Spring Festival and Dialects

Hey Yall-

Just got back from celebrating Spring Festival (春节) (Chun Jie) (Chinese New Year) and before I go into details about the holiday, I wanted to let yall know that a big surprise was waiting for me when I got off the train in Guiyang..and that was the most beautiful weather I have experienced so far in China. Maybe it wasn't really the best weather, but after two and half months of winter, anytime you can see the sun and not have to wear winter underwear or a jacket, then you know it's going to be a good day.

Starting in November it began to get cold here..and the bad part isn't the actual cold..because it's just as cold, and colder in some places, in America...but the big difference is that in America when you go inside you get relief from the cold...but here it's still cold inside. Of the 4 regions that PC volunteers serve in, only Gansu Province volunteers have heating provided for them by the government inside..so they get warm when they go inside, but when they go outside, they have to deal with some of the coldest climates in PC China...even though the volunteer in Liupanshui (六盘水) in western Guizhou would argue that he has the coldest site..which it's probably true because when I was there in October it was cold..and I've heard now that it's an igloo..and I also heard that when he had visitors a while back, they resorted to burning books to keep warm..but apparently this only caused his apartment to smell bad and be filled with smoke.

So for the other 3 regions in China we have to find ways to stay warm..all of us have some sort of heater in our apartments that's usually provided by the school..some have the big AC units that also serve as a heater and others have space heaters..And these heaters do a pretty good job of keeping one room warm, but not all of them..so for me I have a space heater in my bedroom and at night when I sleep I stay warm..but when I go out of the bedroom to the kitchen or bathroom, especially in the morning, it's freezing..so most winter days inside my apartment are spent wearing outside clothes..usually 3-4 layers..the worst part though is my hands..

But things got better after I shared with my students my feelings about the cold, especially my hands..they could already tell this because most of the time while I was teaching..if I wasn't talking, I was usually blowing hot air into my hands because gloves and chalk do not mix. So one of my students, Honey, bought me a Christmas present and it was a gift to keep my hands warm..We don't have these things in America, so during one class we came up with an English name..in Chinese they call it a 电暖宝 (Dian Nuan Bao)..which translates literally to: "Electric warm treasure/precious." The students decided to call it an "Electric Hand Warmer." Not a sexy name, but it's more appropriate than the direct translation. And so this hand warmer is this small bag that's filled with water and you plug it into the wall and the water is heated up..and then you hold it in your hands and it keeps them warm..it works really well and it has saved my hands' life..I never used it during class, but I would heat it up right before I went to sleep and hold it while I sleep.

One last thing about the weather before I talk about what I'm actually supposed to be telling yall about..As I said, it's cold here..and the students feel it also and the first time I heard about what they have to go through during the winter..you just feel so bad for them..In their dorms there isn't any heat (and they're not allowed to use heaters) so they have to rely on these hand warmers to stay warm..and then when they want to take a shower..they told me that there's not always warm water..so they either take a cold shower or don't take one at all..And to top it off, in most dorm rooms..the students, at least at my school (the numbers change from school to school) have up to 12 people in one dorm room..The girls have it the worst because there are more girls than boys at my school..so in the freshmen girl's dorm room there are 12 people..but the boy's, because of the low numbers, have about 4 in each room..This blew my mind at first, but the students kind of like having large numbers in their rooms, at least during the winter time, because they say it keeps the room warmer.

Ok..back to the topic..Spring Festival..I spent it with my host family and their extended family..and we ended up spending it in Chongqing City, where my host mother's family lives..I got there on Spring Festival Eve..I took the overnight train from Guiyang to Chongqing, but when I got there, there was some confusion about which train station I'd be arriving at..in Guiyang, we only have one train station..so I, wrongly, assumed that Chongqing was the same..or at the very least that if there was more than one station, then I would be ending up at the main one because Guiyang is an important city..apparently not important enough..so my host family was waiting for me at 重庆北火车站 (Chongqing Bei Huo Che Zhan) (Chongqing North Train Station) while I was waiting for them at 重庆火车站, which is just Chongqing Train Station..who knew..

Waiting for them wasn't so bad, but figuring out where I was was pretty interesting..first off..my host family can't really speak English..they can say a few sentences, but overall my Chinese is better than their English..and while having a conversation with them in person isn't too difficult..the hard part is doing it by phone (not very clear)..luckily an employee of the train station saw me having a difficult time communicating with them on the phone and offered her help..she also couldn't speak English, but I asked her to tell them where I was and in the end it worked out..and the employee (唐春容) (Tang Chun Rong) was nice of enough to talk with me while I waited for them..And one part of her name, Chun, is the same Chun in Chun Jie (Spring Festival)..so maybe it was meant to be..

