Songpan Part 3: Just Pictures

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Take a quick look at these. Enjoy.

Songpan Part 2: Our Guides and the Animals

The guides

Our guides secretly giggled (in a very masculine way of course) when they saw that they were going to get 5 girls in the group. I guess they were happy. Anyway we never could pronounce their names so we came up with names for them.

• Be Careful—he got his name because he would always yell, “Be careful” after he would hit our horses and send us flying as our horses would jolt forward. He is 21 and owns 3 female horses. The other guides joked that he has female horses because he can’t get a girlfriend. I didn’t follow the rest of the joke but I think it went much deeper than the surface joke. He still acted much like a boy and his quick smile made me think that he did indeed enjoy his job.
• Beat the Sheep Skin—the first afternoon for about 5 hours he beat this fresh sheep skin. He would only stop to pull the meat off of the skin. We never saw it after the first afternoon under the tent but the name stuck. It was hard to eat dinner that evening as we were all watching him. He was 24 and looked like he definitely had Tibetan in his genes but his face looked mostly Han Chinese. He was kinda shy but he laughed a lot. He was the tag along it seemed. He didn’t have his own horse so he just would jump onto different horses throughout the trip. The other guides respected him and didn’t tease him too much.
• Earring Guy—he was the leader and the most outgoing. Definitely Tibetan or Mongolian, not actually sure. He’d been doing this since he was 19 and so 7 years latter he was very used to the trails. He had 4 years of education behind him and now he is living with his parents while not on the trail to support them. He will probably do this for quite a while to come with little choice/hope of another job. He wore a dangling earring in his left ear that we found out was given to him by his ex-girlfriend, which is where he got his name from. He had two stallions and always rode in front. His limited English consisted of phrases he’d picked up from previous tourists: “I want to kiss you.” “Kick your horse” “Do you want more food?”. But mostly he was just a big tease.
  

The guides didn’t get one ounce of dirt on them. They easily guided the horses and they had a very familiar relationship with the mountains. Being the Muslim minority in China they had little chance at getting other jobs. I don’t think they were very serious about their religion in fact they probably knew very little about it. I was told that they are the descendants of the Mongolian Muslims who came to northern Sichuan a long time ago. I was frustrated that I could barely communicate with them. They were so interesting to me yet we were left to communicate through basic Chinese, English and sign language. Laughter transcends languages so we did a lot of that too! “Safety First” was not their motto. The 3 day excursion was nothing like my outward bound trip a few years ago. The bonding was done over Chinese whiskey and not through the beauty of the mountains. There were no heart-to-heart talks. I kept my thoughts to myself. The physical activity was not meant to be a character building time. It was meant to just get through. We were not forced to come up with the deep meaning to life! But they made it so fun.

Even though they were young and had little to no education... the cold teaches you something. The quietness of the mountains teaches you something. The uniqueness of the animals teaches you something. The strength of the Tibetan people teach you something .

The animals

• We saw goats and sheep around most bends. I have to put them together because I don’t really know the difference. We didn’t get that far in Zoology! Sometimes they were by themselves but most of the time they had one man walking behind them. He watched them with patience as he would guide them along slowly. Rarely would they acknowledge that horses were invading their space. Others we would hear in the distance and they looked like they were just hanging out on the side of a steep mountain as if it was completely normal. And I guess it was but I can’t imagine just hanging out on the side of a steep mountain would be a great way to spend my life. They were truly mountain goat/sheep.
• The yaks were brown and shades of white up on the mountain. They would at least acknowledge us to a certain extent. They would move to the side of the trail to let the horses go by but not without a lot of “encouragement”! They were completely unimpressed with us. It was my turn to stare though. These animals were huge but very non- threatening. They did not seem affected by anything.
• The pigs seemed to all have given birth about 3 weeks previously. All of the little piglets were running around their mother as she would eat the grass and look completely unaffected by her piglets. They were black and humorously UGLY. I tried to think that the little piglets were cute but they just weren’t! I’ve never thought about pigs before and I realized I haven’t missed much.
• There were no bugs!! I should have taken my cue from them… hehehe

Songpan: Part 1

Last Thursday we made our way to Songpan. It was a 10 hour bus ride through the northern mountains. Around each bend there were new sights. We followed a river, which curved around the mountains as did the road. I think water was meant to do that a little better than a bus! The mountains got bigger the farther north we went and we felt the cold start to seep into the bus.

At one point on the trip the bus was stopped and a police man came onto the bus. I got nervous because I didn’t have my passport and of course I always think something like that is going to be a problem. However it was not me that was taken off the bus to be questioned— it was our driver. After about 30 minutes and one Celine Dion album on my iPod I found out that our driver was in big trouble for letting too many people on the bus. It was true that people were sitting in the aisles. We were all watching as they hashed out whatever they were talking about outside the bus. It is never a good idea to make a driver mad. Period. We flew through the mountains the horn blaring around every bend for the rest of the trip.

With every bend I was falling in love with the beautiful mountains. My relationship with the mountains ranged all weekend long. That is part of the mysterious beauty of God’s creation. With a few hours to go we did stop so our driver could get out and smoke. That was our first sighting of yak. They were furry white cows and they were covered with beautiful cloaks and saddles. I was fascinated by the uniqueness of the animals. Who would have thought about covering a cow with so much fur? But what a good idea because it is so stinking cold up in the mountains. How generous God is to give them so much to keep them warm.

We met Charlotte on the bus. She is from Germany but speaks fluent English after spending one year in Michigan. Her Chinese is also very good after spending a year in China. We were fortunate for her friendship for the rest of our adventure. We all shared a room in the dorm at the traffic hotel. The next morning I woke up and my stomach felt like it was in knots anticipating the 4 day trek before me. I was so nervous. But before I knew it I was getting hoisted up on my horse. My horse followed the other horses up the first mountain and around the bend the tiny city of Songpan disappeared and before us was the mountains.

The Mountains

The mountains in China are huge, beautiful, and lonely. I had quite a bit of time on my horse to think about the beauty before me. The magnificence of these mountains is like standing on the shore and looking into the never ending ocean. Its beauty lies in the largeness, the mystery, the colors, the danger, and the shear pleasure of trying to experience it.

The first day they were exciting. There were plants only seen in my botany book and animals only seen on the national geographic channel. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of color in the perfect flowers and the uniqueness of each plant. It is true that God delights in abundance. The mountains were fun. I enjoyed the bounce of my horse as he climbed the mountains. I delighted in running down the mountain only to climb back up on my horse and go up another one. We met a few children on the way. They were clearly Tibetan and smiled up at us with their pure faces, in awe of seeing foreigners. The mountains hold their joy in the children and the people who call these mountains home.

