Dear Colleagues, Friends and Family, from ITEM Faculty Associate Catherine Johnson
“Ni Hao” to everyone back home from the S.F.U. International China module. This update has been written on the 7th day of our almost 60 day journey in place called ‘China’, a journey which will take us to new heights while learning about the profession of teaching through the concept of place based education. We left Vancouver on the wings of Olympic excitement and landed in another Olympic land – Beijing (Summer 2008) - where we walked among the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube buildings and pinched ourselves. Where were we? It was an eerie moment as we felt transported to this new and different place which will become our home for almost 2 months. Arriving during the Chinese New Year’s celebration meant fireworks every night and Spring Festival decorations everywhere. We saw many exotic and historic sights in Beijing and learned how to interact with everyday people in Beijing during their holidays, becoming accustomed to the ‘Chinese’ landscape. During a spectacular day spent hiking along a remote, original section of the Great Wall of China, we were struck by the awesome beauty of the jagged mountains, the frozen lakes, and the hundreds of steps up to high peaks and lookouts. The ‘zipline’ ride back down to the parking lot brought us back to the reality of modern day China and the task of becoming teachers which was soon ahead of us. We then flew and landed in Guilin and traveled to Yangshuo for 3 days of life in rural / outdoor China. Here, majestic limestone karsts dot the landscape, along the banks of the Li and Yulong Rivers. An unexpected burst of warm weather offered outdoor adventures such as mountain biking, bamboo boat rafting, hiking, rock climbing and, of course, shopping and eating. Having gained the contextual understanding of villages and cities, workers and families, tourists and residents, and meeting may new friends along the way, the students are feeling at home in this new place and ready to live and work as teachers at the Maple Leaf School in Dalian - our new home tomorrow.
ITEM China 2010 – Cultural Tour: Vancouver - Beijing – Yangshuo - Dalian
Topic 1: A “How To” Guide of China by Parnaz and Jag
You arrive in a foreign country and you wonder how you’ll survive. Welcome to China but don’t worry because we are providing a beginners guide to surviving in the Republic of China. First and foremost, bring Kleenex because it is not provided in the washrooms. The water is not clean for drinking, so you should always carry sanitizer because even when you wash your hands it’s a good precaution to take and use it.
Now lets talk about leaving your hotel. It’s a scary thing to go into a country where you become the foreigner and you don’t speak the language make sure you’re never alone. Begin by having a safety net, your hotel card with the address, so that when you are trying to get back you can use it. Which leads to point two. You will be acting and using gestures all the time, like playing Charades! If you decide to take a taxi, make sure the meter is working and its not covered up and don’t let them convince you otherwise. Its not expensive to take a cab but always enter with a running meter! No matter where you are never take out all your money or your passport, always keep it hidden and preferably in a money belt. Its normal for hotels to want a copy of your passport its as important as always having your drivers license on you, it is your form of identification.
Let’s continue with some more suggestions, thoughts and opinions on how to survive in the People’s Republic of China. Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue. As a foreigner, expectations regarding any type of service may not be quickly met. It is necessary to relax and let go. This will certainly help in meeting one’s expectations.
It can be natural to become overly sensitive in a foreign locale. Try to avoid this inclination. Instead of being oversensitive, laugh. Laugh a lot. Language barriers do not barricade laughter.
Patience and laughter will help deal with the crowds. Prepare for people; lots and lots of people.
In addition, preparation is necessary for many other aspects of China. Be prepared for extreme levels of poverty, as China is still a third world country. Prepare to deal with the smell of the country, as it can be quite overwhelming on occasion. Use all your senses to the best of your ability, especially your sense of sight. Every moment is breathtaking, whether it is the view of the geography or a view of the people. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience.
As well, there are some general suggestions that should be considered. When shopping in the market, bargain. Bargain hard. Pay one-quarter to one-third of the original price. Starbuck’s in Beijing is not the same as it is in your neighborhood. Neither is KFC or McDonald’s. So as mentioned beforehand, it is best to relax and let go.
