29.05.06 2:41
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The day began with rain, and lots of it. By the time we left the hotel after 8, though, the sky was clearing. Many of the students had been out the previous night helping Chris celebrate his 21st birthday. They were bleary-eyed, but that soon changed too. * * * It's 11 p.m., and we've just finished another long day in the heat of Wuhan. But it's been a great day. I'm tired, so will keep the report short............. |
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| Since most of us were up at 4 or 4.30 this morning, this 8.45 p.m. writing seems like the night is much later. But we've had a full day and safe travel, so all is well. We're in a very red four-star hotel on the East Lake waterfront in Wuhan. It's hot as blazes here in this provincial capitol on the Yangtze River, which we crossed by bridge (a big one) today in the bus. After lunch on campus, we spent time on campus, viewing the resources of this fine school. Wuhan Institute for Physical Education is one of the primary trainers of Olympic-caliber athletes in China. Their primary purpose is to train teachers and coaches. So we saw the collection of skeletons and other biological gizmos; the human performance labs; and so on. Then we watched 5-12-year-old students training in gymnastics. After that, a martial arts demonstration, then us learning martial arts from the master and his pupils. After that, sweat! Chris Harris turns 21 today. Some of the students are out celebrating with him. It's raining here tonight; we hope it cools down the heat. More later from Wuhan on the Yangtze. Jeff |
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| We‚ve now wrapped up our last day in Deyang. As expected, today‚s visit to the Deyang Foreign Language School resonated deeply with our vagabond study group. For some, the resonance is physical, since we played the school football (soccer) team in a death match late in the day. Ramon has a nasty knee scrape, and Mathias is nursing a stubbed toe. Chris still had enough energy to do four cartwheels once the game was over˜this after playing goalie for an hour! Deyang Foreign Language School enrolls over 5000 students from this municipality. It‚s a residential school, even for the first-graders. The kids go home on Friday, returning on Sunday afternoon or evening. They take English language classes each day, as well as class in other disciplines, the latter taught in Chinese. A typical schedule includes ten (10!) hours of class daily for the middle school and high school students, plus mandatory study time and exercise. These kids work hard, but they must in this country where fewer than 1/5 of the 18-year-old population is admitted to a comprehensive college or university. When we arrived today I was greeted by John, a 16-year-old who I immediately recognized as our first guide last year. John‚s gotten taller, and his English has markedly improved. He stayed by my side most of the day, acting as explainer and interpreter. When I was asked a question in Chinese class, the professor wanting me to answer, John gave a lengthy translation of my rather short answer. I enjoyed seeing him again, and hope to chart his progress over the next two years as well (until he graduates) if I continue to make an annual visit. Amidst the kung fu, traditional instrument, dance, acting, and singing demonstrations, one little kid stands out. We first saw him doing his calligraphy practice after lunch. He knew just when a camera was on him, and he stopped to look up and give a killer kid smile every time. Later in the day, this same kid had the ten-year-old lead in a three-person sketch during a Œconversation with our friends‚ time. He stole the show. And then there was the rock-star screaming we encountered as we walked through the primary school lunchroom. Imagine over 1000 kids all yelling, shouting their Œhello‚ in a low-ceilinged, tile and brick room. Then multiply that by the shrillness that comes from elementary kids screaming. That‚s what it was like. I hadn‚t prepared the students for this˜no one could. But it was pretty stunning and tremendously heart-warming. I spent some time today working on plans for teacher and student exchanges with this most wonderful school. That discussion took place on the sidelines of the soccer field, seated on benches on the track. Meanwhile, eleven of the rest of us (including teacher Nihal, were on the field gamely trying play soccer against the DFLS team. I expected lambs at the slaughter, but our team acquitted itself well, losing only 4-3 in the end result. And a good time was had by all. Then I return to the hotel to find that the housekeeping staff has let one of our group into my room before I arrived back here. I‚ve had words with the management, and will also have words with the Foreign Affairs office of City Hall tomorrow. I have clothes missing, and while I think I know where they are, the principle here is that no one should be allowed into guest rooms without permission. Of