China Exchange Blog

[LAST POST of 2018 Exchange] One Last Time

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 02:15:00 +0000

Kelby

Alright. Last one. For our last full day in Shanghai we had a wonderful time.

Our day began with a nice continental breakfast in the lobby of our hotel. From there, the Sisterhood went upstairs, got dressed, and set out for the day. I was particularly excited because my father’s employee’s (Mingjia) parents (try saying that five times fast) said they would take us to some cool new sites.

The first place they took us to was Yu Yuan, an old garden with traditional Chinese architecture, multitudes of flowers, and ponds stocked with giant carp. From there we walked around the area surrounding the garden as it was filled with shops and markets. Mingjia’s parents bought us all Dairy Queen. We then went to lunch and feasted on fish, pork, green beans, tofu, and tea.

Once we finished our lunch, we were then taken to a shopping district with small gimmicks and local snacks. Liz, Iona, and I all bought shelled coconut, which was essentially a bubble with milk in it. Extremely filling, extremely worth it.

The Bund and Pearl Tower were next on our list. The Bund is a long walking strip which runs along the river that separates the business district from the rest of the city. Mingjia’s mother took lots of pictures of us on the Bund, and we even got a picture of the famous skyline Shanghai has. After pictures were taken, we crossed the river and headed up the Pearl Tower.

The view was unlike anything I had ever seen. The day turned into night, and the entire city was truly awake. The buildings meant for companies flashed with lights and further portrayed a presence of life. A sea of apartments covered every crack and crevice of the city’s floor, as you can barely make out the cars swimming through the streets. The city was not simply awake by then, but it was alive.

We were exhausted by the time we exited the elevator taking us down, so Mingjia’s parents bout us dumplings. We got in the car, went back to the hotel, ate our dumplings, and prepared for bed.

Seeing this is my last blog, these are the types of days I will miss. Days like this are filled with adventure, friends who become family, food flavored by love (as someone we met here once said), and a feeling of action.

China has not simply been a destination, nor a vacation, but opportunity for global education. Seeing that tomorrow is our last day, I hope to obtain as much knowledge as I can before returning home. Until our return, all I can say is, “One last time.”

[VLOG#33] Shanghai Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 15:48:00 +0000

Iona

(Video only)

Shanghai Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 15:30:00 +0000

Iona

Kelbs described our first day in Shanghai well in her quote “We took to the streets and started singing Shakira”. The energy and excitement the Sisterhood had to be in Shanghai was palpable all throughout the day. I loved my time in Hangzhou, but I felt so thrilled to be on my feet- out exploring a new city again! I hadn’t realised how much I had missed the hotel breakfasts and flexibility to plan our day how we’d like. Our mission for the morning was to get Kelbs to a restaurant which was forty five mins away from the hotel to meet one of Kelbs’ family friend. The walk was great to start off our morning in Shanghai, and Liz, Mrs. Waterman, and I continued walking around while Kelbs and her family friend ate brunch at the restaurant. After an hour and a half, we met up again and made our way along a street with tiny shops. So many times we were tempted to buy gifts but we quite actually have close to no space left in our suitcases... Liz’s checked bag is already 2 lbs over the weight limit so we have some repacking and shuffling to do before we leave.

After we visited the sculpture park and ventured through an architecturally interesting neighbourhood, we hopped on the metro and made our way to the Shanghai Museum. We had heard a lot about this destination, and it was a great time! Kelbs, Liz, and I split up from Mrs. Waterman to go see minority clothing, traditional furniture, jade jewellery, and old currency. After we finished, we had some time to spend so we walked back to near our hotel and walked into a small hairdresser shop for inexpensive haircuts! Liz got a much shorter do, Kelbs got a trim plus layers that frame her face, and I went much shorter :). After that journey, we all went out for some hotpot which was absolutely delicious and just what we were craving.

We met Mrs. Waterman back at the hotel at 6:15pm, and all headed out to go see an acrobat show! It was amazing to see the talent of the group, and all the craziness that was involved in their show. It was a rather comical experience, there was a lot of humour in some of the acts and their bodies were so flexible and strong! Refer to the vlog footage for an idea of the crazy things that were performed :).

We took a taxi back to the hotel and said goodnight for the day, ending the day on a satisfied and excited note.

From Hangzhou to Shanghai

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 09:28:00 +0000

Ms Waterman
(teacher)

Today was a bittersweet day as we left Hangzhou after one full month and traveled to Shanghai for the last leg of our two-month adventure. We traveled by fast train just after noon, so the girls spent the morning with their host families. When all of the host families met at HangGao to say goodbye, our friends Sunny (a member of the Exchange from 2016!) and Dana (the Exchange teacher from 2017) were there, too. We were thrilled to meet Dana’s son, Happy, because we have heard so much about him, but we were so sad to say goodbye to our wonderfully generous and fun-loving host families.

We arrived at the Hangzhou East train station with plenty of time before our train, and I can say confidently that our experience there was the smoothest thus far! We had no ticket problems, we knew exactly where to go to board our train (unlike Chengdu), we made it down the stairs/escalator without people pushing and shoving (unlike Xi’an and Kunming), and we boarded our train car without any problems. Even though everything was smooth, it must have been very funny to watch the four of us trying to wrangle our now-enormous suitcases through the train station. Liz, Iona, and Kelby all have a small rolling suitcase in addition to their large suitcases, and I have a small duffel bag which I had mostly balanced on top of my rolling suitcase. Kelby got some funny videos of us, so we were able to laugh at ourselves after we boarded the train and stowed our bags.

