Oh and just another funny little tidbit about my stomach issues. At the dinner table after one of the few times that I felt sick, my host grandfather shared these wise words (more or less): “Ni de wei….gen women de wei…butong. Dan wei….haishi wei!” “Your stomach ….is different ….from our stomachs. But a stomach ……is still a stomach!” Hahahaha! Such a cute-old-Chinese-man thing to say!!

Justin

 

Justin being a trooper!

My stomach is really sensitive so I had some problems with throwing up and feeling shitty in China. One time I threw up in the middle of the night and then my host grandparents were like “oh drink this tea it’s good for digestion drink this tea” and the tea had crazy looking herbs in it which reminded me of the baleful biology of the deep reaches of the ocean, which I didn’t mind cuz I like herbs, but I just really didn’t want to put anything in my mouth or my stomach, but they were like “here drink this” and I said “no, no, I really don’t think I should drink anything right now” and they were all “here this is good for your stomach drink it” and I was like “thank you but right now I know if I drink anything then I will just throw it right up” and then they were like “oh. well here, drink this” and I was like “ok” so then I had a sip of it and said “ok that’s enough thank you!” and they went back in the house and then I threw up that sip of tea. So then in the morning, I was just sitting on a little wooden chair in the front yard like I had been for most of the middle of the night, near the space of maybe less than 10 square feet where most of the trash ends up (and they eventually burn it), which is also where my host grandfather told me I could throw up, and where I did throw up, and then the chickens came. The ducks were fed first though, and whenever the chickens try to get in on the ducks’ food the grandfather almost made this whooshing noise and whipped this long wooden/bamboo stick on the ground and the chickens ran away from among all the ducks, who remained unfased (unphased? unfazed?? unphaesededed?) by my grandfather’s strange noises and his strange stick. So only after the ducks finish do the chickens eat, and they eat the scraps of what the ducks got and some of their own food I guess, and then they pick through the trash. So that day, after their breakfast, in the trash area, one chicken found what he seemed to think was the jackpot in my abnormally large pile of vomit (I’m sorry, it’s part of the story) and then some other chickens joined in, and it took four chickens to eat up all my undigested food. And it was really disgusting!!!

Then later that day I went to the local medical clinic and he checked on my infected big toe and said it was all healed. He couldn’t do anything for my nausea (I didn’t throw up any more), but he was really nice and taught me some special Jiangxi Province inside phrases and I taught him a few English things and we took a picture together. His name was Chen2 Yuan3Hua2.

Justin M. Thomas

 

Justin from Huangbei

Here is a little story from Huangbei Village in Jiangxi. Well, my email is wholegrainking@gmail.com, and I really like to eat whole grains. They have more fiber, protein, and other nutrients. So as you can imagine, being in the land of refined white rice really makes me miss whole grains. I bought bran flakes in Ganzhou but since then I haven’t been able to find any cereal. All the little snacks are made from refined grains. There’s this one snack called French Bread or something, and as we were walking to the school in the afternoon to prepare lessons, Michael from my village described it in more or less these words: “the most sugary, sweetest, whitest, most refined, preservative-filled bread you could have, and I love it.” So then I expressed my own taste: “I want grainy, rough, seedy, crunchy, break your teeth”–and then Cindy and I looked at each other and said it right at the same time–”MAKE YA SHIT!”– bread. Alas, that kind of bread is rare in China.

Justin M. Thomas

 

More from Matt

I realized that what I just sent you was a little dry/specific to the kinds of questions a jewish mother would ask. Here’s a little more:

After dinner, I always ask what the conversation was about. Usually, it’s about some aspect of the local environment (a good hiking path nearby, a big snake that someone saw, the weather forecast). A few days ago, my host father said something that caused a bit of commotion. I asked what he had said. Apparently he said he saw on tv that there were rumors that michael jackson might have  been murdered.

One night when we were a little bored, Janise and Mica painted my toenails bright pink. I always forget that they did it though. Everyday at least one of the locals points at my feet and starts laughing, and it takes me a second to figure out what’s going on. Luckily, my self esteem and dignity were restored on Thursday when Sandy, one of my best students, pointed to my feet and said, “Beautiful.”

They’re pickling something in the fridge bigtime. Because of the smell, I can’t keep the door open long enough to figure out what it is. I just crack the door, slide my water bottle in, and evacuate the area.

 

A little about life in Quanfeng (pronounced chuen-fung)…

The house where I sleep is one of the nicest in the village- 2 stories, tile floors (not bare concrete), elevated faucet that serves as a shower, decent furniture. I share a bed with one of the chinese volunteers, a 3rd year student at nanjing university. The family that owns this house is away for the summer, they’re living closer to the coal mine where the father works, so in the house it’s just me, julian (the other american guy), and the 2 chinese male volunteers.

