We Made It!

Jess — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 10:39:54 +0000

It’s official, we have been in Qufu since Friday afternoon. Dana and Lauren were dropped off at the Xingtan campus first. Charlee, Lisa, Allie, Steven, and I were then taken to Qushida– our home for the next year. We share a wonderful apartment complex with three other American women (Lisa S., Tarah, and Alison), a Russian woman (who lives here with her husband and son), and a French woman (who has yet to arrive). Even though we all miss our friends and family back home, I think it’s safe to say that we are all so incredibly happy to be here.

Charlee and Lisa start teaching their sophomores tomorrow. Allie begins her classes at the high school on Wednesday, and Steven starts next week. In a minor bit of shocking news, I won’t be teaching until the end of September because I’m teaching freshman and they have to complete their military training first. That leaves me with the question of what to do with myself for the next month. I will definitely be visiting the other teachers classes to observe, as well as trying to prepare as many lesson plans as possible. But given that a month is a long time, I may also try to visit some friends and family in Beijing and Tianjin. Apparently there is an express train to Beijing that only costs about thirty dollars.

Speaking of costs, one of the biggest thrills for us is how cheap things are here. For example, Charlee, Allie, and I went to lunch today, and paid 2 yuan each (That’s the equivalent of about 30 cents) for three heaping plates of food. Additionally, a fifteen minute cab ride in Qufu, for any number of people ends up being about 6-7 yuan. It’s going to be a while before any of us stop seeing the charm in cab rides that cost the equivalent of 1 US dollar.

Another fun thing about Qufu is the driving. Back home, that double yellow line on the road is a pretty strict indicator to stick to your side. But here in China it’s really more of a suggestion. Also, do not be mistaken, here in Qufu pedestrians do not have the right of way. And if you are so bold as to behave as if you do have the right of way, you’d better be prepared to run, because that car, bus, or motorbike is not going to slow down.

There’s so much more to tell, but I have to run for now. Dana, Lauren, and Gen (a Xingtan student we’ve all made friends with) are coming over for dinner in twenty minutes and I haven’t started cooking. But I’ll post again soon.

Almost there…

nickcf — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:17:56 +0000

I believe that, being the furthest West (Seattle), I’ll be the last one to fly – if only by a few hours. The countdown however, is most certainly on. my first flight leaves in almost exactly seven hours, and I’m not really sure how to feel about that.

One of my favorite movie quotes I feel is appropriate here, given the endless goodbye which has been the last two days:

“A year is an awful long time…” “-not so long; just once around the sun.”

a few hours to go

erosler — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:15:38 +0000

Three months, fifteen days, four hours and some odd minutes ago, I started a countdown on my computer. I had months to comprehend the idea that I really would, in fact, be leaving for a year in China. I’ve been excited from the beginning, but nervous nonetheless. Having attended boarding school in high school, I’ve lived away from home eight months out of the year since I was fourteen, but my family has never been more than a hundred miles away. Will I be able to manage six thousand plus?

Six hours, thirty-five minutes, and some odd seconds remain before my plane takes off. I’ve said see you in a year to friends and family, afraid goodbye might mean much more. I’m nervous of what’s to come. A type of nervousness that pushes me to step beyond what is normal and comfortable; a nervousness that makes me want to both vomit and smile at the same time. But though I’ve readied myself to leave, I’ve yet to truly say hello to the life I’ll live for the next year. A Tennessee Williams advised, “Make voyages! Attempt them… There is nothing else.” And so I begin my journey.

