Chinese Name!

Kaytin gave me a Chinese name:



I wanted something different sounding from my name, but this is what she picked. It looks a whole lot cooler when they wrtie it; all the characters are the same height...

China Trip 14- Last Post I Wrote in China

This is the last post I wrote in China. The rest will just be highlights and looking back stuff. Which might be more interesting. I don't know.

Friday-
On Friday the tour just so happened to be… the Zhou Enlai Memorial Museum. I had just been there the day before, but today I learned a lot about the symbolism of the place. For example, there are 4 modernizations in China: military, science, technology, education; there are also 4 large pillars on which the museum rests. The hedges are in perfect rows of 4 for the same reason.

Barb and I with the man himself... well... in statue form.

There are 51 steps up to the museum, because that’s how old Enlai was when he …um… did what he did. There was a lot more than that, but I can’t really remember all of it. I’ll have to look up exactly what he did for China.

We went to Enlai’s actual birthplace, his residence. Interesting… if you like that kind of stuff.
Then, we went out to lunch as an “exit” lunch. They wanted to do dinner, but everyone was heading to different places. We ate with the same men we did at the beginning, and they gave us some cool weighted chopsticks. This time, I turned down a lot of the food. My stomach was not up for a 20 course meal, since I hadn’t really been eating well at the school.

See following placard.

They have a lot of huge rocks.

People had written stuff on the bamboo. I thought it looked cool.

I must admit, I got a little buzzed at this lunch. But only because they keep pouring you wine! They say Gum Bay! (I’m sure that’s not how you spell it, but that’s how it sounds) which means “Bottoms up!” and you have to down your whole glass. Immediately, your glass is full again. We tried putting napkins over our glass, but magically they still got filled. The server either moved the napkin (I guess they’re not big on hints) or got you a new glass. Finally, and thankfully, Barb cut me off. She’s a little more forceful than me. None of us girls wanted more, so I think we were all glad she spoke up!

I learned the phrase “Chien Mao” which means “I’m on a diet.” I don’t remember if I already said this, but apparently it’s okay not to eat if you’re on a diet. But I used it at lunch and was thrilled when it worked.

There was watermelon at every single meal, every day. But this one was prettier than usual.


The school food is horrible- to say the least. The rice is sticky and cold, and the meat is usually mystery. I only get a spoon to eat with, and drink out of what resembles a dog bowl. Yes, seriously. My stomach hurt the whole time I was eating the food. I told Tommy I didn’t like fish, but I swear that for the entire first week, we ate fish every day (Gloria pointed out that maybe he misunderstood me…). At the very beginning we had big shrimp (prawn?) and I didn’t eat. He asked why and I told him I didn’t like fish. “Make a list,” he said. I told him the only thing on my list was fish. Like that helped. I emailed Charles and Gloria just to tell them how things were going. At our next dinner, we had paper cups! I felt bad, because Charles and Gloria had told them I didn’t want a dog bowl, but the cups were nice. And who cares if they don’t like me? The paper cup thing only lasted a few days anyways and we were back to bowls.


My hotel was pretty shabby too. My toilet didn’t flush. If I used it, I had to fill up my trash can (but not the one in the bathroom because it had a big hole in the bottom) and dump it into the bowl to flush it. But that was better than using the “squatter” in the lobby. There was no carpet in my room, and my room was damp all the time. The sheets were damp, even. My door didn’t close without slamming it, and there were SO many mosquitoes. I got a million bites. They don’t have calamine lotion in China. Apparently, a lot of things they make and only export. But I found some stuff that worked pretty well. At one point I was sure I was going to die of some mosquito induced illness. I had 50-60 bites on the exposed parts of my legs (knees down). Also, my clothesline in the bathroom was broken. That shouldn’t have been a big deal, but since I usually washed my clothes in the tub, It would have been nice if it worked. O well. They dried faster outside anyways.

Looking back through my pics… I didn’t actually take any of my hotel room in Huaian. I have pictures from all of the other hotels, including Barb’s. But I guess since I wasn’t impressed with mine… I didn’t take pictures.

Don't even ask...

China Trip 13- Museum

Thursday-
Thursday was business as usual. But today I found out that we would have Friday and Saturday off. I was very excited because we had been there over a week with no breaks (9 days).

