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Gwen in Qingdao

June 15, 2014
We're staying at the dorm on the Qingdao Agricultural University campus, We got to visit some orchards today sort of near Yantai City, way out on the tip of the Shandong peninsula. It was super interesting - and cool to see some of the stuff I researched for my econ project in real life!

Julia & I are giving a presentation to the professors here on our proposed research plans in about an hour and a half, but I'll fill you in a little though.

We've been staying in really nice set of rooms in the international housing of Qingdao Agricultural University (QAU), and have spent the last couple days getting acquainted with the pomology department students and professors here. As usual, everyone's been excessively hospitable, taking us out to lovely dinners left and right. Qingdao is especially known for seafood and Tsingtao beer, so that's been the centerpiece of many of our meals. Sooo much good fish! I've also added jellyfish and silkworms to my roster of interesting Chinese foods I've tried.

I've really been impressed with Qingdao (although I technically haven't really been in downtown Qingdao, just the Chenyang district to the north, where QAU is) - there's lots of public parks and green spaces, so in that sense it really reminds me of Hangzhou. Actually, I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not going to be here for four months, because it feels so natural to shift back into Hangzhou mode - I feel like I need to get to know the campus, master the bus system, and generally set up house here, when in fact we won't really be here that long. Working with the horticulture department here also really reminds me of being at PKU and working with Dr. Kang - I'm also toying with the idea of trying to visit PKU if we have a couple days in Beijing before flying out.
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Like I mentioned earlier, over the weekend we visited Wendeng and Weihai, near Yantai City, on the Shandong peninsula, and spent some time at two apple orchards, one that grows traditional varieties of apples and one that grows dwarf trees. It was a good introduction, and helped Julia and I think about what questions we want to ask in our surveys/interviews; which we'll flesh out more in today's meeting, I'm sure.
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Speaking of which, I'd better go now, but I'll try to send another update soon!

Gwen's Lesotho Web Log

Lesotho Log gwenagain.wordpress.com

Gwen in Hangzhou

August 31, 2009, marked the first day of school for Gwen at Zhejiang University of Technology (ZUT) in Hangzhou, China. Gwen will be working on her degree in Chinese at Grinnell College through the C.V. Starr-Middlebury School in China. As part of the program, Gwen took a pledge to speak only in Chinese until the completion of the semester. Violation of the pledge can result in expulsion from the program and a failing grade.

Hangzhou, known as China's "Garden City" for the number and splendor of its parks and greenery, is a city of seven million people located about 100 miles southwest of Shanghai. Hangzhou has a similar latitude and climate to New Orleans. When Gwen arrived the temperature was 95°F with a heat index of 107°.

Gwen will live in a dormitory on the ZUT campus with one of its 15,000 students as a roommate. She will take a full load of courses, all in Chinese. You can follow Gwen's progress on her blog: http://gweninhangzhou.blogspot.com/

Poem and Dance Grinnell College Sax Sextet

Gwen in Grinnell

Back Home!

Presentation in Stuart

I will be giving a presentation about my experiences on Monday, August 20, at 7 p.m. at the Stuart-Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church. Everyone is welcome to attend.

I'm A-Comin' Home!

This is probably my last post that I'll be writing from China.

In less than twenty-four hours I'll be leaving the PKU campus and getting on a plane for a looooong trip to Des Moines. It's so hard to believe I'm actually leaving. I've grown so used to my life here that I can't imagine leaving it all behind.

As difficult and scary as it was to leave Iowa, coming home is ten times harder. When I came to China, I was going on an adventure to a brand new place, and I knew I'd be home in two months time. But now I know exactly what I'm leaving and where I'm going, and I have no idea when/if I will return to China. Despite all this, I'm so excited to see my home and family that I'm bouncing off the walls!

Last night I went to a going-away dinner with JoAnn at the CAU, and today I'm doing some final shopping and packing. I hope to spend one last evening down by the lake, and then try to sleep one last time in my granite bed.

I'll be giving a couple presentations about my experience, and I'll post the times, etc. for those on this blog, so check back to learn more about that!

Until then, Dsai Jian!

Field Trip

Last Friday Dr. Kang, JoAnn, two other students, and I left on the 6:45 AM train for the Chinese countryside. The purpose of our trip was to expose JoAnn and me to a Chinese lifestyle other than what we had witnessed in Beijing.

We arrived at a small village just before noon. I’m still not exactly sure where we were, but I know we stayed in Beijing’s province. The town was situated in a mountain valley, right next to a broad, beautiful river. From the train station we walked down 341 stairs (yeah, I counted…) to the house where we were spending the weekend. It was a charming little place, and actually built to house visitors and tourists. So there were plenty of extra beds (actually softer than the one in my dorm), hot showers, and western toilets. JoAnn and I were braced to spend the weekend sleeping on the dirt floor of a hut without any showers, if necessary to get a true experience, but Dr. Kang insisted on finding us more comfortable accommodations.

Anyway, we spent the afternoon in the garden hoeing and picking vegetables for dinner. While everyone else was hanging out watching TV, JoAnn and I snuck into the kitchen to see if our non-English speaking hostess needed help with the cooking. Although we were probably just slowing her down, she humored us by letting us chop the meat and vegetables with huge butcher cleaver-like knives. We must not have messed up too bad, because dinner was quite delicious.

