More About Yangzhou

Daniel announced yesterday, after I caught him watching Pride and Prejudice on the computer for the second night in a row, that it is time to leave this city and go back to Shanghai. Apparently he has exhausted the entertainment opportunities here (he says his Calculus independent study definitely does not count as entertainment). So I suppose it’s a good thing that we’re leaving Saturday. Bought the train tickets yesterday; I still feel a small thrill of accomplishment whenever I successfully accomplish something like buying train tickets. Silly, yes, but we celebrate what we can. Small victories, and all that.

There are some things about our time here that I will miss in Shanghai; the motel where we’ve been staying is beside the music building, so often we’re treated to flute or piano playing, or singing on occasion. There are some very talented musicians here at Yangzhou University. I’m also going to miss the little mini-cafeteria next door to the motel—we’ve discovered several dishes that we really like and that I can order successfully every time, the people there are friendly, and for less than a dollar per person it’s hard to beat. I’ve also really enjoyed the canals in this city. There is a network of them that criss-crosses the map, and that make for pleasant walks, for the most part. The canal on the other Yangzhou U campus across the street from where we’re staying kind of smells like sulphur, but you don’t really notice unless it’s raining, for some reason. Other than that, the canals are quite nice. Even though it has well over a million inhabitants, Yangzhou still has a small-city feel to it that I enjoy.

There are a lot of pedicabs in this city—bicycles with seat-carriages attached to the back. They’re not just touristy things either; these things are considered legitimate means of transportation. I really respect the pedicab pedalers who stop to ask Daniel and I if we want a ride. I mean, we weigh a combined total of well over 400 lbs. That’s a heavy load I think, even by China standards, where it’s not uncommon to see a rail-thin old man struggling down the street with a huge bike cart full of wood, debris, melons, or whatever else needs moving. So these guys who pester us to take their pedicab must be either really hard-up for work or must have heard that waiguoren can be charged double the usual prices. I’m not sure. But we’ll walk, or take a taxi if we must, thank you very much.

Pedicabs are not the only self-propelled vehicles on the streets; bicycles of the traditional variety are also quite common (as are mopeds, motorcycles, and battery-powered bikes). It cracks Daniel up that almost every bike you see around campus has a pedaler and someone sitting sideways on the rack above the back wheel; I think this has been outlawed in Beijing, but you can’t walk down the street or sidewalk here without bumping into someone on the back of a bike. Daniel asked me, “What would you do if your date came to pick you up on his bicycle?”
Me: “Hop on, of course.”
Daniel: “Haha, you’re lying.”
Me: “No, really, you gotta admire that kind of confidence.”
Daniel: “Haha. Well, I guess it would mean that every guy would be after the same type of girl—about 5’4’’ and skinny.”
Me: “Huh?”
Daniel: “Come on! Would you want to pedal some 200 lb gal around town?”

He’s got a point I suppose.

When we first arrived in Yangzhou, I thought this place might be too developed for my research to work out, and was considering trying to find a different city. The thing that finally convinced me it would be ok happens to be another feature of this place that cracks Daniel up—namely, the bare-butted babies. Clearly he didn’t read my blog when I was in Beijing; the bare-butted babies were the cause of the only real culture shock I experienced. I mean, I was expecting China to be quite different from the US. But instead of putting diapers on their kids, people here just buy baby- and toddler- clothing with the butt cut out. Simpler, I suppose, if maybe less sanitary. This practice is very common in Beijing, but I hardly saw it at all in cosmopolitan Shanghai. In Yangzhou, it’s clearly the norm. Daniel said the first time he saw it he just thought it was a fluke; you know, like maybe the kid’s pants had split. But after a day or so of seeing the same thing, he realized that’s how the clothes were made. We were walking out of the campus gate one morning when a toddler in front of us stopped in the street to relieve himself, holding his mother’s hand to keep his balance. Daniel’s like, “Geez. Where are we?” Welcome to China, pal.

