Gap Year

Chinese New Year

“Guo lai!” shouted my host mother. It was ten o’clock New Year’s Eve morning; I was hoping to sleep in, but the clamor from the kitchen and the threatening “Come here!” interrupted my dreams. Afraid that I was missing breakfast or some great tradition, I raced out of bed.

My host mother and father hurriedly carried dish after dish of steaming food to the kitchen table. Plastic cups filled with Chinese alcohol bordered the table; red decorations hung from two chairs; large red streamers decorated one end of the table; and, four bowls held burning cigarettes, all standing upright—a lazy substitute for incense I presume. “What is going on?!?!” I screamed in my head.

I stood at the table bewildered, “Are we eating dinner at 10 a.m.? Is this some type of ancestor worship? What’s with the cigarettes? If it is ancestral worship,” I reasoned, “they’ll soon have more joining their ranks from the cigarette smoke!”

My host dad noticed my baffled expression and kindly explained that this was in fact our dinner, but we would eat it at the normal dinnertime. For now at least, they were offering it to the gods in hopes of gaining prosperity for the coming year.

Not wanting to miss anything, for the rest of the day I hopped between the smoke-filled living room and my freezing bedroom (I had opened my window and offered my smoke to the smog in hopes of another year of good fortune). At one point, when I emerged from my bedroom, I was shocked to see a fire burning in the middle of the living room. Yes, there was a fire in the house! The table decorations had been put into a metal bowl to burn… The Spring Festival had begun!

Dating back centuries, the Chinese Lunar New Year, otherwise known as the Spring Festival, is the largest and most important Chinese holiday. Although it technically lasts fifteen days, only three to four days are officially a government-sanctioned holiday, and most celebrations conclude by the fifth day.

Three days before New Year’s Eve, a buzz took over Shanghai. Stores held large sales to attract those wanting a new outfit to ring in the New Year; people frantically cleaned their houses; and, decorations appeared all over town. Even my host family partook in the frenzy purchasing new clothes and decorating the house with new plants.

The main celebration of the Spring Festival is New Year’s Eve. Traditionally, extended family members gather for a feast (think Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner), but this year, it was just my host dad, mom, sister, and myself. Don’t worry though, there was plenty of food: a full chicken, a large part of a pig, numerous vegetables, and even a whole fish! I think there might have been more food than a typical Thanksgiving feast!

After dinner, we gathered to watch CCTV, the national Chinese television network. Since 1982, they’ve hosted an extravagant New Year’s program similar to the New York ball drop, with famous actors, comedians, and performers of course.

A Shanghai television station, however, also hosts a New Year’s Eve special. Interestingly, it was a constant battle between my host sister and her parents as to which show to watch. The national show is very traditional and nationalistic—performances by ethnic minorities and even an appearance by women in the air force. The Shanghai program, on the other hand, is much more Western and entertaining—performances by famous pop stars scantily dressed. I would say we watched an equal amount of each show.

At about 11:50 p.m., we trekked outside with two bags full of fireworks. Although fireworks had begun intermittently by midmorning and grew in intensity throughout the day, we waited for the coming of the New Year to contribute to the deafening roar of fireworks.

When midnight came, trust me, no one in Shanghai was sleeping. I’ve never seen or heard anything like it. The sky lit up in all directions accompanied by the piercing sound of firecrackers.

If you only heard the racket outside, you would naturally presume that you were under enemy attack, soon to die. After hours of this, I think I could now live in a war zone without flinching. Let’s hope, though, I’m never in a bombing, since I’ll miss the alert to run for cover!

I finally fell asleep at about 2 a.m., when the roar quieted down to a gentle clatter; however, at 7:53 a.m., I was suddenly awoken by firecrackers directly under my window. Little did I know that this racket would continue and continue and continue interminably. In fact, as I write this over a week since New Year’s Eve, I hear the silence-shattering sounds of fireworks.

