FINAL POST!

One month ago I was sitting in my dorm room in Hangzhou. Now I'm sitting in my dorm room in Middlebury. Wow. While it's a still an adjustment, I'm happy to be back. China was truly an incredible experience and one that might at some point happen again, maybe after graduation? Who knows. Anyways, this final blog post compiles a list that I made while in China, and then took forever to put up. Lots of stories about my mom and my trip around China (including the first time I was ever so blatantly cheated) but I'll save those for later.

THE LIST:

THINGS I WILL MISS
-Certain Chinese foods (translated into English, making them sound absolutely disgusting): Deep fried dough stick, pumpkin “cookie”, etc..
-Perks that come from being white, American, and Chinese speaking
-Being constantly complimented on how good my Chinese is – a phenomenon that upon return to school will immediately decease
-Daily weather forecast sent to my phone
-The amazing roommates – especially Wang Su/Yu Yang!
-Our own Chinglish mixture that really no one else can understand
-Indecision over choosing from any one of the homey restaurants around campus
-Milk tea!!!!
-Fireworks all the time for no apparent reason at all
-Not giving in to the fear of having an upset stomach with food at the Back Gate

THINGS I HAVE GOTTEN USED TO BUT WON'T NECESSARILY MISS
-Squatting to use the bathroom
-Scaring little kids with my utter whiteness
-Scary taxi rides throughout Hangzhou
-Never quite quenching my thirst – due to no water from the tap and the absurd amount of time it takes for the water guy to deliver water

THINGS I WILL NOT MISS
-Loud clearing of throat and then spitting
-Dining hall closing at 9am every morning(even weekends!)
-The smell of Coco Bar woman’s bathroom


Thanks again to EVERYONE who took the time to read this blog. I love you all. Until my next great adventure.

Your Patience is Appreciated..

Just a quick note to say my final blog is coming, I promise. I don't know how many people haven't given up on my getting it out there but I am here to say it will be released sometime this week. Happy holidays! It's great to be home.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

So I just ate my first piece of chocolate from my advent calendar, (thanks Mom!) which means it's December. Now wait a second, what?! That means I have been in China for over three months, am finished with finals in a week and a half, and about two weeks away from traveling to China's hot spots with my mom. How in the world did time fly by that fast? While I am desperately missing home and am excited about heating, salads, and other American amenities, I am beginning to realize how much more I wish I had time to explore Chinese culture and everything else about it. Sometimes it takes the kick in the butt that time is almost up to realize what an experience you really had, eh?

Before some more reflections on Chinese society and the people in it, I figured I would talk about how I spent my first Thanksgiving away from home in China. Our residential director spent a lot of time trying to find us a real Thanksgiving dinner, but seeing that Hangzhou is relatively small in terms of ex-pats and that eating at one of the places that actually was serving a Thanksgiving dinner would cost 300 rmb (about $50 - which is a LOT), she settled on a beautiful restaurant a little bit outside the city. Before eating and in honor of one of America's traditions, we had a little football game: Middlebury students vs. Non-Middlebury students. The weather was pretty great and it was fun to all be together making up ridiculous plays and just enjoying each other's company, which is what I always take out of Thanksgiving experiences. After that we ate. While there wasn't traditional American food we did get really good mango smoothies, China's version of BBQ chicken, and this really amazing toasted "tower" of bread with ice cream on top that slowly melted through. While you may have the same reaction as my parents (WHAT?! That does not sound good at all!) I will tell you first hand that it was fabulous. I am also going to take Mom there when we're in Hangzhou so I will have her tell you herself how magical two such simple ingredients are together. We finished up with a mini dance party at which we turned on the Christmas music, FINALLY. Although I will say I miss 97.1 FM's 24/7 Christmas music. I'm getting by. So, while definitely not the traditional Thanksgiving and feast, I had a good time. No tests on Friday meant we could just relax and have a good time - which might be one of the greatest starts of the Christmas season I could have asked for.

Next exciting thing of last weekend: KTV! Which I'm pretty sure translates to karaoke television. Basically it is a Chinese college student staple, and had been on my list of things to do before I left Hangzhou - check! At our and many other colleges, the dorms lock at 11:30. So if students want to go out at night they can't get back into their rooms until around 6:30. And since KTV has discount 6 hour passes from 12-6 am, many students go to KTV at night and stay there til morning. Our roommates were talking about how they would sometimes rent bigger rooms, sing for a while, and then pass out on the coaches. We had 13 people or so - mix of Chinese and American, so we alternated with English and Chinese songs. For English we sang a wide variety, including: Spice Girl's Wannabe, Madonna's Like a Prayer, Ting Ting's That's Not My Name, as well as many others. It was also great because a lot of the English songs didn't have the real music videos, and instead had what looked like home made videos around various farms and lakes. Visually stunning. I will add though, if you think you have a decent voice don't put your microphone volume all the way up and start singing, because you will realize you don't. Before I knew it we had been in there for over 3 hours and I am so glad I got a chance to do it. It's so nice to just be a fool and dance around for a few hours - EVEN if there are videos of your singing that will most likely be posted on facebook in the near future.

Now for the blogly (like biweekly... get it?!) reflection of Chinese culture. Today in Classical Chinese we finished early so we were chatting "suibian" (casually - but not the most perfect translation - arghh -- better get used to that switch back to full English - it has been about 6 months of Chinese, and only Chinese, and all the time). Our teacher, who looked about to cry, started talking about how much she envied our freedom and our ability to: study various languages, study and work at what we wanted to, among other things that I have taken quite a bit for granted. She said she wanted to maybe go to the US, but she thought she'd be lonely and didn't know what to do. I and others were saying she could teach classical, find a job, etc. Basically, "we think if you want to do something you should go ahead and give yourself the opportunity to do it." She started talking about how there was no way her parents would approve, as she was already nearing the age that she should be married (30). She said her mom was already distraught enough about how she was away from her family studying in Hangzhou - and didn't know how she could do that to her family. She then went on to say that she felt very trapped in Chinese culture - because there isn't that much room to do what you want to, and just little mobility in general. Even though she studies classical chinese for her own enjoyment - she seemed deeply upset at seeing us have opportunities that she may never have dreamed of.

I found in reading over my last few blogs that I have very cautious to express a definite point of view about Chinese society - saying things like "Well, I don't know quite yet.. but..." and I've decided that that isn't necessary anymore. My thoughts about Chinese culture and its structure are mere thoughts and understandings and as a disclaimer are in no way critical of the society, or at least that's not how they should come off. I felt after class a very unnerving sense of guilt about the kinds of opportunities I have been given/have had. I can go to Middlebury, study abroad, and study what I want to. After class I was discussing this with a friend and she was saying that while there was no reason I should feel guilty , she understood. I forget sometimes how lucky I have had things. This also doesn't discount any of my hard work - but seeing people like my classical teacher who despite all her hard work and aspirations can't move anywhere within her locked society is quite guilt provoking. After class my friend and I were also talking about how hard it is to make a move (like go to America, in essence turn her back on the traditions and way of life she knows) if very few people around you are doing so too. I feel like a lot of our roommates are special kind of people - they are all eager to go to graduate school outside of China - but I wonder how many others are like them and sadly, if they will succeed in fulfilling all their aspirations. Sometimes the circumstances we find ourselves in just do not seem fair.

