Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving to all!



So I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. It was my first away from home and although nothing is better than spending the holiday with family, I still had a great time. I spent most of the day packing up my room and realizing how much stuff I brought to China and wondering how on earth did my parents manage to pack it all! For dinner that evening, everyone in our program headed to the Holiday Inn to get Thanksgiving buffet. We were accompanied by the Yale and Stanford programs (I made sure to remind them about the big game, GO BEARS!). Besides the dishes that you would expect at a usual Thanksgiving meal, like turkey, mash potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce, they also had dumplings, shrimp and sushi. It was a pretty fun meal, definitely not as good as home cooked though.

 

Things are winding down here. Today I moved out of my dorm room and now for the next month will be living out of my backpack.

 

Oh and by the way, right now I am in Lijiang in Yunan provence.  I am actually sitting in probably one of the coolest hotels/houses ever. We are staying in an old part of the town. We had to walk down narrow cobblestone streets in order to get to this old converted house. There are lanterns everywhere and we can actually see the stars (something which really hasn’t been possible since Inner Mongolia). To get to my room I had to walk across a mini-pond. This place is amazing! We have been here only an hour and we already know that we want to come back!

 

Tomorrow we get to explore the city and maybe climb a mountain, then the next day we go to the Tibetan region, Zhongdian. I think it has the highest concentration of Tibetans outside of Tibet.

 

It is sooo amazing here and I hope I can keep you posted!




Monday, November 16, 2009

Visit, Finals, Travel, etc.

Hey, sorry for the absence. Life here has been super busy, yet amazing!

Cousin Francesca was here for about a week, listening to lectures and touring around the city.  I got an email last week saying that the next day she would be touring around my campus! I called her the next day and when she told me where she was, I said see you in 30 seconds and ran to hug her. Seeing a family member in a foreign county is pretty fun, especially when it’s not planned and it is the second continent on which it has happened. (A few summers ago, we both ended up in London at the same time). 3 continents down, 4 more to go. She was really busy, but I was able to show her some of the local spots. I took her and her friends out one night to our favorite local restaurant, Hole In the Wall (that’s not its name, we don’t know it, but it is just this tiny restaurant totally off the beaten path where the locals eat). We went to the silk market and ate dinner with my Iranian friends (see photo below). Then the night before she left, Francesca and I along with her friends got massages and cupped! Pictures of our adventures soon to come; she had the camera for most of our escapades.

Things are winding down in China. This week we have our Chinese final!!!! Time to study! The day after Thanksgiving we travel to Yunnan and Sichuan; we will visit Tibetan areas as well as a visit to the pandas!!!!!!! We are all super stoked.

I teach my English class tomorrow night, I am going to teach them about Obama and American universities and then we are going to play the game Taboo! The class is really cool.  I have shown the students pictures of my family and friends and they all think that everyone is “gorgeous” and “handsome”, obviously.

I miss you guys much, I hope all is well!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Monday, November 9, 2009

My Cousin Francesca is Here!!!

We just had dinner with some of my Iranian friends at a Persian restaurant; it was really awesome. Today Francesca and I went to the silk market and haggled for clothing!  Francesca is here with a group from American University.  She leaves Thursday to go to Shanghai. 

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Awesome Weekends... then snow!




Currently, I am sitting in a cafe with a classmate, a friend from Ireland, and some Chinese listening to what sounds like Enya and drinking hot chocolate as we stare out the window watch it snow! Yeah, we woke up to snow the morning after Halloween.  


Yesterday, I found myself on public transportation for over five hours, singing at a Chinese wedding, and going to a Halloween party in a huge art gallery. Now I have got to “Tarantino” this.


Two weekends ago we did a rural home stay in a village about an hour north of Beijing.  We went to this really small village of about 200 people with approximately 80% of them Catholics; they don’t follow the pope, but they do have masses and celebrate Catholic holidays. I even walked by a mass, and their prayers sounded very interesting because all of the words in Chinese are monosyllabic so it sounded a lot more rhythmic. Although we were staying in a rural village, we lived in kind of a bed and breakfast run by the family. It was the nicest living situation by far in the village and the 2 story building with a rooftop patio was sort of out of place next to the small brick farm houses that surrounded it. The family had made their money in Beijing and had moved back to their hometown.  Our teachers tried to get us accommodations with rural families in their houses but the local government would not allow that, questioning why we didn’t want to live in the best place - they didn’t want to loose face by letting us stay in the poor houses.  


While we were there, we all conducted minor research projects. I did mine on love, emphasizing marriage.  I went around the village “attempting” to interview people about their pre and post marriage lives and marriage ceremony.  “Attempted” because being a foreigner with a translator asking to talk to rural villagers about their marriages is obviously intimidating.  It was also an extremely short amount of time to conduct research of that type.  (The last research I conducted lasted a semester through an internship I had at a juvenile detention center. I was able to build up relationships and was able to observe for months and then near the end,  I finally conducted interviews.)  With this project, there wasn’t really anytime to develop relationship, I just walked up to people and asked if  I could talk with them a little.  Attempting to build up a relationship, I did go into the fields and help harvest persimmons with a local family. 


