Friday, June 14th
Hey Everyone! We have left China after 26 days in the country. We are on the plane as we speak (actually as I type, haha), a 12 hour flight from Beijing to Chicago, whoa! I’m excited to get home, obviously, but a little part of me wishes we could stay longer. I know I have learned a lot but it isn’t always obvious to me. For example, I try to think of all the vocabulary and conversational Chinese that I learned during our language classes in Chongqing and I know we went over so much but I can’t think of anything good to say to prove it sometimes. Here on the plane I am sitting next to an older Chinese gentleman and he started talking with me, first in very broken English asking if I knew Chinese, after this start to the conversation we have talked back and forth in “Chinglish” (Chinglish being a word that one of our language partners, Vicky, taught us. Thanks, Vicky!) He speaks some Chinese, I understand bits and pieces and I answer back in [horrible] Chinese and English mix and the conversation has continued like that. I’m pretty sure we have misunderstood each other several times but we are still communicating and being social. I was even able to translate between him and the flight attendant! Another instance when I realized that I really have learned more than I think happened a couple of days ago while out shopping. I bought a couple items from a small shop and as I did so I had a full conversation with the shop owner, nothing fancy but also I didn’t use any English. I felt so proud of myself because a year ago I wouldn’t have been able to verbally communicate at all. It would have been all body language. I feel that the language that I have gotten from this trip is my biggest achievement.
I have also learned a lot about Chinese culture as well. Some things I have gathered more in-depth information on than others but everyday talking with natives of China was a chance to find out one more about their everyday life, culture, work, school, and social life. A lot of times we were learning something about the culture without even realizing it until later on. We also realized that college students in China aren’t all that much different from college students in the U.S., specifically USI! They do the same kinds of recreational activities to take a break and relax: sports, reading, movies, friends, restaurants, and many others. The biggest difference is the study habits and school work ethic that the Chinese students have. Each student we talked to at Southwest University told us how much they study and how many hours they apply to their studies. It isn’t just certain students it is all of them. There are students in the U.S. that apply themselves to their school studies at the same level but it isn’t as consistent as the committed studying habits among all Chinese students.
Overall I think this trip to China was a success. I learned a lot inside and outside the classroom. Some of the knowledge gained is already proving to be useful and applicable to me and my surroundings and I’m positive that I will be sharing other information with friends, classmates, and professors back at USI.
If you stuck with my little part of the blog, thanks! I appreciate it because I know I probably wasn’t the easiest person to keep up with. (because of my lack of sharing skills, haha) So, again, Thank You!
I have also learned a lot about Chinese culture as well. Some things I have gathered more in-depth information on than others but everyday talking with natives of China was a chance to find out one more about their everyday life, culture, work, school, and social life. A lot of times we were learning something about the culture without even realizing it until later on. We also realized that college students in China aren’t all that much different from college students in the U.S., specifically USI! They do the same kinds of recreational activities to take a break and relax: sports, reading, movies, friends, restaurants, and many others. The biggest difference is the study habits and school work ethic that the Chinese students have. Each student we talked to at Southwest University told us how much they study and how many hours they apply to their studies. It isn’t just certain students it is all of them. There are students in the U.S. that apply themselves to their school studies at the same level but it isn’t as consistent as the committed studying habits among all Chinese students.
Overall I think this trip to China was a success. I learned a lot inside and outside the classroom. Some of the knowledge gained is already proving to be useful and applicable to me and my surroundings and I’m positive that I will be sharing other information with friends, classmates, and professors back at USI.
If you stuck with my little part of the blog, thanks! I appreciate it because I know I probably wasn’t the easiest person to keep up with. (because of my lack of sharing skills, haha) So, again, Thank You!
Monday, June 10th (Part 2, Night Time Edition!)
I would like to start out by saying I had my timing for today's trip very off. We climbed down a mountain for almost 4 hours today! I loved every second of it though! It was, in my opinion, the best trip we have had during our stay in Chongqing! The rushing water, water falls, rock formations, the gorges, the bamboo, the hundreds of stone and wooden stairs we climbed, all of it was fantastic, I was definitely in my elements today! ....We even got to see some monkeys! It was awesome. :D
As I have said before we leave tomorrow, Tuesday morning, for Beijing. We aren't sure about our internet access there so if you don't see anymore posts from our group you know why. Hopefully we do have internet access and can continue to post!
