The Finish Line

Well, we are winding down now and only have two weeks left in the program. I have spent the last two weeks doing intensive language study and tomorrow I take my final test.

 

This whole experience has been more than I can imagine. I have learned a lot, seen a lot and done a lot. I am thankful for every moment, but I don't believe I could be more excited to go home. Perhaps the biggest thing I have learned on this trip is an appreciation for home. Many of the other group members want to stay longer or come back and teach or live here, but I am thankful for America and our opportunities.

 

I have had a great time, but in all honesty I don't believe I will come back for any extended period of time. I have grown a lot as an individual and changed a lot in my plans for the future. I feel closer to my roots and closer to home and I believe that is where my heart is.

 

China has been both wonderful and challenging, I do believe I will miss the cheap prices and dumplings. But, it is safe to say that there is a lot I won't miss. I feel like it isn't okay to talk about the bad when I have been so fortunate to see a part of the world when others don't have that chance. But study abroad isn't a fairy tale, it isn't the kind of adventure that leaves you unchanged. I have a lot of pet peeves now that have either made me more or less patient. I have seen some very disturbing things that I will never unsee. But I believe all of our experiences in life happen for a reason and I am so thankful.

 

My advice for those planning to go abroad is to be prepared to be unprepared. There are things people can't explain and things you may see or experience, both good and bad, that no one can prepare you for. Embrace those moments. Strangely enough, for the majority of this trip I have hardly felt like I was in a foreign country aside from not understanding people completely. And I believe that is because we are all people and no matter how different things seem on paper, we are all very alike in more ways than we are different.

 

April

 

 

Fun Chinese Signs

Pictures Weeks 8, 9 and 10

I am a fail of updating...

Sorry I haven't updated much!

So we just finished our field trip where we went to:

Weibaoshan

Shibaoshan

Dali

Lijiang

Shaxi

and Shangrila

 

It was a great time and pictures speak louder than words. At Weibaoshan we learned about Yi people and stayed on a Daoist mountain. At Dali we learned about Bai people, in Shaxi we stayed with a rural Bai family. In Shibaoshan we stayed at a Buddhist temple where there was a monkey preserve. In lijiang we learned about Naxi people, attendended a religious Dongba ceremony and listened to traditional music. In Shangrila we learned about Tibetan people, went to an orphanage, spoke with a Lama, and visited a Monestary.

 

That basically sums up the last few weeks, now I am back in Kunming and will be doing language classes until the 28th.

Field Trip

OK I apologize it has been a long time since I have posted but the Internet is sketchy.

 

So there has been a lot going on the last two weeks on our field trip across Yunnan Province; in the past two weeks I have:

 

-climbed a mountain

-sat with a monkey

-hid food from monkeys

-slept in a temple

-listened to a Bai traditional concert and did a traditional Bai dance

-lived in rural China

-hoed a field in China

-talked to a real Tibetan Lama (not the animal)

-hiked down a mountain

-saw statues dating to 800AD

-turned an Indian restaurant into a dance floor

-went to a traditional Naxi concert

-saw a Dongba shaman ceremony

-attended a traditional Bai festival for the god of wealth

-and went to a tie dye factory

 

and we still have 3 more days!!

 

I will give an in depth report when we return to Kunming. On this trip, in two weeks, we have been to: Weibaoshan, Dali, Shibaoshan, Shaxi (Sideng), Lijiang, and Shangrila.

 

Details soon :)

April

 

 

Week 6&7 - City Homestay

So the past two weeks i have been living with a Han Chinese family in Kunming. The mother is a teacher, the father is a police officer and they have an 8 year old boy. The father's parents are also living with them temporarily.

 

I love the mother and grandmother. The mother teaches English and is a very strong woman. She grew up on a farm and moved to the city to teach. We have had lots of interesting personal conversations about her life and her feelings about Chinese women. And the grandmother is just a very sweet old lady that is a lot of fun.

 

The father is not around very often sometimes working nights, sometimes days, so it has been hard to set an opinion about him or learn that much. The grandfather is also quiet and I think a little more hindered by the language barrier than the grandmother.

 

 The child is a terror to be conservative. The single most misbehaved and undisciplined being I have ever met... however he is 8... and a boy... so I do understand what that means and I do feel for his mother. But in the 2 weeks I have been here the child has squirted random passer-bys with waterguns from the window, wrote "you are crazy" on the bed sheets, hit his mother and ran around the house half naked because he had to take a bath instead of playing video games, and sat in front of the TV until he had to be physically removed to do his homework.

Typical little kid stuff?

 

Anyway... it brought up a very enlightening conversation about the "one child policy" (note: this is an American term, the Chinese have never called it a "one child policy" nor is it one) I thought after learning and talking with a lot of women here, Americans might be interested to know some facts of the birth control policy in China.

 

1) If each parent is an only child than they may chose to have another child

2) Because property laws pass property to the son, many counties will allow a family to have a 2nd child if the first is a girl

3) Rural residents may have 2 or 3 based on the province

4) Many woman (almost ALL of who I have talked to) like girls and also only want one child

5) Minorities (those who are not Han) are not bound by these laws so they can increase their dwindling population (i.e Tibetans can have basically as many kids as they want)

6) The policy basically only comes down to affecting 35% of the population

 

I thought some people might like to know some facts, I won't tell people what to think. I think what matters is how the Chinese people think and even those that are allowed more than one child have said they don't want another.

 

One issue that was brought up that I find funny is the "little emperor syndrome" where basically little boys think they are kings... I have found this very evident in my homestay brother. ><

 

So I have one more weekend here and then it is off on our 2 week field trip and rural homestay. I will post pictures of the apartment and family when I have access to my own computer again :)

 

Zaijian!

April

Lijiang Pictures: Week 5