Lately I've decided to try to get out more and be more social. There are a lot of parties all the time, but if I ever go to one they always want to me make a speech, or sing a song, and it get's a little tiring to try to communicate sometimes. But last night we had a party that I couldn't resist. It was a late Halloween party with a large contingent of local students who came dressed up excited to experience American culture. I joined in a little late. By the time I got there, the group was a large procession marching down to the front gate to take a massive group picture. We were quite a sight with all of butchered and bloodies visages, our fanciful fairy-like frocks and (in my case) tasteful traditional outfit. A lot of the students were too worried about their image to dress up, but there were also a lot students who went all out. It was fun to see them having fun with it. We had close to two hundred Chinese students show up and spent the first hour or so playing games, which was at times a tactical headache. You'd think a cake walk would be easy enough, but little things like the need to keep walking the whole time the music was on was a little difficult. We also had people eating doughnuts off of strings, playing pair tag and several other fun things. Oh, and of course there was lots of candy. After that we had a dance. A couple of the American girls made it their mission to make sure that everyone was dancing, thinking that the Chinese wouldn't really understand what to do. Surprisingly, the put a lot of us to shame. They watch very closely American music videos and learn to dance like what they see. This, of course, isn't always a good thing, as I'll explain later, but they seemed to have no problem having a dance. Being an American in China, and a teacher on top of that, automatically boosts my looks and popularity a couple of notches, so I felt good about myself. The funny thing was, whatever I did to dance, they would try to copy it. If it wasn't what they had seen on the music videos they just assumed that it must be newer. I figured I was making them worse, so I decided to hold back somewhat. Music videos don't usually show people dancing with partners though. This was were the tables were turned. They hardly had any idea what to do whatsoever and I was able to impress some people with my dancing for the slow songs.
The next evening I was pressured into attending some event. I didn't know what it would be, but assumed it would be an "English corner"(a student sponsored event where I would doubtlessly be asked to perform impromtuously) but it actually turned out to be something entirely different. It was a variety show concert. There were all sorts of song and dance numbers, and some comic routines. It was almost all in Chinese (there was one English song) so I didn't get too much of the humor, but the singing was really good for the most part. There were a couple of dance numbers that were a little shocking. One in particular looked like they learned it from MTV. I was rather shocked that they would have it at a school sponsored event. Most of the numbers were really good though. I've heard from a couple of people now, that the Chinese consider Americans to lave the most laxed morals. I tell them it's not true, that's it's just some of the entertainment that we export and that the actual people aren't like that, but they say it's the perception that exisits all the same. Apparently the show was being sponsored by a clothing store or something, so a large portion of the middle of it was dedicated to a fashion show which was actually quite fun. Overall it was a great evening. I keep getting the impression that they're trying to adopt American customs, but haven't quite gotten all the details worked out. For example, at a concern in America it would not be at all uncommon for the star vocalist to be presented with a bouquet of flowers at the end of the show on stage, but here they'll have lots of people running up on the stage all the time, in the middle of numbers to present almost everyone with something. Usually flowers, but if crazed fans don't happen to have any flowers that won't stop them from giving them whatever they do happen to have. It get's a little chaotic at times. Also, they haven't quite mastered the protocol of leaving discreetly. Most of them leave during the final number, rather than waiting until the end. I asked if this was customary and was told that it was, "if you don't have any manners". Still, the vast majority of them apparently didn't have manners, or else were unaware proper etiquette.
Still, I really enjoyed myself and was glad I hadn't spent the evening locked up in my apartment. I have so much to experience here, I'd hate to waste the passing moments.
Last Friday night after classes all the American teachers got together at a restaurant to throw a party in honor of Mrs. Li, or Lani, as we call her. She’s been so great for us in getting everything organized and put together. When we were ordering Food, Jeff, an Rm from Taiwan said that he refused to do the ordering. When I asked why he said that the Chinese was above his level. I pointed out that he had done it before when we went out to restaurants he said, “All I do is ask what’s good and say that I’ll have some of that. I don’t even understand what she tells me.” During the meal conversation a girl to my right, named Heidi, mentioned that she would be going to Beijing and Xi’an next week and wanted to meet up with another group who would be going to Xi’an and then on to Shanghai at the end of the week. Something about this caught my attention. I asked Heidi with whom she would be traveling and she answered that she would be traveling alone. I knew that I would have about 10 days after my classes finished in December during which I would be able to travel and assumed that I would simply go to Beijing then by myself. Until then it had seemed the only option. Various sets of people set out on trips periodically, but I hadn’t wanted to find substitutes or make up classes. There was something about this trip however that grabbed my attention and I knew that I needed to go, though I knew not why. Brittany, another girl in our group, expressed grave concern in Heidi’s traveling by herself and said that I should go with her, pointing out that I know Chinese. I told her that I only know a little, and that it was Jeff, that she needed to have with her. Jeff was neither willing nor available however, and I couldn’t deny that this seemed to me to be the right thing to do. Acting on the feeling, I told Heidi that I would make arrangements and go with her. She would be leaving Monday evening, giving me only the weekend to get things in order. Miraculously things fell into place and I was able to find cover most of my classes that very night and for the rest before it was too late. We bought our train tickets the next morning. They only had one seat left, so I got a standing ticket. I was aware that it was 15-hour ride, but I trusted that, doing the right thing, it would work out.