So that's my reflection, for now. As always, love and miss you all.

The Perks of Being a Chinese-Speaking Foreigner

Heyyy there! Sorry for the long pause between my last post and this. Mom always says that "the fans" are waiting for another one - so here it is. While I don't believe that I have lots of fans I do want to say thanks to whoever has been reading my blog - it's been a nice comfort during my time here to have the ability to tell of my adventures.

Hangzhou is doing pretty well by me. It is, however, FREEZING. It snowed very briefly last week - but we're not counting it as a snow day because it was that rainy/snowy mixture. But still - damn! The weather today was a balmy 10 degrees - which reminds me a lot of Midd -- when in February if it turns 38 degrees we're all out in tank tops. Hangzhou's weather has supposedly not been this cold at this time in November ifor the past 20 plus years. The biggest problem is that our classrooms and rooms are dangerously close to the temperatures outside. And our air conditioner doubles as our heater - it is not strong at all, and does very little to heat up our decently wide room. That said, we all feel really pathetic and rude for complaining so much about our rooms, classrooms, and the halls of our dorm, because none of the other Chinese students ANYWHERE (dorms, classrooms, etc.) have heat. They all just get used to it and deal with it - even when the temperatures continue to drop. I think that is one "story" that sums up our experience - our time in China is largely influenced by our skin color and status as foreigners. It does also make me think though. In the larger scope, how does my experience compare to Chinese students?

Another event that REALLY showed me the other day how much more we get to experience due to our skin color and language ability was when Taryn, Cameron, and I went to one of Hangzhou's museums - full of scissor, knife, umbrella, and fan exhibits. After walking through the scissor exhibit a woman was sitting at a table cutting out paper into "Chinese paper art," or at least that is what I"m calling it. (http://www.chinancient.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/Paper-Cutting-01-297x300.jpg -- ALL done by hand). We stood around for a little bit, mesmerized by the type of art she was creating with just a small pair of scissors. We all made some comments about how we thought she was doing amazing work - and she immediately asked us if we understood what she was saying and upon realizing we did began to feverishly explain to us the work she did. She then gave me a small cut out of a frog, showed Taryn how to make one herself, and gave Cameron the one she had just made. Meanwhile, lots of Chinese were standing around, all of whom she paid no attention to. At one point a Chinese boy came up to her shoulder to look at what she was doing and she simply said "Get away, you're going to ruin my work." At the end of her mini tutorial (we had to say multiple times we had to go before she gave up on trying to teach me how to make a "much more complicated design," since we all know how that would've turned out), she gave us, free of charge, three of her already-completed larger pieces of art - and all originally 15 yuan each. I then wanted to buy two of my own, and she dropped the price down without me making any attempt at bargaining (which I hadn't been planning on doing anyways as it was all her own original work.) So in the end I left with 4 pieces of her original work for 20 yuan total.

After leaving the musem the three of us talked about how we didn't think these type of experiences would've happened if we were back in the States or studying abroad in Europe. In Hangzhou there really is a sense of curiosity re foreigners and a real sense of awe when they learn that we can all speak Chinese. I don't think I would've had the chance to talk to as many of the restaurant owners, or get as good prices as I can get at the silk market, or get special entry into a variety of exhibits and demonstrations if I wasn't a white skinned Chinese speaking American. It's a weird thing to wrap my mind around, but also something that I really am going to miss. As part of my continuing to wonder if I have had every experience I wanted to in Hangzhou - I wonder if I should've spent more time looking at it from that angle. Where can I have an experience that I would have NO chance to in America. But in some sense I do think I've done that. The other thing I've found is that a lot of times we can't plan the types of experiences we have. In our efforts to see different parts of Hangzhou that might not be touristy, we were able to meet all kinds of different people and learn all kinds of different things. And that is definitely something that I'm glad about.

I hope everyone is gearing up for a great Thanksgiving week. We are all pretty bummed here about missing Thanksgiving, but we're keeping going by the fact that our time is almost up and Christmas is closer than we think. I personally can't wait until after Thanksgiving - as we have all decided that that is when we will start blasting the Christmas music. I just also want to say to Mom, Dad, Marsh, Alice, Clark, and Caeli that it is going to be very odd not watching the parade, helping out in the kitchen, and spending time with you this Thanksgiving. Have a great time - eat lots of mashed potatoes - and start looking forward to next year's Thanksgiving. Love and miss you all -- happy holiday season (officially!)

Stars & Rain: Autism in China

I am finally taking some time on this warm Saturday afternoon (Hangzhou's weather Gods have been seriously confused this week) to write and reflect on my trip to Stars & Rain, China's first non-government educational center for children with Autism. I was lucky enough to make a contact with a recently graduate of Middlebury who is volunteering there for the semester, and she was nice enough to show us (another student Myra and me) around Stars & Rain's kindergarten and group home.

I have to say - I wasn't really sure what to expect the first day Myra and I got to Stars & Rain. Having heard very little about China's approachto Autism, I didn't expect much. I was, however, VERY pleasantly surprised. It really gave me a lot of hope for the future of Autism awareness and "help" in China and especially for Chinese autistic children.

Stars & Rain is divided into two different "schools", both vastly different from each other. I spent my first day at the group home, where my friend Cordelia works. The group home houses around 6-8 students all with pretty severe low-functioning Autism. (I've attached a link to Cordelia's blog about autism abroad at the end of this blog - there will be much more specific information on the center in her blog, but I will do my best to tell you what I remember.) My work with Autistic children has mostly centered on students with Asperger's (a higher-functioning form of Autism --- although there was a very interesting article in the New York Times saying that the Asperger's term may be on the way "out" -- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/health/03asperger.html -- thanks Alice!) so it was a new experience to get to work hands-on with somewhat lower functioning students.

All the students in the group home are between 10-16 years old and most have been there for a year or more. The group home itself houses these students (sleeping, meals, everything) during the week and then the kids go home for the weekend. The home itself is very nicely set up - there is a workout room, a couple bathrooms, classrooms, sleeping rooms, and all kinds of activities to keep the kids happy and "occupied." From the moment we entered the kids were very welcoming. Part of the benefit of visiting Stars & Rain was that the school was really used to foreign visitors (lots of people come to look around, volunteer, etc.) so for a good part of the day we were really able to work closely with the students - instead of just staying around in the background. A trait of autism is that children lack social skills - for example, they rarely look you in the eye when speaking to you. The students at the group home, however, were more than able to say their names and answer questions, as long as the questions we asked were very direct. Most of them, while speaking in a whisper, were able to communicate with us, in their own way. The kids also enjoyed singing, dancing with us, and just sitting on a chair hugging. That is one thing that I absolutely love about Autism and what it is able to teach us - communication isn't just words and also doesn't need to be.

At the group home I didn't get a chance to visit any classes but instead got to hang out with the students during their time off (very frequent - as their concentration levels aren't enough to work on the same project for thirty or so minutes straight). The other great part of the group home is what the program's plans are for the future. Besides taking the kids for a week long field trip (including flights and hotel stays) the program also is working on a sensory room, as autistic children usually have too little or too much sensory stimulation. The sad part is that there is a LONG waiting list for the school - but there is no more room to house any students. Still - it is a really great positive step for autism in China.