As I have said before we leave tomorrow, Tuesday morning, for Beijing. We aren't sure about our internet access there so if you don't see anymore posts from our group you know why. Hopefully we do have internet access and can continue to post!
Monday, June 10th
Hey Everyone! Today is our final day in Chongqing! We are using it to do some exploring, we will be visiting another ancient town: Pianyan, and going to Golden Blade Gorges. At the Gorges' site we will get to walk outside, through the gorges for over an hour, we are told we will hear monkeys and if we are super lucky we might get to see one! I would love to see a monkey! haha. I am very excited about our day, we will be leaving in just a few minutes (at 8:30am), we have a 40 minute bus ride before getting to the Ancient Town. So not a bad ride at all. But before I go here is a quick glimpse of what we did last night:
Sunday night we had our farewell dinner for the closing of our studies at Southwest University in Chongqing. We went to a Hot Pot Restaurant. Hot Pot is what Chongqing is famous for. It is a pot of boiling oil with many spices in it. You are given raw meats, vegetables, and mushrooms (I can't even begin to keep track of how many mushrooms I ate!!!) The foods are then dropped into the hot oil to cook through, when they are done you fish them out with chopsticks or a spoon and eat them! I really enjoyed it. Normally Hot Pot is just filled with one oil: spicy! The place we went catered to our spice sensitivity (hahaha) and gave us an inner bowl within the Hot Pot that had not spicy oil. Most of us used the not spicy oil throughout dinner. I did try the spicy part a few times and WOW it is spicy!! The first tiny bite was intense! but it was good. I don't know that I could have eaten my entire meal like that but with time I could (maybe) get use to it. It was a great experience though and you shouldn't leave Chongqing without trying Hot Pot.
While we were having dinner we talked with our professor's student assistant, Benjamin. Us American students started doing fist bumps and "secret handshakes," just to be goofy, as we explained to him what we were doing he described a way that him and his friends "greet" each other. He said one person walks up to the other and pretend slaps them across the face, then the person "being slapped" throws their head side to side pretending to be slapped. It was really funny to watch as he demonstrated but I guess we all have our own funny ways of greeting others sometimes. The basic way of leaving is to say "Zaijian!" (再见,good-bye) or "Zaijian, peng you!" (再见,朋友Good-bye, friend) No face slapping involved!!
Here are some pictures to sum up the weekend:
1) Studying for the test, we spent about 3 hours straight studying and did our best to sneak studying in at other times too (those are my feet!)
2) Us American students having fun at Hot Pot dinner!
3) Jessica and I, we were really wanting ice cream at this point! haha
Sunday night we had our farewell dinner for the closing of our studies at Southwest University in Chongqing. We went to a Hot Pot Restaurant. Hot Pot is what Chongqing is famous for. It is a pot of boiling oil with many spices in it. You are given raw meats, vegetables, and mushrooms (I can't even begin to keep track of how many mushrooms I ate!!!) The foods are then dropped into the hot oil to cook through, when they are done you fish them out with chopsticks or a spoon and eat them! I really enjoyed it. Normally Hot Pot is just filled with one oil: spicy! The place we went catered to our spice sensitivity (hahaha) and gave us an inner bowl within the Hot Pot that had not spicy oil. Most of us used the not spicy oil throughout dinner. I did try the spicy part a few times and WOW it is spicy!! The first tiny bite was intense! but it was good. I don't know that I could have eaten my entire meal like that but with time I could (maybe) get use to it. It was a great experience though and you shouldn't leave Chongqing without trying Hot Pot.
While we were having dinner we talked with our professor's student assistant, Benjamin. Us American students started doing fist bumps and "secret handshakes," just to be goofy, as we explained to him what we were doing he described a way that him and his friends "greet" each other. He said one person walks up to the other and pretend slaps them across the face, then the person "being slapped" throws their head side to side pretending to be slapped. It was really funny to watch as he demonstrated but I guess we all have our own funny ways of greeting others sometimes. The basic way of leaving is to say "Zaijian!" (再见,good-bye) or "Zaijian, peng you!" (再见,朋友Good-bye, friend) No face slapping involved!!
Here are some pictures to sum up the weekend:
1) Studying for the test, we spent about 3 hours straight studying and did our best to sneak studying in at other times too (those are my feet!)
