Kunming to Shanghai

Dear Friends
August 3rd, 2009

I was especially excited for this Monday morning. This was the first day of enrollment in the Yunnan University’s HSK class. The classes were scheduled to begin at 8:30 A.M. The administrator in the office informed me of the four different language level classes offered. I was assigned to the second level; however, I was told that if I thought it was too difficult or easy I could switch classes. I initially tried out the intermediate course. There were two other students besides me in a very compact classroom. The male teacher was very friendly and had interesting subjects such as ethnic minorities and dialect. I also felt very comfortable with my language ability in terms of listening and vocabulary. However, I thought being here in China is the perfect time to get out of my comfort zone, so I decided to pick up my stuff and walk down the hall to the next level up. I should mention here that the language schedule is from 8:30 A.M to 12:30 P.M. The time is split into two parts. The first two hours, I met an older female teacher, Zhou Laoshi. She was intimidating at first. She spoke at a pace that also made it almost impossible to understand her clearly. Part of this reason was that she was referencing a dialogue and new, unfamiliar vocabulary that I had not reviewed. I didn’t even have the textbook. I basically walked in half blind folded. She also couldn’t speak a word of English, so to get clarification was to have an explanation in Chinese. The second teacher was male and this class went much smoother. Even though I was without a textbook, my classmate let me look at his as we covered a new lesson’s vocabulary and dialogue. In addition, his style was not lecture based, but very interactive with opportunities for us to come up to the front of the room to perform real-life skits. The classroom was very popular; almost every seat was filled. However, the total number of international students that were participating in the program was no more than 20-30. The students had a diverse background: Italy, France, South Korea, Thailand, England, and the U.S.A. I associated the small enrollment to the current financial crisis, which has made everyone more finically conscious. In addition, the class sizes were fairly small – no more than 8 to 10 students per class.

The afternoon, Dean, my roommate, and I went to the Yunnan University Supermarket to buy some writing supplies – notepads, mechanical pencils, pens, and a pocket-sized Chinese-English Dictionary.

Inside the courtyard of the foreign student dormitory, there is a bookstore specifically for HSK students. I had decided to commit to the third-level Chinese language course, and I received three textbooks – oral, listening, and the primary textbook for the class.

That late afternoon, I over exerted myself studying and preparing. The two classes combined had introduced a total of 80 new characters. I decided to take my notepad and write each character 5 to 6 times with English definitions. This was a several hour project I had put on myself, and furthermore my teacher did not require it. My thinking was that I wanted to get back into the habit of writing characters. There was homework that had also been assigned. I went over to my newly met Italian friends dorm where I spent the last evening working with them on the assignment. Simply put, it is school in August with a language twist.

August 4, 2009

Monday night, we set Dean’s cell phone alarm at 6:30 A.M, so we would have time to go to the Yunnan University’s cafeteria before class. The class layout was similar to Monday. We went over our assigned homework and reviewed the grammar from lesson three. We also went into the next lesson (4) that had 50 new characters. The pace of the class is very rapid. To compare, at Seattle University we complete a lesson about every week or two. I think a good metaphor would be comparing the speed of a car to a plane. We were notified that the second teacher would not be arriving due to the unanticipated weather; hence, we got out of class early. I spent it reviewing the new lesson and marking the words in my dictionary.

The prior weekend and Monday, I was very fortunate with gorgeous blue skies; however, that came to end with a dark overcast weather. During class, it began pouring cats and dogs with lighting sticks directly overhead. Kunming is a city that is encompassed by mountain ranges, which means that thunderstorms can sometimes become stagnant overhead. The mountain ranges can act as a glass bowl that holds water or weather fronts.

After lunch with the South Korean students, Dean and I returned back to the dorm and took a highly needed nap.

At 4:00 P.M, I went with a South Korean Professor studying Mandarin to go meet some other foreign students at a distant bus stop, which we planned to go to a popular tourist destination. Long story short, the students and teacher we planned to meet never showed. It actually turned out that there was a miscommunication about the meeting place.

In the evening, I studied with the two Italian students – Lorenzo and Antonio. There were many new and unfamiliar characters, and we went over the dialogue together. At this point, I would say that we have become a study group. I am very happy that I have met them; they have been very helpful through this learning curve period.

August 5, 2009

By Wednesday, I began to get into a routine of life in YNU (Yunnan University). On the topic of food, a student has two options to choose from – eat on-campus or off-campus limian chifan haishi waimian chifan. At the start of the language program, we were given 100 RMB campus cards that could be used at the campus cafeteria and supermarket. The advantage to the Shitang Cafeteria was the unbeatably cheap price. The food in my opinion was as good as the price I paid. The first few days, Dean and I ate there for almost every meal. It became a struggle for me personally, and started craving either some real Chinese food or a little Western food. Obvious, eating at Shitang was not a habit that I grew into.

For breakfast, we went to two small restaurants (more like fast food Chinese bars). We bought on occasion an oily break stick (that is that actually translation) and an egg waffle, jidanbing. This is great as to have other options than only eating hard-boiled eggs and the rice version of oatmeal, which can get old fast.

