The Grass is Always Greener and the Pizza Tastes Better Too ~ by Rebecca Qiu

9/1/201111:19:53 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Summer Camp Counselor, teach

I miss China.  That’s all I can say. 

It’s funny, because I never would have said this based on the first couple of days in Beijing.  But now, after about two weeks since I’ve been back home to the United States, I have been wishing I was still back in China’s crowded streets.  I have already flown through an entire week of school, and right now, an endless cycle of studying and homework fills my life.  Compared to my month-and-a-half of living and working in exciting downtown Beijing, this life in college is monotonous and less-than-thrilling.  I guess you could say that I am suffering through “reverse cultural shock,” where life in your native country just seems strangely different and rather unfamiliar after returning from a foreign country.

One of the biggest highlights of this trip was bungee jumping in Longqing Gorge and eating great pizza in Houhai.  Coincidently, it was also my last night in China and then I was heading out early the next morning to catch the plane to Japan for two more connecting flights back to South Carolina.  That day was easily the most memorable out of all others, which is saying a lot.  The five of us all raced to Longqing Gorge by foot and by bus, plunged down one by one from a dizzying into the gorge, and left in nearly the same frenzied state in which we started out by.  And then it was to dinner.  After numerous twists and turns in a seemingly-seedy area in Houhai, we finally arrived at our destination.  Hutong Pizza was a little gem of a restaurant that was hidden away in a knot of unfriendly streets; however, their amazing pizza and succulent toppings of duck did not disappoint us. 

Experiences like this make me yearn to relive the past months with Cultural Embrace, where excitement and adventure never seemed far behind. I’ve also learned to appreciate what we Americans usually take for granted, such as toilet paper in a public restroom and clean drinking water. Overall, I had a wonderful summer in China, and it is needless to say that I sincerely enjoyed meeting each and every person that came along on this fabulous trip. 
 

I'm a Teacher?! ~ by Janessa Hefler

8/26/201110:34:02 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, teach, Volunteer

Teaching in China was an incredible experience-an amazing opportunity to see firsthand what running a classroom is really like. Nowhere in America can a 21 year old, undergraduate college student teach an entire classroom of children all by herself. At times it was overwhelming, frustrating, and just plain tiring. But overall my 5 weeks of teaching English was so rewarding, inspiring and fun! And, being that I want to become an elementary school teacher in the future, the insight it provided into the teaching world was priceless.

Merely TWO DAYS before classes began, I was assigned to teach Class 1, Level 1. The ultimate beginners. Supposedly to enroll in the program the kids had to have at least some English exposure, but, needless to say, my students’ would be very low. However, Level 1 also meant the kids would be the youngest in the program, and since I have a lot of experience working with young children and I really enjoy it, I was very excited to hear that.

I prepared my Day 1 lesson plans, including some fun games and icebreakers, still unsure how it would work out if the kids didn’t understand a word I was saying… But I was prepared and excited. I wore a cute pencil skirt and sweater to help make me feel more like a teacher and marched into my classroom, ready to go! I started by writing “Hello. My name is Jenessa. I am from America. I like dogs, flowers, and ice cream” on the chalkboard (complete with drawings). Kids in China learn written English in school so I figured some writing visuals might help with the language barrier. I was pleased to see a few of the kids were able to read many of the words on the board. But most didn’t understand what the words meant and how they worked together as a complete thought. Then I found out two of my students didn’t know any English or Mandarin at all, because they were from Korea. So my TAs (native Mandarin speakers there to help translate) were at a loss as well. In the following weeks, we worked together to express concepts as best as we could to these two Korean students. This included some birthday cake drawings to convey “When is your birthday?” and lots of guessing how old they were by holding up 8, 9, 10, etc fingers. What a challenge it was! But they were incredibly smart, diligent workers, and one of them ended up being awarded as my “Most Improved Student.”

Teaching involves a lot of trial and error, but thankfully, many opportunities for redemption. My teaching methods involved a lot of group work and games to get the kids up out of their seats and
talking (in English, hopefully!). I probably looked like a fool most times with my crazy charades and awful stick figure drawings. But, really I had SO MUCH FUN! It was like running my own Kindergarten
classroom, as we learned many things the average American learns in early elementary school. I even got to decorate our classroom with the things we made—such a paper rings of the days of the week, poster biographies, family trees, etc.

I think I was most proud of my kids when they performed our class skit in the All-School Play Contest.They all loved practicing the skit every afternoon during the days leading up to the performance. It was a fun and practical way to get the kids practicing and speaking English without it feeling like a chore. Overall I feel like I learned just as much as my students did during our five weeks together. Now I have real experience that I can reflect and comment on when applying for teacher credential programs next year. Even better, I have wonderful memories, pictures and experiences to look back on! Thanks for a once in a lifetime experience. Cultural Embrace!

Post Reflection of Teaching English in China Summer Camp ~ Chris Jones

8/25/20117:44:21 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Summer Camp Counselor, teach

Now that I am back in the States, I now have digested the full experience of the Chinese culture. Living and teaching in China for six weeks has been a life experience that I will never forget. The Chinese culture is something I wish everyone had the chance to see and also experience.

When I first got to China it was tough to adjust to all the different ways of living compared to the USA, but after a week I started to get a hang of it. I found the Chinese people and students to be very nice and simple people. Most people I met while living in China seemed to be very interested in me and our culture in the USA--which I also found to be the same in my case when it came to learning about their culture.

Teaching with Cultural Embrace was very fun and entertaining. My students kept me happy and motivated while doing my job. The Chinese students were always focused on what I had to say.  The one thing I found very difficult about teaching was not being able to speak Chinese. If there was not a translator in my class I would have had a much more difficult time communicating with my students. It was also hard to figure out which level of English each student was at since everyone was so shy at first, but once we all got more comfortable with each other, it made the teaching process much easier.
 

It's the People You Meet Along the Way ~ by Sarah Lowen

8/23/201111:49:23 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Summer Camp Counselor, teach

I have learned and experienced more in my 3 weeks so far in China then the past 3 years back home in the United States. I did my fair share of research before I arrived on Chinese soil, but nothing can prepare you for the experiences you will have in China. There is obviously a huge language barrier and a lot of cultural differences that were overwhelming at first. Luckily within 24 hours of landing in Beijing, I met a group of 15-20 other people with Cultural Embrace's Summer in China program. It was so comforting having those 20 people who spoke the same language and understood my customs. We bonded quicker then a regular group of people because we were in a foreign country together. At first I really missed American television and other American privileges but then I was too busy with my 20 new friends discovering China to even miss home. We laughed together when we couldn't understand the locals, struggled together climbing the Great Wall, drank together when experiencing the Beijing nightlife, sweated together in a classroom with no AC,  pooped together when trying the street food, and we were sad together when we had to part ways after one week. We were sent all over China to teach but we are already planning a reunion in Shanghai before we fly home.

I was sent with one other person from Culture Embrace to teach a group ranging from 14-22 years old in ChongQing. We were warned before we left Beijing that ChongQing was a much hotter climate. As soon as we stepped off the plane, we were suffocated with a heat index in the 90'F and a humidity level that curled my hair upon contact. I have given up on trying to straighten my hair here; it never lasts in this weather. ChongQing is much different then Beijing in that there are very few American translations and even fewer people who speak English. I was very shocked to learn that although the schools in China require English, most locals don't know a lick of it. There has been a lot of gesturing and scherades the past few weeks to try and communicate. Although we are clearly foreigners, the locals have been very friendly and willing to help us out. On several occasions, people have walked us to our destination because we could not find it on our own. Each time we try to offer a monetary tip to show our appreciation which is very common back home in the States, but they turn it down every time in China.

There are many things I could write about and the list would never end but I chose to write about the people I met on this trip and the locals I have gotten to know. Sure their toilets are strange and their food gives me heart burn but I believe it's the people you meet that leave an impression long after you leave a place. China has reinforced my desire to travel and experience life through another perspective. Where ever I decide to travel to next, I will carry China with me.

Life in Yanqing, China ~ by Meridith McNabb

8/8/20112:05:14 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Summer Camp Counselor, teach

Life in Yanqing…

Has a slower pace than we were used to in Beijing. Even though we are only a 1 ½ bus ride away…we are technically on the “other side” of the Great Wall. Yanqing is very residential and suburban
with many families and retirees. So far we have only seen one other foreigner, so needless to say we get started at everywhere we go. Our “Panda Pack” as Elliot affectionately named us consists of him, myself, Lucila, and Colin. When we arrived at our apartment it was a bit of a shock…but at least it had a Western toilet and a shower (even if they failed to show us how to use the hot water for the first few days). After some heavy duty cleaning and tasteful decorating with accents of Pleasant Goat and Chinese souvenirs, our little piece of China felt a lot more like home.

Living here in Yanqing has prompted us to get creative with our down time in a few ways. First, we don’t have cable or Internet so we have to find other ways to keep ourselves occupied. We have a deck of cards, Monopoly, Jenga, paper cups and ping-pong balls, two seasons of Modern Family, and some DVD’s. Needless to say we have adapted most of these to some sort of drinking game. My favorite highlight so far has been bungee jumping at Longqing Gorge. It was AWESOME! Deana came up for a few days and did it with us. We were all so nervous, but once we saw it…we felt better. It was a blast and a new experience for all of us. Officially raising the bar in China, woot.

As far as teaching goes for me, I had two students that I was tutoring. It was for 2 hours a day a few days a week. I had one student who was only 11 and knew so much English already. And whatever I taught her, she learned very quickly and understood. I knew that when I was 11 my Spanish wasn’t THAT good, so I was very impressed. The other student I had a more difficult time with. It seemed like she knew the words, but didn’t have the confidence to say them. I would go over them with her, and I knew she knew the words. Then I would ask her to say them and she would say, “I don’t know.” Then I would say that she did, and she would. Now I have two other students for a few days before we leave. They are in primary school as well. I would be so lost without Google Translate and Google images. They really do go a long way in helping to explain things.

As my time in China draws to an end, it seems like the last 5 weeks on Cultural Embrace's Summer ESL program has gone by pretty quickly. I will be home by the end of the week! Although I do not look forward to packing…but who does? I will miss how friendly the people are and how grateful you are for the one random person that sees you struggling and can step in and speak English to you! It has been an experience though. But unfortunately the real world is calling, and I have to go back.

Zai jian!
 

Inner Mongolia - The Less Traveled Part of China ~ by Mark D.

8/8/20111:53:24 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Inner Mongolia, Summer Camp Counselor, teach

The trip started out rough with lots of uncertainties and plans constantly changing. After about 10 days in Beijing, I was off to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. While Hohhot is the largest city and the capital of Inner Mongolia, it's still relatively small (for China's standards). Once I finally arrived in Hohhot, things started looking up. To start off, we were picked up from the train station (a long, miserable 10 hours trip) by the head chief in his Landrover and immediately took us for a traditional Mongolian breakfast which was really good. He didn't speak English, but he had his son with him and he was fluent! For lunch, they took us to the University cafeteria which was dirt cheap (even though I didn't pay) and we ate there, a few random Chinese kids came up to me to say 'Hi' and practice their English (there are VERY few white people in Hohhot, and the ones that are there, were not in the outskirts where I was stationed). One of them actually asked for my plans there and if I was available to come teach a few classes of English at the primary school she's teaching at for the summer. I told her I didn't know what my plans were and to discuss it with the people who are "hosting" me here.
 
Here are some of highlights of my experience in Hohhot:
 - The weather was great, much cooler and less humid than Beijing
 - The food was delicious and dirt cheap (and so was the beer :D)
 - They gave me my own hotel room which was nice - first time living out of a hotel for 3 weeks straight
 - They offered to pay for all our meals, but we got very tired of eating with them and ventured on our own on a number of occasions
 - Very few people in Hohhot spoke English. Very few foreigners, period. During my entire time there, I saw 5 white people - 3 of which I met on a night that I was specifically out looking for foreigners by the hostel.
 - I ended up teaching only 4hrs/day, twice a week - but went to lots of 'meetings', 'seminars', and the likes. According to them, having a white person anywhere gives you credibility.
 - I got stopped on a few occasions for people to take pictures with me. And people would stare at me the first week I was there. But soon enough, my local convenience store, restaurants, etc, knew me.
 - The school where I taught was run by recent college grads around my age, so we had fun drinking and playing drinking games - I taught them beer pong and flip cup, both of which they really enjoyed.
 - The kids were a lot of fun, but the younger ones gave me problems by misbehaving - but kids will be kids. When it was all said and done and I was getting ready to leave, they started pummeling me, not letting me go, and even asking me to take them with me. While I taught 2 classes with a total of ~ 40 students, there's definitely a few that stand out, and I made a QQ account just to keep in touch with them - now I just need to install it on my android and figure out how to use it... And figure out how to say "In English!" in Chinese. They'd often try to ask me something or explain something to me but would revert to Chinese - which was responded to with blank stares considering my knowledge of the Chinese language consists of 30 words at best, 15 of which are horrible mispronounced.

Got Boobs? ~ by Sarah Lowen

8/3/20114:50:51 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Summer Camp Counselor, teach

Before I left, the advice I kept receiving was to pack light because China has such great shopping. With the American dollar being worth 6.5 RMB, I wasn't shy about contributing to the Chinese economy.  Unfortunately for me and the Chinese economy, my fantasies of coming home with a suitcase full of new clothes quickly came to a screeching halt. My days have been marked with frustration and insecurity when I would come to my apartment abroad empty handed.

Apparently I'm too tall, too curvy, and have bigger feet than the average Chinese girl. I've even lowered my standards and tried on things that I would never buy back in the States, just so I could say something fit. The shopkeepers aren't even discreet when they laugh at me try and squeeze my foot into a pair of shoes. Now I know how Cinderella's step sisters felt when trying on the glass slipper. So I gave up on shoes and tried on dresses. I kept gesturing 'bigger size' but that got me nowhere so I gave up on shopping for clothes too. Only because my bra was weathered in the washer machine back in Beijing, I was forced to shop for a bra. And that brings me to the experience I will never forget.

I walk into the lingerie shop and take a look at the sizes to compare them to American sizes. I notice the bras here have the same cup size but their circumference size is in the metric system. I realize at this point that I'm going to need a sales associate to help me. Another failed attempt at scherades takes place and I keep repeating 'D' thinking that she would catch on that I need a 'D' cup. She gestures me to follow her into the dressing room where she then proceeds to take my measurements. Without a warning, she starts to take my shirt off. I am at her mercy at this point and have to trust that she knows what she is doing. I don't want to offend her or look like an ignorant American by thinking this isn't standard protocol. Now my shirt is off and she is standing behind me and we are looking at each other in the mirror in front of us. She remains professional and I can see the gears working in her head as she is sorting through potential bras. I kept thinking this was so awkward.  As if it couldn't get any more awkward, she then unlatches my bra and I'm so caught off guard and quickly cover my breast like I'm in a high school locker room. She grabs one of the bras she pulled off the shelf for me and pushes my shoulders forward and manages to get my arms through the straps. I think I blacked out at this point until I came back to reality when she was sticking her hands down the bra to adjust my breast. After I got over the initial shock, i realized that this lady knew what she was doing because it was a perfect fit. I take a look at the tag and read '80 F'. I thought there was no way that was the size so I asked for confirmation. She nodded her head 'yes' and I accidentally slipped an American curse word in-between nervous laughs. I think that was the only English she knew because she began to laugh. After all that, the bra ended up being out of my price range so I said 'goodbye' to my new friend and gave up shopping for bras.

From my own personal experiences, I've noticed that nudity isn't as taboo in China as it is in the States. Although the Chinese have a reputation for being conservative, they have a nonchalant attitude about this particular issue. I see kids walking down the streets with shorts made with a slit from the front to back, exposing their cute little Asian bums. This is a very popular fashion with Chinese toddlers because it is easier for them to do their business. Maybe that is the secret to how Chinese toddlers are potty trained faster than American toddlers. I doubt the fashion trend will carry over to the States. Anyhow, It's sort of refreshing that my body is just a body and there is no reason to be ashamed. It's all business here. 

In-Country Perspective on Teaching English & Living in China ~ by Chris Jones

7/26/20116:18:41 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Summer Camp Counselor, teach

After being in China now for about three weeks I can honestly say "WOW what a life experience". Living in China has been one great experience. So far I have seen the Great Wall of China, which was one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen. It's crazy to think that it was built by hand hundreds of years ago. What makes it even more magnificent is the terrain that it was built on. These mountains are so rugged you wonder how they even carried the stones up the mountains to build it. The Forbidden City was another great site to see. Learning about how and why the ancient Emperor built his city is a story everyone needs to hear. The ancient Emperor built this massive city for his friends and family only to be allowed to enter.

Teaching English here in China is something that has not only given me a chance to teach the local children about U.S. culture, but for me to also learn more about the Chinese culture. It is very nerve wrecking when you have 20 sets of eyes starring at you, listening and watching every move I take. But after the first day or two, it is such a great feeling. Being in front of the classroom gives you so much courage and confidence in yourself. It is an experience that can only be lived if you have the confidence to come to China and be a part of it.

Living day to day in a culture totally different compared to the United States' lifestyle is something I found very challenging during the first week. But then I learned how to love it and enjoy it. Their lifestyle here in China seems so much simpler and less complicated (especially if you can speak Chinese). Where as in the United States, it seems so much more rushed everywhere you are and go. In China, I feel like I can relax and enjoy my peace of mind. It’s also nice being 6’5’’ because everywhere I go I get treated like a celebrity and everyone is constantly taking pictures of me! 

Additions and BBQ - by Matt Wiersum

7/20/201112:51:48 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, teach

Okay, got a lot to catch up on so I'm gonna do it in bits. First off, I have a few things to add about long tan park that I forgot about in the previous post. First thing is that when I'm running through the park and the weather is just the least bit nice, basically not raining, there are always people getting their wedding pictures taken. I can't believe that people would be getting married on a monday at around 11am so I figure that these picture sessions are separate from the actual ceremony. Its also interesting to see the range in styles of photos taken, there are the standard husband and wife together with nice scenery in the background, to the painfully corny. I once saw a couple in a pose where the girl was staring off into space while the guy was standing behind her with a sign saying "I'm available", I dunno you may think it's cute, I do not. Another thing with these photos is that typical attire for guys is a white tux. I've seen a few black ones out there but white seems to be the standard. For women in China the dresses don't always have to be white, actually in a traditional wedding I believe the dress would be red because that is the color of luck and good fortune (I will have a whole post dedicated to these types of things in the near future), But I've seen Yellow, and a light pink before, these were pretty isolated instances but yeah, it deviates from our standard of only white. Another comment about getting photos taken in china. It's a pretty big deal to chinese people to get a set of professional photos taken. I guess I'm saying this in a way as it's one of the things you have to do when you become established in a serious relationship. Stephen and his girlfriend recently got their photo's back when Xiao Liao dragged him to the photo studio. I'm sure Stephen would agree with me that the pics are on the corny side and he did it as one of those "bite your lip things and get it over with" things that girls always make guys do. Yeah, any female readers (and male as well i suppose) you know what I'm talking about.

