Happy Thanksgiving!

Roller-skating, Chinese Style

When I was younger one thing I really loved to do with my family and friends was to go roller-skating at the Castle Roller Rink. Not only is the façade of the building “super cool,” but also many hours of pure fun were spent inside. I always preferred to rent the skates rather than bring my own from home, because the rented ones rolled much smoother over the bright blue rink.

So when my friend Tiffany suggested that we go roller skating here in Zhuzhou as a part of her birthday celebration, I was definitely in support of the idea. Following a wonderful Italian dinner, a group of eight of my American friends headed over to the roller skating rink, which is located above an open air market. After paying 5 kuai ($0.74) for our entrance and skate rental fee, I received a pair of skates that surely would have been retired from use many years ago at the Castle. Let’s just say I did take a moment to think about how bad it would be should the wheels decide to fall off my skates at sometime during the night. This was the one time that I wish I could have brought my own skates from home. We all know that was possible, so I bravely strapped on the skates and made my way onto the rink. The floor appeared to be a smooth wooden planked surface, but as many things in China, looks can be deceiving. When I skated with the grain of the wood, it was quite smooth. Skating against the grain of the wood was a different story. This was just the first of many things that reminded me I was not at the Castle and not in the US.

I haven’t been to the Castle in many years, but I remember that they have a large poster displaying about 10 rules near the entrance door. Although I can’t recall every one and I surely don’t remember the exact phrasing of the posted rules at the Castle, the rules below capture their general objectives.

1. No smoking while skating.
2. No skating against the flow of the other skaters.
3. If you fall down, stand up and continue to skating as soon as possible.
4. No skating in an unsafe manner.
5. No littering on the rink floor.

Let’s just suffice it to say that the Chinese skaters didn’t feel the need to follow any of the above rules. Skating with a lit cigarette was not uncommon. While about 75% of the skaters were skating in a counter-clockwise direction, 25% felt compelled to skate in the opposite direction. Following an accident (I admit it, I personally caused at least 2 of these said skating accidents), the involved parties would stay seated on the floor for up to several minutes until they decided to stand up again. Skating at high speeds, forwards or backwards, and many other skating tricks of questionable safety could be seen all over the rink. Extinguished cigarette butts, betel nuts, and empty snack wrappers littered the floor. The Castle owners would not have been happy with the situation at all.

How did I moderately safely navigate this mess of a skating rink you ask yourself? Well, here’s your answer. On every trip I’ve taken in China, a random Chinese person has come up to my party and asked us, “Can I be your guide?” The Chinese love to offer themselves out as guides. Occasionally they are professional guides. More often, however, they are locals who would like to take the opportunity to guide us around as a way to practice English. The skating rink was no different, though in this case they didn’t ask. After an introductory three laps, two Chinese college students came by and grabbed my hands. For the next hour or so, they lead me around the floor, helping me avoid many a catastrophe and teaching me the ways of the Chinese roller rink. I’m quite certain I would have fallen many more times had I not had the help of my “guides.”

Once again, I entered a situation thinking that I had some idea of what was going to happen. I thought I knew what it means to go to the skating rink. And as it happens so often in China, I’m was proven wrong. I had no idea what I was in for. The Chinese needed guide me, to help me do things their way. I’m just glad they’re willing to do so, at the skating rink and in everyday life. If the Chinese were not so willing to help a poor foreigner out, my stay in China would likely be far less enjoyable.

Wulingyuan in Pictures

If you're interested in viewing a few photos from my recent trip to Wulingyuan National Park, please follow this link. Enjoy!

Getting to the "Big" City

Imagine it. You’re living in a small town in the Hunan countryside and you want to get to the larger city of Zhangjiajie. You don’t have access to a car or a motorbike and it’s far too far to walk or ride a bicycle. As your town is more like a village than a real town, it isn’t large enough to warrant a train or bus station, or for that matter even a bus stop. So, how are you going to get to the “big” city?

As always, I’m here to help you out. There is a quick and easy solution to your problem; one that is used by many villagers all across China. Go out to your local freeway and wait along side the road until a bus going the direction you’d like to travel in come by and flag it down.

Can’t imagine doing something like this? Neither can I and I witnessed it first hand. During the 5 hour bus ride I took this past weekend from Zhuzhou to Zhangjiajie the bus stopped numerous times to pick up more passengers. At one point I went to sleep and the bus was perhaps half full. I woke up about an hour later and the bus was so full that people were sitting in the isle on small plastic stools. Although I’m sure these people know the bus schedule and thus are more than likely only waiting a short amount of time, I don’t think it would be all that enjoyable to wait along side of a busy freeway in the hopes that the bus will stop for you. People got on the bus all along the journey carrying precious cargo ranging from a live chicken to huge plastic bags filled with who knows what. Often there were no longer free seats and, as I mentioned before, the newcomers were forced to sit in the isle regardless of the fact that they were carrying a tiny, crying baby or were rather elderly. It seems that the rule on city busses that seats be given up to the aged, pregnant, handicapped, and passengers with small children doesn’t apply to long-distance busses. It seemed that the disregard for this rule was hard and fast. Even when I tried to give my seat up to a woman who couldn’t be much older than I am who was trying to breastfeed her baby while perched precariously on a case of water in the middle of the isle, her family told me that she didn’t need it. Can’t imagine that either.