Be open-minded, try new things and be ready for an adventure when it comes to eating and most importantly its all about your attitude because that is the key to having fun! Everyone will try to take advantage of you so outwit, outsmart and outplay them and do it with a smile!
Topic 2:
Intercultural Communication - A Survival Guide by Ryan & Stephanie
When traveling abroad, understanding the customs of the environment provoke feelings of discomfort, however, we are quickly developing an understanding of these cultural practices and realize that learning the ways of our new environment is crucial to our success in China. Laughter and smiling encourages social bonding and evokes trust by filling the void of misunderstandings. Lightheartedness and laughter also enables us to build relationships and decreases social tension. For example when exploring the Dragon River in Yangshuo on bamboo rafts we communicated through laughter with our tour guides. We started off by repeating words in each other’s language. Although repeating each others dialect was essentially nonsense, through the aid of laughter we were able to create a unique bond with our guides. Laughter is both contagious and universal!
Learning simple terms such as ‘hello,’ (Ni hao), ‘thank you’ (xie xie) and the number system creates magical moments with others using simple but effective communication. Our bike tour was filled with breathtaking views of mountains and traditional lifestyle. In addition we had the opportunity to great passersby. Although we were moving quickly and did not have time to communicate for long periods of time, acknowledging the local folk with “hello” and “ni hao” invoked an immediate response and smile. Hand gestures may not be the most culturally immersive technique however they can be very effective. This can be seen when ordering food. Pointing to pictures on a menu decreases your chance of receiving unwanted food. Extending your arm straight out and flicking the wrist towards the street is essential when calling a taxi. In Beijing using this gesture will get you a taxi in seconds. While pointing can be extremely helpful it can also be detrimental when bartering. Pointing at an article of clothing that you may or may not be interested in will blow your cover as an experienced barterer and you will be perceived as naive and inexperienced.
Making a good impression by presenting oneself according to the customs of the country can take us a long way. Our first 8 days have helped us prepare our intercultural communication and will take us a long way when communicating with our students in Dalian.
Topic 3: Being the “Other” in China by Sarah S. and Dustin
A week in China, as a white male, and already the feeling of being the “other” is strong, confusing and perplexing. It is a paradoxical feeling of being revered while also being seen as a target. I have asked myself many times, What do they think when they see a white guy? Do they see wealth, novelty, an opportunity to make money, gullibility? And how do I want to respond to these people? What I found most daunting as an outsider is the struggle to have a conversation that goes deeper than “Ni hao.” There is always the feeling of being a cultural tourist. I find “Otherness” is the feeling you have after a failed attempt to communicate and the awkward silence that follows, it’s the feeling of being watched in a restaurant, laughed at in a market, and stared at when you walk down the street. It’s the feeling of being amongst people but knowing there is a separation. We are the same, but different. Sure we share many aspects of lifestyle, but for the Other, the rules are weird, the norms are strange, and the roads are insane. But in the end everyone understands a smile.
As a blonde Caucasian female, I have never experienced minority and otherness like I have in China. While touring around the “Forbidden City” and looking at all of the many attractions, it began apparent that I too was an attraction. Many times I would have families of people come up to me and ask to take my picture. They were always so excited and happy to be in the photo with me that I have begun to feel like some sort of celebrity. While it is very flattering, I have also found it to be a bit uncomfortable. In my eyes, I feel like everyone else and do not understand why I am such a novelty, which leads me to feel guilty because I do not know what I have done to deserve this type of attention. Luckily, the attention was in a positive experience but I find when trying to buy things or take taxis, my foreignness is viewed as someone they can take advantage of, making prices higher then they normally would be.
With all this said, as we keep trying to understand and communicate, the feelings of otherness are beginning to fade, we are beginning to have more genuine experiences and we are witnessing a slow, but gradual breaking down of the tourist barriers. More and more we are engaging with the people, making connections, and having some good laughs. The excitement of getting to know and love this culture is growing and we are enthusiastic about our time here.