I also got a feel for the classroom routine. This is the layout of our schedule.

M T W TH F

Chinese Middle Level General Class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Morning 8:30 – 10:10

发展汉语中级汉语

Spoken Chinese – Pre-Intermediate 1, 4 Morning 10:20 – 12:00

汉语口语 提高

Listen Comprehension Chinese 2, 5 Morning 10:20 – 12:00

汉语听力教程 第二册

I will point out that the most difficult subject is the listening comprehension and answering the multiple-choice questions. This is partly due to the extensive amount of new characters we have learned, but I have been slow to catch up. The listening aspect has always been a weakness of mine, but that just motivates me to study and listen more concretely. I explained to the teacher after class about some of my challenges and what I feel I need extra help on to take my language skills to the next level. She first told me that my obstacles were not unique; that everyone is class had similar problems. She also reminded me that everyone in the class had studied the language for 3 years or longer; I was the exception at 2 years. I asked here is she would be willing to meet me after class to help answer some of my questions and practice speaking some of the dialogues. She told me that she would not be able to meet everyday, but she would meet me tomorrow.

It is also amazing how 3.5 hours of studying can feel like a intensive mind workout. After lunch, I would feel utterly exhausted. Some days I took an afternoon nap just to recuperate. For instance, I would crash from 1:30 to 6:00 P.M.

That evening, I met Lorenzo outside the lobby, and joined him, as he was about to go shopping for some fruits and another easy digestible food products for Antonio. Supposedly, Antonio was having severe stomachaches.

As he returned back to the dorm, I went to the Shitang Cafeteria for dinner. I met an undergraduate student studying at Kunming Normal University, which was directly across the street. We spent the late evening discussing my major and her family in Northern China and her studies in Business Management. One topic that was actively discussed was how almost everything in Kunming, perhaps China, was wrapped, bottled, sealed in plastic. I explained why recycling was not a complete win-win situation, because most of the plastics manufactured were unrecyclable. I explained a little about the Texas-sized gyre in the Pacific Ocean full of plastic and the ripple effects up the food chain. We also discussed China’s shortage of clean water. It was a fascinating conversation, but it appeared that she had more or less a little understand of the topic, but was very interested in learning more about it and my thoughts.

I returned to the lobby and met two faculty professors, Xie Laoshi and Yang Laoshi. Yang Laoshi was the first teacher I met on Monday morning. His class was the one that I switched out of, but he still remained a friendly person that I saw occasional across campus and around the dormitory. The two professors were managing a foreign study abroad group from Oklahoma. When I heard Oklahoma mentioned I was a little surprised by the state. You don’t hear Oklahoma having a large Chinese population, but I think it illustrated that the Chinese cultural and language has caught a broad interest from even the most agricultural section of the U.S. In my opinion, it is becoming a language without borders. The professors were making the final arrangements for the students as they planned to travel to Dali around 8 A.M the following day.

I saw Lorenzo come down the stairs into the hallway and asked where he was going (the most common question foreign abroad students ask each other). He said he was going to go get dinner, and asked if I could accompany him to a nearby restaurant that I suggested.

Lorenzo and I still had not even began our homework assignments and decided to do it when we returned back to the dorm. However, it turned out that Antonio flu-like symptoms were getting worse. I few minutes after we returned, Antonio almost passed out in the bathroom. At that point we decided it was necessary to go to the Kunming Hospital to have him checked out. I got a taxi pulled up for them to the entrance and decided to accompany them to the emergency room since I had some experience back in Lijiang. I knew the routine of payment first, doctor’s office, blood draw, X-Ray, return to doctor’s office for prognosis, treatment recommendations, and prescriptions, and finally to the pharmacy. And it turned out this was the exact same procedure at this Kunming Hospital.

Something else to note is how open medical care is in Chinese hospitals. Unlike in the U.S.A where every person is assigned to a room, everything here is public and open for observation. The emergency room was one large, open space was dozens of medical beds. I would assume privacy is considered a luxury in Chinese hospitals. We witnessed a man undergoing CPR from several doctors and nurses, and by the time we left he had died. I remember hearing the older brother breaking out into tears along side 70 other patients and family members cramped together. The emergency room was very small and every voice could be heard. It was a room echoed by the sounds of suffering, pain, and misery.

At this point, I hope that the prescribed medication for Sam would provide him some relief to his upset stomach and nausea.

The homework had to wait of course, but that was the least of my concerns. I felt assisting Lorenzo and Antonio in making sure they get proper medical care was far more important than a simple Chinese questionnaire. J

August 7th, 2009

I am going to skip a few days because the rest of the week was fairly typical and a lot of it was also acclimating to the new intensive study environment.

I do have a little tip bit for Chinese foreign travels on diet. One thing that can easily irritate a foreigner’s stomach is the consumption of too much bread. I can remember one lunch, I ate two loafs of baked bread because I was still hungry; however, I just overdosed on carbohydrates which made for a very uncomfortable rest of the day. The key word here is moderation.