2) Us American students having fun at Hot Pot dinner!
3) Jessica and I, we were really wanting ice cream at this point! haha
Sunday, June 9th
Today some of us went to the bank to exchange some more money before we leave for Beijing. At the bank they scrutinized our U.S. 20 dollar bills. Some were worn, had markings on them or had small tears. These things wouldn't have caused an extra blink in America but after it was all said and done $100 worth of our 20s were not accepted. To top it off the bank's total and our total was different by $5 dollars, their total being less than ours. We had counted our money numerous times and multiple people had counted it. In the end the bank said it was never there, they had not lost it, and was even going to let us watch their security tapes to prove it. At this point we just wanted our money so, unfortunately, we gave up and took the money that they had exchanged. It was quite a trip we had, a 30 minute process turned into a little over an hour. All well, we have learned some interesting things about the banking system here. Their scrutiny of American money being the most interesting. Another thing, slightly unbelievable and interesting at the same time, is that a person can close a checking account even when their name is not on the account being closed. I don't know if they intend for it to work that way or not, but that is certainly what happened. Don't worry though, no off shore accounts for any of our group!
Saturday, June 8th
I can't believe it, our time in Chongqing is almost over! Today is Saturday and in 3 short days we leave for Beijing and 3 days after that we fly back home! 6 days left in China?!!? Really? Wow, time really keeps going faster and faster, especially with how busy we are going to be. The first part of the day today is pretty free for Tiffany, Issac, and me. We got to sleep in a little (some more than others, haha), we're going to study for our language test that we have tomorrow morning, and this afternoon we are going to a professors home to visit and play mahjong.
Tomorrow will be super busy we have our test at 9am, a closing ceremony for our program at 3pm, and a farewell dinner at 6pm. Monday we will be doing our last bit of sight seeing in Chongqing. That will take up most of our day then we will come back and pack our bags for Tuesday morning (we leave for the airport at 5:45 am!)
Off to start studying! I will try to post a couple of more times before we leave Chongqing, ahh!
Tomorrow will be super busy we have our test at 9am, a closing ceremony for our program at 3pm, and a farewell dinner at 6pm. Monday we will be doing our last bit of sight seeing in Chongqing. That will take up most of our day then we will come back and pack our bags for Tuesday morning (we leave for the airport at 5:45 am!)
Off to start studying! I will try to post a couple of more times before we leave Chongqing, ahh!
Thursday, June 6th
A little more Cuture!
When we go shopping here in Chongqing we generally don't have much trouble when browsing the store, or picking up items to look at them. When we have went to some more touristy sights it has been different. At these places we are encouraged not to pick things up unless we are really intending to buy, this is because the second you touch an item the business owner will be right next to you trying to tell you the price, telling you how nice the item is, and showing you other things like it. At this point it is very difficult to get away. This past weekend when we went to a tourist location (DaZu Rock Carvings) we had sellers coming up to us holding out different items, tossing prices at us, putting the items right in front of us, and often times it was more than one seller at a time. That seemed very hectic and overwhelming.
Luckily in Chongqing it is different. We are okay to look at items freely and when we are ready to buy we go to the counter to pay. Often time there are shops where we have a chance to bargain and of course we have all been attempting it. I think everyone has developed pretty good bargaining skills here. Maybe bargaining is a characteristic that some more American shops could adopt ;) When bargaining you can go down as low as you want with the price, sometimes they will laugh, give a chuckle and shake their head, basically telling you you're crazy. haha, but it is fun. They will usually try a higher number and you just go back and forth till you like the price or you walk away from a price you don't like and hope they go back down to your previous offer. It is a risk to walk away because there is a chance they won't go back down but usually the risk pays off and they call you back. :)
Luckily in Chongqing it is different. We are okay to look at items freely and when we are ready to buy we go to the counter to pay. Often time there are shops where we have a chance to bargain and of course we have all been attempting it. I think everyone has developed pretty good bargaining skills here. Maybe bargaining is a characteristic that some more American shops could adopt ;) When bargaining you can go down as low as you want with the price, sometimes they will laugh, give a chuckle and shake their head, basically telling you you're crazy. haha, but it is fun. They will usually try a higher number and you just go back and forth till you like the price or you walk away from a price you don't like and hope they go back down to your previous offer. It is a risk to walk away because there is a chance they won't go back down but usually the risk pays off and they call you back. :)
Wednesday, June 5th
Cultural Memo time again!
