plastic trees and all

Three red plastic palm trees adorn the entryway to the Jianzhong Hotel, where we’ve been staying since we arrived in Chengdu. As you might have guessed, one glance at those trees led to wistful thoughts of Hawaii. Surely, I thought, these next two years will be long ones.

But already, these past several days have flown by. Although free time is rare, I’ve been able to explore enough of Chengdu to fall in love with it. I am crazy about the food, the people, the dynamic interactions that take place on the streets, etc., etc. Heck, I’m even starting to like the things I was initially appalled by, such as the hard beds, the hot weather and the fake trees outside of the hotel! There’s something about this city that is just so charming.

I sure didn’t expect to feel this happy and confident that coming here was the right choice. I realized this as I went on an afternoon walk, which I took in order to remember how crazy I am about China. Why would I need to remind myself that I love it here? The few of you who are familiar with a certain project I did for a class may guess that I am quietly grieving over the violence in Urumqi and that I may be questioning my role here. But a simple walk through the city was enough for me to feel at peace with loving and despising different aspects of the same thing. Whatever these mixed emotions may be, they amount to nothing less than a true appreciation for how lucky I feel to be right here, right now.


Sorry, I’ve got to go study Mandarin with Xiao Xiao, so I’ll cut this entry short and just list some random highlights from this week:

- Got a cell phone
- Gave Xiao Xiao, my Chinese friend who helped me my buy the phone, the English name Tiffany
- Visited the American Consulate and was briefed on Chinese history by State Dept. officers
- Ate traditional Sichuan food (boiled duck and veggies in a spicy broth)
- Attended an hour-long session on diarrhea Yea! Haha
- Got some very helpful teaching advice and a whole bunch of ideas for classroom activities
- Found out my host family enjoys calligraphy and has a 17-year-old daughter ☺
- Received many priceless looks from random people after they realized I don’t speak Chinese
because I’m not Chinese
- Ate LOTS of great, spicy food!

Peace Corps Training - week 1

Ni men hao! And Happy 4th of July! Before I recap the events of this week, I must first say that I absolutely love both China and the Peace Corps!

We left San Francisco 5 days ago, and after an almost 13 hour flight, which took us over Alaska and Siberia, we arrived in Beijing, weary but happy to have escaped H1N1 quarantine. After another 3 hour flight, we arrived in Chengdu, Sichuan, where we will be training until August 28.

We’ve been staying in a hotel in the city for the last few days, and will be staying here until July 9, when we will move in with our host families. Up until late August, I’ll be living with a family near Sichuan Normal University, where 17 other volunteers and I will partake in intensive language classes and “model school,” where we’ll get to practice our teaching skills on volunteer Chinese students.

Each day, the Peace Corps has been keeping us busy with various conferences on things like cultural adaptation, language learning, TEFL training, and safety and security. Also, we’ve started language classes, had interviews with Peace Corps staff, and received all kinds of vaccinations.

Although we’ve been extremely busy, we’ve had time to explore the city, which I find extremely chaotic, but also quite charming! There are so many cars, mopeds, bikes and people that there’s no way you could walk down the street without being constantly hyper-attentive to your surroundings. All this was a little overwhelming for me at first, but I’m getting used to it. The restaurants and bars are really cool, and the workers are always very forgiving when I mistakenly order the wrong types or amounts of drinks and dishes!

Right now I’m on my way to language class, then my new Chinese friend, Xiao Xiao, who works as a travel agent in my hotel, is going to take me to buy a local cell phone! I’ll try to update soon, but because my blog is blocked, it takes a while to get around the great firewall!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention! My new Chinese name is Miao Na, but you can call me Na Na! ☺