We met our driver in the train station after a brief search and we made it to the car... only to discover that there was a huge lock on the car wheel! Apparently our driver had parked in a non-parking spot, so while he went to the train station office to sort out the payment, we rested in the car. Our drive to our hotel was slow due to traffic, but we were so happy to arrive at our final destination.

After a short break, we met to explore our dinner options. Ms. Viz had told us that there were many hot pot restaurants around the corner from our hotel, and we chose one of the many options for our dinner. Since we hadn’t eaten a large lunch, we ordered many different dishes. Everything was delicious in both the normal and spicy broth (which Kelby and I thought was awesome but quite spicy!), but we especially loved the quail eggs and lotus root. Dinner tired us out, so we went directly back to the hotel to relax for the evening before our two days of exploring the city. Shanghai, here we come!

And the Countdown Begins ...

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 13:50:00 +0000

Iona

And the countdown begins, we have had such an amazing time here in Hangzhou and we are desperately trying to take advantage of the winding down days! Yesterday after school, Liz, Kelbs, Sunny, and I met Mrs. Waterman and Dana in the English office at 5:30pm to go out for dinner and shopping together. Before this though, we had a ten hour long school day and it was productive for most of us; finding the time and place to make progress on our school work has been difficult but, VPN willing, we have been managing just fine. Coming home in a matter of days has been both exciting but also stressful as we still have to make a dent in our homework, strive to see all that Hangzhou has to offer (#striveforgreatness), and pack our rooms into our suitcases. I have just started the packing process and am finding it incredibly difficult to find the most efficient approach, wish me luck! When it comes down to it though, the Sisterhood will be just fine and everything that needs to get done will get done, though some good blessings and best wishes our way would still be appreciated :).

So on top of the tasks still left to do, we have been living life to the fullest and experiencing Hangzhou’s night life; Dana and Sunny showed us around Hefang St where we were able to satisfy most if not all of our gift buying! Very pleased with how the evening was spent, loads of walking and time with friends. The street had shops inside traditional style built houses which added a historic element to the experience, so cool to walk down the street. There were copious amounts of snacks inside the many different food stores so getting an evening snack was not a problem. Liz, Kelbs, Mrs. Waterman, Sunny, and I all bought gifts for loved ones and we are very happy now! The next challenge is to find a way to fit all this into our suitcases... I started out with one suitcase and one backpack and now I have two suitcases and a giant backpack and so many pounds of luggage...

Wish me luck!

[VLOG#32] Yellow Mountain Excursion

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 08:39:00 +0000

Iona

(Video only)

Nanbei Hu

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 17:00:00 +0000

Ms Waterman
(teacher)

Since Kelby and I returned to Hangzhou at 10:00 PM on Sunday night after spending the day at HuangShan (Yellow Mountain), I was a little tired on Monday morning for the day trip we took with the Senior 1 (grade 10) class. It's a good thing I had some longjing tea (caffeine!) to wake me up!

The trip was their spring outing and the destination was the Nanbei (North South) Lake. The lake is about one hour away from the city. The weather was sunny and warm again and it was great to spend the day outside. The kids spent the day with their host siblings' classes and I stayed with the teachers. I loved watching the kids travel in their class groups - each class carried a large red flag with yellow writing with the name of the high school and the class number (#1-12). There were also a few students who carried an even larger flag with the name of the school written in a creative design that students at the school designed a few years ago. The whole scene reminded me a little of how a military is organized in small groups. Each morning at school, the students in this same Senior 1 grade run laps of the school at break time in similar organized formation: one student leading at the front, the rest of the 48 students jogging in time in a crowd behind the lead student, and one student at the back of the group to mark the end of one class before the next class begins. While I like the idea of giving students 20 minutes for a break between classes (we do the same thing at DS!), I'm not sure I like the mandatory running. I like to run, yes, but the set up seems a little too militaristic for me.

Anyway, back to the lake. After the students had set off on their walk, the teachers walked around the lake and had dinner in a small restaurant at the water’s edge. We had at least 15 different dishes at lunch - mushrooms, potatoes, eggplant, pork, shrimp, noodles, and many more. It was fun to meet a lot of new teachers from different departments, and everyone was so nice to me even though I can’t speak Chinese and many of them (not English teachers, of course!) don’t speak English. LV, the former coordinator of this Exchange program, translated for me and told me that all of the teachers who were on the field trip that day taught only Senior 1 classes. Since teachers teach 2 sections of students in chemistry or Chinese or history (which seems like not many sections until you realize that they have between 95 and 100 students...), they are able to collaborate with other teachers of the same subject and they often spend time together to plan. As a teacher who teaches classes that no one else teaches, I am a little jealous of the collaboration. It also goes without saying that I am jealous of the fact that the teachers in HangGao teach only 2 classes a day (I teach an average of 4). It seems like a different life here!

Our last stop of the afternoon before we returned to the buses turned out to be my favorite part of Nanbei lake. There is a small island in the middle of the lake which is accessible by a long, narrow wooden bridge. It was unusual to walk on a bridge only 2 feet above the surface of the lake, but the water was calm, so I enjoyed the unique perspective of the lake. The willows and flowering trees on the island were incredible, and everything was very peaceful. There was also a small pavilion (at home, it would have been a gazebo, probably) where people were reading in the shade. The inscription above the pavilion said that it is a good place watch the sunset. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay that long, so that will remain a mystery!

Nanbei Lake was beautiful and we were so lucky to be able to join the trip!