course . . . this whole process of finding out what happened and then discussing it took over 75 minutes, a particularly irksome trait in this country where so much else seems to work well. We leave for the airport at 5 a.m. tomorrow. Our 7.40 a.m. flight should land at Wuhan long before 9.30 a.m. We spend the rest of our trip, except for the last 24 hours, in Wuhan, a city where I‚ve never been before. With the Three Gorges Dam just completed this week, our visit there Saturday should be a good one (unless it‚s way crowded, which it likely will be). Hotel California is playing as background music here in the hotel bar. West invades East, but East fights back, since the beer is Tsing Tao. You gotta love this country! From Deyang, with happiness, Jeff |
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We‚re in the van right now, headed to Chengdu for pandas and a film studio visit. It‚s 8.30 a.m. The sky is as clear as it gets in Sichuan. We‚re primed for a good day. [Mathias Hanses, who studies history and classical languages, is a visiting graduate student from Muenster, Germany.] |
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| I'm stunned to think that one year ago tonight I was in this same city. Ball State University Singers performed one year ago last night and one year ago tonight to capacity audiences here in Muncie's sister city in China. How is it that, one year later, I'm nearing the mark of 1/7 of the last year of my life spent in this country? I must say-- it's good to be back in Deyang! The welcome is just as strong, the hospitality and eagerness of the people just as warm. Students are in home-stays here. We didn't have time today to canvass them, but I didn't hear any complaints, and I know I would have. The culture shock can be great, but our kids are resilient and adaptable. So we departed the riverside hotel (our central meeting point), at 9 a.m. today. Driving south, we passed through Chengdu, the provincial capitol, and on to Leshan, a riverside resort of 6 million people in their governmental district. After lunch (more on that in a few), we went to see the giant Buddha carved into the mountainside. The Leshan Giant Buddha is famous around the world, since it's the tallest Buddha now in existence. When I saw we went to see, I really should say we climbed to the top of the mountain, stepped into a Buddhist temple for a few minutes, then queued up to descend the mountain, with glimpses of Buddha along the way. When we got to the bottom, we did pictures. Then we climbed all the way back up the other side, then climbed halfway down yet again. My heartbeat has not been that high for that long in some time! I know that the two smokers in the group were taking some time to make the journey too. In the end, though, it was worth the trip, even more because of the small village that awaited us at the other side of the journey. Let's just say that we saw a real slice of rural China today, an older China that isn't anything at all like the sleek Shanghai or the sprawling, urban monstrosity that is Beijing. Dinner was in Chengdu. This wasn't our welcoming banquet, but the meal consisted of no less than 16 dishes, plus hot soy milk, plus local beer. Sichuan cooking is spicy. Dried red peppers are chopped in half and added to everything, it seems. Or pepper flakes are in the works. One of our lunch appetizers was cold pickled turnips with pepper flakes (yummy indeed!). Also at lunch: battered and fried chicken feet with peppers (surprisingly good), tofu with pepper paste on top, and stir-fried donkey with sticky rice, peanuts, and pepper pieces (in credibly good). Eel was served at dinner tonight, as was a sea cucumber soup. I declined to try both, as I was still thinking about eating donkey at lunch. At one point today, most of us slept on the long van rides south and then north. We also were in a terrific crush of people in the queue to see the Buddha, and even more on the stairs as we descended. Personal space just doesn‚t exist in public places in China. My friend Peter tells of bus and train travel where total strangers are pressed together and sleep on each others shoulders. I'll poast a picture of just such a scene, and also share that I had a 14-year-old kid asleep at my side, his head on my shoulder, for over an hour today as I read in the van on the way back from Leshan. There was black coffee at breakfast today! Deyang is Muncie's sister city for a reason-- it has industry, but it's in an agricultural region. As we left the city limits today, we were immediately faced with rice paddies. A few minutes later we had a water buffalo alert. Rice is incredibly labor-intensive. The fields are tended by hand. Locals in coolie hats wade in the flooded fields. And then we really notice those fields, and we see the infrastructure: dug-out sunken fields, raised walkways of compacted earth, small irrigation canals, dams. It's a whole new world for us mechanized, corn-loving Midwesterners. Tomorrow we leave at mid-morning for a town I've not visited, and then for the ancient relics excavation site nearby. It's a slower-paced day, with time for us to have class. We're talking humanitarian and inter-personal things this time. Two weeks in now. Mid-term is past. We're on the downward slope with but one more city to go. Until next time, Zai jian, Jeff |