One interesting thing about the interaction with me and Chun Rong was the initial greeting...when she first came up to me, she said "Hello..Can I help you?" This is a common greeting that Chinese students learn in school when they learn about how to talk with foreigners..but the funny thing about it is that this is the only sentence Chun Rong can say in English..so if I hadn't been able to speak, poorly though it is, Chinese I don't know how she would have been able to help me..And I asked her about this later during our chat..and all she could do was laugh and say “我不知道” (Wo Bu Zhi Dao) (I don't know).

So after about an hour of chatting and waiting..the family showed up and then we went to their family's house..and this house, like almost all in Southwestern China, was not heated..so outside clothes were still worn inside..

Some highlights of celebrating Spring Festival...One of the best parts was definitely the food..sooo much food..and the big, important dinner was that first night I was there (New Year's Eve). This is the most important day during this holiday, so they go all out for dinner..and I was happy to get to try lots of new foods, including turtle and rabbit..the rabbit was pretty good..couldn't really tell the difference between it and chicken..but the turtle was excellent..really delicate meat and a new flavor I've never had before that can only be described as "turtle."

And along with a big dinner, especially a special one, comes the alcohol..and all the volunteers here, and when we first got here we learned about it fast, know about Chinese alcohol..the infamous 白酒 (Bai Jiu) (White Alcohol)..Now I could do a whole blog entry about the mysteries, uses, and effects of Bai Jiu, but I'll give you a few of the key points..It taste like crap..it burns, has a bad flavor, doesn't go down smooth, and the bad taste in your mouth likes to stay for a while (I just learned that the longer the taste stays in your mouth, the better the quality is-apparently)..And I think Chinese people agree with these descriptions, but still...if you go to a big dinner, you will most likely be served this tasty beverage..And you don't just drink Bai Jiu..it's much more important in Chinese culture than just drinking it..Probably even more important than drinking it is the acts leading up it..

And I'm talking about toasting..In America toasts are important..weddings, parties, etc..we use toasts, but if we don't have a toast it's not the end of the world..in China though..toasts are a vital part of their culture..it's a sign of respect when you toast someone and there is a bonding experience involved when you share a drink together that brings people closer together..so during our dinner it is important for everyone to toast each other..usually there is a big toast to start off..and later on individual toasts are done..and there is a certain order of who and when you toast..the oldest person gets toasted first and the most often..and then you work your way down the age and importance line..Foreigners are somewhat of an exception though..At previous big dinners and banquets, I've never been put ahead of the eldest and most important at the table, but depending on the person who's toasting me, I usually fall somewhere between the eldest and middle importance level on the toasting order..And when you are toasted, it is important that later on you repay their respect with a toast to them..Now foreigners can get away with not toasting because we can always play the "I'm a foreigner and don't know" card..but if you do make toasts and show respect, the other people always like you better..

Now all this toasting leads to interesting moments, and this night was no different..Grandpa, who had to be pushing 80, was a big drinker..and after about 2 hours of drinking Grandpa was feeling good..and the highlight was him saying he felt hot and trying to take off his sweatpants at the table..he got about halfway down until his family stopped him..

Oh and one piece of advice..if you're not a big drinker, but don't want to be disrespectful..when you drink it's not required to drink the whole shot in one..they will want you to, but they won't be offended if you don't (think baby sips)..and when you want to toast people, instead of toasting individually (which means more drinking), you can toast the entire table..This is perfectly acceptable and will make everyone happy and comfortable..

So now that I've probably angered my mom because I've been talking only about alcohol for a while..let me go onto some more lighthearted moments..I spent four days with the family and most of the time was spent either relaxing or going out around the city and enjoying the sites..One day we went hiking up a nearby, well-known mountain..it was a nice hike, but still cold..and another day we went to, I guess I could say amusement park...Again, eating a lot of food and enjoying family time..

And of course my favorite part was talking with my Meimei (little sister)..she is now 13 and is beginning to learn English..she can say a few sentences, but I'm not a 100% sure if she understands everything she says..She told me she has a foreign teacher, which means she goes to a good school because in this part of China a foreign teacher in middle school is not very common..And this teacher is Australian, which means a different accent and pronunciation of English words from Americans..

A big topic of students in China is the difference between American and British English (students are taught British English here)..They like to talk about the difference in the pronunciation and use of different words..One example is the word "Pardon." And now while I know some Americans say it..down in South Carolina I never heard it and if we did it was weird..we prefer "Huh!" So when students say this word, it always makes me feel like I'm late for 5 o'clock tea time. So I love to joke with my students that they need to use only American English and that British English is bad...One time though a student didn't realize it was a joke (this was near the beginning of the school year) and after class she handed me a note that read "Sir. Sorry I spoke British English today. I hope you are not mad at me. I know you are American and speak American English. Next time I will only speak American English. Please don't be mad at me." Wow..what do you even say? I didn't know if I should laugh or cry..I ended up apologizing and saying that it was only a joke..These students are too sweet and funny sometimes..After that I decided to word my meaning in a way so my students would understand me better..so now when we talk about the difference I always tell them that they should know and study both because if you speak with a foreigner, you never know where he or she is from..but American English is still better..