I have observed that the favorite leisure activities of adults in China is Tai Chi and ...dancing! Every evening we have seen people dancing, some in very large groups dancing for exercise, others in smaller groups dancing as couples, we have even seen two separate groups occupying the same space and dancing to different things. Dancing is very popular in the evening among adults. Among students, movies, running, just hanging out with friends and boyfriends/girlfriends are popular. The students don't have much time for leisurely activities though, they are always so busy with school work. They one night that they really use to have fun is Friday nights. On Saturday and Sunday they study. They are very dedicated to their studies and make school their number one priority at all times. So finding leisure time tends to be difficult for them.
The local public transportation here includes just about every vehicle you can think of: bus, taxi car, taxi motorcycle, walking, and a "turtle bus" for students on campus. The turtle bus is a small open bus that students flag down (like when trying to catch a taxi) The Southwest campus takes 40 minutes to walk from one side to the other so when students need to get somewhere quickly they flag down a turtle bus, swipe their student ID and hop on. They just pay one yuan each time. Our group has taken the turtle bus several times now. (we pay two yuan because we are not permanent students here) It's fun to take a turtle bus around campus, we get to see a lot more. We have also had a chance to take a taxi and of course we have walked... a ton. Walking is definitely the cheapest and, in my opinion, the easiest mode of public transportation...maybe not the fastest though!
The local public transportation here includes just about every vehicle you can think of: bus, taxi car, taxi motorcycle, walking, and a "turtle bus" for students on campus. The turtle bus is a small open bus that students flag down (like when trying to catch a taxi) The Southwest campus takes 40 minutes to walk from one side to the other so when students need to get somewhere quickly they flag down a turtle bus, swipe their student ID and hop on. They just pay one yuan each time. Our group has taken the turtle bus several times now. (we pay two yuan because we are not permanent students here) It's fun to take a turtle bus around campus, we get to see a lot more. We have also had a chance to take a taxi and of course we have walked... a ton. Walking is definitely the cheapest and, in my opinion, the easiest mode of public transportation...maybe not the fastest though!
Tuesday, June 4th
This post is geared towards my Anthropology friends. On Saturday we visited the Three Gorges Museum. There was lots of art, geology, and history, I was interested enough as we wound our way through the maze like museum, but my eyes lit up when caught sight of 4 key words… Human Fossils from Paleolithic Age! I said “I know some of this stuff!” I took pictures of pottery, skeletons and tools and it was wonderful, it was no Zhoukoudian site (I wish!!) but it was still enjoyable! Here are some of the pictures. I wanted to take more but my camera and the glass of the displays weren’t getting along, I hope you enjoy anyway!
Monday, June 3rd
More Cultural Info
The normal work schedule for many people is to work through the morning (8am-noon) then from noon till 2:30 they break for lunch and a nap. From 2:30 till 5 or 6 they work again. This is something that I find very hard to adapt to. Although we do have a break between class and our cultural seminars during the standard lunch/nap time most of us do not use it or just use a small portion of the time. I find it very hard to just do nothing in the middle of the day, it is very against my nature. We have been trying to just sit and relax during these times and it has gotten easier yet is still hard to do
First on the agenda:Chinese Universities and their students. The major universities in China are located in the major cities, these include Shanghai, Hong Kong, and of course, Chongqing's SouthWest University (Where we are!!). These are regarded as great sources of higher education here in China. Southwest University has the best Teacher Education program, and a ton of differently focused education buildings on campus to prove it. For Chinese students wanting to study abroad many go to Australia, UK, Japan, and Singapore to continue their studies.
Next: Chinese Heroes! When asking about who is considered a Hero in China you will hear many different answers. These include:
Lin Ze Xu, who was a very important member of the Qing Dynasty, he was a scholar and awarded respect from his actions as he fought for his people's morals during the Opium war.
Cao Xue Qin is also from the Qing Dynasty and is hero to many in China because he is considered the greatest novelist, his most famous work is the novel Dream of the Red Chamber. Many students have recommended this book to us.
Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee is a hero to many Chinese because he was seen has painting a better picture of the Chinese people in American culture than what was being sing before him. Bruce Lee was able to clean up the image that American had of China and it was a great time for China as they are very proud of what Bruce Lee has done in film.
