Summer Project in Dazhou

The new semester is about to begin and along with it are several strange new happenings- the arrival of my second year in Peace Corps, an array of new Chinese students waiting to learn from my very finite wisdom and the arrival of this year's new PC volunteers.

I don't know how this first year passed by so quickly. It seems like such a short time ago that I was delightedly leaving my Chinese host family to arrive at my new apartment in an unfamiliar city. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and St. Patrick's Day all passed and getting ready to start again all over with crazy Chinese characteristics, I can't imagine how they will look this year.

Aside from the summer language program there were a few very interesting events which I was lucky to take part in over this summer holiday. In particular, I want to discuss my experience at this year's Summer Project.

Each summer, all first year Peace Corps volunteers participate in a two week teacher training project in one of several cities in their province. In Sichuan, where I am located, volunteers worked in four different cities-Leshan, Chengdu, Neijiang and Dazhou. I was in Dazhou with five other volunteers including Katie D. and several other volunteer friends of mine.

As coordinator of the project I was charged with working out the logistics for the volunteers joining me at the teaching site. My goals included working out the living arrangements and some other technical details, but also assessing the needs of our students. After meeting with the faculty in Dazhou, I discovered that we had our hands full- over 300 rural teachers were expecting us, each hoping that they might improve their English as well as learn western teaching methods.

We were quite excited, mostly because few of us had had the opportunity to teach teachers from rural areas, it being forbidden in China during the regular school year. And the opportunity to talk to teachers from smaller rural schools has a great appeal to many of us volunteers.

The opportunity was surely going to be a rich experience. After we arrived we had a brief opening ceremony, where the school officials greeted all the project's participants. The president of the school, the mayor, the foreign affairs department and me rather awkwardly in the corner, all got the opportunity to address the rural teachers. As usual everything looked very formal for the opening and all the speakers took their time talking about how great the program would be. As it got to my turn I spoke briefly about how excited we were to meet the new teachers and how I hoped the teachers would be comfortable talking to us, as we knew some of them were rather shy. Then I introduced all the others in our group- Katie D., Warren, Joel, Aaron and Tamarae, all of whom had very interesting backgrounds.

Though we had not all come with an education degree, we each had plenty of experiences teaching. Katie and Aaron probably had the most teaching experience of all of us; Katie having a degree in education from Florida State and years of English teaching experience, and Aaron with a Masters from the same university but in Literature. The rest of us had various interests and degrees, Joel in politics, Warren in grassroots activism as well as Japanese, and Tamarae in public policy. A random mishmash, yes, but most Peace Corps volunteers come from all walks of life, as they should.

Our first week went great. Each of us had about fifty to sixty students and a decent classroom.  The classes included, thankfully, an air-conditioner and also computers with a projector. Not something you would expect to find in a smaller Chinese city but we were fortunate enough to have the resources we needed to teach large groups of students. Our topics were geared toward teachers who had been teaching students around high school age or younger, and consisted mostly of language learning activities, games, teaching methods, learning topics, rules for the classroom, methods for getting students involved and common mistakes in English. Not all of the teachers were enthused with our teaching ideas, but the reasoning was understandable. As it turned out some of the teachers had been told it was mandatory to go, even though they might not have any English ability. Also, some of them seemed to think we would be teaching them how to speak English, which for a two week program is virtually impossible. Our main goal, of course, was to help them with teaching English, as they were teachers already.  Luckily there were also may teachers at the program who were there of their own free will and who were very happy to learn from us. We tended to focus on helping those who wanted to learn, and giving them as much helpful teaching tips as we could.

Another difficulty we encountered, and not for the first time, was the rigid education methods in China. Not a few teachers confronted us with how they were going to use our methods in a high school classroom that stressed methodical learning styles. For those of you who are teachers and are reading this, you might feel mixtures of shock and incredulity at the system of education I am going to describe to you. I should perhaps start by emphasizing that one thing is done very well here, and that is keeping things the same. If you were to walk into a Chinese classroom now or one hundred years ago the only thing you might find different would be the dress code. And by that I mean what I have mentioned in my previous blog posts, that Chinese students are trained strictly for test taking. Nothing else. If you have an idea that strays from what the mainstream intellectuals deem helpful in learning, you are likely to be thought of us as unrealistic and/or a bad teacher in China. This has several harmful effects- 1. Students don't learn how to enjoy learning, many cannot fathom why learning would be a "fun" or an "enjoyable" activity. 2. If you are seen reading as a teacher, you might be looked upon as being "overly ambitious," because, as we all know, reading is only done for improving one's status in life (cough cough). and 3. No teacher has even the slightest interest in doing anything but reading out of the textbook in the classroom, which is deemed by most teachers and students infallible. That's not fair, sometimes the teacher sings.