Shortly afterwards, I had a tutor lesson with the professor. We discussed in more detail my struggle with the listening comprehension. She said she would lend me a cassette player she I could listen to the lesson in my spare time next Monday. I also explained I wanted to improve me speaking ability specifically with tones. We read through one of the dialogues, character by characters. She stopped me several times with corrections until I got it right. We also went through a new lesson’s vocabulary. She told me that she would be willing to meet me on a regular basis except Tuesdays. We planned on every Monday and Thursday at 1:30 P.M for one hour. I was glad to hear this considering that she was putting this time aside after almost 4 hours of teaching for only 40 RMB (~$5.00) per hour because she wants to see me succeed.

August 8th, 2009

Saturday brought two new students to the language program – one from Hungary and South Korea. The Hungary student, Bruno, had studied Chinese for four years; it was his major at his university. I also learned that Sarah, a good friend of both Dean and I, who was from Austria, was not only studying Chinese, but it was also her major as well. It turned out that they were both attending a yearlong language program at different Chinese universities – in Chengdu and Wuhan - based on scholarships they had received.

Sarah, Dean, and I went to the Da Guang Park in Kunming. It was a beautiful theme park. There was a garden right next to the entrance, which had unique varieties flora. The flora looked as if they were direct replicates of plants from traditional Chinese paintings. Another section was a Chinese version of a mini Disney Land Park. There was an enormous Ferris wheel that could overlook the whole city, a two-story merry go-round, and many large, screamer-like roller coasters.

That night, Sarah treated us to dinner for Western-style hamburgers at the French Café. It was the first time in 8 plus weeks that I ate a hamburger or for that matter any substantial amount of meat.

Sam had scheduled a small reunion and birthday celebration at the French Café. I went there early, but I didn’t see him. I didn’t have a cell phone or any communication except email, which made the situation a little troublesome. I also didn’t have a watch. I was time illiterate. I went back to my dorm, got my computer and hauled to the courtyard where there is wireless access to double check the location. It turned out I had gone to the right place, but I had just missed them.

I returned to the French Café and met Same Massie and his girlfriend, Zin. We went to another bar, where we celebrated his 22nd birthday, which was on August 7th with Xuanyang, Frank, the student who Sam stayed with in Kunming, and Frank’s younger sister.

The bar was a famous tourist attraction. All the local foreigners went there to hang out. We ordered several large cheese pizza and several bottles of Dali beers. The beer was for when we made a clumsy mistake as we played three hilariously fun Chinese games: the frog game, the name game, and the pirate game. I will explain this when I get back home. It is definitely worth learning.

We went to a dance club that night that was within walking distance from the French Café. The street was named Kundu and serves the nightlife hotspot of the city.The club we went to had an African D.J playing Western – English - music. Inside, the club was literally bouncing. The handing lights were actually swinging back and forth. The club was jam packed with 400 young Chinese people drinking and dancing. Then, all of a sudden, a hip-hop song that I was unfamiliar with had the lyrics ‘It’s Your Birthday.’ Sam noticed the small dance platform was vacant, not a soul was using it. We decided to give it a try since the song was absolutely perfect for the occasion. We took the small dance platform that over looked the crammed house of China’s youth generation. Without hesitation, we just danced. The crowed loved us for one of two reasons: Either we danced well or we were three waiguoren (forigners) who were absolutely horrible, but entertaining for trying. The crowd was lively and for whatever the reason, I simply put aside any self-consciousness and just had fun with it. We swayed our hands along with a few other hand moves. And it got a response from the crowd, it seemed as if about a fifth of the mass followed along. They loved watching three foreigners get their grove on.

Again, the location was called Kundu (昆都)。It is nothing less than a vibrant, energetic part of Kunming that dances through the night. In the late hours of the night, this is the spot, which everyone likes to migrate to. The block is swirling with lights and blasting music from a least a dozen different dance clubs. The best part is free emissions, but there is a catch. The cost of alcohol and other beverages are about 3 - 5 times more expansive.

The following week:

August 10th, 2009

After Monday’s class was dismissed, it turned out that all recipients of the HanBan Scholarship at Yunnan University received an extra 500 RMB as spending money. I was glad to have extra cash, especially since that money could go directly to pay for my private tutoring sessions with my teacher. Zhou Laoshi charged 40 RMB for an hour, which is $5.00 USD, which meant I could get about a total of 10 hours for 400 RMB. In any case, it was still a bargain in my books.

August 13th, 2009

Thursday night, Antonio and Lorenzo invited Sarah and I to join them at Nicholas’s Apartment for a late traditional, homemade Italian dinner. I had met Nicholas at Yunnan University a few times before, who was also studying Chinese. He was in the beginning level, and his classroom was directly across from ours. Nicholas was also from Italy, and he came to Kunming less than a month ago with plans to stay for a year. His roommate was Polish who had already lived in Kunming for a year. He was in his late 20’s, and had a lot of work experience in China with a trading company. He was now in Kunming primarily to study the language, and only planned to leave when he was fluent. He commented that it could take another 2 or 3 years until that level is reached.

