Fwd: Stereotypical Tourists...

March 21, 2011

                Wednesday was a long day for us. We were able to join a tour group going to the Forbidden City 故宫, Tian’anmen Square 天安门, Temple of Heaven 天坛, and the Summer Palace 颐和园, respectively. It started out a little cold, but warmed up as the day went on. There was a Malaysian couple on the tour in their late 30s early 40s, and a young guy from Singapore with his girlfriend who also joined us. Our tour guide was really nice. Her name was Aili爱丽. Her English was pretty good and she was very knowledgeable of Chinese history. In between Tian’anmen and lunch, we stopped by a TCM hospital. A doctor gave us all a free consultation. I am fine except for a little cough that I’ve developed. The doctor told my mom that she not only has bad joints (of course she knew that already), but that she also has stagnation of the blood and some trouble with her kidney function. Maybe she should get that checked when she gets back to the States. Aili told us a story about one man from her tour group who was already diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and the TCM doctor could determine this only from checking his pulse, tongue, complexion, and asking him a few questions about his medical history. Chinese medicine is truly amazing. I don’t understand exactly how it works, even after studying it a little bit through my J-Term class, but those doctors definitely have something there. 2,000+ years of history can’t be nothing. It was a little annoying at the hospital because even though the consultation was free, it was really a scam to try to get us to purchase the medicine to go along with our “diagnosis.” Not saying that we wouldn’t benefit from it, but they didn’t need to pressure us as much as they did. They made the Malaysian woman in our group very uncomfortable.

                Between the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace we went to a pearl factory. Since I have been there before, I guessed the average number of pearls in an oyster and got to keep a couple small pearls. Yay me! Mom bought several pieces of jewelry, including a necklace for me and Crystal. It was a pretty cool place. I hate being poor. But I am rich in other ways! J 颐和园 is probably one of my favorite places in Beijing. I like to go and watch people play cards, sing Peking Opera, play games, and play musical instruments. An old man even let me try to play his erhu, a traditional two-stringed instrument. Even though I was horribly pathetic at it (and I have the video to prove it!), it was still really fun to interact with the local people. Tuesday was really fun and it was packed full of sight-seeing!

                The next day we didn’t do very much. I was a little sore from walking so much, so it was nice to just kind of lay around the apartment. We went across the street and ate some traditional Beijing cuisine. I tried to order some extra tofu wraps to put with the sliced pork 京酱肉丝, and the waiter brought out a whole new dish of it! My lack of Chinese combined the waiter’s impeding lisp made communication quite difficult. Oh well…I learned from it. From this day on, I will never forget the word doupi 豆皮 （tofu wrap）for as long as I live. Thursday night Mom and I went out to dinner with a couple named Larry and Cinia from church. Since we were both so busy on Sunday, I didn’t get a chance to introduce them to Mom. It was a really great time. They are both such genuine caring people. I am really glad to know them. I hope that we can spend more time together.

                Friday Mom and I decided to go to the Beijing Zoo and the Legend of Kungfu show. The zoo had a lot more animals than I was expecting. According to the zoo’s history, by the end of WWII and the Japanese invasion, most of the animals had been so neglected that all that was left were twelve monkeys, two parrots, and a blind emu. There are a lot more animals now. It was very entertaining. I especially liked the elephants and the lions. I never heard a lion roar in real life before, so that was cool. It was a little sad that the animals didn’t have much space to roam around. The Beijing Zoo is not like zoos in the U.S. that try to mimic animal’s natural habitats. Many of them are just in small, square exhibits with very little rock or foliage. I can imagine how boring it must get. They just pace around in their cages to the point of insanity. I hope that part of China’s 12^th Five-Year Plan is dedicated to improving parts of this zoo and others around the country. I was impressed, however, by how many different animals the Beijing Zoo has. It has come a long way since 1949.

Chinese Word of the Day

Dongwu yuan 动物园: "Zoo"

Verse of the Day

Psalm 62:7 “My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.”

My Mom is HERE!!! :D

Sorry I have been slacking on my blog everyone! Here is what has been going on these past few weeks...