I talked Junior into walking with me (because I didn’t want to walk alone, and Brittany wasn’t in the mood). We went to the same lake I had went to the day before and Junior took me to the Zhou Enlai Memorial Museum. The park is at the museum. I walked around for hours and took a lot of pictures. It’s pretty cool, but its more for Chinese, since they all admire Zhou Enlai so much. I’m told Zhou Enlai is the man who made China what it is today. Everyone who lives in Huaian says, “It’s the birthplace of Zhou Enlai.” They’re really proud of it.

Outside the museum. It wasn't busy because of when we went.

Perfectly trimmed rows of shrubs. I learned that they meant something later.

Please ignore the sweatiness. It was super hot... almost like July in Missouri, only I heard that was pretty mild. And ignore that I suck at self portraits...

We went back to the school only to discover... we had missed dinner. I was glad. Brittany and I had already planned on not going to dinner, but I guess we forgot to fill Junior in on the plan. He was hungry so he asked me to go to dinner with him. We went to UES (United Easy Service I think) and I ate something really good :) I can remember what it looked like, but not what it was.



I feel bad about this... but here's a story. We had just ordered our food and just like in some places in the US they give you a number and then bring your food. Well, we found a spot to sit upstairs and Junior said he needed to get cigarettes. So he left. There was this group of young kids sitting near me.. and they were talking about me like I wasn't there... In English! They were like.. "I wonder if she speaks Chinese?" I just glanced over and they started laughing. I wanted to say "No, but I speak English pretty well. So if you want to talk about me, at least have the courtesy to do it in Chinese like everyone else!" But I didn't. I did get up and move. It was probably a little much, but I was just tired of being gawked at and just wanted to enjoy my dinner. I watched Junior run back upstairs to find me and thought it was funny that he couldn't... At 8pm (after dinner) I parted with Junior to try to call Barb.

I knew Barb was going on a tour on Friday, so I tried all evening to get a hold of her and see if I could go along (since I would be off). I got a hold of her at about 11. I called Junior and he came and picked me up on his bike to take me to get a taxi. That was very nice of him, because I only had to pay 15 RMB to get to town.

China Trip 12- Not Much New

Sunday-Tuesday

Nothing really new happened these past few days. Brittany let me use her computer to call Gary via Skype. I thought if cost a lot of money, but it turns out its only .02 a minute to landlines and cell phones. If you call another person through Skype, it’s free. It was nice to hear his voice, because I miss him so much. I got to talk to Vin too which made me so happy.

Tuesday night, Junior, Brittany and I had plans to go get coffee. When we arrived at Coffee Folk a few of Junior’s Chinese friends were there. They wanted to sit with us and talk (they love to practice English), so we moved to a bigger spot. We played cards and drank our drinks. The 2 girls had what looked like Chocolate Milk, Junior had a Pineapple Drink, Brittany and I had Vanilla coffee drinks, and the other guy had ice cream with peaches and kiwi. Mmmm! I mentioned that I wanted to go shopping and get Barb a birthday present, and the next thing I knew, we were shopping. One girl locked arms with me, and then she was holding my hand. This is very common in China, but it is very uncommon in America, so it was a little odd for me.

Then, she started petting my skin and said “ooh! White!” I didn’t even know what to say, so I just laughed.

The other girl bought me a necklace that I was looking at, which was really sweet, but unnecessary. I tried to say no, but her will was greater than mine. It was cute, after all.

Then, they wanted to go to KTV (just hold on…). We quickly told them it was getting late and we needed to go home and get ready for class the next day. They pleaded, “Just one hour?” I asked if we could just go out for dinner on Friday night. But they were headed back to Nanjing, and this was their only free night. Okay. What’s one hour?

KTV is a karaoke place. Like a lot of places in America, there isn’t a whole lot for young adults to do, so this is how they like to spend their time. I picture a seedy bar, with a ton of people, but it wasn’t at all like that. Our group (6 of us) went up to this room by ourselves. There was a huge television where the words to the songs and the music videos were. They had English and Chinese songs. I didn’t want to sing, but I was forced so I picked “Pink: Get this Party Started.” Everyone else sang these beautiful songs, but I broke the mold…. in a bad way. Lol. We drank tea, and clapped as people sang, and I must admit that I had a pretty fun time. It’s definitely not something I would want to do every day, but the evening was fun. I tried to ask how much we owed them, but I was chastised. It’s not Chinese tradition to have others pay. If they invite you to do something, they will be responsible for it. Um. Ok. It feels really weird. I’ve been defying a lot of their traditions (like tipping). I just don’t feel right about it. But they insisted, so what was I to do?

