Category Archives: Asia

Location: Beijing, China

Coming to Big Cities in China from a Rural Perspective

An international traveler in China is still a relatively new experience from the Chinese perspective. Although the country officially opened back up to the outside world in 1978, there has been a few number of outsiders coming to China (although that number is increasing and has been increasing since after the Beijing Olympic Games). However, there are parts of China that still have never seen a person that isn’t Chinese before. With the traveling season, a large influx of these Chinese travelers flock to big cities to see the famous sites, and Beijing is a prime destination for all of them. Thus, going to the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, The Summer Palace, The Bird’s Nest, etc, you will encounter a wide variety of people from extremely rural areas who have never encountered a foreigner before. The results for a foreigner like myself can be an interesting mix of flattery, excitement, and extreme annoyance and frustration. You feel like a celebrity when people come up to you and take photos with you, or sneakily take photos of you from a distance; but after this happening hundreds of times…..you begin to feel like an animal trapped in a zoo.

There are several ways for them to do get their coveted foreigner photos. The first is simply asking you to take a picture with them, which is obviously the most polite method.

Ask and you shall receive! The best way to get a photo is just to ask.

Then there’s the classic, candid shot of foreigners from a distance, This is the paparazzi money shot when they think you’re not paying attention.

Taking photos at a safe distance is the best way to prevent injury

These photos will never come out the way you want, it’s best just to ask nicely.

Then there’s my personal favorite. The “They still haven’t discovered i’m not one of them” shot. They sneak into your group and act like they’re listening to what you’re saying, infiltrating your group and taking surprise photos when you least expect it!

Taking photos with a group works best when you’re part of the group yourself.

You only need one brave soul to infiltrate a group for that perfect shot

Last but not least, there’s the “Pose with foreigners in their natural environment” shot. They pretend to be on a wildlife safari and take photos posing with these wild animals that aren’t native to China.

It’s not wise to turn your back to a herd, always keep wild animals in plain sight

In all seriousness, with China’s growing economy and global influence on the world, it is sometimes difficult to imagine China as a place where people are still surprised to see a non-native face. Despite having 56 different ethnic minorities in China, some of which appear very different from the others, there are in fact many Chinese who have never encountered someone different from themselves. When you think about it, it makes sense. While there are projected to be over one million foreigners living in Mainland China, the vast majority of those are in Beijing or Shanghai. Similar to Chinese migrant workers, international traveler’s and workers flock to the big cities which offer more western amenities and comforts that are simply not available in the countryside.

The ultimate problem with this phenomenon directly mirrors problems within China as well. The developed areas are developing both economically and culturally, but the rural countrysides and villages aren’t getting the support necessary. There’s every reason to leave and no reason to stay unless you own land, and even then, land can only make you stay for so long when riches await in the big cities.

Location: Beijing, China

China’s 70th Anniversary of the Victory over Japan Parade

This past week China enjoyed the 70th anniversary of the victory over Japan during World War 2. It’s very strange that a country that was completely militarily decimated and nearly conquered by a foreign country and saved largely in part by foreign military, would then go on to celebrate 70 years later by throwing a huge parade celebrating the event, heavily censoring it it from foreign media, and parading their military up and down the streets to show the changes they have made. But it seems this is typical of a Communist country.

The President of China stood where this guard was during the parade.

The Forbidden City with Mao ZeDong’s famed photo.

The way Beijing dealt with the parade was swift and efficient. Security became more rigid a few weeks before parade, and the weekend of the parade the city was completely shut down. No one was allowed to come into the city, the airport was shut down for hours, trains and buses stopped moving to prevent any dangers from entering the city, shops were forced to close down, school was let out and we had a 4 day weekend, and most major tourist and shopping districts were completely closed off. It was incredibly inconvenient since many subway lines were closed, nothing was open so there wasn’t much to do or see. Even traffic was controlled so if you had a even or odd license plate, you were designated which days you could drive, otherwise face a massive fine. Factories were shut down to stop pollution, and birds were chased away by special bird chasing mutant hybrid robot killing machine dogs. Imagine trying to do that in New York city….see how many people will complain.

