Picture!

So I'm off to Shanghai today! But before I go I wanted to let everyone know that I quickly got over my homesickness by going to a welcoming performance for the freshman. It was a great talent show-where some people had significantly more talent than others. Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures from my time here so far.


Right outside a dvd store we went to in Jining... a bit sketchy but then again this is China.

Some pictures from my trip to Qingdao. It was a really beautiful city. The old city really has a wonderful European feel to it as a result of the German occupation in the early 20th century. 

View from my room in the hostel. 

Bird cages on the sidewalk hanging on from trees. 

These clams were still alive and squirting, waiting to be sold at one of many little local shops. 

more pictures of Qingdoa! A square in from of an old german church where lots of wedding photos are taken either for advertisements or for personal use (we couldn't really tell). A building that once must have been very beautiful; old man selling shellfish down by the water; views of the city and water from "bathing beach" No. 2. 

  
            

    

 

Pictures for the International Beer Festival at Qingdao International Beer City (the main location for the festival. It was a very strange combination of a family carnival and one big drinking party. We kept thinking how strange it was to have so many children running around and how there was no one there to check IDs - an event like this would never take place in America. The festival was a lot of fun - lots of different German beers each with its own "beer garden" and performers (Traditional musicians, acrobats, and wannabe pop stars). Everyone was incredibly welcoming and wanted to drink with the waiguoren.

Random parade at about 4pm

I think we found Osama - he was selling kebabs at the

Lots of neon lights and lots of people - just a really fun atmosphere 

Another day

I am homesick today for the first time. Today had the potential to be good like every other day has been. But upon leaving my class this morning (we have class this weekend to make up for some of our vacation time next week), I discovered that someone had stolen my bike. I am almost a hundred percent sure that it was locked up but the lock simply goes between the spokes of the rear tire and so it can be easily carried away. Or perhaps the lock was not in completely. Either way, I am now, again, without a bike and $50 down. I want to be angry and scream but really there is nothing for me to do about it. Still it has made me homesick—for America, for my family, for New York City’s public transportation system, for my car in Connecticut. I know that bikes get stolen in the US—Matt certainly knows this—but somehow it has all just made me miss home.
I have been lucky though; I have been here over a month and it is just now that I am having my first bout of homesickness. I guess it is to be expected. I got cheese and butter yesterday. My excitement was like that of a five year old on Christmas morning. But today that excitement has gone and I really just miss the comforts of home and having my family near by. It’s not so much even missing my family as it missing the possibility that I could see them easily or even at all if I wanted to. Right now all I want to do is to take a long shower and have a good cry, to put this day behind me and move on but hot water doesn’t come on for another two hours; and so I am left to sit and reflect over the day.
I came to China excited for the many adventures I would have and despite my homesickness I still am excited. I leave for five days in Shanghai on Monday and I am hopeful that an international city of its size will satisfy my need for a taste of the west. But though I came to China in part to explore, I have found myself craving the stability and familiarity of home. Perhaps I am not the adventurer that I once thought I was.
I don’t want to leave you all thinking that I am miserable. Really, I am not even sad, just nostalgic I guess. Bikes are not that expensive. Tomorrow will be another day. Next week will be another wonderful experience, and I truly feel blessed to be able to spend this year in China.

time flies

I have been in China for 4 weeks today. It is hard to believe that almost a month has passed since I first arrived. It feels like only yesterday that I wandered off of a plane in Jinan and onto a van to Qufu. Yet, after only 28 days I feel incredibly comfortable in my life here. Today is grey and humid. My students are writing away this morning in my Postgraduate class, fanning themselves in the thick air. I am definitely ready for the fall to come.

For the past two days I have been teaching my postgraduate students how to write a paragraph and how to write instructions. The first half of the class--paragraph structure--has been very boring and quiet. I've yet to learn how to make topic, support, and concluding sentences fun.  But each time I get to instruction writing, the students seem to become a bit more lively. Perhaps it is easier to understand. Perhaps it is that they think I'm an idiot when I ask them to write instructions for how to make a cup of tea. Stupid American who only knows coffee. Teaching writing has been challenging though, especially with my postgraduates. They are all very smart people, they have taken numerous test that have allowed them to continue their studies and so it is difficult to gauge what is helpful and new to them and what is simply pedantic and condescending. I am looking forward to moving beyond some of the more "practical" writing subjects and into narrative and descriptive writing where hopefully my skills as a native English speaker--and writer--will be more overtly helpful. 

