Gap Year

The Honeymoon Continues!

After one month in Shanghai, the honeymoon phase is still in full swing, and by all means, it can remain as long as it likes! I’m increasingly thankful that I have the opportunity to take a gap year in China before entering college, and I eagerly anticipate the exciting adventures in the months ahead.

In this post, I will share the weekly highlights and mention other events I somehow left out of previous blog posts.

Travel Booking: I’ve spent most of this week trying to organize a trip over winter break. The CIEE program ends on December 13^th and our month long Chinese New Year holiday begins January 23^rd; however, between those two dates, we do not have to go to class and are free to travel outside of the country. Before leaving the States, I had the crazy idea that I should try to go somewhere in East Asia over our break, and by my second week here, I’d found a travel buddy. After a week of research, our trip is finally booked. We are going on a two-week adventure beginning in Phnom Phen, Cambodia, where we will see the Killing Fields and other remnants of the Khmer Rouge. From there, we will travel to Siem Reap, Cambodia, for a four-day tour of Angkor Wat and other nearby temples. Finally, we will spend a week in Thailand based out of Bangkok.

You may think organizing a trip to this part of the world wouldn’t be too difficult, but think again! Problem number one. We are only 17 and 18 and are going without our parents. Is this a problem? Well, we know it’s not for Cambodia because we went on a two-hour excursion across Shanghai to locate the Cambodian Consulate and ask our question about age. After walking a few kilometers from the metro, we finally arrived at this large building with a guard in front. In very broken Chinese, I attempted to explain that we wanted to go to Cambodia and had a few questions to ask. He then asked for our passports, which unfortunately we didn’t have because they were with the Chinese government getting residence permits. I showed him my student I.D. card, and he let both of us in. Sketchy… We entered an office building with 20 floors and tried a few random floors looking for the consulate, but they were occupied by businesses. Finally, a woman got on the elevator and told us floor 12. We stepped off the elevator, were met by another guard, and once again were asked for our passports. This time, my student I.D. proved insufficient; however, he sent out an official who kindly told us that age was not an issue and that we should come back in December to apply for tourist visas. PHEW. That was certainly an adventure!

We did not go to the Thailand Consulate, but we emailed and called both the Thai Embassy in Germany (my travel partner is German) and the United States. I don’t really know the final verdict, but I think I’ll bring a notarized document from my parents just in case!

Other problems included China Southern Airlines failing to confirm our booking on Orbitz and finding a tour company that would allow a 17-year-old (this was resolved by using a Cambodian based company as they don’t have the same liability issues). I am very excited for this adventure! It will be incredible. In addition, homesickness and culture shock usually hit around the holidays, so I hope that this will help pull me through.

Guest Lecture: This week, CIEE arranged a guest lecture by Jay Hoenig, the Chief Operating Officer of Hill and Associates, a security and risk management consultant firm in China. His firm helps foreign companies assess the risk of operating in China. Business in China often involves fraud and corruption. Counterfeiting alone makes up 8% of China’s GDP. It’s also not uncommon to set up a factory, and a few months later, discover an identical factory a few minutes down the road producing the same product with a slightly different name. Business ethics are not the same as in the States, which can make operating a business in China challenging. It was a very interesting speech that gave me a different perspective on business in China. Throughout the term, CIEE sets up multiple guest lectures, so hopefully all will be as informative!

Teacher’s Day: After the Cultural Revolution that attacked teachers for allegedly holding counter-revolutionary ideals, China now celebrates teachers with National Teacher’s Day on September 10^th. Growing up, every year, I remember having teacher appreciation week. I don’t actually recall doing anything for my teachers, however. I usually chose to show my appreciation at random times throughout the year or at the very end of the school year. After seeing how teachers are honored in China, I must say, I feel bad about my lack of appreciation. To all of my teachers, I think I owe you a big THANK YOU and a very nice dinner when I return!