A view of the entire Forbidden City

Built in 1420, one of the most historically significant places in China

The parade itself was lackluster. Another Communist parade showcasing military might and weaponry and little else. Even the commentators were force fed propaganda lines, my personal favorite being: “China is a peaceful nation and will always strive for peace……..but we will never hesitate to fight in order to keep the peace.”

What is the purpose of this parade? China’s National Day is on October 1st, which is usually a good time to create craze of blind patriotism throughout the nation. China’s go-to method for creating a patriotic frenzy is anti-Japan rhetoric. Whenever there are problems in China (hint hint: China’s looming financial and economic crisis) they always turn to Japan in order to steer the public eye away from the problems on hand, and to force them to remember all the horrible things Japan did as the government attempts to sweep these looming disasters under the table and away from the public eye. It has never failed and the best way to keep people from fighting each other or fighting the government, is to turn to a common scapegoat to prevent riots. Unfortunately that scapegoat will always be Japan.

70 years since the end of the Japanese Invasion in 1945

The courtyards are all symmetrical

Location: Tiananmen square

Coming to China: What Do You Need?

What Do I Need?

Departing for another country is always a very nerve-wrecking time. The added stress of study abroad in China comes from the culture being so completely different from that of American culture. People often get caught up in the trip that they forget about essentials that are necessary for getting around in a developing country.

Bags are Packed and ready to go!

What NOT to Bring:

It’s important to know where you’re going and what will be available in said areas. Despite many misconceptions about China, it is easy to find western amenities in any big city that you may be going to. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, all have a large international community and thus any Wal-Mart (Yes they even have Wal-Mart in China), Metro, or Carrefour will have the basic necessities you will need. If you’re just traveling for a semester, you do not need to bog yourself down with a bunch of stuff you can easily get in China. Clothes, shoes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, hairdryers are readily available in China so pack light! Although I brought two bags, I am staying for a year and although I do not bring many clothes (even though I have to pack for 4 seasons), things add up quickly, so if you’re not positive you’ll need something, don’t bring it.

What TO Bring:

Bring lots of medicine!

MEDICINE! Lots and lots of medicine. When traveling to developing countries like China, you WILL get sick. The food is different, the sanitation regulations are different (if they even exist), and the cooking preparation and storage methods are different. Most importantly: The bugs are different. Bugs as in virus’. Being prepared for the sudden strike of 拉肚子 (diarrhea) is important, and trusting Chinese made medicines can be sketchy. I make sure to bring plenty of aspirin, laxatives, anti-laxatives, stomach medicine, and cold medicine. Bring it and do not be afraid to use it so you can be up and running as soon as possible.

Deodorant is also a great idea, but only as long as it isn’t in spray form. Cans of compressed air can be taken from you at any transportation hub for being potentially dangerous (I found this out the hard way), so bring at least two sticks of deodorant instead. It’s hard to find and it’ll keep you smelling fresh! Shaving cream and good razor blades are also a must. You can find razors and shaving cream in China, but it is expensive because most Chinese do not need to shave, and most Chinese ladies do not shave their legs. So be prepared and bring your own. Ladies also may consider bringing a significant amount of feminine hygiene products. You can buy them here, but they may not be as good or as comfortable as ones you can get in America. This isn’t from experience……..I heard it………from a friend…….yeah that’s it.

Socks and underwear are a necessity as well. Chinese made socks are cheap and do not provide enough support as western made, and the same goes for underwear. Stock up! There’s a reason Chinese come to America and bring them back to China, so learn from them. Prepare for the worst

Small Eyes

It’s hot. So extremely hot and sticky outside. I can feel my hair follicles sticking to my scalp. As I’m walking in the streets around my campus in search of food, all I can think about is my makeup melting away.

I’m standing next to my friend. She has fair skin, a quirky smile, and a slight accent from where she’s from.

We look at each restaurant and see what tickles our fancy. They’re all pretty small, and lacking air conditioning, but we just stop at the busiest looking one.