Conversations

Nothing really new to report. I should get the last batch of questionnaires tomorrow afternoon, and I need to finish up 4-5 interviews this week, and then we're off to Suzhou on Saturday. I went to Suzhou last summer with Dr. Wilson and the research group from Sewanee, but it will be fun to take Daniel there. Also, one of my Sewanee classmates lives in Suzhou, so hopefully we can meet up while we're there. Then Sunday it's back to Shanghai.

This morning I left Daniel in at the hotel, still in bed at 11 in the morning, and went to the Potted Plant Garden by myself. Daniel just didn't feel like he was missing out, I guess, but it turned out to be a nice little garden. It was practically deserted--extremely rare for China, and quite nice. It gets its name from hundreds of potted bonsai trees arranged throughout the park, but there are also several little creeks, pavillions, rock formations, the usual elements of a Chinese garden. I met a young man in the garden who came up to talk to me; something I discovered last summer was that Chinese people are much more likely to come up and talk to you if you are by yourself. So we had a nice little conversation, wandering through the garden. He was from the countryside, and was in Yangzhou to travel and look for work. He wanted to practice his English of course, but mostly we talked in Chinese, as my Chinese was better than his English (wonder of wonders!) so I got a chance to practice listening comprehension and stringing together coherent sentences in Chinese--always good.

On my way back to the campus, I passed a guy on a bike cart who said hello in English; not an uncommon occurrence, as many people know "hello" and aren't at all shy about shouting it at the "waiguoren" (foreigners). But I ran into this guy again on the campus, and he wanted to talk. (I always try to talk to anyone who wants to practice English here, as I'm quite sympathetic to the trials of learning a foreign language. Plus it's just fun to see what people say.) "Robert" (pronounced more like WRowwert) is a junior studying law at Yangzhou University. He laughed when he told me this, and said that he knew law is not very developed in China, but he thinks it's going to get better. I have to say I agree. Anyway, he just couldn't get over his good fortune at catching a waiguoren of his very own to talk to! He asked about my studies and my research at Yangzhou Daxue; I explained that I was a psychology major, and was giving students at the University questionnaires for my research. He laughed, "oh, so we're like your little labratory rats!" "No, of course not! You're participants in my research!" He said he thought psychology was very interesting, but it's not very popular in China. "Maybe there are some psychology doctors in the big cities," he said, "but not in a place like Yangzhou. I think with all the stress students are under though, that there will be a great need for this kind of thing in the future." I saw his point. He asked me what state I was from. "Oh, I know of Alabama. It is the center of the civil rights movement." A diplomatic way to put it, I guess; I imagine there are many worse things written about Alabama in whatever source he got his information from. "Yes, perhaps it is the birthplace of democracy there." Not sure what he meant by that, but I suppose it could be in some way true. All in all, Robert had a pretty good grasp of American history. "The North was the center for industry, and the South was the center of agriculture." Correct again. "I am just so excited to talk with you!" Yes, I can tell. Thank you! I quite enjoyed our conversation.

Proud to be a Meiguoren (American) **sung to the Lee Greenwood tune**

Daniel's Wisdoms:
1) Things are always farther away than they seem on the guidebook map. Take a Taxi.
2) Bring a hair dryer for your clothes.
3) I finally figured out why bike bells are useful.
4) Don't pay attention to the crosswalk sign. Just follow the leader.
5) Bring Lysol and Febreeze
6) I am very spoiled. My standard of living, which until now I thought to be average, is actually pretty awesome. Makes you realize how much you really have. Guess Dad was right all these years.

Happy Memorial Day! I always feel kind of strange celebrating American holidays in China...I guess we don't really celebrate them, just remember them. Anyway, I guess it's appropriate for me to be in China today; it wasn't until I came to China the first time that I really gained an appreciation for how good we've got it in the U.S. I'd never really considered myself patriotic until then. So much we take for granted...Daniel said this morning, "You know, I never really thought that having access to a washing machine and a dryer meant we were spoiled..." I guess two weeks of hanging laundry up around the room to dry does kind of make you nostalgic for the convenience of American-style laundry rooms, or even laundromats. At least we're not having to hand wash our clothes, like most of the people in this country.

