunteers love my host family, and if you met them you would love them too. They are such wonderful people- China and America alike. Oh and I think we tied.
I forgot to mention last Friday that I went out to eat with my host family and friends. We went to this restaurant kind of far away. Of the many things we enjoyed there, included were frog and snail. I actually liked the frog, although there wasn’t much meat on it, and the snail was interesting. I can’t say I will be enjoying snail anytime soon. It was also difficult to eat and my host dad helped me a couple of times. It was fun, but very hot. Oh that reminds me that it had been very hot here in Chengdu (even hotter in Chongqing-those poor people) and so the electricity was going out all over the city because people were running their air conditioning more. You cannot run your air conditioning all day here because it uses up too much electricity. Btw the temperature in Chengdu is about the same as Florida, and Chongqing the same as a really hot day in Tallahassee (107 a lot of days).
Okay so the big news this week was my site placement! I am going to… (insert drum roll) Jiangyou in Sichuan Province. It is about 2.45 hours by train away from where I am now in Chengdu. It is apparently the site of where the most famous poet in China lived (will find out the name later) and is a vacation spot for many Sichuan people. It is a new site for Peace Corps (in other words there has never been a volunteer there before). I will also be the only volunteer at the site. But no worries, the next closest volunteer is 30-40 minutes away by bus in Miangyou. There are also 3 other foreign teachers at the university I will be teaching at (a Canadian and two Mennonites. I know, Mennonites. Strange.) I will be teaching at Sichuan Preschool Educators College. My students will all be future primary and kindergarten teachers. How cool is that? I am just super excited. I will be leaving Monday for a site visit and will stay until Friday or early Saturday morning. I am hoping to get back a little early because my host family wants me to go to the wedding of an extended family member with them on Saturday. Luckily I am not too far away. I am looking into taking the bus back which is a little more expensive but an hour faster. I need to talk with my wai ban (foreign affairs office at the university which deals with foreign teachers only) to see about getting back earlier than expected. We shall see. I leave Monday at 11.11 am by train.
Oh one thing I forgot to mention. There are about 23 other China 16 (my year) volunteers that will also be in Sichuan for service. Every province needs someone called a warden that is in charge in case something serious happens and the volunteers need to be evacuated from the region. The only two evacuation procedures that have ever occurred in Peace Corps China that I can think of are: the 2008 earthquake and the SARS outbreak. Why am I telling you this? Because yours truly is deputy warden or the assistant warden. The main warden is Angel, a transfer volunteer from Bulgaria who is also my nearest site mate. So Angel and I have decided that we are going to be the best of friends by the end of Peace Corps. He has already asked me if I play tennis. I told him I would certainly try. So anyways, this means that Angel is in charge in the case of an emergency, and I am there to assist, or if need be to take over in the instance that Angel cannot fulfill his duty as warden. Angel was the warden in Bulgaria, so I have no worries. Our job is to call everyone in our province to make sure they are safe and to be the communication between headquarters and our volunteers. Also in the circumstance of an evacuation, we are to ensure that the plan laid out by Peace Corps is followed out, or in case the Peace Corps cannot be notified in time, to be sure that everyone gets out safely.
Other exciting things: we had a banquet practice session with our language teachers. What does this mean you ask? Well banquets in China are a big deal. Many times we might be pressured to drink, commit to something, or make an unplanned speech or toast. This was a time for us to practice so that we do not offend our colleagues, dean, or the president of the university that we will be teaching at, and also to allow us a comfortable environment to practice so that we do not make a full out of ourselves. It was fun, and hey, a good free lunch.
Also a group of volunteers as I tried our hand at KTV, the craze among adults in China. It is basically a karaoke bar. The cool thing about karaoke in China is that you get your own room for you and your friends, so you are not making a full out of yourself in front of strangers, but just your good friends. I sang Avril Lavigne (a much loved icon in China among students) and A Whole New World from Aladdin. I also tried my hand at some Lady Gaga, although I don’t really listen to her (much to the dismay, I am sure, from some of my fellow volunteers), and well since I didn’t know the song very well it was difficult to sing to, but everyone joined in to sing it. It was awesome, and I hope there is KTV in Jiangyou, and me and my new Chinese friends there can go visit. If not, Chengdu is not too far away with many volunteers who might be willing to let out a tune and have a nice cold Chinese Snow beer (one of the few really cold beverages in China).
I have added pictures from my trip to beautiful Leshan, and will be adding some more pictures soon of my language class, a trip to a famous street in Chengdu that I can’t remember right now, and a few others.
I will be without a computer for the week I am in Jiangyou, but will be sure to fill everyone in on my week long adventure when I get back, both in words and pictures.
Once again, if there is something you are dying to know about China or have some preconceived notions about life in China, shoot me an email and I will be more than happy to locate the answer for you.