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| As we came down from the mountains today, my Blackberry decided to go to China Unicom instead of China Telecom, and suddenly I can't send or receive emails on my hip. In a country where one never knows about the next email possibility, this is frustration indeed! Peking Duck for dinner tonight, along with some dern good boiled corn with pine nuts. We really should send a food-only email just so students can write about what they're eating. Our dinner tonight, for instance, also included a whole broiled fish in soy sauce with cilantro on top (and I mean the whole fish), spicy beef with peppers, egg drop soup with tomato, French fries, Beijing noodles with two choices of toppings, bok choy, and a fried and breaded chicken piece of some sort. Every meal has this much a) variety and b) possibility. After getting stuck in a major traffic slowdown this morning (thanks to an accident on the mountain roads), we reached the Great Wall at Badaling at about 11.20 a.m. This is the same portion I climbed last year. The gang had over an hour to walk and sketch and write and climb. We wish it could have been more, but the damn schedule got in the way. Still, the Great Wall is truly the great wall. Standing there in the dust of 800 years of this silent sentinel, one can't help but be awed and feel pretty small in comparison. As for me, every trip to China should include a walk on this world treasure. Lunch at a tourist trap. Then the Ming Tombs. I'd not been before, and I have hopes of returning one day when not with a large group so that I can explore this huge complex of burial vaults and temples with more ease and time. We had our class today in a dusty and rather untended garden outside of the tomb complex walls, with sycamore trees serving as a cooling canopy over us. Each of the students will have a copy of the group picture we took at the entrance to the Great Wall. I'll frame mine and put in my office at school. I also picked up a wonderful hand-drawn original of the Great Wall. This one will be added to the number of other prints I have at home of places I've visited. I could wallpaper a room with them, it seems. The University of Georgia marching band has crossed our paths twice in the last two days. We saw them today at the tourist lunch trap cum cloisonné factory. I saw a guy with a Phi Mu Alpha t-shirt on, and exchanged appropriate greetings. Later I saw another guy, with whom I spoke for a while. Some things truly are universal. Tomorrow we'll hit the last of the big things on our agenda, the Summer Palace of the Emporer, outside of Beijing. This is another first for me. We could tell a number of stories by now of the incessant chatter and noise made by people of the unruly, lane-flogging drivers (including our current bus driver) who lay on their horns when someone is in their way (and a LOUD horn it is here in Beijing); of the constant "what do you think it is?" questions at meals; of the impromptu bazaars that pop up nearly every time we leave the bus at a major destination; of the maddening change the usually peaceful and sure-paced citizens have when they get behind the wheel of a car; of the stares of those who see us moving herd-like as a group, and their smiles when we wave or smile at them. I'm attaching the usual photos. Mr. Ni is our travel host and long-time friend of Ball State from Shanghai Normal University. He didn't know I was snapping his pix as he gazed across the landscape. Most of the other pix are of funny signs in Chenglish, the rather mangled and mis-translated English we find everywhere. We keep laughing at these, as you can imagine. After three trips to China in a year, I've developed quite a collection of funnies. From Beijing, the sprawling once and always Chinese city, Zai jian, Jeff |
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Dear friends and family, I'll let Kevin start tonight's story: [Kevin Mealy is a sophomore history major.] This evening we visited an outdoor marketplace on one of Beijing's streets. While not exactly what the average Beijing resident would have for a meal, it was a far cry from what you'd get at an American Chinese buffet. Everything was on sticks or in styrofoam containers to ensure portability and encourage you to keep walking and keep buying. I went with banana bread dip ped in sugar, strawberries and kiwis on a stick, and a side of scorpion. It wasn't quite like Mom used to make, but it was good none the less. Like fried chicken but without much meat and more skin. [Editors note: Kevin is one of three guys who ate scorpion tonight. They report it tastes very much like extremely crunchy chicken. And they ate the whole thing, stinger included.]