It kind of grosses Daniel out that they wash out the mops that they use to clean the motel floor with in the little pond outside...what a sissy. And he refuses to eat street-vendor food, although I'm still working on him there. We've graduated to eating fruit from the fruit-stalls, so he may yet eat some of the rest of this stuff. I was reading in the guide book that one of the cities we're going to at the end of the trip has a night market that has all kinds of street-food, including various species of insects--I don't think even I am up for that, but steamed buns and pan-fried biscuit thingies I can handle.

So I hope everyone enjoys being American today...smell your Tide-fresh clothes for us and don't get annoyed when you get caught by the traffic light...at least most people stop for traffic lights in the U.S. And definitely read the news and enjoy the lack of censorship.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh! say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?


On the shore, dimly seen thro' the mist of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep.
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream
'Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.


Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation,
Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven - rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause is just,
And this be our motto --"In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interviews and Questionnaires

Had my first 4 interviews yesterday, all girls from the English teacher's class. We mostly spoke English, which was nice for me, and I think they appreciated the opportunity to practice their English. One of them told me that she had been a little nervous when she first came in and sat down, because it was her first time to speak one-on-one with a native English speaker, but by the end of the interview she was relaxed. It's interesting to hear about their future plans and their relationships with their families; in some ways, I think I would get similar responses were I to ask these questions of Sewanee students. Some things are different, though. I'm definitely noticing some "collectivist" tendencies, and I don't think it's just because I'm expecting to find them. When I ask what qualities a good leader should have, all of the girls replied that first he or she should be able to get along well with others. Somehow I imagine I'd get a different response if I asked American students that question.

I also got my first batch of questionnaire responses back yesterday, and Daniel and I began the mind-numbing task of entering everything into the computer. I consoled both of us by reminding Daniel that that batch was about 1/5 of the entire study, and since we knocked it out in an afternoon, we should have plenty of time to play in Shanghai and on our grand tour at the end of the trip. Speaking of the grand tour; I'm really excited about planning all that out. I think I'll wait until we get back to Shanghai to buy the tickets and everything, but I've been reading up on the destinations I want to go to in the travel book. It's going to be fun. Even if I do decide to drag Daniel to a bunch of temples...

We'll get the second batch of questionnaires this afternoon, which works out well since it's raining and not a good day for wandering the city. We've been to most of the tourist attractions here (although I'm still trying to convince Daniel that the Potted Plant Garden sounds like fun) so mostly we've been hanging out around the campus. I'm enjoying catching up on my reading and sleeping. Daniel has requested jiaozi for dinner, so we're going to have to venture out for that.

Progress with the research, and some observations

Met with the director of the Foreign Students Office yesterday, and after a semi-stern warning not to touch the “sensitive” subjects of politics or religion, got the phone number of an American English teacher. Called the teacher, who agreed to hand out my questionnaires to his classes and ask his students for volunteers to be interviewed. Hooray!! So Daniel and I have the next couple of days to kick around before we start getting piles of questionnaires that need to be entered into the computer. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to help me punch it all in.

We’re having fun exploring Yangzhou. We went to Ge Garden yesterday--a pretty little spot. Today we went to Slender West Lake, Yangzhou’s top tourist destination. Took a nice little walk along the lake, which is indeed slender. Went up to the top of the 9-story pagoda at the DaMing Temple, Daniel complaining the entire way; he’s told me I am limited to only 4 temples for the entire trip…we’ll see about that. I’m the one who’s planning this trip.