On New Year’s Day, Sunday, we packed up the car and headed to Suzhou, a beautiful town 80 km from Shanghai, to visit relatives. One of the most important values of the Spring Festival is family. Children are expected to return home to their parents, even if it means travelling for days on a train. Cities grow eerily empty since most people are originally from the country.

 After about two hours in the car, we arrived at a farmhouse in the countryside. This was definitely not Suzhou! It turns out we were visiting my host mother’s parents, who live two hours outside of Suzhou. Needless to say, it was a enormous contrast from Shanghai with people living in houses, not small apartments squished together, with outdoor courtyards and old style kitchens complete with stoves heated by grass fires. Surrounding the houses were plots of land growing all types of fruits and vegetables.

Although this was the countryside, traces of modernity were emerging—a stretch of low, modern buildings lined the main road and factories loomed in the distance. I am sure that when my host mother lived there as a child it retained a much more rustic feel, but nevertheless, we were in the countryside.

We spent 24 hours visiting my host mother’s family. I met her mother, father, brother, and many neighbors. I spent the time eating—to celebrate visiting family, large feasts are served; snuggling under blankets in the bedroom to keep from freezing; and straining to follow conversations, before ultimately surrendering to my daydreams.

On Monday afternoon, we drove to Suzhou to meet my host father’s family, stopping first to pick up his mother for dinner. His mother is one of the sweetest people I have met in China. She always smiles, and surprisingly, she’s a Christian!

For dinner, we ate with my host father’s two brothers, sister, and some of their extended family. It lasted for about three and a half hours with enough food to feed an army. I tried to follow the conversation, but again I got caught up in my own thoughts; however, before I zoned out, I managed to follow a fifteen-minute stretch where I was the topic of conversation. They can’t believe that I go out so much but still study hard. Ha—at least I’ve got them fooled! My favorite, though, was an adorable schnauzer who was content to sleep on my lap!

The next day, Tuesday, after visiting a nearby lake and enjoying another three-hour meal with my host dad’s family, we left to visit my host mom’s classmate. After yet another feast, we headed home exhausted.

Wednesday night, the fifth day of the celebration, marked another cacophonous night in Shanghai equal to New Year’s Eve. Fireworks are launched in hopes of gaining the attention of Guan Yu, a Chinese mythology god, so that he will bring good favor. Good fortune is a central, driving theme throughout the New Year’s celebration. Many customs and traditions are carefully followed, all aiming to foster good luck. For example, the word “death” is carefully avoided, and all New Year’s greetings include a tagline of good fortune. Given the deafening roar of the fireworks, I’m in for one good year! There’s no way that Guan Yu missed this!

Since Thursday, life has slowly returned to normal—shops have opened and Shanghai no longer feels vacant—even though the festival continues until next Sunday. In the meantime, I have been living my last few days of vacation to the fullest visiting must-do attractions and spending a lot of time with friends. I am a little sad to see the break end, but I am excited for my new adventures this term including two internships—more on that after my first day.

I took more than a few photos during New Year’s, and you can click here to view. In the meantime, Happy Lunar New Year!

新年快乐！Happy New Year!

Greetings from the year of the tiger! It is currently 1:09 a.m., and the firework insanity continues! I have never before felt like I was living in a war zone, but tonight, I am in the heart of battle. 

I will post later about all of the festivities, but for now enjoy a few videos with a taste of the new year. These fireworks went off at midnight, but they began at 8 p.m. this evening and continue as I type. WOW.

Japan: What Does it Mean to Travel?

Although I was sitting at the Hongqiao Airport Tuesday afternoon waiting for my flight to board, my mind had already traveled to Japan. “What was Japan like? The people? The culture? Should the Japanese be detested, as some in my host country think, or revered, as some in my home country think?”

I was traveling to Japan hopeful to gain insight into these questions and many others. But, what does it mean to travel? Is the purpose of traveling to see the sights and absorb the culture, or is the goal of traveling one more attempt to satisfy our appetites, such as our unending need for shopping?