As we reach an empty table, right away they look at me for some sort of response. I hear a bombardment of Chinese words. In my head I’m thinking once again they are assuming and mistaking me for someone else…

And it is true. Each person that speaks to me in Chinese is thinking of me as someone that I am not. Just because of my appearance. Just because of my hair. My face. My little Chinese eyes. But as you probably guessed, I’m an American born Chinese. Raised in New Jersey. I took a couple classes to learn Chinese, but to be honest I took Spanish for 5 years instead. Yet for me, going to China was my chance to jumpstart my language growth, and to be more at one with my roots.

But it is a challenge at times having people already have an impression of you even before you speak. It’s even worst when they realize their impression of you was wrong and they get disappointed.

I look up at the server speaking to me. I just wave my hands and say “Duibuqi, wo bu shou zhongwen”, which translates to “Sorry, I don’t speak Chinese”. Sigh, once again I use the only sentence I know in Chinese. But with time I hope to see things change. I hope to grow from this and take the shame I feel and use it to my advantage. To be stronger than I am now.

Stay tuned,

Jessica

Tokyo Trains, Planes and Automobiles

Trains are the most common form of travel in Tokyo bar none. While it can be overwhelming, it is actually easy to get around once you know what you are doing. To be fair, I’m from the Philly area (like half of Penn State) and I’m very much familiar with the trains and subway because of an internship I had in the city. My friends from other cities in the US without public transportation did find it a bit difficult, but they quickly adjusted after a few weeks! Personally, I find the Japanese train system much more advanced ours at home. Each line is color coded so it is easy to verify which train is going where. All trains have digital name plates first stating the location in kanji (chinese characters), katakana (Japanese writing), hiragana (another form of Japanese writing) and English. So no worries if you don’t read Japanese very well because the Tokyo transportation system is very tourist friendly.

When traveling in Tokyo, it is best to avoid rush hour(s), which in Tokyo is 7am to 9am and 5pm to 7pm. Otherwise you will find yourself getting extremely close to those around you and not in the way you intended when traveling to Japan.

Platform at Nishi Funabashi in Tokyo during rush hour.

A lot of salary men getting off a rush hour train – beware they can get aggressive. So move quickly!

The average Tokyo train (during off hours).

A view from the window of a Tokyo train. One stop (Minami Funabashi to Shin Narashino) one my daily 45 minute commute to school.

我想上海

I’ve officially been home for a week and a half and I think I’ve gotten over my jet lag. So far, I’ve gone to the beach, met up with some friends and spent way too much time watching tv. Although I am glad to be back in the States where there’s fresh air, real pizza, and fast Internet, I miss Shanghai. I miss the daily baozi, the struggle to understand the language, the convenient metro system, my friends and so much more. There were so many aspects of living in a city as interesting as Shanghai that I don’t have at home. With that, I also don’t have any of my study abroad friends around. I know they’re all having their own adventures in Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia and all around the US, but I still miss our daily meet-ups in the CIEE library and our weekend hangouts at Ellen’s. (Luckily, we still have WeChat to communicate.)

I know that I’ll see some friends again when I head back to Penn State but I am sad to be so far away from the others. Although these are the more depressing aspects of the end of studying abroad, I am still so happy and thankful to have had the opportunity to spend three months in China. In addition to improving my Chinese, I was able to learn more about China than I’ve ever known in my life and travel to places I’ve only dreamed of. I couldn’t be more appreciative of what I experienced and I can only start thinking about the next adventure.

As this is my last post as a blogger here, I hope you have enjoyed my posts about my adventure in China!

Looking at Shanghai from the observatory deck at the Pearl Tower

Please Prepare for Landing

I am covered in bug bites. I have eaten a multitude of questionable substances moonlighting as “food” and I have gotten lost so many times that it has passed the point of being funny. So, to sum up my experience in Japan so far, I couldn’t be any happier!