Thankfully, I was able to find a seat and with only minor negotiation was able to trade it someone else so that I could with Heidi. That first night was grueling. We had a small table we were able to lie our heads on, but neither us got more than two hours sleep. Heidi brought the book, “The Giver” and read it through on the way there. The next morning I was looking for some entertainment and picked up her book, since she had finished it and I hadn’t read it yet. Our train was late nearly two hours coming in. As we stepped out we were overcome with the sudden realization that we were standing in Beijing, China. But then the cold slap of reality brought us to consisnous. We had no arrangements, no transportation and no idea how to get anywhere. Heidi had the address of several hostels in the greater Beijing area including some directions, but we weren’t able to find a bus of the prescribed number. I asked for some directions and soon we were on our way in a different bus. We eventually made it to the city center and happened to come upon the hostel we had in mind quickly. We got the least expensive option they offered—a dorm room shared with six other people—and didn’t waste any time getting back into the city. Our hostel had a great location. It took us less than ten minutes to walk to Tiananmen square with the Mao Zedong mausoleum on one side and the forbidden city on the other. The Mausoleum was closed already, but we walked over to the monument of the people’s heroes. As we were walking we spotted a BYU t-shirt in the crowd ahead and started walking faster to keep up. I was almost to the girl when I heard Heidi on my right squeal with delight. I turned and saw her hugging another person in the group who turned out to be Geneva, one of her old roommates. Geneva was doing a semester abroad in Nanjing and happened to be in Beijing between blocks. They were thrilled to happen to see each other in Beijing of all places. Geneva was really cool and I enjoyed getting to see the Forbidden City with her and her group who were all really fun. That evening was spent mostly in wondering the streets, looking for food. The cheapest of it was about three times what we were used to paying in Xiangtan and was much harder to come by in general. Neither Heidi nor I much care for touristy environments. We like our cities real and gritty. So we went looking for some fun authentically Chinese food streets. The nearest we could find to what we were used to was right next to our hostel.
The next morning we went to the Mao’s mausoleum when it was supposed to open and found a large crowd of people—at least five thousand—filling the square. It turned out that that crowd happened to all be waiting in the same line which wound all the around the building and back a couple of times. It was moving very quickly and consistently. The line moved very quickly. Rather than “standing” in line we were walking our usual pace, even running in a couple of places to fill in large and sudden gaps. Even so, after about half and hour we weren’t even half way through. After about 45 minutes a guard approached Heidi and told her step out of line and come with him. Apparently her purse, which was hardly bigger than my passport holder, was too large of a bag to be allowed inside the building. She was taken to a place where she could check it and I told her that I would save her place in line. She called me later and said that wouldn’t let her take her same place and insisted that I stay in line anyway. I was getting close and she decided to use the time to go to the bank, since I didn’t need to that day. After she was pulled out the guy in front of my pointed to my camera which was on a carrying case on my belt and told me to hide it. I put the strap inside the case and slid the case back so that my jacket covered it. As I rounded the corner I saw a large sign with several rules posted on it. It said, “Firearms, explosives…cameras…are strictly prohibited”. I felt that I was safe from the glace of the guards on the square. As long as I didn’t take it out it would be fine. But then as I got closer I saw the line diverging into two little outpost buildings. Inside I could see medal detectors. As was coming to the door a guard brought out a sad and confused looking westerner and pointed for him to leave. “They’re really serious about this,” I thought. I didn’t know how I was going to get past this. I accidentally stepped a little out of the single file as I came into the building a brusque guard put me back in place. As I came to the mettle detector I put my cell phone on the tray went through. I wasn’t surprised to see the lights glare red. I was pulled aside and frisked. The lady ran a separate detector all over me. She pulled my jacket open and ran the detector over my camera case. I could have sworn that I saw it go red, but miraculously she didn’t say anything.
I grabbed my cell phone and was permitted to continue. I was expecting this large building to me a museum, but, like Lenin’s on Red Square, this mausoleum contained only the man’s body. They didn’t allow passers-by to stand idle as they passed, but ushered them on quickly. As I walked past the class case containing Mao Zedong and stared into his face I had to wonder who he really was and who he must have been.I had now met both of Communisms great propagators—whatever honor that holds.
I met Heidi on the other side, who thankfully, had had the sense not to stand around idly but had just gotten back from the bank. From there we stepped out on the street to try to find a subway entry. Our plan was now to go visit Beijing’s most recently constructed landmarks—the Olympic venues. As were walking my mom called me and told her all about what had just happened at the Mao Zedong memorial. She wasn’t able to talk long, but it was fun to be able to talk to her. The Olympic venues are on the far north end of the city so it took several subway transfers to get there, but there were plenty of signs to help us find the way. It was a very foggy day so weren’t able to see very far and the steel casing of the Bird’s nest blended in with the fog, making less visible, but the sight was very exciting nonetheless. We were expected rain that day and we decided we would rather have it rain on us there than on the great wall, which where planning to see the next day. Some time ago someone sent me pictures of an Olympic garden that looked fun to see so I recommended that we look for that.
