Today I got dressed up in a suit and walked over to the US Embassy--we had our orientation sessions today in the Beijing American Center. I almost didn't make it: for a moment there, I thought the group had left me behind! Still, I did make it. When we got there, we had to attend sessions (really, listening to presentations) off and on all day. The most important ones were about safety in China, how to tell stories about your experiences, maintaining your health in China, getting in touch with the consulates in Beijing or Shanghai. Once we get to Shanghai, we may look into having Kerry do volunteer work at the Shanghai American Center (SHAC), teaching conversational English or playing games with folks. I think that could be fun and I might even join him.
As far as food goes today, we had lunch at the LA Palms restaurant (I wasn't overly impressed--buffalo chicken caesar wrap and pasta). In the evening, Kerry and I went to the home of the US Ambassador to China, where we were served wine and then a buffet dinner which included deviled eggs, salmon, leg of lamb, and several vegetable salads. (Thank God there were forks and knives for this meal!)
During lunch, we tried to have a conversation with our waiban, Carol, who we met today, but it was SO noisy in there that this proved difficult. We are a bit concerned at this point. Carol seems to be new on the job and doesn't speak English as well as we were hoping she would. Still, she seems very nice, friendly, and accommodating.
Carol promised that she'd still work to help me get my class sizes reduced. (NOTE: Yesterday we were all told that our class sizes should be a MAX of 25, so I sent a note to Carol about this. Today two folks sat down with me and told me that, "Oh, it's actually 15-45." This completely contradicts what we were told and feels very frustrating to me. I'm sure I can expect more of this because this isn't the only time that we were told one thing by the Fulbright folks and then something else actually happened.)
Tomorrow....a trek to the Great Wall!!
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Day 2: 2nd Full Day in Beijing
Today consisted of mainly two things: more tremendous food and a lot of listening to presentations.
Again, we did the Beijing Bistro for breakfast (although an abbreviated version, since we had to hurry to dress). The morning consisted of listening to presentations about the US-China relationship in terms of politics and economics. The afternoon was more useful to me, personally, because we learned a lot more about Fulbright policies and got to hear from both Chinese Fulbright professors and Chinese students about their experiences. It was particularly interesting to hear the students' opinions on American professors!
The lunch was yet ANOTHER dim sum type of buffet--all sorts of different things. We are really developing a taste for crispy duck, in particular. They also really seem like shrimp a lot over here. Also, they had excellent mushrooms and greens: I have a feeling that we're going to be getting a lot of vegetables over here!
For dinner, we had a bus take us to a Chinese cooking class, in this little hole-in-the-wall place in an alley, of all places. The master chef showed us how to make dumplings. I was disastrous at it, of course, but I did manage to produce a few good ones.
Again, we did the Beijing Bistro for breakfast (although an abbreviated version, since we had to hurry to dress). The morning consisted of listening to presentations about the US-China relationship in terms of politics and economics. The afternoon was more useful to me, personally, because we learned a lot more about Fulbright policies and got to hear from both Chinese Fulbright professors and Chinese students about their experiences. It was particularly interesting to hear the students' opinions on American professors!
The lunch was yet ANOTHER dim sum type of buffet--all sorts of different things. We are really developing a taste for crispy duck, in particular. They also really seem like shrimp a lot over here. Also, they had excellent mushrooms and greens: I have a feeling that we're going to be getting a lot of vegetables over here!
For dinner, we had a bus take us to a Chinese cooking class, in this little hole-in-the-wall place in an alley, of all places. The master chef showed us how to make dumplings. I was disastrous at it, of course, but I did manage to produce a few good ones.
Day 1: First Full Day in Beijing
The day begin with ANOTHER lovely buffet: the Beijing Bistro buffet in our hotel is amazing!!! They had things on there like soup, Chinese pancakes, pork buns, plus lots of watermelon and smoked salmon, even. It is all for free because we are hotel guests. So much better than the "continental breakfasts" you get at the Hampton Inn or Best Westerns in the States.
After a short nap (Kerry and I were still a bit jet-lagged), we walked around quite a bit: almost four miles up and down the streets of Beijing. We spent a lot of the time dodging mopeds, which DO NOT CARE where they are going. There is no such thing as "waiting for pedestrians" on the streets of Beijing. We also noted weird things like cars parking or driving on the sidewalk, or even in the middle of the road. Still, folks seem to take all this in stride!