Okay, so that's my bit on getting photos taken in China, and for those who are wondering, no, no girl has dragged me to the photo studio. Just putting things in the clear. So on the 23rd stephen had informed me that one of his students that he tutors on the side wanted to invite all the foreign teachers over to his house for an afternoon of barbecue. The day for this event couldn't have been any more perfect, 80 and sunny. So me laura and stephen hop in a cab and head over to the east side of town. Stephen's student Xiao Long, was studying english to pass a proficiency exam so he could go study business management at a university in the UK (he already had a degree in engineering from a chinese university but he didn't like the subject too much). So I knew that if he was trying to go to university in the UK he had to have come from a wealthy family, Stephen had mentioned this to us as well. Pulling up to his house, to me in my american view of wealth, It didnt look like the family had wealth bursting from the seems, but there were several indicators that I was able to pick up. His family had an actual house that you could walk all the way around, second the house was three stories tall, and large by chinese standards (a footprint about the same size as my house sr year of college). This diverted quite drastically from the typical chinese home which consists of an apartment in a massive housing complex. While having a house to themselves the houses in this neighborhood were essentially row houses with about 10 feet of space in between, the idea of having a yard is still pretty foreign to chinese people, granted if everyone owned property like americans there probably would be no space left in the country! Another thing I noticed is that many of the houses were unoccupied. Xiao Long said that pretty much the entire place was bought out but so many people had bought the houses as investment properties. I was able to distinguish this because the un occupied houses were just cement shells, no floors, windows, appliances or anything. So on to BBQ, and just a footnote about this bit, I'm not trying to judge or obsess about wealth, I just want to give a glimpse into what I experienced with wealth in china and this was the first time i was invited to a truly "upper class" chinese home.

So after a quick tour of the house the BBQ began. Chinese barbecue is quite different from what we would call barbecue, no burgers, no steaks or anything. Instead the meat is cut into small pieces and placed on a kabob stick then placed over a small open fire in a metal box about 1 foot square. While the meat is cooking various spices are added. This is pretty much what happens with the barbecue that you buy from street vendors at night markets, though our hosts said that the way we were cooking it was much healthier, don't know why, probably less oil. So after about 2 hours of just sitting around having round after round of kabob sticks coming through with various meats (no dog trust me) things start to slow down and the family tells us that we were going for a walk, a very typical chinese thing to do after a large meal. So we're walking through the neighborhood and then end up at this pond in the center with a pier and a pagoda type thing in the middle. So we spend about an hour there, Xiao Long's mom took tons of pictures of our group (she was taking pictures all day and i think she ended up with over a thousand, seriously she was taking shots alllllll day). So after hanging out at the pond for a while we wander back to the house and waiting for us is a massive dinner. Having only finished a huge meal just over an hour ago I really couldn't eat much more. Dinner was very good, pretty typical guangxi fare, chicken, duck, uhh some spicy dishes some not, cant really remember everything but I know it wasn't too out of the ordinary. So dinner ended up lasting longer than the BBQ as Xiao Long's dad pulled out a bottle of fancy baijiu from his expansive collection. So when things were about to wrap up (or so i thought) we were asked to go over to the living room where we drank tea for about another hour and a half. Finally at around 11:30 our 9 hour affair wound down and me stephen and william headed home.

yeah, next time I will tell you about my adventures in Shenzhen and Hong Kong!

Longtan Park - by Matt Wiersum

7/19/20111:20:20 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, teach

Okay, here is my first attempt at writing about the every day experience of China, opposed to telling the stories of me running around with my friends until the wee hours of the morning.  So I my first edition is about Longtan park.  Longtan park is a very large park very close to my school.  I go running through here almost every day.  I try to run every day but since I have no plans to run in any races in the near future motivation can be a little hard to come by some days.  So now I'm just trying to run because it's something that I love to do, opposed to something that I feel like I have to do and if I don't get out I feel guilty about myself (which has been the case at various times in my life).

So, on to the park.  The gate is about a 10-15 minute walk from my apartment or a 4 minute run (I've only walked into longtan 2 or 3 times).  So upon entering the gate of the park, you seriously enter a different world.  Gone are the hundreds of cars and thousands of electric scooters that drive like pedestrians do not exist.  Also, the air is notably better in the park, and there is green space, something that is mostly nonexistent in chinese cities.  So naturally this place is a big attraction in the city and can become very very crowded at times.  So when I go running in longtan I try to avoid times when the crowds are the biggest, basically the middle of the day.  The park is quite wooded with a small lake in the middle.  There are also several karst peaks that have steps to the top.  I have yet to climb any of these.  So the roads in the park are roughly laid out like the greek letter Phi.  One main road in the middle and two roads that make a circle around the lake in one half and through the woods in the other.  There are a few trails around the park but they're not really suitable for running.  I feel pretty fortunate to have the park this close because I easily have access to a decent running grounds.  I have figured out how to cut up the roads into various loops and have made a series of routes that I go on depending the amount of time that I want to run.

Longtan park likes to pride itself on being a "natural" park where development is limited.  While yes, Longtan is better than most chinese parks at having open fields and forests (most parks are based around large public squares) it still has almost all the features of every park.  It has various carnival type rides; looping pirate ship, go-karts, bumper cars, bumper boats, log flume, carnival games, etc.  I mean, it still is quite nice but there is still the obvious objective of making money here.

As I run through the park I often become one of the attractions for the Chinese people.  I probably am in 100s of photos that people try to discretely take of me.  I can typically figure out when people want to take a picture of me, its actually quite easy.  usually, someone will be pretending to take a picture of something that is quite unremarkable, like a tree, then quickly turn their cameras towards me and snap the shot.  When I catch them doing this I try to make a face of some sort, give a thumbs up or look away.  I gotta to show them that I'm smarter than they think I am. Another thing they love doing is just yelling "hello" at me and then turn and start laughing with their friends.  Most of the time it is kids that do this but other times older people will join in on the act.  They think they're so clever!

One of the most interesting things about the park is when you go there in the morning.  Hundreds of elderly people will be there walking around, playing music, dancing, singing, writing calligraphy on the ground with water, playing cards, and so on.  I feel like this is something America could really learn from the Chinese.  There is so much benefit to regular social interaction that I feel is missed out on by some of the elderly in the US.  Also the elderly are still very active despite their age and I feel that this stems from a culture that values active lifestyles and social interaction in public places.

Okay, I dont really know where to go from here.  I feel that there is a lot more I can talk about but don't know how to put it together.  The weather is great here now, upper 70's and sunny so I'm enjoying it! 

To Pee, or Not to Pee: That is the Question ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

7/18/20116:47:31 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Emlyn's Expressions, Summer Camp Counselor, teach

I reached out my hand, held onto the handle and opened the stall door…hoping that I didn’t have to look down.  But there it was…my prayers weren’t answered... this WC was…a Chinese squatter.

It becomes a guessing game in China. Through the years more and more establishments have installed Western toilets. Unfortunately for me, you never know. Hovering over a Western public toilet isn’t ideal but when you add a squatter in to the formula of public restrooms, my jolly days in China are overshadowed by the inability to balance while I drop, squat, and pee. Perhaps it’s my Grandmamma left knee that buckles when I bend it beyond 90 degrees, or the sign that my quads and hamstrings need better strength training. However, going in to Yogi Berra catcher stance position to relieve myself isn’t what I necessarily call relief!

I have one of those phobias that I had to overcome to survive life…using public toilets. I know most people do not enjoy or find public bathrooms delightful, but really, I hate them! I used to dread long road trips, or not drink anything all day just to avoid using the toilet. It took years to overcome these challenges, but the few trips I take to Asia, particularly China, make me re-evaluate my passion to travel.

I am mesmerized how Chinese people squat for pure relaxation and rest. Regardless of their age, they squat on street corners, bus stops, practically anywhere and anytime. Chinese say it is good for the internal  digestion, and builds lower body strength. Fair enough, agree. Perhaps this is part of the culture that I need to embrace and strengthen (literally). But at least it allows me to appreciate the simple things that we have back at home. The finer things like the porcelain toilet.

 

Staying with the Liang Family in Ying Qing - by Colin Finnegan

7/14/20114:45:34 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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I am on Cultural Embrace’s Summer TESL Camp program a little less than two weeks, and have been living with this family for 2 days now.  Though my task is to tutor their son, Ying Hoa, in English, I have been the student.  Never have I seen such hospitality.  From the time I arrived, everything has been done for me.  They cook 3 meals a day, offering me snacks and beverages throughout the day, they clean up after me, and they even did my laundry by hand last night.  The parents, Chun Lan and Ming, even gave up their master bedroom to me for the week.  The more I see of these people’s utter humility and generosity, the more I am humbled.

Being with this family has had its ups and downs so far, but for the most part has been nothing short of a pleasure.  Witnessing firsthand the dynamics of family life across the ocean, seeing how similar they are to those of home, was very inspiring.  The mother, Chun Lan, is a ticket salesperson for the local bus line, while the father, Ming, is a maintenance technician for a local company.  It’s funny, in America, that would mean much more than it seems to here.  Beyond what they do, I have found Ming to be a very good humored, loving man who loves to laugh, take his son and “daughter” (an adopted cousin for the summer who is very close with Ying Hao),out to the park, and stop on the way home for ice cream.  He also enjoys listening to me play the guitar, showing me a few riffs of his own from his youth.  I laughed as his son tried to explain to me in his broken (but improving!) English that his father hadn’t played a guitar in 20 years!

Chun Lan is a very wonderful woman.  She came off as stern and direct at first, and she still has a way of being very blunt, but she is nonetheless very caring and hard-working.  She has gone extensively out of her way to make me feel comfortable and excessively well fed (she even complained that I ate too little and asked if I was ok.  I think that is the first time in my life I have ever heard someone ask why I don’t eat more!)  To anyone who speaks of people starving in China, I certainly have yet to see it.

Ying Hao is 17 and attends the No. 1 High School in Beijing.  He plays the trumpet, and is soon to play the guitar (he hasn’t stopped playing since I showed him a simple blues riff…).  I couldn’t have asked for a better student.  He does everything I ask, with no argument.  He also picks up on things very quickly.  I only have to say something once, maybe twice, and he wholeheartedly tries.  He is a fast learner and has a good attitude.  Apparently he loves music as well.  Since I let him use my guitar, he has been hammering on the strings, even humming songs when we are out!  He reminds me of myself in a lot of ways.  A very sharp kid.  I keep asking him if he has a girlfriend yet.  He just laughs awkwardly and says no, only girls who are friends, but nothing official yet.

The Liang family also has a grandmother living with them.  She is quiet and stern, mostly keeping to herself, but I have caught her smiling a few times, mostly when she is watching the family eat or interact.  She seems to stand like an ominous statue, a lingering remnant of a generation not too far away, where silence and duty and honor were evident in the very demeanor people carried.  She often looks at me funny when I spend wasted hours sitting in front of the family computer, looking at emails, working on lessons, and writing these updates.  I watched her clean the entire house the other day while the whole the family was away.  She had an antique elegance about her as she wiped walls, shelves, and articles around the house by hand, not leaving an inch untouched.

As I went out with the family for their nightly after-dinner walk, I watched Ying Hao and his cousin Pin Yan, which means “smart and beautiful,” race down the sidewalk.  Though I had no idea what they were saying, their laughter was comforting, and at times I found myself joining in uncontrollably.  Looking around at all the people on the streets, old men sitting and laughing with younger, mother and daughter walking hand in hand, people greeting one another on the street, families sitting together in the park, a group of men gathered around an upturned beer crate playing chess, or wu zi qi, and hearing the long, deep laugh in Ming’s chest as he watched his children play, I was suddenly filled with a deep, unspoken contentment.  This, I felt, was true wealth, having family all around, taking a nightly walk in the park.  Simple joys that are all around, yet often elude us.

As we stopped for ice cream, I couldn’t help but to feel like a child, like I had somehow become adopted into this foreign family.  We walked lightly back home, and this time I remembered the way.  When Yin Hao sighed what I gathered to be an “it’s good to be home” sigh, my own thoughts mirrored his sentiment.  This really did feel like home.

Did I really break the faucet? - by Matt Wiersum

7/13/20114:23:50 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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Hello everyone, decided to get an update in over my lunch break, I have class in an hour so I don't know if I'll finish in time.  Regardless I'll get 'yall up to speed.  But let me first make note of the weather in Liuzhou today, the weather today is awesome.  It's 63 degrees and SUNNY.  Sunny is a big deal because ever since I have arrived here it has been rainy, and when its not raining its cloudy.   Yesterday was sunny for a few hours, but then around noon the clouds rolled in... Today on the otherhand, there is not a cloud in the sky and it's awesome.  It's one of those days where you walk outside and you finally know that winter is over and spring and warmer weather has arrived.  Hopefully it can stay this way for a while and not race to being too hot where I can't go running.

Back to the day-to-day updates, there hasn't been too much to report.  I'm working, how exciting can work really get?  I do have a few stories.  So leaving off from last tuesday... Wednesday really is the only night of too much significance.  Wednesday night Stephen calls me and tells me that Edison and William (teachers at another school) were coming over to hang out.  So we're hanging out drinking some beer in his room and it gets to about 1am and I decide that I probably should head to bed since, unlike stephen and laura, I have lessons on thursdays.  So I'm brushing my teeth and I was getting annoyed with our faucet because it was leaking and it didn't hang over the sink all the way so half of the water ended up on the counter, making a mess.  I know this probably doesn't make sense but when I say faucet I mean more like a spigot.  So I try seeing if I could twist the spigot over the sink (it screwed into the pipes).  So I give it a little twist and then all of a sudden THE FAUCET BREAKS OFF.  Water starts spraying everywhere and I rush back to stephens room and say "uhhhh Stephen, we have a problem"  we rush out and start trying to figure out where the shut off valve is as well as trying to direct the water down the drain.  Of course there is no shut off valve so we call our coordinator who lives two floors above us.  She comes down in her pajamas and calls Mr Li, the maintenance guy he says there is an emergency shut off valve in the bathroom, but there wasn't.  So he told us to go outside to the master water valve and to turn off the water to our entire complex and that he would come fix it in the morning. So after about 45 minutes of running around like a chicken with its head cut off the water finally stopped, to much relief.  Mr Li, comes the next morning and installs a new faucet to my sink, everything is fine.  I was going to take a picture of the spigot to show how thin the metal was where it was broken, about 1mm thick.

So after all the craziness, that weekend Laura and I went to go explore a different part of the city.  Laura really wanted to go to this park where supposedly there is an indoor climbing wall.  So we take the bus to the complete opposite side of the town and walked around the park for a couple of hours, and never found said wall.  BUT we did find out that liuzhou has a "country club" whose golf facilities are a driving range (but it did sport a pretty posh clubhouse).  Then in the park we climbed up one of the mountain, karst things and got a really interesting view of the city.  We found out that this park will soon have a massive water park, filled with water slides and wave pool. But we could also see the surrounding city quite well.  We were close to the industrial part of town and it was crazy seeing how massive some of these factories are.  Lastly, we happened across and outdoor roller rink, that had several obstacles in it.  Later that night Jimmy (music teacher at my school) calls me saying that he's meeting some friends.  I had nothing going on so I decided to join him.  We started off at this lounge type of place but then his friends wanted to go get food.  So we walk down the street to a very typical chinese restaurant.  Of course outside they had Gou Rou (dog) and Tu Rou (rabbit).  And obviously they got the dog meat.  So we sit down and his friends start telling me that they got the rabbit, when I clearly saw them take the dog meat and start cutting it up.  So it was finally served and I just had to do a "when in Rome" kind of thing.  Dog meat, isn't too bad.  It's just a very tender red meat.  I won't go out of my way to eat it again but if it's served I'll eat some.  Now as I finish reporting on this weekend I remember why it was not very exciting, I had a pretty nasty cold, probably from all the rain we had.

So this past week was a pretty good week.  On monday I found out that grades 1 and 2 have exams on thursday and friday so we wouldn't have to teach lessons then.  LONG WEEKEND!  I was thinking of going to Yangshuo and surprising everyone there but after talking to them, they wanted me to come the next weekend, so theres no sense in going to the same place two weekends in a row.  So wednesday Edison said he could get some cheap tickets to the cinema in town and that he wanted us to come see a movie with him.  Sounded good to me so wednesday night I saw Battle of LA.  Movie was okay, if you're in the mood for a big loud action movie, with not too much plot you'd enjoy it.  So after the movie Stephen and Xiao Liao went home, so Edison, William and I went to Time Bar for some beers, after hanging out there for a bit Edison wen't home and William and I went to Soho for a while, and then later to Music Box.  I have to say William is on a whole different level than me.

So after a very late night, I crashed at Williams apartment because he lives about 10 minutes away walking from the city center, and I didn't feel like taking a cab back to my place.  I woke up and walked along the river for a while, eventually catching the bus back to my apartment.  For the most part I took this weekend pretty easy.  Friday night, Laura and I went into town, meeting up with Edison, William and Edison's co-worker CC.  We all hung out at Time Bar for a while and then made our way to Soho.  For whatever reason, at around 1am I got this terrible headache and got really tired so that kinda put a damper on things, but regardless I still had a good time.

Sunday Laura and I went to town to check out this gondola thing that we see every day when we take the bus to town.  It goes up one of the largest Mountain/Karst thing in Liuzhou.  So we went to the ticket booth to check it out and it was 40 Kuai to go up and 50 down, way more than I was willing to pay.  So we just explored the park some more.  It was really interesting seeing how parks in China really are the social centers for many people.  There were dozens of people playing traditional instruments and dancing.  I found another sign of the death of communism in China, there was this walkway in the park that had the logos of pretty much every major car manufacturer in the world made out of stones.  So after walking around the park we crossed the river and happened upon one of the old city gates from the city wall.  We paid our 2 kuai to go walk around on the wall.  The wall was really old, built in the 1300's.  I think Liuzhou is even older, its unfortunate that there aren't more artifacts like this around town... well, that I've seen thus far.  Finally after making our way home I sat down at my computer for about 30 minutes and I get a call from Jimmy asking if I wanted to go to his friends house for dinner.  I agree, because I hopefully could learn some more chinese, and have a pretty good meal.  Dinner was pretty fun, It was in one of the nicest apartments that I've been in while in Liuzhou and the food was good, Pork.  After dinner I came home to go for a night run in Longtian park because when I tried earlier in the day the place was packed.

So backing up to friday, I was searching around the internet and found a half marathon that I could do in Singapore on May 28th.  It looked really cool because you got to run at night.  I looked up flights to Singapore from Hong Kong (one night train away) and they're only 120 dollars.  I couldn't believe it so I got really excited.  The next day I went to go register and found out that the race was full.  I sent the race director an e-mail trying to pull the "i'm kinda fast card" but this morning I got a reply, no dice.  But I did find several other races in the general area.  One race is in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia on May 1st. Looking up flights this one is do-able but on the expensive side (320 dollars).  There also is a race in Kuala Lumpur, on June 26th.  Flights are pretty cheap for that one. So I'll likely do that one.  But I need your imput, should I try for the race in Kota Kinabalu?  I would really like to run in it but 320 dollars is just over half of my monthly salary.  Anyone want to contribute to the fund????? 

First Days Teaching and Nanning - by Matt Wiersum

7/12/20114:04:44 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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So picking up where I left off,  Monday morning was a pretty big day because it was the first day that I'd be teaching all on my own.  Before class I met with Stephen to go over some of the topics chosen from the textbook that we teach from.  So I felt I was pretty prepared to start teaching.  But when actual class rolled around, things didn't go so smoothly.  I started going through the material with the kids but most were disinterested except for a select few and then I got to the end of the material with about 20 minutes of class left.  So I felt kinda stuck, so I started going over some of the material again, trying to explain words that they didn't know (this has to be the single hardest thing to do when you don't know how to translate a word and having to explain a word in very simple language).  I then saw the kids starting to drift off and I knew I was boring them to death so I was a little disheartened.  So I decided to play hangman with the kids for the last five minutes of class, this woke them up a bit.  They love guessing the worst letters for the game (W and X come to mind), another thing that makes it difficult is sometimes they say what the letter sounds like opposed to the name of the letter.  Regardless things were pretty difficult my first day, but once I got through a couple of classes I started coming up with better things to do with the class time.