After wondering for several blocks (Beijing blocks are notoriously large) we came to an exciting looking shopping complex intersecting what looked like an exceptionally large park. I wasn’t sure that this was our park, but we didn’t have anything else to do so we bought tickets and wandered inside. What we found was one of the greatest highlights of our trip. It was theme park dedicated to China’s 56 ethnic minorities. Keep in mind that China is about %98 ethnic Han, so even the largest minority in China runs a very distant second. It was like an Epcot center for China. As we walked in the first attraction to meet us was Tibet. There was a large reconstruction of Lhasa, where you could hike up through the large panted rocks amidst streams of flags and find yourself at the world famous Potala Palace. There were authentically dressed Buddhist monks and shops where you could hear authentic Tibetan folk music, try customary foods and buy traditional clothing and handicrafts. On and on it went. We spent a little more than an hour there and saw only about 10 different cultures. Each station was unique some were equipped to perform plays, others featured concerts, and still others allowed you take part in traditional ceremonies. It was amazing. You could have spent a week just in that park. We certainly would have spent much longer but, not knowing what it was how long we would be there wondered in already feeling hungry and tired. So we left early in search of some lunch. We went back to the shopping center at the entrance and found a most amazing bakery. It was easily the nicest bakery I had ever been to before and they had a lot of wonderful goodies that hit the spot. After that we sat down with the map and began talking about what to do next. Two other large landmarks we hadn’t seen yet were the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. We decided to go to the Temple of Heaven since it was closer to the downtown area and the market where we wanted to go. We went to the market first and had fun there. The Pearl market is a large complex where you can buy all sorts of things at whatever price you can haggle it down to. I bought a traditional style Chinese shirt and some other things. I had considered myself a pretty good market shopper since all the practice I got in Russia, but Heidi put me to shame. I guess there are something things wherein women will always out do me, and shopping is one of those.
The Temple of Heaven was certainly beautiful and interesting, but we didn’t appreciate it as much as we should. For one thing neither of us knew anything about it; for another we were by this time both rather travel worn, sore, and again hungry (at least I was). One thing I really did enjoy though was a live band playing tranditional Chinese intruments. We hopped on a random bus, mostly just so we could wonder without actually having to walk anymore, and just kept in mind our directions. We eventually felt that we were getting too far away from the city center so got off where there happened to be a McDonald’s. Heidi doesn’t care for that kind of thing, but I dug in gratefully while she ate some flatbread that we had found along the way. Sitting by the large front windows looking out into the street we had a pleasant conversation and stayed there resting and chatting until after nightfall. Then, as were leaving, a man stopped us on the street and offered a ride in his rickshaw. This is a common occurrence, it happens usually at least ten times a day, but this particular time it stuck me as something that I wanted to do. Again, following my feelings, I decided to go for it and the two of us found it to be another great highlight of our trip. Riding around downtown Beijing in a rickshaw with the cool night air and a full stomach with pleasant company was a great experience. We both felt bad for the poor guy peddling us up and down the hills and as soon as he started asking how much farther we let him go at the bottom of the hill where there was a bus stop. We got off feeling quite contended and began walking when Heidi suddenly exclaimed, “Oh no! I forgot my bag!” She had left her bag from the market at McDonald’s. We had no idea how to get back and weren’t even sure if we could find it again. Even if we could, there was no guarantee that the bag would still be there. It had at least 200 yuan (about $60) worth of goods in it. We decided it was worth going back and were eventually able to flag down a little motorcycle with an enclosed cabin built around it. The ride was noisy and not at all comfortable, but we were able to point the driver in the direction we had come and managed to get back without complications. We walked up to the building and saw through the front window that someone else was sitting where we had been and that her bag was not there. Thankfully, as we entered and asked about it someone told us that her bag was in the manager’s office and was able to get it for us. We were so grateful for honest people. We walked back up to the main street which we had been on twice now in the past half hour and caught a bus taking us back the in the general direction of our hostel. We eventually got to the point where we felt that we had overshot it so we got off and got out the map out. At that point it began to rain. We found a road that looked like it might take us to where we wanted to go, but that assuming we were starting where we thought we were. The road we found was very small, dirty and out of the and looked like something that you wouldn’t find on the map, but it was going the right direction so we decided to chance it. It was under repair so it was all muddy in the rain which began falling harder and forming puddles. The road eventually broadened and we finally recognized where we were.
