Chinese names can't simply be translated to English. Same goes for Americans who want a Chinese name.
It's not like Michael is Miguel in Spanish or Juan in Spanish is John in English.
Also, Chinese go by their last name first and their first name last. For example, I would introduce myself as Barredo Luis.
If you translate your names directly bad things can happen as you will later find out.
My Chinese name was given to me by my Chinese teacher at The Citadel. It is, Bai Long Fei, which means White Flying Dragon or White Dragon Fly. I prefer the first translation with obvious reasons. haha I often introduce myself as Bai Long Fei and it often draws back many oohs and awws from local Chinese.
They often say, "this is a very strong name" or, "this is a very martial arts type name".
(Thank you to Mrs. Yao at The Citadel for giving a good strong Chinese name).
I walked in about ten minutes before the start of the class. There was one student there who helped me by turning on the classroom lights and opening the windows. I walked out to buy a bottle of water and returned to my classroom about five minutes later. By this time, there were about 15-20 students chattering. Once I walked in, they stopped talking and locked their eyes on me. Their eyes and faces filled with curiosity and excitement. As Dean Li had mentioned, I am the first foreign English professor to teach non-English majors for a full semester (Dr. Silver had taught some week long classes about Economics). Many of them were behaving like school children by giggling uncontrollably. This especially happened when I spoke directly to any one of the students. It was quite a seen. Their laughter made me laugh and the first two minutes of class was nothing but laughter.
After the unintentional icebreaker, I passed out the attendance sheet and instructed the students to write their American names, as well as their majors. Their blank stare after I spoke gave me the indication that they did no understand me. I repeated myself, this time speaking slowly. I also instructed them to write their American name (if they had one) on the middle of a blank piece of paper. I then told them to fold the piece of paper in thirds from top to bottom to make a triangle shape. This, if executed properly, would make the paper stand up in a triangle shape which displayed their names.
The below are some conversations with the students, as well as part of their introduction speech to the class.
(I had them introduce themselves by their name, age, major, hobbies and family information).
Me: "Your American name is Monster?"
Student: "Yes".
Me: "Do you know what that means?"
Student" Yes, and I like it."
Student: "Hello class, my name is Panda and I chose this name because if I ever travel outside of China other people will know where I come from.
Me: "hahaha. Panda, you know there are Pandas in Japan and Korea?"
Student: "oohhh..." (with a confused, disappointed look in her face)
Me: "But I'm sure they are all exported from China." (with a I guess, I don't really know look in my face)
She then smiled fiercly and kept on introducing herself
Me: "Is your last name in Chinese, "Lu?"
Student: "Yes."
Me: "Is this why your American name is Road?"
Student: "Yes."
Lu means road so he decided to translate his name directly, which doesn't quite work out. hahaha
Me: Your name is Matha?
Student: Yes, Maaah-sssa.
Me: Are you sure its not Martha??
Student: Oh yes, yes, yes. It's Maaarrr-sssaa. Sorry.
Same thing happend with a student named "Keving". But really his name was Kevin.
All three classes went by quickly and sucessfully. Some students who didn't have American names stayed after class and I helped them pick one out.
Some of the names picked, were Rachel, Ashley, Veronica (pooka), Rita, Chris, and my favorite, Tamika! They like the way it sounded, and kept on saying it.
Taa-Meee- Kah, Taa-Meee-Kah, Taa-Meee-Kah ( with a heavy pronounciation of the K, they really liked the K sound). hahaha
Monday, October 11, 2010
Burger KING!
I decided to visit Chongqing during the seven day holiday.
Chongqing is about two and a half hours away from Fuling by bus.
To get to the Fuling bus station, I first had to take the 28 bus and then get on the 3 bus which took about 45 minutes of travel time.
I bought my 48 RMB bus ticket (about $7) to Chongqing and got on the bus and started reading "River Town."
Before I left to Chongqing, I researched some hostiles around the Chongqing area and found out that all were full for the holiday. I went anyway, hoping to find a couch or seat I could sleep in on a hostile's living area.