Let’s Go!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 16:23:00 +0000

Kelby

It’s confirmed. My host family does not sleep. This past weekend was a true testimony to such a statement.

Henry’s mother is a force to be reckoned with. I never knew a woman less than five feet tall could conquer the world in the way that she has. With every corner we turn we seem to be making a new friend. Anyway, this force I speak of willed me, Mrs. Waterman, and Henry to a mountain range (Yellow Mountains) three hours from Hangzhou. Saturday afternoon, we hop in the Jeep, drive to the mountains, and mentally prepare ourselves for the day ahead of us. That is where our journey begins.

Our day began at six o’clock on Sunday morning. I struggle out of my bed, tiredly moving myself towards the bathroom to wash up and get ready. Seeing that we were in the mountains, I had to dress warm. I pack my bag, go downstairs for some breakfast (the hotel had Coco Puffs), and then meet Henry’s mother in the lobby to go for our hike. We check out of our hotel, walk to the bus, drive up the mountain, and head towards the lift that will take us to the summit.

The lines we saw were outrageous: masses of people bolting for the ticket booth in hopes of getting in line first. Meanwhile, Henry’s mother is leisurely walking towards the booth to purchase our tickets. We get in line, hop in the lift, and head up towards the peak.

I couldn’t believe what we were seeing. The mountains we saw were unlike anything I had ever seen before. All the mountains I had ever visited in my life were covered with trees, flowers, bushes, etc., but these mountains were colossal pieces of rock. Imagine the Grand Canyon turned inside-out with bonsai trees hanging of the cliffs of the canyon. This scenery stretched for miles and miles, leaving no glance in boredom.

We had to hike along the edge of the mountains to get from scenic area to scenic area, which was not easy, considering the amount of people that were there. We climbed along cliffs, walked through caves, and trudged through cable cars to fully take in all the wonderful views before us. Nonetheless, after 10.5 miles and 7 hours of hiking, we were ready to return to leveled ground.

Naturally, our day was only halfway done. Henry’s mother decided Mrs. Waterman and I needed to try some traditional Chinese food, so I had pig ears for the first time in my life (which I will add to my list of intriguing food I have had in this trip). When that wasn’t enough, she wanted to get a foot massage. Attempting to get into the car and drive home in order to get some sleep, I told her I’m too ticklish to have foot massages - which is true. She proceeded to order a back massage for me. Three hours later we get into the Jeep and make our way home... but we had to stop and look at stars first.

Finally, after dropping Mrs. Waterman off at her apartment, I arrive home at eleven o’clock in the evening. I take the quickest shower known to man, dive into my bed, and fall asleep immediately.

I truly will miss these Sunday excursions with my host family. Henry’s mother has taught me some valuable lessons, one of which being to “Just go”. I feel as though that is an important lesson, for that is how any event is attended, any trip is executed, or any life is experienced. As sad as I am to be leaving China so soon, I’m equally as excited to put into effect all the values I have grown to learn and embrace into my daily life at home. My parents told me I’d come home a changed person - I guess that means I just won’t sleep.

China Banquet May 3 ... Ms Viz's final one (very sad face!)

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 12:43:00 +0000

Mr Viz
(blogmaster)

The 16th Annual China Exchange Banquet is coming soon! Be sure to mark your calendars for May 3 at 6:30pm, and please note that ticket purchases should be finalized by Monday, April 30. See the ad at the top of the blog, and click it for details and the ticket order form. Or, click here.

This Banquet will be a "sweet and sour" one because with her retirement, it will be Ms Viz's final one (but not as a participant, I'm sure!!). If you've had anything to do with the China Exchange over it's last 16 years, this would be a great opportunity to come and reminisce. That's why it's particularly important this year to get those tickets purchased, and numbers finalized, ASAP.

And if you can't make it, but would love to show your support for this amazing program, please note that you can still send in the ticket form with something entered on the Contribution line!

Hope to see you there!

Canals for Days

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 10:00:00 +0000

Ms Waterman
(teacher)

In the past two days, we have spent time at the Grand Canal in two different ways and in beautiful weather!

When we were in Beijing a few weeks ago (actually, it was almost a month ago- wow!), we saw the Grand Canal as we toured the hutongs of the old city. Our guide told us that we would see the canal again when we arrived in Hangzhou because the man-made canal connects the two old cities and measures about 1,500 km in length. The fact that it is man-made is incredible but the size of the project didn’t really strike me until I stumbled upon the canal on one of my afternoon walks. In Hangzhou, the Grand Canal stretches for miles and miles as it winds its way through the city from north to south. It is over one hundred meters wide in Hangzhou and used to be heavily used for trade. Now it is mostly quiet, but I have seen many large barges transporting cargo southward.

I have walked along the canal at least 5 times in the past 2 weeks and I have found it to be a wonderful place to walk in the spring. Most of the paths that follow the river on both sides of the canal are shaded by flowering trees (on windy days, I’ve walked through showers of pollen and tree seeds) and lead past bridges, apartment complexes, small playgrounds, and parks with pergolas covered in lilac vines. Unlike so much of the city sidewalks, these paths are quiet and calm and I never worry that I will be run over by a bike, scooter, or car. Needless to say, I’ve really enjoyed these walks!

Anyway, last night, Kelby and I went on an adventure with her wonderfully generous host family to the village of Wu Zhen. The village is on the Grand Canal about one hour northeast of Hangzhou. We arrived just after sunset but in time to see night fall. The village is modeled after the architecture of the Qing Dynasty and its narrow stone walkways, carved wooden exteriors of small shops and cafés, and arched bridges stretched over small waterways reminded me of Lijiang and also Venice, Italy. We were surprised by now many people were still there at such a late hour, but the lights of the buildings and bridges that were reflected in the water made us realize just how beautiful the village is at night.

