One Year.

The end of June marked my one year in China. I knew when I was assigned to China that I would not have the "typical" Peace Corps experience. I'm not living in a hut. I have running water. Shoot, I have the luxury of complaining when my internet cuts out. Even though it's not "typical", I'm still living in developing country. I went traveling recently and seeing the range of landscapes, wealth, and lifestlyes in China never ceases to amaze me. I’ve been reflecting recently on my time spent in China, the people I’ve met, what I’ve learned about teaching; and I have learned some valuable things.

Marty
My sitemate, mentor, and friend is leaving for home today.
I love her and have learned more from
this woman than she will ever know.

I have grown.

I don’t like to travel with other people. When I travel with others, I am constantly thinking about the other person. Not in a completely selfless way, but in an if-I-don’t-pay-attention-to-your-needs-then-you-have-the-potential-to-make-my-life-miserable way. Coming to China with a group of volunteers was something that I have never experienced before. I also like to keep my distance from people at first, to observe, and then I make friends. I will never forget arriving in Bangkok. I was tired. We had already been traveling for 24 hours? Maybe? I waited for my luggage. And waited. And waited. A group of people thought they would be helpful by taking everyone’s luggage off the belt for them. The luggage that I was not-so-patiently waiting for was sitting on the other side of carousel. This kind gesture made me as angry as I was when grocery stores stopped selling Rice Krispy Treats cereal.

“I have been traveling alone since I was 16. Safely? Not always. But I learn from my mistakes. I DON’T need you to take care of me…” Blah, blah, blah.  Little did I know about Chinese culture. I had no idea what I was in for.

I not only endured the love of my host family all summer long, but I grew to find their concern endearing. Now, when a student tells me that “I’d better remember my jacket,” or when my supervisor told me to be careful after hearing that I had lost my wallet, I release a little chuckle and feel loved. Chinese people do things together. When you’re part of their family or are considered a friend, to our standards you are treated like a child. And I say that in the most loving way possible.

Each class, or group of students, has every class together.
They also sleep 5-6 to each dorm and it's always with other girls/boys from their class.
They stay in that same dorm room all 4 years of school.

 Just last week I ate dinner with a friend and was talking about how I watch the world cup every night. She says, “Who do you watch it with?” After telling her I watch it alone, she asked, “But don’t you get lonely?” The genuine concern that rushes over peoples’ faces when I tell them I live/travel/etc. alone is actually something I might miss by the time I go home. In some ways.

I have adopted some Chinese customs.

I will never forget visiting the Tex-Mex restaurant in Chengdu with my host family. It was my last day with them. We got milkshakes, enchiladas, waffle fries, and spaghetti, in that order. We also shared all of it. Imagine sharing a plate of spaghetti with 3 people. Weird.

Chinese-style Tex-Mex

I have started to embrace and love the family style eating. I like going to restaurant and not having to decide on one meal. Why? You can have it ALL!

I also use indoor shoes. I have no idea how things can get so dirty. But they do. I live 5 floors up and somehow massive amounts of dirt still inundate my apartment. I see more spit in one day than an entire season of wildland firefighting. I’ve seen numerous children pee and poop wherever they please. When I first arrived I didn’t understand why people were so scared of sitting on the ground, or even putting bags/purses on the ground. Now I get it.

I'm worse at accepting compliments and better at speaking my feelings.

The notes I get from students are incredible. The sentences are beautiful and would make most people with heart blush. With all of the expression of feelings going on around me, I think I'm better at saying how I feel about things. On the other hand, in China, it is rude to just accept a compliment. It is considered conceited to just say "Thank you" and move on with the conversation. I have always been awkward receiving compliments, but now I'm worse.

One class last semester wrote me these lovely cards.

In another class, each student made a different page in  this album.

I knew nothing about China before I came.

My host family would constantly ask me which dish was my favorite. I would always reply, "I like all of them." They had the impression that all Americans are "direct" and they interpreted my inability to commit to one dish as a favorite as "indirectness". They concluded that I was "American-Chinese". Our similarities far outweighed the differences and it was cool being able to share those similarities with my Chinese family.

Snuggies were invented in China.

I studied a bit about China in my world history and government courses. I learned about differences, not the similarities. I knew nothing. I still don’t know anything. I read a quote once, I don’t remember who said it: “The more you learn, the more obvious it becomes how little you know.” Fact.

I need nature.

I have already been planning my first few hours/days back home in the U.S. 1.) I will go to a park, lie in the grass, and look at the blue sky. 2.) I will go hiking on a path where my feet touch the earth, not pavement or stairs. 3.) I will walk along the beach for hours. And hours. I might even sleep there.

There's a river here, but the beach is rock.
See the sky? Me neither.

I will give practical gifts.

For New Years, my school gave me mushrooms, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper. As party favors for my Chinese grandpa’s birthday, they gave washcloths, soap, and cigarettes. People will always bring some sort of food when they visit your house, usually fruit. I liked to give thoughtful gifts before I left, but now I want to give thoughtful, practical gifts.

Practicality.

I will say, “No.”

In China, there are simply too many people with too many requests to say, “Yes,” all the time. I’m still working on this one, but maybe after one more year here I’ll have it down.

This is a very small sampling of this crazy, crowded, Chinese life. I’m looking forward to another year in China. My goals for this next year are:

1.)    To speak enough Chinese to claim a “basic” level.

2.)    To continue learning Guzheng and become an “intermediate” learner.

3.)    To travel more. I have only visited 3 provinces. This summer I will add 3 more, but I’m still missing out on so many!