We felt very safe walking around. A lot of English signage, too. We even popped in to a KFC, just for drinks. The cashier recognized that our Chinese was at the toddler level and immediately handed us an English menu, which enabled us to just point at what we wanted. We also noticed a manager and customer screaming at each other in Chinese and were very curious as to what that was all about! We also stopped in at a 7-Eleven--we purchased a bottle of what we thought was water, but it turned out to be some sort of Gatorade-ish product.
Another social faux pas: when we got back to the hotel, we were drinking sodas in the lounge. We ordered some additional drinks after giving them our room number. We assumed that they'd just had these to our bill, so after we drank the drinks, we just took off. The server and manager ran after us, following us into the elevator, asking us to pay up. Which we did. Oops!!
We got dressed up for the dinner with the Fulbrighters: I wore my green shirt and yellow tie. The dinner was served dim sum style, and, even though it was advertised as a "Peking duck" dinner, it had EVERYTHING: beef, shrimp, mixed greens, lotus root, rice (served near the end!), and Asian pairs for dessert. There were literally about 20 different dishes on the table. The major negative thing is that I got food all over myself, and even succeeded to dip my tie in the duck sauce. All my clothes got sent to the laundry.
We came up and stuggled to get ViperVPN to work, and I finally gave up. One of the frustrations of living here so far, without question, is sporadic Internet service. I'm amazed that I'm able to type this blog entry: thank you ExpressVPN!!
After a short nap (Kerry and I were still a bit jet-lagged), we walked around quite a bit: almost four miles up and down the streets of Beijing. We spent a lot of the time dodging mopeds, which DO NOT CARE where they are going. There is no such thing as "waiting for pedestrians" on the streets of Beijing. We also noted weird things like cars parking or driving on the sidewalk, or even in the middle of the road. Still, folks seem to take all this in stride!
We felt very safe walking around. A lot of English signage, too. We even popped in to a KFC, just for drinks. The cashier recognized that our Chinese was at the toddler level and immediately handed us an English menu, which enabled us to just point at what we wanted. We also noticed a manager and customer screaming at each other in Chinese and were very curious as to what that was all about! We also stopped in at a 7-Eleven--we purchased a bottle of what we thought was water, but it turned out to be some sort of Gatorade-ish product.
Another social faux pas: when we got back to the hotel, we were drinking sodas in the lounge. We ordered some additional drinks after giving them our room number. We assumed that they'd just had these to our bill, so after we drank the drinks, we just took off. The server and manager ran after us, following us into the elevator, asking us to pay up. Which we did. Oops!!
We got dressed up for the dinner with the Fulbrighters: I wore my green shirt and yellow tie. The dinner was served dim sum style, and, even though it was advertised as a "Peking duck" dinner, it had EVERYTHING: beef, shrimp, mixed greens, lotus root, rice (served near the end!), and Asian pairs for dessert. There were literally about 20 different dishes on the table. The major negative thing is that I got food all over myself, and even succeeded to dip my tie in the duck sauce. All my clothes got sent to the laundry.
We came up and stuggled to get ViperVPN to work, and I finally gave up. One of the frustrations of living here so far, without question, is sporadic Internet service. I'm amazed that I'm able to type this blog entry: thank you ExpressVPN!!
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Arrival Day in China!
Well, readers, this is my first post in China. Today is August 29th, and it's 8:57 pm as I begin to write this. I'd like to tell you about our first day in China, though, August 28.
Kerry and I survived a 13.5 hour flight to China: they gave us two meals and two snacks on the plane, but they kept it dark most of the time, which I didn't enjoy. Still, I got two watch two movies (Jackie and Snatched) and parts of other movies that I wanted to see again (Moonlight, Florence Foster Jenkins, and Gone with the Wind).
The Beijing Airport actually wasn't all that bad. We got through immigration and customs pretty easily, and there really weren't that many people in the airport. Our driver was there, on time. He was nice even though he didn't speak English. We noticed right away how CRAZY people drive here!! They stop in the middle of the street, frequently cut each other off, and cars and bikes don't seem to look for pedestrians at all. But our driver seemed to take this all in stride.