March 15, 2011

                My mom has finally come to China!!! This past week and a half or so, we have been quite busy! She flew in on Friday the 10^th and I brought her to my host family’s house. I think that they like her a lot. Now Jessi has two English teachers! While my mom is here, though, I am going to be staying with her in the Xu’s other apartment where Mingyu’s (whose English name I just found out is Warren—after Warren Buffet) parents live for the other half of the year when they are not in Sanya. The apartment has a master bedroom that we are going to share, a kitchen, living room, and full bathroom. It’s a pretty nice set up. The wi-fi connection isn’t the greatest, but that’s ok. We are just a 20-30 minute walk from Tian’anmen Square, very near the Temple of Heaven, and not far from the popular shopping street called Dashilar 大栅栏. So far we have had a pretty good time. I think my mom likes China.

                The first full day my mom was here, Saturday, we spent the first few hours mopping the floor of the apartment. Since it is a brand new building, there was still a lot of construction dust on the floor. I am glad that we did it because now we don’t have to worry about dust and dirt everywhere. I figured that since my host family let my mom stay in their extra apartment for free, the least we could do is sweep their floor. After that we went shopping at my most favorite cheap, low quality shopping center called Fuchengmen 阜成门. It’s actually not that bad. Everything is just so awesomely cheap, I could go shopping there every day. I just wish I had money. I am down to $168 (1100元) to last me until June 1^st.  I have to say, my mom is not very good at bargaining, but that’s ok. She’ll get better with more practice. You can only get ripped off so many times…

                On Sunday we went to Haidian church. Mom took lots of pictures. We went to the English service and when we got there it was packed wall to wall. I decided that it would be better to go up to the media room to watch the sermon from the big screen. I think Mom really enjoyed the service. She was surprised at how contemporary and open the worship and sermon were. Afterwards, when I was blogging for the church website (http://english.hdchurch.org/), some of the media guys brought lunch. My mom is still getting used to eating with chopsticks, but she did alright. When I finished blogging, we decided to go to Wudaokou五道口 and walk around a little bit. I heard that it is a good place to go shopping and foreigners go there pretty often. It didn’t seem that great to me, but maybe I just don’t know the right place to go. It was still fun, though. Just riding on the subway with Mom is an adventure!

                Monday Mom and I walked around downtown area. We started out at Dashilar and just looked around. The main street has a trolley that runs up and down it. There are lots of name brands on the main road. At the end, there is Qianmen前门, the gate to Tian’anmen. It is really pretty. The best place in Dashilar to go, however, is in the alleyways behind the main street. This is where you can bargain for lots of chap goods. It’s a lot of fun. I like seeing how low of a price I can get even if I don’t really want to buy anything. This is how you find out what price to offer when you really do want to buy something.

                Tuesday was also good. We just decided to explore around the apartment building a little bit. We found the north gate of the Temple of Heaven. Then we stumbled upon the Hong Qiao Pearl Market. There were more than just pearls there. There were lots of purses, Chinese souvenirs, and electronics. I bought Jeremy this rice paddy worker’s hat that he really wanted so I am excited to give him that. I found a huge (1-1.5 meters) decorative fan that I can hang on my wall. My mom and I also bought some tea made out of flowers and dried fruit that is really yummy! After shopping we went to the roof and took pictures. I am an utter failure when it comes to taking jumping pictures, but it was fun to try anyways. Today was also the first day of my new small group Bible study. We met at Pizza Hut and then went to my leader’s house. My leader is an American girl named Crissy who has lived in Asia on and off for almost ten years. There are six of us total. We are going to be studying the book of John. I am pretty excited about this group. All the girls seem really nice. I see Crissy as someone that I can look up to and ask advice since she is kind of doing what I want to do one day. She has a lot of experience living overseas and speaks pretty fluent Mandarin. So, I hope that I can learn a lot from her while I am here. Overall, it was a really fun day!

Chinese Word of the Day

San bu 散步 : Go for a walk; take a stroll

Verse of the Day

John 1:3-5 "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

Reverse Culture Shock??

