At 1230 am Sunday September 7, 36 students from Santa Barbara City College boarded a jet in Los Angeles en route to Shanghai, China. We came to China with varied expectations and for a multitude of reasons. Some of us friends, some still almost strangers. We had plenty of time to bond though during nearly 20 hours of travel. When we arrived in Shanghai, no matter how tired we were, everyone went to explore the city. Some went shopping on Nanjing Road while others just walked along the Huangpu River. Nothing can prepare you for the feeling that you get while walking down the street through the city and being the center of attention where ever you go. While exploring the city there were lots of friendly locals who would come and say hello and either they wanted to practice their English with you or maybe they just wanted to get their picture taken with you and welcome you to China. We had our first experience with some of the exotic Chinese food while in Shanghai. Dog meat, whole baby chickens [below], and chicken feet were consumed. Things have been a bit difficult for the vegetarians in the class, but they haven’t starved yet. Many ended their first night in China early due to complete exhaustion.
The class embarked together the next morning to visit some historical sites in Shanghai. We learned of the traffic problem in the city as we were told our bus ride would take either 10 minutes or 1 hour. The morning consisted of trips to the home of Soong Ching Ling (Sun Yat Sen’s wife) and the location of the first Chinese Communist Party Congress in 1921. Soong Ching Ling remained important to the Chinese government even after her death in 1981. She was a proponent of peace and entertained many foreign dignitaries. The Chinese Communist Party Congress of 1921 had representatives from all over the country, including a then minor political player named Mao Zedong. After our interesting morning we took an awesome boat tour of downtown Shanghai on the Huangpu river. We perched ourselves on the top deck of our boat to catch a few sun rays and get front row seats. [below: the Yuan Gardens in Shanghai]
You really can not tell how enormous the city is until you take a step out from the heart of the city and look at the skyline from the river away from all the chaos of the streets. From the river you can see all the amazing architecture and the artistic touch that has been put into every building that is touching the sky. It was relaxing though after all the hectic things that come along with traveling and dealing with airports, luggage and hotels to be able to sit on the boat and just enjoy the view of beautiful Shanghai.
The next day was given to us as a free day. Some people went to a jade Buddha temple while others just walked around the city looking for something new. That night we assembled in our hotel lobby to set off for the train station to Jinan. Some people were scrambling to get back because they found it hard to find cabs from across town. We were told to stay together once at the train station because it was going to be madness. Madness is just one word that could describe the scene at the station, people everywhere were standing around and waiting in line. Our whole group was herded from the street through hundreds of people to a security check inside. We then proceeded to go up escalators to an upper level where we waited in this excessively overcrowded terminal. Once the train came, our tour guides had us go first through the gate so we could stay together. Though we couldn’t understand what the people around us were saying, we could feel that the crowd was irritated because they had been waiting much longer. One student (Kevin Wu) who looks possibly Chinese and speaks a little as well was stopped at the gate by the guards and was told to wait. Speaking to them in Chinese, he was trying to tell them that he was a part of the American crowd. They didn’t believe him and told him to stand back. Finally one of our tour guides had to come back and convince the guards that he was with us.
The overnight train ride was about 10 hours. The sleeping arrangements were similar to what one might see on an aircraft carrier with three beds stacks on one side and then another three beds stacked on the other side [below]. The train ride offered limited space. I think we all got to know each other pretty well after that experience. Some of us didn’t get very much sleep, but we managed.
Once we got off the train it was time to get on a bus that was headed for Shandong University. Dong in the Chinese language means East so naturally Shandong province is located in East China. Shandong University is a fairly modernized University that has pretty much everything that a University in California would have to offer.
As part of our course work in China, we the students are experiencing a role reversal and are becoming teachers. English language teachers, specializing in conversation to be exact. Now this may seem a bit intense but its really more enjoyable than it sounds. We, the teachers, are assigned small groups of eager Chinese university students and must "teach" them for two hours a day.[below: Jaiqi and Mrs. Song introduce us to our internship partners for the first time]
The word "teach", in quotations, is subjective to the teacher, but basically entails stimulating conversation in English amongst our students. The students learn from hearing our native tongue and self correcting when they hear errors in their speech.
[Experience from one of the SBCC student teachers]:
“When I speak to my students, I make sure to speak clearly and emphasize areas of difficulty in mastering the language: the different verb tenses and the use of pronouns. My students are very adept at picking up these aspects of speech, which makes my job as the teacher much easier. So far in my class of 5 girls we have covered topics of American culture, the differences in university life in America and in China, as well my students’ aspirations in life. My students have good command over the English language and the direction of my course has been engaging them in conversations of their interest. Many of my students are eager to learn how to get a job in the United States, and insist there is a “magic trick” involved in landing such a prized position. But from what I can detect, this early in the class, is the fact that I might learn just as much if not more from my students as they learn from me. I hope it to be a wonderful exchange of culture, language, life stories, and hopefully bond friendships that will endure our country's differences. Plus now I have 5 eager tour guides who want to show me around Jinan for the next two months and help me sample all that is Chinese.
