Shaanxi Hospitality

One story of kindness and generosity follows another. That has been my daily experience here in Shaanxi HuaiYa. The previous entry to this blog was a story of such hospitality. Another entry follows here.



9/26 to 9/28



One of my grade 2 students had been asking me all week if I would come to visit her family this weekend... to stay at her house for the weekend. All my American instincts shouted, "violation!" American teachers don't visit their students' families and sleep at their houses! But this is China. What should I do?



I hemmed-and-hawed... stalling to buy time for days to make a rational decision. My calculating mind weighed the options, but the scales were useless. This is China! Who knows what the proper thing to do is?! Somehow she found me again and again. Every time the same question.



I agreed. She made me pinky-swear to the promise!



On Friday she, I, and a classmate of hers took a taxi to her family's house. The town was nearby-maybe 15 minutes.



The taxi driver veered from the main street and turned into a small lane. Her family lived in the kind of neighborhood and house that I had read about in all those Pearl S. Buck books that had first painted my soul and wallpapered my mind with Chinese culture. Numerous households clustered together. Her house had a large, handsome gate/door that swung open as we approached... from behind stood the smiling face of her grandmother welcoming us. The household centered around a large courtyard. Receiving rooms faced the courtyard on all four sides, and the receiving rooms branched off into separate rooms. Just as I had read... just as I had imagined...



I met her cousins. Then I met her grandfather, elegantly sitting on his large 炕（KANG)--a traditional Chinese bed that is heated from below. After introductions, he invited me to sit on the KANG with him--a very great honor as I understand. Through understanding smiles and my students translations, we chatted the night away.



Now many people might think that Western countries invented the all-you-can-eat buffet. I disagree. I think this great institution is an ancient tradition of Chinese hosts. The student's grandmother brought out one plate of 饺子 (jiaozi = dumplings) after another. If I paused for even a second--to talk, to catch my breath, to chew--she would hammer, "吃！吃！吃!" (chi chi chi... eat, eat, eat, KEEP EATING!). My student told me that the guest who eats the most is the hero... so I kept eating to claim the prize... jiaozi superstar! They were so delicious!



I slept the night in one of the many bedrooms of the house. The air was chill and damp from the cold rain, but I was sandwiched warmly between a hard mattress and thick layers of bedding. As I lay there thinking, it still was just so unreal... I am sleeping in my student's house!



The next morning, we had a good breakfast. We intended to do some sightseeing, but the cold rain would demand a high price. Instead, we decided to visit my student's former middle school. In my combined travels of China, I have visited 6 schools in China. This one was by far the most high energy... it was a mob scene! Students from all over the school clung to the railings of the school balconies. As I approached, they waved and shouted. As I climbed the stairs toward the classrooms, they swarmed around me. "HELLO! HELLO! HELLO!" They clamored to shake my hand... too many hands to shake... the local English teacher turned serious and pushed them back like he was on the books as my bodyguard... their enthusiasm was overwhelming! I visited four different classrooms to introduce myself and answer questions. They all wanted my autograph... this is the exact word they used... "Can we have your autograph?" "Can we take a photo with you?" Yesterday I was the jiaozi superstar. Today I am the foreigner superstar! All this attention for simple things!



We returned home late in the morning. More relaxed conversations... more food (this time, endless 一口香 yikouxiang noodles). Good times! We ended the day with a photograph... my student's "dream" was to have a family photo with a foreigner. Here is a dream come true:

I arrived home in high spirits. How nice can people be?



That night, another student came knocking on my door. He wanted just to chat. So we chatted the night away on many different topics about American customs and culture. Somehow we arrived at political topics... passionate, complicated conversations, and we ran with them. I thoroughly enjoyed it. As I was preparing to say goodnight and goodbye, he invited me to go with him to his dorm to meet his roomates. I was beginning to catch on... these requests for visits are common in China. I agreed.