March 4, 2011

 

          The third week of my internship is already done. Time is really flying by. I spent a lot of time this week proofreading the agenda for the summit. My boss also wants me to find current events for a monthly newsletter that they are going to start putting out. This task has been harder than I thought. I have had some difficulty finding events that are directly relevant to CEC. Important things that they also want to stay in-the-know about are high-profile business people coming to visit China, other green/CSR/internationally-related summits, and any major changes happening in politics (i.e. economic or foreign policy) that may have a direct impact on the members and/or constituents of CEC. There is a lot of information out there, just not always very good quality. I have been sticking to a couple major news outlets in China like Xinhua and Beijing Daily, as well as various foreign embassy and NGO websites.

 

         As I attempt to sort through how best to go about this new professional world I have found myself in, I have developed a few questions. The point of an internship is to prepare a student for life in the working world. However, I am afraid that Chinese business culture is too different from American business culture. Norms that I become accustomed to in China may not be at all what the norms are in the U.S. I already know that I am learning a lot about professional life, but I just hope that our two cultures aren't so different that I experience "reverse culture shock" when I go to work in an American company one day. I really don't have any point of reference to go off of. Everything is new to me, so it is difficult to figure out what is standard, universal business practice, and what is the Chinese business practice. I'm not too worried about it though because I think that common sense and common courtesy will more often than not lead one in the right direction.

          In other things going on in my life, I am really enjoying the volunteer work that I am doing at church. I have been going to the multimedia team's weekly Bible study meetings. Even though I don't understand a lot of what they are talking about, I am glad that I am able to form relationships with these people and start to develop a base of friendships outside of work and home. I finished editing the church's Christmas video. I also got to be on the camera during their evening worship service. Since the church is so big, the service is projected onto a big screen so that everyone can see. My job is to get different shots of the people on stage so that the congregation can see. It has been different serving more behind-the-scenes. At my church in America, I served on the worship team and taught Sunday School. The type of service I'm doing now is not always seen and appreciated. It is really helping me be more humble and to remember that I am serving Jesus, not people at church. I was also asked to summarize the English Fellowship's sermons every week on Haidian's website. I talk about the sermon topic and then give a little commentary on what I took away. It is really a great opportunity. Who knew that I would be able to have such an open chance to talk this freely about my faith in China? So long as I don't say anything too outrageous, I think I can pretty much say what I want. I am really excited. Also, my host mom has been asking a lot of questions about Christianity and I have had several opportunities to share the Gospel with her. She seems really interested in it, so keep my host family in your prayers. :-)

Chinese Word of the Day

Lang fei 浪费： to waste


Verse of the Day

Matthew 6:33-34
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Week Two at CEC

This week at China Entrepreneur Club was good. Nothing particularly exciting happened. I have been spending a lot of my time proof-reading and drafting invitation letters to speakers and companies that the CEC wants to come to their summit.  I am getting to know my co-worker Claire pretty well. We eat lunch together every day. She is really smart. I think Claire has her Masters degree in environmental science. Her English is also very good because she used to do translation work. It has been interesting having different discussions about politics and the world. Getting a new perspective is one of the reasons I am here in China.

                One thing that I have been struggling with is getting used to the business environment. I don't have any trouble getting to work on time or pulling an eight-hour shift. I just feel a little uncertain about what my function is exactly. I know that my title is "International Relations Associate Intern," but my tasks day-by-day are not always consistent. I often ask Claire and Amy (the director of my department) if there is anything I can be doing. When I am not given a task, I spend my time as productively as possible familiarizing myself with current events, as well as members within CEC and their various events, but sometimes I feel like I am not being very productive. Maybe this is the perfectionist/people-pleaser coming out in me, but I am just worried that someone will walk by my desk and see that I am not working hard like everyone else. I don't want anyone to think that I am a lazy American intern. This might also have to do with being new, I'm not sure. I think I am still in the "leave a good impression" mode so I just don't want to mess anything up.

                I think some of my feelings are also coming from being unfamiliar with Chinese perceptions of Americans. For the most part, I believe they are positive perceptions. I guess I don't want to do something wrong and make the people in the company feel like that's how all Americans are…Or I could be just awesomely amazing and make everyone think that all Americans are as cool as me! ;) I just need to not worry as much and do the best I can. This is my first professional working experience, so I am sure they are expecting performance not perfection. So far, so good. I am getting more relaxed in the office and people are beginning to become more familiar with me. I just need to keep doing what I'm doing. And I hope that if there is something I am doing that could be improved upon that no one will hesitate to give me some constructive criticism.