I went to one hostile and had no luck. I then wandered around the city and went to Chongqing's people square.
I visited the Three Gorges Dam museum and other local sites which were all free. It was about 5 PM and I decided to try Tina's hostil.
They had a room for the next day (Sunday) through Wednesday. Total of four days which was what I was looking for.
Before I paid they asked me for me for my passport.
I didn't bring my passport.
But I didn't sweat it at the moment because there are no rules in China. It's like Miami, la ciudad sin leyes! ( The city without rules/laws)
On my bus ride to Chongqing, I saw a street sign above that had the image of a motorcycle and a red line going through it signifying that motorcycles were not allowed on the upcoming bridge. Once we got on the bridge, I saw two motorcycles driving the wrong way towards us.
Surely, the Chinese hostile staff was going to let me slide. This way I didn't have to go back to the Chongqing bus station to then take a two and a half hour bus ride to go back to Fuling to then take the 38 and 3 bus routes back to Lidu.
This is exactly what I had to do. I guess rules apply only to foreigners.
I caught the bus back to Fuling, barely! The last one of the day, and I had the last seat on the bus which was the co-pilots chair.
This was only after the bus staff did some scrambling around for me and four others who didn't have seats to go back to Fuling on the last bus of the day. One lady who seemed to be the manager was getting heckled from a customer who couldn't believe there were no seats for the last bus. The customer and the manager had the same type of Alpha attitude which they demonstrated to all of us by screaming and shouting at each other. The manager seemed to win the battle and finally calmed the customer down.
The manager got on the Fuling bus, and ordered a couple off the bus which opened up space for two of the five of us ( I was one of the two). The couple gets off the bus confused looking for direction. The manager points to a van which is traveling at about 20 MPH and tells the couple to run. They start running and who knows if they catch the van. The three others were ordered to get on another van which was also going to Fuling.
Say you and your girlfriend, as paying consumers (in America), bought a bus ticket (plane ticket) and were comfortably seating down waiting to depart, but before you depart the above scene happens.
This, one can surely say, will never happen in America without retaliation from the customer. Or, the manager would compensate the couple with some extra travel miles or upgrade the couple to first class on the next bus or plane.
In America, the customer is King!
In China, I feel like the old communist days still influence some of the way business is ran.
The company or the person with authority still has say over the paying customer (at least in this scenario).
Or maybe its a way of life that we can't envision because we don't have an overpopulation problem. Every bus i've been on here is packed to the fullest. The individual here seems so insignificant at times.
But! I was definitely very glad I had a seat back to Fuling that day.
I slept in my bed that night and came back to Chongqing with my passport the next day.
Chongqing is about two and a half hours away from Fuling by bus.
To get to the Fuling bus station, I first had to take the 28 bus and then get on the 3 bus which took about 45 minutes of travel time.
I bought my 48 RMB bus ticket (about $7) to Chongqing and got on the bus and started reading "River Town."
Before I left to Chongqing, I researched some hostiles around the Chongqing area and found out that all were full for the holiday. I went anyway, hoping to find a couch or seat I could sleep in on a hostile's living area.
I went to one hostile and had no luck. I then wandered around the city and went to Chongqing's people square.
I visited the Three Gorges Dam museum and other local sites which were all free. It was about 5 PM and I decided to try Tina's hostil.
They had a room for the next day (Sunday) through Wednesday. Total of four days which was what I was looking for.
Before I paid they asked me for me for my passport.
I didn't bring my passport.
But I didn't sweat it at the moment because there are no rules in China. It's like Miami, la ciudad sin leyes! ( The city without rules/laws)
On my bus ride to Chongqing, I saw a street sign above that had the image of a motorcycle and a red line going through it signifying that motorcycles were not allowed on the upcoming bridge. Once we got on the bridge, I saw two motorcycles driving the wrong way towards us.