Admittedly, to some, what I have described above sounds like a ring of hell straight out of the likes of Dante’s Inferno. To me, it describes everything I’ve dreamed of and more. In only 12 days, Tokyo has expanded my horizons in every cliché way possible. The bug bites I have received have been well worth it because they were contracted while walking through a thousand year old shrine in Narita, and while sitting in Yoyogi Park listening to a Japanese comedy troupe perform while eating yakitori fresh from a street stand grill, and while hiking a river ravine in the mountain escape of Nikko. The aforementioned “questionable substances” were takoyaki, little deep friend balls of octopus that taste like they fell straight from fast food heaven, and dried crickets right off of a vendors stall. The times of complete confusion when being lost in the labyrinth ironically referred to as the Tokyo subway system are irreplaceable to me because it brought me so much closer to the people I have met on my program (because nothing makes you friends faster than being lost in the underbelly of a city in Asia together). These are all wonderful experiences that I could never have dreamed of before coming to study abroad, and could never have achieved had I decided to spend my summer on my couch binge watching Netflix (although I still greatly respect the practice).

Not only have I been experiencing so much, I have been learning so much of the Japanese language. I came twelve days ago knowing nothing. Like legit nothing, nada, as I somehow failed to notice that we needed to come knowing how to read and write hiragana and katakana, two of the three Japanese alphabets. So, I came completely and utterly clueless, and in only twelve days, I know both of those alphabets, a ton of vocabulary and have actually held basic conversations with locals (mostly revolving around how, “Yes, I am an American”, and, “No, I don’t know how to speak Japanese,”) but hey it still counts in my book! I am honestly astonished at how quickly my class is moving, but am even more astonished at how much I am retaining. Being able to learn in a class setting, then immediately get to utilize that knowledge while I am out and about traveling in Japan has reinforced it so much more than I could have imagined. It is so incredibly cool to speak even a little Japanese. It has given me confidence as a student that I can take on insurmountable challenges like learning a new language from scratch and as an traveler who can learn how to navigate a foreign country without knowing the language.

So far Japan has taught me to: not ask questions when it comes to trying food, make sure to always have bug spray handy, and to have at least one friend who can speak Japanese with you at all times (in case of an emergency). Most importantly however, Japan has taught me so far to never say no to any offer of an adventure, because you never know when that spur of the moment decision can lead to one of the best experiences of your life.

As for now that’s all, look for my next post my trip on my trips to Kyoto and Nikko.

P.S. If you ever get the chance to try rice from a vending machine, do it, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Here are some of my early pictures:

I don’t think that I believed that I was going to be living in Japan until I actually got here. So, amidst pre-landing freak out, I managed to snap my first picture of my host country!

Naritasan Shinshoji Temple: One of the most picturesque places I have ever been, where the cost of admission was my seemingly infinite number of mosquito bites.

Here is your average Tokyo train/subway. Some fun facts about this form of Japanese public transportation:

1. You aren’t supposed to eat or talk while in the train car,

2. Your cellphone is meant to be on silent/vibrate mode as to not disturb other passengers,

3. There are designated seats for the ill, pregnant, and elderly,

4. The average delay time for any train is only 30 seconds, making timeliness extremely important

The food in Japan has been AMAZING! I have yet to have a bad meal, and every time I eat, there is something new and exciting to try. One of my favorite dishes has to be Udon, pictured above. While we have it back home in America, it’s nothing like what Noodle Houses in Tokyo serve.

Shibuya, Japan: During my stay I will be in the Shibuya “neighborhood” of Tokyo. Shibuya has a vibrant center known for shopping, eating and entertainment. It’s usually portrayed by Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest intersections in the world. Here is a picture of when I first began to explore!

Location: Narita, Japan

Finding Pittsburgh In China

Our last day on the boat was nice. We were given a really nice dinner the night before and they even brought us a pizza. The boat had a good chef so the pizza was actually better than a lot of the pizza I have had in America. That night we hung out and made friends with some of the people who were on the cruise. We all sat in a big circle and they spoke Chinese and we spoke English, but we just danced and laughed and had a good time. That night, I learned that it is even more difficult to understand Chinese when it is coming from someone who is drunk. In the morning, we had one last breakfast on the boat and then we left to take a bus to Chongqing. When we got off the boat, there were so many stairs that we needed to climb to reach the bus. If I were to guess, I would say there were about 60 stairs we had to haul our luggage up. Some of the local people were standing at the bottom of the stairs because they charge a small fee and will carry your luggage on their back up the stairs for you. By the time I reached the top of the stairs, I was really sweaty. Everyone was. When we got on the bus, the driver did not have the AC turned on so the windows started to fog up. We all thought that was pretty funny.