Back to Spring Festival..that night after dinner we all went out to enjoy another important part of Spring Festival-Fireworks!..Fireworks everywhere..I won't go into big detail about this part..if you want to see a video of this craziness..check out Phil's blog..he took video of the fireworks around his city..and what he saw is what we all saw..Now in America if we used fireworks the way Chinese people do, we'd either be arrested or end up in a hospital..I'll leave it at that..Check out the video.

Overall Spring Festival was a success..I wanted to spend it with a Chinese family and see, firsthand, what Chinese people do during the most important holiday in China..and I'm happy I was lucky enough to spend it with my host family..

After leaving the family's house I made a couple of detours as I made my way back home to Guiyang..I first went to visit Kristen and Phil in Bei Bei (北碚)..which is a district about 40 minutes by bus north of Chongqing City..I'd call it a city, but I'm thinking in terms of American cities..in China it's just a district of Chongqing City. It's a nice quiet district away from the big city..And after one night of hanging out with them, me and Kristen took a bus down to Zunyi (遵义)..At the bus station I was able to see Chun Rong, who had helped me at the train station, again and thank her properly..the bus station is next to that train station..so she was able to help us make sure we stood in the right line to buy the tickets..because at this time of the year, buying tickets to travel is a nightmare because everyone is on the move..

And after our 3 or so hour bus ride we arrived in Zunyi, which is in Guizhou and directly north of Guiyang..In Zunyi, there are 4 volunteers..2 are out Zunyi Medical College and the other 2 are at Zunyi Normal College..So seeing them was good and getting to see a new city was nice..Zunyi is not nearly as big as Guiyang, but I like the feel of it..a little more intiment..But my time there was very short..only one night because that next morning I had to catch a train back to Guiyang..And as I said before, arriving in Guiyang meant enjoying the amazing weather..

One more thing I wanted to share with everyone..and that is about the different dialects in the Chinese language..Every volunteer, during our training, learns 普通话 (Pu Tong Hua) (Common Language/Dialect), or as we call it in America, Mandarin. This dialect comes from the northeastern part of China (Beijing area) and, I know my history's not gonna be accurate, during the beginning of Mao's time as the leader of China, the Beijing dialect was made the national language..There are many different dialects in China, and at that time the government realized they needed to bring China together under one common dialect and the northeastern one was chosen..So TV, news, and schools all use Mandarin..It's taught in school and if a foreigner is learning Chinese, they are learning Mandarin.

Now I study Mandarin and everyone in China (I think at least) can understand Mandarin, but not everyone can speak it..or they can speak it, but when they are talking with people from their region or city, they will not speak it. They will speak their local dialect..And while there are some similarities between Mandarin and local dialects, some dialects differ so much from each other that it's basically a different language. And I am in the southwestern part of China, so books will call our dialect the southwestern dialect..this includes Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and even Yunnan in some parts..but even these different provinces' dialects can differ in some ways..and within provinces, different cities' dialects can differ in small ways..whether it be pronunciation or different words..

And I know it sounds like a headache..and guess what..it is! So when I go out, I almost always speak standard Chinese (Mandarin). Every now and then I will throw in a common phrase or word in Guizhou dialect, but overall I try and speak as standard as possible..And so while they understand me for the most part, when they speak in dialect it is very difficult to understand them. It sounds much harsher, they speak a lot faster, and there are some times when you listen to it and it sounds like one long sound and you don't understand one thing the person said..But I am lucky though that I live in the capital so there are people from different regions here..and when people from different regions of China speak with each other, they must use Mandarin..so I get to hear a lot of Mandarin during the day..the place you will never hear Mandarin is in a local restaurant..if you want to improve your listening of the local dialect, go to a small hole in the wall restaurant, have a seat, open your ears, and enjoy.

Now I'm gonna give a shout out to the two volunteers who are in Bijie (毕节), which is a small city in Western Guizhou. They probably have the hardest time of any volunteers learning Mandarin because there site is arguably the most rural of the PC China sites..so Mandarin speakers basically do not exist..and they have told me stories of trying to speak Mandarin with locals and the people laughing at them and making fun of the dialect..I have not visited them yet, but I plan on making a trip there this coming semester and finding out for myself what it's like speaking Chinese there..

One of the reasons I'm going into detail about the different dialects is because of something that happened during my Spring Festival time with the family..The uncle of the family I stayed with is from Chongqing and he cannot speak Putonghua..The family says when he speaks it they cannot understand him, so when he speaks, he always speaks Chingqing hua so it is difficult to understand him..but luckily the other family memebers' Mandarin was clear and easy to understand. And one night we went out to dinner with a business partner of my host dad and their family..and everyone in this family was born and raised in Beijing, which means the language they speak with their friends and families is Mandarin..so they do not have to study the language as much when they are young and in school. It is their natural dialect.