So the rest of the week was not too exciting, just filled with more teaching, going out to eat and playing pool at the pool hall.  But the weekend was pretty exciting.  The group from Yangshuo had been talking about going to Beihai for a beach weekend.  Looking at the weather it wasnt going to be too nice for a beach weekend (speaking of weather the weather has been terrible here as well, 50's and raining most of the time).  So they decided to go to Nanning, the largest city in Guang Xi province.  I wasn't really sure if I was going to go until saturday morning, the day I left.  So I wake up on saturday morning at around 9:30.  I check the train schedule for trains to Nanning and there is one that leaves at about 11:30.  So, I figured that would be the one to get because the Liuzhou people got there the night prior.  So I tried calling them to see if they could meet them at the train station or where to go.  Nobody answered.  I tried calling several times and then it came too late to catch that train.  So there was a train that left at 1:30, I could catch that one, but I didnt want to go without getting a hold of any of the people I would be meeting.  Then I start chatting with Hannah (Chinese university student that worked at Greenway over chinese new year and summer) and she said that she was going to Nanning and knew the plan of meeting everyone.  She was going to take a train from Beihai to Nanning that would arrive about half an hour before my train from Liuzhou, so this sounded like a good plan.  With a plan in motion I needed to get moving as quickly as I could because I had about 90 minutes to pack, go to the train station, buy a ticket and board the train.  So I threw some clothes in my backpack, ran to the grocery store to grab a roll of Oreos (my designated comfort food in china) and got on the bus to the train station.

So once I got to the train station I bought a train ticket without too much of a problem and got on the train. Everything going smoothly.  Until I sat down.  I realized that I had left my passport in my apartment.  In china to check into any sort of hotel you need to provide your passport and visa information to the hotel or hostel that your staying at.  So I started getting nervous, thinking I might not be able to spend the night in Nanning.  So I finally got a hold of the Yangshuo crew, told them my situation.  They told me all I really had to do was write my info on a sheet of paper.  So I figured if worse came to worse and I couldn't stay at the hostel I could catch a 2am train back to liuzhou.  But then I had Stephen get a key from Joanna for my apartment and then he called me and told me my numbers.  I was in the clear.

The rest of the train ride was uneventful, tried talking to several Chinese guys to little success.  Upon arrival hannah was there waiting for me outside the exit.  So that was good seeing her.  Our next mission was to find the others.  They told us that they were in some big department store in the city center, so we headed that way.  We spent a good hour and a half trying to find them.  They had told us that they were right outside of a Pizza Hut, so we went there and waited.  We called them again and they described the scene some more, KFC around the corner, hundreds of parked motor bikes, large video screen, all were there but they weren't.  So we asked a pizza hut worker if there were any more pizza huts in Nanning, of course there were three of them and both were a few km away in opposite directions.  So we called the group again and then they had figured out that we were near the Pizza Hut near the Walmart.... wait, am I describing America or China...? Anyways we start walking towards Walmart because we knew there would only be one in Nanning, and alas we were reunited.

After finding the group we decided to walk the streets a bit and explore the city.  We went off to a street market to check out the strange food and trinkets that were sold.  We happened upon a stand that was selling alligator which was quite a shock to the europeans.  It wasn't to me because I've eaten gator when I was in the Florida Keys (It is also sold at the minnesota state fair).  Of course we got some, we had both the meat and the skin. Both were good but not too remarkable.  So the next thing I wanted to do was go to Walmart because it could quite possibly be the most american place in china.  Side Note: I'm surprised Walmart is in china because as a company Walmart is quite possibly the antithesis of the principles that the chinese government was founded on.  Wal Mart being very capitalist, not allowing workers to join unions etc.  Side Note over, we went into the walmart and it looked, well... exactly like a walmart, full of samples and brightly colored signs and everything.  The only difference was chinese things were sold there opposed to american.  So after spending way too much time in the hot and very crowded walmart, we headed to the hostel.

The hostel was about a 5km walk away so it was a good hike.  The hostel we stayed at was possibly the coolest hostel I've ever seen.  It was on the 11th floor of a pretty ritzy high rise apartment complex.  It also quite expensive, 75 RMB or $11.50.  Yeah, thats expensive by chinese standards (i was expecting to pay around 40).  So at the hostel we just gelled out for a bit after a day of running around.  So around 10:30 everyone in the hostel, our group,the two other groups there and the hostel owner head out to the bar, first stopping at an ex-pat bar because the beers are cheaper there, and then to a really big chinese bar.  Long story short, I went to bed at around 4:30, and I was early.

The next morning I get up at 10:30 after a pretty good sleep, then I start the process of getting everyone else going finally making it out of the hostel at 12:30.  We get some lunch at a local place, try to get rid of the crazy girl that had been following us for about 12 hours (ask me about this story). catch cabs to the train station and take off.  I get home around 6pm Xiao Liao cooked me and stephen dinner, and I prepped for my lessons. went to bed.

Monday, typical monday, Today, typical. Went out to eat with stephen and xiao liao, were going to eat gou rou (look it up) but then settled on yang rou.

Bedtime. 

Liuzhou - by Matt Wiersum

7/11/20114:45:13 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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So when I left off last time I wrote about my final few days in Yangshuo.  I really enjoyed my time there.  But now after my weekend in Nanning (which I will get to later)  I really think the people is what made Yangshuo so great.  I feel that they route I took was an ideal transition to life in china because Yangshuo is a very western city by chinese standards so it allowed me some time to transition from western culture to a full on chinese culture that I have here in Liuzhou.  So yes, here a more of a rundown of the past two weeks to finally get up to speed on my blog.

On Monday morning, the 28th Mr Meng drove me to the Yangshuo bus station to take a bus directly from Yangshuo to Liuzhou, where someone from the school would pick me up.  So everything went smoothly until I actually got to Liuzhou.  When I got off the bus I was expecting either the headmasters of the school, who I met a few days prior, or someone with a sign with my name on it, like when Tina picked me up at the airport in Guilin.  But of course neither were there and I was given almost no direction on where to go or do.  So I just stood... and stood... and stood.  For about an hour.  While I was standing countless taxi and tuk tuk drivers were asking me where I wanted to go, and that they could take me.  One even had the gall to ask for 100 kuai for a ride.  I declined.  So I figured I probably should call Isabella.  I of course only had Isabella's phone number on my computer which I didn't want to pull out in the middle of a busy street in china.  So I made a plan.  I was going to go to a noodle shop, open my computer there (where fewer people would see) and then go back across the street to where there were several phones that you could pay several kuai to use.  So I started proceeding with my plan.  While I was in the middle of eating my noodles this guy comes up to me, starts talking really fast in chinese and so I didn't understand him.  I figured he was trying to sell me something so I started repeating "wo bu yao" (i dont want it).  Then he pulls out his cell phone and calls someone and puts the phone to my ear.  On the other end is Joanna, the foreign teacher coordinator at my school.  So this was my guy.  Apparently he was walking around for half an hour trying to find me, which I don't know how that happened because I was standing outside the bus station for an hour, and the bus came right on time.   Regardless I made it and everything is good.

So when I arrived at school I was quickly introduced to all of the other foreign teachers,  Stephen from Ireland,  Freda from Ghana, Elana from Latvia, and Laura from England.  All are pretty nice people as usual.  So after meeting them I was shown my apartment.  I was pretty surprised because the place is pretty nice in comparison to the dorms in Yangshuo.  Granted, I don't have the same view but the amenities are a bit nicer (I have a two bedroom to myself so if anyone wants to stop by YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME!!!).  So, my first night the teachers take me out to eat, a nice gesture that I was very appreciative of.  So the next few days were all pretty similar because I spent time observing classes, which to me seems pretty uneventful and very similar to my training classes because I just spent about 10 minutes each class introducing myself and answering the kids questions about America.   Now this reminds me of something.  The school I'm at here in Liuzhou, is like the Taj Mahal compared to the school in Yangshuo.  In every way this school is nicer.  I guess the school in Liuzhou has more basketball  courts.  So if thats how you want to measure a school then, I guess yangshuo is better.  I haven't taken any pictures here of Liuzhou yet, but I'll make sure to take some of the school.  It's really nice.

So events that have happened in Liuzhou... On the 3rd day I was here a chinese teacher comes up to me and tells me that stephen is going to his friends house tonight to eat dinner.  I was slightly confused by this because I had never met this teacher before but if Stephen was going it probably was legit.  So, that night stephen and I hop in a cab to his friends house.  It was really fun just hanging out eating dinner in they way they do social dinners, Hotpot (i think i explained this already).  So after eating dinner for like 2 hours, I'm told we're going to the city center for a few beers and that we're not going to be out that late.  Well "not that late" turned into 3am.   Luckily I didn't have class until 11.  The next night stephen and I start doing the same routine but we make sure get back early because we both had early class.  So on friday me and stephen decide to go to the city center with his girlfriend where there is this massive pool hall where they charge for tables by the hour.  So we play for an hour or so and then we decide to go to a bar, but something more low key.  So Stephen knew of a spot so we went there.  But after about 15 minutes one of stephens chinese friends came and told us to come with him.  So we follow him and he leads us to a KTV bar where he has a room rented.  So KTV for those who don't know is karaoke, but where you rent private rooms so you only embarrass yourself to your friends rather than an entire bar.  So we spent our evening there which was a pretty good time.  After friday night, my weekend went very slow.  I slept in really late on Saturday and didn't really get out until 3 in the afternoon.  I basically went running and went to dinner with stephen and xiao liao.

So I'll talk about running some, because my blog is titled running through china.  So.  Running in Liuzhou actually has been suprisingly good.  I live really close to a very large park called Longtian park. Its pretty big and has several miles of roads which makes it a decent running spot.  The main problem is that the park can get really really busy, particularly around lunch time, when its most convenient for me to run.  So I have to do a lot of weaving.  One nice thing about the park is that I've notice the air is significantly better in the park than on the regular streets so thats better than breathing the polluted air of typical chinese cities.  An intersting thing about the park is that the chinese love putting little carnival things everywhere, gokarts, bumpercars, boats etc.  It was like this in yangshuo too.  But longtian park touts itself about being undeveloped but it has all this stuff.... I don't really get it.  Also, this is nothing new but chinese love trying and failing at being discrete at taking pictures of westerners, particularly when I'm running.  They'll pretend to be taking a picture of something (most of the time is like a tree which gives it away) and then turning their camera to me at the last second.  When I catch them doing this I usually try to make some sort of face to show that I know what they're doing.  They also love yelling hello to me.

Okay, I'm tired.  I didnt sleep much last night in Nanning, and I promise I'll get up to date tomorrow. 

The Fonzies in Traveling Abroad ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

7/7/20111:51:25 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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What better way to spend a Wednesday evening in Beijing than at an Irish pub with a group of American and Canadian ESL Summer Camp Counselors, playing pub trivia? I was never good with the board game called Trivia Pursuit, and a pub quiz wasn’t any better.  But we did have a fun time, and our group split up in to three teams of five. I was part of the Bu Saners, and I believe we came in first of our group of Cultural Embrace Counselors, but third in the pub’s overall game—woohoo!

One of my favorite questions in last night’s seven categories’ game was "What is the measurement of the Fonzies". Do you remember the ‘Fonz’ from Happy Days? Henry Winkler in his black leather jacket and impeccable slicked black hair? Of course the answer was “Coolness”

I believe traveling brings out the Fonzies in all of us. There are so many cool things to see and do when you travel. So many cool people to meet.  Thumbs up and out…with a “heeeyyyyy” for traveling!  

Pre-Departure Reflection: Teaching in China ~ by Sarah Lowen

7/5/20119:20:47 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Summer Camp Counselor, teach

I have less than two weeks before I leave American soil and land on unknown territory. I have never been to China before nor have studied the language or culture so I turn to the internet for answers. The first thing that strikes me is the large population that inhabits this country. I'm already picturing myself in the streets of Beijing, surrounded by crowds and crowds of people, racing their bicycles around me. Not like the day-after Christmas at the mall kind of crowds, but the shoulder to shoulder, breathing in each other's carbon dioxide kind of crowds. The vision continues as I'm walking in Beijing and a person bumps right into me. My natural instinct is to stop and apologize for the contact as us Americans so often do, but the man is off like a horse in the Kentucky derby. Even if I were to chase him down, would he even understand that I'm trying to apologize? Not only is the language an obvious barrier, but I can imagine the social norms are different as well. He might even find me rude and strange for wasting his time. He is probably more interested in how different I look with my long, brown hair and big, hazel eyes than my attempted apology for our shoulder bump. My psychology degree from Virginia Tech won't help me here. Lucky for the man in my hypothetical scenario and lucky for all of us, I'm practicing changing my definition of personal space right now. In fact, I'm throwing it out the window. In a city with millions of people, I can't imagine there would be much room for personal space. I anticipate there will be a lot of things that I will need to make adjustments to but I'm excited for the challenge.

My next internet search shines light on the weather in China during the summer. I am from Northern Virginia where our summers regularly reach the mid 90's and the humidity is high. So to me, China in the summer is no sweat. I'll take full credit for the clever pun. However, I am concerned about the food and drink in China. My head and stomach are always at a constant battle with one another because my head is adventurous and open to trying new foods but my stomach can't stomach it. I find myself picturing another scenario in the bustling streets of Beijing where I stop at a vendor on the street to try some warm dumplings to fill my rumbling stomach. These dumplings taste unique to China and I allow myself to appreciate the dumpling like I were paying respect to an elder. Thirty minutes pass and I'm shopping for a watch that I'm bargaining for and all of a sudden my stomach is reminding me that he is not going to let me win this battle. I am eager to find a bathroom and thankfully the street woman agrees to show me the restroom after I purchase the watch. The watch is equivalent to only 3 American dollars, or so I think based on my poor conversion skills, so I accept the deal and make a run for the bathroom. I'm so excited to finally reach the bathroom until I realize there aren't any Western toilets. I guess I will have to practice my yoga skills to balance over the toilet since the toilet here is not made for sitting. I don't see any clean toilet paper in sight but then I reach for the toilet paper that I stashed in my purse, thanks to advice I read from another website, and make it back to the hustle and bustle of Beijing.

As I continue my online journey through China, I come across a lot of beautiful and grandiose landmarks. Although it might seem a little cliche, the one I'm most excited about seeing is the Great Wall of China. I have traveled to the Red Square of Russia and stood in front of the Wailing Wall in Israel but have never seen the Great Wall of China. I can recall a faint memory in grade school where I came across a picture of the Great Wall in a scholastic magazine but that's the extent of my experience. I plan on sending a postcard of The Wall back home to the preschool that I currently teach at. They might not realize the significance of this Wall but they will look at this picture as did I when I was in grade school. Fifteen years later and I'm finally putting down the books and images of what China is suppose to look like and seeing it for myself. I will take pictures for the first few minutes just to prove I was there but then I will put the camera down and remind myself to experience the Wall and the country for what it is and what it stands for. Then I will make a bet with someone that I can walk a longer distance along the Wall despite the blistering heat and long trek ahead. I blame this competitiveness and athleticism on playing travel soccer my entire life. I'm also excited to see the Forbidden Palace and plan on going on more excursions when I find out more about the history of China and what is available. I will bring back pictures of these places and my experiences and thus earn serious bragging rights for traveling so far and seeing so much.

What I fail to find on the internet is how these Chinese children that I am responsible for teaching this summer will react to me. Will they be confused and annoyed by my lack of knowledge of the culture and language like the man on the street? Will all my hard work and preparations for lesson plans be shoved down a Chinese toilet because it's not working well for them? Will what works for American kids work for Chinese kids? Are teaching styles the same in China as they are in America? I have experience in teaching and a degree from a four year university but nothing will prepare me for this. No lesson planning, internet searching, book reading, nothing will give me the answers to this. Hopefully I can bribe them to teach me about China in exchange for teaching them about America. Maybe that is what it's all about and in that, we can discover the differences and share the similarities.

As for now I can only guess what my experiences in China will be like and continue to entertain possible situations in my head. Soon I will be boarding  a direct flight from Washington D.C. to Beijing and will have the long 14 hour plane ride to dream of all the possibilities. My suitcase is currently half packed but filled with pictures and gifts from America to share; and of course my immodium and peptobismol. Here I come dumplings!
 

Off to China We Go ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

7/2/20118:28:00 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Emlyn's Expressions, Summer Camp Counselor, Teach

Seven months after I graduated university, I threw away my pantyhose and stepped out of the corporate world to teach English in China. It was my first independent international trip, and one of my most transformative experiences that has shaped me to who I am today.

Sixteen years later, I am about to board a plane back to Beijing to lead twenty Cultural Embrace participants to teach English this summer throughout China. Although I have worked, volunteered, and traveled to over 80 countries; I always experience a unique sense of anticipation whenever I return back to China. I don’t know what it is. It’s hard to define this feeling. Perhaps it’s a sensation of excitement because she is so foreign and exotic; and I love the adventure and challenges of the unknown. Or maybe it’s that exhilarated feeling you get when you return back ‘home.’ I am an American born Chinese so connecting with my ethnic heritage is always heartfelt, but I think it is deeper than going home to my mother country. It’s about going back to the roots of Cultural Embrace…the country and type of work that has paved the way for me to share the gifts that were blessed to me.   

Pre-Departure Reflection: Teaching in China ~ by Lucila Tijman

7/1/201111:39:24 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Summer Camp Counselor, teach, Volunteer

 I can’t believe this trip has finally arrived!  It feels like just yesterday when I applied to this program with Cultural Embrace, had my interview and found out that I would be teaching in China.  I am beyond ecstatic for this experience and cannot wait to meet my fellow teachers!  I started to become nervous today as I was heading to the airport with my dad.  All I could think in my head was: what did I forget, will I be able to handle the culture shock for such a long time, and many more thoughts.  Now as I sit in the airport in Chicago waiting for my connecting flight, I can’t wait to be there!!

I recently travelled to South East Asia this past December.  I travelled to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia and completely fell in love with the culture.  I was desperate to go back and knew that this is what I wanted to do.  We visited a hill tribe in Chiang Rai and went to visit their local school.  The little kids were so excited to see us and we got to take pictures with them and see what their classrooms are like and that is the moment I knew this was what I was going to do next.  I have also travelled to many countries in Europe and South America.  I am originally from Argentina so I go back every year for Christmas and New Years to visit my family.  My parents now live in Maryland, which is an awesome state if none of you have visited it yet.  I went to undergrad at the University of Miami and got a degree in business management and organization.  Now I currently live in New York City, where I graduated from grad school in December with a degree in Fashion Marketing at Parsons School of Design.

As for myself, I am an extremely outgoing person and I love adventure.  I will be the first to sign up for any activity.  I am also the most relaxed person and down to earth as everyone who has met me told me this so I take this as a compliment because I am never stressed out in situations.

Pre-Departure Reflection: Teaching in China ~ by Deana Tourigny

7/1/201111:13:36 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Summer Camp Counselor, teach, Volunteer

My thoughts before I leave for China consist of several emotions.  First of all I’m excited to travel since I’ve never stepped foot outside the United States. I have a strong desire to travel and experience different cultures. I chose to start with China because the country and culture has a personal importance to me. My mother is Chinese and throughout my childhood I was raised with a mixture of Chinese American culture, so I think it would be awesome if I could learn more about the background of my native heritage. I am really excited for China and this 21 hour flight ahead of me :) Luckily my friend Rebecca Qiu will be accompanying me on this exciting journey.