The appetizer was a treat. It was sliced Italian bread with garlic and tomato paste. We had a little downtime between the appetizer and the main course meal. I got to describe my internship at the LGEC and various things I learned about biogas, challenges it faces in rural China, Chinese NGOs, creating the LGEC from the Green Youth Center, and planning a 2-day summer camp for 70 Chinese primary students. By the time I finished speaking, everyone in the room was listening intently, fascinated about a foreigner’s journey to try to make a difference for the people and the environment just out of goodwill. I like to call this my other life before coming to Kunming.

Dinner was served. It was a tradition Italian tuna pasta. It was wonderful to eat some homemade meals. All the meals in Kunming had either been at the university cafeteria or local restaurants. The conversation about the environment actually switched into one over global environmental crisis and what should be done about it. Everyone had something to say. It was very interesting to hear the responses. Nicholas was in support of going back to a traditional style of living such as on a farm where a person is responsible for growing his/her our own food again. Antonio had mixed views on globalization in the sense that it is absurd to have some products such as apples shipped half-way around the world such as Chile, New Zealand, and Washington State, but he was completely against a rebirth of ancestral living standards where everyone becomes a farmer. The two Italians were polar opposites in strategy for a solution, but agreed that we are amidst an environmental catastrophe. Antonio thought the solution was in matter of time as oil would become ever more scarce. I recall him saying, “I hope that day comes soon!” When I commented that there are alternative sources of dirty fuels to replace oil such as tar sands in Ontario, Canada, I think it put realization for the rest of the group that waiting will not be an effective answer. I commented that focus should be on the “POLLUTION.” We even talked about potential renewable energy. Nuclear power was one suggested. The man from Poland was in full support of it. He expressed that Poland relays heavily on cheap, abundant resources of coal but said that wind and solar are not realistic options for Poland’s energy needs. His view was that if we are going to invest highly in wind, solar, tidal, geothermal, then why not also have a technological optimistic view on Nuclear. However, his opinion was solo. Everyone else had a negative connation with Nuclear and was against it. Their reasons were safety hazards, waste disposal, and with warming from Climate Change, cold water to cool the reactors would become even more difficult to locate. The last point they made was it is not a renewable energy sources since there is only a limited amount of Uranium on earth.

An environmental problem that I brought up, which is most relevant to China is water scarcity. I discussed about my experience in Lijiang and the filthy water used in the fishing ponds; depleting aquifers from excessive use past the replenish rates. Antonio decided to looked much more local. He saw Kunming as a perfect example of it. For instance, most people in the city don’t drink tap water. At every corner, there is a bottle stand with every kind of soda, mineral water, iced tea, etc. Every thing is bottled in plastic. It is scary thing to think about when you have to depend on the imported water. I can only image that it was not be that long in the future until water becomes the next oil. In addition, consider Dian Chi Lake. It is absolutely contaminated and severely polluted. Supposedly 20 years ago people could swim in the lake; today no one dares to go in. The cause is simple to understand, rapid industry growth and little if any governmental regulation. It my book it is strategy of tragedy. As I had observed it, I recalled seeing a green-layered film of algae, which interesting enough didn’t stop a small group of fisherman from collecting fish to sell to the near-by restaurants.

The conversation ended on a positive note that educational, environmental discussions are desperately needed, and in this part of the world unfortunately, it is not being discussed nearly enough. The message the Polish left us was - “We are going to change the world,” which I personally think was more hype than anything from a 2-hour discussion. However, I was glad that there is a strong interest in these issues. I must say that I did very little of the talking. Everyone seemed to have an opinion and a concern, which they were all eager to share.

August 14th, 2009

Zhou Laoshi and my class went to an upscale restaurant overlooking the Dian Shi Lake with the mountain range in the backdrop. The first dish was a special broth with chicken. I forget the name of it, but she explained to us that it was a specialty in Kunming. The plates rolled in one after another. If I recall correctly, it was somewhere around 11 to 12 dishes for 7 people.

I will let you all in a little daredevil stunt I par took in. I will first comment that I have deadly allergies to nuts of any kind and bananas. It is life threatening. I had explained to my teacher who ordered the dishes my food restrictions. As the food was served, one of the dishes had a pile of peanuts hidden under a thin layer of tofu. I almost tried it unaware of what was beneath. Thankfully, out of raw suspicion I asked Zhou Laoshi if it had nuts. She said yes unaware of the severity of my allergies. Even though it was obvious to stay away from that dish, there was another problem presented – cross contamination. For instance, one person used their chopsticks to eat from that particular dish and then do the same for another. Back home, my parents would not probably forbid me to continue eating out of health and safety concerns. So this is how I became a risk taker. I decided to continue eating from the other dishes even after the dish had been so-called contaminated. My thinking was I have all the medication on me if something happens. In addition, I know cross-contamination happens all the time behind the scenes in the restaurant kitchens. However, I have yet to have a reaction. Through the course of lunch, I ate cautiously and left without any symptoms. J My conclusion is that perhaps my nut allergies are not as sensitive as they had once been several years’ back. Go figure…