- Karlyn, Jeff, Jenna, Jordan, Andrew K., Britton, Nate
The class embarked together the next morning to visit some historical sites in Shanghai. We learned of the traffic problem in the city as we were told our bus ride would take either 10 minutes or 1 hour. The morning consisted of trips to the home of Soong Ching Ling (Sun Yat Sen’s wife) and the location of the first Chinese Communist Party Congress in 1921. Soong Ching Ling remained important to the Chinese government even after her death in 1981. She was a proponent of peace and entertained many foreign dignitaries. The Chinese Communist Party Congress of 1921 had representatives from all over the country, including a then minor political player named Mao Zedong. After our interesting morning we took an awesome boat tour of downtown Shanghai on the Huangpu river. We perched ourselves on the top deck of our boat to catch a few sun rays and get front row seats. [below: the Yuan Gardens in Shanghai]
You really can not tell how enormous the city is until you take a step out from the heart of the city and look at the skyline from the river away from all the chaos of the streets. From the river you can see all the amazing architecture and the artistic touch that has been put into every building that is touching the sky. It was relaxing though after all the hectic things that come along with traveling and dealing with airports, luggage and hotels to be able to sit on the boat and just enjoy the view of beautiful Shanghai.
The next day was given to us as a free day. Some people went to a jade Buddha temple while others just walked around the city looking for something new. That night we assembled in our hotel lobby to set off for the train station to Jinan. Some people were scrambling to get back because they found it hard to find cabs from across town. We were told to stay together once at the train station because it was going to be madness. Madness is just one word that could describe the scene at the station, people everywhere were standing around and waiting in line. Our whole group was herded from the street through hundreds of people to a security check inside. We then proceeded to go up escalators to an upper level where we waited in this excessively overcrowded terminal. Once the train came, our tour guides had us go first through the gate so we could stay together. Though we couldn’t understand what the people around us were saying, we could feel that the crowd was irritated because they had been waiting much longer. One student (Kevin Wu) who looks possibly Chinese and speaks a little as well was stopped at the gate by the guards and was told to wait. Speaking to them in Chinese, he was trying to tell them that he was a part of the American crowd. They didn’t believe him and told him to stand back. Finally one of our tour guides had to come back and convince the guards that he was with us.
The overnight train ride was about 10 hours. The sleeping arrangements were similar to what one might see on an aircraft carrier with three beds stacks on one side and then another three beds stacked on the other side [below]. The train ride offered limited space. I think we all got to know each other pretty well after that experience. Some of us didn’t get very much sleep, but we managed.
Once we got off the train it was time to get on a bus that was headed for Shandong University. Dong in the Chinese language means East so naturally Shandong province is located in East China. Shandong University is a fairly modernized University that has pretty much everything that a University in California would have to offer.
As part of our course work in China, we the students are experiencing a role reversal and are becoming teachers. English language teachers, specializing in conversation to be exact. Now this may seem a bit intense but its really more enjoyable than it sounds. We, the teachers, are assigned small groups of eager Chinese university students and must "teach" them for two hours a day.[below: Jaiqi and Mrs. Song introduce us to our internship partners for the first time]
The word "teach", in quotations, is subjective to the teacher, but basically entails stimulating conversation in English amongst our students. The students learn from hearing our native tongue and self correcting when they hear errors in their speech.
[Experience from one of the SBCC student teachers]:
“When I speak to my students, I make sure to speak clearly and emphasize areas of difficulty in mastering the language: the different verb tenses and the use of pronouns. My students are very adept at picking up these aspects of speech, which makes my job as the teacher much easier. So far in my class of 5 girls we have covered topics of American culture, the differences in university life in America and in China, as well my students’ aspirations in life. My students have good command over the English language and the direction of my course has been engaging them in conversations of their interest. Many of my students are eager to learn how to get a job in the United States, and insist there is a “magic trick” involved in landing such a prized position. But from what I can detect, this early in the class, is the fact that I might learn just as much if not more from my students as they learn from me. I hope it to be a wonderful exchange of culture, language, life stories, and hopefully bond friendships that will endure our country's differences. Plus now I have 5 eager tour guides who want to show me around Jinan for the next two months and help me sample all that is Chinese.
- Karlyn, Jeff, Jenna, Jordan, Andrew K., Britton, Nate
2 comments:
Great introduction to your trip into China; thank you for posting it. Your message reminded me of two topics I experienced when in China: vegetarian food and the enormity of the Cities. I had to find an English speaking Chinese person to help me with the vegetarian needs because you simply didn't know what was going into the food. Certain Buddhist sects are pure vegetarians and they can help - even in the open markets.
Keep the pictures and posts coming. I'll try and blog about it on the library web site at some point and link to your blog.
Hello to all - the Library web page has a link to your blog on it today (so lots of SBCC students will read it!). Congratulations on your adventures thus far and enjoy each day! Let us know if you need any library help along the way. Elizabeth Bowman
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