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| Greetings from this most Chinese capitol! It's 9.30 p.m. and we've found a British-style pub just a 10-minute ride from our hotel. The pub has wi-fi Internet, so all is well right now. As we found out last night, soft sleeper train travel in China is luxurious, especially when compared to coach-class airline travel. We were four to a cabin in the last car of the Shanghai-Beijing Express. Four students from Pittsburgh were in the next cabin down. The adults closed up shop around 9.30 p.m., but the students kept going for a while. And then we slept . . . well. The journey was as delightful as a train trip through the night can be. So we arrived in Beijing at 6.55 a.m. By 8 a.m. we were at the hotel--it's a bit limp and certainly behind the times in modernity, but it's a three-star in Beijing and we shan't complain. Showers and freshness followed. By 9.30 we were off to the Temple of Heaven. After a bright and hot morning there, we lunched at some ethnic restaurant with dancers from southern China, then headed off to a hutong near the Drum Tower, northwest of the Forbidden City. Now I never expected to be in a rickshaw, but I was today. We saw a very different side of China this afternoon, then enjoyed a sumptous meal in a tiny restaurant. The cuisine is different here--more starch, and noodle-based rather than rice. Tomorrow - the Forbidden City. One week into the trip, we're starting to see some stretching of the group. Some of the students seem to view our excursion as a junket, a vacation, a tourist trip for which they've paid big money. They've indeed paid a great deal, but they've also paid for six hours of course work. This is, after all, a field study. Nihal and I are expecting study in the field, and discussion on a daily basis. Today some of the students faced that reality, and didn't seem to be very happy with it. So we have some work to do to bring people along in the next two weeks. All is well, nevertheless. We've not lost anyone for more than ten minutes, and that was one of the older members of the group who wandered off to the restroom and then ended up on the other side of the lagoon. He claims to have a small bladder. From Beijing, Zai jian, Jeff |
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| It's Mother's Day in the USA, or at least it will be in a few hours when the sun rises in the West. Many of the students have said something about being in China on this day. Others of us are mindful, if not acutely aware, of the reminder of loss we feel today. To all mothers who might read this missive today, a very happy Mother's Day. Before we stopped at West Lake yesterday in Hangzhou, we went to the nearby Lingyin Miao and garden. Buddhist images were carved from limestone in the Song dynasty, and have stood there for almost 1000 years. The temple itself was stunning, with a three-story tall Buddha in the first temple building. As we climbed upward toward higher temple buildings, we literally felt like we were climbing toward heaven. Some of the gang chose instead to climb the rock clif f where the carvings are. I'll let them tell their own stories about that! In today's post: story day! . . . So last night, Stephen Talbert (who has completed a grad degree) and Mathias Hanses (visiting master's scholar from Germany) and I decided to go to O'Malley's Irish Pub. I like to hit allegedly Irish-style pubs in various cities, so what can one do? I found out about this place, located in the old French Concession of Shanghai, from a Google search for wi-fi hot-spots in Shanghai. We arrived about 9.45 p.m. after a short taxi ride from the campus. We entered through a side gate to find an old colonial home to our left (looking like a transplant from the Hamptons) and a huge pavilion across the manicured lawn. Inside the pavilion, over a hundred British ex-pats screaming at the giant TV screen. Seems that Liverpool and West Ham were playing some soccer/football championship. For the next two hours we were treated to the glory (and taunting) of football fans run amuck. It was all very entertaining, especially the eight-year-old kid on the front row wildly waving his Liverpool flag every time his team did something good. Two Americans and a German, stumbling into an Irish pub in Shanghai, watching a crowd of crazed fans cheer on their team in a game seven time zones away . . . who'd have imagined? Story number two: Friday, 7 a.m. Shanghai time. This email to the Indiana Public Radio station manager back in Muncie: "I'm in Shanghai with a group of 16 Ball State students on a East Asia field study program. And you should know just how much I'm treasuring being able to listen to IPR from my hotel room here at the guesthouse. Wireless Internet is a wonderful thing! Thanks for