The next day the mountains were cold. I woke up cool not wanting to get out of my tent only to be colder. The fire and hearty breakfast warmed my lungs but my extremities were still held captive by the cold. As I was climbing on my horse to head toward Ice Mountain not knowing the adventure before me the mountains got bigger. They seemed sharper and steeper. The ascent to Ice Mountain had us winding slowly up the mountains. The last part was a steep incline on the side of the mountain. I stole glances behind me and the mountains looked glamorous and dangerous. The valleys and peaks were all unique but they seemed to go on forever. My guide was behind me encouraging my horse a little too much, shouting Chinese commands that my horse would sometimes respond to. I was trying to let me horse know that I trusted him as he carefully planted each hoof. These mountains are not in a hurry and they are not to be hurried. They are in control and we were on their time. It would be foolish to consider harnessing the power they seem to hold. We finally came around the last bend and a break in the clouds displayed the top of Ice Mountain in all of its glory hanging in the sky. The sun shinning on it completed the picture. But the clouds covered it up quickly and I took a picture of where the mountain was supposed to be. Again the mountains had given me a sneak peak but were not interested in my timing. They had been there for thousands of years in their rhythm and for one day I had become a part of the rhythm.

The decent was the worst part of the trip. The mountain was unforgiving as we were left to descend on foot. The 2 hour trek down held little joy as it seemed we would never reach the bottom. All of a sudden the mud became deep, the bushes developed thorns and the rocks secretly became unsteady. Just when I thought I could go on no longer another bend would stretch before me and I forced myself to conform to the mountain.

Finally the terrain flattened out and we were back on the horse. I was never so grateful for the saddle. On the 2 hour trek back to camp on the horse I looked at the mountains differently. I had conquered a small part and I rode with a sense of accomplishment. It was a slightly euphoric few hours as the sun burned away the clouds. The sun was comforting for its warmth but also it seemed to have some power over the mountains. Back at camp I sat on a log next to the river with Amy enjoying the perfect size river in front of us, the warmth of the sun, and the view of the far away snow capped mountains. I was thankful for the peace of the scene. At that point the mountains contained a peace and contentment that I’ve desired since being in China. They were comforting and cozy. Three Tibetan men road alongside the river on a motorcycle laughing. They had obviously learned some of the secrets of the mountains.

But then the clouds covered the sun and the tops of the mountains and I went back to the fire under the tent.

The next morning did not feel so cold and I wondered if it really wasn’t as cold or if I was getting use to not feeling my feet! But I was excited to be in the mountains another day. I rode a different horse that day. He was obedient, efficient and followed without question, almost as if his will been harnessed by the mountains. He was smooth and comfortable leaving me to look around and contemplate the mountains more. I knew that I had analyzed the mountains too much but that didn’t stop me from considering them again. The morning trek was quiet and the mountains looked lonely. We passed a few Tibetan houses and I could only wonder what their lives were like. Oh the conversations I wish I could have had with the old people standing on the porches or in the fields. We saw quite a few Tibetan villages scattered along our path. The people seemed as untouched as the mountains. They were joyful though and extremely friendly. They starred at us but I didn’t mind because I was starring at them! Life must be hard in the mountains but their faces were not hard. They were happy. My last impressions of the mountains were the faces of the local people.

Monasteries on the top of a Chinese Buddhist Mountain

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You can check out some photos here of my trip. If you don't want to read the whole story just check out the monastery story at the end. I know this is really long and I apologize but for the very curious here's the full version!

We left at 7am from the Chengdu bus station. This was the start of quite the journey and adventure. Jackie and Lucy are cousins. Jackie works with us. She is a student of Prof Zhang. And Lucy is a freshman in college. It was the first trip that they took by themselves. I was so impressed with their scheduling. They didn’t tell us what we were doing a lot of the time but they knew exactly what we were supposed to do! They were so wonderful to be our guides. The whole three days was about $45 total!

Thoughts on the Giant Buddha: It is the biggest Buddha in the world. We walked up to the top and all of a sudden there was a huge stone head. Buddha has huge earlobes and a red dot on his forehead. His hair is in black knots above his perfectly shaped eye brows. His eyes are looking down over the three rivers and he is sitting upright with his hands on his knees. Buddha has changed a lot over the years and you can tell what dynasty or period each Buddha was built in.

After we decided to climb to the bottom we waited in a 30 minute line to make the “dangerous” trek down. The trek was made in about one hour down steep stairs and Chinese people pushing and shoving their way down. At every bend every person had to get their picture with the Buddha. So a combination of these things made it actually very dangerous. I started maneuvering my backpack so that no one could get in front of me and I created space for myself to get down very American of me!!

At the bottom I looked up at the magnificent Buddha and he was looking down at me with empty eyes. The incense was burning and I got a picture of me and his big toe. I looked over the edge at the three rivers that were fighting to go down stream. The Buddha was supposed to help the boats pass safely over the turbulent water. Apparently, a lot of people had drowned so a Buddhist monk started the construction of a Buddha. Legend has it that the boats started passing by without any trouble after the Buddha was carved. Evidence says that so much of the mountain was removed and put into the water that the current actually changed making the passing of the boats safe.

We were only at his feet for a few minutes before we were on our way again. The ascent was only to be anticipated with pain and a lot of sweat but we actually just walked along the river to some other museums including some burial caves from another dynasty. So it was just a sweaty trek! There were stone statues of dogs and guards in action posses in front of the burial sites. Quite impressively well thought out!

We negotiated a petty cab to take us to the front of the entrance to the Giant Buddha. On the way we saw the scenic route of Leshan. Riding by the side of the mountain, Jackie pointed out the sleeping Buddha. Thoughts on this range but in general I don’t understand how that could ever be a comforting idea to have a sleeping Buddha in the side of the mountain. His empty eyes are closed.

Emei Mountain

At 4 we took a bus to Emei Mountain. The first impressions were exciting. The mountain is one of the four sacred Buddhist Mountains in China. Amy and I waited while Jackie and Lucy negotiated with a bunch of people about our hotel situation. People see foreigners and they think “MONEY”. So I felt bad that they had to negotiate because of us. However, finally we got a room for $6. We left our stuff and went off to explore the base of the mountain. We climbed to a nunnery and a monastery. They were just beautiful and like out of a movie. The nuns and monks walked around so peacefully and quietly. The air was fresh and mixed with the incense that permeated every part of the temples. The natural landscape framed all of temples with a peaceful magnificence and splendor. They were everything Buddhist temples on the side of a mountain in China should be!

We started our trek up the mountain around 7 the next morning. Amy at this point had gotten sick and had to go back to Chengdu. Her migraine would not be helped by the high elevations and the physical demand of the steps up the mountain. So she stayed behind and caught a bus back to Chengdu. Saturday proved to be a day I will never forget in my life.

We jammed the day packed with climbing up and down the ancient stairs that outlined the mountain from the top to the bottom. We saw the mischievous, greedy monkeys who have gotten away with begging food from the travelers for generations. They will demand and without a stick in your hand you are left to hand over ALL of your food to these ungrateful creatures. So I bought my bamboo walking stick from a 90 year old woman for 20 cents. I consider it one of my better investments in my lifetime.

We walked to some other temples and monasteries but by this time I was getting a little bored with seeing the same things over and over. I was tired of the women telling me to buy incense and I finally learned how to say, “I do not believe in Buddha.” After understanding my toneless Chinese they would quickly go to the next unlucky tourist to try to sell their incense and candles.