But anyway, I could say more but I won't because...well...you can probably guess. But that was a small frustration in our classroom for several of our student teacher, as it should be. The only response we could give, however, is that trying new methods once in a while certainly would not hurt.



Basketball Tournament



Many of them listened, some didn't, and that was fine. In the end the program was a considerable success. Many of the teachers left with a library of lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, activity ideas, songs and much more. In addition, we had the opportunity to join in plenty of outside the classroom activities as well. We had ping pong and basketball tournament, banquets, a BBQ and even a trip to a local water park (definitely not common).



The program ended as it began, with a large banquet, which the Chinese love. They had many types of food and there was plenty of gan bei'ing (chinese toasting with beer or liquor), and one last chance to say goodbye to all our student teachers.



My class along with the other volunteers in the front row-
from left, Katie D., me, Aaron, Warren, Joel, Tamarae



A great time, and afterwards Katie and I left for our language program in Lijiang, which I mentioned in my last post. Afterwards, I was able to attend the swearing in ceremony for the new Peace Corps volunteers, which happened to coincide with the visit of two very influential people. The first, Vice President Joe Biden, gave a speech at Sichuan University to Chinese students, some high level Chinese officials and the new Peace Corps volunteers. Afterwards, on the day of the new volunteer swear-in, the new US ambassador to China, Gary Locke, was also in attendance. I was somehow able to squeeze my way into both, and had the privilege of shaking both their hands, which was awesome.

Vice President Joe Biden gives a speech at Sichuan University

Unfortunately I did not get the chance to tell Mr. Biden that, like him, I had family from Scranton. But maybe someday I'll get the chance.

Lijiang 丽江

"Are we still in China?' Katie was looking back and forth between me and the outside view, the passenger bus seemed to speed by each miraculous site with little more than the flash of an eye, "it really doesn't feel like it!" she continued, clearly pleased.


I couldn't help but agree. On either side of us snow peaked mountains towered in the distance, their pinnacle obstructed by clouds. The closer hills were no less breathtaking. Each was covered with seemingly carefree sheep herders, the only source of traffic on route to our final destination in Yunnan, China.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. In all, we had spent 16 hours sitting on one bus after another, but it was worth it. Yunnan is arguably the nicest part of China, owing to its remarkable climate that remains warm nearly year round. It also boasts over 50 different ethnic groups with connections to nearly all the South East Asian countries nearby. As we raced by rice terraced fields hundreds of tan faced minorities could be seen working away, their legs half submerged in rice paddies and their backs turned against the heat of the mid-day sun.


We eventually arrived in Lijiang, one of Yunnan's more touristy destinations. Nonetheless it is beautiful. Our plan was to spend two weeks furthering our Chinese language studies. We had chosen this program both for its location and its cost, which was reasonable. Doing a language program was also reimbursed by Peace Corps as part of our mid-service training.


Lijiangs "Old Town" is referred to as the Venice of the east, but I wouldn't go so far as that. At the north side of the city is 黑龙谭 or Black Dragon Pool, which drains into hundreds of streams stretching down the cobbled streets of the older section of the city. The area of the town is relatively vast, containing hundreds and hundreds of traditional Chinese buildings; black, slate roofed buildings which slope at the corners and are built nearly entirely of wood. The city was partially rebuilt in 1996 after a devastating earthquake killed nearly 300 inhabitants. The traditional "old town" of Lijiang was up to that point untouched by tourism, but in the aftermath of the quake Lijiang's local officials reformed the old town into a traveller friendly destination. Today, most Chinese are well familiar with Lijiang, it being one of the prime destinations throughout China and by a large margin the most popular in Yunnan.

But don't expect it to be quiet or the streets to be free of tacky souvenirs. For that you had better go to Dali, a city not far from Lijiang with similar attractions and fewer tourist traps. I preferred Dali but Lijiang was better suited to our training needs.


Our days in Lijiang were rich, in the mornings we spent 4 to 5 hours studying Chinese, in the afternoons we went over our studies in the local cafes or took a bike ride outside the city. There were six of us- including Katie D. and our friends Richie and Katie A., the same couple who accompanied Katie D. and I on our trip to Vietnam earlier this year. The weather was not always nice, however, as it was rainy season in southern China at the time.


During the afternoons I usually peered down from a second floor cafe at older local residents all clad in blue. They were Naxi people, the main nationality in that part of Yunnan. The traditional clothing for woman is blue blouses, pants and cap, while the men are simply clothed in blue trousers, white shirt and blue hats. The matriarchal society had existed in that part of China for over 1500 years. Due to its location, the city, and in fact the entire province, had been loosely controlled either independently or by the Chinese, depending on the time period. In fact until the last two centuries the province of Yunnan had been little more than an afterthought in the Chinese imperial court, its only use being along its trade route to SE Asia. At times the province also proved useful for disposing unpopular officials. Had the Chinese court officials truly known the beauty of Yunnan they might have chosen a better place of exile, but instead the province was often ignored and looked upon as a jungle of barbarian tribes. I reflected on what the exiled officials must have thought when they arrived in this part of China, with towering mountains, cool climates and, to remarkably beautiful women, the region must have seemed like a paradise.