During one of my interviews, a woman and her daughter began listening and when the word “marriage” came up in Chinese, the women quickly spurted off some Chinese to me; through my facial expression it must have been pretty obvious that I could not comprehend what she had said to me because her daughter then spoke into me in English. She said that there was a wedding her family was attending next weekend and I was invited. My response was “Of course! What is your name?” While my translator and the mother talked about details in Chinese, I asked the girl a little about what I was getting myself into and who she was and to confirm that the marriage was for someone else and not me. The girl’s grandparents were from the village and she was visiting. She showed me their house and their little German Shepherd puppy. It was a pretty cool experience.  We made plans for my visit next weekend.


Also, while staying in the village, we learned how to play mahjong, which has the same concept as gin (maybe a new game for the Cabin?).We also climbed a cool mountain that overlooks the village and the surrounding areas.


During this next week of class, I studied a lot! In Traditional Chinese Medicine we learned Tuina, which is massage techniques, learned acupuncture and “cupping” techniques.   I think I’m going to bring some cupping materials home, I really like it. Also during the week,  I received a text message from Wang Yang, the girl who I’d met in the village; she said that there would be no better way to show my blessings to the bride and groom than to sing a song. Done, when else would I have such an experience?


Saturday I woke up before the sun in order to catch a bus to catch another bus that will take me to a city outside Beijing for the wedding. After arriving and meeting up with Wang Yang and her family, we traveled to where the auto procession would begin.  In China, it is customary to have the wedding procession travel in 8 either black or red sports cars. There are companies here that specifically buy red and black European sports cars for the sole purpose of weddings. The processions always consist of 8 cars because the word for 8 is “ba” in Chinese and it sounds similar to the word for prosper. 


The procession headed first to the bride’s home where we packed into a stairwell with a professional cameraman recording the events.  The groom had to knock on the door and basically barter with the bride’s parents on how much he was going to give them for their daughter. It was a very humorous exchange with the parents asking for ridiculous sums and the funny banter going back and forth between the two sides. This lasted for probably 5 minutes. Then when the price was finally agreed upon, the groom and everyone else was let into the house where he then saw his bride. They chatted and laughed and then another common marriage practice took place. Before the bride could leave, the groom had to find her shoes which were hidden.  After being fed candy by the bride’s mother,  we all followed the groom carrying the bride down the stairs. This is another traditional custom which symbolizes the woman not having to work now that she has a husband. Once the bride and the groom are joined together in the procession of cars, they then drove around the city for a couple hours.


It's hard not to compare the wedding to an Asian game show. There were huge speakers blasting random American pop covers, an MC dressed in a colorful suit, and a bubble machine. The MC joked around with the crowd and played little practical jokes on the bride and groom. At one time in the ceremony, the groom had to run down the aisle and profess his love to his wife, and then had to do it a second time because the first was not deemed good enough. Everyone loved it. The mood was festive and happy. Really quickly, the bride and groom were handed their marriage certificates and exchanged the ring and kissed. Then the microphone was handed to me. I choose an oldie but goodie to set the mood and sang “Aint No Mountain High Enough”.  Let’s just say I got asked to sing another song. Before I had the chance, the bride and groom returned from changing into their traditional wedding costumes (before the groom was in a suit and the bride in a white dress) now wearing red outfits with traditional head pieces.  This ceremony consisted of little speeches from the parents and the couple bowing to the parents and thanking them and then the drinking of Bijou (the hard alcohol here), the   first of many toasts.  During the course of our meal, where the tables basically became of pyramid of food stacked on top of itself,  there was an incredible amount of Bijou being consumed. 


The experience of the wedding was awesome - I loved it and it was such a happy time. Then I had a pretty much the opposite experience searching for the correct bus to take me back to the city, then travel over 3 hours on what should have been a 40 minute trip. I had a lot of time to think about my Halloween costume, which I totally did not take advantage of and once I arrived back at campus, realized that all my friends had sweet costumes and I was desperately looking for one. Then Acadia gave me the idea to be a “nudist of strike”.  Problem solved. Last night was filled with dancing, awesome costumes and conversations with really cool people. I met two groups of people from Hong Kong who I will hopefully meet up with when I go there.

Life is awesome. Much Love




Thursday, October 29, 2009

Traditional Chinese Medicine




We perform acupuncture and "cupping" on each other!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Quick Update - classes, biking, teaching, mahjong, etc.

I just got back from such an awesome traditional Chinese medicine class. We were at the hospital with our teacher and we were learning about cupping and he performed it on us, then he let us perform it on each other. The same with acupuncture; it was a really awesome experience! At first, we were pretty bad at acupuncture and couldn’t really puncture the skin too well, but messing up on each other didn’t really hurt. Then after we gained confidence, we were able to perform it on each other without too much pain. We also got really good at cupping, a process where you take a glass cup and suck the air out using a flame then immediately place the cup on the skin.  The doctor then allowed us to do something that surely in America would not be proper and let us perform cupping on some of his patients. Really cool experience.  The process was really cool and I feel much more comfortable with needles being in me now (not too comfortable though).

Also, this weekend’s cycling race went really well; I took fourth! I credit some of that bump up in ranking to the fact that I didn’t have to race against too many sponsored guys. It was really fun and I cannot wait to race again.