Surely, the Chinese hostile staff was going to let me slide. This way I didn't have to go back to the Chongqing bus station to then take a two and a half hour bus ride to go back to Fuling to then take the 38 and 3 bus routes back to Lidu.
This is exactly what I had to do. I guess rules apply only to foreigners.
I caught the bus back to Fuling, barely! The last one of the day, and I had the last seat on the bus which was the co-pilots chair.
This was only after the bus staff did some scrambling around for me and four others who didn't have seats to go back to Fuling on the last bus of the day. One lady who seemed to be the manager was getting heckled from a customer who couldn't believe there were no seats for the last bus. The customer and the manager had the same type of Alpha attitude which they demonstrated to all of us by screaming and shouting at each other. The manager seemed to win the battle and finally calmed the customer down.
The manager got on the Fuling bus, and ordered a couple off the bus which opened up space for two of the five of us ( I was one of the two). The couple gets off the bus confused looking for direction. The manager points to a van which is traveling at about 20 MPH and tells the couple to run. They start running and who knows if they catch the van. The three others were ordered to get on another van which was also going to Fuling.
Say you and your girlfriend, as paying consumers (in America), bought a bus ticket (plane ticket) and were comfortably seating down waiting to depart, but before you depart the above scene happens.
This, one can surely say, will never happen in America without retaliation from the customer. Or, the manager would compensate the couple with some extra travel miles or upgrade the couple to first class on the next bus or plane.
In America, the customer is King!
In China, I feel like the old communist days still influence some of the way business is ran.
The company or the person with authority still has say over the paying customer (at least in this scenario).
Or maybe its a way of life that we can't envision because we don't have an overpopulation problem. Every bus i've been on here is packed to the fullest. The individual here seems so insignificant at times.
But! I was definitely very glad I had a seat back to Fuling that day.
I slept in my bed that night and came back to Chongqing with my passport the next day.
Small Town/ Teaching/Magic Jack
Lidu is a small town college town about 35 minutes southwest of Fuling and about one hour and half southeast of Chongqing.
Fuling has a population of about 450,000 people. When Peter Hessler was here in 1996 the population was at 200,000.
Chongqing has a population of about 8 million people and is the biggest city in Western China. Beijing and Shaghai (Eastern cities) are about 17-20 million each.
YZNU (Yangtze University) has three campuses with a total student body of 15,000. ECNU, (East China Normal University) where I studied before in Shanghai had about 80,000 students.
So as you can see, I am no longer in Shanghai! This is a very different place. I already feel that I will not have nearly as much fun here as I did in Shanghai.
But I did not return to China for fun, I returned to advance my education on their culture and language. Teaching English to students here will allow me to eat and stay warm but it is not why I am here. I am here to open doors of opportunities later down my career.
Plus, I like the fact that I am not in a big city because this means there are few foreigners which will force me to speak to locals.
By the end of my run here, I hope I can say that I had true friendships with locals.
China is the second largest economy behind USA. Every major company in America, Europe, Japan, Germany, Latin America, etc. is investing in China.
The labor is cheap, the people work hard, the resources are unlimited and they are doing all they can to try to catch up to America.
(The only downside I see is the Chinese corrupt system, but that's for another time).
On my bus 30 minute bus ride from Lidu to Fuling, I saw about 35 cranes and plenty of heavy euqipment. China has been under construction for a while and it won't stop until their leaders seem satisfied with their world ranking, or until foreign investment dries out. In fact, most city's political figures in China are promoted based on how much foreign investment they bring in to their city. Every city or small town wants to be the new spotlight of China for foreign investment.
Some say China will surpass America's GDP in 10-15 years. Of course, one has to take into account the huge difference in population which sques the GDP numbers.
Simply, I think it's stupid for me not to be here right now.
I am not denying that I won't enjoy teaching. In fact, I'm very excited about it.
So far (two more classes may be added) I have 5 classes and the median class size is about 30 students per class. Unlike Kacie and Caity, I will be teaching non-English majors.