I also reflected on the areas past. In 1933 a writer named James Hilton visited this area of China and wrote about it in his fictional novel Lost Horizon. From then on the city of Shangri-La inflamed the imagination of western readers, leading them to believe this area of China contained a paradise of near-immortal inhabitants. I found a copy of the book on stands all over Lijiang city. It was now printed by a provincially owned publisher to increase tourism. I was not particularly enthused with the idea of using the book as another way to lure tourists, but since western, English language books are very rarely printed at all in China I decided to buy a copy for my school library. If you get the chance, you may enjoy reading it as well.


We finished our trip at a hostel in the center city, not far from our language training center which was farther toward the outskirts. There we found travellers from all over the world-U.S., Korea, Japan, Ireland and other parts of Europe. We ate our dinner in the courtyard surrounded by the sounds of excited travelers. A Naxi boy who worked as a waiter stopped to chat at our table. We gave him an English name, which he loved, and gave him an English poem he could give to his next girlfriend (he was even more happy with the poem, and took every opportunity to use it on girls around our table).


At night the city was lit by red lanterns, and our hostel was no different. Before falling asleep in our four person dorm room, we took our time listening to the sounds of Lijiangs old town ceaseless bustling before our long journey home to Sichuan.

20 Questions

Recently I have wondered if all of the questions posed to me by family and friends would be much better answered by making a list. Below are the most common questions that I have heard, I hope it will aid you in understanding my service here.

20 Questions
What is the most challenging aspect of life in China?

There are several challenges, as a teacher I would say I am most frustrated by student's apathy towards education. From an early age Chinese students are under a great amount of pressure to perform well. By the time they reach college, however, they seem to associate all areas of study with dry, monotonous preparations for major tests, and not with anything resembling their interests in life. Thus many of the students will choose not to expand their knowledge beyond the bare necessities.
This has been an unfortunate reality for me, as I along with many of my peer volunteers have tried to embrace a more active learning style. Though some students are eager to try something new, others find it is not of any immediate use to them and will choose not to participate.

2. How much of your time is spent preparing for and teaching classes?
Each week I have about 14 hours of class time. Plus prep time, which is about half of that. Also I have office hours (4 hours a week), when students can come chat with us outside of class, and several hours are devoted to the weekly school activities.
I spend the rest of my time studying Chinese and catching up on studies for grad school.

3. What is your relationship with other teachers and faculty?
Although Chris and I have a good relationship with the faculty, especially the office which handles our affairs, we do not often encounter other teachers. Many of them spend few hours at the university after teaching and/or are not willing to speak with us for fear that their English is not good enough. This is another frustration, as neither Chris nor I care in the slightest about their level of English.

4. What are the students like?
Students are exceptionally obedient and hardworking. Though many seem unenthusiastic about learning, they are nonetheless eager to succeed. According to custom, Chinese teachers are looked upon with great respect. For this reason, students have impressed me with their politeness.

5. Where do your students come from?
Most come from farmer or worker families around Sichuan. However, there are the occasional few who come from far eastern provinces such as Zhejiang, Hunan, Jiangxi, etc.

6. What kind of career choices do your students choose?
Many of my English major students will become teachers, though few have ambitions to do so. Several have expressed interest in office work or various business positions. Most also want to go abroad, despite the difficulties.

7. How does Yibin University rank against other schools in China?
The school is not well known nationally, but compared with other schools in Sichuan it is not so bad. Many of the students will tell you that they are there because they did poorly on their 高考Gao Kao (college entrance exam). I would have to say, though, that the school is developing quickly and is already nicer than many of the other universities I have seen outside Chengdu.

8. How does the school rate students?
As with all schools in China, the educational training (for English, anyway) is solely in preparation for the next test. My students will take two major national English examinations. If they fail the tests, they fail the school.

9. What does the average volunteer do with their free time?
Study Chinese, go bike-riding, read, hold student club meetings for movies, running, reading, etc., explore China, learn Tai-Qi, go out and meet Chinese friends and/or play mahjong.

10. Do you have Chinese friends? If so, do you hang out with them during your free time?
Yes and yes. My Chinese tutor and I are good friends, as well as some of the other teachers and local residents that I have met. On the weekends I will invite them to a movie or we will go out to dinner. Luckily my Chinese friends and I can speak comfortably in either English or Chinese so communication is easy. On occasion we will also go to KTV (karaoke, hugely popular in China), but I loathe singing and tend to avoid it.