We got to the hostel at about 7:30 but it felt like 2:00am. We got ready for bed and I called up our branch president, President Lewis, to see if he would be able to meet us sometime. We agreed to meet for dinner the next evening. After that I fell right asleep exhausted. Suddenly I was awakened by my phone. It was mom, again. I had been dead asleep and was hardly sure where I was. She could tell she had obviously awoken me and said, “It’s only 8:30!” I mumbled something, I don’t remember what, and she decided to call again later. The next morning we had to get up early, about 5:00am, and left for the Great Wall by 6:00am. Our little group of four consisted of the two of us, a girl from Holland named Silvia, and a guy from Argentina named Leo. It was a long and beautiful drive into the mountains. It took nearly three hours to get there. We intentionally avoided the more touristy areas decided to hike six miles from a section called Jinshanling to another called Simitai. The hike was spectacular. This was probably the single greatest activity of the entire trip. When we were deciding which section to hike the girl at the hostel told us that this involved some real hiking and that the other, touristier, areas were for old women. She was right. There were portions that had been recently reconstructed, but most of it hadn’t been worked on in over 500 years and it showed. Large sections where crumbling and falling away. There were many parts where you certainly didn’t want to lose your balance others that involved careful negotiation of steep ridges. The scenes were breathtaking. The whole six miles were filled with stunning scenery. At one portion I noticed a couple speaking Russian and fell in to chat with them, asking him to take a picture for me. They were from Moscow and he had made many trips to China as a photographer. I saw/heard as many French and German tourists as I did English and American, but Russians were a little more rare; I only met a couple of them the entire trip and treasured it when I did. When we finally got to Simitai we had to cross a gorge on a large suspension bridge. I felt like I was in a movie. From the other end of the gorge we had an option of how we could get down to the bottom and into the valley where our driver would be waiting to have lunch with us. We would either hike down a windy little path, or take a zip line. Heidi and I decided to take the zip line, while Silvia and Leo took the path. That was exhilarating and I certainly recommend it anyone else who might end up in the same place. At the bottom a little boat took us across the river to the settlement. There we met our driver and had a small lunch. By the time we got back to the hostel we were quite exhausted. We hadn’t yet arranged a time to meet with President Lewis, but I told him that I would call at 6:30pm. I was so tired. I dozed off before then and so did Heidi. Someone came into the room and upon leaving closed the door a little too loudly, waking Heidi. She looked at her watch, it was 6:45pm, and woke me up to call President Lewis. He was available anytime, he said, so we agreed to meet me in twenty minutes. Though he was only two blocks away it still took us about 30 minutes to walk there, Beijing blocks being as large as they are. We met him at the base of his office building which was amazingly posh. It hadn’t yet occurred to me to wonder what this American guy was doing in Beijing, but I suddenly became very interested in his profession. He came down the escalator and met us in the lobby. President Lewis is a very tall man, and quite good-natured. He asked us if we wanted western or eastern food. I knew that Heidi didn’t like McDonald’s and I didn’t know what other western options there were here, so I told him eastern. He took us to one of his favorite restaurants in a nearby mall. It was quite possibly the nicest restaurant I had ever been to. It was called, Southern Beauty or something like that. He ordered a lot of different dishes, but each one of them was both exotic and delicious. I didn’t think that I would be able to eat regular Chinese food again after that. One was celery covered in a light brown sauce that actually tasted like peanut butter! For another they prepared it at our table. The chef and the waitress came out to our private booth with a glass bowl full of pea-green liquid. President Lewis explained that it was soybean whey. The chef dropped a sizzling hot rock into and stirred it around. Then he took the rock out and the waitress put a lid over the bowl and left it for several minutes. When they took the lid off we saw that the liquid had coagulated into a gelatin substance which they then mixed with several anonymous ingredients and served to each of us individually. It was pretty good. It tasted very healthy. To drink we had watermelon juice. During the meal we had a good conversation with him about his story and how he came to be where is today. After hearing our stories he told us about how he had served a mission in Taiwan, and went to BYU. He knew he’d be going to grad school, probably getting an MBA, so he decided to have fun in grad school and studied English literature. In grad school he had decided to go for a joint degree which begins with law classes. During that first year he decided that he really liked law and he heard that joint degrees were discouraged anyway, so he decided to simply go for a law degree. He wanted to back to China so he found a job Hong Kong where he moved with his wife and young daughter. He worked there for four years, had a son, and then moved to Beijing where he’s been working and raising his family of six kids for the past 11 years. They’re loving it and wouldn’t have it any other way. After dinner he showed us a store where we could get western groceries and bought us some ice-cream. After that he said good night but Heidi and I walked around this shopping mall for sometime afterwards. It was as nice as anything I had ever seen the U.S. or Russia and probably bigger. We forgot we were in China that evening. They had Dairy Queen, Sizzler’s…even an Outback steakhouse. As we were parting with President Lewis he told us to tell anyone else who might make it up to Beijing that should look him up and that if they do he’ll treat them to McDonald’s. We all had a good laugh about that, especially me, since I hadn’t told him what I had been thinking. We asked him if there was anything else in Beijing that we had to see before we left and he strongly recommended the Summer Palace.
The next morning was brisk and chilly, but the sun was out and the sky was beautiful. It took us quite some time to get out to the Summer Palace which was located on the far north-western outskirts of the city. Though we didn’t know it at the time we entered at the far gate which led all the way through the vast gardens, past a couple of small lakes, before we were able to get the palace complex itself. This turned out to be a most beautiful walk and another of our favorite experiences in Beijing. It took us nearly an hour after entering the gate to actually make it to the palace and by the time we had seen most of the various sites on the complex it was almost lunchtime. We got a little lost trying to find our way back, but nice man helped us find the way. It took us a couple hours to get back to the hostel by which time we needed to hurry to make it to the train station on time. As we were walking past Tiananmen square we noticed something that we had missed before. There was large historic district of old Beijing set aside for shops. I was starving and starting to get cranky, and didn’t care to see more of the same peddlers we’d seen everywhere else we’d been, but I could tell that Heidi really wanted to check it out. So I told her to shop around until 3:00pm (half an hour) and to meet me at the hostel then. I ran and got lunch was waiting for her upstairs where they had big soft couches. I assumed that when she came in she would ask the girl at the desk if she had seen me and I would come down. At 3:30 I still hadn’t heard anything and was beginning to get worried. I was about to get out my cell phone to call her when I finally heard her voice asking about me. I came down and we gathered our stuff to leave. She asked me where I’d been, and I gave her a puzzled expression. “I’ve been here, where have you been?” I asked. She replied, “I was waiting in the lobby since three!” We ran to get a bus that would take us to the train station on time. We had to wait quite some time for our bus to arrive and by then we were really in a hurry. The bus finally came, but it filled up and left without us. We knew that particular number didn’t run very often and were getting worried. That’s when I saw a bus of the same number that had brought us here from the train station on Tuesday. We got on and it got us there with time to spare.
