Out of this 'World'

I was unable to access my blog while in China, so I am now filling you in on my China adventures.  Below is blog #1, which I created one week into my time in China.  I left it unedited so that it is real and organic from mid-way through the experience. 

 

Getting around on the internet in China is a rather difficult task.  Many sites are blocked due to their government restrictions.  They don’t have access to facebook.  They have their own version of facebook that exists in China.  I am unable to access my blog, and at times accessing my email is not dependable. 

I have also discovered that if you are not careful, you may get overworked.  Tina, my co-teacher and I started our teaching days with 7 class periods a day, with a 2 hour lunch period.  That left us with very little time to prepare for class the coming day and to review and correct students’ work.  Needless to say, after the first day we were exhausted.  Jetlag aside, after the first week neither one of us had actually had time to process our experiences since we had hit the ground running upon arrival.  After some adjustments to our schedule, we now teach 4 class periods a day and have an office hour in which we meet with students individually.  Finally then was I able to breathe and reflect a bit on what had been happening, both at the school and all around me.

I am co-teaching an ACT Prep course for Chinese students at Yali High School in Changsha, China.  I am focusing on the writing section of the ACT, so I get to teach what I love – to write.  Everything has been so brand new to me, and I have amazed myself at how adaptable I can be in uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations. 

It has been a matter of taking a project with unclear communication and expectations, and turning it into something that functions and moves forward.  I have learned to take ownership of what I am able, and improve the process so that things can run smoothly.  I can honestly say that I had no idea what I was getting myself into when signing up for this project.  In hindsight, I am sure I will be able to say that it was a challenging, but good experience.  Currently, I am still in the midst of it (though very close to the end!) that I am not quite enough removed to have that relief.

The human mind and body is an amazing thing – able to handle more than we give credit.  I have stretched myself and my ability to handle all of the stress and pressure that I have felt during this first week teaching in China.  Yes I have felt run-down, drawn out to my last string, and pushed to the edge of my limit – though somehow I have pulled through.  Reflecting back I realize that through the crazy confusion and all of the doubt and disappointment, I seemed to be having an out of body experience.  I will never know how far I can go unless I get myself there.

Meanwhile, the many adventures of my time here will not go untold.  Everything from the way they budge in line, to the noisiness of meals, to the fact that I understand only 3 words in Chinese – it all adds up to some great escapades.

Going out to eat by ourselves is a manner of pointing at pictures and using our miming skills the best we can.  We always end up successfully ordering food that is delicious – maybe not quite what we expect, but it’s all in the fun of trying new things.  The food is fantastic – so many fresh vegetables and intense flavors.  Though much of the dishes do seem to have a lot of oil (people use tea oil in their home cooking which is the best kind), and some I avoid due to the skeptical pieces of fatty-meat substance that they contain.  Overall though, it is healthy and delicious.  The best meal I had was in a home in the city of Jingang, in which everything in each of the 8 or 9 dishes spread on the table except for the smoked pork was from the man’s garden/yard or pond (including fish and duck eggs).

While we feel a bit helpless due to the communication barrier, it provides me with a new perspective on the importance of communication.  This entire project has definitely honed my communication skills due to the lack thereof, prior to my arrival.

To help offset the stress of work, I have indulged in some good Chinese medicine – massage.  I have had a foot acupressure massage, as well as a full-body spa massage.  Both were absolutely wonderful and well-deserved.  We also visited a tea house with a friend here who works at the school.  That was also a very pleasant and peaceful experience.  I fully appreciate their love for tea here in China.  Having it at every meal, and in-between is something that I won’t have a hard time continuing back home (I am close to that already).

On Saturday I went with our friend Duo (he is basically our main correspondence with the school) and his wife to visit his father’s gravesite.  We painted the characters on his grave, as they were faded due to time and the elements.  Their gravesites are beautiful!  Tucked in the hills/mountains out in the countryside, gravesites are lined in a structured pattern.  For the sake of space, and the due to the large population of China, it is custom to cremate the body and bury it in the hills so as to save sacred land space that would otherwise be for farming, housing, or forest.  Each gravestone has a character on it to symbolize an important meaning (happiness, fortune, love, etc.) that is chosen by the family.

Our next stop that day was a house in Jingang – a historic little town that is about an hour outside of Changsha.  Duo’s mother’s friend invited us for lunch.  We had a relaxing time with them and I really enjoyed their little tiny dog.  Many of the dogs here are small – this one was only 1 month and was the size of a kitty!  As a snack, we were served melon and tea with sesame seeds, salt, ginger, and some sort of herb – delicious! 

This is where we had the meal I refer to above, with the fresh produce right from their yard (which is all garden) and the fish and duck eggs that they raise.  I also tried my first Chinese beer, with which we had many a toast throughout the meal.  The experience was so pleasant, and I had to remind myself that this was actually happening.  I feel as though the American meal experience will never be the same after this – not to mention the food will be very boring to follow all of the unique, flavorful dishes served here.

After lunch we explored the city streets, which reminded me a bit of Italy – stone roads and narrow passages between buildings.  We went to Duo’s house where he grew up, which is now a bar.  It started to rain on our walk so we spent some time in a little restaurant drinking hot water.  Many restaurants will serve water hot.  I believe it is to kill the bacteria, so that they don’t have to buy water, they simply boil and serve – also in Chinese medicine they believe that drinking hot water is better for the body than cold.  We then continued our walk trying food along the way.  I tried the dried minnows, some homemade candy from possibly peanuts, some cookies, some sweet potato chips, prune juice, and fermented rice.  We walked along the river and saw a dragon boat ceremony.  It was the end of the dragon boat festival, so there were men in this long dragon boat with one at the head beating a drum. Then fireworks were going off all around us for the rest of the afternoon.  It was neat to see, though a little disappointed because we were not able to take a boat down the river due to the celebration.  Later on our walk we saw some displayed stones with calligraphy – both modern and ancient.  It amazes me how people can read such script – it is truly an art.