To be honest, at times in my life, my ambition for traveling has been fueled by the latter, but this year, traveling has taken on a new dimension. I travel so that I can experience a culture by visiting its sights, meeting its people, and understanding its history. 

I knew that this trip would be unlike any other since after all, I was traveling with a Chinese tour group. I was prepared to follow the pushing crowd behind the flag-waving guide, but little did I realize, I was aboard “Shop Japan.”

Our group consisted of about 30 people, ranging in ages from 7 to 60. Many couples brought their children along, and surprisingly, multiple couples had two children. (To break the one child policy, a family must have the financial ability to pay substantial fees).

Out of the group, I made one new friend, a little seven-year-old girl. Besides being adorable, she was able to help me with my Chinese homework. Yes, my work is equivalent to a first grader’s!

We had two guides, one who knew the area and the other who was essentially the group babysitter. I ended up talking quite a bit with the latter, and I realized that I could never do her job! She travels about 300 days per year and doesn’t find out where she is going until the day before departure. She has traveled so much since the spring of 2009 that she already needs another passport!

We arrived late Tuesday evening into Sapporo, the main town on the northern island of Hokkaido. BURRRRR!!!!!!!!!! With its location and mountains, Hokkaido is a picturesque, but very cold, winter wonderland.

We devoted our first day to skiing. There is an indoor skiing facility in Shanghai and a few mountains in the north of China, but skiing hasn’t taken hold in China as say the United States. I was, in fact, the only one with any previous experience.

Instead of participating in the hour-long lesson, I bought a pass and hit the slopes with my rented gear. From the advice of an Australian instructor, I jumped on a lift bound for mid-mountain (the top was too cold and windy he said), but before reaching mid-mountain, I was shivering. Turns out that the instructions to wear only a light sweater under the rented ski parka were very incorrect…

As I started down the run, I encountered a second and far more severe problem; slowly, but surely, my goggles were freezing! I stopped and attempted to clean them, but they were literally frozen, so I could see absolutely nothing. I removed the goggles and started back down, but soon realized I couldn’t seeing anything without the goggles from the snow flying into my eyes!

Somehow, I made it down and switched the goggles. I went up the same lift a few more times before I called it a day and found my host family who were enjoying lunch in the lodge. My host mom claimed that Cherry, my host sister, really wanted to learn to ski, but after going down the mini-hill one more time, she was done. The only one who kept at it until the end of our given three hours was my host dad. I am proud of his stamina, courage, and determination!

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the fancy ski resort hotel’s hot springs. It was so nice and warm! For dinner, we got a taste of Hokkaido. Hokkaido is known for dairy (for the first time since August, I drank good milk), crabs, and beer, and for our only group-free dinner, we enjoyed all three, and they were all fabulous—I am not kidding it was the best soft-serve ice cream in the world!

Thursday was a whirlwind tour moving from sight to sight like children at a museum, always looking but never having enough time to understand and appreciate. These “sights” included a river, a street with shopping, a store with food goods, a chocolate factory, the city hall, a display of ice-sculptures, and to top it off, two hours shopping for cosmetic goods, a big deal for my fellow tour-mates since the cosmetics were those you cannot buy in China.

My highlights of the day included a chocolate store (not the factory, but a store with very, very yummy chocolate) and admiring the bizarre architecture of the city. Some members of the group found the city unattractive, compared to Shanghai, but I liked the low, sprawling, snow-covered buildings in this slow-paced city.

The next day involved fewer stops, beginning at an outlet mall where I made the big purchase of a soda. I could have sworn I was at the Woodburn Outlets if it wasn’t for the snow; they even had the same stores! Next, we flew to Tokyo, went up the tower of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices to view the city, ate dinner, and collapsed in bed at the Hilton Tokyo Bay (complete with a Starbucks!), located next to Tokyo Disney.