While this is definitely not all the heroes that Chinese people look up to it is what the students were able to share when we talked about heroes. They said there were way too many national heroes to be able to mention but these were the most popular names mentioned at the time.
Last but not least: Health Services in China. There are different sources of health service in China.
One is a hospital. Here in Chongqing they have a hospital that uses traditional medicines such as herbs, teas, acupuncture, and Chinese cupping method (uses pressure points in the body to pull out toxins and sicknesses.) The same hospital also uses modern medicines and surgeries to help alleviate and cure illnesses.
There are many pharmacies and medicine shops here as well, places that you can easily walk in and pick up over the counter medicines anytime. For the students on campus at the university there is a on campus clinic where students can go when they aren't feeling well. Doctors there can run tests, draw blood, and prescribe medicines.
Many home remedies can also be used. Many Chinese people have learned from generation to generation how to mix herbs and teas in the right amounts and ratios to cure basic illnesses such as colds, flu, aches and pains.
Next: Chinese Heroes! When asking about who is considered a Hero in China you will hear many different answers. These include:
Lin Ze Xu, who was a very important member of the Qing Dynasty, he was a scholar and awarded respect from his actions as he fought for his people's morals during the Opium war.
Cao Xue Qin is also from the Qing Dynasty and is hero to many in China because he is considered the greatest novelist, his most famous work is the novel Dream of the Red Chamber. Many students have recommended this book to us.
Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee is a hero to many Chinese because he was seen has painting a better picture of the Chinese people in American culture than what was being sing before him. Bruce Lee was able to clean up the image that American had of China and it was a great time for China as they are very proud of what Bruce Lee has done in film.
While this is definitely not all the heroes that Chinese people look up to it is what the students were able to share when we talked about heroes. They said there were way too many national heroes to be able to mention but these were the most popular names mentioned at the time.
Last but not least: Health Services in China. There are different sources of health service in China.
One is a hospital. Here in Chongqing they have a hospital that uses traditional medicines such as herbs, teas, acupuncture, and Chinese cupping method (uses pressure points in the body to pull out toxins and sicknesses.) The same hospital also uses modern medicines and surgeries to help alleviate and cure illnesses.
There are many pharmacies and medicine shops here as well, places that you can easily walk in and pick up over the counter medicines anytime. For the students on campus at the university there is a on campus clinic where students can go when they aren't feeling well. Doctors there can run tests, draw blood, and prescribe medicines.
Many home remedies can also be used. Many Chinese people have learned from generation to generation how to mix herbs and teas in the right amounts and ratios to cure basic illnesses such as colds, flu, aches and pains.
Saturday, June 1st
Today we visited Dazu Rock Carvings. It was pretty awesome and is the location of many ancient Buddhist rock carvings that are important to Chinese history but other than that they are a little hard to describe so I will just post some pictures for you to enjoy!
While we were walking back one of our language partners took bags from Mrs. Rietman and carried them for her. We were reminded that although in American we do respect our elders here in China many people go out of their way to show respect for their elders. I was talking to Vicky, one of our language partners, and she asked me what I call Mrs. Rietman. I told here that sometimes I say "Mrs. Rietman and sometimes I call her "Joyce." Mrs. Rietman is ok with being called either one since we aren't exactly in a classroom setting. If were at USI I would definitely call her Mrs Rietman. Vicky was practicing saying "Mrs. Rietmean," I told her it was ok for her to say Joyce instead but she explained to me that because of the respect the her (and Chinese students in general) have for professors she would use the surname. The Chinese truly do have a great respect for age here and that is something that we can definitely
While we were walking back one of our language partners took bags from Mrs. Rietman and carried them for her. We were reminded that although in American we do respect our elders here in China many people go out of their way to show respect for their elders. I was talking to Vicky, one of our language partners, and she asked me what I call Mrs. Rietman. I told here that sometimes I say "Mrs. Rietman and sometimes I call her "Joyce." Mrs. Rietman is ok with being called either one since we aren't exactly in a classroom setting. If were at USI I would definitely call her Mrs Rietman. Vicky was practicing saying "Mrs. Rietmean," I told her it was ok for her to say Joyce instead but she explained to me that because of the respect the her (and Chinese students in general) have for professors she would use the surname. The Chinese truly do have a great respect for age here and that is something that we can definitely
Friday, March 31st
Today we got to learn about and practice Chinese paper cutting. Our teacher was very good and we all agreed it was the most fun we have had at a seminar thus far! We also got to make (sad) attempts at Chinese knots, they are super difficult! The teacher was patient and helped each of us one by one till we had little knots with tassels too! We all felt like elementary school students doing arts and crafts and we loved it!