Two days before the holiday, my host family took five of my host sister’s elementary school teachers out to a lavish dinner of Sichuan food. I’ve never seen so much food served at once! Although many of the dishes were too spicy for my taste, my favorite dish was the lettuce with a peanut sauce almost identical to peanut butter! The two and a half-hour dinner was rather trying for me--I understood nothing of the conversation because they spoke in the Shanghai dialect. At one point one of Cherry’s male teachers gave her advice. Everyone became quiet, and he spoke directly to her. It was also interesting to observe the difference between men and women. All of the women were served tea while the men were served beer. The men also smoked multiple cigarettes throughout the meal, but not one woman ever pulled out a cigarette. I am still trying to understand Chinese gender differences.

National Day: October 1^st is National Day, the holiday to celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and this year, it’s the PRC’s 60^th anniversary. Make no mistake: This holiday is a VERY BIG DEAL. Security, even in Shanghai, is increasing (there are now bag checks at metro stops), and flags are quadrupling in numbers. Moreover, there is a nation-wide, weeklong break. In the U.S., holidays are holidays, and the school days missed are considered gone forever. Not in China.  On Sunday, I went to school for a make-up class scheduled because of our break. Needless to say, this conflicts with my Western mindset, but at the same time, it’s not surprising. The Chinese place great value on education and even go to school for a month longer than in the States. It will be interesting to see the effect of this discipline many years from now.

For the holiday, seven of us gap year students are headed to Beijing. It may not be such a good idea with all the crazy excitement around the anniversary, but we will see! Hopefully, the tourist sites will not close. I leave this Thursday on a flight out of Shanghai and then return Saturday the 10^th of October on the overnight train. It will be an adventure!

My next post will probably be in two weeks, after we return from Beijing! Cheers!

Back to School!

After two weeks of orientation fun, I finally had my first real week and now have a general idea of what my typical week will look like.

School started last Friday after a placement test earlier in the week. The placement test lasted an incredible five minutes. I told the lady how long I’d been studying Chinese, read some pinyin and characters, and then defined three characters, school, summer, and happy. From this cursory test, she somehow decided I should be placed in level 1-5. Where she got that idea is beyond me!

Friday morning, I was the first student in the classroom. Others started wandering in all chatting in Mandarin. Not a good sign. I could understand most of what they were saying, but I could never form those sentences myself! During class, it got worse: I only followed about one-fourth of what the teacher said, and when called upon to read a paragraph in the text, I knew maybe one-fifth of the characters. By the end of the three-hour class, I was practically in tears. Needless to say, I moved down a level Monday morning.

My new class, the one I will be staying in, is level 1-4. It is still a bit over my head, but a challenge is always good, and Abby is in it, so we can struggle together! The class meets everyday for three hours. It has about 15 students from all over the world: Belgium, Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, and the U.S. We work from three books, the main text that we use for two classes each week, a listening book that we use for one class each week, and a speaking book that we use for two classes each week. The head teacher teaches both the main text and the listening while another teacher is responsible for the speaking. It’s great that they split it up because I think I would go crazy spending every second of class in one book!

I begin everyday until 11:45 with Chinese language class. Then we enjoy our lunch break. At the back gate of campus, there is a street with numerous restaurants and street vendors. I’ve made a few good and cheap discoveries. One stand offers what we call a “Chinese burrito” for a mere 70 cents. For 70 cents, you can also get fried noodles and fried rice, or a crepe like dish. For something to drink there are numerous bubble tea stands offering a range of drinks including an “American Mocha” made with none other than Hershey’s Syrup!

