My Time in China

Da jia hao! Hello everyone! I'm sorry that it has been so long since my last post, but things have gotten very busy since then, in addition to my computer crashing, which did not help things at all. So right now I am travelling on what we call "the trek." It is basically a two week tour through Shanghai, Beijing, and Xi'an. We were also originally scheduled to travel to Qinghai province in the west, but had it cancelled because of the Tibetan riots. THe riots by the way are not affecting me at all. THey are very much contained within those few provinces that have large Tibetan populations.

So I am now in Xi'an and have already been to Shanghai and Beijing. Shanghai was okay, in my opinion, but very commercialized and not my favorite. I liked Beijing a lot better, and I think Xi'an might be my favorite. Xi'an reminds me of Xiamen a little bit, with kind of a more Chinese, less Western feel that I sometimes felt in Shanghai or Beijing, but it is also much bigger than Xiamen and very much a full-blown city.

I went to the Great Wall and the Terracotta soldiers in Beijing, both of which were amazing. THe Great Wall was so much fun to climb. I really enjoyed it, and it was the most beautiful day. It was amazing to be up in the Chinese mountains looking out over the landscape. We also made some friends with some of the vendors at the end of the section of the wall that you are allowed to climb. We shared some of our lunch with them and took pictures and it was just so much fun.

Also in Beijing we went to Lou Guan Tai, which is the place where Laozi is supposed to have written the Dao De Jing, which is the foundational book of Daoism. It was raining that day and we were the only people at the temple besides a few people tending the fire there. It is in a secluded place in the mountains and is very beautiful. It was so peaceful to have the rain falling all around us while we looked out over the misty mountains. We also walked about a mile and a half from there to a pagoda that is the oldest surviving Christian pagoda in China, from around 675 AD. We walked through so much mud to get there, as its in a very secluded place with only dirt roads and lots of farmers. It was actually really fun to get all muddy and see traditional CHinese rural culture without a lot of tourism and stuff. We walked up winding hills and there were cherry blossoms everywhere! The grass was so green and it was really something that looked like it would be in a National Geographic picture or TV show special. It was spectacular.

So now I'm in XI'an and we're just taking things as they come, as we were supposed to be in QInghai right now. Instead of going there for our service project, we will stay here and maybe teach English. We're not certain yet, but I really like the city so anything is okay with me. THere is a large city wall around teh city that is all still intact (it was built a while ago too!) So you can go up on it and people walk around and ride bikes because it is extremely wide and has barriers on the sides so it's safe. We rented bikes yesterday and rode for 90 minutes around the entire thing. It was so fun, and good exercise too!

Today for Easter I went to the local church here. Although I didn't understand much it was nice to be with other believers on such an important day. As of this Friday, I will be coming back to the States in four weeks. So soon! THe time has flown here. I am excited to come back but also very sad. I really love it here and can't imagine leaving.

More to come later...

After being in China three weeks, I'm really starting to feel settled. There have been a few times where I have felt homesick, but nothing too bad as of yet. I just love it here so much and am enjoying everything about China. My classes are going really well--I have class every day, normally starting at 8 in the morning with either Chinese class or Contemporary Society (politics & economics) and running until about 3 in the afternoon. I have a pretty decent amount of time to go to a nearby restaurant and get lunch, and after class I am free for the rest of the day. I do have quite a bit of homework, but I also have time to go to English Corner, which we are strongly encouraged to go to.

English Corner meets twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday nights, and is where anyone who wants to (not just university students) come and gather at this statue and everyone practices English by having conversations. The Chinese are always very eager to talk with anyone who is a native ENglish speaker, so I never have a shortage of people wanting to talk with me. Most of the people are very good--I don't have much trouble understanding them, and they're just trying to work on their grammar and vocabulary. THere are others that it is a little harder, but it's fun to talk to all different levels. (I am a future English teacher, after all). :-)

This week is the Chinese New Year. New Year's Eve is Wednesday, February 6th and the first day of the year of the rat is Thursday the 7th. It's so exciting! The vendors on the streets have had their stands set up since we've gotten here selling new year's decorations. There are new year's lanterns hanging everywhere, and a festival of lanterns (supposedly the biggest in China) is held in Xiamen starting on the 9th and going to the 22nd. I'm planning on going this Sunday with my new friend Sisi who I met at the three selfs church that I've gone to twice now (this is the church that is registered with the government and is perfectly legal).

For the new year, my group will be travelling to Quanzhou, which is a city in the same province as Xiamen and is about two hours away. There will be more activities here, so we will have more to do for the celebration. We are going to stay for a few days (Wednesday-Friday) and will visit a Buddhist temple, a mosque, and the Maritime Museum (which shows all of the ships and stuff because Fujian province is a coastal province). It should be pretty interesting and will be a nice chance to have a break from classes and get away for a vacation. We will be staying in a hotel, which will be nice, as my room is not heated in my dorm at Xiamen.