We took a walk Dian Chi Lake, the largest lake in Kunming. The scenery was gorgeous, until I got to take closer look at the water quality. The lake had what appeared to be a thick green layer of algae on the surface. There was no transparency. From prior studies at SU on geo-systems, it looked as if this portion of the lake was highly eutrophic – deprived of oxygen. Through the course of my stay here at Kunming, I occasionally asked students about the state of the beautiful location. They said when they were young – about 15 years ago, they would go with their friends and swim in Dian Chi. The expressed that the water was clear without any muck. It was a safe place to swim. However, they don’t even dare to go in. The pollution is rampant. I actually saw this when I was at Da Guang Park. There was dozens of factors on the shoreline of the lake that released wastewater directly in the lake. One student remarked that the government has not set any tight regulations, which means there is not oversight on pollution and waste runoff.

In the proximity of south section of the lake was the Yunnan Ethnic Minority Museum. Yunnan Province is an especially culturally rich – home to 26 of Republic of China’s 56 Ethnic Minorities. The museum was filled artifacts such as masks, fossils, carved stones, traditional clothing, and a gallery expressing Chinese’s government good relations with the minority groups.

August 15th – 27nd

I should mention that I met Pa Wei ( 帕唯) He is from Poland in his mid-40s. He is working for a trading company in both Kunming and GuangZhou, and he is studying Mandarin. He has lived within the country for a little more than a year with no previous language experience, but he appeared to be quick language learner. I met him in the Foreign Student Hotel’s courtyard. He was in the middle of talking with some of the young staff, when he invited me to sit down and join in on their conversation about different travels spots in Yunnan Province.

As the evening went from twilight to as black as can get with city lights, Pa Wei and I had some good suggestions for me in terms of building language fluency and confidence. He said that he frequently came here in the evening hours to meet some of the employees and just chat. He recommended that I do the same. In addition, he suggested going to the university courtyard next to the basketball courts when studying because when you have questions most Chinese people will want to come and help. I also explained to him that I am overwhelmed with trying to learn over 100 new vocabulary words a day (in my opinion, it is not feasible!). He said another benefit to meeting with natives is that you can show them your textbook and ask what words do they common use, rather than trying to memorize every single word in the textbook. I thought that was the best tip.

The story of environmental issues also emerged as a topic in reference to increasing living starts in China to that of the West. The following is a story Pa Wei’s shared with me. He told me he has lived in Kunming for a year and owns a bike. He also enjoys tennis, which in China is a sport of the prosperous and affluent. When he mets some of his friends at a tennis court, he was the only one who rode his bike. Everyone else drove a car. One man lived only 500 yards away but still drove his SUV. The car has become an symbol of wealth in China, and just goes to show materialistic, capitalistic duplication of the West’s model, particularly the United States.

The following week was one activity after another. There were no pit stops J. It began on Saturday evening when Si Nan, an employee of Yunnan EcoNetwork suddenly showed up at my dormitory. It was a fortunate coincidence that I was still in the room studying, otherwise there would have been no way to reach me. She invited me to go to an Organic Farm in the outskirts of Kunming, about an hour drive away. It was the only Organic Farm in Kunming. I thought this would be a very exciting opportunity considering I had studied a little on biodynamic, organic gardening in Dr. Miller’s Environmental History class. However, this would be a different version containing Chinese characteristics. We planned to meet at the entrance of Yunnan Normal University the next day at 9:00 A.M., which was literally across the main road. Si Nan said she would not be joining me, but 3 visitors from Denmark.

After she left, I finally realized how disengaged I was without a mobile phone. Life without a Chinese cell phone was becoming increasingly difficult, especially when trying to arrange plans with friends. The evening, I decided to get another one of Chinese cheapest NOKIA cell phones - $25.00 USD.

The name of the organic farm is called Hao Bao. It was established in 2002, but was certified as an organic in 2005. The farm is large, but it is only covers a 110 hectares. The farm is located in a very mountainous region, which meant that it was not an open patch of land that you might find in the agricultural fields of Bellingham, Washington. These were terraces carved out in the narrow valley as if it was a narrow winding path. There was also a difference in climate, the temperate was warmer than in the city. We were about 500 meters higher than Kunming. I remember the landscape being absolutely beautiful in a natural setting. The crops they harvested were a variety of cabbage from colors of white to purple. At this time, I can’t recall the Chinese or English names, but I have their phone number, so it is just a call away. There were cherry tomatoes and other larger-sized varieties. There were eggplant, carrots, pumpkin, sunflowers, red peppers, and more. They even grew their own livestock – goats, pigs, chickens, and ducks. The difference from these organic livestock was their feed and movable area. They say every other day they let the animals roam around the surrounding area outside their pin. In terms of selection of the location, they told me their requirements as a business – clean water, air, and soil that had not been contaminated with use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Those are three very difficult standards to meet in a country where economic growth is rampant and any agricultural land is becoming scarcer, air and water pollution are the norm, and finally where many farmers continue to use synthetic chemicals for higher yields.