Second of all I am extremely nervous. Since I have never travel outside the US I am worried about the typical things such as find the bathroom, or ordering food. But most of all the thing I’m most nervous about is communication. Since my Chinese consists of two whole college semesters of Elementary Mandarin Chinese I feel that I will have a pretty difficult time with the language barrier. haha.

And my emotion at the current moment is stressed! I now have four hours until my first flight. I believe I have everything packed and ready….but I’m worried I’ll be forgetting something extremely important. I’m stressed about the flights and once I get to China. But I can’t wait for this awesome experience.

This is truly a life changing experience for me. I intend on majoring in International Business with a minor in Chinese. I’m excited to learn about the Chinese culture/China and start this path of my life! :)

Way Behind by Teach in China Participant Matt Wiersum

6/30/201110:48:21 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach

Yep, okay, fell way behind again.  Anyways I'll dive right into it.  2 weeks ago February 18th, Isabella rounded up the crew to take us on an excursion to Xing Ping.  A small town near where the imagery on the of the 20¥ bill.  I took the requisite picture at the spot so I will post that soon once I figure out what to do with my photos (my HD is nearly full).  But before we got to Xing Ping we stopped at a very small village where many of the traditional Chinese scroll paintings and fans that you see at the shops in Yangshuo are made.  So we strolled through there for a bit, looking at various artists work.  So, from there we continue on to Xing Ping and board one of the river rafts.  Now, they advertise that the rafts are "bamboo rafts" but the bamboo they use is an odd white color that is really slippery when wet.  I've never seen it in nature.  So we embark on our tour and its a pretty chilly day and we're riding up stream on a boat thats powered by a motor cycle engine with an extended sort of driveshaft with a propeller on the end.  It was a pretty fun ride, and cool to see the karst formations rise straight out of the water.  I took quite a few pictures from here.  It was funny for us because like usual we were as much of an attraction to the chinese tourists as the scenery. At the turn around point there was a formation where supposedly there are 9 horses hidden in the rocks.  I think I found three or four.  More of a mind game than anything.  After the boat cruise we drove back to Yangshuo and that was pretty much the day.

The next day was a pretty low key day.  The group just hung out at the school until about 1 or so when I decided to go running.  The others were going to go to mimosas to use the internet because it was down at the school as usual.  So I went for my longest run so far in China 70 minutes.  When I returned nobody had left for mimosas because apparently tom broke the washing machine drain while it was draining and flooded his bathroom.  Smooth.  After that we went to mimosas and took it easy.

Sunday.  At brunch Isabella asked if we would like to go on a bike ride to Moon Hill.  Moon Hill, being one of the biggest attractions in Yangshou couldn't be one to miss out on.  So Isabella pulls out several bikes that the school owns.  The bikes were no race bikes by any means but it got the job done.  I think I made Amelia have a heart attack by the amount of time I would ride no-handed (about 75 percent of the ride).  Anyways on the ride Tom was being his usual self saying "Ni Hao" to every chinese person he saw and saying "Dui" to everything said to him.  Then somebody made the grave mistake of telling him how to say "I love you" which he then proceeded to start saying to every girl he saw.  Other than Tom making a bunch of friends the bike ride was nice.  It was a really nice sunny day which seemed to happen every weekend in Yangshuo, good timing weather.  So on our ride we made our first stop at "The Big Banyan Tree".  The tree is exactly what it says.  A 1400 year old Banyan tree.  It was cool to see that parts of the branches had reached the ground and made new roots so it looked like a tree with multiple trunks.  So we did the usual thing, walked around it three times for good luck.  After looking at the tree we went over to the little market.  There was a guy with three monkeys tethered to a little stand that you could pay to get your picture taken with.  I didn't get my picture taken because I felt it was a cruel situation for the monkeys.  So I just took a picture of them.  After Banyan tree we continued on to Moon Hill.  We all were pretty hungry when we got there so we stopped at the over priced café at the bottom and got fried rice.  Once charged and ready to go we made our voyage up the 800 some steps to Moon Hill.  The climb isnt all that scenic because you're hiking up through a forest but once you get to the top there is a pretty impressive view.  On this day we ran into a group of climbers that we had seen around town, climbing up the under side of the formation.  Then we saw this guy pulling himself up the middle of the arch by his ropes.  They were trying to get as high as they can so they could backflips off of the hill.  It was pretty impressive to see.  The guys we talked to were a part of a group they made called "Organic Hobo"  Basically a group of guys going around the world seeing how sustainable food practices were being used.  Search for them online, I think they said they would post the backflip videos on their website.  So after spending about an hour at the top we make our way down and head home.  Pretty exhausting day.

The next couple of days were spent doing the regular training routine but we got more into actual teaching practices, then doing a demo teaching lesson amongst ourselves.  We gave each other a pretty hard time so that was pretty funny.  On thursday and friday we had to do a practice class with real live students, which increased the pressure.  For those classes we had a partner and we split time talking about our home countries.  Chinese kids know 6 things about america "Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga, NBA, Yao Ming, Kobe, and Obama".  So hopefully I filled their brains with a little more knowledge. 

Another significant even that happened on thursday is fellow Centurians, Justin Bussies and Kei Mamiya came to visit!! This was really fun to see some good friends from college on the other side of the world (Kei is Japanese and Justin is teaching english in Japan).  Anyways, with my days occupied with teaching, Kei and Justin went around doing the tourist things, meeting up in the evenings.  So for their first night we decided to go out for a nice Chinese dinner.  We went to the same place Isabella always takes us so she called ahead for us to tell them we were coming and to give us a discount (which they actually gave to us, AWESOME!).  So after dinner, I showed them around town and went to Caviler Bar to teach them the dice game (our usual spot The Stone Rose closed to remodel...).  The next day (friday) was the same routine.  This time we met at the much cheaper Wontons restaurant but still had a great dinner.  On saturday Isabella informed me that a teacher at the school wanted to take the group on a bike ride on some new road.  Everyone again decided to join.  We started going out the direction non of us have ever been down which eventually lead to a very hilly road.  The biggest hill was over half a mile long.  So at the top of the hill everyone thought this route was too tough. I was slightly disappointed because I always like these types of challenges.  So we all turned around and everyone but Justin, Kei, The teacher and Me went back to school.  We then decided to go to Moon hill.  The teacher said he could show us a different more scenic route.  That sounded good so we went that way.  On the way we stopped at an aquaduct along the river.  Pretty cool spot. We continued to moon hill and got a much better view as we approached compared to the typical route.  This route also had a lot fewer cars and busses so that was nice as well.  We then hiked to the top, hung out for a bit, and them made our way down and back the same route.  I then saw Justin and Kei off at the long range bus station on the outside of town.  I then went back to Mimosas and found the crew there with Jarone and Weiss!  They were back for a few days from the orphanage before they took off to the Netherlands.  We then went out to tin tin bar and cavilers, it was a good time.

Okay I'll keep catching up.  Week behind still but I'll get it! Its 1:30 now and I have class at 9:35 I need to got to sleep! 

Pre-Departure to Teach in China - by Chris Jones

6/29/201111:01:14 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Summer Camp Counselor, Teach

China WOOOO!!! To be completely honest, even though I am just as excited as a little kid at Christmas to teach in China, I am also very nervous. I think working with the kids in China and teaching them English isn't going to be the hard part, its going to be the culture shock and totally new life style that I will have to be around for six weeks. Yes I am nervous but that is what makes it so exciting and exhilarating to me. I am someone who could be thrown in a jungle with very little supplies and still be thrilled with all the new and exciting things around me, and not be worried about the negatives.

I chose to go abroad in China because I love traveling and teaching kid sounds very fun. I am also a business tourism major at Arizona State University "GO DEVILS" and I figured this would be a good place to start building a great tourism portfolio. Cultural Embrace has been very kind to me and very helpful. This program they offered was very easy to understand and had a lot to offer, being a traveler.

Well, if you don't know my name is Chris Jones, and I am a very interesting guy!! I am someone who can not sit still for more than two seconds, if I'm not doing something fun or productive than I'm usually not happy. Right now I am currently 20 and I have been to just about every state in the west half of the united states. Last summer I also traveled to Cancun Mexico for two weeks with my sister for vacation which was a great experience. When I graduated from high school I also traveled to Costa Rica for ten days with my Spanish club. And I have also to traveled to many varies cities in Canada, due to being from Montana which is just south of Canada. I grew up in a very small town and graduated with only 22 kid in my senior high school class. I love just about every athletic sport there is, if I haven't tried it than I'm most likely willing to give it a shot! I am someone who is very likable and very easy to get along with. Well I hope this is gives everyone a good since of who I am and what my interests are!! I look forward to seeing you all in China!

Training by Teach in China Participant Matt Wiersum

6/27/201112:47:27 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach

Hey, everyone.  Now I never said I was going to be good at this whole blogging thing so you can't hold anything against me for my lapse in posting.  But in reality, there hasn't been too much going on other than training.  Granted, this post will sure make it seem like a lot has happened, but compared to the first few weeks things have settled down quite a bit.  So I'll try to give you as much of a rundown as I can.

On Monday (the 14th) I started my official TEFL teacher training.  It was 2 hours in the morning (10-noon) and 2 in the afternoon (2-4), sometimes with a chinese lesson during lunch.  It has been nice getting into a daily routine.  The training sessions were classroom lessons taught by Isabella.  It really opened my eyes to how much we take for granted with our native language.  I have never learned all the subtypes of verbs, adverbs, pronouns etc. But these are things that foreign language speakers have to learn.  So yeah, training really not that exciting, not too much more to talk about.

So now I'm going to skip to Thursday, because Thursday was pretty significant.  On thursday was the Lantern Festival, Aka. the end of Chinese New Year.  So we only had half a day of training and spent the rest of the day walking around the city watching the preparations for the festival.  We wen't to the big park in Yangshuo and they had all of these chinese lanterns hanging from the trees and light posts.  I got a bunch of pictures so you'll see what I mean when I post them (i'm low on HD space so I need to figure out what to do).  It was interesting because most of the shops were closed and the streets were relatively quiet.  So after walking around for a few hours Isabella took the 4 of us out to dinner with the family.  It was a very nice dinner and we ate most of the typical local fare, beer fish, pineapple chicken, egg plant, etc (yes you read that correctly fish, Mom you will have to at least try some).  Anyways after dinner is when things got really interesting.  So just like chinese new year the local government set up a station where people could make the sweet dumplings (i forgot the chinese name).  Of course they take all of the westerners and put them front and center so the chinese media, can take pictures of westerners doing chinese things.  For a few hours I felt like I was some sort of celebrity because I couldn't walk 5 feet without some chinese person wanting to take a picture of me.  Anyways, I got to make about 20 dumplings which was fun.  After we finished making dumplings we slowly walked back to the park.  This was pretty difficult because for lantern festival it is considered good luck to walk about the streets.  Once we finally got to the park, Isabella told us that we needed to do a one of the several thousand chinese riddles hanging about the park.  Of course these riddles were all in chinese and I had no idea what the answers were.  So, Isabella figured out two of them for us and then informed the local TV station that we had "solved" the riddle.  So they filmed Amelia and me walking up, acting like we knew the answer and then taking our solved riddle to the prize distribution point (don't worry the reporters were all in on our scheme).  So once we got to the prize booth we waited our turn to collect our winnings.  I told the lady my answer, which was Cheng Du,  and then handed me my prize... six tubes of toothpaste.  Of course, the typical chinese person would have only received one.  So if anyone needs some Crest.  I got you covered.  Shortly afterwards Isabella's friend comes up to us with even more prizes which were laundry powder and bars of soap.  AWESOME prizes!  So we were walking back through the park and every chinese person had to tell us how impressed they were...  So finally to end the night we walked back down west street to watch the fireworks show.

Okay, so thats all for now. I have to go back to school and pack for Liuzhou because I'm moving TOMORROW!!!! AGHHH I promise I'll get caught up on this ASAP. 

Pre-Departure Reflection for Summer Camp Counselor in China ~ Rebecca Qiu

6/27/201112:34:32 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Group Trips, Summer Camp Counselor, Teach, Work

The most memorable thing that I remember about China is the heat.  It is a very disappointing thing to say, but it is the truth.  Contrary to many people who are also traveling with Cultural Embrace, I have been to China twice in my lifetime, staying for a month each time in the busy city of Shanghai.  My parents, both Chinese, tell me that we have visited a considerable number of famous landmarks and cities.  Yes, I recalled scaling the Great Wall of China while sitting regally on my father’s shoulders, running around the Forbidden City, and taking smiling pictures at Tiananmen Square with my family.  But I also remembered dying of the horrible, humid heat.  Sweat and unquenchable thirst were constant unwelcome companions during my stays in China.  As a child, I learned quickly that you could never carry along too much water.  And, owing to China’s frequency of hitting Saharan-like temperatures, I told myself that if I ever visited China again then I would never in my lifetime come during its hottest months.  So what possessed me to leave my cool, comfortable home in the United States --- in July, moreover--- in order to travel to the hot, humid, crowded streets of Beijing?

It started during my second semester of my college.  I was a college freshmen at the University of South Carolina at Columbia and was currently taking Elementary Mandarin classes.  I had a number of great friends in that class, one of which included Deana Tourigny, who initially introduced me to Cultural Embrace.  I was intrigued at the idea of traveling to China again, but at first I did not seriously think about it.  However, after Deana enthusiastically began to talk about her trip more and more, I realized that I had picked up some of her excitement as well.  I realized that I did want to go to China.  Not only would I be able to expand my limited Mandarin and experience the diverse culture of a foreign country, but I would also be teaching English to willing Chinese students.  Also, as an added bonus, the experience would be a great résumé builder.  The only obstacle for me was getting approval from my obstinate father.  Due to the affordable pricing of the program and my own persuasion skills, I managed to wheedle out a reluctant “yes.”  This was a miracle upon itself: You know how economically frugal the Chinese can be.

So now here I am writing this reflection letter.  Deana and I have finally purchased our plane tickets to Beijing, where we will be happily sharing our twenty-one hour flight together.  As of now, with only about a week left until departure, I am fraught with excitement, curiosity, and a bit of anxiety.  The latter stems from my own insecurities and worries: Will my students like me?  Will I be a good teacher?  How will I survive in Beijing with only a limited vocabulary at my command?  These emotions have been growing as surely as July 1, our departure date from the US, draws closer.  I only expect all these emotions will explode when I wake up at 3 AM on the said date to catch our flight.  I have heard that leaving early for a trip is always a good thing, but as of now I am not so sure.  Oh well.  We’ll be able to nap on our plane rides.  Sleeping on a plane is always so rejuvenating after all.  

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments by Intern in China Participant Abby Goldstein

6/8/20111:08:10 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

A-Ha, China, Featured Participants, Intern

My A-ha! moment was definitely in the middle of last semester. I was feeling homesick....for China? I then expressed my need to travel back here to my parents. I figured it would be a great internship opportunity, as well as a great way to learn Chinese. I also think its a good way to gradually enter into the "real world" and experience things on my own. What a great decision it was! I absolutely enjoy it here, I have made many new friends and acquaintances, which is always refreshing especially if it is something you accomplish entirely on your own. That aside, I landed in the perfect office. Soon I will begin training to learn how to do basic travel sales, and it sounds like I will soon be putting my advertising skills to good use. This is one a-ha moment I will never regret or forget! 

New People, and Panda Palooza by Intern in China Participant Abby Goldstein

6/8/20111:05:42 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Intern

April's A-Ha! Travel Moments by Luan Ly Lierman

6/8/20111:00:55 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

A-Ha, China, Featured Participants, Teach

I knew I needed to see the world and I love travelling. I fell in love with China especailly after I had studied abroad for a semester with Seattle Pacific University (SPU). Now, my husband and I are happily working and living in China, almost 3 years!

I've always been very interested in people. Cultures, food, religion, customs have always fasinated me. China for one, has such a deep culture and long history. Since my heritage is part Chinese, I find it even more important to know my roots.

Life back home in Tacoma, WA. is surrounded with people from different walks of life. I grew up with Tacoma, a good size city south of Seattle. I love my home for many reasons. Diversity in language, culture and life. All my friends have such unique stories. That's where education starts; is by getting to know one another. That's when we grow as individuals and a community. Being open, patient, and non-judgemental is crucial to getting to know others.
 

I did take a leap of fatih, a big leap when I decided to come to China. At the time, by myself with limited language ability. But what kept me going was my determination to learn, to grow in myself, and to expand my future. My risks, no return! Travelling abroad is huge risk, especially when you have no idea (for me) how to teach, or what to expect. My A-HA moment was the time I told myself, "I'm here. I got myself this far. No turning back!" I pushed myself and it has it rewards. Another A-HA moment was, "I can't believe I'm living in China." Now, I see China as my second home. A place I can always come back to with open doors and great opportunities. 

Oil Tea by Teach in China Participant Matt Wiersum

6/8/201112:11:31 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach

Okay, last night, on my way back to school I remembered that I completely forgot to talk about one of the most notable things we did in Fengyang.  Oil tea.  For the three nights we were there, Isabella, our Cultural Embrace local coordinator, had us go out to three different villagers homes to drink oil tea with them.  We did this as a cultural exchange kind of experience and it was quite enjoyable.... well.... kind of...  At each house the drink of choice is a concauction called "You Cha" (pronounces yo cha, for those not familiar with chinese pinyin). 

You cha means "Oil Tea", and is probably the most bitter thing I have ever consumed.  To make oil tea you get green tea, ginger and garlic, cut them up into bits and sauté them in a wok.  After they have been cooking for a while you hammer the ingredients with a wooden hammer and then place everything in a sieve and run hot water through it.  Out comes a coffee and cream looking liquid which then is served in a bowl with puffed rice on top. 

The flavor when it first hits your tongue isn't that bad, but once it hits the bitter zone in the back your taste buds explode with the most intense bitter taste ever.  I generally like bitter beers, IPA's and the lot, bit this is close to unbearable.  Needless to say I think its an acquired taste.  So I got to sample three different varieties of oil tea because I went to three different houses and everyone makes it a little differently. 

The first house is what I'm basing everything off of and it was quite bitter but the middle of the three.  The second was the most palatable, not too bitter.  The third house was very bitter and pretty rough. Oddly, the third place is the only house where I had more than one bowl.  This could be due to the fact that the third house was a larger family and there were three chinese guys that were quite entertaining and quite hospitable. 

By in large, the chinese people know that we don't like oil tea.  I think they understand that its not an insult to them at all but this stuff is really hard to drink if you have not acquired the taste for it.  In the third house I the three guys picked this up and offered us some Li Qian beer (coming in at a whopping 3.6% alcohol).  So most of us took them up on the offer.  Then shortly later they pulled out Chinese rice wine.  This is another one of those acquired taste things.  The rice wine we had essentially tasted like straight vodka, quite noxious.   Luckily they gave us only little bits at a time so it wasn't too hard to put down.

So yeah! there is my forgotten post.  And for those who are concerned, today started my official teacher training so that took the whole day, and now we're going to town to go out to eat because its Jarone, and Wies' last night in Yangshuo :(

Hope you're having a good morning America! 