reaching even this side of our tiny planet." Friday, 4.44 p.m. Shanghai time (4.44 a.m. Muncie time). This email back from Marcus Jackman: "Thanks for the uplift, Jeff. That's good to hear; helps a body finish the week strong, you know?" Friday, 5.14 p.m. Shanghai time. I reply: "Listening to you right now! How cool is this? Rainy, but stunning in the insights kids are gaining." It's 5.20 a.m. in Muncie, six minutes later. I've just laid down to rest, and IPR is streaming over the Internet on my computer. And I hear this voice from my computer. It's Marcus. "And we‚d like to say a special hello to Dr. Jeffrey Carter and the Ball State students on field study in China. Jeff's listening on line this morning from Shanghai. And Jeff, it's raining here too." I email back right away, just having jumped off the bed: "Damn! That was a shout heard 'round the world..........but it's 20 degrees warmer here. And it's China." Short story number three: Friday morning . . . we're sitting down for our morning class discussion . . . Jeff Leuenberger tells me there's someone in the dining room who knows me. I run downstairs, walk in the dining room, and find Paul Krasnovsky, choral director at University of Indianapolis, waiting for breakfast! Seems that Paul and some colleagues are here to plan exchange programs with Chinese universities. The day before, in McDonald's on HuaiHai Lu, Nihal had run into one of his dearest friends from grad school in London. They'd not seen each other for 17 years. Our world is truly getting smaller, in all the good ways. We're on a free day today, then off to Beijing by sleeper train. This could be a very rustic experience for us. And then, of course, we don't have opportunity to shower tomorrow morning when we arrive at 6.58 a.m. The pictures should all make sense if you read the captions. Mr. Ni is the international exchange person here at SHNU. He's an original witness to the agreement with BSU seventeen years ago, and he's been with us most every day this week. We're loving him very much! My next email may be a few days coming, since I'm not certain what possibility exists for wi-fi at our Beijing hotel. Off to post some postcards, take a walk, and enjoy this beautiful last day in Shanghai. From Shanghai on this Sunday, Grace and peace, And zai jian, Jeff |
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It's 6 a.m. We're leaving for Hangzhou in 90 minutes. * * * It's nearly 9 p.m. We've had a full day in the bus and in Hangzhou. Many of the students (and me) are headed out to the old French Concession for a bit of revelry. |
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It's 6 a.m. and the sun is shining brightly. Thanks be to God! * * * We've had a day of contrasts today! From the commercial and sleek new Pudong area, to the classic commercialism/consumerism of the Huaihai Lu merchandise bazaar, to a living and breathing Buddhist temple (Longhua Miao) , to Chinese acrobats it's been/is being a roller-coaster day. Ni Hao! Greetings from Shanghai! Ni Hao! Hao Jiu Bu Jian! (Long time no see!) I took a jog this morning, off of the beaten track at the University where we are staying. I ran along the streets of Shanghai as far as I dared go without getting lost. It‚s amazing how much was already going on at 6:00 a.m. Numerous members of the elder generation were already well immersed what I assume to be their morning ritual of Tai Chi. (For those of you unfamiliar with Tai Chi, the closest I can come to explaining it, is to compare it to a less physical, & more mental Yoga.) I found numerous breakfast foods being made fresh in front of me. On the way back I picked up what would equate to a sausage McMuffin with cucumber on it, a sausage pancake , ham pancake, half of a medium pizza, some rather sweet pastry, two sweet pork-filled dumplings, & a piece of sticky bread, all for barely over about 13 Yuan (kwai). Talk about a dollar menu! This all cost me barely over a U.S. dollar! I think we‚re almost at our destination. So, for now, |
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| We left the Guesthouse at 8 a.m. today, and have just returned this evening at 8.30 p.m. What a delightful day it's been! We set out in heavy traffic on the main highway artery road this morning, and 75 minutes later (but only 30 kilometers) arrived at the Shanghai Museum. We spent the better part of two hours there. I'd been before, so I skipped the incredible collection of ancient bronzes and the calligraphy area, and went instead to the jade exhibit, then the Chinese furniture. This museum is considered the best in China. I agree. Across the street and a short walk through People's Square is the Shanghai Urban Planning Building, with a stunning diorama of urban Shanghai. One guide calls it "an amazingly accurate model of the