Nanjing, Day 22

His name is Zhang Laoshi, the most experienced hair stylist at Bingfei Modeling. He calls himself, “laoshi”, or teacher, because he teaches hair artistry. As we entered Bingfei Modeling this afternoon, we were handed a menu of hair services, listed from least to most expensive. For 50 Kuai, Zhang Laoshi, the most expensive of all his colleagues, washed, cut and blew dry our hair. Despite a difficult language barrier, Zhang Laoshi intuitively knew how to handle our hair.
 
Ming Li and I cut at least 3 inches off our hair and walked next door with our silky new cut to the Baozi Master. Zhu rou (pork), shu cai (veggie), and hong tou (red-bean paste). The baozi have become a daily meal for us.
 
After that we all parted to our different internships. First day back to campus from the host families and Anhui and first day of Internships. Internships vary from Map Magazine, Facilitators, Jiangsu Medical Center, and Nanjing Broadcast Company, among many others. Melissa and I are interning at the Facilitators Office in Nanjing. It’s a short subway ride from the university. It was founded in September 2007 and serves the migrant population from rural areas in Nanjing. They have four full-time staff members and various volunteers. They help the migrants by providing different services. One of them is to provide a quiet place for the kids to do their homework and study. Their library has a variety of donated books in Chinese and English that the kids can take home for a maximum of two weeks. We talked to the kids and the other volunteers there. After the kids finish their homework, they stay a little longer to play before going back home. Melissa and I were playing a card game with them and before we knew it was time to go back to our Language Partner Time on campus.
 
The facilitators is a great NGO that helps the migrants integrate into the urban communities, and they strongly believe that by one can help oneself by helping others. They strive for the basic social equity of the migrant workers. The Facilitators have been successfully filling in the gap of the migrants, whose needs the government has not been able to attend.
 
It was a great first day of internship. I’m also excited for tomorrow, which is “Children’s Day” in China, and there will be more kids attending the program.

- Alexandra S.

Anhui, Day 21

This morning began our last day in Anhui, which felt rather bittersweet. Waking up in a hotel certainly felt different from waking up to the noise of rural children on a traditional wooden bed. As we packed up our things, which have barely been unloaded the night before, every mind was wondering what the hike up 黄山 (Huang Shang) would be like today.

When we reached the gate, we encountered a small dilemma. The situation presented us with two options, that weren't really ours to choose. Dong Laoshi received an electronic letter from Nanjing University confirming that our group of students are full-time 南大学生 (NanDa students). If the letter passes, then we would be able to receive student discounts, which come out of our Dialogue trip budget. If it doesn't pass, then each person would have to pay a rather expensive admission ticket in order to hike. Dong Laoshi used her 关系 (Guanxi) and persuasion skills to finally convince the man in the black suit, who was in charge, that we were eligible for student tickets. When we finally got past the front gate, we took cable carts up what would have normally been a four-hour long hike. The view was amazing, but incomparable to what we were in for during the rest of our walk up to the peaks of the mountain.

As we left the carts of the Cloud Valley New Cableway, we started to hike towards our first destination: the Beginning to Believe Peak. The story behind the name of this peak comes from a man who once started the hike half-heartedly, unknowing of what he was about to experience, until he reached the first view stop. This stop presented a incredibly picturesque Huang Shang, enabling the man to finally realize that this place, indeed, lives up to its reputation. On our way up to the North Sea Guesthouse, which is where our lunch break would take place, we stopped by several more peaks and famous pine trees. Most of the students were surprised that in China, "hiking" means climbing up thousands of stairs, instead of trails, that encircle the mountain sides.

White Goose Peak and the Black Tiger Pine only received more Ooooo's and Ahhhhh's. From the top of the peak, we were able to see the monkey-shaped rock that amazingly balanced itself on top of another peak. The incredible height we were at gave us an jaw-dropping view of the surrounding peaks and the Anhui villages and towns beyond Huangshang. This sight was what I found to be the most incredible of all. As everyone was enjoying the all-natural scenery and appreciating the marvelously rare chance to be where we were, I couldn't help but think of how the tourism business had taken the serenity and 风水 (fengshui) from the naturalness of China's most beautiful mountain range. On our way up, we passed by a large poster of Deng Xiao Ping standing on a cliff of Huangshang with a quote that said, "This is a great place for developing tourism." By the looks of it, Deng Xiao Ping is absolutely correct in his statement.

