Gap Year

Ultimate Bear Hugs

Who gives the best hugs? Some might say a close friend; others would counter your mom; and still others believe a dear pet. After a trip to Chengdu, I now argue pandas!

When I realized that to travel to Lhasa, Tibet one must stop in Chengdu, I immediately shrieked, “Pandas!” Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan Province located in southwest China, and if one wants to see pandas in a more natural habitat than a zoo, Sichuan is the place to go.

On Thursday, April 29th, Josh, another Panda enthusiast, and I boarded a plane for Chengdu. After arriving at our hostel late in the evening, our first stop was Sichuan Hot Pot to satisfy Josh’s need for spicy food. Hot pot is a very popular Chinese dish that for some reason hasn’t swept the U.S. (give it time and it will!). You cook the food yourself in a pot of broth—pots can either be individual or shared by the table. In Sichuan, however, everything is spicy, so our pot was full of peppers and small, round berry-like objects that numb the mouth.  Luckily for me, a small part of the pot was pepper free, so I too ate dinner!

Early the next morning, we headed to the Chengdu Panda Research and Breeding Center, dedicated to increasing the number of this endangered species through researched breeding and conserving areas in the wild where pandas still roam free. It was about breakfast time, so we were able to watch these lazy animals play games—pandas spend at most one hour a day playing—including annoy the panda sleeping in the tree, panda wrestling, tree acrobats and splash in a pound. The ridiculously cute pandas mesmerized us, and we spent hours just staring.

The highlight of the trip, however, was a photo with a panda! For a small fee, one could pet a panda while having a picture snapped. Pandas can be vicious if they feel threatened—it was rumored that the previous week a panda swiped a girl across the face—but thanks to an endless supply of apples, this panda could care less who was standing behind her, and we escaped unharmed from the best bear hug of our lives.

After our precious thirty seconds with the adorable panda, we headed back to the city where we spent the remainder of the day eating more spicy food and wandering around a temple.

Early the next morning, we bid farewell to our new panda friends and boarded a plane headed for Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, located a dizzying 12,000 feet above sea level…

Posts about Tibet will follow in the next few days. For now, you can enjoy panda pictures here. 

An Early Trip to the Expo

What a week! What began as day in bed last Sunday has ended on a much-anticipated high.

Last Sunday morning, I dreamt that I was not feeling well, and to my horror, at 4 a.m., I awoke to realize my dream had come true; my stomach was very unhappy. For the next 7 hours, my stomach demanded that I run to the bathroom. With help from my mom, my doctor from the States called me and determined that all was ok and that there was no need to rush to the doctor. (Thanks Dr. Bob!)

By the afternoon, my stomach had settled down, but I still felt terrible (i.e., could not muster the energy to watch a movie). After a very uncomfortable night’s sleep—did you know staying in the same bed for 30 hours is VERY painful?—I felt much better! I don’t think it had anything to do with food. It was probably some type of 24-hour virus.

That Sunday, I had originally arranged to meet up with my Chinese friend, but due to obvious reasons, I had to cancel. We decided to reschedule for the following Sunday, and to my surprise, she had EXPO TICKETS!!!

The Shanghai 2010 World Expo, a world's fair, will run for six months and attract over 70 million visitors to the 1,000 acre site. The site features pavilions from foreign countries with the theme of “Better City, Better Life.” Although the Expo doesn’t officially open until May 1^st, my friend is one of the many student volunteers, so as a thank-you, she received two preview tickets.

I’ve been anticipating my first trip to the Expo for quite some time because for the last eight months, the city has been plastered with Expo advertisements. You can’t walk a block without seeing something to do with the Expo. Needless to say, I was quite excited for the chance to visit early!

Yesterday afternoon, we set off for the Expo. I was a little worried from the rumors—long lines, no food, dirty bathrooms, etc.—but I was pleasantly surprised.

We arrived early in the afternoon, so the lines to enter were non-existent. Security to enter was tighter than at any airport. For example, they even made me show that my camera worked! After fumbling around the Puxi side, we realized the fun stuff was across the river, so we hopped a ferry to Pudong.