As soon as I met them I was so excited because I had not talked with anyone from Beijing yet and the opportunity to hear the most standard of standard Chinese was a great one..and they did not let me down..the mother of that family spoke the clearest and easy to understand Chinese I have heard yet..it was like sweet music and the whole dinner I asked her questions and just enjoyed listening to hear speaking..

But while I was enjoying my time talking with them..I noticed that the uncle hadn't been talking much, which was rare because he liked talking, chatting, and having a good time..and then I remembered that he couldn't speak standard Chinese and if he spoke in dialect he would be embarrassed..because if you think about it..it would be embarrassing to not be able to speak your own National Language..So during dinner he did not talk because of the chance that the other family would think it was bad that he couldn't speak Mandarin. I am sure the family would not think this, but still the uncle didn't want to risk embarrasing himself.

And these differences in dialects is not like the different accents in America..at first I thought the differences were similar to differences in a northern and souther accent, or maybe even the differences between American and British accents..but it is much deeper than these differences..we can understand everyone in America for the most part and understanding British people is not difficult..whether this is because of having so many different nationalities represented in America or our love of movies and being able to hear different people speaking English..or just simply because there's not a big difference really and standard English isn't as important as Standard Chinese in order to communicate..but one Chinese person told me that some dialects differ so much that it could be compared to the differences in Spanish and German, or French and Italian..or any European languages really..

So back to the uncle..I felt really bad for him and you could see it in his face that he was embarrassed..And this is a big problem in China..not being able to communicate with your fellow countrymen..When people travel they rely on Mandarin to talk with others, but there are many people, especially poorer ones, that cannot speak it..

For us volunteers here..we will continue to study Mandarin, but continue to hear local dialects..There is no solution here because this part of China that we are in is where our English is needed the most..PC China does not go to the eastern or northern parts of China..they have more money in those schools so they are able to hire foreign teachers and pay them..Most schools that we are in cannot hire foreign teachers..There are some schools that other volunteers are at, especially in the big cities (Chengdu, Chongqing City), that have other foreign teachers..but most here do not have other foreign teachers, and if they do, it's very few..Here in Guiyang, of the 6 colleges/universities that we have volunteers at, 3 of them have other foreign teachers..and the best one in Guizhou, Guizhou University, only has 2 other foreign English teachers, and I think a Japanese teacher also..so foreign teachers are lacking in the Southwestern part of China.

One final thing..I wanted to share some other good news..I talked about in a previous blog about our school being observed by the Beijing Education Commision..I cannot remember or not if I told yall how it went..but we got approved..and they just put up a sign outside our gate that says we have a new name. We are no longer 贵州教育学院 (Guizhou Educational College)..We are now called 贵州师范学院 (Guizhou Shi Fan Xue Yuan) (Guizhou Normal College)..And the meaning of "师范 Shi Fan" is Normal or Teacher-Training or Pedagogical. So many of our students will, after graduating, become teachers..I like the sound of the name, but the problem is that every time I tell someone the name of our school, I have to remember to say the new name and not the old one..but really I'm still gonna have to say the old one after I say the new one so they will know what I'm talking about.

And tonight I am taking the train and heading to Yunnan Province for one week. So the next entry should be about my time spent there. Some other volunteers have been there already during this vacation and I've heard good things..

Alright..take care..be safe..and talk to you later.

Guizhou Educational College 贵州教育学院

Hey Yall-

I leave for Chongqing (重庆) in a few hours to celebrate Spring Festival (春节) (Chun Jie) (Chinese New Year) with my host family that I lived with while I was doing my PC training in Chengdu. The family lives in Chengdu, but the mother was born and raised in Chongqing...and this year they decided to go there to celebrate with her side of the family. I've heard a lot about this festival, but I don't really know what to expect. I've heard there will be fireworks, lots of foods, and some sort of exchanging of gifts..but aside from that who knows..I will let yall know after I come back..I wanted to take this time before I head out to talk about my school..Guizhou Educational College.

During our training this past summer no one knew until the end of August where we would be teaching for the next two years..We all had guesses and preferences, but the only thing we really knew was that we would either be going to Gansu, Sichuan, Chongqing, or Guizhou..these are the 4 provinces/municipality (Chongqing) that Peace Corps China volunteers serve in.