11. What sort of cultural differences exist between you and your Chinese friends?
So many, but not as many as you might think. Depending on who you speak with the cultural differences can be large to insignificant. For example, my tutor is familiar with many western habits and humor and so is easier to speak with. However, when speaking with my students I often feel a disconnect, usually because many of them remind me of teenage girls obsessing over High School Musical.
Similarly, many Chinese have different ways of enjoying themselves. They tend to favor large dinner celebrations with great amounts of drinking, going out to do Tai Qi or playing mahjong. Also, as I have mentioned, most love KTV.

12. Do you often have the opportunity to travel?
We do not often have the opportunity for long-distance travel, except for the summer and winter holidays. During the year, however, there are many local sites I will visit around Yibin. Also, I try to visit other volunteer sites as often as I can.

13. What do you eat? Can you find western food?
There are many varieties of Chinese food here which I can eat. If I am with a group we will get shared dishes. At that time we will get such dishes as Kung Pao chicken (much different than its counterpart in the U.S.-spicy, not sweet), twice-cooked meat (a pork dish), fried egg and tomato, meat and potato, spicy tofu, fried cabbage or spinache and several others. If I am alone I will probably get fried rice with beef. Or jiao zi (a kind of dumpling), noodles, etc.
Surprisingly if you go downtown there is a KFC, but I don't go there unless I am really craving western food.

14. What are the biggest frustrations of life in China?
As any foreigner living in China knows, it is common to be stared at or taunted while walking down the street. Nearly everywhere you go a foreigner can expected to be called a "lao wai," or old foreigner. This can get real old real quick, and along with the sense that everyone is staring at you is probably the most frustrating thing to encounter. Many volunteers have complained of Chinese talking about them loudly and openly even while they are standing in clear view. The problem tends to arise from the belief that all foreigners do not speak even basic Chinese, which is rarely true of long term residents. Also, many Chinese in cities like Yibin have never seen a foreigner, so will on occassion walk right up to you and simply stare, creating a frustrating atmosphere. In the end, the more Chinese language you know the more likely you are to notice others talking about you. For this reason, I always carry my trusty iPod.

15. Are there traces of rural China in Yibin?
Yes. Even in a city as large as Yibin, there are still farmers on the streets. Usually they come to sell street food or goods on their own. I find them to be the most down to earth and interesting. The real weathered and dirty ones still walk around with a pipe in their mouth and some sort of banana stand behind them. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to communicate with them, owing to their extremely thick accent and rare knowledge of standard Mandarin.
When I try, however ,they are very nice.

16. Are you questioned about American policies?
Whether in class or on a bus I will occasionally be called upon to explain American policies. In the classroom I am forbidden to speak about politics, but outside I can usually answer questions without causing too much of a stir. The more objective your answers the better. If the students ask a specific question, try to stick to the point and not defend western value systems with idealogical arguments. The more objective your answer, the better.
Surprisingly, Chris and I can expect to be barraged with questions immediately following an event, including but not limited to the Giffords' shooting, Libyan air strikes or Obama's campaign strategy.

17. How many volunteers have left prematurely in your group?
Several have left due to health problems, family emergencies or frustrations. I do not know the exact number but I would assume it is roughly 15-17 of the original 90 or so.

18. How often does Peace Corps get involved with life at host site?
We are visited by our program manager, who oversees most of our site concerns, about once or twice during service. Also, we are visited by a medical officer to check on our health safety at site at least once. Other than that Peace Corps does not usually visit again unless there are special circumstances.

19. What can you tell me about Yibin? For example, is it famous for anything?
Yibin is well known for being the first city on the Yangtze river. Although the Yangtze technically flows farther west into Tibet, Yibin has historically been the last stop for ship traders.
If you have ever read the book Wild Swans you will know that the author, Jung Qiang, is from Yibin. She is also famous for several other books as well. The former primier of China, Li Peng, is also a former local of Yibin.
Close to Yibin is the largest area in China of bamboo forestry, called the bamboo sea. It is famous now throughout China and is the same bamboo site seen in the movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."
Lastly, Yibin is quite famous throughout China for it's liquor company Wu Liang Ye.

20. What is the best part about living in China?
I have enjoyed living in China since college. The opportunity to improve my language abilities, expand cross-cultural understanding and discover new areas of the world continues to excite me.
I value all of the time I have spent in China thus far. In terms of service, Peace Corps China volunteers are fortunate to have a more strict and identifiable schedule, allowing us a more tangible pride in our work.