While the group home is more interesting from a volunteer point of view because there is more to do, the kindergarten, in my mind, reflects just how remarkable Stars & Rain is. The kindergarten has eleven-week sessions where both the autistic child AND a parent stay with the child near the Stars & Rain facility for the duration of the program. Myra and I were lucky enough to visit some classes the second day and really got a feel for how the program works and what they're hoping to achieve. I got a chance to sit through the last part of a music class and then a full class. The week we were there was the second or so to last week of the program, so the kids were pretty used to the set up and the format, it seemed, and they sang some songs with hand gestures they seemed to have memorized. Very cute. Afterwards I got to see a class where all the kids and the parents had a series of assignments to complete, all dealing with useful skills - such as cutting shapes in paper, recognizing what colors match with what other colors, and differentiating what one should and shouldn't do during class.

I was most frustrated during my time at the kindergarten because I DESPERATELY wanted to know the kids' stories. When were they diagnosed? How did each of the parents react? I also wanted to ask the teachers about the kids' progress. For example, in one class I sat in on, one child did NOT want to cut paper and instead got very angry at his mother and started biting her hard on the arm, right in front of me. I expected the mom to yell and get angry, but she instead ignored her son's bad behavior and kept working with him to finish his assignments. I wanted to know, what had she done before the program when that kind of thing happened? Was this positive progress for their relationship from a discipline perspective? I wish I had days and days to figure all of that stuff out.

Cordelia had explained to us that the kindergarten, while for the benefit of the children, is really more for the benefit of the parents. The last class I had a chance to sit in on was a "parent teach." Literally, the parents all sat around with notebooks carefully taking notes, while the kids just sat in front occupying themselves. The teacher was explaining to the parents goals for their children (I'm assuming for the future - I missed the first part of the class) such as looking someone in the face upon speaking, etc.

