China Five

We made it back from Kunming safe and sound. It was a wonderful trip with so many sights, and adventures. Unfortunately, I am not going to tell you about those adventures in this newsletter - you will have to wait. I'm thinking it's a five pager by itself. But, I wanted to send this off (I started this last week and did not finish it) so you have some news of what's going on here, and that you know that we did not fall off the face of the earth. So, bear with me, and you will hear all about Kunming in China 6.

I would like to discuss the lunch program we have here at school. Nearly every school day for lunch, as part of our Field Study Abroad Class, we have lunch with the students in their dorm rooms. We meet them at the school canteen. They help us get our food, and then we follow them back to their dorm to eat. It is a nice program because it gives us help in learning and picking out the food we like to eat for lunch, and it also helps us to get to know the Chinese students better in their environment.

Their dorm rooms are quite small. There are usually eight students to a room. The rooms are about 10 feet wide and about 20 feet deep. There are four bunks, two top berths and two bottom berths, on each side of the room, with shelves about 2 feet wide in between each set of beds. Each bed has a curtain which can be drawn around the perimeter of the bed for the student's privacy. An aisle runs the length of the room with small desks and chairs arranged by the beds so each student has a place to study. In the back is a small shower and a squat toilet. Finally, on the back balcony is a sink where the students can wash their clothes and eating utensils - what I would refer to as their mess kit as it usually consists of a bowl with lid and a spoon. On the front balcony (which is also the aisle from the stairs to every room there are clothes lines where one can always see laundry hanging in front of every room.

The students' schedule during the week runs something like this:

6:00 AM Wake-up

7:00 AM Breakfast

7:40 -11:15 Morning Classes

11:15 - 1:00 PM Lunch

1:00 - 2:30 PM Nap time (I like China)

2:40 - 4:20 PM Afternoon Class

5:00 PM Dinner

7:30 - 9:30 PM Evening Study Class (like a study hall - when the dorms are that crowded, it really makes sense to have a mandatory study hall so they can have a quiet place and time to do their homework.

11:00 Bed time

With the other "free time" they have in the evening the students usually play a little basketball, badminton, or something, and they have to get their shower in.

These roommates are usually all classmates, so they are in all the same classes, which means they are with each other about 18 hours a day minimum. The amazing thing is that, when they are separated, rather than being relieved that they have some space, they are filled with tension - so strong are the social bonds here in China.

I now digress to a story that took place on the very first night we were in Zhaoqing. The school had a welcome dinner at a restaurant in a hotel downtown. After the dinner it was decided that we would take a walk down the sidewalks to catch a quick glimpse of Zhaoqing. We walked down on one

side of the sidewalk, and then we crossed the street and walked back down the other side. As we were crossing the street (the Chinese were leading the way), I thought we were going to die! The Chinese, whether they are on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, car, taxi, truck, or bus, never appear to look

when entering traffic! And here we were crossing a street (there were about 15 of us) and here comes about 50 motorcycles. The amazing thing is that everyone made it across, and every motorcycle made it through without a scratch! And that is what all Chinese traffic seems to be like. There is no rhyme or reason to the traffic patterns here. People drive down the road on either side (wherever there is space), and the concept of a "laneo" I think would not even enter anybody's mind. The idea of a "Chinese Fire Drill" is what comes to my mind. Intersections appear to be mayhem, as buses, taxis, motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians weave their way through each other. Yet, there is never a back-up in traffic. Everyone always seems to get where they are going, and traffic is always moving at a steady pace (perhaps MnDOT should come have a look!). My mantra is "Don't look, and just keep walking at a steady pace, and you won't get hit." I think it is a Zen Buddhist thing or something (Zen Buddhism had its birth within 60 kilometers of here - you can ask Mr. Lu about that).

I tell you this story so that you can understand the irony of what follows (and, perhaps, because it is a little amusing and insightful all by itself). Last night (Monday, September 27, 1999) the school had scheduled some games. Each department was responsible for sponsoring some sort of game (nothing really strenuous, but all just for fun), and for awarding prizes. The games were suppose to begin at 8 PM on the playground. At exactly 8 PM the skies opened up and we received the after effect of the latest typhoon that hit Hong Kong. At first, everyone scrambled for cover, then they started to grab chairs and desks, and run for it. Okay, I thought, the games have been canceled, so I went home. Five of the Chinese students came with me (it's amazing how popular you become when you are carrying an umbrella - and it's amazing how many people you can fit under an umbrella!). We sat in the room and I made them tell me about Chinese legends and myths (these will come in future newsletters). At about pm, they asked if I wanted to go play games! They knew that the games were moved to the school canteen! They didn't say anything because they wanted to go where I wanted to go, and they thought I wanted to go home - sometimes these students can be just way too polite! So, we headed down to the canteen - the games were over, but the dance was about to begin!

I spotted Mr. Yang (my da ge da - oldest brother), so, being the chicken that I am, I figured that I would go talk to him, so as to avoid having to dance. But, alas the best laid plans of mice and men... Mr. Yang introduced me to his "very best student" (I did not get the name because of the noise), and this particular student is also the student responsible for putting this dance together - so, when the music started she jumped out on the dance floor, someone grabbed my umbrella, and someone else (maybe several) pushed me out there, and we started the whole nights dancing to a thundering round of applause! Thankfully, others quickly joined us, and the night was underway. Of course, everyone wanted to dance with the American teacher (it's a way to get Face), so I was very busy most of the night (don't worry honey, I was only dancing in the interest of world peace!).

Now, what, you may be asking, does all this have to do with the traffic in the streets. The answer is in the dancing, particularly the line dancing. There is a limited amount of space on the dance floor, and what seems like an unlimited number of dancers. Yet, everyone seems to know their space, and there are a minimal number of collisions (usually caused by Americans who don't know their space). The "traffic" on the dance floor is very well defined, and, if you cross into someone else's space - watch out! I was dancing one dance, and noticing how my partner was using her forearms to "guide" other dancers out of our space. Watching her perform this task was more fun than the actual dancing itself - like a Kung Fu on the dance floor. It was fascinating, and just the opposite of how their street traffic works, although the end results are the same - everyone gets to where they're going, and nobody gets hurt.