So, I started my second internship; the first one hadn’t worked out as planned. I was an English conversational teacher at a sports high school (Jet Lee went to the one I was briefly a teacher at..)  Most of the kids there were on national scholarship or were foreigners who paid to attend. I was going to conduct research about vocational athletes and compare it to America, but unfortunately it did not work out. The national games are starting soon and they have upped their training regiment.

So now, I am leading the English club at Beijing Sports University.  At first, I was under the impression that I would be teaching athletes, but I guess at the sports university not everyone is a sports major; in fact, all of my 111 students (split up between two different classes) are English majors and do not participate in athletics. Not to worry though, they are awesome kids and my research project shall end up being more of a narrative and observation based report. I am really excited and they are really enthusiastics to learn. There is so many stories I have already about them, but more will come. Next lesson is based around poetry;  if anyone has any personal work or just favorites to recommend please do.

This weekend I have my rural home stay. It is harvest season, so were going to be out in the fields. I don’t really know much more than that except that we are going to be learning how to play mahjong - just what the LeBaron family needs, another form of gambling.

I fall even more in love with China each day. Much love to everyone!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Camping at the Great Wall




























China just keeps getting better and better. I am really feeling that the mere four months I am here is in no way a proper amount of time to truly experience the culture, but I am trying. This weekend I was able to do something that very few people have even gotten to do - well at least living people, because back in the day the Great Wall had thousands and thousands of people sleeping on it every night - last night it had nine. We were able to do it through some connections that our teachers had.  It is suppose to be illegal to go on parts of the wall which are not deemed public tourist spots;  but in rural areas, unlike the cites, farmers actually own the land (in the cities they lease the rights for land for 50 to 70 years). Because we went with the man who owned the land, apparently it is ok. (I have learned that in China most things can be illegal if people want them to be and on the contrary, most things are legal as long as you know the right people.)  We started our adventure in a village about 2 hours outside of Beijing that was surrounded by massive mountains on all sides. The Great Wall was hugging its ridges.  We had to do about a 1 and a half hour climb to reach it. We hiked up these switch backs through awesome orange and yellow leaved trees - fall has arrived in Beijing!  When we got to the top, it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! We arrived at the highest point of the Great Wall on the highest mountain in the area! We were looking down at the wall as far as we could see in both directions. This was the real Great Wall, not the rebuilt part meant for the tourist, with vendors all along it. We were the only people there. It was overgrown with plants that covered most of the walkway, many parts of it had crumbled and it was pretty dangerous at some parts.


We ended up camping next to the wall using it as a wind shield. It was truly necessary, because of the wind and all the trees; it sounded like a raging ocean the entire night. We cooked skewers and told stories as we watched the sun set behind the Great Wall. At night, we tried climbing back onto the wall to look at the stars, but the wind was so fierce that we couldn't even get on top for fear of getting blown off. We laid there looking at the stars and just knew that at that time, there was no where else that we wanted to be.


In the morning, we woke to see the ground caked with a fresh layer of leaves from the previous night’s gales. We hiked back up to the wall and watched the sun climb up into the sky and light up everywhere. Throughout the whole trip we just couldn't stop saying things like "hey guess what, we’re on the Great Wall", we were so stoked on it.


My next camping experience is going to have an extremely hard time matching up to this one. Then again, if all goes to plan, my next camping experience will be in December when I tour on bikes around the island of Hainan and camp everywhere! I really have an awesome life.


My cycling race went well last week.  Because I was borrowing a bike from someone who raced in a lower division, I had to race against Trek China and Specialized China;  that was pretty difficult to say the least, but I was just proud I didn't get last. Tomorrow, I have my next race it should be even better. I am hooked on bicycle racing!  As everyone knows, I have been stoked on bikes and am an advocate for their use, but until last week I had never raced in an official bike race before.  It was so invigorating and the people are awesome; they even gave me my own racing jersey and shorts. I am an official Peking University rider!!! In an few months, I will be racing for the Claremont colleges.


Thanks to everyone who sends me updates about their lives, please tell me more! vmanineu@gmail.com

Much love

Sunday, October 11, 2009

At the Forbidden City

Weekend Update

So it has been a while, I am really sorry. Because of the 60th celebration and heightened security surrounding it, I have not been able to access my website so I am currently sending updates through my mom. Hopefully soon, security will loosen and I’ll be able to give more regular updates once again.  


Last weekend was pretty ridiculous.  The bike ride up the mountain turned out to be over 75 miles and was the hardest ride I have ever done!  About 2 miles from the top, the bike captain rides up next to me and tells me that this was not only the most popular climb in all of Beijing, but also the hardest. Getting out of the city is really something that I enjoy doing. It is a good break from the busy city and you can get to some very remote areas pretty quickly by bike.  I have heard Beijing described as a sponge - it sucks up the wealth from everywhere nearby - so it is understandable that when I ride out into the country that I see extreme levels of poverty (i.e. people living in homes with dirt floors or shanty houses)

.

That night after our ride, was the PRC 60th anniversary fireworks display.  Problem: we were told that there really wasn’t a way to see the huge firework celebration too well except on tv. This was because it was being held in Tiananmen Square, and the only way to get near was to be a member of the Communist party. And, because the square is surrounded by really tall building, there wasn't a really good way to get a view from the ground.