I really liked and was happy to see the positive atmosphere surrounding the kindergarten. I had heard lots of talk before I visited the center about parents wanting to simply get rid of autism instead of dealing with it, but it was so nice to see how positive and encouraging all the parents were. Some parents still seemed to be doing a lot of the work for their children - but they were very active with their children which I think is all we can really ask for, to some extent. Overall it was a really fabulous experience and made me realize how much I a) love working with iautistic kids b) how important programs like these are c) how I want to be a part someday of bringing this recognition to all parts of China. It was a really great experience.
~~~
Phew, other than that things are pretty good. We went to Nanjing last weekend, which was pretty unremarkable. Although we did get a chance to go see the new Rape of Nanjing museum - which was the best part of the weekend but was the only time I felt I really got a chance to understand Nanjing. We spent most of our time on the bus traveling from one place to another. Other than that not much is going on. Classes are moving ahead as usual and we are all trying to make the most out of our final weeks (5! + 1 week of traveling) in China. We are all also finding ourselves anticipating reverse culture shock upon our return to the States. I've been asking myself recently: Will I have any regrets? Have I done everything I wanted to? While these questions are probably unanswerable focusing on them is putting a fire under all our butts to really make sure we get out to see anything and everything we might have missed. For example, tomorrow I plan on going with a couple of friends to Hangzhou's scissors museum. Yes, you read that right. Supposedly Hangzhou has a SUPERB collection of scissors. I will let you know how that goes.

PLEASE check out Cordelia's blog: autismabroad.blogspot.com -- she is really trying to spread awareness about China's progress with autism - and the more exposure the better. Also, if you want to check out Stars & Rain's website it is here: http://www.guduzh.org.cn/Default.aspx?alias=www.guduzh.org.cn/English

As always, love and miss you all.

Is there someone Chinese in your family?

A week after returning to Hangzhou from Beijing, I've had time to reflect upon my time in China's capital and figured it was about time to post something. I am also off to another city which (in the "olden" days) used to be another capital of China -Nanjing - tomorrow, so need to make sure to not mix the two cities together. I had an absolute BLAST in Beijing. I think it was a mix of the company, sights, and lack of electric bikes that really made the trip enjoyable. I also had the eye-opening and quite incredible experience of going to China's first autism center. I'm going to save that for another blog - as it will be long and I really think it deserves its own blog.

I'll just go through some of the highlights, even though I'm sure I'll miss a bunch.

-Wide open spaces! I was VERY surprised, upon my arrival, that despite the massive amount of people in Beijing, I didn't feel so claustrophobic or confined in Beijing as I do in Hangzhou. About the last few days I realized that this was because I COULD WALK ON THE STREETS WITHOUT FEAR OF DEATH. I never knew not having so many electric bikes could make such a difference. It also changed the way in which I dealt with taxi rides. Without so many electric bikes to try and go around, I felt safe(-ish) in the cabs, and this made for a much more calming experience. The streets are also a lot wider, unlike Hangzhou's which are narrower streets and with somewhat low overpasses. Needless to say, I felt like a pretty big fish in a pretty big pond.

-Our hostel was absolutely fabulous. It got pretty good reviews online - but we really lucked out in terms of location, rooms, and staff. I would recommend Qian Men Hostel & Cafe for anyone. Just a five minute walking distance from Tianemen Square and the nearest subway station - we were within easy access to all of Beijing by subway (even if it DOES close around 11). The staff liked us a lot - although that might have been because we spoke Chinese - they didn't seem to be AS friendly to everyone else. AND the best part was they had "American breakfast" for cheap - which included bacon (I MISSED YOU!), toast with jelly, and hash browns. It was a beautiful sight to see. We also got an entire group of rooms together (before half of us stayed in Beijing and the other half went to Inner Mongolia) which made for a really fun time, including late night chats through walls, etc. It felt like a fun summer camp.

-Biggest food adventure (although there weren't many) was eating donkey! Except it was very anti-climactic. We ordered it and kept waiting for it to come. It turns out it was the first dish ordered, which really tasted and looked exactly like beef. Not exactly anything to write home about. But apparently enough to write on my blog about.

-We did the sightseeing goodies too, although I and another friend from the program went off for two days to the autism clinic. I didn't go with the group to the Great Wall because I wanted to share it with Mom and Cathy, and didn't make it to Forbidden City (but that'll be done upon our return in December). What we did make it to: Tianamen Square (where we were FAMOUS and I got a bunch of pictures with our new Chinese friends), Olympic Green (very beautiful in person -- there was the opportunity to enter into the Bird's Nest but we decided it wasn't worth it. I really wanted to go into either the swimming pool or the stadium where they had gymnastics - but the pool was closed to visitors and the stadium was holding a car show, which I almost (key word almost!) bought tickets to. That would've been a colossal waste of time.) Another friend from Midd and I hit up Summer Palace on our second to last day. Summer Palace is a beautiful old, well, palace, with a beautiful lake behind it and a nice park surrounding the lake. This place was FULL of tourists. Interestingly, though, there were WAY more Chinese tourists than there were foreign tourists. All the Chinese tourists were from different tour groups and they all had different colored hats. My favorite was the tour group with the red hats that appeared to be sponsored by Nike. There was a little too much congestion around some parts - but once we got out behind the lake and took the hour walk it reallly quieted down and we were able to just enjoy the surroundings and the beauty. We paid a full price ticket - assuming we'd get to everything but that was not so. We couldn't find the "Garden of Virtue" and after about 45 minutes we finally found it. But of course, it was neither a garden or interesting. What a waste of time. Still beautiful to see. Mom, and anyone else with any interest in Buddhas, would really enjoy much of the Summer Palace.

-The other "highlight" (that's up for debate) was our trip to the Cultural Revolution themed restaurant, the only real goal I'd had on entering Beijing. Manned with directions and warnings from our hostel owner that it was really far, we trudged through the subway and once closer began trying to find a cab. Six cab drivers later, all of whom claimed to not know where this restaurant was, we walked 30 minutes, took a bus, and walked another 15 minutes. We got there too late for the show, ate some bad food, promised to come back to actually see the show (basically sing and dance about the "good times?" of the Revolution - I don't really know how to word it), and headed back. We did go back the next day, in daylight, to see the show. It is really a magnificent restaurant, in terms of overkill and Mao love. It is almost like a two story warehouse, with a stage with a Mao backdrop, Long Live Mao writing on the side, and lots of other Mao paraphernalia. It really was a sight to see. We also decided we might be the only foreigners to ever have gone there - because of how we were treated and due to how far away it is from everything. Don't quote me on that though, I'm just a study abroad student. OH! and that was where the magical quote that is this blog's subject line appeared. As we were reserving a table for the following day's lunch (very unnecessary as we were practically the only ones there) the waitress asked me, (due to my STELLAR chinese abilities) if there was someone Chinese in my family? While the answer is no it was still EXCITING! I'M A REAL CHINESE! Or at least, one person thought I looked like one. OR not even looked like one. Just spoke like one.

-Speaking of foreigners - I got a slightly different response in Beijing than I do in Hangzhou. Most importantly, cab drivers DO NOT like foreigners. At all. I was the only non-Asian in the group after half the group went to Inner Mongolia - and I could NEVER find a cab. Three cabs would pass me, but the first one would stop for my Chinese looking friends. I suppose it makes sense seeing as it's probably annoying when the drivers can't communicate with the passengers - but in Hangzhou it seems that they just want to work and don't care who you are. I don't know. Also in Beijing we got a few more "honest" people - who told us that our Chinese actually sucked, to put it in blunt terms. Once again, it's definitely true, but it's weird once you get used to being praised all the time. About time I got brought back down to reality, I guess. Still not literate. But I'm getting there. And that's what should count.

I'm sure there are more highlights - but I can't seem to think of any of them right now. I will just add some lovely Chinese culture gems that I picked up these past few weeks.

1) We were watching Mulan on TV the other day and at the end when the dad and the daughter hug, my Chinese friend said "So American." I love when our roommates say things like that - it just makes the attempt at understanding the two cultures so much more interesting.

2) When birthdays roll along, it is usually the birthday child who qing's ke (pays for the meal) and invites out friends to eat.

So that is all for now. Phew, hope you enjoyed THAT blog. Please skype/e-mail. Love you and miss you all, as always.