The high school dorms in China are quite unlike university dorms in America. They are essentially just rooms with beds... ten beds across five bunks. To be honest, they appear and feel like prison cells. There is no TV. No desks. The students can't even control the lights--they are turned off by the school at the appropriate hour. Indeed as we approached my student's room, the lights all over the building suddenly shut off. It was time for bed.

I was welcomed into the room with all the enthusiasm that the middle schoolers had welcomed me with earlier... minus 1600 people.... This room only had 10 people. Only 10, plus three flashlights (flashlights normally used for studying beyond lights-out now doubled as a tool to hold a conversation). The students were all so warm and excited. They were likely dead-tired from the Grade3 exam they had just taken all weekend, but I didn't see anything of their exhaustion in their faces. They smiled from ear to ear as they scrambled to ask questions (and more autographs). They offered me what little they had... a seat on their bed... a bag full of kiwis. Shaanxi Hospitality was just as much the core of these young men as it was the old women. Shaanxi Hospitality!

The next morning--this morning--more kindess. ANOTHER student had asked to spend time with me this weekend... this student, a HuaiYa native, offered to guide me around HuaiYa. The cold rain that had dampened opportunities in the last three days continued to mist the area again today... but we continued. First we went to the "happening" street of HuaiYa where all the vendors sell their goods. So many delicious foods to try... I wanted jiaozi again! After a soul-warming breakfast of dumplings, we ventured on, but the rain had intensified... faster, bigger, colder droplets... going any further was now a hazard. We stayed at a local woman's house for a few minutes (the student says she knows everyone in HuaiYa) before making the last push back to the school.

As I walked back, I couldn't help appreciating how much things had changed since that first day when I arrived in HuaiYa. Now even in the rain, mud and dreariness, HuaiYa looked so nice to me! Being in high spirits about teaching, the school, the students, the good weekend, and an upcoming vacation certainly helps. But I also realize that this day--though shortened by the rain--had significantly changed my view. The student showed me that there was actually MUCH to do in HuaiYa... at least all the essentials were certainly here. All the students who told me that HuaiYa has nothing... no good stores... no good food... these students were in fact outsiders to HuaiYa just as I was (many students at HuaiYa come from very far away to go to this school)... I will continue to discover HuaiYa.

After my goodbyes and thank-yous, I ran up the five flights of stairs to my room... shivering and cold from the rain... beaming and warm from the the many gestures of kindness that had filled and fulfilled my weekend.

Shaanxi Hospitality!

Too Much!

9/14/2008

Holidays are important in China. In China, adults work long hours. Most students live at their schools and return to see their families only on special occassions... holidays. Holidays allow Chinese people an opportunity to relax and enjoy each other's company. They are treasures, and China cherishes them.

On Mid-Autumn Festival, the headmaster of my school sacrificed his holiday to spend the day with me; I was deeply honored.

We climbed 太白山（TAI BAI SHAN）. The translation is "Too Much White Mountain." The name owes to the fact that this mountain is white with snow essentially all year round. The name doesn't translate perfectly though. "Too much white" does NOT signify a tone of complaint--as it sounds in English. In fact, the whiteness of the mountain is what makes it so beautiful, so popular, so sacred.

Here is a fast-flowing stream of glacial meltwater. You know, we never even saw the storied snow of TaiBaiShan because we didn't climb high enough, but this was our evidence that it was there. Pure, cold, refreshing water rushing toward contamination.

According to the students who accompanied us, TaiBaiShan boasts a long and significant connection to Chinese history. This mountain has inspired the Chinese people for centuries. Indeed, the students told me that critical developments in Daoist thoughts originated on the mountain. Absorbed in the natural tranquility that surrounded us with every step higher, I too felt inspiration.



I also felt exhaustion! The steps were steep... and never ending... the mountain may have inspired in Zhuangzi enlightenment about the nature of the Way; the mountain inspired in me enlightenment about how grossly out-of-shape I have become.

fog obscures an unraveling universe.