When we got to the hotel room at about 4 pm China time, we were warmly greeted with a glass of fruit tea. The bellhop took all of our luggage upstairs. No tipping! But we noticed one problem: none of the lights, nor the TV, seemed to work. We finally came to learn that the hotel key card has to be in a pocket on the inside of the door in order for the power to work. I wish somewhat had explained this to us! Kerry also had some issues figuring out how to use the converters as first, but he finally got things figured out.
I turned on the TV. The stations, of course, are almost all Chinese, but there are quite a few English stations as well (e.g. CNN, the Discovery Channel). Chinese commercials are crazy and colorful. And there was this one kids' show that looked like an LSD trip. :)
We had a splendiferous repast at the Beijing Bistro in the hotel: lots of seafood, including octopus, abelone, crawfish, and sushi. They even brought lobster to the table. We had to go ask for drinks ourselves, which was a bit different for us. Very yummy stuff! But afterwards we were exhausted and went to bed about 7 pm.
Here's some food from the first buffet we had--amazing!!
Kerry and I survived a 13.5 hour flight to China: they gave us two meals and two snacks on the plane, but they kept it dark most of the time, which I didn't enjoy. Still, I got two watch two movies (Jackie and Snatched) and parts of other movies that I wanted to see again (Moonlight, Florence Foster Jenkins, and Gone with the Wind).
The Beijing Airport actually wasn't all that bad. We got through immigration and customs pretty easily, and there really weren't that many people in the airport. Our driver was there, on time. He was nice even though he didn't speak English. We noticed right away how CRAZY people drive here!! They stop in the middle of the street, frequently cut each other off, and cars and bikes don't seem to look for pedestrians at all. But our driver seemed to take this all in stride.
When we got to the hotel room at about 4 pm China time, we were warmly greeted with a glass of fruit tea. The bellhop took all of our luggage upstairs. No tipping! But we noticed one problem: none of the lights, nor the TV, seemed to work. We finally came to learn that the hotel key card has to be in a pocket on the inside of the door in order for the power to work. I wish somewhat had explained this to us! Kerry also had some issues figuring out how to use the converters as first, but he finally got things figured out.
I turned on the TV. The stations, of course, are almost all Chinese, but there are quite a few English stations as well (e.g. CNN, the Discovery Channel). Chinese commercials are crazy and colorful. And there was this one kids' show that looked like an LSD trip. :)
We had a splendiferous repast at the Beijing Bistro in the hotel: lots of seafood, including octopus, abelone, crawfish, and sushi. They even brought lobster to the table. We had to go ask for drinks ourselves, which was a bit different for us. Very yummy stuff! But afterwards we were exhausted and went to bed about 7 pm.
Here's some food from the first buffet we had--amazing!!
Friday, August 25, 2017
Last post before depature
Initially, I was going to write several posts that show everything that we've been through in the last couple of months. But, due to time constraints, I'm just going to write a bit of a summary of some of the things I've learned about getting ready for an international voyage to China:
The next time I write, I will likely be in China. Please have fun reading my blog throughout the year!!
- The passport process really wasn't that difficult. Perhaps this was because we had it expedited, but it arrived for us very quickly.
- I do like the fact that Taozhen Huang, the Educational Assistant, has been active on e-mail and willing to answer my questions--I'd say she's been the most helpful resource for us thus far.
- Getting visas for China was much more of a challenge. Apparently, the photo for the passport cannot be used for the Visa photo, so we had to have the company the Fulbright people recommended (Oasis) do digital manipulation of photos we had taken in order to make them fit the visa requirements.
- I went sort of back and forth with SISU about my schedule: initially, they wanted me to teach Monday and Thursday, but as of this writing I have both classes on Monday. One is a graduate-level Short Novels class (45 students) and one is a "Classic Literature Readings" course for Honors students (30 students).
- I haven't been told a lot by the university about our living situation at this point either. All I know is that we will live in one of two buildings, one within walking distance (10-15 minutes) and one within 1.5 miles or so. I have no idea which one we'll end up at. All I know is we were promised a two-bedroom apartment with wi-fi. We'll see what happens, I guess.
- Packing is tough. We are bringing six suitcases, two over the limit. As of this writing, I'm not sure if any of them will be oversize. I hope not. And of course MSP is closing down a security checkpoint on the day we leave.
- We've also had to do things like order new credit cards, put travel alerts on our accounts, etc. And some of these things have not yet been received, but we'll just have to deal with it and hope that they can be forwarded to us.