Subject: Beijing Huanying Ni...

So I'm heading off to Beijing in about 9 hours - we're heading out on an overnight train (which should be an adventure in itself) and then spending the week seeing and enjoying what the city has to offer. We're also going to make the most of traditional Chinese "things," including already-ordered tickets to the Beijing Opera and a Chinese acrobatic troupe performance. My goal is also to go to a Cultural Revolutionary themed restaurant for dinner one night - everyone dresses in Mao garb so it is Mao central. One of my Chinese professors at Midd said how interesting that was - so I can't wait to go. I am also, along with another psych buff from Smith!, going to visit a recently- graduated Middlebury student's volunteer job. She works for an "autism company" at its teenage group home. The program also sponsors a kindergarten - so we're going to try and see what that is like too.

I'm actually really excited to see what this is all about - because I really think China is on its way to a greater understanding of what autism is, although it still has a long way to go. Last week we were at lunch talking about what our plans were for fall break and I mentioned that I was going to an autism "clinic" (as you can see, I'm not really sure how to describe what the place is). This was at what we call Chinese Table, so my newspaper teacher, as well as the academic director, were eating with us. My newspaper teacher started explaining characteristics of the autistic child of a friend of his. As he explained all the symptoms, the academic director started laughing. It at first made me frustrated, because these children have no control over what their lives are like, but then I realized the reaction is mostly just a problem of consciousness. I would assume that the US 10ish or more years ago was also more or less ignorant about autism, and I think China is slowly making inroads. I also wonder if this is my "calling" - to spread autism awareness to China. While I'm not so sure about that yet, I am excited to start the potential process by going to this school on Monday.

Other than that things are pretty good. I find myself getting a little burnt out with all the Chinese - but I'm working on just pushing past it and keeping it going. We talk a lot about it here and I also realize that sometimes I feel like there's the "English Elise" and the "Chinese Elise," because it's hard to put all of your personality (esp. my dry sarcasm) into a language that doesn't understand the concept of sarcasm. So this week, due to the added stress of midterms, it was especially hard to just keep the language going. But I figured I'd have some weeks like that.

Oh and also, as usual, still no facebook or blog so send me an e-mail! I should be checking e-mail a few times (our hostel has an internet cafe) during the week. As always, love and miss you all!

60th Anniversary/Midd-Autumn Festival!

Hello, hello. Just another quick reminder that we still don't have any access to facebook or my blog - so you can keep in touch with me either through skype or e-mail (see addresses below in previous posts). And to those of you who I have yet to properly answer or send an e-mail to letting you know how I"m doing - it's coming. And I think about you all all the time - even if I haven't gotten around to sitting down and writing you an e-mail. Please know that! Oh and if you also want to read my "overseas briefing" on my time in Hangzhou so far that I wrote for the school newspaper you can check it out at: http://www.middleburycampus.com/story/oct-1-2009-%E2%80%94-overseas-briefing.

All right - so back to the actual blogging! We are right now in the middle of China's version of fall break. We Americans even got Thursday and Friday off -- which was great. My roommate left last Wednesday and won't be back until next Wednesday - so it's an actual break. Thursday the 1st was the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and today is the actual Midd-Autumn Festival.

Thursday's 60th anniversary was actually really exciting - there were some college students passing out flags and stickers of the Chinese flags - so we now have two Chinese flags on the outside of our door. All down the streets are flag upon flag - it's a very fun atmosphere. Thursday morning around 10am the television festivities started and lasted until late into the night. You all saw the opening ceremonies for the Olympics last summer - this Thursday parade was very, very similar in terms of grandeur and amazingly choreographed movements of more than 100 people at a time. We had some interesting discussions between us Americans about the Washington Post article that was claiming the "showing of military strength" was a "threat"-like move from the Chinese government. Maybe I've just been in China for a while - but to me it really didn't seem that way. The first hour and a half or so was a procession of military tanks and military jets - I swear they never ended. To me, the parade was more about showing respect for the 60 years of PRC history. It seems like participating in the parade was truly an honor - it just seemed more about respect than about sending a message to the rest of the world. But I'm not sure. It's been interesting to hear people's thoughts.

Midd-Autumn Festival has been a little less exciting than I had hoped it might be - probably because we aren't able to go home and celebrate with our families. :( Midd-Autumn festival is all about eating moon cakes and watching the moon -- which I actually do plan to do tonight. Some stores are closed - which makes it feel a little more like an actual holiday. And it's true - every big super market has box upon box of mooncakes ready to sell. My secret plan (well maybe it's not so secret... or original...) is go to to the supermarkets - maybe tomorrow - and buy cheap mooncakes. I've found about 5 flavors I like - so if they're all ridiculously cheap I can just buy a lot and try them out. We'll see though.

I guess the other way to really know that this is a holiday (aka most people are completely off work for the week) is the massive crowds at West Lake (although the area around campus is pretty calm). Some just graduated Midd seniors who are working in all parts of China all came to Hangzhou to visit for the weekend (including a girl who is volunteering at an autistic group home outside of Beijing!!!! Connections are amazing!!!!) and they wanted to go to West Lake, so we trudged over. There were people EVERYWHERE. I also came across some people who were VERY interested in my white skin. I was walking along with three or four other people - and these two girls were kind of following behind. After a few minutes she ran in front of us and started taking cell phone pictures of me. Than the other girl put up her Asian peace sign right next to me and her friend took the picture - WHILE I WAS WALKING NOT LOOKING. I eventually just decided to give in and take the picture with her. But it was just surprising that they didn't ask - they just assumed that they could take sketchy pictures while I was looking the completely other way. Again maybe it was the overcrowded West Lake and the heat of the day that made it so frustrating - but I just wish people would ask. I'd be more than willing to appease whatever they wanted - just as long as it's not behind my back.

Other than that this weekend's been pretty great. I and some others organized an "American BBQ" which was interesting. We wound up making a kick ass fruit salad, spaghetti, and beef and pork burgers with cheese. It took a while to find all the different types of food - but it was well worth it. It's also pretty fun to just hang out together and introduce some of the roommates to the more "American" way of doing barbecues. They were shocked, for example, that we didn't fill the patties with all sorts of spices and stuff. It was great fun though - even though it was raining throughout the day as we walked to all kinds of supermarkets due to the lack of available cabs. (another result of the holiday).

And now for some musing and "thinking-out-loud" on some parts of Chinese culture. One of the just graduated Midd seniors is teaching English in a far away village - and she was telling us about the amount of school they have to go to (luckily not the amount of school they have to teach). The kids in this village go to school every day (including all of Saturday and half of Sunday) from 7am - 9pm. Fourteen hours - EVERY DAY! They get a two hour break every day - which Mairead said is when they just completely crash. Sunday afternoon is the only time they don't have class - which also doubles as their only weekend. It's ridiculous! And this is all to prepare for their college entrance test - which basically decides their whole lives. It not only decides what college they're allowed to get into, but also what they can study. Most of our roommates don't enjoy their majors - but they have no choice. For example, at Zhejiang Univ. of Tech., only students with absolute top marks can even consider taking economics. It's a very different system.

What's even more different - however - is what happens after they get into college. College, at least compared to an American college, is largely a joke. Joke might be a bit harsh and not correct - but it's no where NEAR what they go through during high school. Mairead and others say it's because they're too conked out to be able to keep studying at the same time. The roommates largely never have homework and they also regularly skip classes. When we pass by classrooms during our breaks, you can see lots and lots of kids sleeping in the middle of class. At times we all complain about how little they work, but at the same time, what we had to go through was nowhere NEAR what they did in terms of high school or in terms of what majors we choose and where our lives take us. Which is worse? Is that even a question? Don't quite know yet.

Nothing else much going on today - probably just hanging out and watching the moon tonight. We're heading into the home stretch before midterms then it looks like I might be heading to Beijing for the break - although I'm not sure yet. So much to figure out!