They stopped for a photo opportunity... I stopped to put oxygen in my lungs... The man in white is the headmaster of my school. The student in red is his son. The student in blue is the son of one of the vice headmasters. Good people!Initiall there were steps... an infinity of steep steps... as we climbed higher, we transcended infinity and the steps disappeared in favor of a path worn solid by the feet of the many admirers who had walked this journey before us.

At various points along our hike ever higher, we came across temples that blended Daoist and Buddhist faith and culture. People lived on the mountains of TaiBaiShan. We stopped at one temple; a woman emerged from a small room to pray for us and wish us blessings. At the highest point that we climbed, we stopped at a temple courtyard and chatted with a man from a distant province who had been living on the mountain for 10 or 11 years. He had formerly been a teacher; now he was something of a hermit. The main was courteous and enjoyed talking, so we stayed a good while. I understood very little of what he said, but I sensed from the others that his stories were very compelling. He was old enough to have lived through the major critical periods of modern Chinese history... I wish I could have asked him a few questions...

One of the temple complexes of TaiBaiShan

retreat from materialism... glimpses of the floating world

Separated by distance and the energy of climbing, the people who live on TaiBaiShan must be self-sufficient for all their daily needs. This mountain-side field of sporadic crops testifies to the extent of their separation from the world below.

We decided to head back. Just in time! My legs were jell-o quickly becoming pudding.

After we returned to the van, we went for lunch at a fantastic restaurant at town near TaiBaiShan. I abandoned my strict, rice-only diet to enjoy the feast. Then we took a stroll through the town toward and a nearby park. After that, we went to a different town and visited a historical site--the school of the famous Song Dynasty neo-Confucian scholar Zhengzai. Finally, we stopped by the headmaster's ancestral home to visit with his mother. The only word in her vocabulary was 吃！(chi = eat) At her numerous and forceful promptings, I ate a handful of grapes, zao, and more mooncake.

TaiBaiShan, good company, great food, and mooncake... a great day... well worth the sore muscles.

my apartment

Less talk... more images... THIS IS MY NEW HOME!


My living room: spacious, nice furniture, media center with DVD player.

My office: computer, printer, scanner, desks, purified water tank, and bookshelf. The office also has a nice view of the campus.
My kitchen: Standard appliances minus an oven. And that is my washing machine that you see there... the refrigderator is to the right (not in picture)
My bathroom. Also, the bathroom IS the shower. I just turn on the water heater, wait twenty minutes, then turn on the faucet, and water comes out of the showerhead... showering me and the entire bathroom with about four-minutes of hot water.
My bedroom. Plain and pink... I only sleep here...

My laundry room! Everything dries in the sun here... no drying machine.

In this view from my kitchen, you can see the classroom building to the left and the student garden and playground below.

When the skies are crisp and clear, you can see the Qinling Mountains and Tai Bai Shan in the background. It's truly a nice view!... there ARE advantages to being on the fifth floor after all...

In this view from my laundry room, you can see a little of everything... teacher's apartments to the left, the school's front courtyard, and the sprawling town of HuaiYa stretching into the distance. Nice view!From my kitchen window, I can see into the courtyards of the local residences. The house furthest to the left in the foreground is what I have called the "problem house." They raise the noisiest herd of goats, chickens, and roosters... Another view of HuaiYa from my window

first week in HuaiYa

SUNDAY 9/7:

We departed Xi'an for the long, awkward journey to HuaiYa. Said I to my Foreign Affairs Office, "Hi! My name is Aaron, and I'm very glad to meet you!" And then silence... I was tired... and I didn't know what to say.

Having left the city, we then entered the dusty countryside. Corn. Lots of corn. Had I returned to Northern Illinois?!