The weather here was nice for the first few days, but then steadily turned into clouds and rain. It doesn't get any colder than the 40s, but that is pretty chilly when you don't have heat in your room or in most of the classrooms. I'm learning to wear a lot of layers, though and its okay. It's supposed to warm up a little bit next week, which will be nice. It is technically the rainy season right now, though.

I've been learning that things here in Fujian province are so open and modern compared to what I have heard about China. Everything is very free and even unregulated in many aspects, especially in regards to religion.

One thing that I've learned to love about China is the traffic and crossing road situation. Basically, the rules are, if you think you can make it without getting hit, then you can go for it. Crosswalks are virtually useless, as people can and do cross the roads at any place and time. Vehicles do not slow down for pedestrians, but will honk and flash their lights if they think you might be pushing your luck. The bus drivers are the worst. They careen down the roads, changing in and out of lanes, and sometimes driving on the wrong side of the road. If you're lucky enough to get a seat on the bus, good for you. Otherwise, you can enjoy the ride holding onto the overhead bar and riding it out. I've determined that if I could keep my balance without holding onto the bar of a Chinese bus, I would probably have a chance at being one of the best surfers in the world. :-) Another fun part of riding the bus is how many people can fit on one bus. Normally, there are a reasonable number of people on the bus, but there are always those times that you are packed person to person and wonder how anyone else could possibly fit on. Yet the bus keeps stopping, people keep getting on, and somehow you all fit. It's pretty fun.

I've enjoyed experimenting with new restaurants and foods. I still have yet to try something that I don't like. The closest I've had to disliking food was this seafood thing (some sort of squid-creature maybe?) that I had at an early New Year's party on Sunday night. It wasn't that it tasted bad, it was just that it was kind of squishy with tentacles in it and wasn't my favorite. I also had New Year's cake though (made of rice, fried in egg) and it was so good. I hope I get more tomorrow on New Year's Eve. :-)

So, all in all, I'm still doing really well. I'm healthy, eating well, getting around to classes and different places in the city, and learning new Chinese words every day. Sometimes its frustrating because I want to have a conversation and practice my Chinese with people, but my vocabulary is still very limited and even if I could ask them questions I probably wouldn't understand their answers. Oh, well. I've only been here three weeks. There's still hope that I can have a good conversation by the end of my three months.

Thanks for being faithful readers, even when I haven't been writing very often!

My bed and my room--it's pretty nice.

We have an outdoor patio area that overlooks the university.


This is what a typical apartment complex/living area looks like in China. Everyone hangs their clothes out to dry.


This is looking out over the ocean towards the mainland. Xiamen is an island.

So I am finally in China! It is so exciting and I am enjoying myself so much.
I have not experienced jet lag basically at all, which has been very nice. I really feel like I've adjusted completely to the time here. The weather is pretty nice, it gets a little chilly at night, but nothing that layering and blankets can't handle.
The food is also amazing here. I don't want to make any rash statements, but I don't think I will be missing American food for quite a while because of how much I enjoy the food. Everything is extremely cheap too, which is very nice for living expenses.
My roommate is one of the girls who came with my group. She goes to school in Texas and has a thick southern accent. :-) She's pretty fun.
China is so interesting in that you can (and do) walk to get everything you need. Everything is so accessible, where I walk to the bakery or the fruit alley, or the stationary store to get what I need. I really enjoy life here so far. It's nice to just walk to a place that you need, such as to the Internet cafe or the post office. There is always a ton of construction here because everything is being constantly developed, but everyone always walks through, sometimes around, the mess and life goes on. :-)
My classes are starting this Monday and will take up a lot of my time. THey're going to be very interesting though. We've already had a few introductory Mandarin classes and they've been very fun. We even have our first quiz tomorrow (on a Saturday!) over the numbers in Chinese.
Mostly what we've been doing these couple of days I've been here is going to different places and practicing getting by in Chinese. We've ordered food, gotten cards for the Internet cafe, and exchanged money at the bank. I'm learning new phrases every day and can't wait when I will be able to hold a conversation with the people I buy my food from every day.
I really like all of the people in my study abroad group and couldn't imagine better people to be living with over the next three months. All of the teachers are really great too. I know I'm going to learn a lot.

Some interesting fun facts...
So far I've eaten squid and duck's tongue, both of which I thought were very delicious.

The shower I use is just a nozzle on the wall of the bathroom that sprays over the whole bathroom (on the toilet and everything). It's not a separate room or separated from the toilet or anything. There is hot water, though!

That's all I have time for now! More to come...

Mailing address:
Susanna Brunner
Nan Guang Wu
Xiamen University
Xiamen. Fujian 361005
CHINA

Email/MSN messenger:
shoshana3@live.com

Skype:
susannab2