Love and miss you all, so much!

Shanghai Adventures

So right now in Hangzhou nobody can get facebook, blogger or youtube. Nobody at all. Before all those with macs could use Hot Spot Shield, a ridiculously reliable proxy, until last Sunday afternoon. So sorry for the delay and sorry to those of you who I have not been able to send facebook messages to. For now either skype (elise.w.cohen) or e-mail me (ecohen@middlebury.edu) if you want to reach me - seeing as I can't even read your comments. Aah!

But anyway, here I am, a week later, reminiscing and blogging about my solo trip to Shanghai. I would say my trip last weekend was probably one of the events I am most proud of, in my entire life. There were quite a few times when I thought it would just be easier to head back to Hangzhou, but I didn't, and that is, as you all well know, a big step for me.

This trip all started because our Residential Director "set up" last weekend to be "Independent Travel" weekend. The point, as she put it, was to be able to use our language to meet all kinds of people that we otherwise might not meet if we were with our roommates or other friends. I think I was one of the few people who actually wound up independently going. I know a lot of other people went in small groups to different places around Hangzhou, but I am actually REALLY happy I went by myself.

It started out kind of stressfully, however. I was told by our academic director's assistant that the Hangzhou Rail Station wouldn't be that busy - so it wouldn't be a problem to get a train ticket to Shanghai. I keep forgetting that I am in a city of many, many, people, so even though it wasn't very crowded, I still found myself waiting over 45 minutes to get to the ticket line to buy my ticket. The first two trains that I wanted to get on were full, so I just agreed to whatever ticket that she gave me, as I was desperate to have proof that this trip would actually happen. As I paid the price of my ticket, I realized it was 9 kuai more than what I had been told I would have to pay. For a few moments I got excited, thinking that I had bought a ticket for a faster train. Not quite. Turns out I wound up spending 9 kuai more to spend another 30 minutes on the train to a railway station that wasn't what I had originally wanted.

At this point I just wanted to get to Shanghai, especially because several times I considered just heading back to Hangzhou and saving myself the trouble. This proved useless, however, as I reminded myself I had already bought my hotel ticket. I was in it for the "long haul!" Upon finally arriving in Shanghai and finally figuring out how to take the subway to People's Square (since the line for the taxi was RIDICULOUS) I realized that the train station I had accidentally gone to was actually a lot closer than the Shanghai North station would have been. Good to know! After 20ish minutes of walking and asking clueless police officers who had never heard of my hotel - I finally found it! Oh Charms Hotel, how nice it was to see you! From what the internet told me - this was the cheapest hotel within walking distance to People's Square, Nanjing Road, and other very touristy areas. So I was happy. My room was very comfortable, and even better IT HAD ENGLISH TV!! Sure it was Hong Kong CNN and Bloomberg Television, but it was English! I even watched an hour or so of World Business Today, as I was so entranced by my ability to understand the language on TV. It was very relaxing.

This was the first time I had stayed in a hotel by myself, and I have to admit it was more than a little weird. I found I associate hotels with Cohen (and a Carney) family vacations. I laughed to myself as I thought of how much Fred would enjoy getting to know all the waiters, and missed sitting down for a big breakfast. I also ate by myself at dinner, and kept thinking how nice it would be to have Marsh around to escape upstairs to watch TV (even though Marsh, you would have been bored to tears by the TV they showed). So yeah, the first night made me a little homesick. But I figured that was the point of this trip. It was about trying to overcome challenges that you wouldn't normally choose to take on otherwise. Which is kind of what this trip turned into. I really just let myself do whatever I felt like I wanted to do. I had had a really difficult week - so I saw Shanghai as my spa. And it really did turn out to be so.

Before I started exploring Shanghai, however, I wanted to make sure I had a train ticket back. So in my business savvy mood (must have been the business atmosphere of the hotel), I decided I didn't want to waste another 30 minutes and 9 kuai to get back, so I decided to go to Shanghai North Station to buy my train ticket. I also decided I would take a taxi, so that I could better see Shanghai. Mistake, mistake, mistake. The taxi ride did not offer me pretty views of Shanghai, but instead charged me over 40 kuai to see what Shanghai's freeways were like. I spent 40 kuai + to save 9 kuai. I also hadn't eaten anything so I was not exactly in the mood. After spending so long waiting in 2 different lines (since the ticket agents have a really thick accent, don't care that you don't know what they're saying, and aren't willing to help you) I finally bought myself a 5 o'clock ticket and subwayed off back to People's Square.

Nanjing Road, from what I've heard, is a very large touristy shopping area. It was REALLY hot on Saturday and already full of people at 10 am, so I decided to do some Elise pampering instead, and headed on over to the "cinema" to buy myself movie tickets. Coming up this week is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (and I JUST found out my roommate is a member of the Communist party!! I want to know more about it and will definitely let you guys know what I come up with) so the government had sponsored a movie "Founding of a Republic" celebrating this event. It was only opening up in China, and it was a HUGE deal. Basically it follows Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao's power struggle and features pretty much every famous Chinese actor there was. The problem was, however, that I didn't know who half the actors were, or get half of the jokes the movie presented. I made the decision, though, to laugh whenever everyone else did, as I didn't want to appear even more out of place than I already did. Although I wish I had had more time to analyze what part of the movie might have differed from history, etc. it was a BEAUTIFULLY shot movie. On the plus side, it also had English subtitles, which made my life about eight times better. It was also interesting, though, in how the Americans were portrayed. There wasn't much, but at one point a female Chinese businesswoman came to China to talk to Truman. They kept a scene in where one of the American soldiers/guards goes "Damn, she's hot." Is this really how Americans are viewed in Chinese society? I found it very interesting that they kept it in.

The rest of the trip was just spent mostly walking around a mall, absorbing the more Western part of Shanghai. And truthfully, I really needed it. I miss home and all you guys a lot, and hanging around a mall, listening to Western music (particularly Akon) in stores, brought me a little closer to home, in some weird way or another. I also spent a few minutes in the (free!) Shanghai Museum - where I got to see some original calligraphy as well as old school Chinese currency - which was very interesting. Let's just say I'm glad I don't have to carry around the gigantic coins they used to have in my purse anymore.

So to sum up: Shanghai was great, and very necessary. I'm growing up! I really miss you all and hope everyone's year/semester is starting off well. More posts (thanks to Mom/Dad) will be posted soon!

Love and miss you all.

Some Things I Learned On My Trip to Shengzhou/Baizhang Waterfall

The List:

1. It is impressive if you look like me and can speak Chinese. Even more impressive if you can play majiang (mahjong).

2. Speaking of majiang, it seems to be an unspoken rule every house must have a set, if not a room just for majiang. Some of these tables automatically set everything up for you - making the game even more exciting. (see movie below - due to technical difficulties this will not be shown - nor will my pictures. But Matt Sunderland's roommate (one of the coolest people ever) is working on a new way to get around the blockage so hopefully more pictures will be up and running soon!)

3. It does not matter if you are male or female, old or young, or how far away you are from the edge of the road - the bus driver WILL honk at you. Loud, continuous honking. For over an hour. He will also honk to alert people when driving around sharp corners. That is okay. Yelling at the old woman in the bike who looks to be having trouble pedalling, seems a bit unnecessary.

4. When you ask your roommate if you are going to be going to 爬山 (hiking - or more literally climbing a mountain) do not listen. Prepare for everything. Otherwise you might find yourself wearing flip flops and a dress while climbing up steep steps to get to the top of the waterfall. When you ask your roommate why she didn't tell you you were going hiking, she will say we didn't go 爬山, we went 爬瀑布 (hiking a waterfall).

5. More or less every region of China has their own dilaect, apart from Mandarin. These dialects aren't taught but instead spoken at home. This makes understanding Chinese even more difficult, although provides a fascinating insight into Chinese culture.

6. I apparently look Russian!

This list should not make you think I did not have a good time - because I did. It was nice to return to Hangzhou though, even if it had to be a little early due to lots of homework. I'm also planning on going to Shanghai this weekend for our "independent travel weekend." It seems like most people are making a trip to Shanghai, though, so maybe we'll "randomly" run into one another. I've heard some really great things about Shanghai so I'm really looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about - and it's only an hour or so by train. In other news I am "leading" a majiang class tonight -- they only bought one set so I don't know how much learning will go on - but I can't wait to get back to playing again. This weekend made me miss it that much more. Love/miss you all!