For the remainder of the day, we wandered around the pavilions, but rarely went inside. Those that were open had enormous lines, but most were actually closed as they have not been completed. I seriously doubt all will be finished in just 6 days…

Some of the pavilions were incredible. China, Germany, and England are a few standouts, just to name a few. We did manage to make it in a building featuring small displays from numerous African countries, and a few other buildings such as the Czech Republic pavilion.

I will definitely return at least three more times to visit pavilions and get a better feel for what the Expo is about. Don’t worry I will post a lot more information in a future blog. For now, I can say it’s a way for countries to show-off with an overall focus of energy efficiency. For the visitor, it’s reminiscent of Disney World’s Epcot. You can see a few pictures below.

My next visit to the Expo will be after I return from Tibet. This Thursday, I leave for Chengdu in the Sichuan Province of China to see the panda bears, and from there, I will fly to Tibet on Saturday. It’s sure to be an experience of a lifetime! I will post when I return. Cheers!

  

The Chinese National Pavilion

The mini-Ghana Pavilion.

 The Russian National Pavilion.

Wudang Mountain

“I can’t do this!” I whispered under my breath. “Maybe if I count… One. Two. Three. Four… GAH! Come on Katherine. You can’t fail. Every twenty steps just take a breather. That red gate ahead must be the start of the temple at the top!”

It was the first day at Wudang Mountain in the Hubei Province on the CIEE field trip, and the afternoon activity was a stroll to the top. We’d been warned ahead of time that it might take six hours to climb up and down, but we were all under the impression it couldn’t be too bad, right?

Wrong. The hike, a mere 4.5 km, consisted only of stairs! Until the fork with a mere 1.8 km remaining, it was a breeze. I’d kept up with the boys and could still feel my legs. The fork in the trail allowed two options: a longer gentler path or a shorter steeper path. Of course, we—that is, the boys—chose the steeper option! 

After the first few hundred steps, my stamina vanished. The boys raced ahead while I stopped to catch my breath. “Forget them!” I said as I reached for my iPod. I continued for the next hour at my own pace, stopping when needed to make sure that I could still feel my legs.

Three separate times I was tricked into thinking I was almost at the summit by red gates. It’s only once you pass through the gate that you realize you are nowhere near the top!

After what seemed like an eternity, my quivering legs and I reached the monastery below the peak. To my surprise, I found Noah, Marius, and Will resting on a bench waiting for the CIEE teachers to pay the $1.50 required to hike the final leg. Ben and Josh were all ready at the top believing that CIEE would reimburse them, which they did!

“I am not stopping now!” I shouted as I passed near the bench. Ticket in hand, I hiked the last few staircases and reached the Golden Summit.

For the next forty-five minutes, Josh, Ben, and I celebrated our summit with crazy photos and small snacks all while soaking in the beautiful scenery. Success!

Although my highlight of the trip was the hike to the top, CIEE’s intention was not for us to travel hundreds of kilometers just to climb a mountain; rather, Wudang Mountain is a Daoist Holy Land known also for martial arts. Beginning during the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907), monasteries were constructed, and today, Daoist priests continue to live and worship in the ancient monasteries. In addition to the priests, martial art masters and aspiring students live at the monasteries practicing the Wudang style of Tai Chi.

Daoism, a combination religion and philosophy, dates back to the writings of Laozi and Zhuangzi of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to 220 A.D.). It’s two main principles are dao and wuwei. Dao literally means the way, following the natural way of the universe, and wuwei means doing nothing. Combine the ideas together and you have the chief principal of Daoism, finding the natural way of the universe through inaction to achieve immortality.

Although Daoism began as a philosophy in opposition to Confucianism, today it has morphed into a religion with followers and gods. On the mountain, we were able to witness two worship sessions involving chanting and praying. It was a thoroughly interesting site! You can see the video below.