I have one Freshman Oral English class and the other four are classes are all Juniors who will be taking American Culture class. All Chinese students are required to take two years of English, and elevetices such as American Culture are offered to Junior and Seniors.
After talking to Dean Li about my classes and reaffirming some things with Kacie and Caity, it looks like the teaching curriculum is totally up to me.
The obvious sensitive topics like Tiannamen Square, Taiwan, Tibet, etc., are not to be spoken about but everything else is really up to me.
Dean Li gave me two books to get ideas from. One is for my Oral class and the other is for American Culture. The American Culture book is titled, " The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries," and it is one of the books that Peter Hessler taught from.
Juan Urdaneta, my good friend from Orlando bought me a really good device called Magic Jack.
It's a device that hooks up to your PC with a phone jack available for connection. It allows you to set up a local USA area code and use this number outside of the country.
My number is 407-610-4695, and it's a genius invention. It's saving me quite a bit of money and it's convenience is priceless. Of course, you have to be connected to the internet.
So if you ever want to call me my number is 407-610-4695. Leave a voice mail if I don't answer.
Or if you want me to give you a call reply back with your phone number.
Thanks to Juan for a great gift!
Fuling has a population of about 450,000 people. When Peter Hessler was here in 1996 the population was at 200,000.
Chongqing has a population of about 8 million people and is the biggest city in Western China. Beijing and Shaghai (Eastern cities) are about 17-20 million each.
YZNU (Yangtze University) has three campuses with a total student body of 15,000. ECNU, (East China Normal University) where I studied before in Shanghai had about 80,000 students.
So as you can see, I am no longer in Shanghai! This is a very different place. I already feel that I will not have nearly as much fun here as I did in Shanghai.
But I did not return to China for fun, I returned to advance my education on their culture and language. Teaching English to students here will allow me to eat and stay warm but it is not why I am here. I am here to open doors of opportunities later down my career.
Plus, I like the fact that I am not in a big city because this means there are few foreigners which will force me to speak to locals.
By the end of my run here, I hope I can say that I had true friendships with locals.
China is the second largest economy behind USA. Every major company in America, Europe, Japan, Germany, Latin America, etc. is investing in China.
The labor is cheap, the people work hard, the resources are unlimited and they are doing all they can to try to catch up to America.
(The only downside I see is the Chinese corrupt system, but that's for another time).
On my bus 30 minute bus ride from Lidu to Fuling, I saw about 35 cranes and plenty of heavy euqipment. China has been under construction for a while and it won't stop until their leaders seem satisfied with their world ranking, or until foreign investment dries out. In fact, most city's political figures in China are promoted based on how much foreign investment they bring in to their city. Every city or small town wants to be the new spotlight of China for foreign investment.
Some say China will surpass America's GDP in 10-15 years. Of course, one has to take into account the huge difference in population which sques the GDP numbers.
Simply, I think it's stupid for me not to be here right now.
I am not denying that I won't enjoy teaching. In fact, I'm very excited about it.
So far (two more classes may be added) I have 5 classes and the median class size is about 30 students per class. Unlike Kacie and Caity, I will be teaching non-English majors.
I have one Freshman Oral English class and the other four are classes are all Juniors who will be taking American Culture class. All Chinese students are required to take two years of English, and elevetices such as American Culture are offered to Junior and Seniors.
After talking to Dean Li about my classes and reaffirming some things with Kacie and Caity, it looks like the teaching curriculum is totally up to me.
The obvious sensitive topics like Tiannamen Square, Taiwan, Tibet, etc., are not to be spoken about but everything else is really up to me.
Dean Li gave me two books to get ideas from. One is for my Oral class and the other is for American Culture. The American Culture book is titled, " The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries," and it is one of the books that Peter Hessler taught from.
Juan Urdaneta, my good friend from Orlando bought me a really good device called Magic Jack.
It's a device that hooks up to your PC with a phone jack available for connection. It allows you to set up a local USA area code and use this number outside of the country.
