Bye

I’m sitting in the food court of Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport, the same place I departed the US from more than a month ago. I’m eating the first burrito I’ve had in a long time, although it doesn’t taste that great. My last post left off with the group arriving in Shanghai, the most modern city in China. There was a definite difference in the feel of the place compared to Tianjin. English was more prevalent, more foreigners were around so we didn’t get as much stares, and amenities were more geared towards Westerners. The first thing we did upon our arrival was tour the city on a bus; the most developed areas are full of modern skyscrapers and reminded me of large cities back in the US. We then went to a school and got to sit in on an English class; the students' control over the language was very good and made me feel a little bit embarassed about my poor Chinese. Next, we visited a temple that housed a famous jade statue of Buddha, which was very beautiful. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed so I have no way to show it. For dinner, I ate at Pizza Hut, which is a fairly fancy restaurant in China. It tasted pretty much the same as it does in the US, but it was still a nice reminder of home.

The next day, we traveled to Hangzhou to visit the factory of Dr. Liu’s brother. It was a nice break after seeing numerous temples during our excursions and it was interesting in itself to see the production of a product sold in the US. After the tour, he treated us to a very nice dinner at a nearby restaurant; it was probably the best meal I had in China (there were all sorts of exotic foods, such as duck tongue and donkey meat). During the afternoon we took a boat ride around the West Lake, the biggest lake in China, and had one last dinner together in the hotel restaurant. Afterwards, we went downtown to visit a riverside area with a great view of the Shanghai skyline. It was an awesome sight and I wish I had some good pictures of it, but my camera sucks at taking night pictures. I stayed up the rest of the night and as a result, got up pretty late our flight out of China the next morning (it was worth it though, considering that it was our last time together as a group).

Instead of heading straight back home, I decided to stay in Tokyo for a couple days with a few other classmates. It’s probably one of the coolest and cleanest cities I’ve been to, but instead of describing its wonders, I’ll talk about it in relation to our book so it has some relation to the class. I witnessed many of the qualities of Japanese society that Reid describes, but they were still surprising despite my prior knowledge of them. Little kids (maybe 3rd grade?) walk home alone after school alone, easily identifiable by their yellow hats. Bikes are left unlocked and women walk the streets alone late at night. The people are incredibly polite (I heard almost no car horns and I would get numerous thank yous as I walked out of McDonalds). This is very different from what I’ve experienced during the program, but even if China isn’t the cleanest place in the world, or filled with the most polite people, it has its own charms and allures.

Last Days

The culture class we had on tuesday was, in my opinion, one of the most interesting ones we've had so far. When I saw the words "Chinese Music" on the syllabus, I admit that I wasn't too excited, considering the Chinese music we've been exposed to so far. I thought that we would be listening to music of the style used in Beijing Opera, but I was pleasantly surprised by the style of the songs that the teacher played for us. The traditional songs sounded very different then the sterotypical chinese music I've heard and the Teacher even played a bunch of famous American songs. The best part was that we were given the chance to actually play the instruments that were present. I didn't have much luck with the bowed string instrument, but I was very interested in the guitar-like instrument the teacher had. I can play the guitar a little bit (this is actually one of the things I miss about being home) and I was hoping that I would be able to play some stuff on the Chinese instrument. It was pretty much for me impossible to play anything with it, but it was very fun nonetheless.

Wednesday was our last day of normal class at Nankai University. Class, which was just review for the final exam, sped by rather fast. Most of the students decided to go back to the Cultural Street to pick up last minute gifts; I ended up buying a couple cell phone charms, one of which is a bean with Chinese characters imprinted on the side. If you plant the bean, the plant that grows out of it will actually have the words on one of its leaves. We grabbed dinner at this fast food Chinese place in a mall close to the cultural street. The food was only so-so and I kind of regretted not going to the Yoshinoya next door (although I'm sure I'll have plenty of chances to try it in Japan). Afterwards, we bought some presents for our teachers - we weren't sure what they would like, so we settled on some bath & body stuff.

Thursday was our last day in Tianjin. We had our final exam in the morning, which turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. We had a formal lunch, we ate with the dean of the college we were studying in and, to my surprise, there was orange juice availible. It was from concentrate, but it seemed like 100% juice, which is something I miss from back home. Oranges seem to be very expensive here in China and pure orange juice is usually not availible (it's usually in the form of a orange drink with 10% juice). We then had the closing ceremony, which consisted of speeches, demonstrations, and goodbyes. I was a bit worried about the Tai Chi, considering the size of the room, but I don't think it turned out too bad, considering how much practice we get. I was also happy that my group's skit turned out well, since the group I was in put together a rather strange one that consisted of all three of the group members having the same name as a character from our textbook (Ding Libo). Fortunately, the audience seemed to enjoy our skit and found it pretty funny. We got certificates from the university, took pictures with our teachers, and said our goodbyes.

We got to the train station pretty early, so we didn't have to deal with the huge lines like the ones they had in Xi'An, even though had to wait around for a little bit before boarding the train. The conditions on the trains were much better this time...overall, everything seemed cleaner and less crowded. The train stopped less and we were able to get to Shanghai in ~12 hours even though the distance we traveled was pretty much the same as the distance between Xi'An and Tianjin. Since the train left around 8pm, I was also able to sleep thorugh most of the trip, making it seem to go much quicker.

Even though my month's stay at Nankai has been filled with a lot of work, I'll defintely miss the place. It was a little bit sad for me, going around campus during the few hours of free time we had before we had to board the bus to the train station. I've grown used to the feel of the campus - the people in the dining hall, the stray cats, the look of Tianjin - and It'll be a little weird not experiencing it anymore. I've meet some really cool people, especially my language teachers, and I'm really grateful for all that they've done for us.