After a delicious dinner in a restaurant that was tucked away down a small street, we walked to the pagoda at the northernmost point of the village. Our plan to climb up to the top (seventh) floor to see the view of the village was foiled, though, since it was already 8:30 PM and the stairs were closed. Not to be deterred from giving us a nice view, Henry’s parents brought us to the boat dock at the foot of the pagoda so that we could take a boat back through the village to the entrance. I was skeptical about the boat ride- would it really be a different view? I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised! The ride was calm and very quiet, giving us a totally different experience than the crowded, loud sidewalks. Since we were at the level of the water, we could see that the buildings were on stilts and that many of them had their own docks. (Henry and Kelby made up their own tongue-twisters with the words “duck, dock, and dark”. Their favorite was “The ducks on the docks in the dark.” and Henry’s dad even joined in to try his hand at the pronunciation.) We laughed, we admired the lights in the village, Henry’s mom gave me a demonstration of how her Hunan province dialect differs from the Hangzhou dialect and the standard Mandarin dialect (spoken in Beijing and taught in schools), but mostly we relaxed and enjoyed the view. By the time we got back to the car at 9:45 PM, Kelby and I were so relaxed that we fell asleep soon after we set off. I got back to my apartment at 11:00 PM (so late for me!) and I slept well.

This morning (after I had some longjing green tea to perk me up a bit- thank you, caffeine!), we all met at the school gate to see another part of the Grand Canal. We were accompanied by Will, an English teacher from HangGao who teaches grade 10. Together, we went to the Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum Community on the Canal near the Gongchen Bridge. The community has four specialized museums of which we visited two - the Umbrella Museum and the Knives, Scissors, and Swords Museum. In the umbrella museum, Will taught me a few new Chinese characters (bamboo, umbrella, west, industry) and I enjoyed looking at the different styles of umbrellas (oilpaper, silk, embroidered). I loved how similar the Chinese character for umbrella is to the object itself- 伞. In the Knives, Scissors, and Swords Museum, Will and I talked about how much history we had learned in school about each other’s countries. The consensus was that we hadn’t learned much but that American students learn more about China now. As proof of their knowlede, the girls sang their Chinese Dynasty song and Will was impressed (thanks, Ms. Viz!).

On the way to lunch, we walked along the Canal and enjoyed the sunshine and blue sky. We passed shops and café patios and everyone seemed happy to be outside. The girls met a graduate student from Zhejiang University who was conducting a survey about westerners’ experiences at various cultural sites in Hangzhou. Since we had just visited one of those cultural sites, the girls were great subjects to complete the survey! We were all happy to sit down to a relaxing lunch, and after lunch, Kelby and I set off on another adventure with her host family. We are on our way to the Yellow Mountain! More to come tomorrow!

Happy Qing Ming Jie from the Sisterhood!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 09:00:00 +0000

Iona

The students at Hanggao get a 5 day break from school, so we had Thurs-Mon open to adventure. While it is tradition to get together with family members and honour the ancestors, the Sisterhood had no tombs to visit so we went shopping on Thursday. We all (plus Caroline) met up at the school gate early in the morning with Sunny (Hanggao’s exchange student from two years ago!) and she took us down Silk Street. It was so fun to catch up with her and get some insight into what her life is like after her trip to America. She has decided to devote a lot of her school career into studying for the SATs and is preparing to take the TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) in order to make herself a serious candidate for American schools. All the best to her!

We spent a good portion of our morning on Silk St as it was a prime location for gift buying :). Sunny helped us to bargain and get great discounts so the Sisterhood spent quite a bit of money selecting silk scarves, handkerchiefs, and shawls for loved ones. After this, we walked further down the street to a silk outlet of sorts which sold silk items that were mass produced and consequently less unique, but it was here that we found matching silk pyjamas! We now are truly the Sisterhood of the Travelling Silk Pyjamas!! They are long sleeved shirts and pants dyed a nice deep red with white lace detailing on the sleeves and v neck. So fun. Then we crossed the street to find a local restaurant for lunch that was very inexpensive and very yummy; the set up was similar to a cafeteria, where the foods are laid out and there is a person serving you the dishes that you point out.

After this, it was early afternoon and Mrs. Waterman, Liz, and Sunny went to go watch a movie at a cinema which was at the top floor of a mall, whereas Kelbs and I walked back to Peter’s house (so convenient!) to hang out and get some homework done. After the group was finished watching Ready Player One, Kelbs, Peter, and I took a taxi to meet them for dinner. At this point, the English teacher Derek was with the group and so we all had hot pot together. Actually, we all had hot pot individually, meaning we each had our own pot of boiling water in which we could cook our separate foods in. The main part of the restaurant was a buffet of raw foods (similar to the restaurant Fire & Ice), and you would choose the items to put onto your plate then take back to your seat and cook. Quite an inventive way of eating! We had loads of fun reminiscing about Derek's trip to America eight years ago, and talking about our highlights of our trip.

Very fun day that would be followed by many more fun excursions during the Qing Ming Festival :). Stay tuned for updates!

Chinese Universities

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 08:50:00 +0000

Elizabeth (Liz)

Hey all!