The ride to Xi’an was another long and sleepless night. I finished “The Giver” and Heidi and I had plenty of time to talk and get to know each other. She’s from Ogden, Utah and recently graduated from BYU with a degree in landscape architecture. She’s the 7th of 11 children and very close to all of her siblings—especially her next oldest—a brother named Doug. She served a mission in Croatia. Croatian is a Slavic language so we can understand a lot of each other’s mission languages.
When we got to Xi’an the next morning, 13 hours later, neither of us had really slept and both of us were feeling a little frayed. We had decided that one day would be enough, rather the two we had originally planned, and bought tickets to leave for Changsha that evening. In the meantime, we had no idea what to do next. The original plan had been to meet the other group that morning, but they had been late in getting tickets and wouldn’t be arriving until much later, so meeting them suddenly became unlikely. It was 6:00am, the sun hadn’t quite risen yet, and neither of us had any idea how to get to where we wanted to go. This guy came up to us and started offering a tour. Like the dozens of others like him, we tried to brush him off, but this guy persisted. He helped us buy our tickets and kept trying to sell us his services. His initial prices seemed extortionary, but when we showed us the map of where the terra cotta warriors were on the map and explained that our proposed price wouldn’t even cover the gas to get there and back I began to believe him. He told us he could show us all around town and get us back for our train. As I began to calculate it I figured that the price probably was actually fair. I felt really uncomfortable going with the first offer that came our way, but unlike the others he spoke English, he seemed to making a fair offer, and I good feeling about him. He seemed different from the rest. He said his name was Peter. He took us to see the ancient sites in Xi’an. Xi’an is the historical center of China. It was the capital for over a dozen dynasties and held many historic sites. Several that we saw where the old Bell and Drum towers, the white goose pagoda (here I stopped in the square to do a little morning Tai'Chi with the geriatrics), and the ancient city wall. It was exactly what we needed. No walking, no having to figure out transportation, we could just sit there and enjoy the ride. On the way out of town to see the terra cotta army we stopped to pay tribute to the guy who had the army built—the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, Qin Shihuang. He was buried in man-made hill which still hasn’t been excavated. He lived over 2200 years ago and is know for being the first one to really unify the country. Our word for it came from his dynasty. Qin, pronounced, Chin, became the country of Chin, or China, the second vowel making the “I” long. We also saw a couple of factories where they made duplicates of the terra cotta warriors and the site of a prehistoric people called the Bampo, which was quite interesting. The site of the terra cotta warriors was enclosed in a large museum which is highly polished and professional. Most of the soldiers, however, have not been removed from the dirt and are viewed from a balcony in the building which was erected around them. We had scheduled three hours for that, but only ended up taking one. We were hesitant to go back out to the car and leave early because we didn’t know if Peter would even be there and once we left we wouldn’t be allowed back in. If he wasn’t there we would stranded in the middle of nowhere for two hours. We were hungry for lunch and couldn’t find anything reasonably priced at the museum, so we decided to risk and went out. I went to a booth selling pomegranates and asked how much they were a piece. 10 Yuan was the price stated and I laughed. That was ridiculous. A little lady in the parking lot came up to me selling them. Being the softy I am I probably would have bought one for 10 Yuan from this fragile little thing, but she only asked 2 Yuan, which I gave her happily. We found his car, but as we had feared he was nowhere to be seen. There were several small shops and stores around and figured that he couldn’t have gone too far. That’s when I suddenly remembered that he had given me his business card that morning with his phone number on it. My phone was dead so Heidi called him and it turned out that he had been having lunch right there in the building where his car was parked and invited us to have lunch there too. It wasn’t Xiangtan prices, but it was cheaper than the tourist spot. After we got back to the station we thanked Peter for all the help and began exploring the Xi’an city center. It was no Beijing, but it was fun to look at all the little shops. We had actually managed to get bunks for the ride to Changsha and were excited to finally be able to sleep on the train.
As we were boarding the train our paper tickets taken and we were given a little plastic card with our seat on it. Heidi’s was the same, but mine listed a different place in a different car. I said goodbye to her and made my way to the other car. I wondered through the narrow corridors of the train trying to find this seat. A guy had offered to help me. We went back and fourth and the guy helping me finally declared that no such spot existed. We went to the car’s conductor to explain the situation and she directed me to my spot which had turned out to be exactly where my ticket had originally stated across from Heidi. We both had a good laugh about that. She got out another book, C.S. Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy, and began to read. She took a break and began to read. We both slept the whole night and a couple hours the next day. It was 19 hours to Changsha. After Heidi had fallen asleep I got bored and decided to do some exploring. I found the meal car and ordered some food. I remembered what Jeff had said and just asked her what was good. I didn’t understand what she said back, but I agreed to try it. It turned out to be Pepper Pork and was quite spicy. I asked the waitress for something to drink, but rather than give me options pointed out that that was the purpose of the obligatory seaweed soup that came with every meal. When I asked for something else she said, at least I think she said, that if I wanted something to drink I should have bought it at the station. I paid 30 Yuan for what would have been a 6 Yuan mean at the university, but I had done it alone and was feeling good about my independence. It was worth the extra adventure.
