Only in China...

There are many things in China that I could honestly say….”Only in China.” The fact that I have to bypass the Chinese Communist Government to post a blog for family and friends about my experiences in this country is a start. Instead of allowing me to educate the world on such an interesting culture, they try to block me from the outside world. Well China….I got through. Or at least I think I did. Mom if you get a call saying I am gone, you can assume that the Communists took me away. I mean think about it….Dr. Jay has advised us all to watch what we say, assume our rooms are tapped and put our cell phones in the other room during class so we can speak a bit more openly. As I keep on saying to my roommates, “We are not in Kansas anymore.” Xiamen is much different than Hong Kong. Dr. Jay was right to say that HK would be a good transition, and now I believe him. There is absolutely no English here, stuff is so cheap, the city is much dirtier and the scenery is just….well…..Chinese like. Some of the things that we take for granted such as eating, are harder work than usual. Besides using chop sticks, spicy food and the rush of being pulled into restaurants to eat, we have the daily task of a method I call “Pray, point and eat.” Yeah, we know a little Chinese, but not enough to order a simple meal. Wonton Soup and General Tso’s chicken is obsolete. I did see pickled chicken’s feet, mush with mystery on top and the occasional fish head or unknown seafood. Did I mention yet that people poop on the sidewalk if they cannot make it to a bathroom? I mean don’t worry, they bring a bag to pick it up….hence why our shoes don’t enter the room, and one reason why we bleached our floor last night…..
This leads me to a funny story…or at least we try to keep it as a funny story in our minds. Basically, we were kicked out of our rooms last night. Here is how it works….They say something we don’t understand, and we nod until they start moving our stuff……Just kidding……We arrived with reservations for university dorms to stay in double rooms on the same floor. Lucas from Santa Barbara and I decided to stay together. We set up our room all sweet, bought some things to make it feel like home and got all settled in. Then one morning we woke up to our air conditioning leaking all over Lucas’s bed. Ever try to get something fixed in another language? I have…and let me tell you…besides laughing so hard then having a veil of anger consume you still doesn’t make you understand a lick of what is happening. Yesterday we were told by our leaders that we would be moving to a different room where the air worked, but then we were told there were no open rooms so we were going to chill. Not a big deal, we rearranged the room so it didn’t drip on us and continued with life. Well…..at least we thought so. By 8 pm last night we were all rounded up for a meeting. Basically….we were all leaving and moving rooms. Only in China as I like to say. Turns out that Xiamen University has contracts with countries to guarantee housing and schooling including India and Africa, which we don’t have. So…..as a group, we packed our bags and went on a big move. For Lucas and I we moved to the six floor with Aaron and Matt to a 4 person suite with an ocean view. Though we are split up as a group, we have a pretty good gig you could say. Not every day you look out your window at islands, smog and cargo ships.
I can honestly say I am still enjoying China. Classes are enjoyable and life outside of class is an adventure. The business professor is incredible, and we all really enjoy his classes. For reasons that I can explain when I get home, we cannot talk much about our program including the classes and professors. Now I know why I didn’t hear much about the program before I came. Top Secret CIA training, but don’t tell anyone. Life here is much different than the states. Last night after the big move, we went to the English corner which is a place where Chinese and Westerners can congregate and practice English, build relationships and enjoy life. It was a lot of fun, but we were pretty tired after the busy day. Now that we are semi settled in, we find ourselves trying new things. Funky fruit, unknown snacks, odd flavors and traditional teas. Tonight was marked by the hysterical sight of Lucus and Matt break dancing with 4 Chinese near our local lake. I guess they brought a “New Styr(L)e to China. Ra Ra Ra. All fun must come to an end at some point, so I must be off to study….I guess it is for my benefit to know if I am ordering seafood, dog or chicken.
Miss you all.

Larry