Solution: because we didn't have a helicopter handy, we decided to use the giant buildings to our advantage and decided to get a hotel room on the highest floor of a building that faced Tiananmen Square.  I just have to say that seeing fireworks at the level they explode is a totally different experience.


Saturday, we left for Inner Mongolia and got a true taste of “Chinese tourism”. We booked our trip last minute through a local tour group, so let’s just say we got what we paid for. We left at 5am with 80 of our closest friends on two buses. Pretty much everyone was international students from different universities. Our first clue that this was not going to be a typical tour was when our first stop was to a "traditional" Mongolian crafts factory;  basically, we were sent there for an hour to look at mass produced "hand crafts" and buy some so that our tour company could make some money off of us.  Then we went to a museum that was closed. We didn’t count the trip off yet, but let’s just say after 8 hours on the bus and seeing those two places, we weren't too optimistic for what was next.  But things started to pick up after that. We went to the grasslands where we ate roast lamb and watched traditional Mongolian dance which then turned into a huge dance party. We slept in yurts, which are basically clay huts where you sleep on the floor. Being the California boy I am, I really only brought jeans, sweatpants, a flannel and a light rain coat.  Let’s just say, I was a little under  prepared for the extreme cold on Inner Mongolia. The next morning, sunrise was awesome! 


Following that, we rode horses, went to the desert where we stayed at this awesome hotel that looked over the desert and watched the sunset. We climbed sand dunes and surfed down them, rode camels and drove dune buggies. I have never been to such a desolate place and it was interesting seeing so much sand (I kept looking for the ocean). 


I called it “Chinese tourism” because that is how our teachers described it. The point is to get us to spend more money so that they get more “commissions”, including trying to take us back to the museum which they had already tried to take us to, just so that they could get their commission. Also, trying to make us pay all these ridiculous fees. Everything was about scamming us, trying to make more money. It just makes me appreciate even more the type of travel I have been fortunate to normally do.


On the trip though we met some awesome people. Beijing is the place to be and it seems that everyone we meet here has a story. On our trip, we met architects from around the world getting their masters here, scientist studying and getting degrees here; we also met an Iranian family who had been here for 8 years due to work and they invited us to their house some time to enjoy a real Iranian meal. I am really excited.


School is keeping us very busy, test and dictations keep us in constant study mode. Currently, I am writing this taking a break from writing a paper about the practices of traditional Chinese medicine in modern society and testing their practicality under modern research techniques. I am also writing my research proposal for my rural home stay, which is two weeks from now. I am planning on doing it on family, their family history as well and relationships and values. I am really excite for it;  it will be a totally different experience. Right now, I am also prepping for my bike race tomorrow - wish me luck. 


Today, we went to the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  It’s still the holiday here so it was packed, but still really awesome. The Forbidden City is huge, over 8,000 rooms.


I also have been planning what to do for the three weeks after the program ends.  Once classes end, I have 3 weeks until I need to be in Hong Kong for my flight home.  I have been emailing a lot with people who live in Hainan and they say it is totally feasible to do bike camping around the island. We are also able to get some good touring bikes as well as camping gear; I think we are going to pull this off. We are also thinking about going to Shanghai and maybe Macao;  any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated, we are really flexible.  



Oh, a little about what keeps me sane when I have Chinese overload:

What I am listening to right now: Andrew Bird, Joe Strummer, The Beatles (they are really popular here, I hear their songs a lot, or people trying to sing them)

Reading: Besides countless travel blogs and books, I read the China Daily (which is the English newspaper here which basically is so pro-China it makes Fox news look like an extreme leftist group). I also am reading the Enders Game series by Orsen Scott Card.

My secret weapon to homesickness: The awesome letters which I have received, thank you soo much! Skyping, (give me your name, whenever I am on the computer I am logged on the skype). Besides that, I have the 7th Harry Potter audio book on my Ipod!


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Quick Update 10/01/09

So, last night after playing three hours of soccer with the teams representing every continent except Antarctica, I picked up the bike I will be using for the ride today. It’s a Cannodale and it’s great by American standards, which means that in China it’s “god-like"! The bicycle team’s captain is letting me ride it for our adventure today and is letting me race on it.  He also got a road bike for Thomas to ride today.  He’s really nice.  Because of a huge thunder storm, last night was spent basically in the hallway of our dorm with me working on using the clips on the bike; don’t worry I got it down. Right now I am sitting in my dorm looking out at a bright yet overcast day hearing cannons going off for the 60th celebration.  The parade starts soon so I’ve got to turn on the TV. No chance any of us could get close to it; we thought of ways we could, but we couldn’t really get past the fact that we are not members of the Communist party and not Chinese... Anyway, all is well. I’ll start riding after the parade then scope out the fireworks! Much love, thanks for the email and the letters!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

PRC's 60th Anniversary, then to Inner Mongolia

I’m currently having difficulty accessing this website from China, sorry for the delays.  This week has been pretty low key so far, but it is shaping up to be another awesome weekend ahead.  Thursday is the 60th anniversary of the PRC (People’s Republic of China), which is a huge deal here! The number 60 is considered very lucky (because of the base 12 system I guess) so this anniversary is an especially special one.  Security has been super tight. Tiananmen Square has been closed down for nearly two weeks with preparations for this momentous event. Police presence is considerably higher; there are cops with shotguns standing on most busy blocks - a very rare sight considering that guns are illegal except for the government. There is supposed to be a huge parade Thursday, but unfortunately unless you are a high ranking official you cannot attend. They have a large section of the city blocked off. So, even though I will only be a few miles away,  I am forced to watch on TV. 