Fancy napkins on the cruise ship.

When we finally got to Chongqing, we were trying to turn around so we could get all of our luggage off the bus, and while we were doing that, our bus hit a car. There really don’t seem to be any rules when it comes to driving in China, and because of that, I have absolutely no idea whose fault it was.

Good noodles right next to the hotel! Perfect!

Once we got to the hotel we got some lunch and headed over to the Three Gorges Museum.

Three Gorges Museum Plaza. The landscape upkeep in China is amazing. Especially on highways and city streets.

We explored the museum for a few hours and watched a 360 degree movie. It was mostly in Chinese, so a lot of it was hard to understand, but it was cool to be able to look all around you, even behind, and see the movie. I wondered how the made the movie and fit each of the screens together so perfectly. It was like an IMAX movie but the film extended the whole way around the theater.

After visiting the museum, we went to the zoo for an hour. We got to see pandas, tigers, yaks, hippos, rhinos, camels and a lot more animals. The zoo in China is a lot more lenient than the zoo in America. There were people throwing Cheeto type food directly into the animal cages and there were no guards yelling at them or anything. I feel like you could walk right into the cage and not get caught for a minute or two.

I saw this woman walking down the street and thought I had to get a picture. We saw this occasionally. Seems like a lot of work.

After visiting the zoo, we were on the way back to our hotel when our bus broke down. We waited an hour for a repairman to come fix it, but once he did we were able to get back to the hotel.

It was bound to happen eventual, and of course we were all interested (and slightly aggravated?)

That night, a lot of us went to Pizza Hut for dinner. My Chinese teacher told me that Pizza Hut in China was a lot different than Pizza Hut in America, so I wanted to check it out for myself. The biggest differences were the elegance and the portion size. The medium pizzas were a lot smaller than they would be in America. A medium was basically equivalent to a small. And they also charge you extra money to get cheese on the pizza. I guess they usually don’t get cheese on their pizzas?

Better than Pizza Hut, my friend bragged about where she ate instead.

Sometimes I don't think people would believe me unless I had pictures.

Sometimes I don’t think people would believe my stories unless I had pictures. This was our bus driver for about two weeks…he became our friend.

After dinner I talked to family and then went straight to bed. I have been sick for a week and I am still hoping that I can just sleep it off one night and wake up perfectly fine, so I have been going to bed as early as I can.

The next day in Chongqing, we went to visit the Changan Ford assembly line. I have watched a lot of How It’s Made episodes, and this was a dream come true for me. As we were walking through the factory I felt like I was watching How It’s Made in person. The CEO of the factory was explaining everything as we went, so it was really amazing me. I think I had my jaw dropped for 75% of the tour. There were a lot of automated steps along the line and a lot of robots assisting the employees. I was amazed at how calm it was in there. There really wasn’t much noise because everyone was focused on doing their job. There also was almost no dust or debris. The factory was very near perfectly clean.

We were told that Ford caters these cars specifically for the Chinese market. They add more seating in a lot of their cars due to the fact that many people live with their grandparents, parents, and children all in one household. In the smaller cars, they give a more luxurious backseat than we may be accustomed to in the United States. They say the main reason they do this is because a lot of Chinese businessmen will have a driver, so they want to accommodate their needs and give them a nice backseat. They also told us that the most popular color of vehicle in the Chinese market is white. They said that 50% of the cars sold per year are white, so most of the cars coming off the assembly line were white.

After viewing the factory, we got to ask some questions. I found it really interesting that the employees of the factory work 11 hour shifts 6 days a week. That seemed insane to me. And instead of closing the factory at night, they just have another set of workers work the night shift. So the factory is able to really increase production and maximize the factory’s capabilities.

After leaving the factory, we went to meet the CEO of Changan Ford. He talked about the company for a while and then he gave us a very motivational speech about making the most of our lives and believing in yourself. The visit with Changan Ford was definitely my favorite part of the trip so far and I think it will be hard to top.