Our one day in Tokyo was a leisure day without the tour group. Instead of going to Disney Land with my host sister and host dad, at 6:30 in the morning my host mom and I were off to the Tsukiji Fish Market, the largest seafood market in the world. I have never seen so many types of fish in my life—tuna, salmon, squid, jellyfish, clams, and so many other types of seafood that I can’t even name!

For breakfast, we stopped at a sushi bar outside of the market. Now, I am not normally one for eating raw fish—I had never tried raw fish until I accidently ate some raw salmon at dim sum in Xiamen this fall—but because I try to live by the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans,” it was raw fish for breakfast! Most of it was surprisingly good, especially the sushi roll with salmon eggs; however, I think I will restrict my sushi to Japan.

After a brief stop at a nearby park, I left my host mom and began my day of wandering around Tokyo to get a feel for this gigantic city. I hit most of the major areas: Ginza, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, and Roppongi.

One highlight of the day was the Sony Building, which housed eight floors of electronic displays. I think I now know the future of TVs, 3D TVs! Yes, they had a whole floor of 3D TVs, and I liked what I saw. Just imagine video gamers and sports fans!

Also, on the advice of a nice girl and mother who showed me the location of an ATM, I ventured into Shibuya 109, a popular mall for Japanese fashion. Wow! It was incredible. Japanese fashion is hard to describe, but it’s very unique! Rather than explain, take a look at the picture below; it's one of the variations. The mall was full of this type of clothing!

After dinner, I went to the Tokyo Tower, modeled after the Eiffel Tower though the Tokyo Tower is nine meters taller. From the ground, it’s quite unimpressive. I found the Eiffel Tower breathtaking, so I assume the difference is that other tall buildings surround the Tokyo Tower, reducing its towering stature. The view from 250 meters up, however, was nothing short of spectacular.

In terms of massive buildings sprawling as far as the eye can see, Tokyo is comparable to Shanghai, but that’s about where the similarities end. First off, Tokyo is super clean, perhaps cleaner than New York City. Even the sky was sparkling blue, and according to a local, most days it remains clear and blue! There are no apparent areas of utter poverty as there are in Shanghai. In addition, though life is fast-paced, cars still have the courtesy to wait for you to cross before they turn, people don’t push you to the floor while getting on the metro, and people even offer to help you without being asked. It appears that the Japanese have kept their humanity, even in fast-paced modernity.

Sunday was our final day in Japan before returning to the smog of Shanghai. After the 7 a.m. wake-up call (yes, every morning the tour gave us a wake-up call, an hour and a half before we had to leave…), we headed to the Imperial Palace East Garden where we were allotted 30 minutes to see all 300 acres. Next, we went to Senso-ji Temple and finally to guess where… Another outlet mall!!! JOY!

This outlet mall was much different that the first. Not for a second did I imagine I was at Woodburn. First, part of it was a massive kids play-land. Second, there was a Toyota show room attached to the mall—turns out that Toyota makes all sorts of cars that aren’t in America! Finally, the inside of the mall was reminiscent of the Venetian casino—the ceilings were painted in clouds—and there were few Western stores. Oddly, they did have a Birkenstock store and a Cheese Cake Factory though as I learned, CCF doesn’t pride itself in worldwide quality control like Starbucks, for example.

After our afternoon at the mall, it was time to head back to Shanghai. I wasn’t ready to leave, so I attempted to change my ticket but to no avail. It was a group ticket, so it couldn’t be changed… Sad day!

It was great to get a glimpse into the most advanced Asian country even though I was clearly traveling with a purpose contrary to my interests. China may soon lead the world economically, but in terms of the quality of life, whether measured by environmentally, socially, or culturally, it is questionable whether it can achieve that which makes life real and meaningful.

The next big event is the Chinese New Year (February 14^th). I will spend New Year’s Eve in Shanghai with my host family and then spend the next three days with their family in the nearby town of Suzhou. I am excited to experience the greatest Chinese holiday of them all!

Click here for pictures of Japan.

Cheers!