By the time we got to Xiangtan it was late afternoon. I finished, “The Horse and His Boy” on the bus to the university. Heidi had finished it before we got to Changsha. We staggered out of the bus and onto what looked to me to be home. As we were walking up to our apartments we were talking about the showers we would finally be able to take and the food we would finally be able to eat when Heidi said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if I lost my key or something?” At the work key I automatically reached for my pocket where I kept mine and found it missing. I guessed it must have fallen out in the night on the train. I wished her a pleasant evening and went over to find my landlord. I had to look up how to say it, but I told her that I had lost my key and she came to let me into my apartment would call to ask for a replacement. Tomorrow morning I’ll go to pick it up. During my trip I learned a lot. Mostly I learned that I take myself too seriously and that I just need to trust in the Lord more. Whenever I try to take my own route I always get lost. Whenever I follow his promptings it always turns out to be best thing I could have done.
Though settling in certainly has its advantages to living conditions and stability it also comes with the disadvantage of robbing one of a sense of wonder and adventure. That having been said, I have had a number of memorable experiences in the past week worth writing about. After we got back from Yangshuo not all of us stayed in Xiangtan. Some of us went to other cities and our group was joined by other teachers. A couple of those teachers who left were my friends. This past week has been Chinese National Day (October 1st) so we had a break. Mine started Wednesday, but theirs started Monday. They came up and Ms. Li, our local coordinator, took us to the Buddhist temple in downtown Xiangtan. Though it was undergoing some construction it was nonetheless a magnificent sight. I felt as though I was walking onto the set of a classical Kung-Fu movie. The temple ground held several large buildings each displaying beautiful traditional Chinese architecture. In the courtyard we met several monks, heads shorn, wearing the traditional garb. After speaking with one of them to make arrangements we were left to our group. Mrs. Li said to me, "Only nuns work here. They have 15 nuns, and no monks." I was confused. I thought we had just been speaking to a monk. I figured that maybe the distinction between nun and monk was a matter of duties rather than gender so I asked her, "What's the difference between a monk and a nun?" She looked at me quizzically and said, "Monks are male and nuns are female." I looked over at the girl who was standing next to me, clearly as confused as myself. Then it dawned on me. The shorn heads, the loose fitting robs. I thought I was pretty good at telling men and women apart but these nuns had me fooled. The worship service was quite unforgettable. We were ushered into a large room with a massive sinitic Buddha in the center and two smaller statues to the side and back with walking room between them all. The nuns began, one at a time to chat, sing, and play various instruments. One voice was joined by a second, then a third. It was rhythmic and enchanting. For over half an hour we stood there with our hands out in front of us in prayer fashion listening to them weave their melodies. Then they began to move, to walk around the room, winding a path between the other statues. We followed them, none of us sure how to hold our hands, not knowing exactly where the path would next lead. They lost me once and needed a little nudge to get back in place. Finally we stopped back where we started but facing a different direction. We did a series of bows that rather reminded me of doing "up-downs" in military PT. The music was still going the whole time fluctuating in speed and intensity. After an hour it stopped and we went back into the reception center. We were all given bead bracelets meant to represent Buddha blessings. Then they took us to another room where we had a small meal. Mrs. Li told us that after we were finished the nuns would be eating the same meal so I reminded everyone that we would be eating together when we got back and not to take very much. Normally a person might have the chance to spend the night there, but the house keeper was at the hospital so the they weren't prepared to take guests on at that time.
The next day, Tuesday, I still had three classes to teach. My first class went well. Since it was the last day before the holiday I let them out ten minutes early. I had another class right after that and it took me some time to get to that building. When I did it was nearly time for class to start but no one was there. When the bell rang there about 11 students out of 50 or so. I knew my friends were waiting for me to go into Xiangtan to do some shopping so I put up two options on the board. I told the students, since there were so few of us, that should the class so choose we could either have a shortened class, or no class at all. Those were the options. One particularly vocal girl was excited at the prospect of no class. I told them we would put it to a vote. Just as I would about to begin the vote a girl up front interjected and asked for a third option--to hold a full class. I figured there must be one in every class so I put up the third option just to appease her. I told the class that if you were on the loosing side of the vote I would still stay behind to have a personal lesson with you. I took the vote. No one voted for shortened class. Understandable, I thought, though not entirely expected. But then came the real surprise. No one voted for no class. I knew that they didn't always grasp the idea of raising your hand and voting, so just to be sure I put the third option to a vote, expecting again, no votes and that I would have to explain again what I was expecting them to do. But as I went the third option a majority of them raised their hands. I was dumb-founded. Some of them were some of my better students, but I explained to them how surprised I was--that such a scene would never happen in an American class room. Then the girl who initially proposed the third option piped up and said, "It's just that your class is so interesting, Mr. Gu." It would be difficult to explain my emotions at that moment. At 4:30, for my last class it was the same scene of only a dozen students. Unlike before these were almost all guys and almost all stoners and jocks. I didn't offer to cancel class this time, but I asked them if I were to offer it if any of them would accept, and again, to my amazement, they all wanted to stay.
Since a certain friend of mine decided not long ago to serve a mission we've been exchanging e-mails talking about it, what it's like, and how to prepare for it. Certainly our conversations were entirely legal. Yesterday morning, however, I received a shock. I checked my inbox to find it empty. I kept doing other stuff online and sometime later I noticed that I suddenly had four e-mails in my inbox. I checked when they had been sent and that the first, an e-mail from my friend serving a mission, had been sent nearly a day earlier. It appeared as though it had been held up along the way. I figured they must have been reading it. I went to listen to my global intelligence podcast, but found them all frozen, even though I'd had no trouble the night before. My mom tried to call me and even got through for a moment. Our conversation was abruptly ended and she wasn't able to even make a connection after that. It was a rather claustrophobic sensation. Our church had been cancelled the week before. Other things had taken place that I won't mention here. I felt I was getting a taste of what it's like to be repressed. Things are back to normal now and everything seems wonderful, but it sure gave me an experience I won't soon forget.