Following the parade,  I am going on a ride with some cyclists out into the countryside, about 30 km until we reach the mountains; we are then supposed to climb 20 km to get to the top of a gorgeous mountain, then bomb it back to Beijing to catch the fireworks.


On Saturday, we are heading to Inner Mongolia to check out the grasslands, live in huts and ride horses. Then go to the desert and see some of the traditional culture of the area and dune board some.  Life is pretty tough!  And I'll be seeing stars for the first time since leaving America!!! 


Sorry for the short update, I have a quiz tomorrow. Much love.


Saturday, September 26, 2009

Weekend Bike Trip

I have to start out by apologizing for the delay of updates of my adventures in China. It is partially due to circumstances out of my control (i.e. really bad internet) but also due to the fact that I have been doing so many incredible things that I rarely get ample time to document it. 


All that aside, right now I’m riding a major life high (not that I really could ever be on a low in China, but I’m super stoked right now).  Yesterday, I along with  200 of my closest Chinese cyclist friends went out into the Beijing countryside for some bicycling camping.  The Cycling Association at the University of Beijing (Beida) is awesome! Every Friday, they fix bikes for free - a lot like what we do at Pitzer, but at Pitzer I realize how fortunate we actually are.  Even a school as big as Beida with so many students and bikes doesn’t have a shop to fix bikes let alone most of the proper tools and no spare parts.  They do have knowledge and passion though.  Besides fixing bikes, the club arranges distance rides every weekend, most totaling over 100 km a day, leaving at sunrise and returning by sunset. Every summer they also do a ride around China, over 4,000 km.  They are sweet!


This weekend was the club's recruitment ride so they kept it to 30 km on a very flat route.  They even arranged for all the camping gear and tents to be at the camp site,  so we didn’t have to lug it.  Two days ago my bike broke; the handle bar stem is very loose so when I turn it the wheel doesn’t move,  Hopefully,  I can work some of my bike magic on it.  But it didn’t matter that my bike was broken, the association was so friendly that they lent me a bike to use which had a rack on the back so I could attach my bag.


It was so cool seeing 200 people carrying their camping supplies on bikes in a huge line through crowded city streets! It was our own little "critical mass".  We followed the leader who had the cycling association's big flag flying off the back of her bike.  It was such a happy mood.  The group consisted of  people who this past summer had biked the Chinese coastline to people on Chinese cruisers wearing jeans, all levels of riders.  It was a very welcoming atmosphere.  One boy, whose American name was Hook, had a speaker system on his bike and when we asked him to play some rock and roll, he put on the Beatles and for most of the trip we -  he, Thomas, Skeet (From U. Chicago) myself, and some other Chinese -  had an awesome sing along.  


We arrived at the base of these gorgeous mountains where we would spend the night.  We all split up into teams preparing the camp.  It wasn’t a typical American camp;  we were at a rural restaurant which had a covered patio with tables as well as a lot of open space. We spilt up, some getting firewood, other setting up the tents (on concrete…) and some preparing dinner.  I decided to cook. They were making a type of dumpling called Jiaozi and they taught me how to put to meat in the dough and fold it in the correct way.  After many giggles from the experts, I finally learned how to pinch the dough just right and was able to join their illustrious crew.


That night we made a huge bonfire, it totally reminded my of Santa Cruz bonfires at the beach.  They even set up a movie projector and a sheet and we watched bike films and slide shows they had made.  They even told stories about bikes;  it was really cool.  A lot of it went over my head because of the language difference, but most people speak English and were more than willing the help translate. It became sort of a talent show later in the night and then we - the three Americans - were asked if we had any talents, DUH!! After some quick brainstorming, we determined that an acappella version of "Ain't No Mountain High" would be the best to show case of talents. We did a little more brainstorming to make sure we were on the same track for lyrics and edited the parts that we couldn't remember.   Obviously, it was a total success.


I met so many awesome people on this trip;  they were totally stoked on bikes and very nice. A few days before the trip, I met the captain of the university's cycling team and he was here as well;  he is super nice and basically, I am now going to race for the University.  My first race is October 11!! The guy is my height and he said I could use his bike to race. I am sooo stoked!! 


We ate some awesome food, learned a really cool card game (perfect for the cabin), and shared stories.  A lot of people were already in tents when *BAM* it starts to pour!!  For those of you that do not know, tents plus water plus concrete minus rain flaps, equals a really wet situation. Basically, everyone poured out of the tents as quickly as the rain came down and packed under the overhang. Fortunately,  the restaurant open up its indoor dining hall and we moved all the tables out of the way and we packed in.


Unfortunately, our friend Skeet had to get back as soon as possible so Thomas and I volunteered to lead him back at sunrise. We began to try and sleep round 2, but sleeping with over 100 people on the same cold tile floor is pretty tough.  When 5am hit, we were putting our contacts in and packing our bags.  We said goodbye to the few people who were awake and beginning to cook breakfast and headed back into the city.  