My last comment here is that they also had 4 hotel-like bedrooms for visitors, which were designed with environmental protection in mind. I was thoroughly impressed by the architectural design. For example, each room was shaped like a dome that was built into the side of a hill. The roof was covered with native plant species. Inside a room, there were two beds, a fireplace, and a bench. It was a very unique sight to see considering that this was China, but I saw it a sign of transition within the country towards an increasing environmental awareness.

On Monday after class, Sarah, Anna and I went to the Yunnan Ethnic Minority Park. It is an enormous park in the West side of Kunming next to Dian Chi Lake. I will give a small tip-bit of information for all the next study abroad students who decided to come to China – have your student identification card on you at all times. The benefit is sometimes can be a discount of over 50%. For instance, if I had not forgotten to bring my ID, I would have paid 35 RMB rather than 70 RMB. The park is open year around, but this was the last day that the park was hosting the torch festival. One highlight worth mentioning is when we dressed up in a minority group’s attire. Sarah and I both chose the Yi and Anna chose the Tibetan outfit. They were all beautifully decorated; however, they were not designed for giant Waiguoren such as myself. The staff repeatedly said to me, “你太高了”- You are just too tall. The horned crown was frankly too small, so I played more of a balancing act to keep in on my head. I have uploaded some fun pictures for you to look at with all three of us together. We visited about 6 to 7 minority groups that included the Tibetans, Mongolians, Naxi, Yi, Cun, and Dai.

During sunset, the park literally came to life with the start of the Torch Festival. One minority group after another came performing their traditional dances and playing musical instruments holding a torch as they headed towards the Torch Fire stadium attracting tourists by the hundreds. Once at the stadium, it was jam packed with over 5 thousand souls, most of who had a torch lit. Not all 26 ethnic groups were present, but approximately about 15 took the stadium floor dancing with the crowds – including myself. I joined in learning the dance moves from the person in front of me. A dancing, Caucasian foreign certainly caught a lot of attention, since I was the only one of my kind shaking a leg. Some of the pictures will give a sensation for the rest of the night.

On Wednesday, we went to the Stone Forest that is an hour drive from Kunming City. This historical site is a major tourist attraction, and they have a road for shuttles to circle around its parameters. Sarah, Anna, Even, and I took a different approach to experience the magnificent, limestone stone formations. We walked through some narrow trails where if one of us had been a little fatter along the waist, it would have been impassible. J We toured the site by foot for 5 hours. One of the locations we scouted out was the “Eternal Mushroom.” It took us to a place where there were no other visitors except us, but was by far the most alluring, sightseeing spot in the park. I will stop here because once again and let the pictures do the rest of the explaining.

At the end of the week, Pa Wei introduced me to a friend of his, Joyce. She is a graduate student at Yunnan Normal University (YNU), with a degree in English (UK English and American English). We became good friends over the course of a week. We went back to the Yunnan Ethnic Minority Park and participated in large-circle dance as well as watched the Tibetans and Mao perform many traditional dance and singing. We also joined Pa Wei and some other Yunnan Normal University Students for a night of KTV – Karaoke KTV style. I remember telling Joyce that I wanted to come back to China after graduation at Seattle University to continue my studies at a Beijing University for at least a year. Her stance was that Beijing is simply too expensive for housing and studying, and in addition the air pollution is terrible. She brought up this remark because we had gone running a few days before at YNU track, which was clever tactic on her part. By no means have I made a decision, but it has led me only to research over my options as what I want to do after graduation.

On August 25th, I had a very unique discussion with two Chinese student of Yunnan University. Their names were Carol and Frances. Carol was studying law and Frances was working to become a Chinese-English translator. The conversation began very small such as talking briefly about her Classic IPOD. She told me she went to the United States to purchase it to get the authentic model. However, I told her it was ‘made in China,” which came as a shock to her. She assumed it was in manufactured in the U.S. All I had to do what take the IPOD out of the case, turn it over, and read the small print on the back. This opened a conversation about globalization. In China, foreign manufactured products are taxed heavily to protect and promote domestic businesses, which obviously made it cheaper overseas in the U.S. We discussed my experience at a fruit shop as I purchased some apples. There were no apples from Kunming. They were either from Chile, New Zealand, or Washington State. Their response was that the business just puts those tags on them as incentive for charging higher prices. However, I told them that Washington State is a large exporter of apples to China, so I would assume that they were not locally grown. The topic of Climate Change was also brought up. Carol agreed it was a major crisis and was frustrated with the way things were going. She was the first Chinese student (person) besides Chen Laoshi that I met who also had strong emotional feeling tied to this environmental crisis. I recall that I listed a lot figures, data, and organizations that all pointed out that we have a problem, a global environmental crisis on our hands. Her fundamental question to me was “How do you get people to care?” She acknowledged that the information is available, the scientific evidence is clear, but it is matter of how to make people on a large scale do something about it. I was in total agreement. I expressed that one of the things I have learned in China is the essential need for education – both rural and urban. (I remember when I talked to Joyce and asked her about climate change and carbon emissions of the bus that we were riding. She told me she had never heard of it, was unaware of the issues on a global scale. She further responded that this was my major, not hers. In her view, there first needs to be economic development and then there can be environmental protection. I asked her what should be done about it. Her response was simply, “I don’t have any method of acting.”) The rest of the dialogue was a discussion about a whole host of global environmental problems by pointing out the interconnectedness of this issues and considering what should be done. The discussion lasted for about an hour and a half. They said that I should consider giving a lecture at the Yunnan University or other locations on these urgent issues. It was interesting feedback from two university students who were complete strangers just over an hour ago. I think they saw, perhaps, a passion or a flare that lit up within me as spoke to them. As I went back to my dorm, I felt as if that small duration of time was the most productive use of my time spent in Kunming. I felt as if I had made a positive contribution for two students who were already intrigued and concerned on the topic. I felt in the future I can do some work related to advocacy on these issues. I believe the interest is there at some level, but there lacks knowledge on the linkages.

