I realized that, having gone on a huge blog binge for a while, I have now been quite negligent of my posting, and I apologize to all those who have been wondering what’s going on.
Honestly, I tend to forget that I still have things to share . . . While I have been doing a lot and enjoying all, I find myself less and less enchanted and more and more comfortable and feeling at home. The routines of my day no longer seem like fascinating stories which I must share; rather, they are simply aspects of my day-to-day life. Things that previously caught me off guard and created me to gasp—deathly fast traffic, young children pulling down their pants and urinating in the street, being stared at, meeting and making new friends—suddenly seem like second nature.
On that note, I have asked myself to step back and look at my days from a foreign perspective. While I still keep the same routine mentioned in an earlier post (“Weekend with More Family”), I now see it in a completely different manner. Now, when my routine is disrupted, or my meals altered, I find myself disappointed, as I’ve come to love, embrace, and look forward to the day-to-day routine I keep. I sleep in, because “me time” is found in other ways and isn’t as necessary as it used to be (“me time” now even constitutes spending hours talking to my family in Chinese about anything and everything … I no longer find I need to separate myself). In the evenings, my family has quit accompanying me on walks (it turns out they only went because on my introduction sheet it said one of my interests was taking walks—they aren’t really “take a walk people” and when I discovered this I excused them from this task), and so I’ve taken to walking later in the evening, when it’s just starting to get dark, as that’s when my community comes alive. People bustle around everywhere, socialize, children play more heartily, and I’ve made far more friends with the adults and young children (they address me by calling me “aunt” in Chinese) in my community, as a result. Now, every night at 8:00, I walk to the center of my community where I meet up with a group of retired couples who escort me on a stole through the neighborhood and share small talk. This is one of my favorite parts of my day, as it is really the time where I feel most accepted and integrated. These people no longer speak to me as though I’m a “waigoren” to stare and gape at, but rather as though I am a new neighbor who they simply wish to get to know better. The color of my skin and hair no longer seems to matter.
Around my campus I’m seeing similar changes. People know and recognize me, greet me with a real smile, nod, or make small chat, rather than the usual gapping and awestruck “Hello! Waigoren! Hello!” Restaurant waiters who we frequent cut us deals, the market vendors by my house don’t try to overshoot their prices for the waigoren, and with each of these small integrated moments, I realize that I have made myself a home in Chengdu.
Tomorrow, I will be boarding an 18 hour train ride to Guiyang, my future home for the next two years. I will spend the week there, familiarizing myself with my coworkers, bosses, community, etc., and again going through the process of bafflement and having to reestablish the sense of me being a neighbor and community member, rather than simply a waigoren to gawk at. However, having seen these changes in Chengdu, I know how easy it is to get to this point, and now I have the additional advantage of language, knowledge of culture, and simply more confidence in my abilities in China.
As far as my school goes, I will be located in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province. While I was at first disappointed to be going to a big city, rather than rural China, I am finding myself excited for the opportunity and have readjusted my expectations so that now, Guiyang College (known up until this year as Guiyang Minorities College) feels like it’s going to be great. Unfortunately, right now I don’t have much to share about the school, as I know very little. What I do know is that it is now located near Guiyang’s airport, and is currently in the process of being built, as it has moved locations this summer (last year it was further away from the city). Guizhou province is the poorest province in China, and it also has a very large population of minority Chinese people. This college is a teacher’s training college and it is populated primarily by minorities who are very poor, come from village farms, and tend to go to this school because no other college would accept them. As a result, I’m told (although I tend to distrust most of what I’m told until I experience it first hand) that these students’ English speaking abilities will be very low, and their motivation even lower, as most don’t really even want to be teachers. However, if this is true, my excitement levels will be even higher, as I think some of my best teaching talents lay in motivating students, so I think this should be a perfect assignment for me.
At my school, I will be joined by one other Peace Corps volunteer, Kristen Duncan. It sounds like there are a few other foreign teachers (who are missionaries disguised as teachers…in China, it is illegal to be a missionary, but because China is in such desperation for foreign language teachers they overlook when a foreign teacher shows up to class and says “today, we’re going to read the Bible…in English!” or holds extracurricular Bible reading sessions after class to improve students’ English reading abilities). In Guiyang itself, Jonny, Dave, Jessica, Todd, Kim and Danny—all very good friends!—are also stationed at various colleges, so we’re excited to have holiday gatherings together, as holidays like Christmas aren’t observed and we won’t have off school those days, so instead we can meet after school and celebrate Christmas together. While I initially was also disappointed that I’d be surrounded by so many other volunteers (I thought it would be more difficult to integrate with so many foreigners to lean on and use as a crutch), I’ve found that this, too, is an exciting aspect of my upcoming life. I refuse to let myself use my American friends as a crutch, but definitely plan to embrace the gift of having them present when needed!
Other than that, I don’t know much, and will have to fill you in when I return from Guiyang next weekend. Right now, my family and I are going to spend the day at Colleen’s host family’s house (in China, guests come early, eat lunch, nap on the couch, eat dinner, and socialize throughout). After dinner, we’re all going to KTV (Chinese style karaoke…I think I talked about it in a very early post) for the night, so I have a long day ahead of me, followed by a VERY long 18 hour train ride tomorrow. In the meantime, know I miss and love all of you! :)
May you be happy!
What my Lonely Planet says about Guizhou province:
“Mention any of China’s southwestern provinces and fellow travelers will pelt you with tips, advice or looks of envy. Tell them you’re going to Guizhou, however, and you’ll most likely receive a blank look and the question ‘Why?’ ...But there are several reasons why Guizhou should make it into your itinerary. The countryside is a mix of dense forests and cascading waterfalls, terraced hills and karst cave networks. There’s a lively mix of people: almost 35% of Guizhou’s populations is made up of over 18 ethnic minorities….And for intrepid travelers looking to get off the beaten track, more often than not you’ll have (Guizhou) all to yourself.”
:)
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