Everything was going great for the first few miles, then Thomas started to complain about his pedal not feeling right. About two minutes later, his pedal arm fell off. We "MacGyvered" his foot to the right, and only remaining pedal using some string that we found. After a mile or two of trying, we found some real rope and I switched bikes with him and attached my foot to the pedal. 15 miles later and countless near misses with buses in the pouring rain,  we reached campus and I had one of the best breakfasts of my life. Then I slept for the next couple of hours. Overall, a pretty epic experience, nothing that I expected, but if the attitude stays good everything is alright. I hope all is well at home.  Much love!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Swine Flu!!!!!



So, this is a photo from the brief period of my life that China thought that I could possible have the H1N1 virus.  Currently, I have a little head cold, nothing to worry about, just need to keep hydrated and well rested. But, when my teachers saw me and heard I wasn't feeling 100%, they talked me into seeing a doctor. I was fortunate enough that one of my teachers was able to take me to one of the on-campus hospitals rather than me going solo to an English speaking one that was across town (like a classmate of mine had to do).  Hospitals in China are very different than the ones in the US.  Your medical records are kept in a notebook that you keep, rather than on record at the hospital. We were sent to a few different places in the hospital, all referring us to other locations. Finally, I was put into a quarantine center where the nurses wore huge gloves and masks and I had to put on a mask as well. Then I had to stick a thermometer up under my armpit for a while (As shown in evidence A). When it was finally realized that I was not infected, I was given Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat the common cold. The traditional medicine was a type of tea basically in a brown powder form that I have to mix with hot water twice a day.  Lets just say I hope it begins to grow on me...
Swine Flu though is a major concern at the university and throughout China.  So far there have been eight reported cases at this school and health officials are coming to talk to the students about the importance of staying healthy.  
After a good night's rest, I should be doing much better.  This weekend we have our city home stay. Im super excited! We get to spend 3 days with a family and it's going to be awesome!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009


Sorry that I haven’t kept you updated recently, but I've been really busy with classes and travel. Last week, we went on a 4 day study trip and I have been pretty swamped with Chinese homework since then. Classes have been going really well though. Every morning starting at 8:30, we have 3 hours of Chinese language class.  Then, depending on what day it is, we either have Traditional Chinese Medicine after lunch or our Core Course, which is based around a variety of Chinese issues which includes speakers and discussions. The other class we have after lunch is our Independent Study meetings. A requirement of being in the program is conducting an Independent Research Study on a topic of my choice. These are normally done through internships. Also, for the first two weeks here, we had Taiji every afternoon; now in its place, we are now beginning calligraphy.

            Our recent study trip was really awesome. We first headed west to Datong, which is in the Shanxi province.   Before we were even told that the area was one of the leading coal producers in the world, we knew.  It was in the air, harder to breath than in New York City’s nearly indoor bus terminal.  Trucks were everywhere carrying huge chunks of it.  We were told stories of wealthy coal mine owners who go to Beijing and buy entire apartment complexes, in cash.  The mines bring in so much wealth, but there has been much controversy with them in turn. Besides the extreme environmental health hazards it causes, there are constant labor safety issues. Right after we left, three different mines collapsed killing close to 100, and this is not a rare occurrence.  There have also been child slave labor scandals.  As we drive by makeshift huts that the miners sleep in and see BMWs driving by and luxury apartments springing up everywhere, it is hard not to notice the extreme disparity of wealth in this country. 

            We didn’t just visit the area to experience some of the worst pollution in the world; we went there to check out the Yungang Caves.  In this one hill there are over 250 caves with Buddha statues carved into them.  There is over 51,000 thousand carving!  They were some that were over 40 meters tall and gorgeous. Unfortunately, many had gotten caked in soot from coal trucks and factories. Until about 10 years ago when the government made an alternative route, there were about 16,000 coal trucks passing right in front of these epic sculptures.

            This trip was primarily based around religion. We stayed at Mount Wutai for three days. It is one of China’s most ancient Buddhist sites.  The origins of the area go back to around 200 BC.  To get there you have to go over some ridiculous mountain passes (it was a route of pilgrimage for many Buddhist), now with paved roads it has become more and more tourist friendly. 

            The history there is awesome.  Most of the temples are Lama based (Tibetan) and have been around for centuries.  In this area there have been over 200 temples, but now only about 50 exist.  A lot of it is due to religious persecution and purges primarily in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Surprisingly, little harm was done to this area during the Cultural Revolution. 

            After careening up and around the biggest mountain in northern China, navigating through pea soup fog, rock slides, farm animals and hundreds of coal trucks, we finally dipped down into the temple area. Gradually as you start to venture closer and closer to what appears to be one huge monastery with a road going through it, the distinct smell of incense starts to fill your nostrils, and even though you have just been on a Mr. Toad's Wild Bus Ride for the past five hours, you feel a calming and tranquil sensation coming over you and everything just seems to be all right.  There was no yearning feeling anymore to escape from our near metal coffin with wheels, we had arrived.