One of the big things I was curious about before coming to China was the University system. I knew what was the college process which as some of you may know in China they take the Gao Kao which determines your major and which university you can get into. But everything that came after that was a mystery. Luckily for us, my host parents are both professors at Zhejiang University of Technology, which is the number two university in Zhejiang Province, and my host mom offered to show us around.

Right off the bat the main thing I notice is how modern the buildings are, and that's due to the fact that most of the universities were built in the last century. So you won't see any stone towers or ancient fountains. In fact this university was built in the 80s so everything was pretty much just red brick and glass. The second thing I noticed was how big they were. The campus' here are huge and they need to be!! In America university sizes can differ but here almost all of them in China have at least 20,000 students. To put that into perspective, the college I am attending next year, Lehigh University, has 6,000 students.

The last and more important thing I observed was how little campus activities there were. So part of the reason I picked my school was how it always felt like there was a frisbee game or a charity run or something. But there was no signage of stuff like that or any hint of activity on the campus green. At first I thought like "No way they can't all be like this". But the my host mom took us to Zhejiang University and pretty much everything was the same. It made me appreciate the university I picked and how fortunate I am, just in general.

Thanks for reading!

[VLOG#31] A Hike With My Host Family

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:27:00 +0000

Iona

(Video only)

“‘Ohhh! You’re going to be there when the new tea comes in!’ - Mrs. Viz”

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:20:00 +0000

Kelby

My host family doesn’t sleep. That’s the impression Henry and his mother give, anyway. If my last blog didn’t convince you, let me attempt to pursue made you once more.

This past Sunday - ironically the day of rest - was one of the most tiring days I have had in a while. As of now in Hangzhou, Spring is approaching. In America, Spring Can mean many different things: flowers blooming, warmer weather, graduation soon approaching, etc. In Hangzhou, only one thing matters - new tea leaves. The new tea leaves are in! Naturally my host mother knew this, so she decided to take Liz, Mrs. Waterman, Henry, and me out to pick tea.

The tea trees themselves are not in the city, so we had to drive about 45 minutes into the hills to pick the tea. Being foreigners, we were very fortunate to have permission to pick the new tea. Apparently Henry has a friend from middle school who’s family owns a small patch of trees. The friend’s family owns a restaurant near their patch of trees, so we were able to drink some tea and eat some sunflower seeds before working. After that, we climbed into the hills.

The scenery was beautiful. Lines of bushes occupied acre upon acre of land, with each line being no further than two feet apart. Every inch of every hill was coated with greenery, even the tops of the mountains weren’t bare. One then takes a closer glance to see small brown dots moving about the bushes - those would be the farmers. Hundreds of woman taking to the trees in order to pick the ripest of the tea. Even bushes that were hundreds of meters high were being plucked by these woman.

We were up on the hill for an hour, as we barely picked four cups of tea (probably less). Nonetheless, it was 85 degrees outside... our day was cut short. We proceeded back down the hill, saw some tea plants that Mao had picked from, and had some lunch at the family restaurant.

We didn’t get back to the city until around 6:00 that evening, but my host mom kept us going. She took us to a famous shopping road in Hangzhou where we saw tea, umbrellas, key chains, sand pictures, sugar cane, rosaries, stinky tofu, and so much more. Anything you could think of was on that street. We walked around there for an hour, but Liz, Mrs. Waterman and I were exhausted. Henry’s mother brought us all home, I found my bed, sat down, and the next thing I knew it was morning.

Days like Sunday are memories that will last a lifetime. Yes, we got to pick the new tea, see the beautiful hills, and explore a fascinating street, but we were also able to see the locals in their undisturbed element. For example, we started eating lunch at 1:00, we’re finished by 1:39, but because Henry’s mother knew the locals so well, we didn’t leave until 2:45. Little children came up to us to practice their English, but also because they were curious about who we were. The farmers (who didn’t speak English) would come up to us and attempt to communicate with us, eventually aiding our efforts in trying to pick the best tea. The vibe of the village was bustling with peace and kindness in a way I had never experienced before.

With only two weeks left, I hope to see as many places like this as I can before we return. Thankfully, I have a driving force that no amount of rain, wind, or fatigue can stop from helping me achieve this goal. That force? Henry’s mom.

Walking on Water

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 15:05:00 +0000

Elizabeth (Liz)

Quote of the day

Yeah, yeah - Henry's Mom

Hello all,

I am glad to report I am all better even though Kelby and Iona are not. Nonetheless after school today we headed out to hang out with Henrys mom who was taking us to the enduring memories of Hanzhou light show. The drive to get there was crazzzzzyyy. So much traffic!! But it was worth it. The show was pretty much like all the other operas we have seen, a series of acts that demonstrate the variations that is Chinese opera. But what made this so special was the fact that it was legitimately on the water. Basically all the dancers and singers would preform on these docs that were so thin it looked like they were walking on water. On top of that the water itself reflected all the lights that surrounded us which in turn provided this surreal atmosphere. I think my favorite parts was when the huge lines of women holding umbrellas all danced on the docks in sync and when they projected this giant fan on the water during the butterfly lovers dance. We are all so thankful Henrys mom brought us to experience this wonderful show and she herself was a lot of fun as well with her spunky attitude and fearless driving.

Thats all for now!

[VLOG#30] Morning in the Life

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 14:25:00 +0000

Iona

(Video only)

A Tour of West Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Sun, 01 Apr 2018 01:45:00 +0000

Ms Waterman
(teacher)

We spent today with Dana, our friend who was the China Exchange teacher from Hangzhou this year. She and her husband offered to bring us to West Lake to visit some of the scenic spots. The weather cooperated wonderfully! Even though it was quite warm (almost 80 F!), we were thrilled to see clear blue sky and bright sunshine. It’s the first really clear blue sky that we’ve seen since we were in Lijiang a month ago, and it makes me more aware that I’ll never take our beautiful blue skies at home in Massachusetts for granted again!