Tomb Sweeping Day

This week Yibin's weather has grown surprisingly comfortable. The sun, yes the sun, has even grown visible in the sky. As the climate has improved campus activities have sprung up again and students are outside studying in the shade.

The past few weeks I have spent most of my time preparing lessons for the new semester. A few things have changed, however, such as the three new foreigners who recently joined us on campus. The first two, Jeff and Joe, are here through a program called Lattitude, which has participants from all of the British commonwealth countries. There purpose is to teach and learn the language of their host country. Jeff is from Canada and is currently taking time off from college to study Chinese. Joe is from Britain and is hoping to gain teaching experience and improve his Chinese before entering into university. They will each be here till June.

The third visitor, Tiara, is from South Carolina and is studying abroad. During her time here she will study from the local Tai Qi martial arts masters (...er P.E. teachers), and take courses in Chinese. However, her time here is much shorter as she will soon return to graduate from school.

It has been nice to have other foreigners here to share in the fun of Yibin. Previously we had felt much more isolated from the outside world. Now we will not be the only ones to witness all the corkscrew going ons of the city.

On Friday of last week we had gathered in order to celebrate a visit from my girlfriend Katie. Our ordeal started out innocently enough. We got together at a bar, us four plus Chris of course, and met with another six of our Chinese friends. But by the end of the night we had all had a few drinks and were singing to Queen and whatever else we could dig up. It was quite a lot of fun actually, and I consider teaching a few words to "Don't Stop Me Now" one of my finest teaching accomplishments thus far.

Another significant event occured the week prior to last, when I went to the provincial capital of Chengdu to see Peter Hessler, an author I had been reading for years. He had agreed to talk exclusively with Peace Corps China volunteers since he had been one himself years ago. After his service, he had written extensively on modern Chinese life and it's history. His recent book, titled "Country Driving," details the haphazard process of obtaining a Chinese driver's license and then journeying across China by car.

At the talk most volunteers were interested in how Peace Corps China had changed since Hessler's service in the 90's. At one point the conversations even led to Yibin, at which time the author recalled his memories of Yibin, in which volunteers were at risk of falling into the bai jiu (Chinese liquor) trap.

In fact Yibin is well known for its liquor, and therefore has become famous for its avid drinkers. Chris and I have been propositioned on numerous occassions to join in, and on some occassions we are willing to go ahead. But what Mr. Hessler had in mind when addressing Yibin's drinking culture was not it's fame, but how great an affect it had on the early volunteers, even forcing one to leave early from apparent bai jiu overload. I was aware that bai jiu had had an affect on volunteers before, but it surprised me all the same and we all laughed just the same. Just one more reminder not to challenge the locals to drinking contests.

Afterward I was able to talk with Mr. Hessler. He was quite friendly and was surprised to know I had studied the Chinese language previously. As it turns out, during his time of service a volunteer with language proficiency would have been suspected as a spy. Indeed the name Peace Corps was and still is associated with the CIA in China (hence the name change to U.S.-China Volunteers), and as U.S. volunteers we are still expected to tread lightly around any and all political issues.

Fast forward two weeks and I'm getting ready for another Chinese holiday-Tomb Sweeping Day, when Chinese honor the gravestones of their ancestors. After make-up classes Saturday, the students and faculty will have Sunday to Tuesday off. I am expecting to use the time to catch up on reading and some of the language studies I am working on. Tomorrow, for April fools day, I am also hoping to somehow surprise my students with trickery. As they are well familiar with April fools, I will have to try particularly hard not to laugh when I fail them for the day.

Not really.

-------

p.s. suggested Peter Hessler book: Oracle Bones

Summary:


His book, which is written as both a collection of Hessler's personal experiences and his knowledge of Chinese history, starts off when he discovers a historic archaeological dig in Northern China. The dig contains hundreds of ancient oracle bones, formerly used as conduits for predicting the empires future. Hessler not only describes the history behind the relics but also details how modern China now perceives it's ancient past.

http://www.amazon.com/Oracle-Bones-Journey-Between-Present/dp/0060826584

Our Journey Part 1: Southern China

The southern Chinese city of Kunming is often celebrated as the city of everlasting spring. During its peak weather conditions the city boasts a comfortably warm climate, rampant flora (that is, of course, whats left of it) and surrounding areas of magnificent views. It has been and remains pretty much the best part of China. It also happened to be the first step in my journey south to Vietnam with a small group of friends- myself, my girlfriend Katie D., and another couple named Katie A. and Richie.

Before leaving Yibin we had all sat together hoping our arrival in Kunming was soon to come. At that time, our hands had been frozen and our spirits low. I myself had been anxious as hell start experiencing a climate that didnt require long underwear, so traveling as far south as we could had sounded like a great idea. The plan was this: travel down through southern China by land, cross the border, and slowly make our way down to Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon), where we would catch a plane back to our placement sites in China. After long planning and a rough idea of the hostels and transportation methods to use, we were ready to strap up and head out.