Our ‘host family’ lives next door and we eat all our meals at their house. Their house is not nearly as nice- it’s a 1 story concrete rectangle with 4 rooms and a live chicken walking around. Fortunately, the food is good- always rice and fresh eggplant, corn, soybeans, string beans- the protein is hit-or-miss. Good pork meatballs sometimes, other times, it’s a little gross and fatty. My host father is a teacher and farmer- he’s constantly shirtless, smoking cigarettes, and sipping on baiju (chinese liqour, 42% alch according to the bottle).

The village has one paved road wide enough for a single car. Beyond the road is farmland, pristine green grass, and in the distance, beautiful mountains. All the houses are either like the one I sleep in (2 stories with tiled floors) or the one I eat in (1 story concrete rectanglar box). Lots of dogs, cats and chickens walking around. Also, one of the other americans has a pig living in her host family’s outhouse.

My class has gone surprisingly well. I have 25 4th graders- perfect because they all have a year of english in school already, and because they haven’t yet figured out that it’s cool to misbehave. And they’re all adorable and don’t smell (glad I’m not teaching the 6th-8th grade class)- a lot of the boys wear nba apparel.

We do a lot of coloring and then labeling drawings with english words- getting to use colored markers and paper is a treat for them- and play lots of games- they like to play telephone. My chinese teaching partner is a girl named amy- just graduated nanjing univ. Her english is good and we are working well together.

The heat during the day, bugs at night, and lack of western toilets are all tough, but for now, manageable. The chinese volunteers are very patient in helping me deal with the language barrier.

For now, I’m enjoying the simplicity of life here (especially after a week in Shanghai- the most commercial place I’ve ever seen), and I do really feel like I’ve “gotten away.” Between observing the natural environment and the villagers, planning my class, and meeting my basic needs, I’m pretty occupied during the day. That being said, I definitely feel like a month is the right amount of time here, and I miss Sal’s pizza.
Here’s a little more:After dinner, I always ask what the conversation was about. Usually, it’s about some aspect of the local environment (a good hiking path nearby, a big snake that someone saw, the weather forecast). A few days ago, my host father said something that caused a bit of commotion. I asked what he had said. Apparently he said he saw on tv that there were rumors that michael jackson might have  been murdered.
One night when we were a little bored, Janise and Mica painted my toenails bright pink. I always forget that they did it though. Everyday at least one of the locals points at my feet and starts laughing, and it takes me a second to figure out what’s going on. Luckily, my self esteem and dignity were restored on Thursday when Sandy, one of my best students, pointed to my feet and said, “Beautiful.”
They’re pickling something in the fridge bigtime. Because of the smell, I can’t keep the door open long enough to figure out what it is. I just crack the door, slide my water bottle in, and evacuate the area.

-Matt

 

Janice!

These past two weeks have been so much fun and I feel so accomplished that I have been able to adjust to life in rural China. My host family is pretty nice and we even have a shower (however there are also 2 pigs and a family of rats in the bathroom)! I teach 5th graders so they are about 12-13 years old and they are great! They are a lot easier to discipline than I thought and they all try really hard. We’ve just been doing basic sentences relating to fruit, jobs, colors, etc. My teaching partner Allen and I work really well together and we always plan lessons super fast and though sometimes during class we are flying by the seat of our pants, it always works out. The village has been pretty rainy lately and the power has gone out a few times. Also, we have a defective fan that shuts off every 10 minutes…so it is not the most pleasant during hot nights. This weekend we’re in Nanjing and I’m so excited that we were able to switch the schedule around to work this trip in. It is a really great city just to wander around and look at stuff. Today, the Chinese volunteers are showing us Nanjing university and taking us shopping.

Janise

 

Cold showers in China.

I have never had a sweating problem. As in, I’ve never had a problem breaking a sweat. I literally sweat when I do anything and everything, from laying on the beach on a cool day to eating dinner outside (yeah, eating.) Being a girl, this is a very special “talent” to have, I believe most will agree. It’s also not always the most attractive thing to witness, but I’ve embraced the incredible opening-ability my pores seem to have. The chinese volunteers, on the other hand, were a little more surprised.

Being in rural china, without air-conditioning or over-head showers, it’s tough to cool down. Especially when it’s always tea time. ALWAYS. The boiled water is the most convenient and safest, and we live right on a tea mountain, so of course tea is the drink of choice. Unless there’s hot soup, in which cause you can pick your poison (remember, I’m talking about body temperature, not the quality of the food- the tea and soup are none-the-less quite good). Anyway, after the first day in the village, I was excited to take my first bucket shower, and run cold water over my entire head. To my surprise, though, my host father brought me a steaming bucket of hot water and, through hand-motions and a huge smile, let me know this was what I could shower with.