Thank you Michelle for the ability to post this blog. My computer has been unable to load the proxy and I am therefore recently without this blog and maybe even more importantly facebook. It's amazing how reliant I've become on facebook! This is also the paragraph where I write everything I'm thinking - so I'd just also like to point out some real proof that our English is leaving us. Ariel was trying to spell photobooth the other day and she spelled it "f-h-o...". Maybe it doesn't sound so funny anymore - but I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

I'm still in my adjustment stage, but things are going good. This was our second week of classes - and we just finished "Test Friday." Luckily my Classical Chinese test was one of the easiest tests I've taken so I was able to finish pretty early and can now relax for a bit. Classes have been the most frustrating aspect for most of us right now - simply because it seems like the amount of homework has reached a point where we are really unable to go out and see China, because we're stuck inside writing essays, studying ridiculous amounts of characters, and reading lots of articles. We all agree that being in China is sort of like a fifth class, and so our homework load is REALLY large. I'm making some adjustments too - as I am pretty much used to only working - Middlebury (while a really love place) doesn't offer you the excitement Hangzhou does on a daily basis. So right now we're all trying to figure out where the balance is and how if we decide there is too much going on how we should deal with it.

I changed around my classes and now have a final four:

1. Classical Chinese

2. Hangzhou Research

3. Reading Newspaper

4. One-on-one: Psychotherapy and Psychological Disorders in China.

2 and 4 are mandatory courses. Hangzhou Research has so far turned out to be my least favorite course - but it does offer us a chance every Wednesday to take trips to all kinds of different places in Hangzhou. It might get better - so far we've just talked about Hangzhou food, which actualy turned out to be useful - as now we know the "famous Hangzhou dishes" and impress all the waiters when we go out.

My one-on-one so far is turning out very well. (Michelle just yelled at me for asking her a grammar question!) It's almost like I'm relearning psych - but in a good way. There are different names (obviously) for every psychologist and type of psychotherapy theory - so I'm relearning it all. I like one-on-one because it is very oriented on me (as it should be) - but I'm just not used to being asked what I want to study, when I want to study it, and what direction I want to take the class in. Studying psych, even in this foreign language, continues to remind me how much I love it.

Classical and newspaper are my two electives, although Midd requires us to take Classical if we want to be a Chinese major. So far Classical Chinese has just been going over different forms of grammar (some of which I barely knew in English) but we start on stories next week! Newspaper I just moved into last week (from literature - which was by far wayyy too much work) and I'm so far enjoying it because it really does give me a chance to understand parts of Chinese society that I might otherwise not be privy too. For example, this week is all about agricultural farmers trying to take a test that would allow them to work jobs with more stability and better pay. In China the amount of people taking these tests are record breaking, but only .02% of people will pass and get one of these "worker" jobs. It's articles like those that remind me how large China really is.

Other than that I'm just still working on settling in. I had my first trip to the doctor this week after much insistence from my roommate - turns out it was nothing serious, have been taking the pills they gave me, and am much better. CET is in contact with an "international department" of a much larger hospital - so they all spoke English and I was treated it seemed much better than some of the other people were. Best of all they took my credit card, because it seems that in China very few banks actually accept Mastercard. Have they not seen the commercials?! In other health news the school has started implementing H1N1 precautions, meaning we have to take our temperature twice a day. If it rises above 37 degrees celsius we have to let our resident director know. While a little scary, it's nice that they're taking precautions - and I guess H1N1 is just something we're all going to have to get used to, no matter where we are.

This weekend I'm off to my roommate's house for a few days for our "small group travel weekend" after which I'm back early Sunday to keep on slaving away with the homework.

Love and miss you all.

Give me anything that has chicken in it ...

A view from Baochu Mountain, our Friday morning hike, of West Lake. West Lake is stunning, I can't get enough.

Me and my roommate (Qiu Qiu) at a "baozi" restaurant "rockin' it Asian style"

Well hello again. I figured now would be a good time to write this blog seeing as I just stuffed a whole bunch of stuff in my brian and need to wait a bit to guarantee that I actually have properly remembered it. Hangzhou is good, although still very hot. I've also had a pretty consistent cold due to our inconsistent use of the air conditioning - which has posed even more problems. It's all good though, I'm being well taken care of. Today was the first time I ever heard my roommate get even a little mad, as she "yelled" at me to take my cold medicine (I already had). Then she said I should take everything I had (which I already had) and then only then did she back down. Our Chinese roommates really, really want to make our lives easier. Which can be sometimes be a little disgruntling since I think we are all used to a little more independence - but I've also found it to be very helpful. It's nice to feel like somebody really cares for you - and has continued to help my transition "into" (? - aah my English is leaving mee!) China.

I also just wanted to say to anyone Midd reading this - I miss you guys so much and hope you have a great first start to the semester. Especially to the crew team - kick some butt this semester. :) You guys are wicked talented and I know it's going to be a great season. Also - I am 12 hours ahead so when you guys have come back from practice at like 6-7ish I will be on skype (elise.w.cohen) so you can skype me!!! Love and miss you all.

Speaking before about roommates being a little overly protective - one way in which that has been the most helpful has been in ordering food. I honestly have no idea what any of the food is most of the time, and the pictures for the most part are very unlike the food we wind up actually ordering. I have found out one thing though, I am not picky -- as long as I have no idea what I'm putting into my mouth. The other day I was eating what I thought pork and curiously asked one of my friend's roommates what I was actually eating - she told me tongue. Yeah, I unfortunately didn't eat any more of the meal after that. That's why I have found to really love going out to eat with a large group of people - especially with some Chinese students thrown in there. We basically get a big group together and then ask a roommate or two to order (since there is usually only one menu given to a table, no matter how large the group). We went out Thursday night with about 8 people and we ordered 8-9 dishes, completely different from one another. That's the other great thing - I love not being tied down to what I ordered. AS many know, I am usually more intrigued at meals by what everyone else ordered than with my own food. IT's like China knew that and invented the lazy susan for my own benefit. It's freeing to pick and choose - and allows me to try lots of different things without wasting a whole bunch of money. Meals are actually really enjoyable. :) There are also enough small and large restaurants for us to eat out at for a long time. (thanks Mom for the food funding!)

The one thing that I, and I know most of my classmates miss the most, is American breakfast. I basically now have a daily breakfast of a like pumpkin steamed thing with a steamed pork bun. It's fulfilled my sweet tooth and protein part, but is nothing compared to a bowl of Captain Crunch/Life or some tasty pancakes with bacon on the side. That's the only meal I've been having the most trouble with. But I'm figuring it out - and I also (while stalking trying to prepare for my own trip) read on someone's blog that they had found a restuarant that serves American brunch - so I will be on the hot pursuit for that restaurant. It's still a steady adjustment period.

I'll talk about classes later - probably when I'm not procrastinating on the actual work. As always love and miss you all.

Lao Wai! Lao Wai!

I haven't yet figured out how to adjust pictures on this new browser - but these are today's pictures of West Lake. BEAUTIFUL!

So as my last excited blog stated - I can now access this blog, facebook, youtube, and anything else that I am not supposed to. It's a great thing. A lot has happened this week - including the start of classes, my roommate going on a "school trip" leaving me to actually try to figure things out by myself, being eaten alive by bugs and my first trip to a bar. Have I really only been here a week?

So to fill you all in on things I listed last time...