Topic 4: Chinese Food - by Wes and Sheryl
We eat for hunger, necessity, and personal enjoyment. In addition to these reasons, the meals we have eaten here in China have been for a cultural experience. Every time you eat in China, it is a new adventure. Although there are many western restaurants widely available in the more touristy areas, it is good to experience Chinese culture by eating the foods of the local region. There are many spices and preparation techniques used in preparing the food, as well as local specialties depending on which part of China you are in: fresh fishes, poultry, vegetables, different herbs and spices. One part of the adventure is ordering your food; you often don’t really know what you are going to get. Many restaurants have picture book menus, which may or may not have English translations included. There are also street vendors all over the place selling everything from fried tofu to scorpions on a stick. Some of the best, if not the most sanitary, food comes from these street vendors… if you are brave enough to try it. It is completely acceptable for your chef to cook your food with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and dropping ashes in your food, or for a street vendor to drop a skewer of meat on the ground and just put it back on his cart. There is no ‘food safe’ course in China.
Another aspect of eating in China is the difference in table manners and etiquette. Eating in a Chinese restaurant is more akin to eating at home with your family; all the dishes are put in the middle of the table, and everyone serves themselves. Dinner meals are usually enjoyed with Chinese tea. It is not customary to add sugar or cream. It is fun learning to eat with chopsticks, and it should probably be recommended as a new diet program. There are “proper” ways of holding your chopsticks, but when you’re hungry enough, any method that gets the food from your plate to your mouth is sufficient. There is also no “3 Second Rule” here in China… if it hits the table, it is now considered inedible, if it hits the floor it is toxic. Also, it is a strange thing for westerners to find that food waste, such as bones, is just deposited on the table rather than put to one side on the plate. Often you do not even have a plate, as the Chinese prefer to eat from small, deep bowls. Our advice when it comes to food, is that you need to embrace it. When you start to go hungry, the menu usually only consists of two items: 1) take it OR 2) leave it. Yes, eating in China is always and adventure, but the rewards outweigh the risk.
Topic 5: Urban China by Vanessa and Kiran
Big. Bustling city. Busy streets. Tall buildings. Heavy traffic. Historic. Modern. Populated. Busy subway. Old, yet new. It feels normal, yet not really. It feels like you are always one step behind, no matter how fast you are going, the city is always one step further. The city is big. It is enormous. The streets are dominated by cars, motorbikes, and bicycles—all sharing the same road. The streets are a whirlwind of activity. But in some way, Beijing is just like home--almost... It's fast pace and energetic. There are people everywhere from all over the world. There's a very international feel to it. It's very metropolitan and overall a great place to experience everything about China. There are many traditional buildings still retained by modern Beijing. The city underwent massive growth and, especially with the 2008 Olympic Games. The historic palace of the Emperor, the Forbidden City is surrounded by the urban areas. Also, there are the historic neighborhoods where the majority of Beijing citizens and villagers once lived- narrow streets, called Hutongs, one floor houses. Most of these Hutongs are replaced with high-rise apartment complexes, some Hutong streets still remain. It is like a fusion of past and present, lingering in our presence, requesting our attention. Our visit to Tiananmen Square probably best exemplified this phenomenon, as we saw traditional-style buildings, between the massive Tiananmen and Qianmen gates surrounded by an urban metropolis. The city is very modern but somehow, it is not. There is a timeless history embedded within the bustling urban metropolis that cannot be overburdened by modernization—that is the beauty and essence of Beijing.
Topic 6: Activating our Senses by Kristy and Davina
Just another awesome day in the ITEM China 2010 module…
For most of us, the best part of the trip so far started with hopping on a mountain bike, strapping a helmet on and recalling what it feels like to ride a bike again. The uneasiness became more intense as we proceeded through an intersection while the honking horns becoming louder and louder. After a long, sweaty bike ride on the winding streets and villages of Yangshuo, we arrived at our destination for lunch. We parked the bikes along the side of a laundry filled alleyway and walked towards an arch doorway that lead to one of the many beautiful views of the day. In the distance, the bright turquoise water flowed beneath the immense karst mountain range and the smell of oil and spice clouded the restaurant in excitement for today’s meal. With our jaws dropped in amazement, we took seats at round tables overlooking the Yulong River and started to engage in the awesomeness of the day. And just to remind us that we weren’t too far from home, we were comforted by the sounds an sights of the China vs Canada curling match on T.V., in the corner of the restaurant.