Chinese Word of the Day

Ge bi 隔壁: "next door"

Verse of the Day
Proverbs 17:22 "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

High Heels in the Snow! ;)

February 18, 2011

                Here is a good quote from Chinese business giant, Jack Ma 马云, of Alibaba.com:

"As we are looking forward, thoughts are important, but actions are more important. What is even more important than actions is the right direction. When we choose our values, we are choosing our destinies."

                My first week in my internship at the China Entrepreneur Club (http://www.daonong.com)  has been a good experience. On Sunday night I received a call from Abroad China (the company arranging my internship) saying that the CEC liked me during my interview and wanted me to start that very next morning. This gave me approximately 12 hours to prepare for the start of my internship. I was SO ready! This is the company I had wanted to work at for a long time. It was also the company that I was telling everyone back at home that I was working for, so if it would've fallen through my spirits and pride would've been crushed. So, Monday morning came and I headed to the office in my spiffy new suit. With excitement growing, I braved the snowy streets in my high heels. Nothing could put a damper on my first day interning at CEC. This was my first "real" job.

         When I got to the office, I was filled with mixed feelings of nerves and excitement. I arrived in the middle of an office-wide meeting where the boss was giving an impassioned speech. I couldn't tell if he was angry or just very enthusiastic because I couldn't understand all of what he was saying in Chinese. The work of my first day entailed writing a letter to U.S. Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman. The CEC wishes to invite him to a going-away dinner to thank him for all the ways he has helped the organization. He has worked close with the CEC in the past, but has recently sent his resignation letter to President Obama. Rumor has it that he will focus his energies on securing the Republican presidential candidacy for the 2012 election. See the news story here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20030120-503544.html So on my first day, I wrote a letter to the man who might be my next president. Not too shabby.

         Monday also happened to be Valentine's Day. All of my single co-workers decided to go out to dinner and then to karaoke. It was a really fancy dinner. Someone suggested that we play "Fei Cheng Wu Rao" (If You Are the One..) so we all went around the table and said what we were looking for in a person of the opposite sex and everyone else, consequently, picked out the co-worker they believed to be the most suitable person for you based on your stated criteria. I didn't know anyone very well, so this was definitely an interesting ice-breaker for me. I think everyone at the CEC is really cool though. I am looking forward to working more closely with all of them.

         The rest of this week I have just spent time drafting emails and invitation letters for the upcoming Annual Summit for Green Companies that takes place every April 22 (Earth Day). Sometimes I found myself a little bit bored when my supervisor didn't have anything for me to do, so I have been spending a lot of my time researching Chinese entrepreneurs and business leaders' visions for a Greener world. But, things are going to start getting really busy in the office. I am ready for the challenge.

 

Chinese Word of the Day

Jing Li 经历："Experience"

 

Verse of the Day

James 1:4-6 "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."

An Unexpected Volunteer Opportunity

February 6, 2011
               I have been going to the Haidian Church here in Beijing. This was my second week. Most people were gone because they have gone home for Chinese New Year. So, I made the hour trip to Haidian via the subway system (which I am getting quite good at!) and got there just in time for the English Fellowship. I met my new friend Lidan (her English name is Liz) there. Her English I would say is about as good as my Chinese. That is good because I feel like we are both able to learn a lot from each other. In this way, we don't end up using one language to dominate the conversation, so we both get a lot of practice. We went out to eat lunch at a noodle place across the street. Lidan asked me if I wanted to go back to church after lunch to help out with some power point things. I figured that I didn't have any plans, so I decided that I would tag along and help out where I could.
                But here is the cool part...I get there and they asked me what I could do. I told them that I was a Chinese studies and Communication major back in the U.S. So, guess what they asked me to do! Edit together their Christmas video! Now, if you know me, you know that this kinda stuff is what I really like to do! I know that for most people video editing is just about the most boring thing in the world, but I love it! I think it gives my perfectionism a good outlet. It was funny how they just asked me if I knew how to edit video and then were like, "Here ya go! Here's a video for you to edit!" So basically I am super excited to be able to volunteer in this way. God is just continuing to amaze me in all the different things that He has planned for me to do in China. I am seriously considering just going to church everyday and editing videos all day if none of my internships work out (which I am sure one will). I left church around 5:30 in the afternoon after nearly finishing the one-hour Christmas video. Time just flew by. It was awesome. I was surprised by two things: 1)how fast I picked up on the new video editing software that I hadn't used before (it was a lot easier than Adobe Premier which is what I was used to), and 2) that I actually was able to understand, for the most part, when the other media guy at the church was saying when he explained what he wanted the video to look like. Maybe my Chinese isn't as bad as I thought! :-)