After a yummy lunch (my favorite meal of the day for sure), we have a variety of activities depending on the day. Mondays and Thursdays, we have tutoring. This is another reason why I think staying in the challenging class will be fine; I have a Chinese tutor for three hours each week! On Tuesdays, we teach English for an hour at a migrant school, a school set up for children whose families have come to Shanghai from all over China to help build the city. The principal sounds like a good man with the best interests of the children in mind. He wants to make sure they receive an education equal to the education at other Shanghai elementary schools. Marius and I teach a class of fifth graders. Our primary responsibility is to help their pronunciation. During our first class, we assigned English names. Then, we had the children repeat phrases after us and have conversations with their desk partner. We ended by singing, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” The kids seemed to enjoy the class and were eager to participate. The most interesting thing I observed was the ratio of girls to boys. Boys by far outnumbered the girls. Kind of makes you wonder…

On Thursdays, we have a Chinese Martial Arts class taught by a teacher at the university. This week, we worked on a move to grab our attacker’s trachea and learned a few kicks and punches. I can’t help but burst into giggles multiple times throughout class. Me attacking someone is a funny image in my head! By the time I come home, I hope to have a few good moves perfected. Just a warning! :)

Every other Friday afternoon, our CIEE Activity Intern will take us on a cultural excursion. This week, we went to Tianshan Tea City, a giant tourist trap for tea buying. I sampled about twenty different flavors of tea: strawberry tea, pineapple tea, green tea, chrysanthemum tea, black tea, lemon tea, jasmine tea, rose tea, and the list went on. My favorite was by far the jasmine, though the chrysanthemum was the prettiest to look at. By the end, everything tasted disgusting! There is a whole culture that goes along with tea, and I most certainly do not understand it. In a few weeks, we will attend a traditional tea ceremony at one of the host family’s homes. That will hopefully broaden my tea horizons even more!

Only one cultural stereotype occurred this week, the reason why Americans are obese. My host dad’s reasoning on this subject is as follows: Americans drink milk instead of water and eat meat instead of vegetables. Ok, maybe there is some truth in this stereotype, but I have certainly defied it for my host dad. Ever since coming to China, I’ve been craving vegetables. Whenever vegetables are served, I eat a ton! I even bought carrots as a snack! My host dad thinks I’m actually Chinese since I like vegetables so much!

More to come soon!

 

Week Two. For Lack of a Better Title!

Another week accomplished! To not ramble on for hours, I will give the basic highlights.

Medical Examination: Way back in March, I went to the doctor for a physical to meet the requirements of the Chinese visa application. Multiple tests later, including an EKG, a chest x-ray, and a blood test, I left the doctor’s office with my form. I thought that for sure I had completed all tests necessary for my time in China. WRONG! Guess what?! I repeated every test, this time administered by Chinese nurses and doctors.

CIEE took the five of us who are staying for the year to a special facility with the sole purpose of examining foreigners wanting to procure a visa. After waiting for forty-five minutes, filling out a form, and paying my money, I was ushered to a locker room and instructed to change into a robe. I was then handed a sheet and went to work to complete my medical checklist. Each room in the hallway was assigned a specific test, such as an EKG, chest x-ray, blood sample, vision test, ultrasound, and many more. It felt like a middle school activities fair, running around from room to room and completing your checklist. A little under two hours later, we left the facility having completed the medical marathon. The results will be in this coming week!

Walking Tour of the French Concession: As part of our history and culture class put on by CIEE, we took an afternoon walking tour of the French Concession. In the early 1900s, Shanghai was divided into three main sections: the International Settlement, the French Concession, and the Chinese Settlement. Each settlement had it’s own governing codes of law, which resulted in no central law and made it easy to escape punishment for serious crimes. The French concession is home to many Parisian buildings, a few with a Chinese twist. Today, the buildings are in very poor condition, and in an effort to make Shanghai appear beautiful for the 2010 Expo, they are receiving a facelift consisting of a fresh coat of paint. This effort is purely cosmetic leaving the insides dilapidated. These settlements are home to many locals who have lived there for years. Each group of buildings provides a large community. One settlement had a barbershop, convenience store, and even a vegetable stand. Many of the buildings in the area have already been demolished in order to build modern buildings. Each demolition forces countless residents to relocate and lose their sense of community. It will be interesting to see how many buildings survive the passing of time and avoid demolition.