Taking long last looks at everything

lucymara — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:02:10 +0000

As I sit here, at my kitchen table I can’t believe what awaits me in the next 48 hours (flight time inlcluded). Lately I’ve found myself washing my hands wondering if the hot water in China will come on as fast as the hot water in St. Louis. Doubtful. I have always performed these little everyday tasks without a thought, but in the last week I’ve started to contemplate every comfort I have here in the U.S. I’ve certainly taken things for granted, like Itunes for instance. I don’t know if this will be as big of a shock to everyone else as it has been for me, but after consulting an acquaintance who has lived in China for three years I was comforted to find out that Itunes works in China. Then last night, quite nonchalantly, my brother asked me if I had heard that China had blocked the Itunes store because of an album the government wasn’t too happy about. I’ll leave that at that. Anyway, I don’t think my brother expected the reaction he got. Normally I rely on getting my music by other means, but if I can’t find it Itunes has always been my fall back option, my safety net. And now it’s gone! I’ve experienced culture shock before even leaving.

As for packing and preparations and such, I thought I was bringing just the essentials, but it turns out the essentials are, well… all of my clothes, multitudes of books, tapestries in case my apartment is just a little too glum, my old teddy bear, pez dispensers for gifts, and just about everything else. The only thing I have skimped on is toiletries, figuring I can get relatively decent shampoo and face wash in China. I suppose the only question I have for everyone is about over the counter medicine. Because they are in fact over the counter I have no prescriptions for the thousands of pills I am bringing. I have dispersed them throughout my luggage so the authorities don’t falsely place an “intent to sell” on them or anything like that….but I am still worried. Any suggestions?

I can’t wait to see all of you in San Fran!!!!!!!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

ccvg — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:45:04 +0000

As the closing ceremonies for the Olympics play in the background, I am sitting at my laptop triple-checking that everything is ready for my trip tomorrow. I feel that the ceremony doesn’t represent the end of the Olympics, rather it marks our beginning-our welcome into China and everything it has to offer. I know that all of us will be challenged and changed throughout the year, and I am really looking forward to hearing from all of you throughout our many individual and collective experiences. I wish very much that Travis and I could travel with the rest of you to China; it would be nice to have another opportunity to come together as a whole before we start teaching on our own campuses. We’ll see you soon though-you should come visit us in the south!

Safe travels everyone! I’ll see you all in China!!

And the packing begins…

kvaruce — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:01:56 +0000

Olivia-I was blown away when I read that you will be bringing 25 books with you. I thought “How is she going to pack all of those?!” But as I scramble about my room, working up a sweat and using my puzzle solving skills (very handy for packing), I discovered a neat trick. Most suitcases have a nylon cover that lays over the bottom of the suitcase, covering the plastic poles of the handle. The bars create an uneven surface, leaving pockets of space that can and should be utilized. Guess what fits perfectly, and depending on the width, creates an even surface for the bottom of your suitcase….BOOKS! Give it a try.

To everyone else, good luck with packing and I’ll see you in a few days!

Three days and counting…

ojanczyk — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:09:01 +0000

China. I don’t know exactly what made me jump into this program. It was never something I considered until I saw a poster on campus announcing the meeting. Perhaps it was because everything was arranged for me, thanks to the lovely Sandra Welter. Or maybe I just knew I wasn’t ready for a job anywhere on this side of the planet. So I took this teaching job in China and here I am. Three days away from the big move. Three days? Really? I’m overwhelmed. To be honest, the fact that I will be teaching English to a classroom full of fifty Chinese students has not even been on my mind. I just don’t have time to think about what I will say to the fifty eager faces staring at me on the first day of class. Three days away, and I’m more concerned with how I’m going to shove all my belongings into two lousy suitcases, including the twenty-five books I have purchased as leisure reading to pass the time (if there would ever be a time I could manage to read Moby Dick, this would be it!). It’s been difficult for me to decide which toiletries are absolutely necessary to transport, and which I can just purchase when I land. After a month debating each and every toiletry, I still don’t have an answer. I will just have to see how much junk I could fill my suitcase with before it exceeds the ridiculous fifty-pound limit.