In addition to the hike up the mountain, we visited multiple monasteries, saw a kongfu show, and had a Tai Chi lesson. The only negative aspect of the trip was the travel involved. Since flying is so expensive and there are no airports close to the mountain, we relied on China’s massive railway system. We left Wednesday afternoon on a slow train out of Shanghai and arrived at the mountain the following evening. Yes, that’s 22 hours on a train!!!!! Then after 1.5 days at the mountain, we took a 3-hour train to the city of Wuhan where we spent the night before spending the next day on the train back to Shanghai. Our time wasn’t maximized, but our dollar was!

After getting back Sunday evening, school and internships are back to normal. The next exciting event is Tibet in about two weeks! You can find pictures of my one-day excursion to Hangzhou here (it was a perfect day out of Shanghai!!) and pictures of Wudang Mountain here.

Cheers!

Happy Tomb Sweeping Day!

Today, April 4^th, marks the first day of the Chinese Qingming Festival (known in English as Tomb Sweeping Day). It is a chance to celebrate the beauty of spring and pay respect to ancestors.

If it weren’t for my three-day weekend, I don’t think I would notice it is a holiday. The only other indication of the holiday is green rice balls appearing in convenience stores. Green, mushy, and smelling like grass, these sweet, bean paste filled rice balls are interesting to say the least! The taste is okay, but I can’t handle the mushy texture.

The most noteworthy recent event was my parents and aunt’s visit to China! I met them in Beijing where we spent two days seeing the sights—the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace, and the Great Wall.

Unlike my first time in Beijing with perfect weather, this time, we choose the day of the worst sand storm of the year, a storm that made the front page of the Wall Street Journal! A desert surrounds Beijing, and occasionally in the spring, the sands envelope the city creating a yellow sky above layers of sand. It was unreal. Like snow sticking to cars, sand coated cars driving down the road! Needless to say we wore facemasks as it wasn’t even advisable to even be outdoors. I now understand how 25% of L.A.’s air pollution originates in China!

After Beijing, we went to Shanghai, and for three days, I dragged my family mercilessly around the city. Rain or shine, we were on the go. We managed to see most of the sites, tour my university, and have dinner with my host family. They really enjoyed meeting my family as they now know who’s taken such good care of me over the last seven months!

Not only was it great for me to see my family, but it was also fun for me to see their reactions to the aspects of China I’ve grown accustomed to over the last few months. Every cab ride was an adventure with shrieks from the lucky one in the front seat and door handle clutching by those in the back; every massive hole in the ground left my father amazed at lack of construction codes; and, every “loogie” spat caused grimaces all around. I am very glad they weren’t frightened enough to demand my return to the States!

It was amazing to see family after months of separation. I am so thankful they were able to visit, even though their departure left me temporarily homesick.

Other than my parents visit, my life has been normal—school, internships, and hanging out with friends. I’ve started working on my Shanghai to do list before departure, including going up to the 100^th floor of the Shanghai Financial Center and visiting the Science and Technology Museum. It’s crazy to think I only have two more months of CIEE and three more months before I come home! Gasp!

This Monday, I am headed to the nearby city of Hangzhou for the day, and then later in the week I leave for the Hubei Province for the CIEE fieldtrip. I will post more soon!

You can find my pictures of spring here and a collection of all of the photos from my family’s visit below:

Beijing

Great Wall

Shanghai

Second Term: A Fast Start

The sounds of the Spring Festival have ended, and the second part of my gap year is off to a fast start.

Here are the highlights since my last post.

School: School resumed the last Friday in February. I decided it would be better and more challenging to skip a level, so this term I am in year two, level one (In other words, I am no longer in beginning Chinese! Yippee!!).

I really like my new class. The main teacher (we have a main teacher and two graduate students) is, in the words of another student, lihai (formidable). Instead of vocabulary quizzes at the end of a lesson like my last class, quizzes are on the first day. Knowing the vocab up front will help us move faster and make things clearer. Also, she gives us the plans for each chapter in advance, so we always know what to expect. I am hopeful my Chinese will improve greatly over the next three months!