Chinese Word of the Day

义工 Yi Gong: "Volunteer Work"

Verse of the Day

Isaiah 44:22
"I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."

Happy Chinese New Year from Hainan

This week I was given the pleasant surprise of going to Sanya 三亚 for Chinese new year. It was only a couple days, but it was awesome to be able to do some sightseeing and go to the beach! I actually got a little bit sunburned which I couldn't believe could ever happen in the beginning of February!

This trip was one of the first ones I have ever been on where I got to the airport completely on my own! I took the subway to the airport express in Beijing. I thought I missed a stop and was beginning to freak out a little bit, but I was fine I got there just on time. I talked to an Israeli man and a Chinese college student on the express train.This is why I almost missed my stop. So I will always be more conscious of where I am an not get too distracted. It is really interesting to get foreign opinions about things we think we have all figured out; ideas on religion, politics, and the world economy.  As the saying goes, "True knowledge lies in knowing that you know nothing." This is very true, and I am becoming more knowledgeable in this notion day by day. I don't want to admit that I am beginning to feel any tinge of culture shock. I thought that all these years of studying Chinese has made me immune. However, I would be lying. My Chinese is grossly sub-par. To put it mildly, I have a long way to go! But, I will just keep writing new words in my little notebook everyday, and hopefully all of those words will one day amount to a meaningful conversation.

But anyways, back to Chinese new year! The first day after I got there, we drove along Ya Long Wan, one of the largest beaches and a huge tourist attraction. "We" is me, my host father, his brother, and their father and step-mother. Even though I could only communicate superficially with them, I feel that we connected. I was able to share with them a little bit of my culture, and they, in turn, shared a LOT of theirs. I shared their new year's dinner with them and helped bao jiaozi 包 饺子. Being in the "Hawaii" of China for the new year was just so awesome! I feel like it was such a blessing to be able to go to such a cool place! One thing that you have to know about the Chinese during the new year is that they LOVE their fireworks! Austin, I think you should come to China next Chinese new year, you would probably blow yourself up, but have a lot of fun doing it! Gunpowder was one of China's big inventions that they introduced to the world. And boy did they put it to good use! They put our new year and Independence Day to shame! I guess fireworks lihua(I don't know the character) that go up into the air are pretty expensive, so most Chinese just buy rolls and rolls of firecrackers bianpao 鞭 炮.  If I didn't know any better, I would think I was in a war-zone all night long. It was cool to see all of the Chinese celebrate. I didn't get much sleep either, but that's ok. I was just thankful for the experience and to be in Hainan! :-)

The second day we took a cable car to the top of what they call "Dog Mountain." It gave us a 360 degree panoramic view of Hainan which was really awesome. It was really sunny and nice outside! There were monkeys too! I love monkeys, but I guess these ones sometimes attack people, so I reluctantly kept my distance. I really didn't want to go back to the freezing Beijing weather. Afterward, I went to see the #2 Marketplace 第二市场. Unfortunately, it was closed, but it was interesting to see some places in Sanya that not many tourists go to. I didn't get the opportunity to visit Fu Ming, one of the close friends of my sister's boyfriend, but I hope that we can meet if I ever go back! I attached a LOT of pictures, so I hope they all show up! 春节快乐！

Chinese Word of the Day
Bai Nian 拜年 ： To wish someone a Happy New Year

Verse of the Day

1 Corinthians 9:22-24

"To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."