Returning to Jietou and Being Surrounded by Yellow

First of all, my bag arrived! And it even arrived when they said it would. (Although as a side note: I thought a flight number referred to both a given route and time...but the same flight number on Wednesday departed, as scheduled, three hours later than the same flight on Monday.) This meant that I was able to leave Kunming on Wednesday night and get into Baoshan the next morning.

As nice as Kunming is, it's also a huge city. Having never been before, and not having planned to stay there, I found it rather overwhelming, so it was nice to get back to familiar territory. I even made conversation with both of my taxi drivers. The first asked me if I had a boyfriend and then offered to give me her nephew's phone number. The second very sweetly thanked me for teaching the rural children.

I especially enjoyed the bus ride back to Jietou from Tengchong. I knew the route well, but the landscape had changed. I left in the dead of winter. Now it is spring. For one thing, I lost count of how many young calves I saw, including "normal cattle" (Bos taurus) and water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), both of which are much cuter as calves than as adults. The most obvious difference, though, was in the fields. All of the fields--which had been growing rice, corn, and other crops when I arrived last fall and had since been harvested--were blanketed in yellow flowers.

I didn't know what they were until I looked them up, although they looked a bit like the sprouted cabbage shoots that we eat here, but with more flowers. These gorgeous flowers are called rapeseed, Brassica napus, otherwise known as canola, although technically canola only refers to one subspecies (others include Siberian kale and rutabaga) and I have no idea which subspecies this is. Apparently the name canola was created from Canada and ola (oil low acid). And it is a brassica species, therefore related to cabbage, broccoli, etc., so I may have been right about it being what we eat*. Also, I never cease to be amazed by brassicas: not only do they provide a huge variety of foods, it used for cooking oil and biofuel!


The fields of rapeseed are absolutely spectacular. Interestingly, they also have the visual effect of drawing one's eyes to the breaks in the patchy and terraced fields. Usually there are multiple different crops, but they're all green, and blur together a bit. This monoculture of rapeseed means that these striking yellow flowers go on for miles, but are broken up into small--sometimes even tiny--units, which are much more noticeable since the plants are all the same.

It's not just the large stretches of fields that look like this. Even fields that one might have never seen or noticed, suddenly light up in the landscape. Every direction that I look out of the windows of my apartment, even though I'm in town, I can see at least a small blur of yellow in the distance. You've seen this view multiple times before (from my balcony looking past the school building at the mountains), but doesn't it look drastically altered with all that rapeseed?

*I have since confirmed with the locals that the greens that they serve are, in fact, the same plant as the flowers! It's called yóucài (油菜), which means oil vegetable.

Kunming

I've spent the last day and a half in Kunming and found it rather disorienting. There were stretches of streets that reminded me of American cities. A red brick building. Starbucks (and KFC, McDonalds, Dairy Queen...). A church. Ethnic diversity (I'm used to knowing all the blonde-haired people around!). American pop music (although, funnily enough, the music blaring on the streets is typically Chinese, regardless of the music being played).

This has served as a good reminder that my experience of China is still very limited. It's very different from a tourist's experience, but in some ways it's just as skewed.

Here are a few pictures from my travels.

Snow-covered tarmac at Dulles airport (through an icy window).

Sunrise over Malaysia.

Rock formations and palm trees (clearly planted in strict rows) next to the Kuala Lumpur airport.

Church in Kunming (the only one I've seen in Yunnan).

Flower display in Kunming.

Journey to the Otherside of the Earth

Okay, so it's not quite the opposite side, but it certainly felt like it.

The morning of my departing flight, it started to snow, with a forecast of 3-5 inches. Although the flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 8:20 pm, we left the house just before 3 o'clock so that there would be less snow on the roads, more daylight, and my parents could return home earlier rather than later. It took almost three hours, twice as long as usual, to get to Dulles, but I still had plenty of time. We paused for tea and coffee saying goodbye.

The boarding time was 7:20, but we didn't start immediately. Soon we did board and then the plane stood at the gate for a couple of hours. At first I thought I'd read until we got underway, but at some point I decided to watch My Old Lady (starring Maggie Smith). Finally we taxied towards the runway and waited to be de-iced. I finished my movie, and started another, X-men. Then we were deiced for an hour. Then we waited to take off. Finally, sometime around midnight, we finally took off. Luckily, the plane was pretty empty, so I had a full three-seat row to stretch out in. I stayed awake long enough to be served served dinner (a very decent lamb curry with cashews, rice, and lentils....I like Qatar Airways), and then stretched out and slept. When I awoke the view was spectacular: snow covered mountains somewhere in northern Turkey. We mostly followed the mountain ranges from there, south and east to Doha.