Just as we were taking more and more rests, time was ticking and we were falling behind schedule, according to Dong Laoshi. As we made stops at the Dispelling Peak and passed by the West Sea Guesthouse, our ultimate destination had finally arrived. The two rings of the mountain required a lot more time for a complete exploration, so when we got to the canyon, we only had time to explore the first ring. The tunnels within the canyon were refreshingly cool and relaxing as we made our way around the first ring. As we were approaching the top, we spotted the other part of the our group, that had hiked separately, right across the mountain range on the other side. We were able to shout and pretty clearly understand each other; they wanted to be where we were and we wanted to be where they were. Thus, our group continued to climb our way up as the mountains seemed to get increasingly breathtaking. The thrill of hiking up so high and being able to see all that we were seeing with our own very eyes was definitely worth the tiredness we would be feeling after all this.

The way down was a different experience. I had gotten ahead of my initial group and eventually caught up with some other students. The five of us walked the whole way down together, purchasing ridiculously overpriced cold watermelon slices and ice cream to cool us off on the hard hike down. This part was a lot more strenuous, in my opinion, than the incline because we were already worn out by now; some people's legs were shaking and others were getting cranky from the heat and exhaustion. I on the other hand, was just feeling the Red Bull Extra from my lunch break hit me and was unreasonably wired during our decline.

After some waiting, more ice cream eating and final picture taking, we finally boarded the bus that would be taking us to our and luggage and our dinner, and to the coach bus that had been sent from Nanjing University to take us four hours back to Nanjing.

This long weekend has indeed felt long, but was a time I would never forget. Anhui was the one part of the dialogue I was really looking forward to and I have been fully satisfied with our stay. Being in the country side and seeing the other part of China, outside of the big flourishing cities, was a nice change of pace. It reminded me that China is never easy to define, right when you think you've got a good grasp of the culture and lifestyle, BAM, you're hit with a polar opposite experience. The rural people were very hospitable and there was a widespread sense of sincerity. Being able to relax, play with village children, talk to elderly villagers and live in a 300 year-old village home in China was most-definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we were so lucky to experience it as we had these past three days.

Anhui, Day 20

Tommy holding "Little Mingyang" 小明阳

今天我们 9 点吃早饭。吃完之后我们有空所以我们跟孩子一起玩儿，送给他们很多的礼物。安徽的农村非常漂亮！
Today was a nice and relaxing day, which I feel like we all needed. The village kids really appreciated all of the gifts we gave them, and they were a lot of fun to be around. They all seem really happy and joyful all the time. It is great to be able to go around the village and see all the people and the farms, it is much nicer than I pictured. It’s a poor area, but I think most of us were expecting it to be a little worse than it is. Some of the houses are actually pretty nice, and that is because of the migrant workers. In Beijing we saw the situation the migrant workers lived in and how rough their lives are. Now in Anhui we have been able to see how these migrant workers use the money they earn and bring back to their home village. This really shows us the motivation for people who live in rural areas to go to work in the bigger cities.

The farms around here are really nice, and the scenery is incredible. The nice weather makes everything look even better as well. All of the villagers are very warm and welcoming to us foreigners, as most Chinese are. They always appreciate the fact that we are learning their language and try our best to speak it with them. I feel like people in other countries do not feel the same way.

I really appreciate the opportunity for us to be able to see some of the more rural parts of China like Anhui. When going to huge cities like Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai it is easy to forget that most of China is not just huge apartment buildings, malls, and skyscrapers. There is a lot more to this country than we all know, and seeing it with our own eyes is the best way to experience it.

In the early afternoon we all spent a little time rolling our own dumplings and got to eat them as well for our last meal in the village. After that we said our goodbyes to the villagers and all the children and got on a bus to a new hotel that is in a small city closer to Huangshan, where we will be hiking tomorrow. We made it to Laojie street, which is the market street in this city and bought some souvenirs. It’s always fun to bargain with the people to try and get the lowest possible price! At the very least we get to practice speaking Chinese. After that it was a relaxing night without much going on. We all need to get our rest for the big hike tomorrow!

The picture in this entry is Tommy with the little chick he purchased yesterday for 3 yuan. He had a hard time saying goodbye earlier today, but we made sure the little girls he gave it to will take great care of it!
 -Mike M.