- I'm a bit frustrated at this point because I still have not received my first grant payment. It really would have helped with all these initial expenses that we're having, but I've had to do without it. Consequently, I did not pay off my car or credit cards as I was hoping to do before leaving. I certainly hope this gets resolved soon.
- The most important lesson is that it's really hard to say goodbye. Today I had to say goodbye to Bette, Crystalyn and her girls, Randy, Bradley, as well as Sarah and Zach. It's tough. And tomorrow we say goodbye to Maureen; Sunday, we'll have to say goodbye to Alison and Art. It's very emotionally hard. I am hopeful that some of these folks will come to see us, but there's so much uncertainty at this point.
The next time I write, I will likely be in China. Please have fun reading my blog throughout the year!!
Sunday, August 20, 2017
The PDO (Pre-Departure Orientation)
In June, Kerry and I went to the Pre-Departure Orientation in Washington, D.C. It was for all scholars and students going to the East Asia Pacific region of the globe (not just China, but Thailand, Indonesia, etc. Japan seemed to be strangely absent). This orientation involved a dinner the first night, meetings and sessions the second day (from about 8 am to 6 pm), and then some more sessions on the final day. Many of the sessions were informational, about the history and background of the Fulbright, but there were also sessions on such topics as teaching in China, cultural knowledge tips, and information about the dispensation of the grant itself. There was also an interesting roundtable about being GLBTQ in the East Asia Pacific region. They also had an AMAZING "lunch" (it was more like a dinner) on the second day--salmon, pasta, hummus, all kinds of desserts!
I met some really nice people there. I was somewhat intimidated by the fact that a LOT of my China cohorts already seemed to have been to China before or already know some Mandarin. I sense that this will be a challenge for me! Some of them even specialize in Asian American studies and have written books about China. On the plus side, though, out of about 23 Fulbright U.S. Scholars going to China, I am the only one from a community college! I'm a bit amazed by this.
Kerry and I got the chance to tour the National Mall a bit after a wine and cheese reception at the end of the long meeting day. We went to the Lincoln Memorial, walked across the National Mall (where Kerry helped successfully reunite a baby duck with its mommy), and saw the White House from afar (or should I call it the Black House now, considering its current resident? No matter. He's probably at his Florida estate).
Anyway, here is a pic of me and Kerry at the Lincoln Memorial:
I met some really nice people there. I was somewhat intimidated by the fact that a LOT of my China cohorts already seemed to have been to China before or already know some Mandarin. I sense that this will be a challenge for me! Some of them even specialize in Asian American studies and have written books about China. On the plus side, though, out of about 23 Fulbright U.S. Scholars going to China, I am the only one from a community college! I'm a bit amazed by this.
Kerry and I got the chance to tour the National Mall a bit after a wine and cheese reception at the end of the long meeting day. We went to the Lincoln Memorial, walked across the National Mall (where Kerry helped successfully reunite a baby duck with its mommy), and saw the White House from afar (or should I call it the Black House now, considering its current resident? No matter. He's probably at his Florida estate).
Anyway, here is a pic of me and Kerry at the Lincoln Memorial:
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Where to go? The big decision
Once I received the Fulbright, the next big decision that I had to make was where to go. I was encouraged by Ms. Huang Taozhen, the Education Assistant who manages the US side of the Fulbright program, to go to Yunnan University in Kunming, China. She told me that it was a very clean area, and I'd have the opportunity for "an authentic Chinese experience." However, I mentioned that my original request was for Shanghai International Studies University, and I wondered if this university would still be possible. Graciously, she said she'd let me know and would be willing to work with me to accommodate my request. In the meantime, I consulted with a professor currently at Yunnan, MaryJo Lee, who was kind enough to have a one-hour phone call with me (from China) all about Yunnan University and Kunming. I got very excited about it.
But then I talked to my colleague Yanmei Jiang as well as my former colleague Xuewei Wu, and they both highly recommended that I go to Shanghai. Yanmei, in particular, mentioned that "there is no comparison" between the students at SISU versus the students at Yunnan in terms of their English ability. Also, my research indicated that Shanghai seemed to be a much more GLBTQ-friendly place to be, which I thought would be better for both me and Kerry. So between the recommendations from Yanmei and Xuewei and the gay-friendly climate, I decided that Shanghai would be best for me overall. Yanmei even helped me get in touch with her friend at SISU, Dr. Li Shanghong. I even got to talk to him (in English) on WeChat! He helped me procure an invitation to SISU. Here it is below:
Dear Dr. Brain Lewis,
Greetings from the School of English Studies, Shanghai International Studies University (SISU).