            The first monastery we visited was packed!! There were hundreds of people going in and out and inside there was a stage on which an opera was being performed. Complete opposite of tranquil.  People were bustling every which way and it was really hard to appreciate anything.  It was entirely different than what I expected. We hung out there for a few minutes, then all of us, overwhelmed with its busyness continued on to our next destination.

            After that, I was starting to feel real bummed about this “once sacred place”.  Yes, the temples there were gorgeous, but it was impossible to truly appreciate it and I know that wasn’t the intention of the place when it was first constructed.

            To get to the next monastery we had to drive up a ways into the hills and to my surprise when were arrived, there was only one other car there.  I knew that this place was going to be more like what I expected.  The monastery we visited was originally three separate monasteries that over time combined to create one.  It had seven different levels with the final one at the peak of the mountain.

            Our teacher was able to arrange for us to eat lunch with the monks.  Prior to entering the dining hall, our teachers told us  that we must eat everything that we ask for.  As we sat in silence a few monks brought pots of soup and noodles and bread around giving hefty portions to all.  I have no doubt in my mind that the vegetable soup and bread I had for that meal has been the best meal I have had so far in China, hands down.

            We were then fortunate enough to have a sit-down question and answer with a monk, who told us some of the history of the temple, as well as what it is like to be a monk.  They wake up every morning at 4:30 and have class, then have lunch at 11:30 and a nap. The rest of the day they spend doing chores or studying and they go to sleep by 9. When he was asked about why he became of monk his answer was “1: family influence, 2:destiny”. He even gave us a tour of the entire monastery.  It was gorgeous.

            I learned so much from going to Wutai Mount. The lifestyles of the monks are completely foreign to me. It was a very interesting contrast from when I visited the Vatican last summer. 

            On this trip, we also visited the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda which is about 70 meters high, 1,000 years old and made with 0 (zero) nails.  I guess it is the Chinese version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  We also visited the Hanging Temple, which is basically a temple built into a cliff wall over 1,400 years old.  Inside there were all these different gods from so many different religions even some characters from a novel. When I asked about the multitude of people to pray to they response was “Whatever works”. 

            Overall, life in China is pretty awesome.  This took  awhile to get out because I have been really held up with study trips and class work. Chinese is pretty tough but I am enjoying it. I hope that everything is going awesome!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

"Can we take a picture with you?"


This picture is of some kids who came up to me the other day wanting to test their English. At first, I thought they were trying to make fun of me because I'm American, but they just wanted to practice their English. The conversation basically consisted of hello, how are you, what is you name? But that's pretty impressive, considering basically all the Chinese I know right now is some of my favorite foods and where is the bathroom - the necessities. Their families all took pictures, of them with me, so I decided to do the same.
This has happened a few times during this trip. One day in the market, we had a student around our age follow us around for 15 minutes because he wanted to practice his English.  We get greetings on the street of people trying to test their English skills, a lot of it out of sincerity, but in more touristy areas you can tell they are trying to sell you something.  
We have also had people want to take pictures with us.  At the Bird's Nest, a family took over 10 pictures with us, rotating so that everyone got a turn to be in some pictures as well as take pictures. They seemed so happy, we couldn't really turn them down.
Tomorrow is my first quiz! I have been memorizing characters for most of the day but I think I have a good understanding. Wish me luck!
So please send me you address so I can send you a post card. I love snail mail, here is my address:

Vincent Giannotti
c/0 Pitzer College in China Office
Shaoyuan, Building 2, Room 109
Beijing University
Beijing 100871
P.R. China

Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Great Wall



            After our bus driver got us lost multiple times before even making it to the freeway, we finally made it to the Great Wall.  Wow!   That’s really all I can say.  The stone barricade lies on the ridge line of some huge mountains.  We had to take a ski lift up to get to it.  We ended up climbing (climbing, because it really is sooo steep and some parts that you must use yours hands to help push yourself up) all the way to the highest peak that tourist were allowed to go.  Past that, reconstruction was taking place.  The views were spectacular, although there was a considerable amount of smog in the air, which shielded our view from some of the far off mountains.  The smog really comes in and out.

            On our ascent, we met a couple from New Hampshire, Acadia’s home state (small world syndrome), who were in their 70's.  The husband had won a Fulbright Scholarship to teach American History in Shanghai.  They climbed all the way to the top. They were awesome! I hope that when I get that old I will be able to do what they are doing.  They also invited us to see them in Shanghai after our program ended.  To get down the mountain there was a toboggan on a metal track that we rode down; it could get pretty fast but was really awesome and lasted a long time.

            The day before we went to the Olympic area and into the Bird's Nest.  The Water Cube was closed, but will re-open in September and you are allowed to swim in the warm-up pool! Acadia, my fellow swimmer, and I will be taking advantage of that for sure.  Going to the stadium area was really cool, it’s a real tourist attraction, with thousands and thousands of people wandering around. It reminded me of the Salt Lake City Olympic games, and how awesome it was to go.  But besides people taking pictures in the Bird's Nest and walking around the Water Cube, there wasn’t much going on.  I hear most of the facilities are rarely used and driving around some of the lesser stadiums, they were ghost towns with parking lots overgrown with weeds.  The area seemed very underutilized.  Overall, it was pretty cool going to it and I can't wait to swim in the pool.