With the president of Changan Ford

After visiting Changan Ford we went to see a building that starts on one street level and leads you out onto another street level. Chongqing is kind of like San Francisco so there are a lot of hills the city is built around. We climbed up a bunch of stairs from the ground level of one street and when we got through the building, we were at the ground level of another building. I have never seen anything like it before. It was really cool. It was like going around the block, but instead of walking around on a sidewalk you can zigzag up some steps and make it to the same place in just as much time – although I thought the stairs were pretty tiring.

After visiting this building (I have no idea if it has a name) we went to dinner. Ting’s Dad does a lot of business in Chongqing so he hosted us for dinner at a really nice restaurant. It was really good food and a lot of fun. We got to see the city light up at night. It was really beautiful, especially because it is alongside the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River from Chongqing. The city reminded me of Pittsburgh.

Location: Chongqing, China

Boats and Soldiers, Or Soldiers and Boats

Over the next week, we visited the historical city of Xian and had a more relaxing week aboard a cruise.

(5/18) When we arrived in Xian, we boarded a bus and went to see the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. We then went to dinner at a theater that had a huge buffet on the second floor (there were french fries here and this had everyone jumping for joy). After dinner, we went to see the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

We didn’t have access to the Pagoda at night, but it was still beautiful from far away.

The lighting made the shot magnificent. This is the entrance to the fountain and pagoda.

We got to go to see the City Fountain. There was a light and music fountain show. It was really neat. There were so many people there watching and a lot of other tourists too.

They were playing music and coordinated the water with the music.

After seeing the fountain, we headed back to our hotel to check in. The city of Xian is sorrounded by a city wall so it is set up like a grid. There is a North, East, South, and West side. Our hotel was in the middle of the city so there was a great view from my room.

The next morning, after eating breakfast, we went to see the terracotta warriors.

The first view you have when you walk into the room.

It was amazing. I really wish we could have seen the tomb that the warriors were built to protect, but there is a mercury river running through it, so they don’t know if that will ever be able to open to the public. There were three major pits that we saw. The excavation process was not done in any of them, but they went from most to least excavated. The number of soldiers and the amount of area that the army covered amazed me. The tunnel system they were built in was crazy. It was hard to believe that this was achieved so long ago and only so recently discovered. We visited the site of the terracotta warriors for about 3 hours.

This was a side view of some of the best excavated soldiers. This is in the first pit.

A better view of all the detail that went into a soldier. Each soldier had a different face.

This is a general. There is more detail in his clothing and all the generals have a similar gestures with their arms and hands.

Golden Chariots

When we were done viewing the warriors, we went to eat and I got some Biang Biang noodles. I learned about them last year in my Chinese class and was so excited to eat them. They were really good and watching them being made was really entertaining. They stretched them out really long and then twisted them and pulled them together.

After lunch, we got to visit the city wall. Me and Ting rented a tandem bicycle and we cycled the 9 miles of the wall. We could see the city all around us as we rode. It was really awesome, but it was made from bricks, so when we finished riding our butts hurt so badly!

The city wall on the outside of what used to be the ancient city of Xian. The city now surrounds area well beyond the outside of the wall.

After visiting the city wall, we went to Muslin Street. Muslin Street had a lot of street food and cool shops. I ate lamb for the first time and I was with Nate, who kept talking about anthrax which was comforting. After that, Xinli ordered us a bunch of “juicy dumplings” and I ate until I was full. I then went and bought a few gifts along the street.

After we visited the street, we went back to our hotel and just hung out for the night because we had to wake up at 6 a.m. to catch our train to Yichang.

This is in the same design as ancient coins.

–

(5/20) Yesterday we were on the sleeper train all day. I slept a decent amount of the trip because I was not feeling well. Since we all eat from the same plates, it is very easy for sicknesses to pass from one person to the next. Almost half of our group is/has gotten sick the past week.