And last, but certainly not least, I now have access to my blog!!! Thank you China 15 Micah for your awesomeness!
I forgot to mention last Friday that I went out to eat with my host family and friends. We went to this restaurant kind of far away. Of the many things we enjoyed there, included were frog and snail. I actually liked the frog, although there wasn’t much meat on it, and the snail was interesting. I can’t say I will be enjoying snail anytime soon. It was also difficult to eat and my host dad helped me a couple of times. It was fun, but very hot. Oh that reminds me that it had been very hot here in Chengdu (even hotter in Chongqing-those poor people) and so the electricity was going out all over the city because people were running their air conditioning more. You cannot run your air conditioning all day here because it uses up too much electricity. Btw the temperature in Chengdu is about the same as Florida, and Chongqing the same as a really hot day in Tallahassee (107 a lot of days).
Okay so the big news this week was my site placement! I am going to… (insert drum roll) Jiangyou in Sichuan Province. It is about 2.45 hours by train away from where I am now in Chengdu. It is apparently the site of where the most famous poet in China lived (will find out the name later) and is a vacation spot for many Sichuan people. It is a new site for Peace Corps (in other words there has never been a volunteer there before). I will also be the only volunteer at the site. But no worries, the next closest volunteer is 30-40 minutes away by bus in Miangyou. There are also 3 other foreign teachers at the university I will be teaching at (a Canadian and two Mennonites. I know, Mennonites. Strange.) I will be teaching at Sichuan Preschool Educators College. My students will all be future primary and kindergarten teachers. How cool is that? I am just super excited. I will be leaving Monday for a site visit and will stay until Friday or early Saturday morning. I am hoping to get back a little early because my host family wants me to go to the wedding of an extended family member with them on Saturday. Luckily I am not too far away. I am looking into taking the bus back which is a little more expensive but an hour faster. I need to talk with my wai ban (foreign affairs office at the university which deals with foreign teachers only) to see about getting back earlier than expected. We shall see. I leave Monday at 11.11 am by train.
Oh one thing I forgot to mention. There are about 23 other China 16 (my year) volunteers that will also be in Sichuan for service. Every province needs someone called a warden that is in charge in case something serious happens and the volunteers need to be evacuated from the region. The only two evacuation procedures that have ever occurred in Peace Corps China that I can think of are: the 2008 earthquake and the SARS outbreak. Why am I telling you this? Because yours truly is deputy warden or the assistant warden. The main warden is Angel, a transfer volunteer from Bulgaria who is also my nearest site mate. So Angel and I have decided that we are going to be the best of friends by the end of Peace Corps. He has already asked me if I play tennis. I told him I would certainly try. So anyways, this means that Angel is in charge in the case of an emergency, and I am there to assist, or if need be to take over in the instance that Angel cannot fulfill his duty as warden. Angel was the warden in Bulgaria, so I have no worries. Our job is to call everyone in our province to make sure they are safe and to be the communication between headquarters and our volunteers. Also in the circumstance of an evacuation, we are to ensure that the plan laid out by Peace Corps is followed out, or in case the Peace Corps cannot be notified in time, to be sure that everyone gets out safely.
Other exciting things: we had a banquet practice session with our language teachers. What does this mean you ask? Well banquets in China are a big deal. Many times we might be pressured to drink, commit to something, or make an unplanned speech or toast. This was a time for us to practice so that we do not offend our colleagues, dean, or the president of the university that we will be teaching at, and also to allow us a comfortable environment to practice so that we do not make a full out of ourselves. It was fun, and hey, a good free lunch.
Also a group of volunteers as I tried our hand at KTV, the craze among adults in China. It is basically a karaoke bar. The cool thing about karaoke in China is that you get your own room for you and your friends, so you are not making a full out of yourself in front of strangers, but just your good friends. I sang Avril Lavigne (a much loved icon in China among students) and A Whole New World from Aladdin. I also tried my hand at some Lady Gaga, although I don’t really listen to her (much to the dismay, I am sure, from some of my fellow volunteers), and well since I didn’t know the song very well it was difficult to sing to, but everyone joined in to sing it. It was awesome, and I hope there is KTV in Jiangyou, and me and my new Chinese friends there can go visit. If not, Chengdu is not too far away with many volunteers who might be willing to let out a tune and have a nice cold Chinese Snow beer (one of the few really cold beverages in China).
I have added pictures from my trip to beautiful Leshan, and will be adding some more pictures soon of my language class, a trip to a famous street in Chengdu that I can’t remember right now, and a few others.
I will be without a computer for the week I am in Jiangyou, but will be sure to fill everyone in on my week long adventure when I get back, both in words and pictures.
Once again, if there is something you are dying to know about China or have some preconceived notions about life in China, shoot me an email and I will be more than happy to locate the answer for you.
And last, but certainly not least, I now have access to my blog!!! Thank you China 15 Micah for your awesomeness!
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