We walked along the pools of beautiful water. It is water that just looks crisp. The innocence of the water was inviting so we wadded into the river down steam and splashed around. I taught my companions a new word that day: Rejuvenating! It took me about 1000 stairs to finally explain the essence of the word but it kept my thoughts on the beauty of the water and not on the steps that I was climbing!!

Men carrying “wagons” on their shoulders would run past with the rich, lazy people riding up the mountain. I tended to feel sorry for them but they have been doing this business for years and it seems like they enjoy the competition of seeing who can make it up the fastest. The mountain people are very healthy looking and shockingly very old. Most of the people are in their 80s or 90s having lived their entire lives on the mountain walking up and down then steps and using the natural medicines to help any sort of ailments. We stopped for some water and a really old lady came up to me to sell me some trinkets. I smiled at her and told her in my best Chinese that she was beautiful. I was rewarded with a three tooth smile and a giggle. I didn’t buy any trinket but the smile was enough to remind me of the people on the mountain.

Later in the afternoon we boarded a bus to go to the top. It was a beautiful hour ride to the top. Ironically the bus tv was showing some sort of weird repetitive pole dancing girls. It was completely inappropriate for any audience but on a bus going to the top of a Buddhist mountain? Common. Anyway I kept my eyes glued to the scenery unfolding behind every bend in the road. The flora is everything you think Chinese flora should be. It all is connected in some way by vines or branches. The forests are so old and many of the trees look to be thousands of years old. They are not particularly tall but very mature and almost wise looking.

The top greeted us with a burst of cold, pure air. I quickly pulled out my sweater and jacket leaving my pack a little lighter. We immediately started climbing the stairs again. At this point my calves were about to scream at me but I ignored them and kept going up and up. The air was getting noticeably thinner. We climbed about 1000 ft to reach the cable cars at about 9,000 ft above sea level. We start seeing the top of the tree lines and I was getting curious about how much farther we have to go but I just looked down and let my bamboo walking stick lead me up the unending steps. We stopped many times to take pictures of the views, which were rather breathtaking.

The cable car took us the rest of the way up to the top of the mountain. At 10,000 ft China is cold. Just in case anyone was wondering!! My legs weren’t hurting anymore. I think they had just resigned to carrying me wherever I wanted to go. They realized they had no say in what was happening. So they took me up the last steps on the mountain to the golden Buddha. The golden Buddha sits on top of the mountain legs crossed, hands in the meditation position with 20 + heads looking all around. I almost considered how they had gotten such a structure to the top of the mountain but I realized I didn’t really care and probably wouldn’t find out. It was meant to be impressive and I resolved just to be impressed.

The top of the mountain is a euphoric experience. Looking over the blankets of green covering the mountains below with the rivers winding through the mountains was just incredible. I was promised that we would be back in the morning to see the sunrise so with that we started our trek to the monastery they had planned for us to stay. This is where the real adventure stared.

The monastery

An hour and a half later my legs were shaking and we had finally reached the monastery. Hard to describe the run down place but it is the most remote place on the mountain taking about 1.5 hours climbing or descending to get there from any place with transportation. I don’t know when it was built but it appeared it hadn’t been restored in the last 100 years. The grass was tall surrounding the incense tables outside and the monastery structure was uncharacteristically unimpressive. It was the most common monastery I had seen. I watched the monks walk in and out doing their nightly duties as my companions negotiated for a room.

Everyone kept looking at the weigouren who would come to this place. I was definitely not expected at all.

We were finally led into a wooden building, up a ladder and down a dark hallway to “the last room available”. I was standing in the room trying to get a grip on what was happening. The three beds in the room were dully lit by the one light bulb that hung from the short ceiling. The wooden boards gave with every step. Two other female students showed up and I was informed that they would be staying with us too. I looked at the three single beds and the five people and appreciated that it wasn’t my problem. I sat down listening to the Chinese that was whirling around me as my friends were getting to know the other two Chinese girls. We got some boiling water and ate our noodles, which were actually quite good and helped warm me up some. The shakes really started after that. Lucy looked at me and I understood, “face… red”. I felt my face and it was burning up coloring my whole face red as if I had a bad sunburn. I was a little delusional at that point and all of a sudden I was drinking some Chinese medicine with the 4 concerned Chinese faces starring at me. I was trying to will myself not to get sick and I knew I should be drinking water. But that would only punish me.

There was one squatty potty for the whole place and it was down the dark hallway and down the ladder.

At 8 I had brushed my teeth and made my last trip to the squatty potty (or so I thought). I climbed under the covers clothed in everything that I had. The sheets hadn’t been washed in ages and so I just decided I was going to not look. I blew up my traveling pillow and snuggled down where many people had been before and tried to get warm. The hot pad under the sheet provided heat that my body wasn’t producing so I was extremely thankful for that.

At 9 I couldn’t hold it any more so I asked if I anyone would go to the toilet with me. Jackie said she would and so the both of us tried to get the door open. The door was not meant for the frame that it was shoved into. The latch on the door seemed amusingly arbitrary as no one could really get in or out with a lot of effort. Finally after involving Lucy we got the door opened. So we turned on the flashlight to light the hallway and the ladder. This routine happened again at 12. I had actually fallen asleep between those times but the other girls hadn’t. When I stirred they told me that they had been waiting for me to get up so we could all go to the toilet together.

At 4 I woke up to the smell of incense and the bongs from the monastery. Unbelieveable. I thought that if you live on a mountain the whole point was to be relaxed and meditative. What the monks were doing up at 4 is beyond me. Anyway I was awake and so were the other girls. We turned on the light and I was instructed to put on all of my clothes, which wasn’t hard because I already had them all on! So we left the monastery and started our trek back up the mountain. I felt pretty good and was thankful for whatever the Chinese medicine had done to help me sleep the night before.

The Reward

At six we made it back up to the golden Buddha. We were rewarded with an incredible show. I staked out a place on the side of the temple stairs and watched with awe as the sun made its appearance. The lighter it got the more mountains appeared. They seemed to pop out of the clouds as the clouds rose. The sun splashed pink, orange and yellow all over the sky as it peaked through the clouds. I watched as the colors took over the clouds and I loved watching all of the people point and gasp in awe. Behind me rainbows scattered the sky. All around the sky was lit up with pure, magnificent colors— a show never to be replicated again. Every sunrise on the top of the mountain is different and special for each daily group of travelers. I looked at the abandoned golden Buddha behind me. It just sat there as people watched the show only a real God could create uniquely every morning. It was a fabulous Sunday morning. We sat and ate our breakfast after most of the show was over. I had brought my Skippy peanut butter that we enjoyed on the crackers that they had brought. For another hour we hiked around taking pictures and just watching the sun rise into the sky and the different ways it would shine on the mountains below. It was the best gift a girl could want.

I got back to Chengdu around 3 in time for a great shower and a nap! What a weekend. I thanked Jackie and Lucy again and again for taking me. I hope no story ever tops this on many different levels!