Our first stop was the Leifeng Pagoda which we climbed to see the view from the seventh floor. The lake lay below us and we could identify a few places that we recognized: the Broken Bridge and the Long Bridge. Dana also showed us the island with the three reflecting pools that are one of the lake’s scenic spots. Inside the Pagoda, we spent some time admiring the carved wooden panels covering the walls which tell the story of White Snake, a legend about Hangzhou. The story tells the love story between a human and an immortal god and ends in the destruction of the Pagoda. In reality, the Pagoda was destroyed many years ago by an earthquake, but I think I prefer the legend’s explanation of a vengeful immortal. After spending over an hour in our woodworking class this week painstakingly trying to shape a small piece of wood into something resembling a heart, I have a new appreciation for the art of carving, and I marveled at the level of detail and the intricate shapes and figures that the artist created to tell the story.

After leaving the Pagoda, Dana’s husband suggested that we visit a section of the park that is known for its flowers, specifically tulips. Despite the crushing traffic on the foot paths (there were so many people everywhere!), the park was beautiful and I loved it because I’ve never seen such colors in tulips! The most astonishing were a dark purple color that was almost black (called Queen of Night), but I also loved the yellow flowers with red stripes (called Firework). The blooms were also much bigger than I’ve seen at home; they were the size of my two fists! We spent some time taking photos of the flowers (and dodging people trying to walk by us on the paths) and resting in an open field that would have been an excellent picnic destination if we hadn’t planned to have lunch in a nearby restaurant. Lunch was delicious and we really enjoyed sitting outside in the breeze and shade.

Our last stop on West Lake was a much quieter spot where we walked along paths over and around a small bend in the lake. We saw incredible cherry blossoms and really enjoyed the calm atmosphere. I commented to Dana that even though the area was so congested, it still made me happy that so many people were making an attempt to get outside in such beautiful weather. At home, the parks and paths near where I live are busy, too, but I’ve noticed that people from all parts of the population in China spend time outside hiking and walking, not just people who are young and fit and who have dogs (which is often who I see near where I live).

When we returned to school, we learned that Peter’s family had invited us to join them for dinner at their home. With them, we ate wonderful vegetables, Beijing duck, and matcha dough pouches filled with tofu, chicken, and vegetables. I had never eaten those before and they were delicious! I was even more impressed that Peter’s mom had made them entirely by hand. Maybe I’ll ask her to teach me how next weekend!

After dinner, we took the metro (new, sparkling clean, fast, and labeled in English!) to get to the Citizen Center, the center of local government as well as the home of a huge shopping mall and a theatre used for concerts. We watched a light show in a fountain where the music was music paired with the lights both in the fountain and on the faces of the buildings surrounding the plaza. The music was a combination of upbeat Lady Gaga and soaring Josh Groban songs, among others. When it had finished, Peter guided us to the city balcony to see the Qian Tang Jiang (jiang = river) where all of the buildings on the other side were illuminated. We saw the building that was constructed for the 2016 G20 Summit as well as the one for the 2022 Asian Games (a small-scale olympics-style event). The river is very wide in that part of the city (much wider than the Charles in Boston), and the lights along the other side showed us just how big the city skyline is. We had seen it from our view in the Pagoda, but it was really reinforced at night by the buildings’ lights and the river in the moonlight. During our stay here, everyone has told us that Hangzhou has been developing very quickly in the past 10 years or so, and it is evident in the part of the city that we saw last night. Peter told us that the Hangzhou metro currently has 4 lines and that the government has declared that 6 more will be competed by 2022. It’s hard to imagine what the city must have looked like 15 years ago when this exchange program started and what it will look like in another 15 years!

[VLOG#29] West Lake 2

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 15:21:00 +0000

Iona

(Video only)

[VLOG#28] Sound and Light Show, West Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 15:30:00 +0000

Iona

(Video only)

Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 15:15:00 +0000

Kelby

Wow, three weeks left! Time really has flown by since we’ve gotten to Hangzhou. I guess that shows how much fun we’re having!

Speaking of fun, this past Sunday was a blast for me. My host mother and host brother took me to a beautiful scenic area two hours outside of Hangzhou. Our final destination was the “Thousand Islands”, which is a man made lake with a rich history. I’ll get to that in a minute. Any who, although we had a final destination the trip was quite spontaneous. On the way to the lake we pulled off the highway and drove into a small town to pick strawberries. After feathering three baskets of strawberries, we hopped back into the car and continued towards the lake.

When we arrived the lake was unlike anything I had ever seen: island upon island, mountain upon mountain, and all connected by a massive body of water. I asked Henry what the history of the lake was, and he brought me to a film which answered my question... well, sort of. The film was in Chinese. After seeing the animations and receiving an explanation from Henry, the lake was in fact made to provide electricity for the major cities and towns in the area. Unfortunately, creating the lake and building the dam entailed displacing a whole village of people (let alone a village that had been established for centuries). The village was located in a valley, so the dam flooded the valley and transformed mountain-tops into small islands. That explained so much. When kayaking, I was wondering why the “beach” of each island instantly turned into an abyss. Yet again, the Chinese have impressed me in such an extreme way.
We spent the rest of the day walking around and eating the local food, including an enormous fish that is a delicacy to the local people. Seeing that it’s a delicacy, we ate all of the fish. Yes. All of it. Interesting new food to add to my extensive list from this trip - fish intestine. Delicious. Once the sun went down, we decided to return to the city.