While I was in America waiting around before leaving for China I was lucky enough to get in touch with a volunteer who was currently serving her first year in China (Guizhou Province)..At first I didn't want to ask a lot of questions because I wanted to learn things on my own when I got to China, but my curiosity eventually won out and for the next 2-3 months or so we shared emails where I asked lots of questions and she was more than happy to share her experiences with me (and I've also learned now that no matter how many questions I asked or could have asked her..my questions weren't truly answered until I started training/serving because everyone's experience is different..and I still am not even close to having all the answers). She told me about her school, students, teaching English, learning Chinese, the culture, and also about the different regions that volunteers served in..This last point interested me the most because at that point I had an idea of the kinda place I wanted to live and teach in..I wanted to be in a city (which I found out everyone is-no villages here for volunteers) where there were not many other foreigners and people in the city did not have a lot of contact with them..and I wanted to teach in a school that had low level students who really needed foreign teachers..

Near the end of our training..maybe 2nd to last week in August or so..we had "Site Announcement Day." This day was a lot of fun because everyone was really excited to find out where we'd all be going..and the PC China staff had a lot of fun too because they waited until the very end of the day to tell us..so they enjoyed watching us fidget all day during our sessions...Finally at the end of the day we all went outside and got in a big circle..and all around us were different maps representing the 4 regions where we'd be going..and there was one big map of China where we would eventually put our pictures next to our cities..Then they handed out envelopes and after we all had them they said we could open them and inside was a slip of paper with our school name, city, and province written on them. And as you know, mine said: Guizhou Educational College, Guiyang, Guizhou Province..And this was exactly what I wanted.

Guizhou province is one of the poorest in China (some say the poorest, but the volunteers in Gansu like to argue this)..and while my city is big compared to American cities (over 1 million people here)..in China it is fairly small for a capital and major city..China has over 50 cities with over 1 million people in them...while America, I think, has only 9..maybe 8..I know it's less than 10..And I love my city because there aren't many foreigners, which means you get a lot interesting interactions with the people here (I'll share more about this in the future)..and if I do see one, it is usually another PC volunteer..And at my school there are only 2 foreign teachers..me and my sitemate Dulce, also a PC volunteer from my group. And our school needs PC volunteers because they cannot afford to pay foreign teachers very much money..they have some money to pay foreign teachers, but compared to other schools in other cities and provinces it is very low..and our school is not very well known (even to people in Guiyang) so foreign teachers go elsewhere..so these two factors combined leaves our school depending on PC volunteers for their foreign teachers.

My school has seen a lot of changes this past semester. When I first arrived and started teaching, we had two different campuses in different parts of the city..one right beside my apartment and the other one about a 30 minute bus ride away. I taught at the one beside my apartment one day a week (Tuesdays) and on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I took the school bus to the other campus to teach.

On Tuesdays, I taught writing to adult students who had been middle school teachers before and now were coming back to school to further their education. This was an interesting experience because I'd never taught writing before and all of my students were older than me..and some of them over 10 years older than me..so I always wondered what my students thought of me because of the age gap..These thoughts ranged from "Maybe they think I'm a genius because I'm only 23 and am teaching 35 year olds..." to.. "They probably think I don't have a clue what I'm talking about because I'm way too young." We met somewhere in the middle and overall the semester was successful. These students' English was very low and maybe two (definitely one) could have a real conversation with me..But we made it work and I really learned what it meant to use "Special English" while teaching.

"Special English" is very important for low level students, especially mine because most of them have had little or no contact with foreigners. And because of the language barrier, when we talk and when I teach, I must choose my words carefully, speak slowly, and repeat and emphasize important parts..And near the end of the semester, as they became more accustomed to my speaking and teaching style, I was able to start speaking faster and using more complicated words..and for their final exams, they had to give speeches in front of the class and they did an amazing job. It was strange to hear some of them speak, because for some of my students it was their time speaking in class..in the past I had never heard some of them say more than about 5 words because they were too nervous to speak..But I learned that they have the ability to do it..they just lack the confidence.

And now on to my other students..the freshmen who were at the other campus, which was about 30 minutes away. I taught these students Oral English (very common for volunteers here in China), which means that we practiced their speaking, pronunciation, and listening skills. Now these students were very different from my adult students..My freshmen are all around 18-20 years old and almost all of them came from the Guizhou countryside (my adult students also came from this part of the province, but because of the age difference it was a different experience), which means they come from poor farming backgrounds..so these students were very raw with very little experience, but they had a lot of potential..

I learned so much from these students..not just how to improve my teaching skills, but also about how Chinese students learn and study English. I will go into this topic more in the future because it is one of the most interesting ones for me..but the way these students study and learn English and also their determination to improve their English is one that I will continue to study and learn about in the future. But one thing I'll share and also go into more detail later is this idea: Imagine that you can read and write Chinese fairly well, but you cannot say the words and if you hear someone else say them, you do not understand them. This was so strange to me at first that my students could read and understand and had the most beautiful handwriting (1000 times better than mine), but when it came to speaking and listening they were years behind their reading and writing ability. So again.."Special English" was a must.