My number is 407-610-4695, and it's a genius invention. It's saving me quite a bit of money and it's convenience is priceless. Of course, you have to be connected to the internet.
So if you ever want to call me my number is 407-610-4695. Leave a voice mail if I don't answer.
Or if you want me to give you a call reply back with your phone number.
Thanks to Juan for a great gift!
Peter Hessler, Dean Li and Dr. Silver
Peter Hessler was a Peace Corp Volunteer who taught English at YZNU (Yangtze Normal University)in 1996. The same university where I'm teaching.
Peter Hessler wrote a book about his two year experience titled, "River Town." He is also the author of Oracle Bones and Country Driving.
He is now the Beijing correspondent for the New York Times.
The Peace Corps seems to have established its roots in Fuling since 1996 and there have been volunteers here since.
Probably because Peter Hessler made China, YZNU and Fuling so famous. Btw, If you want to know what It's like over here but would rather hear it from a well known author then read, "River Town." It's a great book so far. Google Peter Hessler, too. He's kind of a big deal.
I met with Dean Li yesterday to discuss my class schedules, course lesson topics, etc.
We also spoke about my life after college, family, life experiences, etc.
In the middle of our two hour meeting (chat) he tells me that he was one of the first people to welcome Peter Hessler to YZNU.
This quickly grabbed my attention, because I'm in the middle of reading "River Town."
In fact, it's a book that was recommended to me by Dr. Silver before coming over here.
So, Peter Hessler meets Dean Li as a teacher at YZNU and Dr. Silver gives me a book title over the phone one day and I happen to buy it.
The plot thickens...
With all my attention on Dean Li, he shocks me one more time and says, "I visited Charleston for two weeks in 2006 where I taught classes at The Citadel and CofC. (I didn't bother asking which students he preferred). haha
So! Dean Li and Dr. silver have at least known each other since 2006. Dean Li even attended one of the Friday parades at The Citadel.
His thoughts about witnessing a parade: "I don't know how to describe it. I had never experienced something like that. It was very...strict." He had a long pause between the words "very" and "strict." I don't know if it was his vocabulary that limited his expression or his politeness. Or, maybe he really thought it was, "strict."
I said to Dean Li, "2006? I was there! I was a knob." A knob sweating it out during a typical Friday parade with thoughts of a spirit run to follow, followed by a full night of cleaning for SMI. I didn't tell him all this but In the end he saw me march in that Friday parade.
My relationship with Dr. Silver at the time was not formed yet. He only knew me as one of his knob advisees, and I only knew him as my Academic adviser. The following year as a Big Bad Sophomore, I would have Dr. Silver's Statistics class.
Mikey Pilotte, who went to high school with me in Orlando, was in the same Stats. class. Mikey helped me convince my parents in going on a three week trip to Taiyuan who Dr. Silver advertised. This three week trip was what catalyzed my interest in China and was what made me study abroad in Shanghai my senior year.
Now I'm an English teacher at YZNU working under Dean Li.
It's a small world.
P.S. Dean Li has translated "Country Driving" into Chinese and is working on translating "River Town."
Peter Hessler wrote a book about his two year experience titled, "River Town." He is also the author of Oracle Bones and Country Driving.
He is now the Beijing correspondent for the New York Times.
The Peace Corps seems to have established its roots in Fuling since 1996 and there have been volunteers here since.
Probably because Peter Hessler made China, YZNU and Fuling so famous. Btw, If you want to know what It's like over here but would rather hear it from a well known author then read, "River Town." It's a great book so far. Google Peter Hessler, too. He's kind of a big deal.
I met with Dean Li yesterday to discuss my class schedules, course lesson topics, etc.
We also spoke about my life after college, family, life experiences, etc.
In the middle of our two hour meeting (chat) he tells me that he was one of the first people to welcome Peter Hessler to YZNU.
This quickly grabbed my attention, because I'm in the middle of reading "River Town."