As we got closer and closer, my instincts were buzzing. It was as if I had been to HuaiYa before or recognized it from a former life. But the feelings were not pleasant. We came to a corner, and I knew this was it. My stomach sank. HuaiYa wasn't at all what I had imagined. When I had first committed to going to a small town, I had prepared myself for it. I knew it would be small... I knew it would lack amenities... I knew it wouldn't necessarily be pretty. I justified these challenges with a fiction of romanticism... that somehow living in a small town and the countryside was going to be pure, fresh, and envigorating. I had constructed what my HuaiYa would look like and dreamed about it all in my head. And now, through the van windows, it frowned at me baring mud-stained teeth. I didn't want to leave the van!

That night I ate dinner with many important people from the school and the community. More silence.... even heavier than before.


MONDAY

No classes. "Have a rest," all the teachers told me. I went to the nearby city MeiXian to register my passport and visa with the local police. The rest of the day was aimless.

TUESDAY

Classes or no classes? My Grade 1 students were doing military training all week, which meant I had no classes for the rest of the week. But rain threatened. If it rained, there would be classes. I sat in my apartment all day watching the skies... I was on call at a moment's notice. I have come to realize that indeed you are always on call at a moment's notice in China. Spontaneity... no matter the event... no matter the time of day... spontaneity...

Speaking of spontaneity, a late-afternoon knock at the door brought me Tuesday's big surprise. In honor of Teacher's Day (a national holiday in China), I was invited to present a speech in front of the whole school on Wednesday. The speech had to be written and submitted by Tuesday night. Tuesday evening was madness.... you'll never know!


Wednesday--a turning point

Happy Teacher's Day! Oh... and the speech...

From my apartment window, I watched teachers dressed in three-piece suits gathering for their entrance. This was no small occasion!... and it was time for me to join them. With every step toward my seat, I felt the staring and giggling of 3,000 teachers and students piercing through me. I just smiled back. The ceremony began with great pomp. A handful of students stood on the second-floor balcony and showered the courtyard with an explosion of confetti... it was really impressive and definitely got me pumped up! (even now, I wonder where I can get a confetti gun like that... they were really cool!) Various teachers gave speeches that I didn't understand. Later I gave a speech. The End.

That lunch, I met with some of the honored teachers and community members. I sat at the head table with the headmaster of the school and some local "party officials." We didn't really talk much... again I didn't know what to say... in general, I have this problem with colleague adults who are above me in age or rank.I must seem very rude to other adults, not only in China but America as well.

In honor of teacher's day, the teachers were excused from their night classes. They were also given an assortment of mooncake, pomegranites, and zao (Chinese dates). This bundle of sweetness doubled as a reward for Teacher's Day and a gift for the upcoming, all-important Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mooncake, pomegranites, and zao'r (in the styrofoam box) await their consumption

The week's turning-point from uncertainty to excitement had begun with the many honors that my school had expressed to me--the invitation to give a speech, the feast of a lunch, the high seats at important tables. But I must say, the week truly turned the corner as I held that box of mooncake in my arms. Do you have any idea how delicious mooncake is?! And now I had a BOX of mooncake! I couldn't stop smiling. I could never complain again! Another teacher invited me play basketball with the other teachers--and I HATE basketball--but I couldn't say no. Mooncake has that kind of influence.

Thursday
Military traing + clear skies = no classes

no classes = boredom!

I need to teach!!!!!


Friday

More aimlessness... digestive problems getting worse...

My grade 1 students had their final day of military training. They gave a performance for the rest of the school to see. Impressive! This was my first introduction to my grade 1 students...


Saturday

I awoke to the alarm of a grumbling stomach. Something about Shaanxi food (or water) was very powerful--this alchemist bug was transforming even the most solid foods into liquid fire! I had to shut this operation down, and--as I had been advised--a diet of white sticky rice is the only antidote. I needed to find rice and a rice maker... and this mission required a thorough exploration of HuaiYa.

The town looked better today... maybe the fictional, romantic, fresh, pure HuaiYa that I had imagined DID exist--at least when the sun was out. The smell of delicous street food tempted me with keen persuasion, but I resisted. Spice and flavor would have to wait...