I taught at these two campuses for the first 2 months (September and October) and then in November our school opened up a brand new campus. They had started building it before I arrived, but it was not nearly ready by the time I arrived and started teaching. But near the end of November all of the freshmen/younger students moved about 4o minutes outside of the city to our new campus. The adult students stayed at the campus near my apartment because of lack of dorm space, but this Spring they will also move out there.

And this new campus is so much better. Before, each campus only had one building so it was hard to even consider our school a real college and many of my students were embarrassed to tell their friends at other schools that they went to our school because it was so small..But now they have a real college campus that they can be proud of..

So my first day teaching at the new campus was a good day..The students were happy because their dorms were better (some of the freshmen, at the former campus, had to live in the classrooms because of lack of space)..they also had a new cafeteria with a better variety of food..even though the students like to say it's bad food..I like the food a lot and I think they just say it to be modest..And they have more activities that they can get into outside of class, such as: a computer lab and basketball/badminton courts. The only drawback to our school is that it is no longer in the city of Guiyang. It is in a small district outside of the city, called Wudang District (乌当区). It is a much better place for a college to be, but the students don't like how far it is away from the city..It takes me about 40 minutes by school bus to get there..which is a little long but it's not too bad because there's always a teacher on the bus who wants to talk with us..

When I first arrived in Guiyang I knew that our school was building a new campus and that eventually we would all move their to teach, but I thought the reason why was because our school was too small..About one month in I learned the big reason why: The Beijing Education Commission was coming to formally observe our school because our school wanted to move up to the next level/ranking. And if we were successful, our school would be able to accept higher level high school students, eventually stop accepting adult students, higher more teachers, and overall make a lot more money. They finally came at the end of December..two days after Christmas..and I'm not exactly sure what they did aside from look at the school, watch us teach, and ask the high ranking officials at our school a bunch of questions, but I just found out a few days ago that we were successful and they approved us to move up to the next level (Go Guizhou Educational College!)..Now I still have no clue what these levels/rankings mean, even though other teachers have tried to explain it to me multiple times, but oh well..I know it means good things for our school and over the next few years we will see a lot of improvements..

So this coming semester and the ones that follow should bring big changes for our school..This past semester was an interesting one because we were moving around a lot..changing classrooms, students switching classes, going back and forth between different campuses..but I learned a lot and this new semester should be a much smoother one.

I found out my schedule last week and I will teach all 6 freshmen classes Oral English and the two sophomore classes Writing. I will not be teaching the adult students this semester, but Dulce will. So she has all adult students and I teach the younger ones, which works out perfectly and we are both happy with this arrangement. My place is definitely with the younger students, and Dulce prefers working with the adult students.

I will continue to write about my school in the future and the changes that I see..the coolest part this past November and December was seeing a new building that wasn't there the day before when we would arrive for a new day of teaching..No one builds faster than Chinese workers. I haven't seen the new campus in about a month now and won't see it until the first week in March when classes start, so I probably won't even recongnize the place that first day. Ok everyone..take care..Happy Spring Festival! Happy New Year! (春节快乐! 新年快乐!)

My Favorite Food: Hot Pot 火锅

Hey everyone..In my last blog I said that I had just come back from Sanya, a small island off the southeastern coast of China. And while I had a great time (sunshine, beach, and relaxing), one thing was missing..and that was my favorite Chinese food: Hot Pot 火锅 (Huo Guo).

Hot Pot is probably the most well known food in the southwestern part of China..this includes the provinces of Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, and maybe Yunnan (not sure about this one-never been). Hot Pot originated and is mostly associated with Chongqing, but Sichuan and Guizhou also have many different types of hot pots. Hot pot consists of a large pot that is put over a flame in the middle of the table and is filled with a specific kind of food (and most of the time a soup) and after the food/soup inside come to a boil, then you add a bunch of vegetables and meats and wait for it all to cook..and then enjoy!

There are two main reasons why I love this food. Number one: There is a wide variety of different types of hot pots. To name a few: beef, chicken, mushroom, bean, ice cream (no joke), spicy, pig's foot (again no joke-it's good too), and also the most famous one: Chongqing Hot Pot, which is the spiciest of all the hot pots. You could pretty much take one type of meat or veggie and that be the main ingredient of your hot pot. I have tried a lot, definitely not all, and my favorite is easily Bean Hot Pot. This type of hot pot is the specialty in Guiyang, so people from other provinces don't know about it. I actually had it last night and it had been a while since I'd eaten it (2 weeks!) and it was amazing.

The other reason I love it is the social aspect involved. Everyone has their own personal small bowl filled with rice, but everybody eats out of the same large pot that is in the middle of the table. So you take your chopsticks, and whenever you fill like it you grab a veggie or piece of meat and enjoy. This style of eating is very common here: everyone has their own personal bowl of rice, but you share the other dishes that are in the middle of the table. And from someone that came from the background of eating in front of the tv, this was pretty strange at first. But now it feels natural and you can get a better understanding of the culture, because Chinese people like to do business and get to know new people over a socialable dinner..so this style of eating is very important and a big part of who Chinese people are.

