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Published: October 4th 2009
Hello Family and Friends,
It hardly seems appropriate that my first entry from China should come from my fall break when there's so much to tell about campus, classes and new friends. Everything in Zhuhai has been happening very quickly, and I've been managing to stay so busy that after only two and a half weeks of classes, break really snuck up on me.
It may seem too early to be on vacation, but the Communist Party of China had its 60th anniversary this past Thursday, and yesterday was the mid-Autumn festival. These things must be celebrated, thus the early break. While I definitely hit the ground running here, I don't think I ever would have been able to pull together a plan for fall break on my own. Luckily, United International College (where I'm studying, www.uic.edu.hk/en) has a spectacular International Development Office who got things all lined up for us. Right from the beginning of the semester, they were taking applications from national students interested in offering homestays to exchange students during the break. All we had to do was decide which student, city, and home sounded like a good fit, meet the student, and arrange travel together.
This is how Melissa (exchange student from Hamline) and I ended up in Kaili with our freshman host, John. With a population of 448,000, Kaili is "small" by Chinese standards. As described by my guidebook, it's rarely visited by tourists and really only used as a base to visit the many surrounding minority communities. Mel and I have enough in common that it sounded perfect for both of us. After classes on Wednesday, the three of us boarded a bus from Zhuhai to Guangzhou. From there, we flew to Guiyang, where John's aunt and uncle picked us up to maneuver through the thick holiday traffic and high security to Kaili. The first things we noticed about John's city were the comparably clean air and the cooler temperatures. We didn't have much time to bask in the relief from the from high temperatures of Guandong before we were swept up in that wave of hospitality that time after time still manages to surprise me as I venture into homes around the world. We immediately sat down to a lovely dinner where all Mel and I could do was laugh and keep loading our chopsticks as John's mom and aunties showed their hospitality by continually dishing more into our seemingly-bottomless bowls.
That night we both rested well, relieved to be in a real home and real beds.
On Friday, we woke up to watch the events in Tiananmen Square on TV. Every ten years, the CPC puts on a military parade which is highly anticipated throughout the country. We slurped noodles and eggs for breakfast as John explained who all of the dignitaries were, what they were saying, and the significance of what we were seeing. After the military segment was over, we watched some of the choreographed dances before heading out into Kaili. Our first order of business was to learn more about the Miao minority. We visited a few shops where many of their antique garments are for sale and where the industry of silver jewelry making is alive and well. After getting a feel for the typical dress, we meandered to a city park where we paid 1.5 USD to get all decked out in traditional skirts, cloaks, silver necklaces, and headdresses similar of antlers.
Pictures to follow. I promise.
So, you ask, what could possibly follow a Miao photo-opp? Well, my friends, the only logical answer to that question is an outdoor rollerskate park pumping genuinely terrible American hip-hop. That's right, John, Mel and I all got our skate on with more Chinese teenagers than you ever would have imagined could still like roller skating. Mel came out covered in bruises from agreeing to skate with speed demon of the rink while I stuck to the sidelines, determined to learn to go backwards. Slowly but surely, Mal, slowly but surely.
Did I mention that I told the roller blade team at UIC that I would join them? Did I mention that they have a dance routine to Kung Fu Fighting? Some of this may seem too good to be true, but please keep in mind that it's also too good to make up.
After skating and walking around the park some more, we headed to John's grandparents' house where we celebrated National Day in style with more Tiananmen TV (the dancing had, by that time, progressed to singing) and one of those never-ending meals that I guess you can expect from grandmothers internationally. As if dressing up in a Miao costume and learning to skate backwards weren't enough for one day, I also learned how to pick apart and make the most of boiled crab. The badminton rounds after dinner were reminiscent of good-old Kelly family ping-pong. I'm pretty sure that's what really made it feel like a holiday.
Friday was a long day, memorable in many ways. We woke up early and went to a noodle bar for breakfast before piling into cars with John, his mom, aunts, uncles, and cousins. (Side note: John and his cousins all refer to each other as "brother" and "sister," which you can safely assume is a result of China's one-child policy). Even through my mile-high language barrier, I could tell that John's uncle took great pleasure in the hour of careening around the mountain curves towards the "Miao Cultural Village for Tourists" of Xi Jiang.
If ever there was an appropriate time or place for the words "commercialized culture," Xi Jiang would take the cake. Non-residents pay a fee simply to enter the village, even though it's a fully functioning village. We meandered through the streets, trying bits of authentic Miao street food and admiring the traditional architecture along the way. After a while, we ended up at a square where we watched young Miao imitate what their ancestors might have looked like playing their flutes while dancing to pre-recorded tracks. Hemming and hawing about whether it's better to preserve a culture in it's purest form or sell out a bit so as to increase revenues followed.