I prepared myself for the fact that I'd probably miss my connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur. We landed ten minutes before that flight was supposed to leave. But as I walked towards the transfers hall, I was met with a sign for Kuala Lumpur. That flight was also delayed and there were five people from my flight making the connection. We were herded onto a golf cart and driven over to transfer security. At which point the man who had collected our boarding passes said to me , "I believe you're going to Bangkok and connecting to somewhere from there." "Umm, no," I responded. "I'm supposed to go to Kuala Lumpur and connect to Kunming from there." He gave me a new boarding pass to Bangkok with a connection to Kunming and told me to wait at the transfer desk for a minute. Looking at the boarding pass I saw that it was a slightly later flight. Presumably they had switched the itinerary when they saw how delayed the flight from Dulles was. But then another representative came and told me never mind, I should get on my original flight. I went through transfer security, rushed to the gate, and was given a new boarding pass and a new seat to Kuala Lumpur. The flight left about an hour late. My next layover was supposed to be an hour and five minutes.

This time we got in about 40 minutes before my flight was supposed to leave, so I was a bit nervous about it, but I thought it might be possible. By the time I got off the plane and to the transfer desk, however, the gate had just closed (20 minutes before departure). So they sent me back to my gate for Qatar Airways to deal with rebooking me. They then decided to send me through Bangkok after all, and then on to Kunming, arriving about 12 hours after I was supposed to. But, they explained, I'd need to go pick up my luggage myself and re-check-in.

This required going through immigration, so now I've officially been to Malaysia even though I never left the airport. I found my way to the proper baggage office and gave them my ticket stub. They told me to wait while they tracked where my bag was. The answer, unfortunately, was not there. It was still in Doha, having not made the connection. But Qatar airways had forwarded it to Kunming and it would get there about 36 hours after me.

I had been doing fine with all the flying (about twenty hours at this point) but sitting in the Kuala Lumpur airport waiting was tough. Eventually I found somewhere where I could curl up with my purse and backpack and doze. Once a woman woke me up to check if I was on the flight that was just beginning to board. I appreciated the concern, but I still had two hours to go. I couldn't stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time on my flight to Bangkok. But the rest was good because the Bangkok airport is huge and overwhelming. I finally arrived in Kunming last night and had to figure out where to stay. My original plan had been to go back to Baoshan in the afternoon so I hadn't booked a place. And all the cheaper hostels were sold out online, presumably due to Chinese New Year. The woman at the information desk told me there was a hotel right in front of the airport, but rooms were 400 yuan a night or there were sofa lounges in the airport that were about 100. As I was contemplating my options a woman came by and asked if I was looking for a hotel. She offered me a place with free airport shuttle service for 180 a night. I told her I was a volunteer teacher. How about 120? Done.

It's the next morning now. I'm planning on going back to the airport to make sure my luggage will be getting in tomorrow and figure out where I'll need to go to pick it up. Then I'm hoping to meet up with some other fellows who are hanging around in Kunming. On the bright side, everyone has been really nice to me. And I can still access my email and my blog! Now here's to hoping my bag arrives tomorrow!

Going back

Today I'll be going back (no, not to Nassau Hall, unfortunately, but to China). That is, if my flight isn't cancelled due to snow. Just as I've been asked lots of questions during my time in China, I've also been asked a lot of questions during my time back in the States. How is it? Do you like it there? Are you looking forward to going back? What's the biggest challenge? What do you really like? What was the biggest surprise? These are difficult questions to answer thoroughly and honestly, but here are some thoughts on them now, having been home for the last six weeks.

I really enjoy teaching. I particularly like thinking through how to best convey the content in the curriculum while keeping class fun and engaging. My students are extremely sweet and teaching them is rewarding. I love the look of accomplishment on their faces when they figure something out or their reactions to a song or word that they find funny. But teaching, especially in an under-resourced context, is challenging. Particularly emotionally. I dislike having to threaten my students with various consequences to get them to stop talking, or playing, or sitting under their desks. And I hate feeling powerless to help some of my weakest students, especially those with extreme difficulty paying attention (hence the threats). Also, fifty students is simply way too many for one classroom.

To be honest, I've been somewhat disappointed by the culture. I love history and traditions and had hoped to gain a new perspective from spending so much time immersed in Chinese culture. And there are things I've enjoyed learning, many of which I've already shared here. But I also feel that Chinese culture has been sterilized by its recent history. Wiped clean of all the interesting quirks. Religion has been dismissed as superstition, western-style clothes have replaced traditional garments even in the remote countryside, and boxy mutli-story buildings are replacing traditional ones, just to name a few obvious changes.