In addition to a great teacher, my classmates represent countries from every corner of the globe, including Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Vietnam, the United States, the Ukraine, Korea, Japan, Argentina, Mongolia, and a country in Africa (I don’t know the names of the countries in Africa in Chinese, so naturally, I couldn’t understand which country…). With so many different nationalities, class discussions are very interesting!

Internships: Over the last few months, I’ve been seeking an internship to see firsthand what it’s like working in an international company. Last term was great fun with countless CIEE activities, but this term I am eager for something that will help bring focus to the next part of my life.

With help from family guanxi (i.e., connections), this term I will be interning for both Nike and Hershey! I began my education studying in two kindergartens—Hucrest and St. Joseph’s—so why not begin my career the same!

At Nike, I will be working with the new Campus Representative Program. Modeled after similar programs in the U.S., this program will create Nike Running Clubs on university campuses throughout China. The program is just beginning, and Nike is presently selecting target universities. By mid-April, ten universities throughout China should have a Nike Running Club.

My role in the project is still vague. Thus far, I’ve helped edit a power point presentation introducing the program, and currently, I am researching universities in 15 major Chinese cities. I’m excited to be part of such an awesome project!

At Hershey, I am conducting market audits at various supermarkets where Hershey products are sold. There is a cool program on a cell phone that allows me to input my data and see the data from the last check (each store is checked two to five times a week). I will input information regarding price, amount and type of stock, and type of displays.

On Tuesday, I went into the office for my training. Not only did I learn about the cell phone program, but I also learned about the 52 products of Hershey China. Hershey China is composed of two branches, Hershey and Kisses. Kisses sell best while bars face stiff competition. Recently, Special Dark has become popular as a niche product. Also interesting to note is that most sales come from chocolate gift boxes rather than individual-sized chocolate because the Chinese view chocolate as a gift rather than an everyday snack.

I think I am in trouble: This project will increase my chocolate consumption more than the Nike project will increase my running!

Shanghai Literary Festival: Every March, Shanghai holds a three-week literary festival that brings authors from around the world to Shanghai. Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to hear Junot Diaz, the author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. I had read his book in December and really it enjoyed it, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hear Diaz.

His presentation included numerous insights into the book, but even more importantly, many lessons concerning writing and life. Within five minutes, he had raised a key question: Why does one read?

I’ve never really thought about this question; I read because I like it… That’s a pathetic answer. He maintains that people read to actively participate in a story, but not just any story, rather a story that will ultimately lead to confusion.

Besides keeping in mind why people read, authors must also determine their audiences. He believes authors should write to a very narrow group since specificity makes an author important.

Even more helpful, though, was the life advice he gave: As you grow up, live your dream, not someone else’s.

I am currently living my dream. I am living in China studying Mandarin, something I’ve dreamed of for years. Once this year is over, however, I am not sure of my dream. I know I love to travel, but that’s about it. I am excited to explore other areas and slowly understand what it is I want to do with my life.

I must always remember, though, to do what I love and not live to fulfill the expectations of others!

Haiti Benefit Concert: In a country where humanitarian aid is not at the forefront of daily life and organizing gatherings requires government permits, I was ecstatic to read of a concert to benefit Haiti! I gathered my CIEE classmates, and on Friday night, after Italian food, we headed to the concert. Not surprisingly, the crowd was comprised of mainly foreigners, though there were a few Chinese.

Six bands, a mix of international and Chinese, performed. We skipped five out of the six bands, however, since the sound that came from the performance hall to the café outside where we were seated talking was not to our liking. We only watched the Lions of Puxi, a big name mainland reggae band. I especially enjoyed their song “Wo Shi Laowai” (“I am a Foreigner”). Between the catchy lyrics and beat, by the end of the song, I was singing along!

I have many exciting things planned for the next week including another trip to the literary festival and a Backstreet Boys concert! To complete the excitement, I am meeting my dad and aunt in Beijing next weekend!

Cheers!