Firsts in Changsha

I made it to Changsha! We arrived in Hunan only a few hours after I last left you. A bus picked us up at the airport and drove us the 40 minutes to our hotel. I was really happy about that because, as some of you heard, my bags are super heavy and I’m not sure I could have transported them too far. We got settled and had the rest of the day to relax. We few Chinese student volunteers took us on a walking tour of Changsha. It was nice to get an idea of what the city was like, however, the seven mile tour was extremely tiring for the six or so jet-lagged Americans who were along.

Now that I’ve been in China for two and a half days, I feel that I can safely say that this year is going to be quite a trip. Some things are exactly like I thought they would be, and some things are totally different. I’ve had so many first in these few hours, it’s amazing. As most of them are completely random, I’m going to make a list.

• My first interaction with a Chinese local completely in Chinese: I know it sounds lame, but I was totally pumped yesterday when I bought an ice cream all by myself from a Chinese woman, in a little shop. Granted the conversation didn’t include any verbs and was made up of a number of gestures, but it still rocked. So if you are ever in China and need help buying an ice cream, let me know.
• My first visit to a Chinese grocery store: Imagine Black Friday shopping in a Walmart-like place with loads of Chinese people and you’ll have idea of what this is like. People everywhere pushing and shouting in Chinese. Completely odd items for sale. No ability to communicate the fact that you’re looking for a watch for a male that is not adorned with Mickey Mouse.
• My first run-in with the Chinese police (no, I wasn’t arrested): While I was at the grocery store some of my friends, one girl’s wallet was either lost or stolen. With the help of a dictionary and the few English words the cashier knew, we were able ask for her help. She quickly alerted the security team, who took us to a customer service- like counter where we tried desperately for over a half an hour to communicate to them a few details of the crime. They decided it would be best to call the police, at which time we realized that we needed a translator that knew more than 6 words of English. We called the program directors, who came over to help us out. We were ushered into the VIP Room (it was literary called the VIP Room) to wait for the police officers to arrive. In the end everything worked out. It turns out the wallet was picked up by a small child, who took it home with them. When the parents discovered their kid had the wallet, they took it to the police, who called us to come pick it up. Thanks to the Carrefour employees who insisted we file a report, we got the wallet back.

The other firsts I’ve had I can either not think of right now or don’t seem worth reporting, so I think I’ll leave the list at that. I wanted to announce, however, that I have been getting on Skype every morning before breakfast. This happens around 6:45pm EST, so feel free to hop on and we can chat for a bit.

I hope everything is going well back in the US. Don’t forget to comment, email, or call to let me know how you are!

Ashley