The following day, Anna, a classmate, approached me during one of the class breaks. Anna was 19-year-old high school graduate and ethnically Chinese, but here grandparents immigrated to France. She had become a friend of mine during the past two weeks, but was usually rather silent. The day prior, she had a Chinese flute tutoring session at the same time as Carol, Frances, and I had the conversation just across from the table we were sitting at. The discussion was about some of the political references I made in that dialogue. I didn’t mention anything about Tibet or Taiwan, but I did talk briefly about the different political systems and how I wish the U.S could be China for a day in terms of it ability to “Say it, then do it” in a very timely fashion. A point I had made was that if the Chinese government felt the urgency and opportunity to invest in renewable energy for example, this could achieve that goal more in more rapid pace than perhaps in America. This was exceedingly bothersome to Anna, and she made that crystal clear to me. Her English was a little difficult to understand, but the overlaying message was that I was a naïve, childish American potentially putting the safety of the students at risk for engaging in such a discussion. The message left was leave any kind of politics out of the discourse, and I was in total agreement. I agreed that I needed to be politically sensitive for future talks.

The last two days, the teacher switched the schedule of the class. We talked in Chinese on personal topics of interest rather than direct readings from a textbook. One of the discussions I brought up the relationship between Burma and China, and the exchange of resources. I carefully tried to skim the subject of politics as much as possible. We also talked about OPEC and China as a large importer of petroleum. This all got Anna pretty upset with me. Her response was to stop this love affair, which she thought was agitating the teacher. I still keep in contact with Anna, but she gave me a perspective about need for sensitivity and the particular styles of communication outside of America. Even though she criticized me the most of all the students, I felt she helped me reexamine how I should address people, and to think twice before speaking especially when culture and politics are foreign to me.

August 28th, 2009

I arrived in Shanghai’s Domestic Terminal at 5:30 P.M, and Joyce and her father who greeted me at the entrance. I was met by a the father’s shofer to assist me with my laThe father had a shofer driving a Toyota SUV, I forgot the model. After a hour drive into the center of the city, we arrived at their apartment complex. Because their apartment was too small for a forth person, her family reserved a hotel room for me across the street, expenses paid, for both Friday and Saturday night. That evening, I met the entire family (Cai Baba - Father, Cai Mama - Mother, Cai Meimei - Joyce) had a dinner in celebration of my arrival. I felt very welcomed and part of the family. Their parents are both Chemists, and Joyce is studying English, which she plans to use after graduation as an English teacher in Shanghai.

On Saturday, I got to experience one unforgettable event. I went to visit the SWFC. It is currently the tallest building in the world at 492 meters, which was just completed in 2008. Joyce parents accompanied us to the entrance, and then we left on our own as they had other plans for the afternoon for preparing an homemade dinner. It was a breathtaking experience to overlook all of Shanghai including the DongFang Mingzu, The Bund and the 3,000 + skyscrapers that make up the horizon. It was truly surreal. The elevator ride was also unbelievable fast. From the basement, we reached the 97th floor, which was the SWFC Observatory, in a matter of 1 to 2 minutes. I felt like I was seated in an aircraft just after takeoff, except this was vertical motion rather than a gradual slope. I wouldn’t go in the details of the building, but it something worth reading about. The exterior and interior design, architectural structure, and state-of-the-art technologies are as futuristic as gets in the year 2009. Anyone interested can easily search it on Google.

In addition, the father and mother prepared an extravagant dinner when we returned. The father fancied seafood and cooked scallops, shrimp, and a California species of trout raised in China. There was a whole duck covered in soy sauce, black mushrooms, pork, white cabbage, and homemade southern-Chinese--styled Jiaozi by Joyce and me. Wait a second; we also had about half a dozen bottles of Japanese branded beer. It was a wonderful, scrumptious treat! J

I will make one environmental comment, and it does have to do with food. An observation I noticed as Joyce’s family was relatively well off financially, their consumption of meat was substantially higher than when I was in Lijiang. For instances, as we had dinner the first night, they ordered approximately … 4 dishes of only meat (duck, beef, and pork). I can remember when I ate in Lijiang, I was picking through my rice bowl for any miniscule pieces. I think the amount of meat I ate in that one dinner was equivalent to about one week of meat for the entire 5 LGEC group. The point here is that I got to observe the difference between rural and urban eating habits and also see the connection between affluence and consumption of meat.