1. During language school, one of the first texts we studied was about the Chinese 夜市or night market. "Not only can you get delicious small treats, but you can also see animals and watch live performances!," our book promised us. The night market we went to was not quite like that, but I sure wasn't important. The night market kind of reminds me of a flea market, except instead of handmade things it's just lots and lots and lots of "fang mao pin" or counterfeit things. As my parents know one of the things I was most looking forward to was buying counterfeit dvd's, and I was not dissapointed. I am now the proud owner of ALL TEN SEASONS of Friends for a whoppinly expensive $5, the newest season of House (that I was unable to get because I left the day it came out at home) for $1.50 and a Coach bag (I like pretending and telling people it's real) for $8ish. It was great. I do find that I am kind of becoming a little more acclimated to the range of prices in China. Even though in dollars none of that stuff is that much, the Friends was 30 Yuan, which is starting to sound alike. I'm still adjusting to what kind of mindset I'm in. I also found out that I do not, it turns out, have any form of bartering ability. My roommate was with me and did all the bargaining, but I at first was willing to buy the purse for 100 yuan, simply because the store owner looked angry and I didn't want to upset her. I don't think I'm exactly made for bargaining... Thank goodness our rooomates are around, I would really be lost without her.

2/3. Speaking of my roommates - they are also lifesavers in many more events that using English I take for granted. Last week we all went to buy our SIM cards and open a bank account. I never realized that was so complicated! I really just sat there and stared at the representative while my roommate hashed out how much I was to pay a month, how many texts I can send, etc. It's times like those that make me realize how far I have to go in the language. It sometimes seems overwhelming how many more characters I would have to learn to be close to superbly proficient, but I think that continues to remind me of why I love the language so much, I love the challenge. Also just a quick note to let you guys know where I am living. We do have a bathroom with a shower, a mini balcony, and air conditioning. We live a pretty legit life, but it is really only because we are in the "foreigners dorm." The rest of the students have four bunkbeds per room with no air conditioning and no bathroom in their room. I think our roommates are thankful to have this room - and it also makes me realize some of the differences in what we're used to. But I love my room. It's ridiculously comfortable, and will be even more so once I ever get around to putting up my pictures of all of you.

4. Being constantly "called out" for the whiteness of my skin has been the hardest thing (besides the food) to adjust to. Last week we went to Tesco, a huge supermarket (the supermarkets in China are HUGE - it makes Harris Teeter look like a small magazine street stand - sorry Dad) and people continuously made comments about how either my skin was "TOO" white or how it was so great. From what I've heard from friend's roommates - most of the Chinese girls wish their skin was a little whiter, although I think most people wouldn't to go "as white" as I am. I am putting on a little tan though, we'll see how I look when I get back. ;) People talking to me or telling me how white my skin is or people calling me 老外，(lao wai - basically foreigner) doesn't bother me so much. I can take a "Hallo" and "Baibai." What I still have found kind of hard to adjust to is just being stared at, and stared at, and stared at. Michelle and I went to the West Lake today (a very touristy spot) and it seemed as if no one had ever seen an American before. I also find that days when I'm exhausted (like today) that gets to me more than other days, but I'm still finding it hard to get used to. It's also made me think about how glad I am to have had Key School, Midd, and other experiences that have really opened me up to all kinds of diversity. Today the boat "driver" asked us what we do when we see foreigners at home. I didn't have an answer, because it's just so second nature to have (at least some) diversity. Another difference I've been realizing.

Another quick note, I realized I never explained the meaning of my blog name: Kong Wenli 孔文莉。孔(Kong) is from 孔子 or Confucius, so it has a very philosphical and intelligent meaning. 莉is from 莉花 or jasmine flower. Together the name doesn't mean anything, but I'm told my name has a very "Chinese sound" to it. Middlebury's Chinese teachers really know what they're doing.

Up next: Classes, Food, what else? We'll see what happens. Love and miss you all very much.

Working Proxy!

West Lake

Art around campus

That was ridiculously challenging to find a proxy that would work. But it was found and I am ecstatic. This is a precursor to more blogging to come... after I memorize a whole bunch of stuff I should've done earlier today...

Hello from Hangzhou, China! I made it! I have been here for only a few days but it feels like I've been here for a lifetime, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The trip here was filled with lots of, excitement? suspense? Not sure quite what the right word is. My parents and I were finally able to, the night before, fit all my stuff into the suitcases. But then, at 5 in the morning at Reagan National Airport, it turns out each of my suitcases was five pounds over. I thought they'd make us pay maybe $50 dollars or something. No... turns out the price for ten pounds overweight is... $700!! Which I still don't understand, at all. So then while Mom and I figured out what to take out (turns out my toiletry bag was ridiculously heavy) my Dad ran around the airport trying to find another suitcase so that I wouldn't have to pay such a ridiculous fee. Luckily we came to the airport early enough that none of that was a problem and I thought I was home free. But then, my airplane wound up having some sort of mechanical problem, the gas was at a weird level or something, we had to go back to the gate and wait around for a while. I only had one and a half or so hours of a connection in Chicago so my time was short. Finally it was deemed the flight would be canceled. OH NO! Talk about the worst possible timing for a cancelled flight. Luckily there happened to be another flight leaving at 8:40 (which gave me exactly 10 minutes to find my Shanghai flight) which had nobody on it -- and my bags all made it. All I can say is that what a stressful first 6 hours of travel.

The flight to Shanghai itself was actually pretty okay. There were a lots of other Midd kids and CET students on the flight so it was entertaining and made the time by go quicker than it might have otherwise. Landing in China was the most confusing period -- because we were exhausted, and very disoriented. But a bunch of roommates were there waiting for us (not mine - she was in class) and then we took the bus back and we sang some and I slept a bunch and it was very entertaining.

Hangzhou is said to be the most beautiful city in China and also the hottest. IT IS SO HOT!!!! I think the heat index is over 100 degrees. I have never sweat so much in my life (T.M.I.) Luckily our roommates all also think it's ridiculously hot so I dont' feel so wimpy complaining about it. I'm still trying to figure out how to use chopsticks. I make a fool out of myself at almost every meal (including today's breakfast when I dropped my baozi and gave up on eating it- Ariel woudl like me to add the bowl also turned over due to the force at which I dropped my baozi) They do also have spoons at every meal - and I first thought my roommate was only using them to be nice to me - but actually they use it to help them eat all sorts of food. So maybe I'm getting the hang of it. I haven't starved yet though, which I take to be a good sign.

I will write more on the next post but wanted to let you all know I am doing well, miss you all a lot, and am trying to live up as much as I can every day. Classes start Monday which I'm kind of excited about - because I miss my routines. Once I figure out how to get blogspot and facebook things will be updated more often - since I won't have to rely on friends (thanks, Ariel!) to use their computers.

Love you all and please add me to your skype: elise.w.cohen.

Elise/ 孔文莉／ Kong Wenli

TOP 6 THINGS TO TALK ABOUT NEXT BLOG:
1. Yeshi! (Night market!) = 30 yuan = $5 = all 10 seasons of Friends
2. Room! Shower in the room! Air conditioning! Balcony!
3. Trying to talk to cell phone representatives! Bank representatives!
4. How white my skin is! How that's pretty! How I am REALLY white!
5. Trials and tribulations to get facebook! Blogspot!
6. Chinese name! Kong Wenli! Meaning!

You're only [a few] days away..!

So this is my first blog, ever. I saw Julie & Julia the other day (FABULOUS movie by the way - I'll be the millionth person to say Meryl Streep is the most talented actress around) and was inspired by the way Julie Powell's blog "moved" so many people. Now I'm not trying to impress any publishers to make my blog into a book deal which will then turn into a movie but I do hope I'll be able to keep up with this blog enough to keep everyone informed about my studying abroad in China! Aah! So enjoy, comment if you like, and know I miss you!

So I am leaving for China in almost exactly 2.5 days. I am proud of the fact that I am actually still breathing and doing okay, even if I have a LOT of packing left to do. The house is kind of a disaster zone - I've been taking up my parent's chairs and the washer/dryer, as well as the entire upstairs hallway. But I figure I'll be done very soon.

I think part of the reason I'm feeling pretty great about going abroad is due to how amazing language school was. The picture is of all the San Nianji's (I'm on my computer right now that doesn't recognize/read Chinese characters) or third year's this summer. I never thought spending 4 hours in class plus another 6-8 hours (more or less) doing homework and learning characters would be as fabulous as it was. We all agreed it was due to our teachers, who were forced to live with us, eat Atwater food (which got worse and worse as the summer progressed), and hang out with us all the time, that made the most difference. I plan on meeting up with as many teachers as I can after Hanzghou when I go to visit Beijing/Shanghai. I'm definitely thankful for that experience, and for knowing that I won't make as huge a fool out of myself as I might have had I not been through that intensive immersion experience.

But for now, everything's pretty much ready. I (or more like my Dad) bought the paper back Deathly Hallows, so I'm hoping that tides me over for the majority of the flight. Let the games begin.