Swimming through the Air and Perfume

“It was a certain form of perfume they were looking for that made them not sweat; do you know what that is?” Apparently there had been some foreigners in the Supermarket looking for something that made them not sweat and it was a certain form of perfume. This was very confusing to Connie, who had decided to help these foreigners in the store. Connie is a graduate student who works with us. She came to my room tonight and the conversation came around to talking about hot days and what these wiegouren thought would stop them from sweating. She said that all of the store clerks were trying to figure out what these weigouren really wanted. They showed them all sorts of perfumes. They showed them bug repellent (because that is perfume-like smelling here). They showed them all sorts of perfume smelling creams. Finally I guess all of them gave up. Tonight she asked me if I could possibly know. I reached into my cabinet and pulled out my dove original clean deodorant and showed it to her. She looked at is with confusion and she said, “This makes you not sweat?” So I showed her how it worked taking off the cap. A smile crossed her face and she held it up to inspect it once again! I was told before I came that I could buy possibly anything I wanted in China… except for deodorant. So I came prepared and I have not been disappointed! I told her all about the different kinds of deodorant and she was amazed. “I think maybe in China we need this, because, you know, the hot days.”

Oh do I know the hot days? The last few ones have been so hot and humid I need my goggles and cap to swim through the air! So she said that tomorrow afternoon we should go looking for some deodorant for her. I don’t think we will find it but it could be fun! I think I’ve seen the roll on kind at one store called Watson’s. That's where they carry the 15 million brands of whitening face creams, face washes and face masks! However, they do have Herbal Essence Shampoo, which has come in handy.

Oh the things I contribute to the Chinese culture. I feel useful, affirmed, and valuable.

Housework and Cigarettes

We were invited a few weeks ago to a coffee shop to get free coffee and talk in English with Chinese! I’m always up for coffee because it is not cheap here! (They are way more into tea.) This sounded like a win- win situation. I would get a free coffee and I would be able to help some people practice their English in a controlled environment. We’ve gone to the coffee shop a few times and have learned many interesting things about Chinese culture! Today the leader had planned a debate about who should do housework. The men all took the side that women should do it. The women took the side the other side. Amy started the discussion saying that both men and women can have jobs outside of the house and that one gender shouldn’t be forced to do all of the housework. The men quickly replied saying, “Always female do housework.”

“It is female’s role.”

“Males are born with more capability and capacity (those were two hard words to say… but they did) than females so they should get the jobs outside of the house leaving the female to do housework.”

I had to sort out my intense emotions on this. So I spoke up and said that housework itself is not the issue. Housework has a stigma attached to it. With the confused faces I started to explain what stigma is. I said that it is like a reputation. Over time forced housework has been associated with inferiority. When I said forced I had to qualify myself. There are plenty of people who enjoy doing housework but that’s not what we were talking about. I explained that in America if one spouse is FORCED or EXPECTED to do the housework it is a statement of inequality and inferiority and sometimes control. I could see at this point that I had caught their attention. However, I was stopped to explain what inferiority meant. So I pulled out my sign language. I lifted my hands to the same level and explained what equal meant. Then I lowered one hand and explained that my lower hand was inferior, lower and unequal to the other. I saw that they understood this so I went on to explain that these characteristics are not healthy in family relationships and can result in abuse.

I was indeed proud of myself for having explained the issue so well. That didn’t last long as I asked the men if this went on in China. “Oh, no housework is the role of the female!” So I recoiled and resigned myself to thinking that maybe it really was a happily agreed upon role that the women take.

At that moment one of the Chinese women piped in courageously and said that recently women have become more economically independent by getting jobs. Because she earns part of the money she has more say in the family. This has resulted in splitting housework more fairly. She agreed with me and said that in China it is an issue of inequality too. The men just sat there blankly. I couldn’t pick up if they either just didn’t understand the issue or they had just never thought about it!

The next debate was about whether or not smoking should be banned. I was very interested in learning about the smoking culture here because it really does seem like EVERY man smokes. I was shocked to learn that everyone knows that it is bad for them. Not that this has stopped behavior in the past but… still. The men explained to me that cigarettes open up business opportunities between businessmen. At a business meetings smoking together is a sign of sharing a common bond or something along those lines. To refuse is to be impolite and rude. Also, they think that it is impossible to stop. The gov’t won’t do anything about it because they get the taxes from the cigarettes and because most of them smoke too.

I was appalled.

But then I quickly thought of all the “bad” things that Americans do in social situations because of pressure. I think we’ve all been in those situations where we are pressured to think that if we don’t participate then we think we won’t get the job, we won’t get respect, we won’t be included or we won’t make a friend. Of course this is bad logic but this is the smoking culture here in China. Because it is so ingrained in the culture one of the men resolutely said that the smoking issue will never be solved in China even though it is the biggest health problem in China. We tried to explain where America had been and where it is now with tobacco but I saw no hope in anyone’s eyes as I looked at the faces of these people.

They sat there with a disinterested look that said, “You just don’t understand.”

For one day I feel like we covered a lot of ground. Next time I hope we talk about abortion, the G. Bush, their president and homosexuality! Then I'll feel like I can come home having covered every issue.

Money and Rituals

Doe shou chien? (How much does this cost?) This is one of the most useful phrases we’ve learned since being here. We can’t get the tones down but for the most part people can understand what we say. In the last few weeks though we haven’t had to use it as much because have started to know how much things will cost. Money is an interesting part of China here. There are hardly any set prices and thus value is all relative. After about 5 weeks of being here we have found what is valuable to us and made it a part of our lives. A routine has helped create a sense of normalcy and ownership in a place that is foreign. Since all of our living expenses were paid up front we pretty much just spend money on food, buses, taxis (and earrings for me!!!).

We pass by several fruit vendors each day but we always go back to the same one at least three times a week. The vendor smiles as we approach and gets up from her seat in front of the fan to help us get our fruit. She gives me a bag to pick out my two peaches and one apple while she cuts off two bananas for me. Once a week I buy a small watermelon. I’ll pick one out and she’ll proceed to pat it to see if it is a quality melon. If not she will tell me something in Chinese, put it down and search for another one with a better “sound”! We always have a conversation. She’ll talk to me in Chinese and I’ll talk to her in English but that doesn’t stop either one of us. We definitely don’t understand each other but in the end it is a respectful conversation. The only thing that she understands is, “Do shou chien.” Amy and I play a little game to see how fast we can understand the number that she says in reply. Recently she’s only had to repeat herself once, maybe twice. I hand her the money, which usually is about $1. She teaches us our numbers.

Across the street is a tiny convenient store. That is where I buy my two bags of instant oatmeal for a total of $.50, which will last me the week.

Outside of the student’s dorm are a string of tiny shops. The third one down has tiny packets of milk packaged by none other than tetra pak. The label has become familiar to me in the many trips that I have taken overseas. The milk is reliable and the perfect size for my cereal in the morning. And my wonderful aunt also works for the company so I am in fact supporting her and the two ladies that own the shop. I come by, smile at the ladies, pick up the two packets, hand them the $.30, put the packets in my purse, smile again and leave only to come back 4 days later for more! I should just buy 10 and be done with it. But I like going and visiting the vendors!