Anhui, Day 19

           After a heartfelt, “my home is your home, my family is your family” departure from my Chinese host family the previous night, the encouragement of having blended cultures and overcome a language barrier to create a lasting bond half the world away from home was immediately subsequently tempered by the harsh reality of our Chinese language midterm. We persevered through writing, listening, and reading that which -- to some of us -- seemed like nothing more than strange crossing lines not much more than a year ago. By the time we woke the next day, we were three centuries away, reluctantly greeting the day among paper-thin walls, ancient mossy cobblestone floors, and countless traditional Chinese river-silt bricks in the comfort of the Zhong Xian Di estate in a historic rural area of Anhui, all still barely held up by massive wooden pillars.
            
            Emerging from our Chinese fortress after finally waking to the distant sound of incessant bells and distinct whispers from throughout the mansion, we went into the Anhui farmer town to explore. Finally, we came upon a taste of real, rural China: rice paddies and tea plantations covering the mountainsides, wrinkled but resilient farmers in woven hats carrying crippling amounts of produce, and oxen freely roaming the knee-deep ponds. Our travels brought us to the local tea production facility, famous in the region for its rather powerful tea, as we experienced personally. Exploring the village opened us up to some truly interesting locals, among them a master bamboo weaver with 60 years of experience, and a victim of China’s agricultural reeducation who found himself stranded upon getting into the countryside. The insight into the varieties of cultures and lifestyles of China from our journey into this bug-infested region has been unparalleled, but our travels through China have yet to take us to China’s booming business central, Shanghai. As the house creaks and insect repellant burns on, the part of me that’s thankful for what I learned here so far is in direct disagreement with the arachnophobia, city-loving half. By tomorrow night, we’ll be back on a 4-hour bus ride back to “civilization,” but I think, for all its discomforts, Anhui will still be another place in China we can call home.

Nanjing, Day 18

对不起，今天我们需要说中文， 所以这个的blog都有中文。今天是最后一天住在homestay. 他们给我们礼物， 这么漂亮。考中试以后，我做了一下按摩。我觉得很好！现在我们在火车跟中国的朋友说话。他们觉得我们这么漂亮， 这么帅！我们这么高兴去安徽！

-汤明阳

Nanjing, Day 17

Hey everyone,

Today was our last day of classes before having to take our midterm.
It was a tough day in class, as not only did we review but also
crammed down a new lesson in just a few hours. I can’t say I am not
glad the first half of our study session at Nanjing Da Xue is almost
over. For it to be intensive, it surely is.  But I can see my Chinese,
as well as other classmate’s, improving more and more everyday. 加油！

Later in the afternoon, we had the chance to go check out the famous
five stars Jinling Hotel. Deborah Wright, the first and only foreign
business consultant at Jinling, was kind enough to receive us all and
give us a presentation on different aspects that have shaped her life
to lead her in China. She also told us more about the company itself,
their different prospective projects, as well as what her job
consisted of doing.

A few key point that stood out were: Choosing a good translator in
China is a must because no matter how well written a speech may be, if
the delivery is not good, the message won’t get across well. It is
important to have big dreams but one should stay open to new things
and avoid misconceptions about culture and people. She also pointed
out that giving speeches in China is very different from giving
speeches in America as the Chinese are more influenced by pictures on
PowerPoint slides rather than plain info. She further stressed the
importance of leaving one’s ego aside to be able to be successful
overseas. It was truly a pleasure to hear from Ms. Wright and learn
more about the wonderful job she is currently doing.

The evening was also rather memorable. Since tonight is our last night
with our host families, they took me out to a local Chinese
restaurant. After driving from their places into town for 45 minutes,
we finally arrived in the Confucius temple area. Walking down an ally
filled with colorful lights, we finally found it. The food they have
always wanted to make me try: Xiao Chi (Chinese Snacks). We arrived in
this restaurant and were warmly welcomed (although I was called a
Laowai as soon as I got in, but can’t say many foreigners had ever
been there). Our meal consisted of Xiao Long Bao (juicy buns), Jiao zi
(dumplings), Guo tie (pan fried dumpling), Ya xue fen si tang (duck
blood bean thread soup), and many more which I had never eaten before.
There was also a college student playing the famous Chinese instrument
Gu zhen, which really gave the restaurant a pleasant atmosphere. After
dinner, we were able to dress up in Chinese traditional clothes and
take pictures all around the restaurant. It was truly a great
experience to share with his family on our last day.

Good luck everyone for the exams tomorrow.好运！
- Cedric A.