Other adventures of the week included a trip to Subway (yes the sandwich shop), the Shanghai Museum (a must see for anyone in Shanghai), IKEA to buy a mattress (that trip almost warrants its own blog post!), and a few trips to the nearby mall. I will post an update about school once classes are in full swing.

To end posts from now on, I will share interesting stereotypes of Americans that I encounter, assuming I have some to share. There were two interesting ones this week, both from my host dad.

1)    Americans drink only milk and not water.

2)    Americans don’t do laundry.

I must say that both are false. This is what cultural exchange is all about, defying stereotypes and learning about each other’s culture! One stereotype that has certainly been defied for me is the idea that all Chinese are short. Yes, on average, the Chinese are shorter than Americans, but it’s not that noticeable. My host sister is almost my height, and my host dad is much taller. Granted, I am only of average height. If I was extremely tall, my impression might be different. More stereotypes to come I am sure!

Cheers!

Not Your Typical Breakfast

“Let’s go out for breakfast!” Those are words I love to hear. At home, what’s better than starting out the day with a scrumptious platter of French toast and scrambled eggs from the Glenwood?

Last night, in a mix of Chinese and English, I heard those same words uttered by my host father. The plan was simple: leave home at eight to go to a part of Shanghai thirty minutes away and return after a good breakfast. We left forty minutes late, and an hour drive later, we arrived at a town similar to Zhujiajiao, only smaller and not as well preserved.

We began the meal wandering through the narrow streets filled with street food. Before I knew what happened, my host sister handed me a stick with something resembling meatballs. After being sick earlier in the week, I’ve done my best to avoid anything that looks as if it has the potential to upset my stomach. I couldn’t be rude, so I ate the incredibly spicy meatballs hoping I wouldn’t be sick. A few moments later, my host sister stopped in the middle of the road and demanded in a very whiny voice to return to a previous stall. My host dad acquiesced. He definitely spoils her. In fact, he went as far to say, “We must play today because when mother returns our fun ends.” Apparently, the host mother is the one to keep everyone in line. 

The next street food delicacy was an oddly shaped piece of red meat. I managed to eat most of it minus the fat.  Our next dish of the morning was none other than a cup of New Zealand vanilla ice cream. Now this I could handle! I ate the sweet, cold ice cream, which helped soothe my burning lips. Breakfast had to be over.

Wrong. We then began looking for a table at a restaurant. We passed two very popular restaurants with no tables available, so we continued walking until we arrived at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. One word to describe this place, sketchy! The floor was disgusting, the dishes weren’t wrapped in plastic as at most decent restaurants, and we were the only people there. Next thing I knew, three dishes arrived at our table: vegetables, lamb meat, and lamb guts. YUMMY! Okay, if this place wasn’t completely sketchy, my reaction would have been different, but given the situation I didn’t want to eat ANYTHING, let alone intestines. I tried three bites of everything and then insisted I was full. After some time, my host dad and sister managed to finish off the food, and we left for home.

On the way home, I was in for yet another surprise. We took the wrong road! Instead of turning around, my host dad decided to take us to the biggest mountain in all of Shanghai. At this point, my host dad had been playing the same three songs over and over, and my stomach was growling. I just wanted to return home for my lunch date with Abby. I smiled, though, and said that I would love to see this mountain!

Mountain? The mountains are a little smaller in Shanghai than Oregon. It was, however, quite peaceful and offered excellent views. My hunger was temporarily satisfied by a wonderful Magnum ice cream bar. My host sister had three ice creams, but I limited myself to one. After exploring the observatory, viewing the church, and playing at this park type thing, we finally made our way home. An eventful day for sure.

I guess dads everywhere like to spoil their daughters! Whether buying food or fixing iPhones, they love to spoil us. :)

I need to get back to my history reading. As part of the program, we take a weekly history and culture class and before the first class, we must read 200 pages about Shanghai history. It’s definitely fascinating. It seems that Shanghai is a city built off opium, prostitution, and gangs! More to come soon!