On the train ride, other than sleeping, I watched a couple of movies and ate some food and just hung out and talked. The train ride was 14 hours long, so we had a lot of time to kill. When we arrived at Yichang from Xian, we were picked up by a bus. We then went to the port and got onto our cruise ship. The cruise ship is huge. It is 6 stories and it has a deck on both sides and balconies for every room. This is my first time on a cruise and I am able to confirm that I do not get sea sick. There is a buffet at every meal so I have been eating a lot. I didn’t eat a lot in Beijing, so I am just making up for that now.

We went and visited the Three Gorges Dam Thursday afternoon. It is the biggest hydroelectric plant in the world. The dam is gigantic. There were huge turbines, 46 of them in total, generating the electricity.

Three Gorges Dam

The tour guide explained to us that the dam was built to end devastating floods in the area. In China, the government owns all property, so when they wanted to build the dam in this location, all residents currently living here were relocated. He said that many people in the older generation were very reluctant to move, because this is where their family had lived for generations. However, the younger generation was more willing to move, because they knew that in the cities there was opportunity to make a better life for their families.

This was taken from the highest point above Three Gorges Dam. It was a beautiful, but extremely hot, day.

We explored Three Gorges Dam for about an hour and a half and then returned to the boat. We then were welcomed by the captain at a cocktail party. After the captain and his crew were introduced, they started playing music, but no one was on the dance floor. A bunch of us ran onto the dance floor. We were having a good time, and almost the entire room was watching us. There were a few people who joined us and there was even some very good dancing happening between Steve and an older Chinese man. He was getting as low to the ground as Steve. I was really impressed.

After dancing and some dinner, we hung out on the deck until midnight. At midnight we reached the ship lock. We went into the ship lock with two other boats and the gates closed behind us.

The doors of the ship lock in the process of closing. I actually was able to touch the side of the canal we were that close as the water level rose!

The water from the channel we were in and the channel ahead of us started to level out. Once the water from each channel was in equilibrium, we moved on to the next channel to repeat the process. I am not sure how long it took us to get through the ship lock, but the crew said it would probably take about 4 hours. I went to bed when we got to the second lock.

In the morning, we boarded onto a smaller ship and explored the Lesser Three Gorges while our boat was cleaned. The Lesser Three Gorges looked like the Grand Canyon except they had a lot more trees growing alongside the cliffs. The water was fairly deep here and took around an hour and a half to go from the beginning to the end, but at the end we had to turn around and come back, so it took about 3 hours total. We were allowed to stand on the deck of the boat and instead of whale watching, we were monkey watching. There were a lot of tiny monkeys climbing the cliffside. They were really fun to watch and I was amazed that they could climb along the rocky cliff. When we got back on our boat we just hung out for the night. We got Wi-Fi for the first time in four days, but it did not work very well, so I just gave up. I went to bed pretty early because I got really sick, and when I woke up, I had lost my voice!

An early morning aboard the Yangtze Gold 1.

I didn’t talk much the next day…mostly because I couldn’t. We went to see the Ghost City in Fengdu. We had to climb up a mountain so it was a lot of work. There were tests along the way so the people protecting the mountain could decide if we were good or bad and whether or not we would be sent to heaven or hell. We got to see the temple of heaven and hell. The temples were used for Taoist prayer or Buddhist prayer, depending on the design and decorations. There was a temple of 100 babies and our tour guide said the local people go there to pray that their child will be healthy before it is born.

When we were in the temple of hell, there were a lot of figurines depicting very disturbing forms of torture. When the temple was built they wanted to scare people so they would not be bad, and this was one way that they did it.

We then enjoyed the view at the top of the mountain and climbed back down to get back to our boat. When we were towards the bottom I went to talk to some of the people selling items at stands they had set up. I learned that they spoke a different dialect. They were trying to sell me beer and I tried telling them I don’t drink beer, but they shook their head no. I told them I really didn’t drink it and they laughed because the way I said drink was different from the way they said drink. Instead of saying he, they say ke. So I was saying a completely different word to them, and it must have been funny. It surprises me how much the language can change in just 100 miles. At our previous stop, they also said a lot of words differently. I know that most native Chinese speakers can understand each other even through the dialects, but for me, I am not as flexible with my Chinese so it is more difficult to understand and pick up on these nuances.