Of course I accepted and smiled. Then I closed the door and stared at the hot water, sweating even more. I proceded in taking a steaming hot bucket shower, and being that it was my first one, got a workout in during the process, figuring out how to get soap out of my hair and water on my back. Finally, I decided to wash my hands under the faucet in the bathroom. I gasped. I had turned on the water only to discover cold water! I dunked my entire head under and I swear steam must have rose up.

Obviously, hot water cleans better than cold, and my chinese counter-parts were taken aback when I told them I’d prefer a cold shower while in China. Washing myself with cold water over hot, I believe would be cleaner for me in the long run (not that I was remotely close to caring more about being clean than being cool.) Still surprised, my chinese counterparts told me I would certainly get a cold if I washed myself in cold water. It was 90 degrees outside, at least. As I proceded in lightly explaining my heating issue, they gave me a smile and yes “Oh yes, cold showers then.. like a boy.” I couldn’t help but laugh, and in the midst of the language and culture barriers, they joined in on the laughing too. My entire family still finds my ”cold shower” entertaining. None-the-less, they get their laughs, and I get my body temperature down again.

-Kirsten Chen

 

Cindy in Jiangxi

things in Jiangxi are great! (this shift key has a temper, so please bear with). we went to another really nice village this weekend to get out of ours and see the other volunteers, so that was fun. we went on an awesome hike this morning (and it didn’t rain on us despite the ominous clouds) so that was awesome. there was tea at the top and we convinced the guy to sell us some (helping out the local economy, you know).

my class is really fun. I’m in huangbei and I teach about 10-13 year-olds. last week we focused a lot on the alphabet – and 26 new words to go with all of the letters – and numbers 1-20. we played jeopardy on friday and I took a picture to show you our version. next week i want to incorporate a double question and the final question, but that was too much for this week. I did, however, sing the song when they had 30 seconds left for a question and that really did the trick to get some of them moving.

my host family just got a fridge and a water cooler the other day, so that was a big event. I think it’s because the grandma died this year, so they might be buying stuff with the money she left them, who knows. my host family is super nice and very talkative with me, though I don’t know what they’d do without the tv. my host dad works in the field in the morning and afternoon, but when he’s not out there he’s without fail slumped in a chair watching whatever’s on. that’s definitely his way of decompressing, but sometimes I wonder what he ever did without it…

my host mom is a great cook and very sweet. she found it very interesting that my mom is already close to the age of her mom, since she had children so young. she is very energetic and talks to me despite the fact that i don’t understand her dialect and she doesn’t understand my standard mandarin sometimes. i realized the other day that i have pictures of my folks on my camera from this year, and I think now she finally understands why I’m quite tall after seeing pictures of my dad.

I live with another Chinese volunteer, Sarah, or Jiang Mengyan, who’s very nice and fun. She is our village captain in Huangbei and she’s doing a great job. On Friday it was her birthday, and the whole day we all pretended that we didn’t know so we could surprise her. She worked hard in class all day and though she keeps to herself I could tell something was a little off, so it was really hard to not say “happy birthday.” Then after school I made a card for her with my little host cousin (she made a carbon copy of the card I made, which i thought was hilarious, and then she had to ask me what to write, even though she’s obviously better at Chinese than I am). I snuck around to get everyone to sign it while Heidi, or Country Coordinator, and another volunteer went to town to get a cake. At the same time, Sarah had also gone to town to buy food to share with us, because in China you’re supposed to invite your friends to eat, not the other way around. So she bought a lot of stuff and brought it when we went back to school to prepare lessons, and she “surprised” us by telling us it was her birthday. We all pretended to be so sad that she didn’t tell us and really sorry, and we started to wonder where Heidi and Lu were with the cake. I had to try so hard to hold my tongue.

They finally showed up and we celebrated all together, concluding the evening with 3 watermelons that people had all bought from different places because they each thought they’d be responsible for getting food for the birthday girl. I don’t think any of us ate a full bowl of rice after that afternoon of snacking.