The second restaurant outside of the campus is where we usually go for our Chinese meals. The fried rice with egg and tomato is $.50 and if I really want to spend money I’ll get the spicy tofu which will cost me another $.50. The owner always presents us with the English menu even though we get the same thing every time. Once we branched out and got the French fries on the menu. Let’s just say that French fries should be restricted to certain restaurants! But they know us and always give us the seats inside where the fans are. Curious customers will stare at our mad chopstick skills but for the most part it isn’t an adventure and I like that when it comes to Chinese food.

“Expectations are everything”—the great philosopher, Kari Wright. I like knowing that I take the 21 bus to get to the grocery store that has cheerios. I like knowing that at Peter’s Tex-Mex (which is the best Western food in Chengdu) I can get a smoke free environment and a veggie sandwich with fries for $2. And most of all I like knowing that on Sunday morning I will get scrambled eggs, a fruit bowl and 2 pancakes with unlimited coffee for only $3.50 and it will last me through most of the day including my 2 hour body massage!

4th of July: Oh Say Can You See

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. I was sad that I wasn’t going to see fireworks or listen to the big bands play all of the national songs. I wanted to eat the baked beans served at the BBQs. We had resolved to go to the Shamrock (a western bar) that evening for a consolation western meal. However, we were in for quite the surprise. After meeting with Dean Ma for a short meeting about how things were going in China for us they told us that we had some “activities” for the evening. We looked at each other kinda bummed that we wouldn’t be able to celebrate our Independence Day.

They took us up the stairs of the old Public Health School Building and into a conference room. Immediately tears came to my eyes as I looked at the table and the realization came to me that they were throwing us a surprise 4^th of July party! I’ve never had a surprise 4^th of July party. On the table they had gotten “American” food plus some of the Chinese food that we liked. There were about 7 professors invited and about 4 grad students. After Dean Ma made all of the introductions we stood in a circle to start the party. Each of us were handed a cup of wine. They toasted to our Independence!

We had to work for our party though! Before they would start we were instructed to sing something from our country. I was totally up for singing “It’s a Grand Old Flag” because 1. It’s short and 2. It’s a fast song…but Amy didn’t know that one so we ended up singing the National Anthem. It is a very hard song to sing. In the middle of the table was a little stand with the Chinese flag on one side and the American flag on the other side! So we put our hands over our hearts, set our gaze on our flag and sang our National Anthem from the bottom of our hearts! It was followed by many compliments and clapping and then their national anthem! It was such an incredible picture of the exchange of respect. What better way to celebrate our 4^th of July?

The rest of the hour we spent talking with different professors and students as we ate potato chips and peanuts with our chopsticks! And we still got to the Shamrock around 9!

Second installment of photos I'd like to take

The traffic here is nothing short of a crazy game to be completely honest. In the driver's manual it explains that the driver is supposed to "slow down" when a pedestrian is crossing the road. It doesn't say anything about stopping and letting the pedestrian actually cross. And when the little walking man is green it means that the oncoming traffic is supposed to stop but the turning lanes are still free to turn. At major intersections there is a sea of people on foot, bikes, and motorcycles that congregate at the line waiting to cross. When the little walking man turns green it is like an army crossing the road and the other side has another army crossing. So between looking out for the cars coming into the sea of people from the turning lanes you have to look out for the people coming from the other direction. This is when the buffer system comes in handy.

The buffer system is a science. When congregating to cross the road you scout out the biggest person or motorcycle and situate yourself carefully between that person and another person. When the walking man becomes green you just walk beside that person. So if the cars actually hit anyone it won't be you but your buffer! It's not the most altruistic science but my toes are still attached to my feet. I've actually not yet seen any traffic accidents but I've heard. The chicken game has had a few close calls.

The rule seem to be the buses have every right away. They can turn and go anywhere whenever really. Next are the cars. Pedestrians are supposed to get out of the way of the cars in EVERY situation even when the cars are driving on the sidewalks, which happens quite often.They can park anywhere including on the sidewalk. The pedestrians have the next right of way even though they are supposed to look out for the bikes. The bikes are the lowest on the totem pole it seems. They have to get out of the way of everyone. There are bike lanes but those are also for anyone that decides to walk or drive through them. I've seen bikes carrying everything from mirrors/glass to huge computers on their back racks.

Sorry if this seems cynical. We have had a few close calls but for the most part we grab each other's hand and go for it having no problem at all. Fortunately for us women hold hands with each other all the time!

So there are two photos that I'd like to take but can't quite capture the full effect. The first is the two armies of people that cross at the same time. I can't even imagine if all of the people had guns like they did in some of the wars that were fought that style. But sometimes I get some of that feeling. It is so intimidating.

The second photos would be of the traffic ladies. They are the funniest thing to me in all of Chengdu I think. They are they ones that are suppose to direct traffic!! HEHE.The all wear their hair in a bun that fits nicely under their cap that is supposed to shade them from the sun because they stand for hours in the middle of the streets. They have on bright orange vests and their whistles are an extension of their mouths. But my favorite part of the costume is the flag. The flag is also bright orange to match the vest and fits nicely in their right hands. I think this would be the most torturous job in the world next to digging up a hole and then filling it back in with the same dirt. They whistle as loudly as they can and they wave their flags with so much confidence and passion when the lights turn and yet almost no one pays any attention to them at all. The most feisty ones can get some cooperation. One made a cyclist back his tire up because it was over the "line". That was when I wanted to take the picture. In the chaos of the buses trying to run over people and cars she wanted him to back up 3 inches so that he would be behind the line. I guess that gave her at least some sort of purpose and control.

On a bad day just think... I could be one of those ladies directing traffic in Chengdu. Besides no one paying any attention to your performance they mock you by trying to run you over!

Sunless Tanner, Umbrellas and Cancer

Today I put on the makeup that the Maybaline sales person had picked out for me as the best match for my skin. We tried three colors and she started out the lightest color. This I have come to realize would be a huge compliment here. Clearly I did not have the lightest color of skin. So I shook my head and pointed to the darker color. So she grabbed for the next to lightest color, not the one that I had pointed at. Again it was clearly to light for my skin and the only thing that I could understand her saying is that my hand skin, where she was trying the makeup was a lot different than my facial skin. Hm… true but my face is really not that light. So finally after much persuasion in all the sign language I could help her understand I got her to try the next color. I was still not convinced but it had to be done. It seems she couldn’t be persuaded otherwise. I bought the color and I have officially been inaugurated into the culture of “white is beautiful”. Neutragena, Maybeline, Olay, Loreal… they all have whitening therapy for the skin. They sell Chinese women whitening cream.

Not only that but certain things are also supposed to make your skin white. I was eating squishy tofu (that’s code for fresh tofu in Sichuan spices) one day and a graduate student leaned over with a smile of approval not because the tofu would give me protein but apparently it would make my skin whiter… I almost dropped my chopsticks!!