In fact, it's a book that was recommended to me by Dr. Silver before coming over here.
So, Peter Hessler meets Dean Li as a teacher at YZNU and Dr. Silver gives me a book title over the phone one day and I happen to buy it.
The plot thickens...
With all my attention on Dean Li, he shocks me one more time and says, "I visited Charleston for two weeks in 2006 where I taught classes at The Citadel and CofC. (I didn't bother asking which students he preferred). haha
So! Dean Li and Dr. silver have at least known each other since 2006. Dean Li even attended one of the Friday parades at The Citadel.
His thoughts about witnessing a parade: "I don't know how to describe it. I had never experienced something like that. It was very...strict." He had a long pause between the words "very" and "strict." I don't know if it was his vocabulary that limited his expression or his politeness. Or, maybe he really thought it was, "strict."
I said to Dean Li, "2006? I was there! I was a knob." A knob sweating it out during a typical Friday parade with thoughts of a spirit run to follow, followed by a full night of cleaning for SMI. I didn't tell him all this but In the end he saw me march in that Friday parade.
My relationship with Dr. Silver at the time was not formed yet. He only knew me as one of his knob advisees, and I only knew him as my Academic adviser. The following year as a Big Bad Sophomore, I would have Dr. Silver's Statistics class.
Mikey Pilotte, who went to high school with me in Orlando, was in the same Stats. class. Mikey helped me convince my parents in going on a three week trip to Taiyuan who Dr. Silver advertised. This three week trip was what catalyzed my interest in China and was what made me study abroad in Shanghai my senior year.
Now I'm an English teacher at YZNU working under Dean Li.
It's a small world.
P.S. Dean Li has translated "Country Driving" into Chinese and is working on translating "River Town."
Living Quarters/ Other Foreign Teachers
I was picked up by Ferris at 12:40 am on Tuesday the 28th.
Ferris is the person who I was in contact with while I was in Florida. He works for the FOA (Foreign Affairs Office) and he took me through all the necessary paperwork.
His American name is Ferris. His Chinese name is (Lou Xiaohu). I don't know where he got his name but its not a pretty one. haha.
He is 5' 8" and slender (typical Chinese male). The first thing I noticed was that his written English is a lot better than his oral English.
This is the primary reason why China wants Americans to teach their youth. Chinese students start taking English classes since middle school or even earlier so by the time they get to college they can read and write English at a proficient level. However, they never really practiced English so this is their weak point.
After an hour ride to school from the airport we arrived at my living quarters at 2:30 AM.
I live on campus in the same buildings where the other foreign teachers live.
There are two American teachers from the Peace Corps who teach English and two Japanese teachers who teach Japanese.
I met the two American teachers, Casey and Caity, and the two Japanese teachers at a dinner Tuesday night.
It was a dinner held to celebrate the upcoming National Day Holiday, which is a holiday that lasts from the 1st-7th of Oct. Pretty sweet, right?
Just in time for a holiday. haha. I really don't know what I will do for those seven days. It's really hard to find plane, train or bus tickets anywhere because all of China travels during these holidays. I'll come up with something.
Casey is a 5 foot nothing girl from Hawaii with jet black hair who is always smiling. Caity is a more serious brunette who stands eye level with me. She went to Cal State Fullerton which was a college that I passed everyday on my way to work when I lived in California.
They seem like really nice girls. Haven't had a chance to talk to them much after dinner but I found out that the Peace Corps is similar to the military in the way they station you. Caity wanted to go to S. America to volunteer but they stationed her in China. I don't think she's too happy here but she seems to really enjoy teaching.
China was one of the top places where Casey wanted to volunteer and she resigned her contract for another year. Her Chinese is very good which got me very excited because after one year I can be at her level, maybe surpass it.
One of the two Japanese teachers is also here for his second year and I have a feeling that we will become very close friends. He is very real and lively.
On the taxi ride back to school I found out that Ferris is 24 and the two Japanese teachers are both 38. They thought I was very young.