 

Mica’s letters home

Hi everyone! I’ve been in my village for a week now and am loving the experience. We heard from our program director that our village is the only one with showers. In today’s 95 degree heat + humidity I’m really grateful for that. A little about the village: I’m actually living in a village called shanghu, but teaching in quanfeng (about a 12 minute walk). The village sits in a valley of  green farmland surrounded by a ring of mountainous bamboo forests. Each day trucks sputter by carrying bamboo trunks twice the length of the truckbeds they ride on. The buildings of the village are mostly concrete with terra cotta roofs. Many have large wooden doors and red door hangings at the entrance despite their meager interior furniture and decorations. I’m supposed to be teaching 6th grade , but my class is the oldest one offered in the area so I basically have any middle and high schoolers who want to learn english this summer. This means I have 41 kids on my class roster (usually 35 a day show up) and they range from 6th to 10th grade. My kids have been learning english for a number of years and know a lot of vocab already. However their ability to make and understand sentences is verrry weak. They are very used to mere regurgitation of vocab. So were working on full sentences, creativity, and pronounciation through games and songs. A couple semi-sad ‘only in China’ stories: 1. The day we practiced how to order in a restaurant (one of the most practical lessons we could teach) a few girls came up after class and asked daniel and I to teach them how to take english tests and offered to pay us if we did. We obviously said no. 2. We learned a number of foods then asked the kids to place an order with one of the assigned classroom waiters. One group of 5 girls all ordered the same thing. When I asked why they did that and if they really all wanted the same thing, they said in china we all want the same thing. While american middle school girls might also find safety in numbers, I was shocked at this display of selfawareness about Chinas homogeneity. I’m growing to understand my host family’s accent little by little, but when they speak in dialect it is still incomprehensible. We went through a patch of eating the same food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 16 straight meals but were getting some variety now. Thank goodness! I miss you all and really appreciate your emails.
Xoxo,
Mica

Hi! We arrived in the village yesterday after about 6.5 hours on a bus that was hotter inside than out (Which is saying a lot). We were immediately invited to have watermelon with the nanjing university students who will be our teaching partners. I’m going to teach 26 6th graders 3 classes a day with a nanjing student named Daniel. (I don’t remember his chinese name.) He knows tons about America from kanye west and christina aguilera to the fact that the rockets are thinking about trading tracy mcgrady for amari stotlemeyer. He is eager to use his laptop to show our students American music and videos, and seems to be excited about creative teaching methods. Overall the nanjing students english is just a bit better than my chinese so we operate in this weird chinglish limbo language. The village is one huge contradiction (much like modern China in general). We go to the bathroom in an outhouse with a hole and 2 wooden boards to stand on (my neighbors’ bathroom also houses the family’s 2 pigs). Chickens and dogs roam around the village freely and we wake when the roosters start crowing. However my host mother has a large tv with a dvd player and karaoke machine in her bedroom. Food is so-so. Last night we had roasted bamboo, whole fish, tomatoes, and some sort of green veggie (along with a bowl of rice to mix everything in). The school is about ten minutes away, and we walk past the village coal mine and its soot covered workers to get there. I live with a husband, wife (who we call the chinese word for auntie: ayi), and grandma, and share a bed w my nanjing university living partner whose english name is kiwi. Ayi has 2 grown daughters who live in shanghai. Other relatives live down the road and brought their 4 and 9 year old kids over for karaoke last night. It is ridiculously hot. Last night ayi was making fun of my sweat. In general the local dialect and even their accented  mandarin is incomprehensible but I’m trying to converse with them. The nanjing  students understand most of what the family says so they often relay my chinese with more familiar/native pronunciation. To me, it sounds like they are saying exactly what I am but my family seems to understand it better from the nanjing students lips than mine. Sorry this is super long. Ill try and send weekly updates.’

Xoxo,
Me

 

Nihao from Quanfeng village in Anhui province!

Both the American and Chinese LE volunteers just got back from a weekend of adventures outside the village and are settling back in to start our second week of teaching. Yesterday morning we met up with the volunteers from the other Anhui village to go rafting down the Yue Liang Wan (Moon River). Sporting new 5kuai bamboo hats (about 70American cents), we floated down the river on long thin bamboo rafts. We were steered Venetian gondola style down the river amidst the beautiful bamboo mountains of Anhui. After returning to the village for lunch, we headed out again on the hour-long bus ride to Xuencheng (the nearest city). Xuencheng is far smaller than Shanghai with very little tourism or western signage. It was nice to be gawked at more as a novelty than a target for heckling street vendors. When we got off the bus we took a cab to KFC (oddly the center of town) and began exploring from there. We bought some gifts for our home friends and Chinese teaching partners and relished the AC and real toilets. When we returned from Xuencheng, we ate dinner with our host families and planned tomorrow’s lessons. I am teaching a mixture of 12 to 16 year olds who already know a great deal of vocab but struggle with formulating sentences. Tomorrow we’re going to learn large numbers (the Chinese put the comma after four digits unlike our 3) and discuss what we want to be when we grow up. Later in the week we’re going to take some advice from the other Anhui group and do a day of American holidays where each class rotates through holiday activities in each classroom. That’s all for now!
–Mica