Happy New Year China Style by Teach in China Participant Matt Weirsum

6/8/201112:04:25 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach

Hello everyone and happy new year! Anyways to my Dad's request here is a new blog post, and the first from China! I have met the others in China: Lucy from Wales, Weis from Holland, Holly from London, Jarone form Holland and Isaac from Wales. Nice group of people. I had images of Yangshuo being this really tiny place, but its a lot bigger than I thought. And, those hills that you see pictures of in the city? They're literally in the middle of the city. So on tuesday everyone was saying that we were going to eat dinner with the local government, but nobody really knew what that meant. So after a day of touring around the city we all met back at the school to head to dinner. So we went to the middle of town and saw a small banquet area outside this building on western street (the main pedestrian street). We sat down and shortly one of the coordinators was trying to get us to do all of these activities, like dragon dancing, dancing with children, playing these flutes and playing dumplings. We all were quite reluctant to do any of these things but a few of us eventually gave in. I did the dragon dancing, which actually turned out to us putting the dragon mask on and then all these chinese reporters would take pictures of us. So basically, they just wanted Westerners to do all these things so they could take pictures of us. After all that settled down we ate a large dinner of all the local foods and watched the program they had put on for us. Then towards the end they had everyone go on stage and they started doing a countdown (mind you its like 9:30) and then they shot off confetti everywhere. So apparently this whole program was being filmed to be on chinese TV on the actual new years eve.

Next day, the actual Chinese new year we went to town and walked around to check out everyone's preparations for the festival later that night. To prepare for new years the chinese put these red lanterns everywhere and light off firecrackers. Now, chinese firecrackers are no black cats that we have at home. They come in massive rolls about the size of a car tire and the firecracker itself is about the size of a AA battery. When these things go off the sound is deafening. People here also have little regard to when and where they light these off. They just go outside of their house and look for a clearing in traffic and just throw them out into the road. Then for dinner we ate a nice dinner with the coordinators and their family. After that we went to town for the evening to watch fireworks and celebrate the new year with all the chinese.

New years day! Yesterday a Holly, Isaac and myself went to town to scope the scene. We thought it would be rather slow because everyone would be at home with their families, but actually the streets were packed and we saw this carnival in the park, full with rides and chinese fair food. I got some pictures of this I will post them soon. After walking about, we met the rest of the crew and walked down west street and saw the dragon dancers going to every business, blessing them for the coming year. On our way home we passed a fireworks stand and we bought some fireworks. I lit some of my bottle rockets off when we got back but saved the rest for the evening. Then last night we went to the schools basketball courts to watch a fireworks display. Which they were lighting off like 50 yards from us. I've never been so close to fireworks as they were being set off and it was weird actually hearing the explosion and then the lights not the other way around. After that we set off our fireworks and went to town for a bit. 

Love and China Part 2: Q&A with Luan by CE Founder Emlyn Lee

6/8/201111:58:44 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Emlyn's Expressions, Featured Participants, Love, Teach

This is the second part of a two-part blog series that I started yesterday, to highlight current, past, and future participants that have either found love abroad, or are traveling or will be traveling with their loved ones on a Cultural Embrace program. Since it is Chinese New Years today (Happy Year of the Rabbit!), I thought it would be appropriate to feature two couples teaching English in China.

Today’s featured participant is Luan Lierman. I knew her as Luan Ly when I started working with her to organize her teach placement in China. Now, three years later, she is still in China, independently tutoring, learning Chinese, and working on couple of side businesses. She recruited her husband, Van, and current Cultural Embrace participants, Robin and Jeff (who were featured in the first blog)to join her in seaside Yantai, China, and even got married to Van in China. I hope you enjoy this Q&A with Luan, the same way that I am always delighted to receive email updates from her, since she has embraced the cultures in many facets of her life. 
 

Q: Why did you go abroad alone while you were engaged to teach in China? How long were you dating before you left China? 
A: Van and I got engaged in January 2008, the start of my senior year of College. We had planned to get married that summer after graduation, and of course plans change. Half way through the year, every Senior wonders what the next step will be. At this time, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do so I applied for all kinds of positions thinking something might work out. It isn’t easy for a fresh out of College to find a job, a decent job in my field of International Business anyways. With not many opportunities in Washington, I really wanted to travel abroad. What a better place than China. I had taken a year of Chinese in College so I knew the basic but I needed the environment to improve my fluency. That’s when I went online and typed in “jobs in China.” About 99% were all teach in China positions. I knew I wasn’t prepared or had any experience in teaching, but I love trying new things so it was a leap of faith. 

After applying to several organizations, one being Cultural Embrace, I just waited for a reply. A couple weeks later I received a call from CE and they wanted to interview me for a teaching job in Yantai, China. I had no idea where Yantai was and at this time, I had only 3 months before I would depart. I talked to my fiancé at the time and said I was going to China for 6 months minimum, which was the contract. He told me that he found a temporary job in California, making wine. We were both excited and this is our time to explore the unknown. Of course this wasn’t easy and we had to think long and hard but finally we decided to do what we loved. I would go to China and he would go to Napa Valley. At this time, we had post-pone our wedding date to the following summer which felt wonderful. The pressure of planning and marriage was lifted off my shoulders. We both felt good about it. And this time will allow us to grow independently since we were together throughout College. We had been together for over 4 years. 

Q: Were you nervous having a long distance international relationship, and how did you deal with the long distance?
A: Long distance relationships are never easy. I hate it! The longest long distance we did was about 3 months when I studied abroad in China my junior year. That was actually one of the main reasons why I wanted to come back to China. During the studied abroad trip, my Chinese language ability improved tremendously. All I needed was to be in China. Needless to say, we didn’t like being apart but what can you do when two people have different wants and dreams. That’s why marriage is not easy but you go into the promise with the hope that love will lead the way. 

Q: How did your experience in China change when your fiancé came to teach in China too? 
A: When Van came to visit me in December, I was more than thrilled. It had been almost 4 months since I last saw him. He came on a 1 month tourist visa thinking he was going to hang out in China and then head to New Zealand for more wine making. That was the plan, and plans change. He decided to stay with me and earned more money in China than he would if he went to New Zealand. Money unfortunately was a main priority since we were planning on getting married that summer, 2009. 


Before Van came, I cried the first couple weeks I was in China. Not because I didn’t like being in China, but I was alone and teaching was overwhelming. I arrived in late early Sept. when I was supposed to be there in late August due to visa delay and complications. School started that first week of Sept. as well. I came on the 5th and school started on the 6th. Yup, not a whole lot of time to adjust. I made it through that first week with the thought of, “oh boy, what did I sign up for?” But then I told myself, “you can do it Luan!” I had met some friends during the first few weeks and we were in the same boat. Molly and Jack were also recent College graduates and decided to try China for a year. Molly was my maid of honor and Jack was Van’s best man in our China wedding. 


Van deciding to stay in China made my decision easy as well. I extended my contract to one year. Now, we’ve been in China almost 3 years. Time flies when you’re having fun. =)


Q: Tell us about your wedding in China, and was it a culture shock to you and spouse?
A: Our wedding in China was perfect. It was perfect because our apartment we moved to happened to be right next to a Christian church. We did not plan that. When we switched schools for the second semester so we could teach together, we moved downtown. We worked with a private tutoring center which gave us great accommodations, but we didn’t stay too long since our schedules were not ideal. 


Anyways, Van and I lived together in this apartment and our family back home wanted us to see if we could sign a marriage license before we starting living together. To please them we looked around, and even contacted the embassy of in Beijing to see if we could get a marriage license since our wedding was scheduled for July 25th,2009 in Washington. Well, it was useless. Two foreigners in China can’t get legally married in China. One of the many laws in China. So, it was Feb. and the one thing we could do is have the wedding ceremony at the church. We set the date for April 25th,2009. That gave me two months to plan and with the help of some Chinese friends, it was more than I had expected. 


We had a pastor that only spoke Chinese so we asked our friend Jack, a Chinese English teacher, to translate the ceremony. He was delighted to. My friend Brenda helped me arrange all the flowers, decorations, camera/video man, and pretty much for my right hand woman. She was amazing. I’m so thankful for all my friends I’ve made met in China. 


On the wedding day, everything was set to go. Brenda’s daughter Lorraine was our flower girl. Jerry, one of my students was the ring barrier. Molly and Jack were ready to go with their new dress and suit. I had printed 300 programs and by word of mouth invited all my students and their families. At about 6pm, my uncle from Beijing walked me down the aisle and that’s when I saw the crowd. It was breathtaking. Van was waiting for me at the altar, and I walked down smiling at all our students and friends. Most of our international friends also came. England, Italy, Australia…etc. It was an international event. The whole thing was captured on video. Our students had never seen an American wedding before and for some, it was their first time in a church. We felt like celebrities since everyone had their cameras and taking pictures of us. My seamstress, Mrs. Yang and her son also came. She had custom made my husband’s suit, and Molly’s maid of honor dress. She is very talented. It was a perfect day!

Q: Do you have any advice for living and traveling abroad with your companion?
A: If you and your partner love adventure and meeting friends from around the world, go abroad. It was the best decision I’ve made, besides getting married to Van. He and I are grown in our relationship and our marriage. We study Chinese together and practice at home. Now, after 2 years, we can communicate in Chinese. I actually never thought that would happen. It’s fun to have a secret language when we go back to the US. Van finds China a fascinating place and the language very interesting. He even enjoys listening to Chinese music and tries to sing along. I haven’t ventured there yet. =)


Q: What are your anticipated future plans?
A: Since we’ve been in China, we have made the most of it. After planning two weddings, China and America, I might say I was experienced in the wedding biz. My friends back home wanted to know if I could help them with their wedding by getting dresses and tuxedos made in China. I was more than happy to help. This gave me the idea to start my own business. Luan’s Custom Made Wedding Attire. My friends find it so convenient and much cheaper to have the clothes made in China by the talented seamstress, Mrs. Yang. All I need is the picture of what you want made and your measurements. It’s that easy and hopefully more people will see the benefits in this idea. I’m having lots of fun and I’ve always wanted to start my own business. Never thought this would happen but where there is a will, there is a way. I’m extremely grateful.


For future plans, we go back to Washington every summer to see family and friends. We haven’t had enough of China yet so we’re coming back for more. But this time, we’re moving to Guangzhou. We have friends there and they really want us to join them. We also have invested in our friend’s cosmetics company and are now shareholders. It’s a risk, but we did research and signed legal contracts so with no risk, there are no rewards. Life is about risk, trying something new, going places and meeting people. That’s what makes life fun and worth living. I would not have it any other way. We will come back to America eventually, but not yet. What’s the rush? Well, maybe a future child. =) That time will come. 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Make it Stop! by Teach in China Participant Robin

6/8/201111:53:27 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach

My opinions about snow seem to change on the daily, but today, I love love love it!!!! I woke up this morning to find that while I was sleeping, Yantai had gotten dumped on with about 6 inches or so. Well, at least that is dumping to me. Those of you who are from the Midwest are probably laughing at me, but this was a big deal. 

I was going to walk but after talking to Jeff I decided to take the scooter. “It’s just powder.” So I get down there and after freaking out about how white and beautiful everything was, and how deep my footprints were, I made my way over to the bike. I wish I had taken a picture. I had to sweep off a layer of snow that was about as tall as my hand if I stood it up on top of the bike seat. The whole basket was filled with snow. After I brushed everything off, the hard part was getting the aforementioned vehicle out of the snow that came up to my mid-calf. It went something like this. I sat on the scooter, did like a million point turn to get it faced the right direction, and then half walked, half rode it out to the street. The snow came up to the bottom of the part where you put your feet up, and you couldn’t tell that there was a curb because the snow had leveled everything out. I left some pretty amazing tracks behind me as I attempted to swim through the snow. 

I only made it about halfway to school before I hit the section where they had stopped plowing. I tried to flail through but felt like too much of an idiot to keep going, so I ditched the bike and walked the rest of the way to class. It was so beautiful! The sun was out, most of the snow was still white and untouched, and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to keep looking at how perfect it was, or if I wanted to run all over and mess it up because it was too perfect. But I was late to class as it was anyways, so I left the snow alone.

A few things to note about when it snows in China. Recently we found out they have a giant snow plow, but they only bust that out in extreme situations. Otherwise, it is good old fashioned man power. This means that they equip the freshmen with about two thousand shovels, and send them out into the streets. So today, as I was making my way back from class, I ran into a roadblock that went something like this. The snowplow had cleared about a 5 foot path in the road so that I could get by on my way to class. But now, the students had been sent out, so this entire 5 foot wide path was swarming with them. I literally had to honk and yell and half walk the bike through this group of students, who found it necessary to call out “hello!” and laugh at me as I scooted by. It was like a one woman parade. 

Another thing that I felt was particularly brilliant was the behavior of the few cars that decided to go out this morning. There were only about three that I saw moving, but all three of them decided it was necessary to park their cars in the middle of the only plowed section of the road. Needless to say, I did not enjoy having to make my own way through the snowdrift on either side of the vehicles. I can only hope that there was some good reason they felt the need to park there, but I think it is highly unlikely that there is.

So today, aside from a few hiccups, I like snow. I love the way it sits on the branches of the trees so that the whole hillside is white with green peeking through. I love how white and smooth it is before anyone has walked on it, and I love how it provides endless entertainment for me as I sit inside with my hot chocolate and watch the freshmen shovel, sweep, and chip away at it. 

Oh China. 

Bon Appetit by Teach in China Participant Robin

6/8/201110:25:36 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach

This is just a snapshot of some random moments that actually happen to us on a daily basis.

Jeff and I are at dinner at our favorite restaurant, which translates directly to "Special Restaurant." We eat there at least 3 times a week. At first glance you wouldn't even think that this place was a restaurant, it looks more like a glorified storage shed. But this place serves up some of the best fried eggplant, dumplings, stir fried cabbage, etc this side of the Yellow River. So there we were, enjoying our meal of sweet and sour pork and egg and tomato on rice. Well, almost enjoying it. There was one very pesky fly that wouldn't leave us alone. So Jeff helps himself to the electric fly swatter tennis racket thing that the lady keeps behind her counter where you pay, and brings it back to the table. For the next 5 minutes, Jeff is swinging this thing around the room, or trapping flies underneath his deadly weapon on the tables next to us, all while the rest of China is trying to eat their dinner. 

But this one particular fly proved very evasive. It was like watching some predator/prey documentary as Jeff would pause mid mouthful and swing at this fly until finally, with a might swing and a surprising ZAP! he got it. There was much rejoicing, at least on Jeff's part, as he tried to explain himself to the restaurant owner. We did get the thumbs up from the guy sitting next to us, while the rest of his table laughed it up at the ridiculous Americans.

Just another day in China....At least the zapped fly didn't land in our dinner...
 

Teaching Writing Has Its Perks by Teach in China Participants Robin and Jeff

6/8/201110:23:57 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach

 asked my students to practice writing paragraphs by writing about one of their favorite things to do. I got this gem as a response. 

"My favorite thing is play basketball. Playing basketball is a very cool thing becase I think if someone play basketball well, he or she will be pimp and easy to find boyfriend or girlfriend." 

Discover China by CE Founder Emlyn Lee

6/8/201110:00:56 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Culture Classes, Emlyn's Expressions, Teach, Volunteer

I'm rounding the corner for my final stretch in China, and heading to Shanghai before my return back to the States. I just spent the past 5 days in one of my favorite areas of China- the Guilin/Yangshuo area. This is one of the most aesthetically beautiful parts of China that provide inspiration to many artists, poets, and is printed on the 20RMB Chinese currency bill. Yangshuo has been known as a backpacker and adventure travel haven for years, and the infamous West Street has developed even more to be a hub for bars, cafes, restaurants, vendors, and discos to appeal to the Chinese and foreign markets alike.
 

The beautiful Guilin/Yangshuo area

The reason I came out here was to meet up with and check on our Discover China - Travel, Volunteer, and Cultural Exchange program. Cultural Embrace has partnered with a local non-profit to provide a wonderful blend of Chinese cultural, educational, adventurous, and humanitarian aspects in the area. We have created weekly programs to offer a diverse opportunity to experience the 'real' China, allowing our participants to: integrate within the local village, learn more about the Chinese culture, including several ethnic minority groups that live in and near the area, embark on some fun and adventurous recreational activities, and give back to the communities.

Our local coordinator, Isabella, is a delight, one of my favorite coordinators that we work with around the globe. She is a former English teacher in the Northern region, and genuinely cares about the community, participants, and village people. Plus, she's fun, adorable, and has the most pleasant 'hao de' (translated okay or alright) and smile that will make anyone reciprocate her happy demeanor. My brief description does not give justice to the a la carte week options you may choose, so go see for yourself, to gain a better understanding and experience of fascinating China.

Isabella!

Cultural Week: Participants will fly or take the train in to Guilin. You will be met by a local representative, and depending on the time of arrival, you will either overnight in downtown Guilin, or go straight down to Fengyan village. The gender divided bunk bed accommodations is a highlight of the Fengyan experience. Our base is home to an ancient building, over 100 years old, that has been recently renovated to include wi-fi, Western toilets, and hot water, yet preserves the ancient old ambience. All meals are included and cooked by a private chef and served family style. This cultural week orientates the traveler with Chinese culture, basic and essential Chinese phrases, social habits, and expectations of our participants in China. The week is filled with sight-seeing excursions, such as: Confucius and Buddhist temples, farm lands, ancient Chong Shen village, Li River cruises, and much more. Participants will get a chance to have tea and visit local homes and families, and a chance to meet local farmers, students, and decide what type of work they want to do if they are on the volunteer week.

Yangshuo Adventure & Travel Week: As I mentioned earlier, Yangshuo has been a backpacker and adventure traveler refuge in China. Rock climbing, mountain biking, white water rafting, tubing and much more are available during this weekdays, and your evenings are at leisure to relax your muscles, or check out the hip nightlife scene of Yangshuo. Our accommodations in Yangshuo are upgraded dormitories in a local private school. All of the foreign participants are situated on the 3rd and 4th floor of a hall, and have wi-fi, Western toilets, hot showers, and included meals.

Trekking Week: Three hours North of Yangshuo is Long Cheng, home to the Yao minority, and a spectacular area for trekking and hiking. We include a week-long trek, led by local minorities to maintain sustainability within the local community, and they will take you through farmlands, local villages, and the backroads of China. These spry older ladies, aka as Longhair villagers, will wear their minority clothing (not sure how they don't get hot), skipping along the steps without catching their breath. These ladies are also known as Longhair minority, since they do not cut their hair after 18 years old, and wear their floor-length hair in an unique bun. Every day's trek ranges 4-8 hours of leisure-paced hiking. You will overnight in comfortable, clean and conveniently located hostels/hotels each night, with all meals included.
 

Me with a Longhair villager

TaiQi/Kung Fu Week: There are two kungfu and tai qi academies located near Yangshuo district. Participants that want to learn, practice, and discover the beautiful art form and disciplinary workout will love this opportunity. Be the "Karate Kid" during your time in China, and learn from nationally praised kungfu masters. Participants will live on site in clean, comfortable, and Western friendly accommodations, with all meals included and instructions in Chinglish.

Volunteer Week: Giving back to the community is a major part of our mission and passion at Cultural Embrace, and we provide several opportunities for our participants to volunteer in China.

If you wish to stay in the Yangshuo/Fengyan area, you may opt to:

1. Tutor and teach basic oral English at public elementary, middle, or high schools (depending on your age preference)
2. Help local villagers and farmers during their harvest season (seasonal). 