At the end of HuaiYa's main street, I discovered something of a supermarket. They had rice... they had a rice maker! AND THEY HAD SPRITE! For dinner, I indulged in a heaping bowl of white rice and a liter of Sprite. Flavor enough... for medicine!

Sunday--Mid-Autumn Festival, or as I call it, Mooncake Day!

Another surprise... the headmaster had come to my door with an invitation to climb Tai Bai Shan with him, his son, and another HuaiYa student. This event warrants its own entry... in short, a week of ups and downs ended on an extreme high. And I even still had some mooncake left in the box to extend the good feelings well into the next week...

Xi'an like I never saw Her before

I and three other teachers arrived in Xi'an for one last night together before departing to our separate placements in Shaanxi Province. I visited Xi'an in May 2005 and remember thinking it was a rather drab city. I saw a different side of Xi'an this time!

The ride from Xi'an Airport to our hostel was quite like how I imagine a stroll through Hell must be... knuckle-grinding terror! Our driver was absolutely rabid at the wheel... he could not tolerate to stop or slow down for even a moment's time. In a state of constant acceleration, we raced through the jammed streets of rush hour traffic. "Oh, but how do you accelerate amidst rush hour traffic?" you ask. Well now that is precisely what was so terrifying about the ride! As soon as he saw the red glow of brake lights, he would speed up to pass the braking car--nevermind what might be in front of that car to have made it stop. On three seperate occassions, we very nearly killed pedestrians crossing the street. One incident--oh it felt like a scene from a movie. There were two pedestrians crossing the road a couple meters apart... there was barely, just BARELY enough room for a small car to fit between them. Well our driver insisted on making his large van fit and so--true to form--he sped up and carefully determined his positioning. One of the other teachers released a shriek gasp that froze my blood instantly... "that pedestrian is a gonner," I was sure. Time froze as I waited for the thud of her body against high-velocity steel. The woman lunged forward in a fit of panic that very definitely saved her life as well as the contents of her shopping bag... even if they were now strewn across the road. Our guide broke the pounding silence that followed with an awkward laugh that seemed to say, "hey! wasn't that funny?!" Pretty soon we were all laughing too. Even our driver laughed, but I could tell he was far more interested in finding the next tight spot to squeeze through. One near-death incident down... two to go....

The hostel that we stayed at in Xi'an was amazing with a capital A... heck... capitalize all the letters, it was AMAZING! It was built to look like a Daoist or Buddhist sanctuary, much like the kind you see in the Asian films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It was so enchanting. I made the decision NOT to take pictures because there was no way I could capture the feeling of walking in that building and sleeping in those rooms. On top of that, this hostel was close to everything that is Xi'an.... minutes from the City Wall, the Bell Tower, the shopping district, XiangziMen temple, the Muslim Quarters, the Forest of Stone Steles, great restaurants... this hostel is a must visit if you are ever in Xi'an. XiangZiMen Youth Hostel... look it up! (I don't think you have to be young to stay there)

I could have lost myself in the hostel for the night, but there was word of dinner and my instincts were humming that the evening was only going to get better.

The Xi'an host, Frank, treated us to a feast of feasts. There was something to please every last taste bud. I am not flattering the occasion when I say this was one of the best meals I have ever eaten in my entire life. And delicious food was only part of the entertainment. The atmosphere was so lively! Chinese people shouting and playing drinking games at a nearby table elevated the level of excitement in the room to the max. I am not a drinker; I hate the taste of alcohol. But in this moment, I felt compelled to drink to good times. I "干杯ed" two shots of baijiu and sipped at beer after many good "cheers!" The night was magic... I felt so close to the other teachers after a week together... so excited for my new assignment... so happy to be in the pleasant climate of Shaanxi... so happy to be in Xi'an... intoxicated by the good food and perhaps the liquor... the world was in perfect order.

I tucked myself in to sleep for the night in a mood ripe for pleasant dreaming...

HuaiYa， here I come!