They seemed to notice that I did not posses arian traits so they asked where my birthplace was. I told them my life story (Mexico, Venezuela, USA, China) and they loved it.
Dinner was traditional Sichuaneze (food in this part of China is calledSichuaneze) Ho Guo or hot pot. Dinner was served on a turn table and everyone had their own hot pot in front of them. As you can imagine, a hot pot is a pot that is boiling hot. Food is served raw on a turn table then dipped in the hot pot and after a couple of minutes the food is ready to eat. Some of the food served that night included, pig brain, sheep intestines, pig ear, etc. To be honest, I did not enjoy this hot pot as much as ones in shanghai. It was still good. As customary in any Chinese dinner, a lot of beer was consumed. Thank God baijiou (Chinese rice liquor) was not served. Think of it as Bacardi 151 mixed with battery acid. haha. That liquor is so strong but I'm sure I'll have to taste it again in another dinner. I'm mentally preparing for it right now. haha.
I’m in China
After a long 13 hours, I finally got off the plane with anxiety to meet Tony at the Shanghai airport.
We found each other and to my surprise, Tony's dad had also come along. Our faces turned bright with joy. Two years had passed since they had taken me in as their host child in Shanghai. We hugged, greeted each other and found the nearest restaurant. Tony went to the bathroom which gave Tony's dad the opportunity to find out how bad my Chinese had gotten over the past two years. He was speaking slowly but I still could not make out what he was saying. Tony got back to the table and we talked about my life and his after graduation. Tony works for China Eastern Airlines, which is the airline I took to China. Tony was was quick to point out how crappy he thought China Eastern Airlines is. haha. He also said, " The flight attendants are ugly, right?" I thought they were very pretty and the service was above average. In fact, every time I fly in a foreign airline I always notice how beautiful the flight attendants are. I'm sure many of you remember how being a young beautiful flight attendant was the thing to be in America about 15 years ago. Jobs in this industry were filled based on beauty not Merritt. Good to know that America has moved on from those views.
Anyway, the service was great. Maybe that's because I'm a foreigner and flying to China in a Chinese airline is exciting for me and no matter if the service was bad I would've enjoyed every moment of it.
It was great to see Tony and his dad. Tony's mom could not make it because she was working. I gave Tony his purse for his girlfriend which I bought at the Florida Mall and gave Tony's dad a box of red Marlboro's and chocolate for his wife.
We said our goodbye's and I got back on my flight to Chongqing airport where Ferris (Luo Xiaohu) was to pick me up at 12:40 AM.
I landed, got off the plane onto the plane runway (old school) and took a 2 min ride to the airport's terminal. In that bus ride, I got a quick reminder of how Chinese view their elders and how much respect they have towards them.
Everyone rushed off the plane and knobbie walked to the bus. The doors closed and magically all the people who were in that 747 were now comfortably (China comfort standards) sitting and standing in regular sized, one-story bus. The driver stepped on the pedal and quickly stepped on the brake when he noticed 4 flight attendants walking with an elderly couple who, as you could imagine, were not knobbie walking to the bus. As soon as the elderly couple got to the bus, two people who were occupying chairs, immediately offered their chairs.
The actions of this scene above are not that uncommon in America but the way the Chinese youth seemed to really care and respect these elderly people was a bit refreshing. Or maybe this scene is uncommon. When was the last time you got on a bus in America? When was the last time you saw an older person by themselves without some type of new "3000 Millennium High Power Chair?" Or, It might be because elderly people are left in retirement homes and forgotten about or maybe because independence is the only way to live in the US. Capitalism has made companies thrive off all types of consumers. Business people/ entrepreneurs know that people are getting older. They know that the children of these older people "don't have time" to care for their own parents. In result, ramps and handicapped parking are available everywhere, power chairs and non-slip bath tubs are on infomercials.