Nanjing, Day 16

Today I got up at 6:30 am as usual. My home stay mom cooked a small breakfast of rice porridge, a fried egg, and a rice ball wrapped in green leaves. We usually eat a small breakfast because of the large dinners we eat the night before.
 
I have to leave the house at 7:15 am in order to make it to my 8:00 class on time. Distance wise, the house is not far from Nanjing University, but because of the traffic, it takes so long. The streets are filled with cars all fighting for the lanes of traffic. It is not uncommon to see five or even six cars trying to get past each other in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a three lane road. This usually involves cars partially on the on-going traffic lane. The white lines on the road are merely suggestions that the Chinese drivers often ignore; the main law that governs traffic is size. Cars will yield to busses, and bicycles yield cars. The drivers in China seem to have less of a sense of space on the road than in America. Cars can just pull out in front of another car with only inches of free space without much care. Each car will try to snake their way ahead of everyone else. Of course there are horns constantly honking, but the drivers seem to tune out the noise. I am fascinated that I have yet to see any accidents.
 
Today was Andrew’s birthday. As a surprise, we got him a birthday cake and an electronic dictionary as a present. We also had a big bowl or long noodles as a Chinese tradition. The long noodles represent a long life and are eaten during celebrations and holidays. Andrew was very appreciative of his electronic dictionary.
 
Afterwards, we had a special guest, Hu Jie, come talk to us about his famous documentary, “Searching for Lin Zhao’s Soul.” He was a brave man who sought out the facts about the Cultural Revolution in China. People who try to make such documentaries are in danger of imprisonment and possibly even death. The documentary itself is banned, and can not be distributed. A film festival agreed to show it one year, but the Chinese government canceled the film festival in response. One professor was even tracked down by the Chinese government and imprisoned for showing a class the film.
 
In this documentary, Hu Jie seeks out what happened to Lin Zhao during the Cultural Revolution. Lin Zhao was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution and wrote thousands of letters, poems, and criticisms about Mao during her imprisonment. Instead of pens and ink, she used hair pins and her blood to write on her clothes, paper, and the wall. I can’t even imagine writing one word in my own blood, yet alone over a thousand letters. I guess this just shows how passionate and determined she was to express her ideas.
 
Most of China’s younger generation does not know what really happened during the Cultural Revolution. The government does a good job of retelling history. The textbooks in schools do not mention the bad things about the Cultural Revolution. If one were to tell a 16 year old student about the Cultural Revolution, they may think you are lying to them. It was for this reason, Hu Jie wanted to document the facts and preserve this piece of Chinese History.
 
I can actually see some parallels to American history. I am sure that our textbooks do not show or represent to what extent of how we treated the Native Americans when we were colonizing North America. I’m sure the average student does not know what exactly happened either. However, I guess some differences are that the North American events happened much longer ago and the atrocities happened to another nation, not one country’s own people.
 
I also wonder how Mao targeted the younger generation to lead the revolution. Did Mao used pure propaganda to brainwash the impressionable younger generation, or was there more to it? Did Mao capitalize on the younger generation’s craving for something or feelings they lacked due to the social cultural dynamics of Chinese life or family?

- Dominic B.

Nanjing, Day 15

你们好，

After a couple unusually cold days in Nanjing, today’s weather was beautiful: sunny, 70s, and not a cloud in the sky.  If there’s one thing we Bostonians are used to, it’s unpredictable weather. Nanjing’s weather is just as unpredictable; it could be 35°C (95°F) one day, then 15°C (60°F) the next.
 
As usual, we all started class at 8am, after getting back from our host family’s apartments to 南京大学 (Nanjing University) through the heavy morning traffic.  My ayi (host mother) and shushu (host father) both like to weave through the bumper to bumper cars and slide through spaces that look only big enough for a motorcycle.  Everyone in Nanjing seems to drive this way and yet, I still haven’t seen an accident.  All I know is that I could never drive here, it is way too scary.
 
Compared to yesterday, when we were all overly happy to each other again and exchange strange stories about our host families, we were able to focus a little more in class.  After class, we had a break for lunch.  I went with some friends to a small, open restaurant on the street. We can definitely appreciate how inexpensive the food is.  My meal was 9 kuai (about $1.30 USD).  For such a small amount of money, I am very full and so is my wallet.
 