As it turned out, Kunming was a blowout. We stepped off an overnight train groggy as hell, and annoyed at the constant bumps and shifts during our sleep. Overhead we glimpsed Kunmings first snow shower in 50 years. After all of our naive hopes and anticipations the spring city had turned out to be even colder than the place we had just left.

We tried to remain optimistic and handled our plans as usual. Before we knew it we were heading off again to a new city where we might have better luck.

The next stop was Lao Cai, the Chinese border town that allows access to Vietnam. It was not a particularly exciting city and anyway we did not stay long enough to find out much about it. After exchanging our Chinese money to Vietnamese Dong we passed through customs and found the border to be a small bridge arching over the Red river.

Overtop the bridge we found many Chinese and Vietnamese peasant hauling loads of produce back and forth between borders. My first impression was that there appearance was strikingly similar, especially while donning their well known conical hats. But soonafter our arrival small differences in behavior and appearance amongst the Vietnamese became apparent.

While still on the bridge we were ushered us along by a Vietnamese man in a sports suit. He used as much friendliness as he could muster, but we knew he wanted compensation for his help, or perhaps for transportation later on. After crossing the border we politely left him behind and made our own way. We enjoyed that, and for much of the trip we used our legs to explore the cities. In this way we discovered a great deal of nooks and crannies throughout Vietnam we might not have otherwise.

Upon arrival Vietnam was both exciting and frightening. None of us had experience with the language and we were not in possession of any phrasebooks. We were equipped only with a travel guide and a map of the country's major cities.

From the border we walked several miles before a friendly Vietnamese farmer pointed us towards the city train station (we pointed at it on the map). From there we departed for Hanoi.

Advance Under the Flag of Ho Chi Minh (Our journey Part 2: The North)

In China if you are a coffee drinker you are almost exclusively limited to instant coffee. As a coffee lover this caused as much frustration and peturbance to me as not having good wine or salad dressing might to someone else. And after seven months I had given up on any relief from my lack thereof, and had instead resigned myself to enjoying the "finer" kinds of instant crappy coffee they offer in this country of tea drinkers.

Vietnam on the other hand is filled with coffee. And not just any coffee but GOOD coffee, with every street vending stall selling filtered coffee and a small place to sit on their modest bit of sidewalk. And if thats not enough for you they might even have fresh baguettes and cheap wine, all courtesy of an age old time when French men and women roamed the streets looking for a place to hide from the brutal sun and enjoy a bit of caffeine and rest. Apparently it stook.

Hanoi was my first experience in another Asian country's capital. It was exciting to compare and contrast all the differences in architecture, living style and etiquette. The most common architecture was still heavily French influenced, meaning buildings with a narrow front and long in the back, piled closely next to each other, with porches on each floor and many roof terraces to gaze out upon the city. The living styles were slightly clausterphobic for the average Vietnamese household. Between the aging French buildings were long narrow alleys connecting countless entrances to inumerable homes sheltering large Vietnamese families. I was at one point squeezed so tightly in attempting to escape an alley that my stomache brushed both walls and my head was forced sharply to the right.

The etiquette was probably amongst the largest differences. No spitting on the ground here, nor can you expect to be badgered and followed in a shop until you buy a product. After finishing a Vietnamese meal it is also not polite to yell for a waiter to give you the check, as I discovered when many vehement looks were turned on me in a restaurant. I caught myself actually feeling incredulous that the Vietnamese would stare, and then realized I was picking and choosing some of the less desirable Chinese habits for my own benefit.

In Hanoi we visited all the major sites: Ho Chi Minh's mauseleum, a history museum, the Lenin statue and several well known restaurants. I had a particular interest in seeing Ho Chi Minh as I had never seen Mao's body in China. We entered upon a dimly lit room filled with roses, a dead body and eight well armed guards intent on keeping us moving, I was surprised to see Ho a bit yellow but otherwise in pretty good shape. I looked around the room that day also interested in the reaction of the Vietnamese. Did they agree with this preservation? Ho certainly hadn't agreed to it, and what was the point, really? It felt like I was oberving a religious relic. All it was missing was a peddler outside yelling, "five dong to come inside! Pray here for your soul, don't forget your savior!" But thats just me. The Vietnamese seemed to love it.

We saw many things in Hanoi, and I truly enjoyed all of it. There was just one thing missing: the sun, and this upset me. I'm not the kind of guy who has to see the sun in order to be happy, nor do I shrug my shoulders and avoid outdoor activities at the sight of a raindrop, but it had been a while since I saw a nice day. Yibin is nice and all, but if you like sunny weather you'd better be there on the right couple days of the year. So my expectations kept rising as we headed south- first to Hue, then Hoi An, Nha Trang and lastly Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon).