August 30th, 2009

Joyce and I hitched a ride with the father’s shofer to the Shanghai Airport to drop of her father who was leaving Da Lian and Chengdu for work-related meetings. Supposedly, Cai Baba frequently traveled domestically across China. I had realized how fortunate I was to have meet Joyce’s father that weekend and have her entire family give me a tour of Shanghai.

The shofer arrived at the entrance of the Shanghai Business University at 3:00 P.M., and memories began flashback in my mind from one year ago. The first task was for me to get a room for the next two weeks. I won’t go into the knots and blots, but I will comment that Joyce helped assisted me in getting the housing arrangements settled. The room I was given was not a dormitory, but a hotel. I have the room to myself – two beds, a T.V, two desks, two chairs, a shower, toilet, sink, etc. - which was designed for two people and probably could support 5 students.

That night I had a small reunion with several of my friend from the university last year such as Wang Cheng, Alan, Joyce, and Xiao Fei. We had dinner together on the third floor of the cafeteria building, which has dozens of restaurants to choose from. It was absolutely wonderful to see some familiar faces in China who had become close friends just a year ago.

Latter than night, as Wang Cheng and Alan accompanied me back to my dorm, they told me that there was another foreign student from Seattle, Washington. I thought they were twisting my leg because I had been informed earlier that the Bellevue Community College study abroad group had decided not to come this year. It turned out that across from my room was a 30-year old woman from West Seattle. Her name was Jennifer Yang. The name may through you for a loop, but let me clarify, she is Caucasian. She had studied the Mandarin for about 2 years and has been studying Cultural Studies at Bellevue Community College. She actually attended Professor Geiger’s Chinese class for three quarters, and it was networking through her that she decided to come to the Shanghai Business College (SBS). Coincidentally, she arrived last Friday, which was the same date I got into Shanghai. Her plans are two further she language studies at SBS for 5 months as she has enrolled in a class, and eventually wants to be a certified translator for legal firms.

August 31st, 2009

Since I was familiar with the campus, I joined her on Monday morning, as she had not received an agenda for the week. We had breakfast at the cafeteria together, and then it was not clear where to go next. Jennifer only knew the teacher name, Zhong Laoshi. I thought it would be best for us to go to the administration building, which most of the teacher’s office were located. Once inside, I simply asked around for Zhong Laoshi’s office. We were finally told to go to the 4th floor. We met Zhong Laoshi in the foreign student’s office. It almost seemed as if she was expecting us to come. She had prepared to a two-week schedule and gave us a run down of what the events would be. The first week was getting acclimated to the school – learning where everything is on campus and in the surrounding proximity, purchasing food, library cards, and all-day outings in the center of Shanghai. The second week was the official start of classes for the foreign students, the waiguoren. I was asked if I wanted to enroll in a class, but I politely said, “No Thanks,” due to my short stay. As she listened to my Chinese speaking ability, she said that I could stop by, sit in and participate in the class during my spare time. I think she realized I could help add to the class discussions.

Associate Professor Fang who works in the Dean of Foreign Affairs office also came to greet us. I had actually met Fang Laoshi last year as I did my study abroad with BCC (Bellevue Community Colllege). He was surprised to see me return just a year after, and even more impressed when I told him briefly about my stay in Lijiang and Kunming.

Shortly afterwards, Zhong Laoshi took us to pay for the housing fee. I ended up paying 800 RMB for two weeks, which comes to less than 60 RMB per night. It is actually a little cheaper than living at the Lijiang Green Education Center ironically. Or let me rethink that. I currently don’t have Internet access and meals are a separate cost. Zhong Laoshi also gave us introduction to the campus such as getting a campus food and library card. As we toured the library, she told us that she was in a similar position to Jennifer in terms of getting accumulated to SBS. Zhong Laoshi was a new foreign language professor who had just graduated from a Shanghai University in English. Her goal as a new professor was to create and improve the foreign language program, which before has been lacking.

The afternoon was a basketball tournament. I had been invited to join a few friends on the court. I was by no means well dressed. I had forgot to bring any exercising clothing from the states. My substitute was a cotton pair of shorts and T-shirt with a pair of hiking shoes. I had the logo foreigner written all over me at that point. Besides the clothing mishap, it felt great to get some exercise, shot some hoops, and release some stress. It was the first workout in China that I had a good sweat, which may sound disgusting. However, it was like cleansing for my body.

The overall experience here at SBS has been great, and in many feels it has felt like deja-vu all over again. I will say the pace of life in China has been tapering down slightly. My last comment here is that the activities that I doing now where not planned even three days ago. The system in China that I have come to learn is to be open, flexible, and spontaneous. A metaphor that comes to mind is it is like jumping into the rapid Yangtze River and just rolling with the currents.

All the best,

Kevin