A never-ending circus

(Picture of us making dumplings and having a grand old time for the photographers).

(A few of the journalists for whom the school staged the festivities, in which we were the main attraction).

(Wearing the clothes they brought for us and posing for the camera people. Most of the clothing didn't fit over our big American hips).


There is a disclaimer to this blog entry: my teammates and I didn't see this coming.

Our team leader, Joelle, is away in Thailand. The rest of us, six in all, are still here. So we were told that we would be celebrating the Chinese New Year this morning by eating dumplings in Joelle's apartment and decorating her apartment with eight to ten school officials. Oh, okay, we thought. It's not the most interesting way to spend our morning, but we'll survive.

We got up early and cleaned Joelle's apartment. Then the FAO office people from our university came with the "officials." The eight to ten "officials" were actually eight to ten members of the media-- journalists, photographers, and TV cameramen. We were a little shocked, but decided to go with the flow, like we do pretty much everyday. We didn't mind if a few of these people were taking pictures, etc. of us while we made dumplings. It was like Chinese Martha Stewart Celebrates the Lunar New Year in the Far East.

For two hours they positioned us to take pictures and film us making dumplings and smiling for what seemed forever. Oh, and we did all these things while dressed in special traditional Chinese clothes they happened to bring for us. Then they filmed Jodi rearranging my silk shirt. Then they filmed us putting traditional papercuttings on the windows. Then they filmed us putting red banners around the door frame. Then they filmed us singing. Then they filmed me dancing. It went on and on like this all morning.

They finally left once the dumplings were boiled. So we sat down as a team to eat these dumplings, wondering what had just happened and how it had happened.

And the media, whom we thought must be local, turned out halfway to be true. A local TV crew and newspaper reporter were there, but so were national media outlets--like Xinhua News Agency (the equivalent to the AP in America) and China Radio International (the equivalent to the BBC). Thrown into this mix was also a man who was the district mayor or something.

I have come to the conclusion that most everything in China is just a show, and I'm more convinced of this every day. So I apologize to the Chinese people who may perhaps see our faces on television or some random billboard somewhere. We certainly aren't celebrities or particularly glamorous looking people. We just happen to be friendly foreigners in a place most foreigners don't go, so it's a great PR opportunity for some officials here.

Oh, well! I guess that was my 15 minutes of fame. And I hope your weekend is slightly less exciting than ours!

The only people on earth

Spring Festival holiday--China's biggest holiday-- is fully under way it seems. I was reading today on BBC that China's Spring Festival holiday is "the largest mass migration of people in the world." Literally hundreds of millions of people are en route somewhere or another, on their way home.

Some of my teammates and I have witnessed our campus emptying out before our eyes. Supposedly the tiny old campus we live on is home to 20,000 people. I still find that hard to believe--maybe because they cram 8 students into a small dorm room. Anyway, probably 19,964 of those people have left. I went on a long walk today and there were maybe three shops still open in the whole network of back alleys we like to wander through and visit. Only stray dogs and a few middle-aged people at makeshift card tables have stuck around. It's a strange world.

Despite the fact that all of our students, acquaintances, and friendly neighborhood vendors have packed up and gone home, it's not as lonely as I thought it might be. We aren't letting any dust settle under our feet or on our heads, or whatever that saying is. For example, I've been roller blading in my slick new skates, which is fun, but not as fun as I once remembered. :) Maybe it's because I'm not roller blading with my little sister or playing street hockey with the rowdy kids in our neighborhood in Kansas.

A couple of times I've even sat down to study some Chinese or write a lesson plan, but I usually just end up getting frustrated with both. I am still tempted to want to be perfect at things, so it's hard for me to keep trying things that I'm not very talented in or don't naturally enjoy--like learning Chinese or writing lessons.

Since the majority of restaurants are closed, my remaining teammates and I have been cooking dinner together and eating like a little family for the past three or four nights. We did find a restaurant in the vicinity for lunch yesterday, though. It was pretty crowded with people, since it seemed to be the only restaurant open for a mile in every direction.