Busy Weekend

Last Thursday, the class was given the chance to wear the makeup and clothing of actors in Bejing Opera. I admit that I wasn't too excited about the activity since it required putting on a lot of makeup - something I've never really done before. It was pretty fun and the pictures we took turned out good. I'd probably never have gotten the chance to do this otherwise and I'm glad I have some photos I can look back at in the future.

This weekend was very packed. Our flight from Tianjin to Xi'An was short and comfortable, but I was disappointed by the bad weather we experienced among arrival. It seems like bad weather always plagues our weekend trips; the rain and fog we've encountered have definitely made the experience more arduous and decreased the beauty of the places we've been to. In the end, there's really nothing that can be done about this and I can only hope that the weather will be nice for our final trip this weekend. Overall, Xi'An seems like a busier and more developed city than Tianjin. There were quite a few shopping plazas within walking distance of our hotel and the streets were lined with merchants selling random trinkets and beggars (something I haven't seen a lot of around Nankai University). I suppose it's because Xi'An is more of a tourist city - we saw plenty of foreigners during our stay. We didn't do too much the first day; we visited the Bell/Drum Towers and had dinner at a Peking Duck resturant.

On Saturday, we visited the museum where the famous Terra Cotta Warriors are kept. We first went to a government operated factory where replica statues were made; the objects that the workers produced were very beautiful, but I was a bit disappointed (but not surprised) by the fact that this factory was more like a workshop attached to a big souvenir shop. The actual museum was pretty impressive. The complex housing the statues was surrounded by a large garden and the air seemed less polluted (there was even a clear blue sky). The actual statues looked pretty much the same as I've seen in pictures, but it was cool to see them in real life. We then visited a nearby hot spring, which turned out to be a very beautiful sight. There were fountains and Chinese-style buildings set against a background of mountains. I didn't walk around too much, but it was really nice just to sit down and eat an ice cream bar with my classmates. For dinner, there was an interesting meal consisting of all kinds of dumplings, such as duck and walnut. I was feeling a little sick, so I didn't try all of the kinds availible, but the ones I did get to taste were very good (I feel much better now...thanks for getting me the medicine Dr. Liu!). After dinner, me and a few other students went to see a show at the city's fountain. I was expecting a pool with water jets, but was totally surprised by the elaborate setup that was present. There were several jets in the ground that shot water, which was given color by recessed lights, straight up into the and fireworks at the end of the night. Even though there were tons of people, I'm very glad that I took the effort to go.

On Sunday, we first headed to the city wall. I was feeling pretty bad, so I couldn't take a bike ride around the wall like the rest of the group, which made me pretty disappointed. I can't really ride a bike anyways, so it might not have made too much of a difference. Nevertheless, it was really relaxing sitting in the sahde of the Feng Shui museum and watching the toursists pass by. Next, we went Great Mosque and the Muslim Street. Although I spent most of the time in the bathroom (which were very clean), I did get to check out a few of the goods that the street vendors offered. A few of the other students bought some cool stuff (Mahjong and Go sets), but I didn't really have time to get anything. Soon after, we headed to the train station, which was extremely crowded. After being herded onto our train, we found out that our compartments were crowded and had no doors. Despite this, I didn't have much trouble getting to sleep and had a good nights rest; the ride was actually somewhat fun, partly because I learned how to play Mahjong from Monica, but it's something I hope not to go through again anytime soon.

Feeling Better

So, I've missed a total of two classes due to being sick...I hope I haven't fallen too far behind everyone else. I felt pretty horrible, it was like everything bad I ever ate hit me at once. Fortunately, I felt a little bit better on Tuesday so I was able to attend the Calligraphy culture class. My father used to practice calligraphy at home sometimes and I was very interested to see what a master of the art could turn out. His handwriting was very beautiful and I was disappointed that I wasn't picked to recieve one of his paintings (I'm not sure if this is what you'd call them), but on the plus side, I did get a great rendition of my name from Dr. Liu. I don't think my handwriting was ever that great and the only time I had only done calligraphy once before in chinese school several years ago. As expected, my paintings turned out pretty bad (partly because I don't know enough characters to write anything meaningful), but it was a fun expreince nonetheless.

During the evening, we visited one of the commerical districts of Tianjin (it was called Jiang something something). It was pretty cool, considering that it's the most modernized part of the city that I've visited so far. The streets were lined with stores selling all kinds of stuff; there were shady resturants, Nike/Adidas stores, and an unusually large amount of wedding stroes (one of them selling a white tuxedo with a pink rose pattern). I've always enjoyed trying out new kinds of food; since I've never been out of the country, I'm trying my best to get a taste of all the new experiences that a culture as different as China's has to offer. This has cause some discomfort (I think I got sick from a funky blue soda I ordered at Seaside Coffee), but I don't think these bad experiences have significantly reduced my spirit. When I was at McDonalds, I decided to try out some of the coconut pies they had. It was like an apple pie from back home, but deep fryed instead of baked and filled with a white syrup containing cocunut chunks. It wasn't as bad as I expected.

Maybe I'm being a little irrational, but I'm kind of hesistant about our trip to Xi'An this weekend. I usually don't like flying in airplanes at all (they're big hunks of metal floating through the air!) and to make it worse, China has sort of a bad reputation when it comes to safety. I guess there's nothing I can do about this and I can only hope we get there in one piece. Despite this, I am somewhat excited about our train ride from Xi'An back to Tianjin. I've only ridden on a train once in the United States and I'm interested to see how the system works in China. I've also never slept on a train and it'll be an experience staying on a train for more than 10 hours. Even though it's going to be a long and tiring journey, I hope there'll be a lot of cool scenery on the trip.