My placement is:

HuaiYa Senior High School
HuaiYa Town, Mei County, Shaanxi Province


For my Chinese-speaking readers,
槐芽中学
槐芽镇， 眉县，陕西省，中国


If you're in the neighborhood, stop on by!

a week in Yangshuo

I have been told that this small city--Yangshuo--hosts more foreigners than anywhere else in China save Beijing. Maybe it's not true... but I can certainly believe it. There are so many fun things to do... great food of all styles Chinese, Asian, and Western... and of course the main attraction is the view. The world-famous, green-covered, hill-mountain karst wonders of China is an army that surrounds you from 360 degrees. You are the island, and these hills are the sea and the towering waves that approach you from all sides. To be there is to be humbled and captivated by their presence... and no art or photographs ever do them justice (although traditional Chinese brush stroke paintings do come close!)

I arrived in Yangshuo on the weekend, which meant I had plenty of time to "chill" before the structure of orientation and training began on Monday. I had already been to Yangshuo in 2005, so I did not feel the rush to take it all in. On Saturday, I hung around Owen College and met the staff and the fellow foreign teachers. That night we had a barbeque, and I met some of the local Chinese students at the college. What a great group of people all the way around! On Sunday morning, I took a leisurely stroll through the city toward and through West Street all the way to the Li River. It felt like a homecoming as the familiar sights reappeared. "Hey! That is where we all got off at the end of the river cruise!" "Hey! That is where one from our group was hassled for taking a picture of a Chinese fisherman without seeking his permission!" "Hey! That was where Paul and I hard-bargained for the 100% silk pajamas that we both knew very well was 0% silk!" So much about Yangshuo City has changed in the three years since I last was here, but West Street was the same... if not in every last detail, at least in spirit!

On Sunday afternoon, a group of us--another teacher and some students--went for a bike ride to see Moon Hill. Only fifteen minutes riding through and amidst the chaotic streets of Yangshuo City before we escaped into the wide-open country. And then we were lost! Our punishment was the steep grade roads that we climbed over and over again trying to find our way. One woman assured us, "Oh, just 30 minutes that way..." An hour later, another man assured us, "Oh, just 30 minutes that way..." Two hours later, we were there! I had seen Moon Hill before and, honestly, had not been impressed then. I was even less impressed seeing it a second time. It's a hill like all the other thousands of hills around Yangshuo, only this one has a hole in it. But I was smiling and genuinely happy. Why? In being lost, we saw a part of China that I had NOT seen so intimately ever before. Rural southeast China. Rice fields with farmers waist-deep in their toils. View-bending stretches of citrus groves. Water buffalo everywhere crossing our paths. Hordes of chickens and ducks boldly defending their territory until the bike tires got close enough to spook their confidence... and then a cacophony of squaking. And people everywhere smiling, waving, and acknowledging our presence with a friendly "hello." Darkness had only just settled in when we arrived back in Yangshuo to return our bikes. And then we feasted on great food and good company.... Alice, Joel, and Candy are, like all the Chinese students I have met so far, so friendly, generous, and kind!

Pictures from our bike ride... images of rural China in all its peace, simplicity, and freshness!

Aaron in front of Moon Hill (below). Can you see why I'm not all that excited? And can you see why the above is so worth the journey and the muscle-work? Life is full of surprises!

On Monday, we began our orientation and training. The week passed quickly with all our lessons and taks. We learned about the nature of the Chinese education system, delved into the "typical" Chinese student, talked about lesson planning, classroom management, and then a whole host of cultural topics in which we learned some valuable lessons, including but certainly not limited to: 1) don't touch any metal wires coming out of the outlets! they will kill you! 2) avoid the discotechs if you want to avoid serious injury 3) don't have sex with the students and 4) be careful when crossing the streets. In all seriousness, we learned a lot of very important and many not-so-obvious things about Chinese culture and life. And the training sessions were always lively and attention-grabing.