In the afternoon, we had a dialogue class with other Nanjing University students, mostly Chinese and some from other foreign countries, about various topics such as economics/finance, foreign policy, cultural issues, and domestic policy.  We had a moderator named Dr. Paul Armstrong-Taylor, a professor at the Nanjing-Hopkins Center. We split into 4 groups, each group discussing a different topic.  Being an international business major, I chose to talk about economics/finance. As American students, we had the advantage because the discussion was held in English.  For those Nanjing University students that talked with us, we should give a round of applause for using a foreign language to discuss such complicated subjects.
 
When the dialogue was over, we all got picked up by our respective host families. The more I get to know my host family and the more they get to know me, the more I like living with them.  I think I can speak for everyone when I say that the first couple days with our host families were a little awkward, but I am grateful for the experience, good and bad.  I am especially in love with my host family’s little dog, Rifle.  She is the cutest little thing, following me around and always wanting to play.  She will definitely be missed when I have to leave on Friday.
 
~Cady L.

Nanjing, Day 14 - Part II

When I talked to Linda this morning, she said: “I had have homesick, but never been schoolsick before.”
 
I’m sure after the homestay weekend, every single one of us couldn’t wait to come back to Zengxianzi building, to see familiar faces, and to be able to chat without any language barriers. My first day was definitely awkward, especially when my fluent in English meimei left for extra classes on Saturday, and I was left with my shushu and ayi, whom can only speak a few English words. However, I tried to “embrace the awkwardness” and found out that they are rather enthusiastic about explaining Chinese cultures and customs.
 
This morning, I left home 30 minutes before class started, and arrived 30 minutes after class started. Nanjing traffic was so bad that it took me an hour to get to class. A few people I talked to had to leave home before 7 to be able to show up at 8. After class, everyone gathered around on the first floor of Zengxianzi building, excitedly talked about their first weekend with their host families. The feelings were mixed, but we do try very hard in using our limited Chinese vocabulary to communicate with our host families.
 
In the afternoon, we had optional calligraphy and taiji classes. In between, we had our second group meeting. The heated discussion was successfully led by our fellow students. The topic was East vs. West culture in the way they conduct business in China. The visit to Nanjing Stock Exchange, our guest speakers Ms. Heng and Mr. Helmut Gusten definitely had somehow affected our perspective of conducting business in China.
 
At 4, we all met up to walk to Amity Foundation, a Christian based Chinese NGO who promotes social welfare and rural development. Ms. She gave us a presentation of Amity Foundation and what it has done in the past. The statistic she presented was astounding. Even after all the work that Chinese NGO have done, there are still so much work to left to do. It was enlightening to hear about the government support, even for a faith based organization such Amity.
 
At 5:30, my shushu was already waiting for me in front of ZXZ building. Luckily, traffic was very light, it only took us about 25 minutes to get home. Dinner was already laid out when my shushu and I arrived at home. During dinner, my ayi cheerfully introduced each and every one of the dishes to me in Chinese. My Chinese food vocabulary had improved a great deal just by 2 days staying here. When my meimei left the dinning table early to go study; my shushu, my ayi, and I continued talking for 2 more hours. They introduced me to Chinese literature (Chinese fairytales, Hong Lou Meng, and a famous author name Jin Yong [Louis Cha Leung Yung].) Compared to my first day arrived at their house, my Chinese speaking skills had improved a great deal. By the end of today, I hope everyone would see homestay in a more positive light as I am now seeing it.  

Zaijian,
- Lop

Nanjing, Day 14 - Part I

Today was pretty anticipated, as over half of us couldn’t wait for class to come. I think none of us can say we’re still homesick anymore, but rather school sick after having spent the weekend at our host family’s.
 
I had a pretty decent weekend myself with my host family. It was awkward at first, as I’m sure it was for most of us, but I think we’re all beginning to get the hang of it. My host father is a radio talk show manager and my host mother is a primary school teacher. I also have an 11 year old mei mei. They’re a pretty well-off family.
 
We spent the weekend touring Nanjing, going to Confucius Temple and Xuanwu Lake. And also spent every single meal at some really fancy, high-end restaurant, assuming that that’s the type of quality food Americans eat. They were so graceful, but I felt extremely bu hao yi si! At one dinner, they even ordered me a bowl of bird’s nest soup, which is extremely expensive; I’ve only had it once in my life before and that was because I was sick. And for lunch, we went to this expensive Japanese steakhouse at 1912 (this area of restaurants and bars in which its architecture is like that of 1912 China) and we had steak, lamb, eel, etc.
 