And two extra bonuses of Hot Pot. One: It is cheap! Eating here is really cheap and it is no exception with hot pot. You could potentially spend a lot of money if you bought a lot of meat, but last night 3 of us ate a big hot pot dinner for 55 yuan (total)..which comes out to less than 8 dollars. And also: Hot pot is almost always spicy. Guizhou (Guiyang at least) people have a saying: 我们怕不辣 (Wo men pa bu la)...which literally means "We are afraid of not spicy." So if the hot pot is not spicy, then it is not worth eating. At first I sucked at eating spicy food and usually ended up blowing my nose throughout the entire meal and not enjoying any of it, but now if the food is not spicy, it is difficult to eat. So now I am definitely 怕不辣.

The Beginning...and the last 6 months...

Hey everyone!

It is time to start this blog up. Alright..let's do it..If you don't know already, I have been in China for just over 6 months now serving in the Peace Corps. But here in China, we don't call it the Peace Corps. We are U.S. China Friendship Volunteers. In Chinese: 美中友好志愿者 (Mei Zhong You Hao Zhi Yuan Zhe). Why we have this name, I don't know, but either way it doesn't matter..because if we tell a Chinese person "Peace Corps", they don't know it and if we tell them "U.S. China Friendship Volunteers", they don't understand it. So here we just say "We are volunteers." In Chinese: 我们是志愿者 (Wo Men Shi Zhi Yuan Zhe).

Now that the short history lesson is over, let me give you a recap of the past 6 months and then a short glimpse into the future.

After the long process of applying for the Peace Corps (a dream of mine for a long time), I finally got accepted, but I had a decision to make. They said you can serve in Eastern Europe or do a "special" application to serve in an Asian country (which remained unnamed). It took me all of 2 seconds to respond: "Asia!" In Chinese: 亚洲! (Ya Zhou!). No offense to Eastern Europe, but Asia suited me much more. And after the "special" application, I got my letter and it said "Welcome to Peace Corps China!"

So after a brief time waiting, I ended up in Washington, D.C. for "staging", which lasted about 3 days. I got to meet the other volunteers in my group and we had 2 days of sessions, where we learned about Peace Corps and Peace Corps China. The best part was of course getting to know the other volunteers in my group and sharing stories. Our group had a large number of "transfer volunteers", which means that they had just finished serving in other countries, and because they liked it so much (or they weren't too pumped about returning to America) they decided to serve for 2 more years..These people were very helpful because they knew a lot of what to expect, especially from the Peace Corps Policies stand point.

After "staging", then it was off to China. D.C.-Beijing: around 13 hours..which went surprisingly fast because I sat between 2 other volunteers from my group, Brad and Mark, who I am good friends with now. The coolest part was that we flew over the North Pole, so the entire plane ride was sunny and if you looked out the window, it was blindingly bright because of the reflection off the ice.

After landing in Beijing (in Chinese: 北京), it was straight to Chengdu (成都) in Sichuan Province(四川省) to start our training. At this point, we are not official volunteers, but instead we are called "trainees."

A quick overview of training. It was tough. Monday through Friday we had sessions that went from 8 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon. We had sessions about Peace Corps China policies, Safety and Security training, Health training, Chinese culture, and of course Chinese language classes. Some sessions were interesting and some were pretty boring, but I think it's safe to say we learned at least one thing from each session. Some sessions were taught by the Chinese staff, some by the American staff, and some by volunteers from the year before. Sessions done by current volunteers serving in China were the most helpful because they could give us a lot of advice about what's worked and what's failed for them. My favorite part was of course learning Chinese. It is a really difficult language to learn, but it is a lot of fun to speak. We had language class everyday and we had some great teachers. Most of our language classes centered around different scenarios we will come in contact with. For example: buying train tickets, buying food, bargaining, and asking for directions. Some days learning the language was frustrating and other days you felt like you accomplished a lot. Best advice I can give: The more you speak, the better your Chinese will be. I got nervous a lot speaking, especially at the beginning, but you just have to realize you're going to embarrass yourself and make mistakes..so just go out and have fun with it.

The best part of training though was living with a host family. They were awesome and I learned the most from them. I had a mama (妈妈), baba (爸爸), didi (little brother) (弟弟), and my favorite person: meimei (little sister) (妹妹).

I know the picture is a little difficult to see, but here we are all. One thing you might notice about this picture is that I am a lot fatter in it. If you've seen any of my recent pictures you can see a steady loss of weight as the months go by. This is not because I'm not eating (because I eat plenty), but it's just a different diet here. Ok..back to the family. I had a great time with them. They best part was getting to see what a Chinese family did. Most things are similar to American families (eat, sleep, read, tv, etc...), but they have their own style of doing things. For example: meals are always together at the table, after dinner a long walk with a possibility of badminton, and always showering at night. The thing that took a bit to get used to was showering at night. I'm a shower in the morning kinda guy, but China changed that real quick, especially living in Sichuan and going through a Sichuan heated summer.