The American way has made life easy for everyone. The living standard of a 70 year old is much less minimized than that of 70 year old person in any other country (China, Mexico, Venezuela). You can be old in America and still do many of the same things you could when you were young. Most importantly, this applies to nearly all senior citizens not just the rich ones.
The way the younger generation views their senior citizens might be ugly and not Confucius like but I prefer it this way. When I'm old I would not want to depend on anyone. I would prefer to not be forgotten about but if that happens I would still be able to live my own life. It's a view and a way of life that developed from independence and capitalism.
We found each other and to my surprise, Tony's dad had also come along. Our faces turned bright with joy. Two years had passed since they had taken me in as their host child in Shanghai. We hugged, greeted each other and found the nearest restaurant. Tony went to the bathroom which gave Tony's dad the opportunity to find out how bad my Chinese had gotten over the past two years. He was speaking slowly but I still could not make out what he was saying. Tony got back to the table and we talked about my life and his after graduation. Tony works for China Eastern Airlines, which is the airline I took to China. Tony was was quick to point out how crappy he thought China Eastern Airlines is. haha. He also said, " The flight attendants are ugly, right?" I thought they were very pretty and the service was above average. In fact, every time I fly in a foreign airline I always notice how beautiful the flight attendants are. I'm sure many of you remember how being a young beautiful flight attendant was the thing to be in America about 15 years ago. Jobs in this industry were filled based on beauty not Merritt. Good to know that America has moved on from those views.
Anyway, the service was great. Maybe that's because I'm a foreigner and flying to China in a Chinese airline is exciting for me and no matter if the service was bad I would've enjoyed every moment of it.
It was great to see Tony and his dad. Tony's mom could not make it because she was working. I gave Tony his purse for his girlfriend which I bought at the Florida Mall and gave Tony's dad a box of red Marlboro's and chocolate for his wife.
We said our goodbye's and I got back on my flight to Chongqing airport where Ferris (Luo Xiaohu) was to pick me up at 12:40 AM.
I landed, got off the plane onto the plane runway (old school) and took a 2 min ride to the airport's terminal. In that bus ride, I got a quick reminder of how Chinese view their elders and how much respect they have towards them.
Everyone rushed off the plane and knobbie walked to the bus. The doors closed and magically all the people who were in that 747 were now comfortably (China comfort standards) sitting and standing in regular sized, one-story bus. The driver stepped on the pedal and quickly stepped on the brake when he noticed 4 flight attendants walking with an elderly couple who, as you could imagine, were not knobbie walking to the bus. As soon as the elderly couple got to the bus, two people who were occupying chairs, immediately offered their chairs.
The actions of this scene above are not that uncommon in America but the way the Chinese youth seemed to really care and respect these elderly people was a bit refreshing. Or maybe this scene is uncommon. When was the last time you got on a bus in America? When was the last time you saw an older person by themselves without some type of new "3000 Millennium High Power Chair?" Or, It might be because elderly people are left in retirement homes and forgotten about or maybe because independence is the only way to live in the US. Capitalism has made companies thrive off all types of consumers. Business people/ entrepreneurs know that people are getting older. They know that the children of these older people "don't have time" to care for their own parents. In result, ramps and handicapped parking are available everywhere, power chairs and non-slip bath tubs are on infomercials.
The American way has made life easy for everyone. The living standard of a 70 year old is much less minimized than that of 70 year old person in any other country (China, Mexico, Venezuela). You can be old in America and still do many of the same things you could when you were young. Most importantly, this applies to nearly all senior citizens not just the rich ones.
The way the younger generation views their senior citizens might be ugly and not Confucius like but I prefer it this way. When I'm old I would not want to depend on anyone. I would prefer to not be forgotten about but if that happens I would still be able to live my own life. It's a view and a way of life that developed from independence and capitalism.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
7-11 and Bubba Gumps
Bubba Gump. Didn't have time to go but It would've been interesting to try their shrimp and grits.
Steering wheel on the left side. I guess this is more british.
7-11. they even had the slushies and hot dogs.
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