The Citadel (Our Journey Part 3: The North)

Hue was the rainiest of all. Fortunately it was visually stunning. The former imperial city of the Nguyen Dynasty, which ruled, theoretically, from 1802 to 1945, consists of a citadel resembling something out of an exotic fairy tale. Several motes surround its inner and outer walls which stretched about 10 kilometers around the city. Though the walls have been rebuilt several times-due to natural disasters and the destructions of war-it still retains an extremely ancient visage. The wet climate also added a mystical element, with foggy mists swirling around the entirety of the citadel, concealing some of its nooks and corners as if with secrets. Vines adorn the twenty foot high walls and behind them lay ancient temples or shrines, visible only by wandering down the right alley or stone gated archway.

In the regular city we found a two story restaurant to rest our feet. The owner had been recognized by the international media for his local cuisine and a special bottle opener he had invented made of wood. You wouldn't know he had been on American food networks from appearances (or price), but the food was exceptional and on our return visit he demonstrated his acumen for entertaining foreign guests. Using several homemade wooden bottle opening devices, about a foot long and an inch across with a nail protruding from one end, he karate chopped 6 bottles open at the same time! We videotaped it, and he gave us each a stick as a souvenir.

Green Lanterns (Our Journey Part 4: The South)

After leaving behind the rainy city of Hue we headed to Hoi An, a quiet but touristy city along the Bon river. The city is hard not to like with its colorful lanterns overhanging pedestrian streets. Cars are not allowed along the river so street performances, biking and casual walks are all enjoyable atop the cobblestone streets. It was a welcome respite from the heavy traffic of most other Vietnamese cities.

Our hotel in Hoi An was also worth mentioning. We had a balcony on the top floor. Between the four of us it was not overly expensive, and we had done a good job of preserving our money supply in hostels thus far. On the first floor you could rent bikes for free, there was a small pool and a backyard where breakfast was served with coffee (yay!). Behind the pool stood a large cabinet full of English books, all available to borrow. I grabbed a copy of Slaughterhouse Five, by one of my favorite authors, after I had completed an enjoyable expansion on Vietnam by Jonathan Neale-A Peoples History of the Vietnam War- which I highly recommend.

Books were another thing I had the pleasure of seeing on many street corners along the way through Vietnam. Though many were copied from their original form, it was incredibly easy to come across a good book (unlike China, ah hem), and I was grateful to bring quite a few back home with me.

On our first day we grabbed our bikes (and helmets of course : ) ), and took off along the streets of Hoi An. We dodged as much of the touristy areas as we could, instead finding riverside villages selling coffee behind walls of bamboo. Incidentally the villagers did not seem very enthusiastic about us discovering them, and often wouldn't budge on their prices despite their remote location. Aside from grumbling shopkeepers we kept ourselves pointed in directions off the beaten track and found many interesting sites. The first thing we came across were rice paddies, lots of them, as well as more baguette sandwich sellers, friendly villagers, hidden lovers (too many, maybe), explosive fireworks, ancient temples, decrepit graveyards, historic relics and so on, all in a short period of time. Afterwards we returned to the hotel to grab one of the local beers and a rare western meal. It was one of the more enjoyable days we had.

We went shopping too, if only to see what kind of trinkets they were selling. I bought three colored lanterns- one green, then blue and puple since only buying my favorite color would not look as nice on my porch. Together the lanterns now shine out from my apartment balcony just as they had along the streets of Hoi An, quite nicely. That was it. We did some shopping, briefly, got some rest and personal perspective or whatever, and got out of there.

Ho Chi Minh City, Last Stop (Our Journey Part 5: The South)

Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, was warm, tropical and sunny. I was ecstatic that I might actually return with a limited tan, proving that I had in fact actually been at an longitute equal with the Carribean. And yes I can tan, though it requires a very delicate balance of timing, any miscalculation verging on complete self-immolation. I had packed SPF 100 just in case I had to walk an extra few blocks down the street under the hot sun.

Down the street from our hostel was a flower market, beyond that was a bazaar selling anything you can imagine, for a bargained upon price. We chose to head in this direction on our first day. The flowers were prepared for Tet, the Vietnamese new years, which was now in full swing. We found an entire park filled with various flowers for sale. I was not nearly as familiar with the variety as my friends Katie Agren and Richie, who knew something about horticulture. I noticed dragon fruit plants and felt proud of myself, but just about anything that grows in the hot temperatures of that area could be found that day.

The flowers were sold in bulk to either families or business owners to celebrate Vietnams largest and most important holiday of the year. We had anticipated the hustle and bustle of the holidays as it was similarly occuring in China. The streets were full of jubilant passerbys, street vendors and taxi drivers. Katie D. and I attempted to use their good humor as a way to get cheaper prices at the bazaar where we soon arrived.