Tonight we were able to spend time with our language partners. It was a big group and we all had a lot of fun. We talked about many things, our families and pets, the differences/likenesses between our universities, general education in each country, relationships, learning language and so many other things. Something that my partner, C, and I got to talking about was birthdays. She told me that 18 was the best birthday. I asked why and she explained that their 18th birthdays signified going from a child to an adult (similar to America) and that at the age of 18 parents will allow their children to date. This was what surprised me because I would think that would differ from family to family but in China it is a cultural coming of age privilege.
Even when boys and girls are just friends the boys will often carry things for the girls and still take care and show them respect in this way.
We also talked about holidays that they observe, one of them is Valentine ’s Day! They celebrate on July 7th (how odd!) One girl said her boyfriend forgot last year, but she wasn’t mad, haha! They also celebrate Children’s Day which is tomorrow, June 1st, they had celebrations in the schools today since they won't be in school on the actual day.
This week as been full, busy, exhausting and tons of fun and it flew by! We can’t believe we have been gone for 2 weeks now! A week and 3 days left in Chongqing then off to Beijing for a few days. Where has the time gone?!?
Tonight we were able to spend time with our language partners. It was a big group and we all had a lot of fun. We talked about many things, our families and pets, the differences/likenesses between our universities, general education in each country, relationships, learning language and so many other things. Something that my partner, C, and I got to talking about was birthdays. She told me that 18 was the best birthday. I asked why and she explained that their 18th birthdays signified going from a child to an adult (similar to America) and that at the age of 18 parents will allow their children to date. This was what surprised me because I would think that would differ from family to family but in China it is a cultural coming of age privilege.
Even when boys and girls are just friends the boys will often carry things for the girls and still take care and show them respect in this way.
We also talked about holidays that they observe, one of them is Valentine ’s Day! They celebrate on July 7th (how odd!) One girl said her boyfriend forgot last year, but she wasn’t mad, haha! They also celebrate Children’s Day which is tomorrow, June 1st, they had celebrations in the schools today since they won't be in school on the actual day.
This week as been full, busy, exhausting and tons of fun and it flew by! We can’t believe we have been gone for 2 weeks now! A week and 3 days left in Chongqing then off to Beijing for a few days. Where has the time gone?!?
Chinese Culture Memo!
Here is a tad bit of Chinese Cultural information for ya...
Popular sports in China include: table tennis (aka. Ping Pong), roll blading, badminton, and basketball.
On the roadways there is no one group that has the right of way. People cross the road at any place watching out for vehicles, some vehicles stop others don't, animals also cross at their own risk, vehicles sometimes stop for them, other times the animals are just very lucky. It is a give and take to get across the road. No right of ways here.
Education is free and compulsory through the 9th grade.
On the roadways there is no one group that has the right of way. People cross the road at any place watching out for vehicles, some vehicles stop others don't, animals also cross at their own risk, vehicles sometimes stop for them, other times the animals are just very lucky. It is a give and take to get across the road. No right of ways here.
Education is free and compulsory through the 9th grade.
Thursday, March 30th
Yesterday we had a pretty leisurely day. We went to language class and learned some new words! (Which is always exciting!) For lunch we found a new place where we finally got to have some fried rice, we'd been looking for fried rice since our first day here, haha. The fried rice was really good. We had two different kinds, egg fried rice and fried rice with pork and bell peppers. We ordered a dish that tasted very similar to sweet and sour chicken that we are use to in the states. The dish here was sweet and sour pork and was very good. You could say that our lunch was us trying to get a taste of home from an authentic place, hahaha! That place is definitely on the list to go to again.