The Sichaun spice is suppose to whiten your skin too! The pool isn’t open until 4 because the Chinese don’t want to be in the “sunshower”. The umbrellas and parcels are sold in mass and used in even more mass when even one ray of sun is sliding through the clouds! Amy had this idea that she could find sunless tanner here in Chengdu. After nasty or confused looks from about 10 shop keepers her dreams were dashed and she gave up on her mission to find it. The shopkeepers look at her as if she is asking for a huge bowl of Crisco so she can get fat quick! The sunless tanner is replaced by whitening cream. The yellow, polka dot bikinis are replaced by pretty, pink parcels. The tanning oil is replaced by SPF in the makeup and all moisturizers. And the skin cancer is replaced by esophageal cancer.

If only they could make smoking (including second hand) culturally as ugly as dark skin then they would be able to do a paradigm shift in public health.

I had a whiter face today, something I’ve never said in the middle of the summer! Maybe I’ll start using my new SPF moisturizer!

A Rough Day in Chengdu

Indian Food and reading at the Yummy Indian Restaurant down Renming Road ($5 for both of us). Foot massage (a.k.a. 2 hour full body massage with an emphasis on the feet) while watching a movie (less than $9). Shopping… I had to buy another pair of earrings ($2). Amy has not been good at holding me back even though I tell her that it is her job. I think I need a quota! Veggie Pita and Minty-Mint milk shake at Peter’s Tex-Mex for dinner ($4)! Pretty good day! Almost perfect. I think I can get used to Chengdu.

Disclaimer: This is not what I would consider a normal day for us but then what is normal here? This serves two purposes… for you to be completely jealous of Amy and me and a consolation price for the 100 year old egg that Amy ate a few weeks ago. We may have exacerbated the consolation prices for that but I think they are all worth it! For all of those green with jealously we do have to work the rest of the week. The graduate students are in the middle of studying for their exams now and are otherwise diverted so we had this day to do a little “Chengdu…ing”. You enjoy your 4^th of July!! Think of me while you’re watching the fireworks and I will get some watermelon and think of you!

Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and shopping

At 9:15 this morning I got a text message from Egg, one of the graduate students working with us. She wanted to know if we wanted to go shopping at 9:30! Two things are true: 1. I need much time to prepare to go shopping. 2. But this is how most things work here… you never really know what’s going on until a few minutes before it happens or when it is actually happening.

So this wonderful Monday morning we set out to find me a bag/purse/anything that will carry my wallet and a book. I was shocked at the sight of the market place. People were everywhere. It was like the routine Saturday morning shopping crowd. So we squeezed through the people, safely crossed the street using the “buffer” method, which has become very popular with us lately, and entered the first market. This market is a little hard to explain. There are about 7 floors of shops all squeezed in like sardines. The first floor is just bags, the second is shoes, the third is a combination of jewelry and shirts, the fifth one is dresses and I don’t think we made it up any more floors. The shop keepers will stand at the front of the shop and clap. This is quite annoying but apparently quite effective since they all do it still or maybe they just haven’t gotten enough rotten stares or letters of complaint. I just want to poke them but I’ve refrained.

The colors are magnificent. The styles are bold and very unique. There are sparkles and bling are everywhere but mostly on the shoes! We weaved our way in and out of the shops with little success in bags but too much success with earrings, which was not the goal of the trip but oh so tempting. So we marched onto another huge market.

One of my most amused moments in Chengdu was about to happen. Many of the shops along with clapping have apparently had success with loud music as a means of drawing people into their shops. As we were about to cross the street we came upon the shop on the corner of two very busy streets. Then I heard it, “…sleep in heavenly peace.” I stopped and walked up the stairs to the shop and I was not disappointed because the next song was none other than “Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer.” My smile stretched off my face and I started singing right there. Amy and I were chiming in all the extra parts… “like a light bulb”. I wish I could say that we were singing at the top of our lungs for all to hear because that would have made the story so much more interesting but alas it was actually quite soft. I was so highly amused that I started laughing and I closed my eyes to try to imagine the snow, the scarf, the hot chocolate but the humidity and got a big whiff of “the” smell brought me back quickly. The smell that is a combination of crushed red pepper and the other really spicy spice only found in Chengdu. I opened my eyes and I was clearly the only one besides Amy that had stopped to listen to the music. Everyone else was scurrying around getting to the next place they were going pretending that Christmas music in July blaring from the corner shop was just as normal as the humidity in July. Egg looked at me in confusion, grabbed our hands, and led us across the street just in time to miss the car that was headed strait into the crowd of people. I guess that shop had no idea the delight they brought to a few meigouren (Americans) today but I’m glad that experience happened.

Tonight I’m still smiling because I remember one time in mid July I went to a Chinese restaurant in Boone. In the background they had Christmas music playing. I laughed then too! What a good idea… Christmas music in July!

For those who are still worried about whether I found a bag or not… I did. Unfortunately, it was not in the Christmas music store. I’m ashamed to say that I don’t even know what they were selling. But the bag is exactly what I was looking for and it will carry the book that I’ve been reading: River Town.

The CDC Story

I woke up the other morning understanding that we would be going to a “bar” to meet the “waitresses”. A prostitute house essentially. It is illegal here but I don’t think anyone really cares too much that they are still running. I think they have resolved just to allow it but regulate it to a certain extent. How can you close them down when the people who would be able to close them down are the main customers? At 1:30 we started our trek to the CDC… that’s what they call it in Chinese too! A change of plans… not to uncommon here. In a nice conference room on the top floor of the very nice CDC building we sat down in nice chairs around a huge table. People started filing in and we were left to guess who was who. We finally understood that the man at the head of the table was the director of the CDC. The students we went with were presenting a project proposal. I don’t fully understand how the cooperation is supposed to work or who initiated the project but the initial meeting was a success apparently. We sat there while there was an animated discussion about the project and how it would be carried out. Connie leaned over at one point and tried to help me understand what was going on. The six women and one man that sat across from us were the owners of these “bars”. The project was to initiate a peer education program with the waitresses. But the challenges were that the waitresses are undereducated, from different areas in China or even other countries, and are very young! The graduate students are going to be training some of the older waitresses who have been around a while to talk about healthier life styles to eventually talk about AIDS to the younger waitresses. It is a three year project and it will be interesting to know more about this project.

After the meeting, three of the men stood together discussing something and lit up their cigarettes! At least two of them were employees of the CDC. I ate my watermelon.

Later I wondered if we would ever have the director of the CDC, students from the public health school, and owners of prostitute houses all in the same room in the U.S. having a conversation about AIDS prevention?

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Last night was a series of unsuccessful events … in optimistic language it would be called a series of learning experiences. Walking back from the CDC (another story) I asked Amy if she wanted to go to a movie. Not shy of any challenge she accepted. A few hours later we were on a bus to the Times Plaza where we had heard there are two movie theaters. With popcorn and Pirates of the Caribbean on our minds we walked the streets until; through a bit of sign language with a woman on the street, we found the movie house! Yeah. And Pirates of the Caribbean was playing in a few theaters. Great! So we got the help of another young woman with the knowledge of a few words of English to help us get tickets. She kept on saying, “Talk, talk.” That didn’t make any sense to us so we proceeded to try to buy the tickets. Finally she said, “No English!” And at that point all of our dreams of seeing a movie faded away. They had dubbed over Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp with Chinese voices! If we hadn’t been so depressed we might have actually bought the tickets just to be amused by the dubbed over voices.