So the little on-campus motel we’re staying at isn’t all that nice, but one nice little perk (besides its proximity to where I’m doing my research) is the dining hall next door. The menu is handwritten on a chalkboard by the door, and it’s a little hard for me to read, but the lady that takes our order is really nice and helps us out. We’ve been eating nicely for less than a dollar a person for dinner. I haven’t found a baozi stand close to campus yet, which is kind of sad, but lemon ritz make a good breakfast I guess.

There’s a phenomenon I learned about in a psychology class called the spotlight effect; basically people (and especially adolescents) believe that others are watching them or paying closer attention to them than the others actually are. Except here in Yangzhou for Daniel and I the spotlight effect is not a psychological phenomenon at all, but something that occurs whenever we set foot out of our hotel room. I’m a little afraid we’re going to cause an accident from drivers craning their necks out of the car windows to stare at us. I’m not sure you ever really get used to it, except that when I came home from my first trip to China, I was in the LA airport waiting room and felt like something was a little strange…after thinking about it, I realized it was that none of the Asians in the room were staring at me at all. Heh.

Daniel’s Wisdoms:
1)You will become pro at frogger if you stay in this country for any length of time.
2) The mystery meat at the seafood restaurant is probably octopus, so don’t go there.
3) Censorship of the internet is no good. Be glad you are reading this from the States.
4) Mosquitoes are here in full force. Bring DEET!!
5) The TV is quite useless, as everything is in Chinese, so bring DVDs.
6) In the land of the stone bed, the air mattress is king. Oh, how I wish I had one.
7) Don’t trust the map; things are on that thing that are still being built (Wal-mart).
8) Watch your head in the sculptured rock gardens.
8) Yangzhou fried rice. Tasty.

Train Ride and Yangzhou

We had a 5-hour train ride yesterday to get from Shanghai to Yangzhou. Daniel mostly slept, but I really enjoyed watching the scenery out the window. I feel a certain enchantment with places where there are more bicycles than cars on the road, places where paved roads are scarce, places that are definitely not in my travel guide; they're just so far away from my own experience. I'm looking forward to the longer train ride we're going to take later in the trip.

We arrived in Yangzhou last night and took a taxi to the University. No one was in the office, so we went to find a hotel for the night. The hotel by the campus was full, so we ended up at the Yangzhou Sports Hotel, apparently so named because it sits in front of a large stadium and beside a gymnasium. Daniel opted for the couch over the bed; he's decided that the beds in China are too hard for his liking. He slept well on the couch though. I, on the other hand, was awakened at about 6 a.m. (this is Saturday!) by the old people fan dancers/exercisers gathered en masse behind the hotel in the stadium parking lot. For an hour and a half they danced/marched around the parking lot to alternating patriotic music and what sounded like a workout tape with counts for the exercises. Must keep fit, you know.

Early-morning exercisers aside, Yangzhou is a really a delightful place. As we were driving in last night, Daniel was marveling at the LED lights that lit up trees, buildings, etc., in greens and blues and yellows. This morning we took a stroll along a canal where there were little shops selling ceramics, plants, and pets. Pets! I've never seen so many animals anywhere in China. Dogs, cats, fish, turtles, rabbits, and all kinds of birds, barked, sloshed, and chirped as we passed. And this city is clean! The guide book said it was nice, I suppose; it just came as kind of a surprise. My thoughts have gone something like this: "wow, this is nice!" then, "oh no, this is really nice...this was supposed to be the less-developed city for my research..." It seems I may need to make arrangements to visit a third university.

There doesn't seem to be many foreigners here though, and I have yet to see a McDonalds or a Starbucks, which leads me to hope just a little that this place might not be too Westernized. We haven't met anyone yet who really spoke English. Well, there was a Pakistani man at the hotel last night who spoke some English; as Daniel and I were leaving to find a late dinner the desk clerk stopped to ask if I could translate for her for a minute. She was having a little trouble communicating with the Pakistani man, who only spoke a few words of Chinese and who was trying to pay the remainder of his bill in U.S. dollars. That struck me as a little strange. Anyway, we got it figured out I think. Dinner was noodles at a restaurant by the hotel, and then we turned in for the night.