After the performance, we ate lunch at an in-home restaurant overlooking the village. Despite the commercialization, the view of the quaint rooftops stacked one on top of another an tucked into the rolling hills was truly stunning.
The afternoon found the "adults" playing cards at the restaurant while we "kids" ran along and explored some of the side streets that weren't necessarily meant for tourists. The contrast of shiny costumes on the main street and barefoot children playing with tourists' discarded soda cans in the allies served to further our discussion on responsible cultural tourism. We eventually ended up at the top of the village, where visitors were free to walk right into the chief's home and snap photos. We all took turns posing before heading back down to the main street and doing some bargaining before loading up the cars to come back to Kaili.
If that sounds like a full day, hold your horses. There's more. Lots more.
I was pretty tired as we pulled back into the city, queasy from the curvy journey, and ready for a rest at the apartment, but, surprise! "Kids, we're going for hot pot!"
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of this experience, it might help to think of hot pot as a sort of Chinese fondue. A pot of boiling water in the middle of the table, surrounded by all sorts of raw meat (don't forget the pig brains) that guests boil and spice to their liking. Already feeling queasy, I excused myself and spent the better part of dinner in the lady's room. I barely made it back to the apartment before becoming entirely sick. I'll spare everybody the details of what it means to catch a traveler's bug and just tell you that it landed me in a state-run hospital shortly after midnight.
Mel and I both resisted the idea of going to visit a doctor in the middle of the night in a developing country, but John and his mother insisted that it would be ok. We called the folks from UIC, who agreed, and so there we were. They ushered me into a room, which I assumed was a private office, but I was soon followed by two other girls, about my age, looking slightly more ill than myself. I eyed the cot, hoping for some relief, but settled for a wooden chair after determining that those stains were easily from two, three, or four previous patients. To my knowledge, there was only one doctor in the whole hospital, and it took him a while to get past the absolute emergencies and on to those of us who would certainly live. Since I was the first person to arrive in the room and privacy was a seemingly non-issue, I all-too-publicly told him about all of my bodily functions from the past 24 hours. In retrospect, I can hardly believe how graciously John interpreted that exchange.
The doctor said antibiotics via IV. Mel (who was not sick, but thankfully acting as my advocate) and I both said no. John and his mother said yes. We called the folks from UIC again, and they also said yes to the IV. Defeated, but also reassured, I followed John to room that the doctor indicated. I stopped short and almost ran out when I saw the bed reserved for me. Stains, again. John quickly apologized for the hospital and calmly grabbed a clean mattress and blanket from another room. The nurse wasn't far behind us, and she used a clean needle (I checked) to hook me up to my first-ever IV.
Anti-biotics. Fluids. More anti-biotics. More fluids. I was so touched that Mel, John, and Jiang Anyi all decided to stick it out with me until I was finally finished at 5 am. Around 1:30 I was feeling better, and at 2 Mel and John went out to scour the city for 7-up and soda crackers. They were back around 2:45, and I was munching on graham crackers, a close second to soda, shortly thereafter. Around 3:30, Jiang Anyi went out to find food for everybody else, and came back with steaming bowls of noodles. As I started my last set of fluids, she headed home to make sure everything was ok here. 4:00 found us all rather loopy, and Mel taught John those games that brothers and sisters play to pass the time as I cheered them on from the side-lines. As Mel put it, the experience certainly helped us bond as family.
By 5:00 am we were finally on our way back to the apartment, all of us tired, but happy that I was able to hold it together. Yesterday, mid-Autumn festival, we all took a much needed rest, and then headed back to John's grandparents' apartment for another, more subdued, holiday meal.
Today, Sunday, I'm feeling much better, but chose to stay home and hold down the fort, as well as a number of semi-solid bland foods, while Mel shows the guys a thing or two about basketball. I'm not really sure what's on the docket for the rest of the day, but I'm sure that there will be plenty more to report by the time I'm back at UIC.
P.S. I apologize for the rather unspecific map and location of this entry- that feature doesn't seem to be working very well on this computer. I'll update it from campus.
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Kerry
non-member comment
bummer!
Hi Mallory, So sorry to hear you were sick. I always wondered about being away from the US in a country like China or somewhere and the medical care one might receive -- very interesting and I might add--glad it wasn't me! Get well soon!