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