Packing aside, the biggest concern I have been obsessing about is that I don’t speak Mandarin. Not one word. Well, that might be a lie. Thanks to Rosetta Stone, the ultimate language instructor, I can now say, “they are swimming.” Or so I think. Rosetta Stone doesn’t provide any translation; the general idea of the program is that by using pictures and constant repetition, you can pick up the meaning as if you were an infant learning your first language. Sounds brilliant, but I’m not so sure I’m completely grasping these meanings. It is very possible that instead of saying, “they are swimming,” I am actually saying, “they are drowning.” I guess the best way to find out if I’m right is to test it out when I land in China; depending on the reactions, I’ll know for certain whether I’m right or wrong.

Oops…

stephanielaurenblock — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:34:12 +0000

Well, I think it’s safe to say I had the first blogging mishap in the group. I should really check my post once it’s published because the unfinished sentence I posted before didn’t make me appear exceedingly lucid. Anyway, I’m glad I just read the blog because it staved off a mini-meltdown that was going on in my head. I read a book about living abroad in China the other day, and it completely freaked me out – especially the part about needing business cards (is anyone bringing them?). I now have an irrational fear that I’m about to cause an international diplomatic incident if I forget to take a proffered business card with both hands. On a separate note, I think I’ve just earned another undergrad degree trying to figure out the difference between a converter and adapter, and whether or not it will fry my computer if I plug it in – best buy and office depot might want to throw this information into their training program as the advice from their associates has been less than helpful . If anyone has had success in finding a converter/adapter (or could explain the difference) I’d be eternally grateful. Despite all my whining, I do feel pretty okay on the packing front. This has been a great way to learn what I don’t think I could live without (apparently sugar free gum ranks pretty high).

Good luck to everyone in these last few days – I can’t wait to see you all in San Francisco!

You’re going WHERE?!

nickcf — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:16:58 +0000

So this is my first attempt at a post, hopefully it works!

I haven’t been following the blog as close as I would have liked, the last few days have been hectic. Hello to all of you who didn’t know I was even coming (don’t worry, I didn’t know until the end of June myself)! I was turned onto a last minute opening at Xintan by Karrin in June, and sent Sandy an email saying I was interested in hearing more about the possibility of joining the trip that late in the game… And after not checking my email for a few days I came back to find two emails from Sandy: The first stating something similar to, “Nick, glad to hear you’re interested! I’ve forwarded your resume and cover letter to China. Best of luck.” And the second email explaining that I flew out August 26th, and that there were several health forms I would need to have filled out, by tomorrow if possible…

And so I find myself joining this wonderful group of people on the adventure of a lifetime – good thing too, my life plans hadn’t made it past summer camp!

Before I start droning on, I had an observation/question for the group which I wanted to raise. I have encountered on several occasions some instances of cultural “insensitivity” toward the upcoming travels, and was wondering if anyone else had experienced the same? Specifically I have encountered on two occasions now people wondering why on earth I would want to ever travel to China, even to the point of them thinking it was stupid that I do so. I was mildly taken aback by these encounters, especially because they came from people I didn’t expect them to. Of course now as I try and write about it, I’m having trouble recalling what exactly about the encounters caught me off guard, but maybe someone else will be able to articulate more clearly what I mean?

On a different note, It’s Friday and I still need to unpack from my summer, go shopping, and re-pack. It’s going to be a crazy few days…

Can’t wait to see all of you!

-Nick

Will there be ice cream in China?!

kvaruce — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:19:26 +0000

Wow, this whole blog thing is way beyond me and my technological abilities. So we’re at 5 days and counting. I continue to experience alternating waves of unbelievable excitement and sudden panic and anxiety. Everyone keeps asking if I’m all packed and ready to go. Am I the only one who doesn’t pack two weeks ahead of time? I also have yet to absorb anything other than Hello in Mandarin from my language discs. This should be interesting…

p.s. People keep asking if I’m going to miss my parents, being away from them for a whole year. My response: “My parents? Nah. But I’m devastated by the thought of not seeing my dogs for eleven months.”