Various dishes were brought and spread across the table for our inexperienced chopstick hands to pick at. Aromatic flavors filled our mouths as our bellies became full of yummy goodness. After lunch, we ventured through the narrow alleyways that led us to a group of crazy bamboo rafting paddlers waiting for us at the river. We nervously climbed onto the raft and then followed the sounds of “Ni hao” all the way down the river. After an hour and a half of singing and whistling, we finally launched over the last mini waterfall becoming baptized into the Yangshuo culture. What a breathtaking day!!!
Topic 7: Rural Life In China by Jonathan and Sarah J.
The Chinese have made the transition from seeing themselves as a nation based on anti-bourgeois agricultural ideals to a nation now based on the ideal of prosperous city industry. This has created a rural disassociation where people, especially the young, shun forms of the former ideals instead of embracing what one can consider as the ‘new China’.
Yet, despite these changes and advancements, rural life in China still exists. There does not seem to be much going on there. Life seems slow, oriented around the family. Aside from the laborious field work, which one would imagine can not last throughout the year from wake to sleep, there did not appear to be much in the way of economic opportunity (aside from catering to tourists). Moreover, jobs were not too glamorous (unless one likes walking though muddy fields or breaking dry clumps of dirt). For reasons related to work availability or dissatisfaction, there has been a massive emigration of people (especially the young) to the cities. In the villages we have seen, both in the District of Beijing and the Province of Guangxi, this movement is so profound that I did not come into contact with any young people in rural areas (although it is certain that they do exist). In the future this will be the big rural question: Who will replace the aging population?
*Here is an Ode to Yangshou and to the day our module spent riding around the countryside:
Meeting the Dragon by the Yulong River
(in memory of Robert Frost)
Whose fields these are, we think we know; His house is in the village though
He will not see us stopping here; To watch his water buffalo.
Our group must think it queer; To stop without a schoolhouse near
Between Dalian and SFU; The greatest fieldtrip of the year.
Our guide is “Evil” this is true; He leads us over bumps and pooh
He knows the way...
But “wow” were our seats blue!
The peaceful ride would make us sing; But where is all the snazzy bling?
The compounds were so sparse;
Simplistic life – now that's the thing
The fields are lovely, wet and deep; But we have promises to keep
And miles to ride; Before we sleep
And miles to ride; Before we sleep
Topic 8: Community and Personal Growth by Carol and E.J.
As we walked off our eleven hour flight to China, our home for the next two months, an overwhelming feeling of uncertainty and insecurity came crashing down upon us. Our only sense of comfort and familiarity came from the knowledge that we were entering this novel experience not as individuals, but as a group that has already developed into a solid community known as the China ITEM Module. As individuals, we all came from different backgrounds and we have led different lives that have shaped who we are and how we interpret each moment. Although we stand in the same position, through different lenses we create our own personal significance. An experience that may be brand new to one member of our module may have already been experienced by another member, yet collectively as a group we combined these perceptions to make one whole moment.
Although the bond between our group had already been established on campus, entering China provided new challenges that would test the strength of our community. We were now expected to share a room with a member of our module. The way in which that person creates their living environment, would now directly impact ones personal experience. Conflicting sleep patterns, range of personalities, and importance of cleanliness are just a few of the many dynamics that we are trying to overcome, while maintaining a favourable environment.
As we begin to embrace the smells, sounds, and many sights that are drastically different than Vancouver, we also begin to appreciate the stability and comfort of our home environment. In contrast, as we take in this new culture in its authentic form, we get a deeper appreciation of how the people of China live. We are beginning to envy how fulfilled they are with the simplicity of their way of living. With a minimal income, they are able to create a life that is surrounded with family and a strong work ethic that keeps them content.
All of these thoughts question our own way of living, which in turn, question how we are going to be as teachers. How can we teach our students to be more fulfilled through simplicity, and what is truly important? As future teachers we must model what we are trying to create in this world. Through our current and upcoming experiences in China we hope to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves by looking at the world through a different lens.
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