Part of me feels lucky that Zhuzhou is a city of over 4 million people, and thus warrants a train station, as well as multiple bus stations. The other part of me feels like I’m missing out on an interesting Chinese experience. Ok, maybe I don’t feel all that bad about it.

Public Service Announcement: New Mailing Address

From hence forth, the following address should be used when sending snail mail my way.

Ashley [Insert my last name here]
Jing Yan Middle School
736 Xin Hua Road
Zhu Zhou City, Hunan 412000
People’s Republic of China

412000
中国
湖南省株洲市
新华西路736号
株洲景炎学校
Ashley [Insert my last name here]

Please remember that you must include both addresses on all letters and packages, as few Chinese postal workers can read English. As I mentioned before, it is probably best if you copy and paste the above text into a Word document, print that out, and then tape or glue the printout to the letter. If you are still having problems displaying Chinese characters on your computer, these directions should help you figure it out.

One Hundred and One Days

It is today, on my 101st day in China, that I have decided to take a moment to reflect of on my time abroad thus far. What have these days, that have simultaneously flown and crawled by, taught me about China? In the midst of missing home and liking it here, what have I learned about the Chinese people? Certainly the busy times of travel and the quietness of my apartment have bestowed something upon me. If anything, I have learned this:

The Chinese people are indelicate.
They spit on the street.
They push.
They catcall white women like it’s their job.
They eat very loudly.
They stare.
They are incredibly blunt.
They go to the bathroom on the street.
They are loud.
They fight in public a lot.

The Chinese people are quirky.
They wear red stilettos and blue polyester running suits at the same time.
They bring animals of all kinds on the public bus.
They have no personal space and assume I don’t either.
They snack on spicy chicken feet in a bag.
They can’t seem to plan anything.
They pair jogging pants with a suit jacket and call it fashion.
They have a very monotonous diet.
They don’t have the slightest understanding of what Playboy is.
They enjoy a good piece of stinky tofu every now and then.

The Chinese people are friendly.
They will try to move mountains for me.
They try their best to understand my unbelievably broken Chinese.
They are gracious.
They get up to give me a seat on the bus.
They are thoughtful.
They take time to drive me across town even though we just met and can barely communicate.
They are worried about my safety and wellbeing.
They say "hi" when they see me around town.
They are caring.
They try to help me as much as they can.
They are so glad to meet me.

In 101 days I’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of what it means to be Chinese and live in central China. I know China has so much left to teach me and I’m ready to learn. If my time here so far has been any indication, I’m in for another 230 days of pure madness.

Lessons from the Countryside

An extended weekend trip to the Hunan countryside with over 450 Chinese seventh grade students and more than 20 teachers, nurses, and “leaders” can provide one with a wealth of new information. I’m not sure if I would have ever learned many of these fascinating facts had I not done just that. As most of you will likely never have a similar experience, I though I would share all that I learned with you. I wouldn’t want to keep this information to myself, as in some cases, it could save your life.

1. When traveling with so many young people, it is likely that on average, one student per bus will suffer from motion sickness. In my case, that means about 12 students were puking their guts out in the bushes upon our arrival in Yanling.

2. The student who is car sick on your bus will be sitting right next to you. He will barf all over the floor of the bus and the Chinese teachers will do nothing about.

3. When Chinese teachers tell you that the food at the camp will be “not delicious,” they mean it will be nearly inedible.

4. It is perfectly acceptable for the teachers and “leaders” to drink beer for breakfast when on a school trip.

5. If you eat sweet potatoes you cannot get cancer. It’s not that you can lower your risk of getting cancer by eating a sweet potato every now and then. Or that eating sweet potatoes on a regular basis is evidence of a healthy life, which, combined with other factors, can help lower your chances of getting certain types of cancer. No. If you eat sweet potatoes you cannot get cancer. Period. This is according to the psychology and health teacher at the school. A pretty reliable source. As this information could save thousands of lives, I encourage you to share it with everyone you know and love.

6. One way to entertain to seventh graders is to put loaches in a fountain and have the students catch them with their hands. Sure most of the fish will die, but the kids will have fun.

7. Another way to keep the students out of trouble is to walk them a mile to the riverside, give them a few cooking supplies, raw food, and a few matches and tell them to go at it. No really, we did this. The students carried the food supplies, which consisted of pork, bean sprouts, spam, two eggs, peppers, and rice, to the riverside. Once there, each group got a pot, a wok, a huge knife, a cutting board, a spoon, a pot stand, and a bundle of wood. They collected river rocks to build a fire circle and then started a fire to cook the food.

8. It is possible for 450 pre-teens to cook their own meals with fire and sharp knives and not kill themselves or each other. Granted the cooking might have gone a little smoother had someone taught them how to build a fire, but that’s splitting hairs.

9. Rinsing dirty pots in the same river that humans use for a bathroom makes them clean.

10. Mahjong is a fun and super confusing game. It is acceptable to gamble while playing Mahjong on a school sponsored trip, as long as the Assistant Headmaster is invited to play. If you want to play for spicy dried mini-fish in a vacuum-sealed package instead, find the young, poor teachers.

11. Teaching Chinese students the Chicken Dance and the Macarena is considered a performance. The students will love it and you’ll see them doing these dances during their breaks back at school.

12. Traveling with almost 500 of your students and collogues, though frustrating at times, should not be missed and I encourage you grab the opportunity whenever possible. I know I will.

***

Photos of the trip can be viewed here. Thanks again to Kelly.