I loved Sunday because it showed me how Henry’s family has embraced me and accepted me into their small family. Henry’s parents were only allowed to have one child, so having me around, they said, has been a wonderful experience. I’m excited to see what’s in store for me and my host family this last stretch of the way, for this is when I get to experience the real life of a Chinese citizen.

Happy 18th Birthday in Hangzhou!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 13:42:00 +0000

Iona

Ni hao! I was lucky enough to celebrate my eighteenth birthday in Hangzhou yesterday, and it was a quite a unique day! I felt loved and celebrated the entire day, from both my family in America but also my new family in China :).

I started off the day with a few birthday FaceTime calls and then at school, I got so many birthday wishes throughout the day. Students and teachers made an effort to communicate their birthday wishes which was so nice of them. After our classes in the morning, I went to the cafeteria with the Sisterhood to find that Mr. Bacon (our chef) had prepared a birthday meal for me! Yiran and Irene (our friends who are also our english translators) had set up balloons that spelled out “Happy Birthday” on the wall, and our host siblings came to eat with us, as well as the teachers that are involved in the exchange programme. Yiran and Irene bought me gifts, as did the teachers! I got an assortment of bookmarks, hair clips, earrings, and even a large tea cup. It was so thoughtful of everyone to have gotten me gifts. After lunch, we had gym class and it was so beautiful outside that the class went to be active in the good weather. I, however, was still recovering from sickness so I stayed out of the sun, and out of the extreme heat for the afternoon. After we finished school, Kelbs, Liz, Yiran, Mrs. Waterman and I walked back to Peter’s house, where Peter’s parents had come home early from work to cook me a birthday meal! It was so sweet of them and I had a great evening that was spent with great friends and great food. I got two birthday cakes! Two sets of wishes!

I had known that I was going to be passing my eighteenth birthday in China for a while now, and I am so excited about the story I now get to share. When I turned eighteen, I had been living in China as a result of being a student on my school’s exchange trip. How cool!

A Day Out in the Tea Hills

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 14:40:00 +0000

Ms Waterman
(teacher)

We spent Saturday (our second in Hangzhou) with Charlotte, another English teacher at Hanggao. To reach our two destinations, we drove through endless gorgeous hills and mountains covered in tea trees. It was such fun to see the gorgeous geometry of the trees planted in rows rising up into the hills, and since it is late March, there were dozens of workers among them harvesting tea leaves. Charlotte explained that the best tea during the year is the tea that is available before Tomb Sweeping Day (usually April 5 or 6). She also said that it is the most expensive tea of the year because the taste is supposed to be the purest. Maybe we will have a chance to taste some in the next week!

We went first to the Bamboo Lined Path where we saw huge forests of bamboo trees and green waterfalls. Kelby and I accidentally hiked a huge staircase up to a temple for the god of wealth. I say “accidentally” because we thought the temple was much closer than it turned out to be! It took us 30 minutes of intense stair climbing to reach the summit where we saw a green temple garden where a lot of people were eating a picnic lunch. We were glad that we had persevered through the tough climb because we were greeted by a cheerful sign announcing that “exercises and workouts are good for health and the most important thing is persistence”. We were grateful, though, to meet Liz and Charlotte down the mountain since that meant we were on the way to the Tea Museum.

The Tea Museum was quiet and scenic and we were very excited to arrive because we had planned to meet Justin Seymour, a 2016 DS grad there. Justin is studying in Shanghai for the semester, and when he learned from my wonderful colleague (and his former teacher), Ms. Leah Li, that we were in Hangzhou, he contacted us to meet up for the day. Together, we all toured the Tea Museum and caught up about our lives. At the museum, I learned that I knew nothing about tea production and that the harvesting, drying, shaping, fermenting, etc. of tea leaves is so much more complicated than I had previously thought! It was really cool to learn the differences between various kinds of tea (green, black, oolong, white, yellow, dark) and it has made me all the more determined to learn more by continuing to taste many kinds! Green tea is the most popular tea in China, and I thought that was interesting because there are so few varieties of green tea available in the US. We tend to drink black tea more at home, but having had mostly green tea here for the past month, I might be converted!

After lunch (which included delicious eggplant- Kelby and I were so happy!), we returned to Hanggao. Charlotte took us to the end of the Cherry Blossom Festival at the school, and we had some time to chat with students and take pictures with them, listen to students singing karaoke, and see the many tables set up with small trinkets to buy.

When the fair ended, Justin and I decided to walk to West Lake to explore. I had only visited this famous attraction once before, so I wanted to see more of the famed 10 scenic spots. We walked over the Broken Bridge (which is not, in fact, broken, but it does lie very low in the water) and we had a beautiful view from the middle of the lake. We wandered around a small park in the middle of the lake which had pavilions, modern sculptures, blooming cherry blossom trees, and a great view of the mountains around the lake. Justin had a long conversation (in Chinese!) with a local lady and as a language teacher, I was so proud to see him using his language skills! He said that he definitely feels more confident each week that he spends in Shanghai and that he is so glad to be here.

Before we decided that we were hungry enough to find dinner, Justin and I admired the lights that had been turned in just as darkness fell. The bridge was illuminated along with a few pagodas that we could see on distant hills as well as all of the trees surrounding the lake. The effect was magical! I now understand why West Lake is such an renowned location in China and why Hangzhou is so proud of it! Though we had explored some of the lake’s many beautiful sections, we did not see everything, so I will have to go back (maybe with a map).