Saturday morning we woke up at 5 and headed to the nearby portion of the Great Wall. The experience was completely different from that of Badaling. For one thing, there was actually clear weather, so I could take in the magnificent views! Also, this area was much less reconstructed, so one had to use a lot more caution to scale the crumbling steps. A few times we even had to skirt around the wall itself, where the path was impassable. Because it’s a spot for the more adventurous sightseer (and because it was 6:30 in the morning) there were very few people there. We’d run into someone maybe every twenty minutes or so. A welcome change from the suffocating crowds of Badaling.

We hiked most of the morning, and were dripping in sweat by the end of it. After lunch back in the village, the plan was to sleep away the afternoon. JoAnn and I tried, but were unable to nap for very long and quickly bored by Chinese television. So we decided to explore the village a little more. It was quite a change to be in such a rural place after seven weeks in Beijing, but we were by no means in one of the poorest parts of China. There was a local grocery store, solar panels for the streetlights, and a few people (including our hostess) with very nice houses. On the other hand, there were many with extremely modest housing – dirt floors, no running water, and perhaps one or two rooms. It was another prime example of how China is a motley collision of modern technology and ancient customs, and the gaping differences in standards of living.

Back at our “home” JoAnn and I helped with dinner again – this time dumplings! Jiao zi might be my favorite food that I’ve tried here, and I can’t wait to cook them at home.

In the evening there was a celebration at the village’s “playground” – a small square with two basketball hoops and a few pieces of exercise equipment. A group of visiting college students were putting on a promotion (as far as I could gather) for the Olympic games. Contests of various kinds were being held and ’08 Olympics merchandise being handed out as prizes. One student named David, who had invited us, was in charge of recording everything on his video camera. He insisted on filming JoAnn and I signing our names on the banner, and conducting short interviews with us on our views of China (though I doubt we could be heard over all the noise).

We were also dragged over to a group of children who were drawing pictures of the Great Wall and the Olympic mascots and told to add our own artistic creation. Feeling rather intimidated by the marker masterpieces around us, we scrapped together drawing which was promptly posted on the wall. It looked a little pathetic but, we each received a package of Olympic mascot keychains for our efforts.

We also participated in the jump rope contest (quite embarrassing) and tried to play hacky sack (even more embarrassing). My favorite part of the evening was when drums were brought out and a few of the village women began doing traditional Chinese dances.

Sunday morning we left early again to do more hiking at what I would describe as the equivalent of a national park. We spent a couple hours viewing the woods and waterfalls, which were beautiful. However, I think our Chinese friends were more enthusiastic about the visit, since it was obviously famous to them, and JoAnn and I had already seen similar formations in North America.

In addition, though it had only been two days, it felt like much longer, and we were all anxious to get back to Beijing. We caught the 3:08 train and JoAnn and I watched Chinese movies on Dr. Kang’s computer until the battery died. It took about five hours to reach Beijing and I was thoroughly glad to see my cozy dorm room.

Pictures of the trip (along with some others I’ve been sitting on for awhile) will be on flickr imminently.

Great Wall

On Saturday I made the trek I’ve been looking forward to ever since I found out I was coming to China – I visited the Great Wall!

Courtney, JoAnn, and I had hoped that we might be able to do this trip together, but, as usual, it was decided at the last minute, so we didn’t have time to coordinate. When I returned to PKU and checked my email, I found out that JoAnn also ended up visiting the Great Wall Saturday, but we didn’t see each other. It wasn’t really a big deal, though – we’ve all met up with each other at least once since arriving, and that’s what counts.

Anyway, Dr. Kang and I took a taxi to the train station (actually, we were dropped off at the tracks, which we ran across to get to the station) to catch the 8:20 train. It was the most old-fashioned train I’d been on, with bench seats, open windows, and screechy brakes. Dr. Kang brought some fried bread and tea for breakfast, which we ate on the way.

The train ride took about 2 hours total, with a couple short stops along the way. Dr. Kang napped, but I was glued to the window the whole time. After you leave Beijing, the mountains rise up so quickly, and it’s absolutely beautiful. I also caught glimpses of a few small communities and spotted a chicken farm, bee hives, and – believe it or not – a camel.

The weather was very cool Saturday, barely drizzling, and a thick fog smothered everything. For this reason, I didn’t get to view the wall in a panoramic way, but I found it no less impressive. Seeing the arches and towers come looming out of the mist only added to the mystery and enormity of the place. It doesn’t look as cool on a postcard, but is very satisfying in person.

I should also mention that I spent a great deal of time paying attention to my feet, anyway. Maybe everyone else was aware of this, but I thought you could walk, even stroll, along the Great Wall. Unfortunately, this was not the case (at least at the part I visited – the south length of Badaling). Everything was steep inclines and plummeting declines, with very little in between. So my attention was often focused on gripping the rail and carefully making my way up and down very tall narrow stairs. And on not being trampled by the masses accompanying me. It was certainly entertaining to see such an international crowd, and hear so many languages just by walking a few dozen feet.

I was also thankful that I wore practical footwear – some women I saw who had chosen to wear heels looked pretty miserable.

We spent a couple hours on the wall (we did follow it all the way to the end of that section!) and then headed back to Tourist Trap Central, as I call it, at the gate. By this I mean the clusters of restaurants and booths selling flashy Chinese souvenirs of dubious authenticity at outrageous prices for eager visitors (not strictly Westerners – although the shopkeepers did seem to have a target demographic as they shouted “Hello, Hello! T-shirt! Postcards!”). Dr. K and I had noodles at a small restaurant and then visited a museum about the Wall and the man who built the first railroad through the mountains. It was very quiet there – a nice change from the jostling crowds outside – and as we rested our weary limbs we couldn’t resist a little catnap.

We didn’t oversleep, luckily, and caught the 3:10 train back to Beijing.