On Thursday we went for our medical examination in Guilin. It was painless, really, at least for me.... the phlebotomist missed a couple people's veins and had to go striking for blood a second time.... :-S

On Thursday and Friday we did our practice teaching... oh my, the pressure, it was like the first day of student teaching all over again! But it was valuable and necessary. On that note, I must say, it has been almost three weeks now, and with each passing day I am more and more grateful for the orientation and training. Teaching social studies in America is very different from teaching oral English in China. Teaching here in general is radically different in fact. In the next year, I will have much more to say about that... but it all comes down to the key differences... China's large class sizes (my classes have over 70 students each) and China's method of instruction and learning. The training in Yangshuo will give anyone who has never taught English in China or never taught at all the resources and confidence they need to succeed... plus post-training support for the duration.

And I can also say that it seems to me--here and now in this moment--that having come to China to teach was the perfect decision. Teaching in China will target what I perceive were some of my weaknesses in studnet-teaching... classroom management and planning for interactive lessons. I want these to be rock-solid, and China is going to give me opportunities to do that. Classroom management? Come on, I have 70 students! (and contrary to the myth, they are NOT all obedient, respectful, and motivated, even though they all smile and say "hello" like angels) Active lessons? It's perfect... I have to plan purposeful, active lessons that emphasize practice and student-centered learning. And I have to do this in the face of vast differences in skills, proficiencies, and motivations. Maybe teaching in China isn't all THAT different from teaching in America after all...

As in both, I am absolutely loving it! More to come on that later...

arrival and first impressions

Even lead bricks float in the dense humid air of Southeast China, I'm sure of it! I arrived in Guilin Airport wearing 3 shirts and a jacket... as I walked into the terminal, the heavy air smacked me with great force as if to say, "What are you thinking?!"


"What are you thinking?" It is a question that I had been asking myself all day. Physical exhaustion and stress had been crystalizing into a core of doubt that by now itched to nag me at any little thing that went wrong.

And then there was the crazy-intense car ride from the airport in Guilin to my destination in Yangshuo. Three weeks into China, I now realize that driver was actually fairly tame in comparison to all the other drivers in China, but on that night it all seemed so wild. My driver was passing cars everywhere--narrow roads, curves, middle of town intersections--and beeping and flashing his brights furiously at everyone who wasn't going at least double the speed limit. Was I riding with a madman? Where was this madman taking me?! All day my eyes had been heavy from the intensifying sleep deprivation, but now at 11:00pm they were awake and alert... and my mind couldn't decide if this was exciting or scary. Okay, it was exciting!



When I arrived at my hostel, the adrenaline drained instantly and I crashed on my bed. A whirpool of emotions converged on me in the brief moments before sleep... I was elated to have arrived--to have at last at least reached my destination. But the doubts continued to pester me... was this agency legit? How am I going to use the Chinese toilet?! The heat... the humidity pressing with so much weight... how would I survive the night... And then I was asleep and at peace before I could even finish the thought...



Sometimes when you first wake from sleeping, you forget where you are. Do you know the sensation? You don't know which direction you are facing... Or which room of the house you are in... Or which city you are in. I awoke that morning amidst an ambience that was unfamiliar but reassuring. Chickens cackled outside. I heard honking. I heard someone washing a shoe in a stream of flowing water and banging the shoes on a rock to dry. I was in China! And my eyes were greeted with perhaps the most spectacular wake-up call I had ever encountered... the view from my window of a sun peeking over and around the magestic hills of Yangshuo. As the sun climbed, the colors changed moment-by-moment; I rushed to take a picture.







This image is forever painted in my mind... not only because it's beauty is impossible to forget but also because it reminded me of the lesson about attitude and its pitfalls. You see, I hadn't seen the hills the night before because I was blinded in the darkness of night and the darkness of misery. It was as if the darkness of night had conspired with my bloating negativity to hide everything that was wonderful about China. The wonders of China were right outside my window, and I did not even see them! This view alone restored all my passion... all my confidence... all my energy and motivation. I was ready for the day... ready for the week... ready for the year!