My favorite part about my host family was that they couldn't really speak English. The mama could say a few sentences and words, but real conversations never happened in English. This basically forced me to always speak Chinese with them, which was good, bad, and embarrasing. I just always had to remember to take my dictionary wherever we went. So I learned the word for dictionary (字典) (zi dian) real fast. As I said before, my mei mei (little sister) was my favorite person. She is 12 years old and her goal during my time with them was to spend as much time with me as possible. She was great and I learned a lot from her. She was always happy to help me with Chinese and we spent most nights watching tv, movies, or reading together.

It didn't take long for our training to end and "swear in", which is where we officially become Peace Corps volunteers. In total, training last 2 months and the first week of September we took our oaths as PCVs. The swearing in ceremony was good overall..one nice part about it was the Director of Peace Corps came to swear us in. His name is Ronald A. Tschetter and he formally served in India (I think during the 60s, maybe the 70s). He was a nice guy and shared a lot with us about his time serving in the PC and his plans for the future.

Shortly after Swear In, we all headed out to our sites, which will become our homes for the next 2 years. It was sad to say bye, but everyone was excited about getting started teaching.

So now for my site: I am in Guiyang (贵阳), which is in Guizhou Province (贵州) in the southwest of China. My city, Guiyang, is also the capital of Guizhou and if you look on the map it is pretty much in the dead center of the province. I love my city. There are 9 other volunteers in the city, including my sitemate Dulce. The other 8 are at different colleges in and around Guiyang. They are all excellent and have been very helpful. Aside from me and Dulce, the other 8 are China 13s, which means they have been here for 18 months. Me, Dulce, and the rest from my group are China 14s and have only been here for 6 months. So we are able to learn a lot from the 13s. I won't go into a lot of detail about Guiyang, but my favorite part is that it is a big city, but it also doesn't have a lot of foreigners..I rarely see any and if I do, it's another PC volunteer teacher.

Now a short intro to my school and students. I teach at Guizhou Educational College (贵州教育学院) and we now have a brand new campus. Before we had 2 very small campuses (one building each) in different parts of the city, but now we have a real college campus. It is not finished yet, but it is still 1000 times better than the previous ones. The only bad part about the campus is that it is a 40 minute bus ride there. But it's ok because the school provides a bus and we are able to get to know other teachers at our school a lot better during these rides. We started teaching at the new campus in November and it was like night and day compared to the former ones. And me and Dulce also share an office, which we have turned into a real office (before just two desks in a plain white room). Our school isn't set to be completed for a while, but it's cool because everyday we go there, there's something new finished.

And now about my students. They are amazing people! I taught Oral English, Writing, and American Culture to freshmen and junior students this past semester and next semester I will teach Oral English to the freshmen and writing to the sophomores. I won't go into great detail here because I know I will write more about them in future posts.

And now to the present. I just got back from a trip to Sanya (三亚), in Hainan Province (海南), which is a small island off the southeastern coast of China. It was exactly what I needed. Warm weather, the beach, and relaxation. I went with 3 other volunteers and if you want to read more about our trip, check out Phil's (one guy who I went with) blog. Phil is a China 13, so he has a lot more knowledge about China than I do..and he is also an avid blogger and was a big inspiration to me to start writing this blog.

Now for the future. This Saturday I will be headed to Chongqing (重庆) to celebrate Spring Festival (in America we say Chinese New Year) with my Chinese host family. I am pumped about this because this holiday is supposed to be Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years all in one. After that I am off to Yunnan Province (云南) with some teachers at my school. And then to finish off February I am going to Thailand for 2 weeks with other volunteers. So the rest of this month and February also will be crazy, so I'm not sure when the next blog will be, but it will come.

Last thing before I finish this first blog. What does "Surongguang in China" mean?. Surongguang is my Chinese name (苏荣光). To pronounce it: the "Su" is pronounced just like the English name Sue. This is my family name is Chinese. "Rong" is pronounced similar to "wrong" (not exactly but close enough). And "Guang"...I don't know how to explain it because we don't really make this sound in English. In Chinese names, the family name (Su) always comes first. And I'm almost positive family names don't have meaning when they're used as names. The second (and sometimes third) names are where the meaning is. So "Rong Guang" together means glory/honor (it's actually "Guang Rong" that means glory/honor, but apparently it sounds better as "Rong Guang" when it's used as a name). My Chinese teacher gave me this name when I started learning Chinese in Chengdu. I love this name and most people call me it here. So no Patrick Sansbury on this blog. Only Surongguang.

So I will see you guys later and any questions or comments, let me know..take care.