My friends went back to their place early Wednesday morning. I'll be taking a bus tomorrow to go visit them.
There's an ancient legend about a very beautiful woman who flew to the moon and got stuck there. At this time of year when the moon's its most beautiful the Chinese people have a holiday to celebrate it. They call it the mid-Autumn festival and it took place yesterday. They have this seasonal treat they call the mood cake. I'm not the biggest fan, but I suspect they're an acquired taste. They're just a type of pastry with various things in the middle. The most traditional thing to find in it is a boiled egg yoke. Other variants may include jelly filled. Anyway, the custom is to eat them while you sit and admire the moon. Another custom is to write your wishes on a piece of paper and sent them up on a miniature paper-made hot air balloon. The idea is that it will raise to the moon where the moon or perhaps the lady on the mood can read your wishes and grant them. Not that the traditional origins are at all similar, but so far as cultural significance and placing goes, it's about the Chinese equivalent of Thanksgiving. Families get together and have big meals. I walked around the campus and met some new people. I walked by one group trying to see what they were doing, but just kept walking. I stopped next to a large bulbous red lantern to take a picture and someone from that previous group came up to me and asked me to join them for their party. I happily obliged and walked over to join them. They wanted me to sing a song. I told them woefully that I didn't know the words to any but that I would be happy to indulge them if they could tell me the words. One of them new the words to "My Heart will go on". I was obligated so I just did my best. She had to feed me almost every line, but we got through it and were welcomed with enthusiastic applause. They awarded me a moon cake. I showed them that I had one already but they insisted I take another. At this point I decided to depart from my new friends and continue my sojourn around campus. I came to another group sitting in a circle playing what appeared to be some kind of game. I noticed that there was an open spot in the circle right where I was passing and decided it was providential. I joined them and got acquainted and they resumed their game. I was quickly lost but stayed out of propriety. Shortly thereafter the game concluded and the groups attention again turned to me. We chatted for a small while and then I excused myself and moved further. In a large cement paved depression people were setting off their wish balloons. I went to watch one. It was really fun and very fascinating. I much enjoyed it. The red glowing lanterns began to fill the sky and it was a very beautiful--almost surreal spectacle. The other day I went to Xiangtan just for fun and to do some exploring. I saw several things that I thought might make mention-worthy stories. I was walking down one small street on the main road. There were many booths and shops lining it. There was a small group of people crowded around one small old woman looking at something intently. As I passed I saw what it was. She was in the process of skinning a frog. I'm very fond of frogs and found the scene quite distasteful. As I was walking down a different street in the old commercial district I came upon a shop out of which rapidly ran a lady holding something fury in a pair of long tongs. She threw it out by a tree with a twitch. As I passed my curiosity demanded a peak. I saw there lying in the dirt a large wet rat with little grain kernels caught in its fur. I looked up to see what kind of a shop it had been in and saw that it was a grail shop. I noted to myself not to buy grain from there. Before that time I'd be determined not to eat in one of the three available American restaurants in Xiangtan, but at that I finally gave in. I went to a large grocery store where you can find about as much as can be found in China by way of western goods without going to a specialty store. I went over to the seafood section and found that it was better than a petting zoo. They had huge beautiful turtles and full size frog; creepy eels and vicious looking little fish. I seriously wanted to get one of the turtles and take it home as a pet. I felt so bad for the little guys--and especially for the not so snack-sized ones. Anyway, I just thought I'd share some memories and moments from the past few days. Thanks for writing. I'll write again soon.
I'm loving it hear at the university. It's pretty big--30,000 students. My classes have between 30-50 kids each. They're really great. I got lost this morning on my way to my first class. Time was running out so I called by Chinese counterpart and she came by on her scooter and picked me up. She then drove me over to my first class. The room was already full and when I walked in they started applauding. It was really fun and the kids are just great. My second class wasn't quite so enthusiastic but it still went well over all. It will be after 4:00am by the time my next class is over so I decided to write now, between classes. In class I lectured about the history of the English language and important roles it's played in history. I showed why we have different words for things like "cow" and "beef" and they seemed to think it was really interesting and insightful. Then I talked about the early stages of the American Revolution and talked about Patrick Henry and his famous call to arms. Future classes will be more games and activities, but I'm getting things established first. In my second class I actually made them write essays about my rules and turn then in at the end of class. Though I've taught classes before I've never collected papers. I look forward to reading them. I guess in living out all of my wildest English professor dreams I'm my students worst nightmare. I'm like the one they hope they don't get--making them memorize John Milton quotes and writing essays about the rules on the first day. I love it. The best part is that they were so enthusiastic about it. That's one reason why I've had such a hard time deciding on a career choice. I love teaching and I already know that I can do it. On the other hand I want to have the experience and understanding that comes of working in a particular field. By going into counter-terrorism I would be doing something that I love and that would be very rewarding. I'd feel more like a hero. That's why I always talk about having a good career and then "retiring" into teaching. I sure do love it though. I hope I get more opportunities throughout my career to teach and lecture on occasion. There's a small group of us that are teaching younger kids that don't begin until next week. They were talking about going to Beijing this week. I was a little jealous at first, but then I decided that I'd had enough tourism. I was ready to settling into something a little more involving. Ironic isn't it? The thing that made me most nervous it the very thing that makes the whole trip worth while.