We made it to the University and got checked into the little motel there. It's definitely not the Marriott, but it will do for a couple of weeks. Daniel finally figured out how to make the air-conditioner worked. I have a lot of stuff left to figure out for my research. I need to have someone go over my questionnaire and make sure it makes sense, find a way of getting respondents for the questionnaire, find someone to help me translate interviews, find interviewees...should be fun. At least I've got two weeks to get it done. Something will work out.

So far my Chinese has been good enough to get us where we've needed to go and feed us decently well, so that's been nice. I sure do wish I were fluent, though; it would make everything, and especially my research, a whole lot easier. I finally got my Chinese test scores back from the Navy; out of a possible 3, I got a 1+ on listening fluency and a 2+ on reading fluency. Who would have guessed? Certainly not me; I can usually only read about half of the menu in any given restaurant, and newspapers are a real challenge, usually requiring extensive use of the dictionary. I suspect the difference on the test was that I could re-read what I needed to of the passages and spend a few seconds trying to figure it out, whereas the listening was a one-shot deal--listen once then answer the questions. I'm pleased (pleasantly surprised, really) with the reading score. But I can't help thinking about the things I should to do improve my listening fluency. I try to remind myself that being in China will probably help this without too much extra effort on my part--the necessities of communication and my own curiosity will by themselves lead to improvement. Still, I'm impatient with my limitations. Ah...the joys of foreign languages...

Days 1 and 2 in Shanghai

After a l o n g plane ride over here, we arrived in Shanghai, checked into the hotel, and crashed. Yesterday was spent taking care of a few errands, including train tickets, checking in at the consulate, getting an adapter, and the like. Daniel enjoyed wandering through the tech sections of a couple of the malls we went to. It was fun watching everyone stare at him wherever we went. Coming back to the Pudong side of the city after our errands, we had dinner in a cute little restaurant and then set about getting back to the hotel. That proved to be a bit of a challenge. It had been raining all day, and when the weather is bad, it can be pretty hard to get a taxi as more people are also trying to get one and competition is fierce. So we came out of the restaurant by the subway stop and walked over to where taxis were lining up. We soon discovered that we were going to have to battle the throngs of people practically beating each other with their umbrellas to claim a taxi; as soon as one would pull up, the first person to sprint out into the street and put his/her hand on the car, and then run with it until it stopped to let its passengers out, would then be able to get in. After about 30 minutes of this fun, it was clear that Daniel and I were definitely not aggressive enough for this game.

So began an hour or so of walking through the rain towards the hotel, trying to catch a taxi. We finally got one about 2 miles from the hotel, after we were completely soaked and I had blisters all over my feet. But we were soon back at the hotel, and almost as quickly zonked out.

We go by train to Yangzhou today. I've never been, so it will be fun to see what it's like. The travel guide says it's a cute little city.


Wisdom from Daniel:
Don't Wear sandals when it is raining, as you might slip and fall. (Wisdom Proven by Jean Anne herself)
Take sharp objects when going to claim a taxi, as they help ward off the natives. (Wisdom not yet proven, but it is in the list for next time)
Lemon Ritz crakers are a good, clean bet when you are hungry.
And Finally, Big people scare little girls that are on their way to school. (Wisdom proven by me)

Craziness!

Craziness abounds...first, going back to China...who would have thought? But this last semester was crazy from start to finish, so I guess that's the way it goes. And it's the reason why I've kind of been pushing to the very last minute to get everything done. Like getting everything together for my research--finding universities that will let me come hand out questionnaires, getting the questionnaires from the researchers that used them originally, translating the questionnaires, things like that. And packing. Packing is important for a 2-month trip to a foreign country. But we have the essentials taken care of--plane tickets, visas, and money in the bank (hooray for the Biehl International Relations Grant) so we can sort the rest out when we get there. Daniel and I, that is--Mom's sending him along as my "bodyguard." hehe. It's going to be a fun trip.