When I said the bazaar had everything I meant it. The entire market was located within a very large building, with walls made only of the products any given merchant was selling. There was food, clothing, perfume, bags, hats, souvenirs, trinkets and all kinds of random things you can only find in Vietnam. I had been looking for a few request items for my sister Rose. They were easily found along with some smaller presents for my Chinese friends. Katie D. and I tried to work together for the right bargaining technique. It was surprisingly difficult. At various points Richie and I had to let the girls do the bargaining altogether, since as all the merchants were only recently post-adolescent girls they kept getting personally offended by our aggressive bargaining (meaning we were stubborn). One girl actually crossed her arms and ignored us altogether, her back facing away from us. This caused a great deal of laughing on our part, rather more than it should have. She was trying to be cute and ostensibly offended by our requested price. Our laughing did not help, she began to give us angry looks and we were left with no option but to walk away. The girls were much more adept at getting sympathy or a smile, and often brought the prices down below half the original price, which is what we were going for.

We left the bazaar with most of the things we had hoped to pick up along the way. I grabbed two bags of real coffee, a few presents and a hat. None of us were overly interested in buying souvenirs, though we picked up a few to bring back for friends.

Saigon's War Museum was the other major stop we made in Saigon. It is filled with pictures, videos and evidence of the ravages caused by war. Two exhibitions were exclusively devoted to those affected by Agent Orange, with horribly mutated bodies of immediate or second generation victims. It was difficult to watch, but I couldn't avert my eyes. My trip to the museum coincided with my completion of Slaughterhouse Five, turning out to be excellent timing, his dark humor rang through my head each time I passed another picture.

Outside the museum and to the right was a model of the Tiger Cages, formerly used as prisons by the South Vietnamese and French, depending on the time period. They existed off the southern coast of Vietnam, on an island called Con Son. I had heard about them through my father, who had helped uncover them before a Congressional delegation sent by Nixon arrived in 1970. Soon after the delegation left pictures of the torture and mutilation were featured in Life magazine.

The model cages allowed you to walk atop the grates just as the prison guards had once done. I pictured the guards walking above there victims, occasionally stopping long enough to spit on their prisoners. I didn't do any spitting but I could imagine what kind of facial expression might have been looking back up at me, it made me cringe.

Our stop in Ho Chi Minh city had also been our last chance to grab some great western food for a cheap price. On our last night we headed to a small Vietnamese restaurant owned by an older couple and her daughter. She served us the local beer and terrific food. After getting to know her a bit and pretending to understand what she was saying (by then we had mastered several of the most essential getting around words in Vietnam- Hello, how are you, numbers 1-1 million, where is the bathroom, great!, etc.), we got in a bit of a quarrel. Richie had made the mistake of telling the elderly matron that he was married to Katie A. But when it arose that they did not have wedding rings, Richie made a feable but fullhearted attempt to explain that the two did not quite believe in the traditional custom of marriage as an institution. This was beyond them and therefore proved only to cause them shock and disbelief. The matron spent the rest of the night berating Richie, mostly in fun but also slightly in shock, for as she said, being out having beers when he should be saving that money for a wedding ring. It was entertaining as hell and we all had a good laugh.

The next day we all hitched a cab to the airport. We were sad, but we had a two week training course coming up back in China and we would see eachother again soon. I left Vietnam completely satisfied and wishing only that I had had more time to spend in the tropical sun of Ho Chi Minh city.

Back in China (Our Journey Part 6)

The night I arrived back in Chengdu the New Years festivities were off the charts- fireworks were visible in any direction, from sparklers to the kind your used to seeing miles away on the Fourth of July. Theres a reason they're normally seen from far away, but most Chinese don't know it. They could have been set off by anyone able to get there hands on them-children, high schoolers, middle aged men or hunched and fragile old women.

The airport taxi cab driver took one look at us and, obviously conscious of the fact that he was missing the most important holiday of the year, took off at a thousand miles an hour to get us to our destination. It felt like racing down a nascar track during the opening ceremony of the olympic games. The sky was filled with the hues of 600 different colored fireworks hurriedly set off by a mulitude of Chengdu-ers for miles around. The excitement in the city was palpable. Right then, in homes all over China, families sat together eating a meal in a house. Many of them had broken there backs to return to their family home, sometimes traveling hundreds or thousands of miles. Imagine, 2 billion people deciding they want to return home for the holidays, it is a train attendants nightmare.

Katie D. and I naturally decided to stay away from traveling after that taxi ride, we needed time to rest. The past two weeks had been a non-stop culture ride and it was time to get back to our somewhat normal lives in China.