We're glad to learn of your proposal to teach at SISU with your Fulbright fellowship, and it'll be our great honor if we can be your host institution. Please let me know what we may help to facilitate your visit.
Look forward to your reply.
--
Kind regards,
Amy Huang | Liaison for Foreign Teachers
黄钰霞 | 上海外国语大学 | 英语学院
The School of English Studies
Shanghai International Studies University
No. 550 Dalian Rd. (West) | Hongkou District | Shanghai, 200083
Tel: (86 21) 3537 2433 | Fax: (86 21) 3537 2556
Both Yanmei and Xuewei warned me about the poor air quality and the traffic in Shanghai, but I'm hoping that I can tolerate these things while I am there. They mentioned to me that the bad-air days are in the minority--but a mask would still be helpful.
So...that's the story of how we are Shanghai-bound. I told MaryJo my decision, and she was very understanding. I still hope I can possibly meet her sometime this summer! And I do hope I can visit Yunnan U. as a guest lecturer at some point during my stay in China.
But then I talked to my colleague Yanmei Jiang as well as my former colleague Xuewei Wu, and they both highly recommended that I go to Shanghai. Yanmei, in particular, mentioned that "there is no comparison" between the students at SISU versus the students at Yunnan in terms of their English ability. Also, my research indicated that Shanghai seemed to be a much more GLBTQ-friendly place to be, which I thought would be better for both me and Kerry. So between the recommendations from Yanmei and Xuewei and the gay-friendly climate, I decided that Shanghai would be best for me overall. Yanmei even helped me get in touch with her friend at SISU, Dr. Li Shanghong. I even got to talk to him (in English) on WeChat! He helped me procure an invitation to SISU. Here it is below:
Dear Dr. Brain Lewis,
Greetings from the School of English Studies, Shanghai International Studies University (SISU).
We're glad to learn of your proposal to teach at SISU with your Fulbright fellowship, and it'll be our great honor if we can be your host institution. Please let me know what we may help to facilitate your visit.
Look forward to your reply.
--
Kind regards,
Amy Huang | Liaison for Foreign Teachers
黄钰霞 | 上海外国语大学 | 英语学院
The School of English Studies
Shanghai International Studies University
No. 550 Dalian Rd. (West) | Hongkou District | Shanghai, 200083
Tel: (86 21) 3537 2433 | Fax: (86 21) 3537 2556
Both Yanmei and Xuewei warned me about the poor air quality and the traffic in Shanghai, but I'm hoping that I can tolerate these things while I am there. They mentioned to me that the bad-air days are in the minority--but a mask would still be helpful.
So...that's the story of how we are Shanghai-bound. I told MaryJo my decision, and she was very understanding. I still hope I can possibly meet her sometime this summer! And I do hope I can visit Yunnan U. as a guest lecturer at some point during my stay in China.
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
How it all began....
May 17, 2017: I received a call from Washington, D.C. At first I thought it might just delete it because a voice mail was left, but I listened to the voice mail and was told by Sophia Yang that there was "a change in the status of my application." I thought, "Well, either they are taking me off the alternate list, or I got it." I returned her call--no one picked up, so I left a voice mail. Being the impatient person that I am, I decided to call her back--again--two minutes later. Who knows? Maybe she'd offer the Fulbright to the first person who picked up. This time she did answer, and she told me that I got it. And my world was completely turned upside down.
Oddly enough, Kerry and I had planned a one-day getaway to Duluth that day. What perfect timing for a celebration! I was so happy with all my Facebook "likes" and congratulatory messages about it as well.
Kerry and I celebrated at Pizza Luce. He looks happy here, don't you think?
I was happy too!
Still, at this point, I was sort of oblivious as to how this would throw my summer into an upheaval. More on that later!
Oddly enough, Kerry and I had planned a one-day getaway to Duluth that day. What perfect timing for a celebration! I was so happy with all my Facebook "likes" and congratulatory messages about it as well.
Kerry and I celebrated at Pizza Luce. He looks happy here, don't you think?
I was happy too!
Still, at this point, I was sort of oblivious as to how this would throw my summer into an upheaval. More on that later!
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