Week One

Wow. I’ve now been in Shanghai for a week, and what a crazy week it’s been! Last Sunday, Abby, Erika, and I adventured to an expat church across the city via the metro system. Surprisingly, we navigated two line changes and successfully made it to Hengshan Road. We ate lunch at a restaurant packed with people. In China, lunch at a nice restaurant costs about twenty yuan or about three dollars. If you eat street food, you can pay as little as four yuan, under one dollar. From lunch, we headed to church where we enjoyed seeing other “laowai” (foreigners). To reward ourselves, we bought drinks from none other than Starbucks. In the states, my drink ranges from $2.90 to $3.30. In China, however, my tall mocha frappuccino was 28 yuan, or $4.10, which seems ridiculously expensive when compared to a nice meal for 20 yuan! Starbucks will be a rare treat.

On Tuesday, the CIEE activity’s intern took the group into the city to visit the Pearl Tower. Of my week in China, Tuesday had the poorest air quality, limiting visibility from the 867-foot-high observatory deck. Nonetheless, the view was spectacular. Shanghai is massive. I’ve never witnessed anything like it. It seems to go on indefinitely. It’s also different in that, unlike say New York, you never feel completely surrounded by skyscrapers; rather, there are many massive buildings spread out among smaller buildings. In addition, you also feel as if you are caught between two different worlds. On one side of the street, you see beautifully designed buildings towering in the clouds, and on the other, you see dilapidated buildings typical of the third world. It’s a shocking contrast!

After our visit to the tower, we went to Wang’s Dumplings for dinner--delicious fried dumplings filled with pork and a pork fat soup; however, one day later, the thought alone was nauseating. We ended the evening with a very sketchy acrobatic show. They even did an act with Jack and Rose from the Titanic using Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On. Abby and I died in hysterics, but luckily, the theater was practically empty!

On Wednesday, we took a sightseeing bus around Shanghai. We saw the same towering buildings from Tuesday, but this time we also saw the AMAZING shopping. I think my parents sent me to the wrong city. Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Coach, Zara, H&M, Prada, the list goes on. It’s simply incredible.

Yesterday was the long-awaited scavenger hunt throughout the city using only public transportation. The morning got off to a poor start with an upset stomach. Luckily, I made it through the day surviving on Gatorade, a banana, and a few crackers purchased at my favorite place in Shanghai, the City Supermarket. The eight of us divided into three teams. My team consisted of Abby from Boston and Ben from Chicago. Our mission was victory, so we strategized the night before and left an hour before the suggested start time. We began with the simple items in our neighborhood: steamed buns, an open fruit market, a bank, 24 hour convenience stores, underwear hanging in public, nearby restaurants, an early morning exercise group, and a tailor shop. We then hopped on the metro to East Nanjing Rd. where we rode a bus to the Old City. There, we sampled tea, found the swords at Yu Gardens, saw a Chinese tour group, and sampled tofu. From Old City, we walked up the Bund spotting the U.S. Custom’s House, Pujiang Hotel, Waibaidu Bridge, and street food galore. We continued the extraordinarily long hike to find the U.S. Consulate slyly hidden on the eighth floor of a mall, The Shanghai Museum, The Grand Theater, Jing’An Temple, Soviet Architecture across from an international supermarket, and bubble tea. We reached the CIEE office five minutes before the cut off time. The results aren’t in yet, but the lady thinks we were by far the winners. I feel very accomplished, fit, and exhausted. I think it’s safe to say I’ve never done so much walking in my life…

Today, we went to Zhujiajiao, a water town outside of the city reminiscent of Venice. It was a much welcomed change of scenery. We enjoyed a pleasant boat ride and wandered through the narrow streets along the river. It was a very relaxing day.

I’ve decided that it’s too cumbersome to post pictures in the photo album on my blog, so I’ve attached a link to my photo album on Facebook!

Enjoy!

Photo Album