            I just got out of my first language class and we learned pronunciations. Time for lunch, noodles!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Arrival


 

            After some internet difficulties I am now able to get online.  I got really excited on this one.

The 12 hour plane ride was pretty uneventful, caught up with Acadia, Leah and Thomas, played some cards, read and tried to sleep.  On the plane, we not only had to fill out customs information, but also a quarantine health check form.  We were a little scared by it, but upon arriving at the airport all we had to do was walk past body heat detectors and give someone our health slip. In that area, every employee of the airport was wearing a mask, but they didn’t seem concerned.  The Beijing airport in huge!!! Not only that but it is pretty cool to look at from the inside with its high ceilings and interesting architectural styles. 

            After getting out bags (they all made it, which was a good sign), we walked through customs and immediately saw a man holding a Pitzer College sign.  He introduced himself Zhang Hao.  Quick Chinese lesson: in China the family name always comes first, so Hao is his given name.  He is going to be our residential advisor.  He took us into a parking garage where the roof was covered in plants and where they also washed the floor where the cars were.  Immediately, once we stepped out of the air-conditioned airport,  a wave of humidity and heat came over us.  We got into a van and headed into the city, though we couldn’t really see much of the city at first; Beijing is very flat and also pretty smoggy. Imagine a pretty heavy fog, but it's 85 degrees; that is how it first felt when we arrived.  Before you get all worried that I will not see the sun until I return, I must tell you that I am currently writing this paper looking out of my room with blue skies and the sun coming through my window.

            The ride to our dorm really showed us that the car is boss when it comes to the road, everything else is last.  For bikes or pedestrians to cross the street, they basically have to have strength in numbers and finally when they reach a critical mass they can cross, or there better be a big gap between the oncoming  traffic.  We drove to the North Western part of the city where the university is located.  We passed the biggest IKEA I have ever seen, with it yellow lettering and big blue walls.  It's pretty industrial in some parts, with lots of high rises and big buildings.  We passed by the Bird's Nest and Water Cube and Hao told us we would have a trip to them this weekend.

            We were driving through heavily congested streets then suddenly we made a right turn through a guarded gate and it was the complete opposite -  there was nature!  A lake to one side and an old shrine on the other and Hao said “Welcome to Beijing University”.

            We are living in basically an international students dorm/hotel on campus. Each room has a bathroom with a tub and shower as well as a sit-down toilet (I got a little scared with I saw the standing ones in the airport, but I know I will encounter them again) and two bedrooms, one with two single beds a tv and some desks, and another considerably smaller with one bed and a desk.  Leah and Acadia are living together; Thomas and Hao share a room and Chris (the 5th Pitzer student) and I are sharing.  Friday we will be joined by our Chinese roommates, who will help us around and with Chinese.

            I got to the dorm and Chris was asleep, he had arrived an hour earlier, he flew from DC over the north pole to Beijing and it only took him 1 hour longer than our flight from San Francisco.  

            Later, we met some of our teachers, took some desperately needed showers and then with the guidance of Hao went out to get some dinner. The school provides us a meal card which we can use on campus and some of the eateries.  Hao took us to a noodle place.  We all tried different things, but it was pretty funny watching us try and order.  On the wall-size menu, they had English translations of the food, but the problem was most of the workers didn’t speak English. We had some awkward yet funny experiences trying to order beef and rice noodle; this most certainly will not be the last time.

            We are going to the Great Wall tomorrow and we toured part of the city today.  This is a picture from the Temple of Heaven where we went today.  More updates soon!

            

Monday, August 24, 2009

The Beginning

When my school’s study abroad department asked me if I wanted to study abroad not only my junior year, but also the fall semester of my sophomore year,  there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to go.   I jumped onto the opportunity for many reasons.  First off, I love to travel and an opportunity like this rarely comes around.  I will be studying and living at the University of Beijing, learning Mandarin, Chinese culture and history, traditional Chinese medicine as well as conducting an independent research study based around an internship that I choose.  China is one of the world's most influential countries and has an immensely diverse culture and history.  Another reason was that I have been fortunate enough to do home stays in Spain and Costa Rica as well as study last summer in Italy and I had never been to Asia before. This will be the longest and furthest I will have ever been from my home and family, which will be an interesting test, but I am really excited for this adventure.

My friend Leah arrived at my house today, I have been showing her around Santa Cruz. She will be traveling with me to China. There are 5 people in the program, 3 of them are really good friends of mine - Leah, Acadia and Thomas - and the other I do not know.  The program ends December 4th, hopefully by then Leah, Acadia and I will have a plan for the next three weeks which eventually leads us to Hong Kong where we fly out a few days before Christmas. We choose Hong Kong because it is south and by the time our program ends, Beijing will be in the 30's I hear, about half the temperature of Santa Cruz during that time.  

I have spent the last week or so realizing that cutoff jeans and raggy flannels may not be a choice fashion while there, so I have sort of “upgraded” (according to my mom) buying some new pairs of pants.  

I wish I could write more but I must finish packing and I take off in about 12 hours. I also just found out the Facebook is not allowed in China; I'm not an avid user, but until 5 minutes ago I counted on it for being able to get friends' addresses. Hopefully, I will be able to do a follow-up soon. Much love.