One of the biggest differences between American and Chinese cultures is something that seems trivial, but can have huge implications. If you've been reading about some of my experiences last semester you may not be surprised by this. Planning. To say they don't plan at all would be an overstatement, but sometimes it feels that way. At the beginning of the year I tried to find an agenda book or planner that I could use for my lesson planning.You know, something with blank pages to write in but also some form of calendar to help me schedule all the content I needed to teach into the limited weeks of the semester. I couldn't find one. Before I left school to come home in January I asked for the English textbook for next semester. I was asked "Why do you want it?" When we ask our principal questions regarding "when" the answers are almost always vague. (This has meant that I've been worse than I'd hoped about scheduling Skype calls with friends because I'm afraid I'll schedule something and not be able to make it. So if you don't mind the risk, let me know...I'd love to chat! Or send me an email!)

I had no idea how difficult I would find the combination of the linguistic and cultural barriers. After all, I was hoping to become more fluent in Mandarin and gain experiences that would minimize the cultural barrier. And I have! But I had no idea what a challenge the local "dialect" would pose for all aspects of my experience (remember that although dialect is the word generally used, it's more like a related language). I suppose this is itself a perspective on Chinese culture as many Chinese people can not, in fact, understand each other unless they speak standard Mandarin. One of my Chinese cofellows says she only understands about half of what is said when the local dialect is used.

I knew that I might have difficulty speaking to the locals or to my students' parents who might only speak the dialect. What I wasn't prepared for was how severely my inability to speak/understand the local dialect affects my communications with local teachers. They all speak relatively standard Mandarin in their classrooms and when they specifically wish to communicate with me. But the moment they want to relax--at mealtimes, in the evenings, and even at faculty meetings--they use the local dialect. So I spend a lot of time not understanding. Additionally, I don't know what to talk about or how to start conversations. Early last semester I asked some of the other teachers how their weekend or vacation was. I just got blank stares, shrugs, and "I...went home." Apparently, this isn't part of the standard repertoire of small talk. Unfortunately, since their casual conversations occur in the dialect, I don't learn what to ask or how to ask it either. This semester I'm hoping to be better about starting conversations myself and asking questions. And maybe even picking up a little more of the dialect, though that may be overly ambitious.

So am I looking forward to going back? Not exactly. In a lot of ways it's harder when you know exactly what you're up against. But that's different from not wanting to go back. There is much more that I hope to do with my time there, although that won't stop me from wishing I was at home in the evenings or conversing more with all of you. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.

Vacation

Happy Year of the Sheep! I'll be picking up more regularly with my blog posts again soon as I return for the next semester (hopefully without too much interference from the newly-reinforced Great Firewall). Here are a few highlights from my vacation.

A trip into DC to apply for my visa, followed by wandering around the National Mall.

Washington Monument

WWII Memorial 

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the reflecting pool, National Mall, Washington Monument, and Capitol Building.

Federal Reserve Building

Smithsonian Castle

A quick trip to Princeton to visit some friends, and of course, the lovely chapel.

Another day trip into DC to pick up my passport (not pictured, but worth a visit, the National Postal Museum). I was not prepared for how stunning the Library of  Congress is, so bear with me on the pictures (and visit yourself if you get the chance).

The Supreme Court

The Library of Congress

Looking up in the main hall of the Library of Congress.

Another ceiling somewhere in the Library of Congress.

A mosaic of the Roman goddess Minerva.

The dome atop the main reading room.

Isn't it cute?

Illuminated manuscript: Giant Bible of Mainz, ca. 1450s.

Gutenberg Bible, also ca. 1450s and from the town of Mainz.

The Capitol, southern House wing. (The dome is covered in scaffolding for renovations.)

A trip to Arizona to celebrate my grandparents' anniversary (and a photo with me in it to prove that I am, indeed, alive and well).

Watching snow, birds (sighted this break: chickadees, house finches, woodpeckers, tufted titmice, robins, cardinals, nuthatches, dark-eyed juncos, and eastern bluebirds), and deer from my bedroom window. A downstairs window generally makes for better pictures, but my bedroom window is a perfect vantage point, as demonstrated today when I sighted a herd of seven deer in the surrounding woods.

Chickadee in flight.

House Finch, male.

House Finch, female (I think).

The most favorably positioned of the herd of deer.

"Area for Makeshift Tents"

My virtual silence since I've been home has, in part, been due to being home and otherwise occupied, but also due to the fact that my computer was broken. I sent it in for repairs soon after I returned to the US and was told the keyboard and touchpad needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, when the new keyboard came in it was defective and yet another replacement part had to be ordered.

So finally, here I am again with my fixed laptop, ready to share a little bit more from my last few weeks in China.

I spotted this wonderful sign during my Christmas trip into the city of Tengchong.

Between the symbol and the translation I took this to mean "camping area", but my friend pointed out that there wasn't actually much space for camping--it was in the middle of a public park. My dictionary, however, came to the rescue. A better translation is "emergency shelter area". Ahhh. I assume these would be setup in the event of a major earthquake in the area or some similar disturbance. Anyway, yet another reminder to ignore my native script in favor of the local script, even if I can't read it all!