The stories of our homestay experience were endless today. We were all really excited to see each other again and at some point even hoped that the school day would be longer.
 
After class we had our second group discussion session, discussing the week long of guest speakers we’ve had. We compared the differences between Eastern ways of business versus Western ways. And in the end we came to conclude that there’s always this impression set that Western ways are better and that China needs to adapt quickly. But it’s really just this idea that we create and it could be that maybe westerners ought to adapt to Chinese ways of doing things. It was a pretty interesting and productive one hour group discussion.
 
Afterwards we visited Amity Foundation, which is a Christian-based NGO. Amity is one of the first NGOs founded in China after the Cultural Revolution and they provide many services throughout China including rural development, setting up heath clinics, education, assisting the disabled, etc. We started off with a video, which then led to our Q&A session. I personally think the video was too obviously dramatic and I think because of that it sort of set an impression for all of us as to what Amity is. It’s clearly a Christian-based NGO and that’s not a problem, but one of the things I couldn’t understand was why they seemed so reluctant to admit that they promote Christianity.
 
The day flew by and it was shortly time to go home. It felt as if we were in elementary school again heading into our schoolyard searching for our parents whose standing there waiting for us. Some of us were picked up by their host parents, while others like me took the bus home. Everything went smoothly, but of course just when I thought I had made it home okay, I stick my key in the wrong door of the wrong building that was in the wrong courtyard. How delightful…

- Linda K.

Nanjing - Day 13

And to imagine we thought we were immersed before.
Yesterday was the beginning of NEU China 2011 homestay, and easily the start of simultaneously the most fulfilling and difficult part of our trip: assimilation. After being picked up by Mr. Yan, his wife Ms. Jiang, and their daughter Helen yesterday and being treated like royalty for dinner and exploration of Nanjing’s key attractions, the old adage of Chinese as generous hosts proved itself many times over. It is for good reason that Chinese tradition holds guests to a gift-giving ritual on arrival – ideally, something to eat, something to drink, and something to use – as it has become clear that my host ayi and shushu, or aunt and uncle, are truly giving of themselves in my time here so far. After opening their home up to me yesterday and facilitating my most restful night in China so far, today we returned to absorbing Nanjing city and Chinese daily life, starting with a delicious homemade breakfast – a rarity for us – mixing both east and west with sweet dumplings alongside homemade strawberry jelly. Then, after dodging the well-fed neighborhood cats – affectionately called二胖 and 小黑 (second fattest and little black) – it was off to the Nanjing Museum. We drove past the still proudly standing city walls, covered in many decades worth of ivy, and lost track of time in the museum looking at the beautiful traditionally created Chinese art, using either water and Chinese ink or thin yarn brocade, alongside historic jade and metal relics. It certainly wasn’t the usual NYC MoMA I’m so used to, much to its credit.
 After we met the quota of culture for the day, we stopped by a local restaurant for a traditional “light” Chinese lunch of soup and dumplings, as well as a rice ball and red bean paste mix my Jiang ayi knew I’d love. With hunger satisfied, Helen and I were invited to visit the city center, the underground shopping complex named Fashion Lady and its adjacent Western-style mall while ayi and shushu went to pick up the grandparents for a family dinner yet to happen tonight. While we strolled the outright endless shopping areas and chatted, in my broken Chinese and Helen’s impressively fluent Chinese, the difficulty of what we’re doing here – attempting to exist at least somewhat naturally in everyday Chinese society – really began to dawn on me. Haggling in Chinese came naturally to me. The social graces - don’t lick your fingers, don’t shout, and definitely don’t walk around the home in shoes – also didn’t prove much of a challenge in understanding. However, to attempt to not just communicate with a Chinese family, which is hard enough, but to establish a relationship and create a bond seems insurmountable. The thought alone was enough to give me homesickness. Admittedly, the language isn’t getting much easier, but as legitimately frightening as our positions are, thrown almost haphazardly into Chinese life, it is strangely comforting to think that my ayi and shushu are probably just as nervous themselves. After all, that’s how I know I’m in good hands.

- Michael G.