Handwriting and Medicine: Angry Confuigi Style

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 09:47:00 +0000

Elizabeth (Liz)

Quote of the day

What's the character for sesame?
- Iona

Greetings everyone!

For those of you who didn't know I was sick last week (which yes totally sucked because I legitimately sounded like Beloved, ugh!) But it did give me a chance to try some weird medicine, that Caroline's mom bought for me (which was SO sweet of her!!!). First was this weird flower paste called Chuan Bei Pipa Gao. It came in a jar and was almost as thick as molasses but definitely did not taste like it. It honestly worked though, I could feel it coating my sore throat and soothing it. The other weird thing I tried was pear with rock sugar. This is honestly genius because it worked, the first day I did this I did not cough nearly as much. It in a way was like natural cough syrup. I was very sweet and warm and I wasn't sure if it was gonna do anything but boy was I surprised. This too decreased my coughing, which was nice. But now I am better so I don't need any more medicine, which is also quite nice.

Runny nose and coughing fits aside we also have been taking some interesting classes like calligraphy. Now the thing with chinese calligraphy: it's really hard. Not only must you replicate the complex strokes required to form a character but you also need to keep in mind the order in which you do so. Thats why it takes years of practice to perfect such a skill. More importantly it is why all of us struggled during this class. We were given the appropriate tools (ink, paintbrush and paper) and a book that we could use for reference. And then the circus began. We all attempted to recreate our favorite and familiar characters such as kou and ren with the help of our teacher and Eren and Irene. I practiced my chinese name, Liu Ze Hui which is a lot harder with a paintbrush. After playing for a bit, our teacher put on a movie about The Monkey King which is a character from one of the most well known novels in China. It was animated and was really cute to watch while practice our "skills".

That's all for now!!!

Green Eggs and Ham, Meet Your Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Thu, 22 Mar 2018 12:56:00 +0000

Kelby

As you may know, the Sisterhood has finally arrived in Hangzhou! But does that mean we are no longer busy? No. No it does not.

So far the food in Hangzhou has been nothing short of exemplary. We have definitely not been eating as much eggplant (which Mrs. Waterman and I love so much) but we have been trying many new kinds of food. Take yesterday, for example. I had 3 amazing opportunities to try the Hangzhou cuisine: once at our “Welcome Banquet” for lunch, another at our cooking class, and a third at dinner with my host family. Let’s start with the Welcome Banquet.

The Welcome Banquet comprises of many faculty members from the school, including the Vice Principal, a Dean of the institution, and two teachers involved in the program. The staff was responsible for ordering the meal, and one of the dishes in the meal was sweet lotus with sticky rice. This particular dish is a Hangzhou delicacy, and essentially tastes like rice and syrup (so basically syrup), which is absolutely delicious. From the Welcome Banquet we proceeded to our cooking class.

Our cooking class was taught by the school chef, Mr. Bacon. Personally, I’m a big fan of Mr. Bacon not only for his name, but also because he can cook some amazing food and he has a stellar fashion sense. Mr. Bacon decided he was going to teach us how to make dumplings that looked like flowers. He had Liz, Iona, Mrs. Waterman, Yiran and Irene (the two students who show us around), and I roll the dumpling wrapper, stuff the dumpling with a pork and bamboo filling, shape the dumpling into a flower, and further stuff the dumpling with peppers, ham, and egg. The process sounds difficult and long, but we had Mr. Bacon to help us... so everything was fine! We then had a nice, dumpling snack.

Hangzhou!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Waterman) — Thu, 22 Mar 2018 12:25:00 +0000

Iona

This was our first weekend in Hangzhou and the sisterhood (minus Liz since she was taking a sick day) met at the South Gate of Hanggao to hang out with Mr. William for the day! We finally learned that there was a difference when using Hanggao vs Hangzhou, Hanggao refers to the school and Hangzhou refers to the city; Hanggao is short for Hangzhou Gaozhong (Hangzhou High School)- so in English it’s a nickname for Hangzhou High School. The more you know!

Mr. William teaches English at the international high school, but was happy to show us around and took the three of us to Liying temple first thing in the morning. Liying temple was an amazing site with loads of running water and pretty stones and greenery everywhere, and people! So many people were coming to the top of the Liying garden to burn incense and to pray to the numerous statues. Everything was done in sets of three, and so we took three sticks of incense and bowed three times in the direction of whichever statue we chose to pray to.

After the the temple, we went out to lunch where we ate some bamboo shoots as they are in season! Young baby shoots are the tastiest in the spring season and they were so delicious to eat for lunch :). After lunch, we drove to the Xixi Wetlands which was a village type situation on a raised platform above the wetlands for lack of a better word. It was really fun to walk the streets of the town and see all the different stores that were selling handicrafts and snacks of all kinds- I bought a jar of honey dipped pretzels which were so tasty. The greenery around us was so refreshing after having been in the city of Hangzhou for the last few days. We spent some of the afternoon there but left early enough to avoid rush hour on the way back.

We said goodbye to William and for dinner, the Sisterhood had been invited out to eat by all of our host families. Kelbs and I met up with Liz (who was feeling better), Caroline and her parents, Henry and his parents, Peter and my host parents, and Mrs. Waterman at the same restaurant to have dinner. It was great to all sit as a group and all the families are very friendly towards each other so overall it was a great evening. We parted ways after we were all done eating but knew we’d being seeing each other again very shortly; until then!