I feel really bad, but I can't remember their names. I'm horrible with Chinese. I've already asked Junior, but he hasn't replied... they're super sweet girls :)

Wednesday, I took a walk by myself to this beautiful lake nearby. I had a sort of creepy incident with this old man. He was staring at me (which is normal) and he tried to talk to me (which is also normal). I told him I didn’t speak Chinese and he made some gestures I’m too embarrassed to even say on here. I handled it just fine though. I shooed him off and kept walking. But he rode off a little (on his bike) and then pulled over again to talk to me. I got out my phone and pretended to be talking to someone.

I wasn’t scared because, well, for one… he was on a bike. For two, there are so many people around that it would be hard to just grab an American girl, especially since I’m such a spectacle in the first place.

The lake was gorgeous. There were tons of little fish you could see just beneath the surface of the water. Old people were exercising, and children were running around. There was this little baby with bells on his shoes. It was cute, because my mom used to do that to me. I ended my evening talking to Gary again, but he has to work the next 2 mornings, so I won’t be able to talk to him.

The grass, as I mentioned before I think, is cut by hand. That's why it's sort-of fluffy in some spots.

Combined Degree Program

The other day I was perusing some stuff online. I had been thinking about where I would go to graduate school, but only Mizzou has a Masters in Journalism. Go Figure. I was looking at Webster's site and I discovered sequential degrees. A "sequential" degree is when you get one BA directly after completing a first in the same area of study. Then, they don't make you take any electives and you only have to take the classes you didn't take already for the first degree.

I was looking at the sequential degrees again and I came across a "Combined Degrees Program." Basically, you start taking graduate classes as an undergraduate and they let you count the graduate hours for both your BA and your MA. Here's how my school describes it:

The combined degrees program enables the student with an outstanding academic
record to complete both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree through an
accelerated program. Upper-level undergraduate courses are integrated with
initial graduate courses in the curriculum, which decreases the total
requirements for both degrees by a maximum of 12 credit hours.

There are a few requirements:
you have to have between 64-98 credit hours and at least a 3.3 gpa, which I do (96 credit hours 3.8 gpa).

On Thursday I went to Webster to talk to Paula Aguilar, who is in charge of the program. If I decide to go through with it, I can have a Master's Degree in Media Communications completed in 1 year if I don't take off any terms and go the maximum number of hours.

She also told me about this "Grad Assistantship program" where you work for the school and you get paid, and they pay your tuition, which would be an awesome way to help out with grad school. Of course, I would have to be doing an assistantship search at the same time as I was doing my actual job search and internship. :s

I asked Mrs. Aguilar if she thought this option would benefit me and she answered as honestly as possible with an "I don't know." She said if I have a choice between getting experience (through a job or internship) or going to grad school, employers prefer the experience. And maybe they would even pay for grad school. She suggested I take next semester to talk to some of my teachers in the field and see what they think.

There wouldn't be any sort of penalty if I signed up for the program and decided not to do it later (except they wouldn't let me keep the graduate credits towards a Master's degree if I came back later).

My mom insists that having too much school can hurt you. Hmm. Something to think about I suppose...

The advisor said that if I apply I will definitely get in- it's not too competitive, she says. But I do only have a few weeks to think about it, because I'm pretty much at the max on the # of hours requirement. What do you think?

China Trip 11- Working on Weekends

Saturday
We did end up having to go to school on the weekends (But I called that one!). Today was a decent day. My “other” class is still being bad, and I had to separate some of the kids. Even that didn’t really work. I don’t know what to do. I lectured them, I moved them, I yelled. Nothing. We will see how things go today (I’m writing this on Sunday).

We talked about “family” today. I showed them pictures of my family: mom, sister, brother, guinea pigs, cat, son, grandpa, etc. They loved looking at the pictures! I had them write a few sentences about their family and read them aloud to the class. I have 57 students in my 1st class and 42 students in my 2nd class (yes, I know! That is A LOT!), so it took awhile to get through. I’m told that the most important thing is speaking, enunciating, pronunciation. They are taught to read and write (which they are very good at. If I can’t get a point across to them and I write it, they will understand), but not taught very well how to speak. So I try to talk to each student at least once each day. By the time I get around the class, it’s over.