city." I agree. It's worth the visit. A bus ride led us to Yu Yuan, part of the old city of Shanghai. While it's a tourist trap, it's a fun one, with buildings that make you feel as if you're in an ancient town. See for yourself. We had lunch a la carte noodles, fried dumplings, boiled lotus root, asparagus for me, while some of the students were truly adventurous. Shopping followed! And STARBUCKS. (OK, OK, but please understand that we've not had coffee for three days now...) And then we headed back into the commercial fray to "full frontal Shanghai," otherwise known as Nanjing Road. We sat the students down right there on the pedestrian walkway and had a short class meeting. Before you could blink, we were surrounded by curious, staring, silent Chinese. They watched us, in shifts it seemed, the entire 15 minutes we sat there. And then we struck out. The charge was to see things not as tourists, not as consumers, but as observers and learners. We'll see how the students did at our 8 a.m. meeting on Thursday. Japanese noodle dinner . . . walk to the Bund . . . cruise on the Huang Pu River . . . our first sight of something other than overcast sky (the moon over the Pearl Tower was pretty cool). Thus ended the formal day. Take a look at the pictures. I hope the captions will help frame the sites. We're starting to dig deeper, which is why we're here. The questions are moving away from "what's for dinner‚" to "why does . . .‚" or "how do . . .‚" or "can you explain . . .," or better yet "did you notice . . . ?" Nihal and I find this very encouraging. From the Eastern Hemisphere to all who read this back home, |
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| To all back home in the Western Hemisphere: We've just completed our first full day in Shanghai. It's 7.30 p.m. here, but 12 hours earlier in most of Indiana. As the students are preparing to go out, which I think means exploring and perhaps finding clean mischief, our family at home is just rising for a day of work. We've had rain today, but that didn't dampen the mood. Shanghai Normal University lives at two campuses. We're staying at the older one on Guilin Lu, where we toured this morning. After lunch (and a nap for me) we left for the newer campus about an hour south of here. Then the miracle hit. A sleepy bunch of jet-lagged US college students were transformed as they spent two hours talking with Chinese students of English. We had an hour of individual conversations in the style of an ‘English Corner, a tour of the library, and a long walk to their student center. All along the way our students and their students did what the Chinese call "talk ideas and exchange informations." I'm always convinced: we change the world one person at a time. Conversation between two individuals is the best way to start. After an hour's ride back, we had just enough time to change into finer clothes before the official welcoming banquet, hosted by the VP for International Programs, Professor Lu. A sumptuous meal ensued-- no less than ten dishes arrived after the six appetizers. We had the usual ceremonial toasts, then ended with a gift exchange and with pictures on the grand staircase here in the guesthouse. The flight yesterday was uneventful save for the extra hour in the air, due to headwinds. A 14-hour journey stretched to 15 non-stop hours. We took the shortest route from Chicago to Shanghai, which m eans going almost literally over the North Pole. Sleep came easily to some, but for others (including me) the flight was a wearying one. Last night I took 12 of the gang to Nanjing Lu. We'd barely finished our first dinner and had time for a shower, but I was determined to have the students experience what I love to call "full frontal Shanghai" the crass, gaudy, and stunning neon-lit commercial heart of Shanghai. And of course, who spent the first shopping money? Me. I saw some sandals that screamed my name. Less than $20 later, they were mine. Did you know you can get Haagen Dasz ice cream in Shanghai? Mango was a hit last night. And did you know that a group of American college students walking down Chinese sidewalks draws stares of disbelief? Thankfully no one wrecked their bike in the process today. I'll attach a few pix. One is from the Shanghai airport after we'd cleared Immigration. Another is of the group at the large conference table this afternoon, exchanging conversations. In the close-up photo, I'm with Lydia, our hostess today, and Nihal Perera, my co-director on this field study. While it's not yet 8 p.m., I feel my day drawing to a close, so I'll stop. The noise in the guesthouse hallway has abated, meaning the kids have gone out for the evening. Until later this week, Zai jian from Shanghai, Jeff |
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© 2006 Jeffrey Carter