By that point we hadn’t eaten so eating was to be the next adventure.

KFC. This would not have been an option in the U.S. but we thought at least we could find something resembling food there. All of the advertisements were in English but… the menu was all in Chinese. This was very unhelpful to us. We walked out dejected. We passed by all of the street vendors and at one point the food on the sticks actually looked good. We resolved that the next restaurant that wasn’t hotpot would be the place we ate. About 10 minutes later after passing many cheap shoe stores (that Amy was dying to go into) we found a little hole in the wall place. We sat down and the women cooking waved her hands at us. Apparently she didn’t have any food even though there were people in there eating her food. Oh well… on to the next place. We found a McDonald's, which again would not have been an option in the U.S. and strike two… the menu was all Chinese! Walking out yet again we found a Chinese restaurant that we had been to before. So with a sigh of relief we sat down, pulled out our notebook that has an entire repertoire of our “favorite” dishes written in Chinese, and proceed to try to order what we wanted. A few minutes later I received a huge dish full of fried rice and pork! Most of you know that I am a vegetarian and in the notebook the order specifically said, “Bu yao zro (no meat)”. I showed this again to the waitress and she giggled nervously and hesitantly took the dish back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that she was standing near the kitchen with my dish and all of the servers congregated around her discussing my dish. At first I thought they were just going to bring it back to me but then they took it back to the kitchen. Later it came out with only a few bits of meat in it! They had proceeded to just pick out the meat and give it back to me. I’m not complaining… at least I didn’t have to do it! There were still a few mysterious bits of meat left but with my mad chopstick skills I put them to the side and ate up! Amy got the “rolls only served in the spring” (Spring rolls) and they arrived in all their fried glory! She’s been wanting them for a while and asking for them everywhere so I think she got them out of her system last night!

A change of events happened as we went back through McDonald's and noticed the ice cream cones. The cashier brought out an English menu for us and we pointed to the ice cream cone and asked for two. We sat outside, watched people walk by in their gorgeous dresses and high heals, and ate our wonderful .50 cent vanilla ice cream cones. We looked at our arm clocks and it was about 9:45. The bus stopped running at 8 so we had two options—walking or finding a cab. We had walked back before but it took us over an hour and we only had a general sense of where “home” was. At any other time during the day we would have chosen that option. But the mosquitoes were out and wanted to eat us so we opted for the cabs. We tried for about 30 minutes to get a cab along the very busy road. Desperately we walked to other streets to find a cab. Finally another young woman stopped us and pointed to the end of the street at the corner. She was speaking in Chinese (obviously) and I immediately said, “Wo bu ming by” (I don’t understand). But she insisted and finally I understood that she was telling us that we could find a cab at the end of the street. She was right! The cab driver took us right to the gate of the Huaxi campus and I arrived in my dorm room with a few minutes to 11! After a much needed shower I jumped into bed to watch some consolation tv!

Pictures taken

"Pictures say a thousand words"
--Someone. (I don't think I ever have heard a person claim this quote but I thought I should at least be courteous in case someone famous actually did say this).

These are some of the pictures that Amy and I have taken.

http://unc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2144592&l=89a7d&id=2736860

We got our picture taken today! Some guy on the street actually pulled out his cell phone, stopped, and followed us with his phone to get a good picture of us. I was highly amused... although I don't think all foreigners would be. I just thought of all the pictures I want to take but am to chicken to actually take. This guy had the guts to pull out his phone and actually take a picture of the weird weigoren (foreigners). I rewarded him with a big old grin. I even held my fingers up in a "V"... that is classic picture taking protocol over here.

My feet, legs and knees would like to take this opportunity to thank the "New Balance" shoe company today. Unashamed propaganda to follow...

Since we do not have what it takes to get bikes and follow the masses in the rat race of bikes we have stuck to the rat race of walking and dodging all other forms of moving vehicles.
20 minutes to Grandma's kitchen
25 minutes to Sabrina's Country Store (where no Honey Bunches of Oats box is safe!!)
20 minutes to the Fu River
30 minutes to High Fly Pizza
10 minutes to my favorite fruit stand
hours getting lost and finding new roads!!

We walked around for more than 4 hours today. This is not untypical for our days. No longer am I conscious that Amy and I are the ONLY ones in sneakers. I watch these women walk around in their beautiful dresses, umbrellas, and HIGH healed shoes and can only imagine the awfulness. Do their feet hate them? Have their feet just resolved to take the punishment everyday? Beauty is a funny thing. I think my pink and black New Balance shoes are the most beautiful thing in the world. My feet love me right now.

In other news... the 20 minutes to Grandma's Kitchen this morning was so exciting. A routine and things to look forward to is always a good idea especially when in a new place. I knew they were making my pancakes as we arrived! We go every Sunday morning, sit at the same table, and order practically the same thing, which for me comes with unlimited amounts of coffee. We read the English newspaper and enjoy our forks and knives. I brought my own peanut butter this time for the pancakes just in case they decided they didn't have any this morning. It was worth the carry. In fact I carried the pb around all day today! The pancakes were amazing... the coffee even better!

Tomorrow is our third workshop and we're really excited about meeting more students. They seem eager to learn. I am wondering about their history though. Their personal history and their history as a people, a country. History influences everything and everyone in a culture even if they don't know it. I asked one of my Chinese friends about the history of her country. She smiled and said she learned it for a test and then forgot it all (not unlike we do in the States). Unfortunately, she doesn't realize how much her thought process, her way of being, her belief system is all influenced by those who have gone before her to shape the culture that she lives in. How do I get them to understand this? Not that I'm trying to change the way that they think but if you don't know your history then it's like showing up 45 minutes late to your own life. You don't know the beginning. How can you make any sense out of your life? How do you avoid repeating the bad parts of the past if you don't know them? How can you know really why you do the things you do without knowing where you've been? So many questions but all in an effort to realize and appriciate our differences!

Hot Pot

This experience takes chop sticks skills to the new level. Hot Pot is a Chinese sort of fondue only they've had about 5000 more years to perfect it! (I'm well aware that this is my second post about food-- but In Chengdu there are more restaurants than there are people--okay, not really but everywhere you turn you smell the red pepper and the other spice that I still can't identify)

Our hosting professor took us to his favorite Hot Pot restaurant and invited two of his graduate students along. They were thrilled with the treat. When we sat down the server brought out the yingyang bowl of "broth". One side had red chili peppers floating in it and the other side was a yellow broth that had onions and a whole fish floating in it! The prof ordered a bunch of food and we waited watching the fish float around on "our" side of the bowl. They we gracious enough to give us bu ma la (no spicy) broth but the fish complete with the eyes was looking up at me was a little unnerving.