I was very surprised to see that many of these kids have brothers and sisters. One student even had 2 sisters and one brother! That’s 4 kids! I don’t know the specifications of the law, but I’m told it’s “One family-One child.” Tommy even said he didn’t like the rule. He said he has siblings, but could only have one child. I wonder how it works. It’s not enforced where I am; I see families with 2 or 3 kids quite often. I am in a “small” city though (only 5 million).

Many of the student’s parents are doctors, and many are “workers.” A lot of moms were nurses and housewives. They wrote some pretty cute stuff like “My dad is fat” (which I sincerely doubt), or “My mom is old, but she looks young.” Heh.

The second part of class we talked about body parts and played “Simon Says.” Both classes were horrible at it. I don’t think they get the concept. I explained and explained, but they just didn’t get it. Ugh. Stupid English. We kept trying though and eventually a few bright kids caught on.

Some kids from class 1

It’s funny how my classes have personalities of their own.

"Gary"

"Curt" on the right, I can't remember the other boy's name :(

"Henry" My cute little trouble maker..."

"Pearl" wearing black, and "Sheey" wearing blue

After class I caught a cab and went to see Barb in the city center. It was fun to be back there. There is a lot more to do. We spent the evening walking around. I got a new pair of shoes (my feet hurt). It's funny actually. Junior took me shoe shopping and we couldn't find anything that fit. About the largest size they have is a small 8, because most of the women there have really ridiculously small (and cute) feet. I had to get men's shoes :(

Later, Barb and I went to Coffee Folk for some drinks. I got a “Berry Blue Bandy.” It looks really pretty, but it was certainly gross :(. I can’t even describe the taste. Bleh!

Afterwards G asked how I could even think something with berry and coffee might be good... and I really don't know...

My cab only cost 19 RMB on the way to town, but 67 going back! Junior was pissed. He couldn’t believe I paid it, but what was I supposed to do? Argue with the non-English speaking cab driver? (I now know that this is exactly what I should have done...) What would I say? It equals about 10 bucks, which sucks, but I won’t do it again. Next time, I will ask how much before I get in. I watched the meter. I don’t know what happened.

China Trip 10- TGIF!

Friday (day 2 of class)
I went to my first class and was left feeling rejuvenated. These kids are good. They want to learn. Maybe they were just curious and excited, and nervous—like me. Maybe that’s why they were so rambunctious?

Or… maybe not… My first and last classes of the day are wonderful. It’s the class I have before and after lunch that I don’t know what to do with. Junior said he would “come scare them,” but I don’t want them to be scared of me. I want them to like me. They’re not really giving me a fair chance though. They’re so LOUD! I try to quiet them but they don’t listen. Or they listen for a split second. Some of the students don’t even try to do the work. They just sit there. I will be walking around and have to explain it to each little group of kids. I know they can do it, because my first class does. I know they are just as smart. I spend quite a bit of time standing there waiting for them to be quiet so we can move on.

In my first class, they censor themselves. If it starts to get even a little loud, one will stand up and say be quiet (in Chinese sometimes) or Shhh! And then they are all quiet. It’s amazing.

I didn’t really do anything special today. I they said they would tell us in the afternoon if we had to work on the weekend. By this time, though, I knew we did. If they avoid an answer, it’s what you don’t want to hear. They don’t just come right out and say “yes” or “no,” which proves to be even more frustrating than just getting told no.

A perfect example is the internet. We were told we would have it at the hotel or at the school. I would rather have it at the hotel, but I can manage if it is only at the school. I don’t want to use the Chinese computers. I want to bring my own and use it. Brittany and I ask Tommy and he said it is at the school, bring our computers tomorrow (Friday, or today). So we bring them and the cables on the desks don’t work. I have class, so Brittany goes and tells Tommy the internet doesn’t work. He said he will be right in to help, but never came.

Eventually we had Junior come to the hotel with us and ask about the internet. He lived in this same hotel when he first moved here and had remembered having internet. He got it all worked out for us and now we have internet at the hotel. It’s in the “office” but beggars can’t be choosers. I suppose. Tommy never did bring it back up. Oh wait. Yes he did. He actually brings it up continually even Sat. night at dinner he said, “we will get internet for you.” Brittany started to tell him we didn’t need it because we got it at the hotel, but I stopped her. I want to see if he continues with this charade or actually gets it for us. (He never did…)