I recommend joining our Teach in China programhttp://www.culturalembrace.com/4444669_24622.htm if you are able to commit 14+ weeks, as we may be able to offer you a paid stipend for your longer-term teach placement.

If you wish to spread your wings and visit other parts of China, we have a fantastic opportunity for you to work at a Panda Conservation Reserve in Chengdu, and help at a local orphanage in Henan Province. There is a local coordinator in each destination that will inform you of your duties, schedule, and expectations, and assist with all ground transportation, language translations, etc. Both sites have shared clean and comfortable accommodations for the foreign volunteers with all included meals.

All of these weeks are available throughout the year, and you may choose the weeks and types of travel and program you want to do. Come and join us to Discover China!
 

Playing Favorites to Teach Abroad by CE Founder Emlyn Lee

6/8/20119:54:27 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Emlyn's Expressions, Teach

I know parents aren't supposed to play favorites, yet since I gave birth to C.E., I admittingly have a favorite program...Teaching English abroad. My first international experience back in 1995 was to Teach in China, and it is the foundation of Cultural Embrace's existence. After I graduated with a liberal arts degree from the University of Maryland-College Park, I didn't know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. I actually had a nice corporate job, with a lot of potential to grow, but wearing pantyhose and heels were not appealing to me, and I needed a change from the metropolitan D.C. area. I contemplated Peace Corps, but not knowing where I'd be placed for two years, and the long application process was less appealing than taking the GREs and filling out grad school applications. So, I gave my first post-student 'networking' skills test a try, and contacted my Qi Yi Ma (Aunt #7) living in Wuhan, China, and asked if there were any opportunities for me to do something in China. 

I recall my mother calling me one evening, asking in her "Oh no you di'int" tone what I did, because Qi Yi Ma (Aunt #7) CALLED from China. This is pre-Skype, pre-mobile, probably pre-cordless phone days. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if poor Qi Yi Ma had to connect long distance through a local Chinese operator to call the States. Anyways, my networking skills worked, because Qi Yi Ma hooked me up with a teaching gig at an university in Wuhan, China. Three months later, I packed a huge suitcase and duffel bag, and flew across the globe to teach English at the Wuhan Iron and Steel University. 

Fast forward fifteen year (gulp-really?!), and I am back in China, but instead of being in front of the chalkboard, I'm working behind the scenes meeting with several of our ground suppliers and local coordinators for our teach, intern, volunteer, Chinese lessons, and group trips. I am checking up on our sites to make sure our ground operations are up to par and to discuss any issues we had from current and past participants. Plus, I'm finding new opportunities to expand our programs and services, as I want to China to expand their language training, in and out of their country. 
 

I play favorites with teaching abroad because I think it's one of the most rewarding and affordable ways to travel. What better way is there to live abroad, get paid a comfortable local salary (usually with housing included), give back and be involved within a local community? Plus, most schools in Asia (China and Thailand) offer airfare reimbursement stipends at the end of the teaching contract. And, let's not forget to add the stress free work schedule and lifestyle, with loads of opportunities to travel, and its positive enrichment for your personal, academic, and professional endeavors! 

Discover the Similarities- Share the Differences is my personal and career mantra, and since teaching abroad is my baby, I tend to put more attention and efforts with language training. Cultural Embrace plans to work with local communities abroad and in Austin to teach youths the ability to create change in their communities. We will strive to make a difference in the lives of others, all over the world, teaching them English through subjects discussing the fundamentals of leadership, civic engagement, and creativity. 

We have several opportunities for you to teach abroad. If you are able to commit for a full semester (~4 months) to one academic school year (~8 months with a vacation break), we will pre-arrange a paid teaching placement in Chile, Mexico, Guatemala, China, Thailand, and Vietnam. If you are only available for 1-12 weeks, volun-teaching is another great option. We will organize an unpaid placement within a school, community center, or with a local host family. This is another meaningful and affordable way to travel and immerse within the local community, with accommodations and most meals included. We offer placements throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Everything is pre-arranged and organized prior to your departure, so you will not stress out where to go, or what to do. Foreign language and experience are certainly helpful and more influential in the placement process, however, it is not a requirement. Some of our programs include an on-line TEFL training, or in-country orientation and training, or you may opt to take additional TEFL lessons. 

Check out our Teach program http://www.culturalembrace.com/teach.html, and in a few weeks, we will have our updated 2011 programs and details. There will be a lot more opportunities combined with cultural orientation, teaching training and excursions. I can't wait for you to experience one of my favorite things to do in this world!

Discover the Similarities... Share the Differences,
Emlyn
Founder of Cultural Embrace 

Final Entry by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20114:19:49 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Teach, Volunteer

What are three months in China like? Well, it’s an assortment of feelings and experiences. I started my journey in the city of Guilin. The first weekend was spent there, and I met a few people that I plan on keeping in touch with for some time. Along with meeting people, I discovered Guilin Noodles, a simple noodle dish with rice noodle, a few vegetables, and some meat.
 

I also had the chance to see some caves. I was on the tour with only one other English speaker. We saw some amazing caves and also stopped at a waterfall. This is where I saw the kindness of Chinese people. I also got a chance to be in about 30 high school aged children’s pictures.

After that first weekend, I left with Brit Chris, Georgina, and Julie. We headed to an incredibly small village called Fengyang. This was an experience that I will not forget. When I say small, I mean around 200 people. We lived in a 100+ year old house that was once owned by the wealthiest family in the village.

While in Fengyang, we went on various tours and even taught English to the village children for a week. That was a far cry from the teaching that I would be doing at the end of my trip. The kids were a mix of crazy little hellions, star struck girls that looked at me with longing eyes, and children that actually were interested in learning English.

The things that I will take away from those first few weeks are my first encounters with Chinese people in their own country, the crazy party that the local government officials held for us, and it was complete with an absorbent amount of Bijou. It is the drink that I would later grow to despise. I also met Isabella, a very sweet Chinese lady that was in charge of the whole program that we were a part of.

Next in the adventure was Yangshou. This was a rough time because of the weather. It is a great town and I highly recommend that people visit and stay at Monkey Jane’s hostel. It rained almost the whole time. We got to do some rock climbing, bike riding in the rain, that looking back was a lot more fun than it was while riding. I have funny stories about a motorcycle taxi driver trying very adamantly to get me to buy a massage from a girl, only to drop me off at the whore house. I walked home in the rain from there.

The time I spent at Monkey Jane’s will be some of the most memorable. I met quite a few good people there and had great times playing beer pong with people from around the world.

After the first week in Yangshou, we headed off to the rice fields. It was a long bus ride, but I was with my crew, so it wasn’t too bad. The one thing about traveling alone through China is that you have to be somewhat careful where you fall asleep. Not that everyone is out to steal your stuff, but I didn’t take out anything of value on a bus when I was alone. In the off chance I fell asleep. That takes me to this, while in China, for the most part, I felt incredibly safe. Many people I talked with viewed me as a guest in their country and therefore felt responsible for watching out for me.

Back to the rice fields. They were amazing and I really enjoyed myself the first and second day. That was despite that storms that kept rolling through. I still got some good pictures, but for some reason halfway through, I jacked my ISO up to 3200, and everything after that was really grainy. Not cool when you are excited to see what you shot and you get them on your computer to discover most of them are garbage.

On the third day, Brit Chris woke up with a swollen infected eye. I have no idea what happened, but it was pretty red, and he said it was painful. I went to the pharmacy and got him some medicated eye drops. Upon my return, I ran into Georgina, who had spent half the night vomiting. After talking it over with the group, we decided that it would be the best idea to head back to Guilin. Anyway, the World Cup was on and we didn’t want to miss it.

That was the group’s last weekend in Guilin, and we all parted our own ways. I met some new friends at our hostel that were headed to Yangshou, which is where I was headed for the following week. I got them set up at Monkey Jane’s and got a free shirt out of the deal. That week I did two days of rock climbing, though the first day was rough. I was a bit under the weather due to some overconsumption of spirits the night before. Regardless, it was fun

Halfway through the week, I took the British couple with me to Fengyang for a festival that we were invited to. I met Vicky and Lee in Guilin and they were the two that I took to Monkey Jane’s. This little festival was ridiculous! I was on some Chinese news station, and I saw Lee drink more bijou than I knew was humanly possible. He was also quite possibly the most hung over I had ever seen anyone. It was a great couple of days!

The next week was spent in Hunan Province at an orphanage. This part of the trip had the most impact on me. When I got there, I was sooo out of my element. I would say that there was about 60 kids there when I arrived, but some left throughout my time there. To clarify, this was not a normal orphanage; it was more of a boarding school for very poor children, that is subsidized by an American non profit. That being said, the conditions were still not very good.

Around the third day there, I had a little breakdown in my room. I couldn’t stop thinking about how unfair life is, and how these kids really had nothing. It wasn’t until after that little episode that I realized these kids had it much better here than at their homes. Even though to me the food was incredibly minimal, it was better than nothing. I started to feel better about the situation as time went on. I realized that I wasn’t sent there to feel bad for them, I was sent there to make their lives a little better for that one week. It was a little rough because of the heat. Most of them went to school during the day, and the rest kept retreat in their rooms to stay cool.

When we did play, it was all about basketball, and I had a great time with them. I will remember a few of the kids specifically. One came from a mother that had lost nine children before him. She couldn’t speak, or maybe she could, but I was told that no one could understand her. The boy, had a pretty bad mental handicap, but he loved hanging out with me. He never said one word to me. He would just smile and look up at me. Another kid was a girl that followed me a lot and always wanted to hold my hand. She was about 6 and just cute as a button. She knew that I didn’t speak Chinese, but that didn’t stop her from speaking it to me. She loved to talk. That was a great week looking back. My parents and I donated enough money to buy all the children a new pair of shoes, so hopefully they will enjoy them.

Once I left the orphanage, I headed to Changsha to catch a flight to Chengdu. I was informed a few days before my departure that Isabella would be joining the group. Georgina was also going to be there, so I had a few familiar faces to look forward to.

When I got to Chengdu, I had a chance to relax for a few days. I tried to buy a new camera, but failed when they didn’t take visa. This was actually a blessing because I wasn’t paid my GI Bill for that month and would have been in the hole a good amount.

Looking back, there were more photos that I wanted to get, but shooting stuff everyday kind of burned me out at the time. Like right now, I spent the weekend in Beijing and took around 600 photos. I guess I love taking them, but without a place to sit down and go through them, it gets to be a little much. I think when I get back I will be much more into it. I just need a break after getting these last pictures edited. I took around 10,000 pictures in 3 months, and have deleted about 7,000. Although, I’m on a plane right now from Vancouver to Portland, and I wish my camera weren’t packed away because some of these islands have amazing cloud formations around them…

Back to China… Working with pandas outside of Ya’an, near Chengdu, was absolutely amazing! These creatures had such funny personalities and I am still shocked at how they were all so different. I was very fortunate that I got to feed them, play with the little ones, and clean their cages. Well, maybe not the last part. I also had the chance to hang out with some really cool people. I took a lot of pictures there, and even got some great waterfall shots.

After Chengdu, I flew to Yantai, via Beijing. Yantai was also awesome. About 10 minutes walk from the dorm was the beach. We discovered a great little restaurant that looked sketchy, but was awesome. They had the best eggplant I have ever had.

On this adventure with me were Katherine and Catherine from Middlebury College in Vermont. It is a small private college in Vermont. I found the to be much less stuck up than I had imagined kids from small private schools. Also, there was Kristin from Seattle. Her parents are from Hong Kong, and everywhere we went, people thought she was our translator. Truth be told, her Chinese was about as good as the K/Catherine’s, which is about 20 times better than mine. Then again, I have never studied Chinese.

Our purpose was to teach kids from the ages of 5-25 English. Most were Chinese, but I had some Korean students as well. In the upper class were some Brazilians. My kids were awesome. I really think I had the best class. They were well behaved, but just a little shy. My star student was Tom. He really stepped it up and volunteered for everything I asked.

I am not a teacher, so everything was trial and error. Many times, I thought I had a good idea, only to take it to the classroom and have it fail miserably. One such example was teaching the kids about the 7 natural wonders of the world. I even had plans to take it to other natural wonders. They just didn’t care. I made them suffer through it and came up with something different for the next class. It was all part of the process.

During our first few weeks, there was a group of Russians that were staying at the hotel. They ended up being really nice and we all hung out from time to time. I even learned a few Russian words. I’m not sure how the girls felt about them, but I enjoyed going out with them.

Yantai was a great place to be for five weeks, but as the end of my trip grew near, the more I was ready to get back to my routine in the states. That is one thing in life I need to stay sane, routine.

After leaving Yantai, I went to Beijing for the weekend. While there, I went on a tour of the “ancient” part of the Great Wall, went to Tian Na Men Square, and the Forbidden City. The low point of this trip was forgetting to bring enough water to the Great Wall, and being severely dehydrated the next day. I had a headache that may have been the worst I have ever had.

The tour of the wall was great. I’m sooo happy that I went on that specific tour because there were no crowds or even other people to move through the tour in a herd-like fashion. Some of the views were just amazing.

The Forbidden City, honestly, wasn’t that cool. I had scene many temples, so it wasn’t that great to see more of the same types of buildings. It was cool to see Mao’s painting at the entrance. Walking through was just a barrage of harassment. People wanting to give me tours, or sell me crap didn’t want. I never blame people for trying to make money, but when they are sneaky about it, I despise them. For instance, the two girls that wanted to practice their English. If I would have gone to get tea with them, they would have scammed me into paying a ridiculous amount for a few cups of tea. This happens all over the world though, and I’m sure it’s nothing new.

Beijing is a cool city that I would love to go back to. I really saw very little, and since the Olympics, many renovations have happened throughout the city. The air even seemed clear and clean while I was there. I was a big fan of the modern architecture that has gone up all over the city too.

When I got back from the Forbidden City, I checked my flight itinerary. I noticed that the date was incorrect for my flight back to Yantai. It said the ticket was booked for the 19^th, and at the time, it was the 16^th. I hopped on the internet and looked at the flights for the day. The last flight to Yantai left two hours from that time. I was already packed, so I grabbed my bag, and headed to the airport. When I got there, I went to the ticket counter. She had told me that there was one ticket left, so I bought it. I even got a refund on my other ticket, jackpot!

When I got back to Yantai, I checked into the Ramada. I had booked a moderately priced room, and when I opened the door, I realized that when it said “king bed suite,” they meant a full on suite. The bed was in a loft area up a nice set of stairs. It even had a full living room and kitchen. Though the bed looked like it would be comfortable, it was pretty hard.

The next day I got up at 7AM and finished packing everything up. After that, I headed to the airport and went home.

That’s it. For more information and details, visit my blog atwww.cschave.blog.com and for pictures go towww.flickr.com/photos/cschave

Thanks for reading… 

Beijing by Volunteer and Teach Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20114:16:39 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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Well, I made it to Beijing today. We left the school in the middle of a torrential down poor! The roads were flooding bad, as Yantai has nothing in the way of water run off. It must not rain that much there. Some spot I could hear the water slapping against the doors on the van. We made it though. I flew out with the C/Katherines and our flight was delayed by about an hour I think. Couldn’t say for sure because I really never looked at the time. The flight did go quickly. I am pretty sure the pilot had the throttle hammered down the whole flight!

When I got to the the Beijing Airport I said goodbye to the girls. I was late for my check-in, so it quick. Now I am at the hostel and have booked a tour for the Great Wall in the morning. Good stuff. Lots of pics to post after that, I’m sure!

Chris out! 

The Fantastic Adventures of Jimmy by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20113:59:28 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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As usual school has been keeping me busy. I will do my best to make this post entertaining. I have finished the paper for my first internship and turned it in, YAY! In total, it was 58 pages. Now I have to start on a ten page paper that is due by the 11^th. I think I should be fine.

This week I have had two afternoon extracurricular activities. They have been conversation activities. Basically, I choose a topic and kids can come into my classroom and have a discussion. I chose sports on Tuesday as I mentioned in the previous post. Yesterday, I chose “Extreme Sports!” I downloaded a bunch of Podcasts from i-tunes. I had freestyle motocross, snowboarding, wakeboarding, parkour, and BMX. It was nice to be able to actually show them this stuff. Trying to explain a boat that is built specifically for wakeboarding is difficult when their concept of a boat is strictly utility. I forgot to get some bull riding footage though.

Last night we went to Druid’s, an Irish pub. It was interesting. It was lady’s night, so the girls were excited to go. I really wasn’t very excited. When we walked in, I noticed that the only girls that were there were the waitresses. Needless to say, we were pretty popular. Well, I wasn’t…

I noticed this short Mexican guy showing another guy his new tattoos. They were on his shoulders, and obviously very fresh. He turned and I saw something familiar, the Star of Texas bordered with , “The State of Texas.” I asked him where he was from and instantly made a new friend. Now, by the looks of him, Jimmy isn’t the type of person that you want befriending right away. He pulled up a seat, then asked if he could join.

Jimmy is an oil driller. He was obviously a Texan with his wranglers, boots, and a denim button up draped over a classy grey wife beater. He was just missing the cowboy hat. Instead, he was wearing an out of place Nautica cap. The good news is that he had it flipped inside out with the bill up. Classic!

Now, Jimmy was a talker. He told us about all the places he had been in the world. Africa, Australia, Columbia, South East Asia, and the list goes on. We heard about how he’s has partied all over the world and Dubai was the best. Maybe it was Bahrain? His stories started getting a little strange. He was telling us how he saw a soldier on the border of Columbia mowing down people with a machine gun. And how when he was in a part of Africa, he saw semi trucks driving over the dead corpses that were littered all over the road.

It was about this point that a group of the Russian girls from the dorm showed up. I made the conscious decision to turn away from Jimmy and talk to the Russians. I did however hear him talking about a 30 foot anaconda that was killed when he was in the jungles of Africa. He said the villagers had a feast. I would really like to record all of his stories and write about his life. I would call it “The Fantastical Adventures of Jimmy.”

Not too long after I relocated my attention, the girls I went with decided to head back. It was still pretty early, so I told the Russians I would just stay out with them. Here’s where the night turned, well, not bad, but not great. I had said something that I don’t even remember now, but someone heard me wrong and said, “did you say club?” I promise all of you, I did not say club. It was too late, there was no turning back.

We ended up going to a place called Bar 88. We had gone there last weekend, and it was strange. This time we had the opposite issue. Instead of creepy old guys, there were creepy young guys. When I say young, I mean these kids were probably 14 or 15. I’m pretty sure they were Russian too.

The area around the stage was pretty slow, so I took it upon myself to be the life of the party, as I have done many times here in China. At one point I was singing into a microphone with a DJ that sings from time to time. By the time I was ready to leave, I think I had about 15 or more people get up onto the dancing stage they have there. It was fun, but I’m a bit tired today from staying out late.

School was good today. Tonight is the talent show and the costume party. This will be interesting. I don’t have anything to dress up in, so… Not going to get dressed up. 

Hard Choices by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20113:32:15 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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A couple days ago the coordinator left and brought back a boy, two girls, and their mother. She was giving her children to the orphanage. Most of the time she had a look on her face as if she was contemplating her decision. Then, we would randomly catch eyes and I would smile, then she would smile back. That was about the only time I really saw her with a smile on her face. She came up to me and started speaking, but I don’t speak Mandarin, so I didn’t know what she was saying. One of the men came over and explained that she was explaining how knew she was making a good decision because I would teach them English so they could make something of themselves one day. 