Around us families and groups of friends enjoyed laughing and pulling mysterious meats and veggies out of the big boiling pot with chopsticks. As our food arrived I thought of this as my graduation ceremony of learning how to use chopsticks! The prof dumped in the meat (slices of cow muscle, the cow's stomach, chopped up fish, and... I stopped watching after that) the veggies were a little foreign to me but much more comforting. There were about 6 orders of different mushrooms, lotus root(yum-- water chestnuts), green beans (still crunchy--Merf!!), lettuce stalk, sea weed, onions and much more.

So the trick was to go after what you wanted with your chopsticks but it could be kinda of nice for the undeceive people because you get whatever you can grab if you're a beginner. If your more advanced you might get part of what you want and be happy with the other things you pulled out as well. If you're advanced then you can laugh, talk, and pull out exactly what you want!

Once you pull it out you put it in a bowl of peanut oil and garlic to tame the spice! So you have to get pretty good at dunking with the chopsticks as well or you loose all of the flavor of the spice and are just eating peanut oil garlic covered lotus root! So it's tricky and complicated but overall I think I've graduated!!

We had pizza last night from Muts Nuts Pizza. You just pick it up and put it in your mouth! Maybe after 5000 years we'll be eating pizza with chopsticks or something else a lot more complicated!!

A possible problem!

"What is culture?" Half way through our discussion group last night Prof. Zhang asked the group this question. We had been talking about cultural differences for a good hour. The students went completely silent. It had not really occured to them to ask that question. Amy and I had talked about this question and decided to talk about different aspects of culture: family, community, food... instead of talking about the philisophical question of "culture".

However, I guess our Prof was not satisfied with just hearing about how much I value and love my family and friends. To me family and friends is a huge part of our culture! And the students really just wanted to hear about academics. We got the impression that this is a huge part of their culture in a different way then it is in the States! So we started talking about college. Amy talked about the Georgia Bulldogs. And I talked about student government!! But they wanted to know: what was our major in undergrad? How did we decide that? How did we decided to go into public health? Who is our tutor? How much money will we make? What job will we get? Do we LIKE it? "Of course I like it, why else would I spend 2 years getting a masters?" I later found out the latter question was loaded .

They don't really choose their major! Okay, this is 2007... I've heard rumors that they had/have a "different" government... but common!!

High school students take a test at the end of their education. This test determines their life! What ever score they get they may have a few options for majors and colleges but in general it is basically chosen for them based on their score and what is needed for the government and what their fathers may want!! I would have been a basket weaver...no, the person that hands the straw to the basket weaver based on my SAT scores!!!

One of the graduate students stopped me on the way out and said, "Tell me again why you want to be in public health!" I had explained earlier that I had visited Honduras in college and realized that I could help more people working in preventive medicine and not being a doctor, which I had previously wanted to do. So I explained it to her again not realizing how shocked she was. How could I have given up on medicine if I had the chance to go to med school? How could I not really care about salary (don't worry g-ma I will get a job to pay off my loans)? She just couldn't believe that I really wanted to be in public health! Few students actually want to go into Public Health here as a field. It is a step down from clinical professions and other sciences. It is for students who don't get high enough scores!

PROBLEM!!

You can't force these students to care, to serve, to put forth effort, or to find purpose just like you can't force anyone to love! Not to insult your intelligence, but this can't be good for the public health of this country!

I am sad but not discouraged! Maybe we can be a little part of helping them love public health!

Photographs I Wish I Could Take

This is the first installment of "Photographs I Wish I Could Take"

1. Walking down by the river the men (mostly older) sit around benches, tables or any flat surface they can find and play poker all day long. If they are not playing they are actively involved non the less and are even more actively smoking. But it is an insiders only club. Unlike most Chinese they are completely uninterested and unaware of me, the foreigner. I walk by and wish I could capture the mood and the image but it seems too private, too personal, too intrusive even though they are doing it completely in open, public space.
2. I sit by the pond in the mornings to read and write. It is a very comforting familiar every morning. All of the old women will sit on a bench and tell the lasted gossip and the old men sit on the bench on the other side (three to a bench) and sit quietly enjoying each other's company! There are benches around the pond and bamboo plants fill in around the benches. But through the bamboo I can see a few older people doing tichi or kongfu for their excersise! This morning a older gentlemen was fasinating to me with his sword and Chinese fan doing his kongfu rutine. He was showing off for his granddaughter who was adoring him. I was listening to a soundtrack and he seemed to be listening to it too because all of the moves were sincronized, beautiful, and purposeful! It was a pleasant surprise that early in the morning.
   

BTW... I can not see the comments on the blog so please just send your comments to jnllwright@yahoo.com. They are comforting and help me stay close to my friends and family. Do not assume that because I'm in another country that I've dropped off the face of the world or that I do not have time. I love to hear from you!

Day eleven-- I learned that cafe Americanos at Starbucks are worth $2.50!

Highlight (and maybe the most exciting part) of the trip so far: Amy Reagin, my counterpart in crime here!, ate a "100 year old egg". Yes, it was absolutely impressive. I watched in slow motion as she grabed the slimmy yellow egg with her chopsticks. All six of our Chinese hosts were watching, which doesn't help when you are at the mercy of two tiny sticks to grab something slimmy. Finally she got a piece into her bowl. And trying not to think about the experience she was just about to have I watched as she put it in her mouth. Words hardly describe the look on her face, but all of the following were clearly, if for just a few moments, all displayed on her face:

Petrified... distraught... dismayed.... concerned... disturbed...

In the next moment she did and very extrodinary ritual that not until later did I fully understand. She ducked her head behind my chair very quickly and then popped back up with a nervous smile on her face. I thought she had been leaning over to tell me about the experience but later I found out how unfortunate it would have been if she had gotten close to my ear. The egg apparently was not too happy about being swallowed and neither was her body too happy about her swallowing it. But alas, her will conquered and the egg stayed down!! A story I gladly with let her boast about!! Impressinve is the meat she tried that night - but the egg surpasses all!

This blog was intended to share with those who are interested in our work here in Chengdu, China. I think this is a less presumptuous way of letting people know what's going on half way around the world then mass e-mailing. This should not be considered a complete picture in anyway of all of China or even all of the city of Chengdu for that matter. I am one person living one life in a huge city of over 9 million (all of which I think have tried to run me over in a car, a motorcycle, or bicyle...hehe). Please take what I write as just that... one person's perspective of what's going on. In general people tend to see what they want to see but I hope to have my eyes open to what is around me and give an accurate account of what I experience and see. Please be generous and forgiving with my punctuation and grammer. I may start to slip into Chinglish (the only excuse I have for the lack of learning all those grammer things in 7th grade... sorry Jo and g-ma!).

We are at Starbucks this afternoon planning our workshop for tonight, which is more of a discussion group with undergraduate students who are interested in practicing English and learning about American culture. Resolved: Will learn more about there culture too. Will ask good questions even though we should generally stick to topics of animals and the weather.

Explaination of the name of my blog and intial thoughts on my experience will come later.