I awoke early and sat the rooftop of my hotel, reading the scriptures as the sun melted the moring fog from the valleys. "How Great Thou Art" kept coming to mind as I would become engulfed in the vista before me. We gathered at hotel where some others of us were staying and had breakfast before embarking on the day's adventure. I didn't have enough cash for it on me because of some trouble getting the ATM to work. Mom gave me a reccomendation so I felt confident I would be fine, we simply didn't have time to go all the way to the bank before we left. So one of my friends covered for me and I gave him the rest of what I had. The first leg of our journey involved the four of us and our guide taking bikes out through the city and into the country-side. The scenery was so beautiful as our bikes sped along that I had to be extra careful not to run into something. We left the paved roads and hit a dirt trail that led us to the river. We boarded a bamboo skiff that took us several miles down the river. I took close to 100 pictures and a couple of videos. Whereas yesterday I had enjoyed the mountains and peaks from a distance, today I was among them, traveling at their feet. When we got to the end we got back on our bikes and road to the base of a magnificent arch called Moon Hill. We hiked to the top of it where the entire valley lay unfolded before us. I felt like it was something of a "tourist triathlon". On the way down we stopped to rest and I started chatting with the locals. One lady had been particularly attentive to me and I felt we had bonded somewhat. Anoher lady there was acting rather indolent and discontented and I asked her name in an attempt to mollify her. She said that she had no name. She never had a mother and no one ever bothered to name her. I was again reminded of the multitude of blessings I have that I take for granted. Present partents who love me is more of a blessing than I've ever realized. On the bike ride back to the hotel the guide surprized me by asking me if I was a christian. We are expressly forbidden to talk about our religion here, but I figured I could answer his question without reprisal. I had observed that he and his family read the Bible and had other assorted christian parafanalia in their hotels. He then asked me if I was mormon. I was somewhat taken aback. I answered that I was and he asked me if there were many of us in the United States. "Several million" I answered. He told me that it seemed that many of the people he met come though were LDS. Our conversation ended shortly thereafter before it could become incriminating but I was meaningfully reminded of the careful preparation the Lord works for his people long before the missionaries arrive. When I got back I went to the ATM so I could repay my firend, but, to my chagrin, I was still unable. I ran back and forth to several places and several people trying various things but to no avail. I decided to just stop and listen to the Spirit. It told me that I needed to try a different ATM. The closest bank was being remodeled, so I asked where I could find another. I location further into town outside of the tourist district was shown me. Luckily the bike rentals were for all day. I took my bike and set out for the bank. As I rode though the city I couldn't help but to feel exhillerated at the thriving life I saw around me and to marvel at the fact that I was here at all. Before long I found the bank the ATM worked for me. My ride back to the hotel was just as exhillarating but with a new feeling of relief and elatation present to buoy my spirits further. I'm loving it here and loving life in general. Thanks for writing to me. I'm not sure when I'll be able to write again, but I'll try to make it soon.
I'm having a wonderful day. We drove on a rickety old bus all through the night and arrived in Yangshuo early this morning. At about 6:00am we stopped for a bathroom break in the middle of rural China about two hours north of Guilin. As I entered the primitive lavatory a very large and exotic looking spider sat on the wall ready to greet me. I hadn't realized that the booth had been occupied. I tried to snap a picture, but it was too dark to turn out well. Two hours later we arrived at our hotel in Yangshuo. This trip is our introductory excursion to get us all excited and pumped up to be here for the next four months before we start working and earning our salt. It's worked. This has been an amazing experience so far. At this point I would recommend typing Yangshuo into a good google picture search as supplementary material to the following. It'll have to do until I can get my pictures organized. We arrived just as the morning mist was melting off the jagged lime stone peaks. Like barren dragon teeth, the peaks stand as sentinels along the many rivers and water ways--moldy with moss and domineering with timeless age and wisdom. This land is the stuff of legends. It's mythical in proportion and beauty. In the shadow of the mountains the denizens lead ordinary lives unaware of, or perhaps jaded to the mystical beauty which surrounds them. Yesterday I described my experience as "running through the pages of National Geographic". I perhaps should have reserved that statement for when it would be somewhat more accurate. Not long ago National Geographic aired a spacial issue exclusively about China featuring many pictures from the very land in which I now stand. I spent the morning exploring the town. Our hotel offered a delicious looking western style breakfast for 25 yuan. I decided to look around town for a better deal(I've become very frugal since arriving here). I ran into several interesting characters along the way. One man wanted to sell me a traditional rice patter worker's hat for 40 yuan. I talked him down to ten and told him I'd come back tomorrow for it, now knowing better how much it's actually worth. (The hotel turned out to be the cheapest western style breakfast in town) I got a little lost and asked for directions. I finally found my way but it was bit late for a big breakfast. I stopped at a street side cafe and ordered chow mien instead for 4 yuan. It was great, I hadn't spoken English all morning. Everything was so beautiful and I was just soaking it all in. This experience has been a dream come true for me. It's been so much fun so far. The more I learn about and study foreign countries and cultures the more I love immersing myself in them.