Nanjing, Day 12 - 干杯

Today has been my first day spent with my host father, mother, and little sister, Jenny. I initially met Jenny inside the Nanjing University cafeteria during the early afternoon. We rode a cab together to her home nearby. Upon our arrival, my host father, or “shu shu”, nonchalantly greeted us downstairs and we—more like he—hauled my overweight suitcase up five flights of cement stairs. As we entered the front door, I caught a fleeting glimpse of my host mother, or “ayi”, scrambling to clean unnoticeably tiny nooks and crannies. Clad in her white morning robe, she bashfully introduced herself with her right hand and continued scrubbing away with her left. As I timidly rolled my suitcase inside, I was comforted by the sweet, smoky smell of duck, or “kaoya”.
 
I felt amazed by the beauty and spaciousness of my host family’s two-story home. The room my ayi has prepared for me looks much like a small four or five-star hotel room. I was enchanted by the many bamboo mats strewn across chairs and loveseats throughout the house. “To keep your seat cool,” Jenny told me. I love thoughtful little touches like that. My shu shu, ayi, Jenny, and I sat down to a traditional Chinese lunch of kaoya, vegetables, and soup. My shu shu laughed hysterically as I told him how my English name means “riverduck”, especially since we were simultaneously chowing down on my namesake. After lunch, all four of us took a rest, or “xiuxi”, which was just what I needed to rejuvenate for our banquet-style dinner to be held later in the evening.  
 
At 6 pm sharp, my shu shu drove my ayi, Jenny, and me to dinner in the family’s new Audi. We arrived to the most elegant restaurant, or “fanguan”, I’ve experienced in China so far. Hostesses wearing qipaos fawned over us at the door and we rode an elevator up to a private party room. A busboy parted two thick wooden doors to expose a room full of my shu shu’s rowdy extended family. Despite the luxurious golden décor and impeccably serviced meal, everyone was letting loose. Middle-aged men were screaming cheers!, or “ganbei!”, while drunkenly colliding glasses of “bai jiu”, a Chinese drink similar to Vodka. Each would proceed to clumsily light a cigarette and slap his neighbor’s thigh with fondness. The women—most of whom were holding small children in their laps—nearly upstaged the men by yelling witty jokes across the table. By the time our plates were cleared, my shu shu’s young nieces were running laps around our table in their chiffon evening dresses. I must say that I’m so pleased to have witnessed this slice of my host family’s life. Despite their presumed wealth and position, they convey a strong sense of lightheartedness and approachability. To say the least, the food was decadent and the casual conversation was even better.


－明丽

Nanjing, Day 11

Today was our first experience with public transportation, when we grabbed a 公共汽车 [public bus] to Dr. Sun Yatsen’s Mausoleum. It was a whopping 95 degrees Fahrenheit when we set out at 1:30, and not two steps out of the lobby, we were already feeling the heat. The bus ride was uneventful --I was expecting it to be more crowded considering all the horror stories I’ve heard about transportation in China-- it was a quick ride from the mausoleum, and we were out of the bus and back into the heat.  

Walking towards the Tomb and Mausoleum, there were huge rock sculptures of various animals. I saw elephants, camels, horses, and even a “unicorn” which looked more like a dog type monster, to be honest. Professor Dong had an idea for me to get on top of one of the Camel sculptures, which was huge, so the boys boosted me up and we took pictures. Getting down was a bit tricky, but I made it alive and covered in dirt. We had a brief overview of where we were at the bottom of the Mausoleum, and talked about how Sun Yatsen was really the basis and inspiration for Chinese nationalism. The three pillars that Sun Yatsen was basing the “new China” on were nationalism, democracy, and well being for the people. While democracy isn’t really a pillar in Chinese society nowadays, there is still a large emphasis on nationalism which is apparent in every day Chinese life.

Last night, when Professor Dong had informed us that we would be hiking up 432 stairs at the mausoleum, this news was greeted by the usual groans and sighs, and when we reached the bottom of the Mausoleum, the amount of stairs definitely looked daunting. Once we got started, everyone seemed to take the climb in stride, and there were even a few races to the top (Cedric was the winner, go Cedric!) When we reached the top, we took a bit of a breather, and then walked in the Mausoleum. The Mausoleum was under construction, and as a result some of the tomb and the back garden were closed, but the view from the top was stellar, albeit smoggy.

On the way back we decided to take the subway instead, which was another surprise. While there were definitely a lot of people, everything was clean, air conditioned, and not unpleasant in the slightest. There were even guards to help regulate the on/off process! I think that Boston’s MBTA should definitely take a lesson from Nanjing’s subway station and step up its game.

All in all, everything is going well at Nanjing University. Everyone seems to be studying hard, learning a lot, and enjoying themselves in the process.

- Kelly Winter