When we were done eating, Aaron jumped up to pay for the meal, but Jodi wanted to pay. So the Chinese thing to do is fight about who will have the honor of paying for the meal. Aaron and Jodi did a superb job at this, which drew the attention and admiration of all the restaurant guests. Aaron tried to pay, but Shannon held him back, while Jodi ran to the little counter. There was a lot of commotion, and it warmed my heart to see how well our team has adapted to this culture. :)

Just as a side note--I know that I write about eating in restaurants a lot. I would like you to know we aren't eating at expensive or even mildly expensive restaurants. These aren't Outback Steakhouses. These are places that are dirty and greasy and very cheap. Usually we don't even sit in real chairs. Often times we sit on little stools the size of pegs, and the wind is usually gusting in through the open doors--if there's even a door for wind to blow through. Smoke from the kitchen fills the place, and the meal often only costs about $1 per person, or less. But these are the best places to get filling food and live like the locals...

Anyway, the weather has been slowly getting more pleasant here. Tomorrow it's supposed to be around 60 degrees by mid-afternoon. I'll probably go for another walk and don my roller blades. But that's after our mini Chinese New Year celebration tomorrow morning. Several university officials, plus supposedly the "county governor," are coming to our apartments to eat dumplings. And apparently I'll have to perform a dance, of course. Ah, yes, of course. We are getting up early to clean, and we're not sure when to expect them. We were told the festivities officially begin at 10 a.m., but then they said that means they'll probably get here at 9:30. Oh, China! I can't live with you and I can't live without you!

The pictures are freshly uploaded from yesterday, when Lily and Marie from the Changchun team visited us. The first couple pictures are of us enjoying "dessert" at a swanky department store as a special occasion. Although the dessert was disappointing, the company and atmosphere were nice. The last picture I took of my teammates with Lily and Marie, who are loads of fun to be with.

How to shop in a Chinese department store

Mid-week greetings from Nanchang!

Spring Festival is around the corner, so the mass of students have moved home for a few weeks. That means that the campus is eerily quiet, with the exception of a few students still playing basketball. Our favorite chaotic back alleys are also very still. About 70 percent of the little shops are shuttered and about 98 percent of the street vendors are gone. It's a little sad.

But... that means I can run around outside and do whatever I want with nobody paying any attention! So I thought that would be a good idea to try out my new rollerblades!

Yesterday we were in a department store and I was looking at rollerblades, because I have been saving up my kuai in hopes of finding some big enough for me. So yesterday I got a cool pair of black and red ones that are super slick. We were in the Rainbow department store--an eight story, swanky place. The floors are gleaming, but they encouraged me to take the new wheels for a spin, so I tried them out and ended up buying them. They also had a special promotion, so they ended up being 20 percent off, plus I got a gift certificate of exactly 143 kuai that I had to spend within two days. It was a strange promotion, but I didn't mind.

That means that I returned to the store today to find something with the 143 kuai. It's not as easy as it sounds. There are many more workers than customers and they swoop down like hawks. There are three salespeople per every 10 square feet it seems. So for those who lament the fact that it's impossible to get anyone to help you in a store, just come to China.

When I was coming up the escalators by myself, there were men in suits standing on each floor with walkie talkies. I heard one radio someone saying, "laowai" (foreigner). He was probably alerting all the bored salespeople that a rich foreigner was coming! But, alas, I'm not the typical rich foreigner, so I'm afraid they were disappointed.

Everything in that store seems way out of the price range for the average Chinese person. I had a hard time finding anything for 143 kuai. Everyone was showing me 500 kuai sweaters, which were pretty unreasonable.

I finally settled on a little backpack that I can take on small excursions. One woman wrote the receipt for it. Two other saleswomen accepted my gift card/payment. What service! And it drives me crazy whenever I even think about buying anything in China. They always thrust the most expensive things in front of my face and I have to repeatedly say, "bu yao! bu yao!" (don't want! don't want!).