Where am I? by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20113:30:13 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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Day two at the orphanage is going pretty well so far. I had a delightful breakfast of rice porridge. It was all good until I skyped my parents and they were eating crab legs. Oh how I miss eating in excess!

Most of the kids went off to school and the two guys that semi know English went off to visit some families. The rest of the kids are watching a movie on a small computer screen.

I felt incredibly bad a bit ago. I pumped up my soccer ball (football for the Brits) and went out onto the basketball court to kick it around. When I got out there, I noticed a young boy that was missing his foot. His other foot had some toes missing. So basically, I walk out to play a sport that is solely based on have two feet right in front of a one footed kid. I was trying to think of stuff I could do to keep him company. I’m going to start by grabbing my phrase book and seeing how our communication will work out. If I can find him some crutches or a wheel chair I may take him for a walk with some of the others up the road so I can take pictures.

Later that day…

So I just took my phrase book out there, which wasn’t much help at all. I also took a deck of cards and we played a game. Not sure what it was, but I think we just both made up the rules as we went along. I ended up giving the little guy the cards. He smiled really big and said thank you.

After that I helped two older children with their English. I thought that they would have been farther along, but it is hard to say how long they have all been in a decent school.

My emotions are starting to catch up with me. I’m having troubles figuring out this whole situation. For me to be here, I have to sacrifice. No variety in food, kids missing limbs, poor medical care (in China), kids wearing the same clothes everyday, and just an all around kind of depressing environment. For them, it is much more positive. I have grown up a privileged life in the US. I honestly feel like such an asshole for all the times that I complained growing up because I got pancakes two days in a row, or didn’t get something I wanted. I know a completely different life that is filled with consumption. These kids would be in a much worse situation and this is the positive part of their lives. So for me to be here, to have someone else give love, is an incredible experience for them. Two children in particular always want a hug from me or to hold my hand or sit on my lap. And here I am being selfish thinking about how bad they have it. I can honestly say that I have never been in a situation like this. I look at the boy that is missing a foot and all I can feel is sorry for him, but when he looks at me, he just sees someone to look up to, and for no reason other than I am the tallest person here, white, and change clothes everyday.

These feelings are exactly why I couldn’t go into certain careers like social services. I can’t detach myself from the emotion that I feel. Deep down, I know that I should just try to make this week the best for them as I can. Then take that away with me. It’s very difficult. I would like very much to get them all a present when I leave. Something like new shoes for all of them. I need to talk to the coordinator and see what he thinks.

Later in the day…

Just had dinner and went for a walk with the kids. It brought my spirits up a bit. They are the sweetest kids and they surprisingly get along well for kids. It is kind of funny because everyone assumes I speak Chinese. I just smile and shrug my shoulders.

Tomorrow I am going to help some more kids with their English, so that should be good for them. Just downloaded Invictus, so I will watch that in a while. 

Goodbye Yangshou, I'll Miss you! by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20113:27:42 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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Today is my final day in Yangshou. I will catch a bus at 7 tomorrow morning and head off to Hunan Province. When Chris left it was kind of a bummer just because it is nice to travel with someone, and he was a great wingman. Now that I am leaving it’s a little sad. I like Yangshou, and though these last few days have been filled with late nights and early mornings, I could easily get into a healthy routine here. I’m not sure how Monkey Jane does it. She meets all these travelers and then they leave only to be replaced by a new group. It’s not a life I envy. At least now days we have online networking to keep in contact with people. That being said, I am excited to get up to Hunan and meet some new people. C’est la vie! 

USA USA USA!!! and england... by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20112:44:48 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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Sweet mother of Mary! I am excited that the US won their game last night. We had a lot of chances to score, and finally made it. I screamed like I have never screamed before. That would have been fine, but I was one of two people yelling, and I am pretty sure I looked like an idiot.  I didn’t care, we won!

Also, a shout out to Brit Chris and his country’s win. We’re both going through buddy!

So yesterday morning we woke up at the house in the village. It was a great morning and the sun was shining. I walked around and took some pictures of the house for Isabella. I felt fine after all the bijou, but Lee was not doing so well. Just a reminder, he drank more bijou than I thought possible the night before.  He got up and got breakfast. After him, Vicky, and myself went for a walk. Lee was hurting pretty good the whole time. He made a couple mad dashes for the bushes. Poor fella getting bullied into drinking bijou. After our walk I took care of some editing and took it easy.

Around three, we left for the town to attend more festivities. On the way it started pouring down rain. We decided it would be best just to get back to Yangshou, so we  got a taxi back. The afternoon was fairly uneventful up until the game.

Today, I am going to do more rock climbing. I feel much better today then I did Tuesday when I went.
Not a bad dinner. Notice all the cups with red liquid, BIJOU!!!
Lee and his drinking partner. Both drunk at that point. Don't worry, it truly is part of the culture. 

Goodbye Guilin, Goodbye Brit Chris by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20112:30:48 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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Last day in Guilin. Actually, we’re leaving about 1 or 2, so it’s not even a full day. After the rain slowed up a bit yesterday, we went back to the mall to watch Shanghai with John Cusack. I’m not sure I would have picked him for that part, but he did a good enough job I guess.

Before the movie, we went back to the arcade. It got a little ridiculous. We were on a mission to win tickets so we could buy stupid crappy prizes. It was all about the fans. The fan I won had mugs of beer on it. It’s pretty awesome! We also went back on the bumper cars and I thought Lee about knocked some younger girl out. He hit her straight on. It was pretty amazing, and quite possibly the funniest thing I saw all day. Those Chinese kids are resilient.

After the movie we went back to the hostel to regroup. We met a Canadian girl, Holly, and her English friend, James. They were really cool, so we invited them to go to the Irish bar with us. It was a great addition to our little group. Nothing to speak of at the Irish pub. Just watched the game and headed back to the hostel and watched the next game in our room.

Now it’s morning and I’m leaving Chris here when I go back to Yangshou. He’ll hop on a plane to Mongolia tonight. I have been really lucky to have him on my program here. We were talking about it this morning and both of our trips would have been drastically different without the other.

Now I have to get ready to catch a bus.

Also, my Dad pointed out that I had a sentence that just ended in a previous post that didn't make sense and a misused "than" or "then." Sorry for that, but I can't find it in the blog to change it. 

USA!!! by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20112:27:29 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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Got back to Guilin yesterday. It is nice to be back in civilization. I’m not ready to move out into the country and become a recluse. We’ll save that for later in life. Our new friend we met the first night in the rice terraces was on the same bus and sat next to me. His name is Thomas and he is from Ohio, but lives in San Luis Obispo, California. SLO is one of my favorite areas in California. He decided the stay in Guilin last night rather that go back to Yangshou. We went to dinner around 7, and after secretly getting everyone lost, I found my way to where we wanted to go. When we got to the restaurant, there were a couple of French girls that sat next to us. They sat in front of me on the bus from Yangshou to Guilin on Wednesday. I tried to explain this to them in French because they didn’t speak English. It ended up becoming a little awkward. They had no idea what I was trying to say. They had a guy with them on the bus that was also French and that is how I knew where they were from. They didn’t know that and I’m pretty sure I was just some strange American trying to speak broken French to them. For the World Cup game we went to an Irish bar. Things got a little crazy. The US game was second. We played Slovenia I think. It ended up being 2-2, but the US went into the second half with 0, so it was pretty sweet that they came back to draw. Two other Brits and a Dutchy from the hostel met with us and watched the games. They ended up being really cool and made a great addition to Chris, Amanda, Thomas, and me. After the US game, Amanda and I ventured out and tried to find some food. What we found was a group of 15, 40 something year olds that were having a sort of class reunion. Ken spoke the best English, and when we sat down, they ordered a crate of beer. They thought Amanda was my girlfriend and wanted to know how to get such beautiful girlfriends. I told them they had to come to Texas, or get a lot of money and buy them. It was actually a great experience. They all had their shirts off, and insisted that I do the same. I did… They had a bowl full of horse meat and I really wish I had been in the mood to try it. After missing out on the horse steak in Iceland, I have really wanted to try it. I think the horse is much better in Iceland though. Amanda and I eventually broke away from them and made our way back to the Irish pub. Upon our return we were greeted with popcorn because we had all ordered more than 24 beers. I guess that is pretty awesome, free stuff! At 2:30 AM, England play Algeria. Amanda and I ended up falling asleep on the booth cushions, only to be woken by random screaming from the Brits. After the game we took a taxi back to the hostel. On the way back I had to listen to them complain about why they should have won. They ended up drawing 0-0. Good stuff! 

Finally, Climbing!!! by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20112:12:59 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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Woke up this morning and rain rain rain!!! Chris and I woke up and got breakfast. I was supposed to go to a traditional Chinese doctor today and have him tell me that I drink too much and eat too much spicy food, but that didn’t happen, on account of the rain. Westerners drink too much according to the Chinese.  After the plans got cancelled, Chris and I went back to the room and he read and I edited photos. That lasted about 5 minutes and we both fell back asleep. We woke up for lunch at 11:30 and were told that climbing was not cancelled… Yay!!!

So we went downtown to the climbing shop and met up with our instructors. We all took a van out to the half cave that we were to climb. Seeing as it rained all morning, most people climbing went to the same spot. When we got there, Alex, our instructor, climbed up a pretty intense spot and clipped in the rope. I went first and got up about 2/3 of the way up. Next went Chris, and he made it almost to where I did. After was Huey and he made it about where I did. Later we learned that was a pretty difficult climb and most experienced climbers didn’t make it past where we were. When Chris was climbing there was an older American guy that showed up. Apparently, he “knows” everything there is to know about climbing, or at least he thought he did. So he started trash talking about Chris. Chris asked what he should do next and the guy said, “go home!” He was quite a dick.

We only climbed two times because it was incredibly tiring. I will go back next week for a few days. It was actually really fun, but since I don’t climb a lot, my strength is pretty much not there.

Tonight Isabella took us out to dinner and it was very good. After dinner we went to a couple Aussie bars. The second had trivia night and my team got second. A little disappointing, but it could have been worse. After trivia, we went to Lucy’s to watch the rest of the Portugal v Ivory Coast game. It was a good game, but ended in a draw.

NEW DAY

Today we woke up and headed to Guilin, where I am now. We are about to leave for the rice terraces as soon as the rain lets up. I won't have internet until Friday, but I am taking my computer, so I can write at night and edit pictures. Friday I should upload a slew of stuff. Until then... 

20 Yaun Bills Y'all by Teach and Volunteer in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20112:10:40 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

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I want to start this post with some of the new music that I have downloaded and listening to on my trip…

Miike Snow. He’s from Sweden

Laura Veirs. Very relaxing voice

Crystal Castles. I accidently double clicked buy on I-tunes, and after listening to it a few time I really like it.

Ratatat. Their latest release

Stornoway. A few guys that went to Oxford in England… Very talented!

World Cup time! We went to Lucy’s last night and watched all three games. Argentina probably played the best. US tied with England, which is absolutely amazing! Brit Chris was not happy at all! When we scored he stormed off to the bathroom. In all fairness the ball should not have gone in. Those Brits take their ‘football’ very seriously. It was a lot of fun watching the games, but we had to stay up until 5 in the morning. Today I am extremely tired…

Between games Chris and I walked around and I took some pictures of him. I have wanted to take night portraits so I can practice using my flash. Besides getting harassed by multiple tuck tuck drivers soliciting us for ‘women company,’ it went well. I think I got some good stuff, but we will see.

Today, we all slept in until around 11 because of the late night. After a quick brunch, we went to Xingping and took a bamboo raft ride. It was a lot of fun and the clouds complied and nestled into the hills very nicely. I will let the pictures speak for the boat ride. Basically, we rode out to this island then road back. On the way we saw the scene that is on the back of the 20 Yuan bills.

When we got to the island there were many people waiting to sell us random crap and food. All of the food was out of the river, so I figured I would give it a try. First, I had deep fried shrimp that was good, but I just ate the whole thing, head and all… Apparently, I was supposed to take the head off. Next was baby crabs. They were very crunchy and nothing like the delicious Dungeness from home in Washington. After that I went for the shrimp cakes. They were good too. Finally was fried fish. These really didn’t have much of a flavor. It was like chewing on scales and fish bones, delightful!

Along with the local river food, there were cormorant birds, which fisherman train to hunt fish for them. The one thing that took me by surprise was the massive snake with a shirtless man dancing around with it wrapped around him.

After the island we just rode back in the boat and it was pretty bumpy, but we survived.

On the way home we caught a bus and it was packed like sardines. I sat on a bucket. Right before we left an old man sat next to me. He said something and everyone started to laugh. We had about a 20 minute conversation. He would tell me something and I would say dui, which means okay (not sure on that spelling). People around us thought it was hilarious that we were just going back and forth. They had no idea what I was saying, especially the old man. I ended up giving him a yellow Livestrong bracelet and he gave me a big rotted tooth smile. He was pretty happy about that. It is funny because the Chinese people that I have met really don’t accept gifts very easily, but this old man just grabbed it up and put it on. I was pretty happy about the whole thing. He invited us to his house to have some bijou, which would have been great, but we had to pass unfortunately. Now we’re back and I’m exhausted!

Tomorrow we start rock climbing and I am really excited for that. 

Rain Rain Go Away, Again by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20112:07:39 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach, Volunteer

 The past two days have been pretty tiring. I might even add Monday in there too with the bike ride. Yesterday morning we went to Cherry Blossom Paradise. Unfortunately, the massive amount of rain from the night before made them close the cave. Then again, I have been to two others, so I’m probably not missing out too much.  We took a boat ride around the area and it was fairly interesting. They would drive the boat close to these shacks and they all had different themes. One was a jungle tribe from Hunan Province. It was basically a bunch of 18-year old kids dancing around with animal hides on. It was a little cheesy, but I did get some good pictures there. The cool thing was that they had all these different shops set up with knick-knacks from the minority tribes. After that we went back to the house for lunch.

When we finished eating we took a bus to a small village outside of Yangshou to see hand made silk fans be made. The lady there was very nice and I did want to buy a painting that her father had made, but we were trekking back and I didn’t want to ruin it in my backpack.

The trek back was interesting. It was about 7 or 8 miles on country roads. We also had to cross a river on a boat. Half of the time it was raining, and the rest of the time it was misty. It was really good though, and even though I probably didn’t get many good pictures, it was very beautiful. It is hard to capture a lot of this stuff because you can only use one of your senses when looking at photographs. It has been so cloudy here that it ruins a lot of the pictures. Needless to say, I was exhausted when we got back, and I’m still tired. We ended up going to Lucy’s last night to use the Wi-Fi, but it ended up being pretty slow. I’m downloading Animal House so Chris can see what a real American University is like.

When we got back last night I had a email from Hannah, one of the English girls that was here when I arrived. She is in Tanzania working on a community-building project. It was interesting to hear what she was up to.

Today was a lot of work too. We road bikes out to Moon Hill in the pouring rain. We ended up going to Big Banyan National Park first. It’s basically a tree that has multiple trunks coming out of the ground and joining a massive tree in the middle. It was something I had never seen, but it was pouring as I mentioned so the camera stayed in the bag. We walked across a bridge that had water flowing over the top of it from all the rain that has come down in the past few days. I thought it was a horrible idea, but a lot of people were doing it an they seemed to be making it across fine. Horrible logic in justifying why I could make it across, but I’m here to tell about it.

We had lunch after and it was another typical Chinese lunch. A whole fish, a lot of vegetables, eggplant, rice, and tea. As usual it was good. The best part was just getting indoors and drying off a bit. The woman there gave us directions to Moon Hill and we were off.

Did I mention that our guide, Percy, is horrible with directions and he is always asking other people along the way? It always works out fine in the end. The lady did give us bad directions this time though and we went about a half-mile out of the way. When we got to Moon Hill an older lady who was trying to sell us waters greeted us. We had full bottles so were weren’t looking to buy, but it didn’t stop her from following us the hill, the whole way. It was a hell of a hike and I was really impressed that this lady didn’t even break a sweat. She said that she was a farmer and pointed out her farm from the top of the hill. When we got up there it was very impressive to learn that there are 16 different climbing routes over the archway.  Moon hill is essentially a 150-foot open arch at the top of a hill. I was proud to learn that the first person to make it over was in fact an American. Not surprising! It started to rain pretty hard again on the way down, so the steps were pretty slippery. When we got down I slipped the old lady 10 Yuan, which isn’t even a dollar, but I think she really appreciated it.

The bike ride back was good. We took a different route through the countryside and it rained off and on. It was quite stunning as usual…

When we got back to Yangshou, we were riding through town and I looked over to see a guy fishing a man's wallet out of his pocket with a pair of chop sticks. He got it and turned around then ducked into an alley. I really wasn't sure what was going on until after the fact. I thought the two of them were friends just messing around. I kind of feel bad that I didn't go back and point the guy out. They were both Chinese, and I thought it was funny that the guy would target another Chinese person.

Now we’re back and I’m showered, and exhausted…
 

You're welcome Yangshou! by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20111:18:38 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach, Volunteer

This weekend was kind of a break from technology for me. I went to the city of Yangshou, and it proved to be quite a great weekend. Upon arriving I ran into Hannah and Hughie, along with two others that are in the same program that I am. I had thought that Hannah had already gone to Africa, so it was a wonderful surprise to see her again. The four of us that are staying in the village all went into the city on Friday. It was suppose to be a one night trip, but Chris and I got talked into staying an extra night. We ate a lot of great food and enjoyed the gangs company. We went a club on Friday night, and some how I got on a stage and was dancing and getting the crowd amped up. It apparently worked because a lot more people started dancing. Saturday the two girls staying in the village with us headed back, so Chris and I saw them off and went to get another hotel. We found one for 40 Yuan, or a little under $6. Everything is so cheap. Somehow I got pen ink on one of the two shirts that I took with me, so Chris and I bartered and got a couple of knock off Lacoste shirts for around $8 each. They look very real though. Saturday night we kept it much more tame. Chris and I went to an Aussie bar and met a kid from Wales. Eventually, we met up with the others and went to another Aussie bar and then back to the night club that we were at the previous night. A Michael Jackson impersonator performed an almost good impersonation. It was pretty cheesy though. The DJ at this club is a dorky Chinese guy with big white 80’s style seeing glasses and a wicked sweet bowl cut. Every time I saw him it just made me laugh. Hannah and I went upstairs which overlooks the rest of the bar, so we could see the MJ performance better. Chris and the Welsh kid came up and sat next to us. The next thing that happened was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. They both grabbed two ¾ full beers that were sitting there and chugged them. Then the Welshy looked behind and saw a half drank beer on a table. He went over and chugged that. Then they both spotted a couple of untouched shots. Down the hatch those went. This was all without saying hi to us, and took place within one minute. Hannah and I ended up leaving to get some food, but Chris told me today that they found an almost full bottle of red wine and drank that. Crazy kids from the UK! The very cheap hotel we stayed at ended up being a horrible idea. We could have spent a little more and got the same room we had Friday. The new place had AC, but no remote to work it. I’m pretty sure there were bed bugs, and an endless supply of mosquitoes. Needless to say, I am not happy with the ridiculous amount of bites I got last night. Adding to that, I shut the window to keep out the bugs, and then it got to around 85 degrees in the room. That would have to be one of the most uncomfortable nights of sleep that I have every had… Ever! It’s all good because the whole weekend was great fun and I will not remember the bad stuff in the long run. Tomorrow I am teaching two English classes so I am headed to bed… Until next time… 

Sunset over Fengyang Village by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/20111:05:29 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach, Volunteer

Today was quite an adventure. We left the hostel around nine in the morning and headed over to the bus station. On the way I picked up some snacks for the bus ride. One of the treats I got was a bean skin thing with some sort of sauce. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad. Next was the beef stick. It wasn’t even as good as a Slim Jim, but then again, pack enough crap into a tube and it’s bound to be good.