(< we had already devoured most of the sweet and sour pork... :D )
For dinner we ventured out on our own, without our professors! We have went out before by ourselves but haven't went very far and haven't really ordered food by ourselves. We were really excited and ended up doing very well. With a little Chinese language skills and a lot of pointing, nodding, and head shaking we were able to communicate and get food! We had street food, which for me is a little scary for some reason, it was pretty good though. We are excited to say that we can survive without having fluent Chinese. (It is incredibly helpful though!!) After ordering our food and eating we were in a great mood and continued to walk around for a little bit, exploring some different areas and seeing many more large groups of people dancing in the streets.
(< we had already devoured most of the sweet and sour pork... :D )
For dinner we ventured out on our own, without our professors! We have went out before by ourselves but haven't went very far and haven't really ordered food by ourselves. We were really excited and ended up doing very well. With a little Chinese language skills and a lot of pointing, nodding, and head shaking we were able to communicate and get food! We had street food, which for me is a little scary for some reason, it was pretty good though. We are excited to say that we can survive without having fluent Chinese. (It is incredibly helpful though!!) After ordering our food and eating we were in a great mood and continued to walk around for a little bit, exploring some different areas and seeing many more large groups of people dancing in the streets.
Not sure what today (Thursday) has in store. Our schedule says double language classes today but Dai Laoshi (our language professor) told us we might take a small field trip instead of afternoon classes. So we will see, keeping our fingers crossed, of course!
Wednesday, March 29th
Hey all! On Monday we went to a Chinese Hospital where they perform many traditional Chinese treatments and use traditional Chinese herbs. The hospital is very big and has many different departments and a whole building specifically for surgeries! It was at least 10 stories high. They showed us a couple of different traditional Chinese methods: acupuncture, which Tiffany was brave enough to try, and Chinese cupping method....which I was, um, brave enough (I guess) to try. They also showed us where they mix herbs together to use as traditional medicines in the hospital.
Sunday, May 26th, 2013
Oh man! We just got back from our weekend at a rural school, 2 hours north of Chongqing, where we taught English. I had the privilege of teaching 1st graders, 3rd graders and pre-k children. It was fun but also very frustrating trying to teach a room full of 1st graders and 3rd graders but I made it through. Teaching pre-k children was completely different most of it was singing English children's songs. Such as London Bridge, If You're Happy and You Know It, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and a few others. That was more fun and we did outside morning exercises too. Exhausting and fun. Glad to be back in Chongqing though!
Friday, May 24th, 2013
The past couple of days have been really busy! We have had class in the morning, school visits in the afternoon, and then hanging out with our language partners (we have so many language partners, they are very sweet and take us so many places to show us around.) Being in the schools has been very interesting the children aren't distracted the same way that U.S kids are. When we walk into a classroom in a few children turn and look but they don't start chatting or watch us. They glance and then turn their attention back to the teacher and throughout the class don't pay any attention to us. The amount of attention and respect they gave their teacher was astounding. In the U.S. (even high school students) would turn around and stare at anybody who came into the class. I know that's what my classmates and I would have done at any age in school. This was one of the first things to really catch my attention in both the elementary and middle school. We observed English classes and it was amazing to see what such young children were already learning from a foreign language class and very impressive. The teachers we have seen are great too. Very energetic, cheerful, encouraging and use different techniques to hold attention and teach different aspects of language.
The picture above shows 3 children that I got to talk to. In the picture they are singing Justin Bieber's "Baby." They were really good. I talked to them for about 30 minutes. They were really excited to speak with me and practice their English. They were also very patient with me as I practiced a little of my Chinese with them. The school visits have definitely been a crazy experience but very fun.
The picture above shows 3 children that I got to talk to. In the picture they are singing Justin Bieber's "Baby." They were really good. I talked to them for about 30 minutes. They were really excited to speak with me and practice their English. They were also very patient with me as I practiced a little of my Chinese with them. The school visits have definitely been a crazy experience but very fun.
The Beginnings
Had some internet usage problems for the first few days but we arrived on Saturday afternoon and have slept a lot to offset the jet lag (which I was surprised at how bad it was) We are just starting to get into a normal schedule. Today is our fourth day in Chongqing.We had our first language class today. I really like the teacher he makes it fun and it has been a great review for those of us who have taken language classes already, for the education students they caught on really quickly! We have toured the campus a couple of times and have went to a supermarket and downtown Chongqing. We are staying in dorms here on the campus of South West University, we are on the tenth floor and have some pretty cool views. (click on some of the pictures for bigger images and a description underneath!)