How I went about drying my clothes. I was definitely afraid of them falling overboard, so I secured everything as much as I possibly could.

Location: The Yangtze, China

Vamos a…. Japan?

*Disclaimer*: I have been in Tokyo, Japan, for two weeks now; and, while this post was written before I arrived, due to the lack of free Wifi for desperate American college students to mooch off of, I was only able to post now.

As I sat in my Political Science class back in late February, I pondered the direction my future was taking. I was frustrated because I hadn’t yet heard back about my applications for summer internships (albeit prematurely), and my extreme lack of patience and my bad habit of thinking way too far into the future became a dangerous combination. So rather than listening to the ongoing lecture on the history of government formation in post-partition India (sorry, Professor) I decided to look into something totally unexpected: studying abroad. I closed down my Facebook homepage (again, sorry Prof.) and went over to the Global Studies site to think about studying abroad over the summer. From my brief research, I decided that studying abroad was the answer to all my questions, that Tokyo would be my destination, and that I could most definitely take on whatever this six-week excursion would entail. So, by the end of that same hour and fifteen minute class, I had begun the application and made the life-changing decision to go abroad (I promise that I do usually pay attention in class).

Spending six weeks learning the Japanese language in Tokyo was not how I expected to spend my summer. I had envisioned a typical summer: spending weekdays interning in an office and weekends relaxing at the beach at my hometown in California. I’ve spent my life growing up there, and my time abroad has only consisted school-sponsored and family short trips. On top of all that, I’ve spent the past nine years taking Spanish classes and am pursuing a Spanish minor at school. So, I began to think, “What business do I have in even going to Tokyo and trying to learn an entirely new language in a country I’ve never been before?” Other than my interest in global cultures as an International Relations major and my interest in Asia having had been to China and Korea before, I really didn’t have a connection to the place I was studying or even the subject I would be learning. I then decided then that the point of the program would be this: I would have a learning experience to take me outside of my comfort zone and beyond the borders of a typical classroom. Thenceforth, I used this as my mind set for my new adventure.

A short four months later I find myself here, two days away from my 11-½ hour flight across the Pacific. I sit surrounded by a pile of clothes, those freshly bought and old-time favorites, in an effort to discover what is considered appropriate attire for “plum rain season.” Alongside me is a first aid kit crafted by my mom so large that it would make UHS jealous in order to prepare for the bizarre lack of access sometimes to basic medicines in my host country. I am having to make the difficult decision as to which Penn State sweatshirt to pack as my Dad astutely advises me that with an average temperature of 80 degrees and high humidity, I won’t be needing all five of the ones I brought home. I switch between an overwhelming excitement in anticipation of this new experience and an immeasurable fear of a “What I have gotten myself into?” kind of way. Even though I sometimes look at my near empty suitcase as a metaphor for the unknown that comes along with living in a foreign country ( indeed, a tad dramatic), I keep reminding myself that my love of travel, language, and culture are what inspired me to make this journey in the first place. I can’t wait to eat the fresh sushi at Tsukiji fish market, to look over the Tokyo skyline from Tokyo Skytree, to shop in Harajuku, and to sing away at karaoke in Shinjuku. These are the things that are helping me to to pack because I know that while the unexpected that awaits me in Tokyo is daunting, I’m a million times more excited than anything else.

So now that my trip is looming near, the nerves that had been building have almost seemed to evaporate. For every worry that I think of, I think of three more things that I am excited about experiencing in Japan. I think of the food, the culture, the language, and the new friends and experiences that I am going accumulate while I am there, and I am beginning to get peace of mind. Even though I am nervous for this new adventure, I can’t help but be thrilled at what lies ahead. Hopefully I’ll have some great stories for Geoblog, and can help inspire others to take a leap just like I did (or at least get a laugh out of the tribulations I’m sure to incur with my nonexistent Japanese).

So, Sayonara America! See you in seven weeks, and let the adventure begin!
P.S. Please make sure that nothing happens to Chipotle while I’m gone!

Location: Orange County, California

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