This weekend the Qufu crew and myself will leave Qufu for the second time. As Rachel recently told you we went to Jining for an afternoon last weekend. It was nice to see a larger city and something other than Qufu and Confucius. Though Jining is a bigger city, it have very little tourist appeal and so I can understand the increase in Hallos and stares. Tomorrow we leave for Qingdao, a much more economically developed city and a city with a rich history since the end of the 19th century. Germans occupied the city in 1897 until the end of World War I during which time the city underwent rapid development with the introduction of electricity and a railroad connecting it to Jinan, the province's capital.  And so because of its German heritage, Qingdao is known as "China's Switzerland". It is a strange, but apparently very beautiful mix of architectural styles. It is also home to the world famous Tsingtao beer. And it is not coincidence that we are going for the first weekend of the International Beer Festival. As much fun as Qufu has been, it has little in the way of nightlife so it will be a nice change of pace. 

When we return from Qingdao, I will have seven straight days of teaching as we have to make up classes for the time we have off during National week (Sept 29-Oct 5).  During this time the Qufu crew will head to Shanghai and meet up with Carrie and Travis. It will be a busy, but exciting few weeks and so it's time for me to get ahead on lesson plans. Wish us luck!

Settling In

I’ve been in China for over a week now and I’ve finally begun teaching. Life here is slowly starting to take shape. I’m gaining new routines each day, becoming more familiar with the neighborhood and city as a whole. I know that the shop across from my apartment sells delicious soft pretzel-like bread with a sweet glaze and sesame seed that makes a great breakfast—even better if you put some cinnamon on it. I know that “ji” (third tone) mean chicken and that if I go to a restaurant and order a dish with the word “ji” in it a may get an entire chicken hacked to pieces. And though I’m not quite used to the chicken head on my plate, I’m used to the fact that if I order a dish it may show up. Life is becoming comfortable here. I no longer feel like I’m halfway around the world; I’m simply living away from home as usual. I’m in love with the midday naps people take and evening communities of families and students that mingle outside in the mild nights here. The children are adorable and if it didn’t happen so frequently their “haaalos” might almost be endearing. I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing them do their ‘business” (number one only—hopefully) on the street, but again, like the chicken, I’m getting used to the fact this is what they do.

I’ve only taught three classes so far—I will have five a week in total—and have found the students incredibly welcoming. They are so eager to please and motivated to learn that it makes teaching them easy and enjoyable. I am teaching all writing courses and though my students have goals of improving their skills most have asked me if I think writing courses can be interesting and fun. In learning English they are especially eager to learn more about Western Culture and to improve their speaking. So I will have to find ways of keeping them entertained and enthusiastic about my course—any ideas are welcome.

Life in Qufu, though different in many ways from America, is comfortable. Life is not as rugged as you may think. There are fast food restaurants, though street food is just as fast and often tastier. I can find rice cookers, electric kettles, alarm clocks, sheets, pillows, even Tupperware in many stores including a large and very clean department store downtown. Shops sell trendy clothes in buildings that, though old and rich in history on the exterior, blast pop music from modernly designed interiors. My apartment has strong AC to combat the day’s humidity and heat, and I can find all the cold drinks I want. It is an incredibly interesting time to be in Qufu. This city that has been around for thousands of years, and it's six hundred year old architecture is developing. But though its developing, it is doing so in its own way of honoring and preserving its history—hopefully this practice will continue. People text on cell phones while they wait for a chicken to be butchered in the market. There is a wonderful balance between the old and the new and in how people utilize both in their daily lives.

So I am slowly settling in. Whatever anxieties I had about the year I will spend here are fading away. Though interaction is often difficult with the very little Chinese I have, optimism about the language I will acquire and about the relationships that will grow, has taken root and I am excited to see where I will end up.