Asiana Airlines

I flew to China on Asiana Airlines (a Korean company) and was so impressed by every aspect of the experience that I felt compelled to advertise for them a little. If you are looking for an international flight to East or Southeast Asia, I recommend you consider Asiana!

Advantages:

++Cheap!: My one-way ticket cost $800. Round-trip would have been comparable to American Airlines or United. There are even sometimes specials where you can get international flights for roughly $400! It is crazy!

+extensive markets: Asiana flies to many destinations in East and Southeast Asia. I can guarantee you a flight to Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, Manila, Bangkok, Kuala Lampur, etc. But you can even get flights to places within China. I could have flown to Guilin or Xi'an through Asiana.

++Convenient: The flight from Chicago to Shanghai left at 1:00 am on Thursday mornining. That might not sound like an ideal time, but consider the logic. It's not the rush hour... in fact, that flight was the only flight leaving from Terminal 5 at that hour. Thus there was minimal traffic at O'hare, easy parking, and no crowds in the entire terminal. It was clear where the ticketing booth was because it was the only one with people at it! (in the daytime, a passenger might not know that Asiana tickets are to be picked up at the Swiss Air counter) Going through security was a breeze. And there were plenty of seats to sit in and outlets to plug electronics into while waiting for the flight. I much prefer being in O'hare when the rest of Chicago is sleeping!

+++no jet lag!: Because you depart at 1:00 am, you are very tired when you get on the plane. I actually got some sleep! And by the time you arrive at your destination, it is just becoming morning, so it is quite perfect. I felt absolutely no jet leg... my exhaustion came from waiting in the airport for so long (I purposely chose a long layover because I didn't want to miss the connecting flight)

++good food!: We had steak, potato wedges, broccoli, and carrots! Now it wasn't of the Lone Star or Outback standard, unfortunately, but it was tender and it was good. We also were also served salad and a cake. To honor the Korean flavor of the flight, there was even salted salmon (or some kind of fish)... and although it did not appeal to my tastes, my Asian neighbors in Seats B and C thoroughly enjoyed it and it certainly looked nice on the tray. Oh, that dining ware is all glass by the way!

++great service: The flight attendants were very friendly and yet not obnoxious. They served drinks at your request... as oppossed to the flights where the flight attendants take their little cart up and down the aisle ever 15 minutes, thus blocking the restrooms for a majority of the flight. None of that here, thank you.

+++++++great entertainment!: If I wasn't so tired, I could have spent all 13 or 14 or 15 hours enjoying the entertainment options. They had a good selection of recent (as of August 2008) American blockbusters, including Iron Man and Kung Fu Panda. On top of that, they had blockbusters and classic movies from all over Asia. You could watch movies from China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Same with the music. They had blockbusters and classics from all over the world... including many "best hits albums"... for example, Michael Jackson's Thriller 25th Anniversary collection, Purple Rain, Best of the Doors, Best of Whitney Houston, Best of the Carpenters... they had so much.... and THEN there was all the music from Asia!!! Their audio selections even included books-on-tape and "learn Chinese," "learn Korean," and "learn Japanese" lessons for practical conversational speech. In addition, they had television shows from America and the Pacific, including both popular shows and documentaries. Travel documentaries were particularly well-represented. And then, as if all of this wasn't enough, they even had video games, which you could play with your remote control. The games were simple, but fun and even rather addicting. Of course they had the standard, "flight information" options to view as well if you were interested in the outside air temperature, or current altitude, or Greenwich time, or whatever. They had stuff for children and shopping options as well, but I didn't explore them. All of this was FREE... F-R-E-E... FREE! The only thing that required payment was using the phone in the remote control to either call/chat with another person on the plane (yes!, you could use the remote to talk to other passengers on the plane!) or to call landlines on the ground. I'm sort of sorry that I slept for those hours... I would have liked more time with my remote!

Fly Asiana!