Then on the walk back to Ba Yi square, I stopped about every other block to give money to the beggars, who are prevalent. It's such a sobering contrast to the few ritzy stores. Most people in Nanchang aren't that well off, but there are some who are, and they love to show it by buying outrageously tacky jewelry or fur coats. Meanwhile, there are beggars with twisted bodies or burnt faces who are sprawled face-up on the sidewalks, hoping for some change so they can have something to eat. They really have nowhere to go or nobody to turn to.

Well, tonight I'm hanging out with some of my teammates and Lily and Marie, two girls from another team. They are visiting from Changchun, which is near the Russian border.

Have a good Wednesday!

All about Ba Yi (August 1st)

Not too long ago I was afraid that I might run out of things to do during the Spring Festival break. But that hasn't come true yet!

Yesterday I hung out with one of my students, Karen. A while ago she had invited me to her grandparents' apartment in Nanchang. When I returned from Xiamen, I text messaged her that I was back. So apparently she hopped on a train yesterday morning in her hometown that is 3 hours away, just so she could take me to her grandparents' house.

Early yesterday afternoon Karen escorted me to her grandparents' very humble dwelling. They are 80 and they live on the 5th floor of an apartment, which of course they have to hike up and down every day. They also own one bicycle for transportation. Anyway, they are pretty precious. Since we couldn't communicate very well, they mostly paced around their freezing cold apartment, which is about half the size of my own apartment I share with Rachael here in Nanchang.

Before we left, I wanted to take a picture of them with Karen. The grandparents immediately went to their little room to put on "nicer" jackets. It was so cute. The grandpa took off his old navy blue Mao jacket and replaced it with one that looked exactly identical. The grandma replaced her own navy blue Mao jacket with a typical Chinese grandmother quilted jacket.

Afterward, we wandered around the housing complex grounds in the cold and wind. Then we walked for nearly a mile to Karen's cousin's high school. We got to her cousin's classroom, but class was in session. We didn't want to create scene, so I left without meeting her. Then we just trekked back to old campus.

This morning I got to hang out with Karen again. Jonathan and I met her at Ba Yi Square, which is the center of downtown. She took us to Ba Yi Park and then the supposedly famous Ba Yi museum. It was a very scenic and educational outing that managed to stretch into 7.5 hours, but it was a good experience.

The Ba Yi ("August 1st") museum celebrates Nanchang's role in the start of the communist revolution, which techinally began in this city on August 1st in 1927. There is even something called the "August 1st" spirit, which is this: "Resolute Conviction, Unbending Perseverance, Courageous Pioneering, and Setting the Precedent," whatever that means.

Perhaps you can ask me more about it when I return to America. Jonathan and I both tried to be respectful. Everything was certainly idealistic and full of propaganda, but that is an accepted part of Chinese society. It was essentially a museum dedicated to Chinese communism.

Here's one plaque (that was luckily translated into English) that summed up the tone of the museum:

"The Spinning Stars and Universe Witnessing the Ultimate Cause, The Monumental Accomplishments Marking the Grand History. Whereas the shots and smoke vanished with the lapse of time and the outcry of battle faded into history, The "August 1st" Military Banner that was hoisted above the city wall of Nanchang have still been fluttering in height and might, and will flutter onward for ever and ever. So let's take over and give full play to the August 1st spirit in a big way and under the leadership of the Communist Party of China keep abreast of the times, forging ahead with force and innovation so as to build our country into a great modernized and powerful one and achieve the great revival of the Chinese nation."

After gazing at all the huge murals and gigantic statues of heroic men, we left the museum grounds, and walked straight onto Nanchang's busiest shopping street. I felt like I was in two different worlds. There is still obviously political communism, but not in the economy, that's for sure.

So after this excursion, we headed for the bus stop. But first we had to hike across the huge expanse of Ba Yi Square, under the shadows of a massive "monument to the sacrifices of those soldiers who sacrificed for the revolution," all starting on August 1st, 1927 right here in this city.

And I decided to leave you with some pictures of the past couple days. The first is of my student, Karen, and her grandparents. The second is at the museum. It is a gigantic hand firing the "first shot of the revolution." The third is of Karen in front of one of many statues depicting that unique August 1st spirit.