The first time I have felt really cautious of my surroundings was at the bus station. Two sketchy looking guys followed us in. I kept watching then as we made our way into the station and made sure they knew that I was watching them. At one point I turned to the other Chris, from England, and pointed directly at the two guys and said, “watch those two.” They were getting awfully close to one of the girl’s bags as they walked. After that they backed off.

The bus ride was good. I hadn’t had the chance to chat with Chris much and we had a good talk on the bus. He seems like a really cool guy. The two girls are nice, but I don’t think I have much in common with them.

Once we got to the county of the village we got off the bus and waited at the station for a taxi. I was in using the restroom, which was just a wall with water running down it, when a man walked in and stood to my right to also use the restroom. This isn’t weird in itself, but no one was to my left and I had only about a foot to my right. After examining my left to see why he went to my right, I noticed that he was blatantly staring at my, well, manhood. I turned away a bit and quickly finished up and got out of there. I know many Chinese people are excited to see me, but that was a little too much of me.

After sprinting out of the bathroom we went out front and hopped in the cab. About 15 minutes later we arrived in the small village. Pretty much what you would imagine a small village to be is what this is. Apparently, the house we are staying in belonged to the wealthiest family. It is the highest of the old houses in town. It is very impressive, especially the views of the sunset.

Chris and I were kicking the soccer ball around in front of the house when a little boy came running up to us. Later I found out that he probably saw us from the roof of his house and came to see the white people. I don’t think that he had ever seen a soccer ball before, and we taught him how to kick it. He wanted to pick it up, so that was the first thing we showed him. I think he’ll be back.

We had a light snack and something called oil tea around 3 then a meeting where we went over the week’s plans. After the meeting Chris and I walked around the village and checked things out. We got a bit lost, but eventually found our way back. Dinner was awesome, and spicy.

This weekend Chris and I are looking to follow a road that will take us up to the top of a large hill. It’s probably around 3,000 feet about the local village.

Got some great pictures today and I’m excited to take more around here. Until next time… 

Cavin' in Guilin by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/201112:56:19 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach, Volunteer

Today I went to some caves outside the city. I guess "some caves" is a bit of an understatement. It was a pretty grand cave with elaborate chambers. The pictures will tell more than I can describe. On the way I sat next to a girl from Gangzhou, and she helped me quite a bit. Her English was actually quite good. The Caves were amazing and I think I got some great pictures.

Next we went to a small village that had waterfalls coming down from peaks next to it. We hiked to the top of the peaks and it was a lot of walking. On my way up the mountain side I realized that I was the most popular guy on the trail. Everyone wanted to talk to and take pictures with the white guy. Even the people on my bus wanted to take pictures with me. By the end of the trip the old folks on the bus even accepted me as one of their own.

I have to get to bed because I have been walking literally all day long. I will post pictures tomorrow and write more. I am headed to a small village tomorrow, but I should have wifi there, so I will keep updated. Until then... 

And so it begins, Chapter 1 by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/201112:52:12 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Teach, Volunteer

For the third day in a row, Madison woke me up by jumping on me. Since I only see her a few times a year now, I don’t mind. Today I am on my way to China. This morning my mom and I did a little pre trip shopping and my dad went and picked up a new Blackberry for me. Best parent’s ever!
Last night I went to eat dinner with my best buddy Torry’s parents. I had a great talk with his mom and dad, and even took some traveling tips from his dad. He felt I was packing too much, and he was right. After taking some items out of my luggage, I was still six pounds over weight. I purchased some hiking shoes this morning and removed my boots and running shoes. The only thing I ended up leaving in Portland was my soap. Looks like I will have to pick up some Chinese body wash.
The flight from Portland was a breeze. I ate at Gustav’s, a German place at the airport that I really enjoy, then made it back to my gate with a few minutes to spare.
The flight was fairly uneventful until I reached LA. The smog hanging over the city was pretty unbelievable. As we made final approach I looked down and saw something that made me laugh, The Crenshaw Prayer Dome. The name was written in the parking lot and I wish I had been ready with a camera.
Whenever I travel, whether it be domestic or international, I’m always amazed with how many people I meet. I had a 6-hour layover in LA, so I got some dinner. I was sitting at a table and another traveler approached me and asked if he could sit with me since all the other tables were occupied. We didn’t talk for a little while then I asked him where he was going. Turns out he was on the same flight as me to China. His name is Tang and he is going to meet his fiancé to get married. He is working on getting US citizenship and then I think she will join him in the US.
After dinner we parted ways for a while and I went to the bar to grab a pint and make some phone calls. While sitting there I met a guy from Australia that is in the wealth management business. We talked until the check in opened up.
When I was getting my boarding pass I couldn’t help but notice the three security guards. I looked around at the other airline counters and noticed there was no security. I asked the gentleman there and he said that people sometimes get out of hand. I wasn’t lucky enough to see such craziness ensue.
After getting my sweet exit row window seat, I headed through security. Once on the other side, I hit up the Marina Bar for another pint. I sat next a couple of guys about my age that were headed to Australia. One was a garbage man in LA and the other was a construction worker. We chatted for a bit then they were replaced by a couple of ladies. They were travel agents also going to Australia. We talked about all sorts of stuff then I was off to catch my flight. I feel slightly bad, but I cut in line. I saw Tang and I was pretty far up there. Not sure why, but when it comes to lines, I feel that I have entitlement. Always have. So Tang and I hopped on a bus that took us to the plane.
As I’m writing this I am going into hour 12 on this flight. It was incredibly hot for a while. The guy behind me keeps shoving his legs into my back. From the feel of it, he must be about 6’8”. I opted for the non-western style meal and got mystery meat, bok choy, cheesecake, and some other stuff I didn’t eat. The saving grace is the lovely couple that I am sitting next to. He is a Malaysian born Chinese man, and she is Korean. They are going to China to adopt an 11-year old boy. He just pointed out to me that this is the most worthless crew he has seen on a flight. I’d have to agree. The flight attendant fell asleep across from us on take off. They brought us meals, and then I haven’t really seen them. I did go back to get water and it was quite warm. I just hope the pilots are better! Back to the couple next to me. That’s what gets me about the world. Everyone has a story. This is a huge step in their lives. He speaks Mandarin and she doesn’t. The boy they are adopting only speaks Mandarin. Why is everyone on this plane walking around without shoes on? Screw it, when in Rome!

Just got to China. Trying to get the internet figured out. I can't access facebook of wordpress, so my dad is posting this for me. My gmail account and school email work, so to contact me email me at cschave@gmail.com. More to come! 

T minus 6 Days! by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/201112:21:53 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach, Volunteer

All of my final exams are finished, and I did really well. Though I did forget to look on the back page of one exam and missed 25 questions. The professor let me finish and I got an A.

The rest of this week is filled with packing my apartment and putting everything into storage. For me, this is the hardest part about traveling for a few months. I have prepaid 4 months for a storage unit, I have to move all my stuff, and try to see all my friends before I take off. Not to mention all the other errands and phone calls to utility companies, phones companies, banks, etc.... BUT, it's all worth it.

Now that I don't have finals to think about, I'm getting more and more excited. I fly to Washington State on Saturday to see my family before I leave. Last December my dog, Madison and I went up there, and I left her with my parents. I hate to say it, but I am most excited to see her. I talk to my parents all the time on the phone.

Today, I'm going to go pick up a bunch of stuff that I need for the trip. Mainly toiletries and some shirts. This is going to be Awesome! the trip, not shopping... 

Finding myself at 10,000 feet by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/201112:13:34 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach, Volunteer

I received a great email yesterday from Julie at Cultural Embrace. It was a detailed itinerary. I will highlight some of the things that I will be doing:

Week 1- Introduction in Fengyan Village with site seeing.

Week 2- Culture week in Yangshuo. I get to go caving and visit the ancient city of Daxu that is more than 2000 years old.

Week 3- Village Volunteer work. I could be doing a variety of things.

Week 4- Trekking, including hiking to and staying overnight on a temple on Chicken Foot Mountain.

Week 5- More Village Volunteering.

Week 6- Rock Climbing and Tai Chi.

Week 7- Fly to Chengdu for Panda Volunteer.

Week 8-12 I will be in Yantai teaching English.

I was talking with a friend yesterday and I realized that this trip will probably be a life changing adventure. It's hard to explain how excited I am about this, but I'm sure it will come across in the photos I post.

I wanted to address some questions that have been asked of me...

Q: Why did you choose this destination?

A: To be honest, I feel that China kind of chose me. I had plans to go to France for the summer for an internship. It didn't work out, so I had to make other arrangements. At first I was a little nervous about going to China. I still don't know a whole lot about the country, but the more I find out, the more excited I become. As you can see above, I will have an opportunity to do some pretty amazing things.

Q: What are you most excited to see or experience while you are there?

A: Everything! Specifically, I am excited to work with Pandas, meet the people, the trekking looks amazing, and I am probably most excited about the food. China is such a large country, so it will be very interesting to see the differences in food from region to region.

Q: What are some of the typical customs/traditions of the area?

A: Mostly what I have looked into is about etiquette. I know when you hand someone a business card or a present, you do so with both hands. You shouldn't put business cards in your back pocket because you will be sitting on it. Slurping food is a sign that you like the meal. People don't look at each other when walking down the street. I'd like to think that I am good at figuring out how to act fairly quickly, so I am sure I can address this topic much better when I get there.

Q: What are some of the usual foods eaten in the area?

A: Since I will be in different regions, the food will vary. One thing that I am really looking forward to is something called a hot pot. It's similar to fondue, but much spicier and they put hot peppers in the oil to add flavor. Also, In many areas dumplings are very popular... Just thinking about this is making me hungry.

Tomorrow I will try and write a post about what I am doing to get ready and include some pictures of my new luggage, which I am really excited to have!

I'll leave you all with a picture of the Temple on Chicken Foot Mountain that I will be going to. Until next time...

 

Prep by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/201111:31:08 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach, Volunteer

Today I woke up at 5:00 AM to drive down to the Chinese Consulate in Houston... It was a 6 hour drive round trip, but I got my visa paperwork submitted. Most of the people there were Chinese and a lot of them were yelling back and forth across the room at each other in Mandarin. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "I'm in for a big culture shock!" I couldn't be more excited though. Unfortunately, I have to drive back Wednesday to pick up my passport and visa. Not looking forward to that drive again...

In related news, I received my pre departure kit from Cultural Embrace yesterday, and it had all sorts of good information in it. It seems like no matter how many times I go over my packing list, I always forget something. Luckily, I could compare what I had written down with what they suggested I should bring. As usual, theirs had stuff I forgot to put on my list.

Until next time... 

A little about me by Volunteer and Teach in China Participant Chris Schave

6/3/201111:28:10 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Teach, Volunteer

I grew up in Centralia, Washington and after graduating high school and going to two years of college, I joined the Air Force. While serving I was stationed in Mountain Home, Idaho, and Keflavik, Iceland. Upon getting out of the military, I moved to Austin, Texas and am going to school at Texas State University- San Marcos. Currently, I am an International Business Senior and will be graduating December, 2010.

Last summer I had the opportunity to go on two study abroad programs through my university. One to Florence, Italy and the Rennes and Paris, France. This was an amazing experience, and since I have been back I have been looking for another reason to go abroad. This chance came about when I was looking for an internship abroad. I will be going to China this summer to take part in two programs that Cultural Embrace set up for me. Along with that. I am fulfilling an internship with them in Marketing. If you are interested in going abroad, I highly recommend going through Cultural Embrace. They have programs all around the world, and take care of most of the leg work for you.

The mission statement of Cultural Embrace is “discover the similarities, share the differences.” This hits pretty close to home for me because, as anyone that has traveled can tell you, the world is a diverse place. With that being said, we can all find commonalities within each other as human beings. When I was in Italy last summer, I had a great time with people that I couldn’t really speak to. They didn’t know English, and my Italian is pretty bad, yet we found common ground and made it work.

To me, traveling is everything, it’s what I’m good at. My life motto is, “the world is my oyster, shuck it!” Meaning, grab life by the horns and make it happen. So, if you are slightly interested in seeing the world, check out Cultural Embrace online at www.culturalembrace.com and see what they have to offer. 

What's That Smell? Oh, it's Me... by Teach and Volunteer in China Participant Chris Schave

6/2/201110:49:27 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Featured Participants, Teach, Volunteer

I have just gotten back from taking my new friends to the train station. It was great to meet them, and it’s too bad they have to leave. Today we went to downtown and got some random fried food. I had what the Brits called chips. Sliced potatoes on a stick then fried. Along with that I had two mystery meats. I suspect that it was chicken and pork. Either way, they were good. Even though I am trying to just go wild with the food, I’m not trying to get sick. They had baby squid that looked interesting. I wasn’t sure if they fried those, so I stayed away from them.

After we headed to the grocery store so the girls could pick up some snacks for the train. I got some a couple of things, a small piece of chicken in a package and a pickled chicken foot. I ate the chicken and it was okay. It was odd tasting, but kind of reminded me of MRE’s from the military. I have to wait on the chicken foot. I accidently broke the bone when I was fidgeting with it in the line at the store. Maybe tomorrow I will eat it. I’m down with them being cooked, but pickled is something I’m not accustomed to.

Tonight I am going to get dinner with Persy. He is the local C.E. Coordinator. He seems like a nice fellow. Tomorrow the other three people in my group get here. They are all from England and there’s supposed to be two girls and a guy.

I’m really happy that I took the plunge and signed up for this trip. It truly is an amazing experience. All of the kids I’ve met from Europe are surprised an American would choose to come here. I can see what they why they would think that. For the most part we stick to the safe places. Funny thing is, I feel just as safe here as I did in Paris or Rome. The only thing is, I really have no idea what any of the signs or people are saying. I do enjoy the interesting translations and knock off brands.

Well, Persy has just arrived… To answer my aunt Gaylene’s question… “What does it smell like here?” Well, when I got off the plane it smelled a bit like sulfur. The air is thick and downtown it smells like street food. Similar to a row of hotdog stands. The mornings are clear, but the afternoons seem to get foggy with smog.

Until next time… 

Interested in Teaching in China? An Interview with CE Coordinator Julie Dean

6/1/20112:52:46 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Teach

We asked our Asian Coordinator and Expert, Julie Dean, to tell us her thoughts on this program and why she enjoys placing teachers in China!

Q: Why is the Teach in China placement so cool? What are the benefits?
JD: "Going to China is like entering a totally new world. The culture, people, environment, smell, taste and sounds are completely different than the Western world. China is rapidly growing its economical, political, social, and cultural ties to the rest of the world, espeically with the recent visit to Beijing from President Obama with the Chinese President Hu Jintao, where the two discussed major international and regional issues of common concern. Cultural Embrace provides a teaching experience in combination with the modern and ancient traditions of the Chinese customs through our teach in China program."

Q: Who would be ideal for a placement teaching in China?
JD: "English speaking, college graduate with a passion for new cultures, kids and adventures. Teach positions open for any educational background to teach English."

Q: When is the start date, and when is the best time to apply to teach in China?
JD: "For those wanting to begin teaching in February, your ideal deadline will be this month, November. For others interested in teaching beginning in late August, your ideal deadline to apply is by May."

Q: What feedback have you head from participants?
JD: "Participants rave about their students. They feel that they are both the teacher and the student while abroad and gain immense perspective and personal growth from their interactions within the school's community." 

Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness by Emlyn Lee

6/1/20112:27:56 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

China, Emlyn's Expressions, Teach

Last night I watched a film called, “Happiness Is” created by local Austin filmmaker, Andrew Shapter.  It resonated so strongly within me, that I wanted to spread the word in hopes that others will see and enjoy the film as much as I did. The premise of the movie is defining happiness, measuring it, and knowing when we’ve reached it.  
 
This film reminded me of what my mission statement is, not just forCultural Embrace, but for me personally, as well. I believe that traveling is a reciprocated flow of communication and interaction between people...the more you seek, the more you learn.

This brings me back to my first international experience. I had just graduated from the University of Maryland-College Park with a communications degree. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I had a good job, but wearing a business suit and sitting behind a desk sucked the life out of me in just seven months; I wasn't ready for graduate school; and the Peace Corps application seemed too long and unsettling to not know where I was going to be placed for two years. So I faxed (yes, um, this was before the internet and e-mail) my resume to relatives that lived in China. The next thing I know, in February, 1995, I boarded a plane and flew across the globe to teach at Wuhan Iron & Steel University. I wasn't sure what I had gotten myself in to—my Mandarin Chinese skills were poor, if not pathetic, the air was polluted, and the streets were overpopulated and noisy. I earned less than US$120 per month, which was double the local teacher’s salary, and enough for me to live comfortably and travel extensively in SE Asia for 2 years. I shared a basic 3-bedroom apartment with two other foreign English teachers, on the seventh floor (without elevators). Even though I had 'downgraded' my lifestyle, I felt more ‘uplifted’ about my life. 

I was supposed to be the teacher giving instructions on grammar and pronunciation, yet I felt like I was learning and taking in so much more during my experience abroad. There was one class lesson in particular that I will never forget. I wrote “What do you want to do after you graduate?" on the chalkboard, anticipating a lively open discussion with my students. Many of them stared blankly at me and responded that they would go back to their home city and work at their local factories. I was shocked at their ignorance for not wanting more out of their lives…but then I realized I was the ignorant one.

China has a 'hukou' system, or residential permit, that binds a person to their home town. This isn’t necessarily where you were born, or where you went to school, or where you worked, but where your family is from. For example, if a child was born in Beijing, if his parents have a hukou of a village, the child is registered back to the village. Although it is not as important as it was before, it is still pretty significant. It affects where you can study, work, get medical, social insurance, and other benefits. It does not allow people to relocate very easily, therefore limiting choices and possibilities. I finally realized how fortunate I was to have so many opportunities and freedom to do such simple things that I took for granted—like relocating to different cities, having electricity and potable water every day, choosing my major, and so much more.

After that class, I wondered how my life would have been if I was born and raised in China, instead of being an American-born-Chinese. Unlike most of my students, I got to select the school, city, and major that I wanted to study. In fact, I chose not to choose a major, and was ‘undecided’ for five semesters. I am a prime example of the “restless American” that was referred to in “Happiness Is.” I’ve gallivanted around the globe to teach, work, volunteer, take cultural classes, sight-see, relax and explore. Is my restless energy due to the pursuit of happiness? I guess so!?! To me, the world and my passport are my life lines, and getting on a plane reminds me of my liberties. All of the amazing people, sites, foods, culture, and communities that I encounter bring me happiness. And what brings me even more joy is when I am able to teach and share my experiences and knowledge about travel to other people, so they can learn, take it in, and embrace their own experiences and fond memories. 

So, is my pursuit of happiness going to be the same as your pursuit of happiness? Maybe.  What makes me happy may be different than what you define as happy. But if you find joy in learning about other cultures, I and my staff at Cultural Embrace are here to alleviate the stress and energy that affects your pursuit of happiness when you travel abroad. We give you personalized attention before you embark on your international journey, and once you are abroad our English-speaking local coordinators will ensure that you are having a safe, healthy, and comfortable time. So feel free to contact us when you need guidance and assistance on all your logistical details for your next journey. Embrace your life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as you embrace other cultures