g-MEO Blog

Emmanuel: The Ancient Terracotta Warriors

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

Hello from Lintong! Here, in this picture, I am in Xianxi Province where the world famous Terracotta Warriors are from! A very special place with A LOT of history and A LOT of foreigners! This place is bustling with all kinds of history and many people flock here from all around the world just to see this amazing place. In this blog, I will briefly describe the maze of archeological findings and museum pieces I encountered. I won’t spoil too much because you have to come here yourself…or you can live vicariously through me

In this photo: The very first site where the founder of the Terracotta Warriors dug up these ancient relics.

An interesting fact: the warriors have been re-casted throughout the years due to decay and improper handling and have been preserved with the same clay they were dug in with. This is one of the first UNESCO World Heritage sites established by the UN and the most famous one that I have been to. It was a real honor to finally come to this place and be able to finally see these statues up close!

In this photo is “Pit #1” where most of the Terracotta Warriors stand and is also a main area for the reconstruction of many of the broken statues. The creations of these statues were due to the request by the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the very first Emperor of China who unified the different provinces of what is now modern day China. He requested for an army to be buried with him when he died. It was meant to protect him in the afterlife. A tad bit overkill but it goes to show how awe-inspiring his empire was!

In this photo is the front most formation of the Terracotta Army, which holds warriors, chariots, horses, officials, and archers. The ranks of each soldier are shown by how their hair is done. Each soldier is unique and not one has the same facial features.

In this photo: My group was able to get a close up picture!

In the three pits containing the Terracotta warriors, there are a total of over eight thousand soldiers, one hundred thirty chariots with five hundred twenty horses and one hundred fifty cavalry horses. These soldiers were once painted but with Xi’an’s dry air, the exposure has caused the paint to brittle away sadly.

In this photo: Chrome-plated weapons, which help prevent corrosion. This technology was invented by the Chinese over two thousand two hundred years ago but was reintroduced to the world by the Germans and Americans in 1937.

Thank you for catching up on my latest adventure! Here is my fellow Norwicher, Matt Koser and I posing for the photographers!

English Name: Emmanuel Nino Aurigue

Chinese Name: 郭曼宁

James: Leshan Part 2 and Happy Valley

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

Last weekend for the May Day holiday I went to Leshan for the second time. I had yet another great adventure exploring even more of the city and trying out even more food there. This past weekend I also went to Chengdu’s theme park Happy Valley, which I can say I enjoyed very much.

While in Leshan I went around the old center of the city which was really quite pleasant: the scenery, the food, the shops, all gave a cool atmosphere. When in the center after eating a late lunch I was greeted by a bunch of children whom just got out of school. They practiced their English with me by saying “hello,” “how are you,” “hi, what’s your name?” It was nice to see that they are so eager to speak to a foreigner and so great with their English at such a young age. I followed a long bridge that led down to Jia Ding Fang if I made a right turn, but if you made a left turn one would see the opposite of that place. This place was more rugged looking and seemingly less updated than the rest of Leshan. My girlfriend claimed it looked “very country side”. At Jia Ding Fang it was actually pretty empty. I’m sure it’s buzzing usually but when we went it was late and raining. The traditional buildings there and the lake view felt very tranquil. I also visited a small island in the middle of the lake in Leshan. From this minuscule island you can see a giant Buddha faintly in the distance. Have you ever tried barbequed pig’s brain? Well, it kind of tastes like scrambled eggs and popcorn. Mmmm!

Another great adventure was my trip to Chengdu’s Happy Valley. The way up there wasn’t too long fortunately, but I accidentally missed the stop there so I had to walk for a while in the middle of somewhere in Chengdu until I found the bus stop going the other way. When I arrived at Happy Valley I was immediately impressed. Before reaching the park’s actual gate there are a bunch of nice restaurants and an arcade in front of it. Inside the park was awesome; there were water slides, rollercoasters, carnival games, scare houses, log flumes and much more. My favorite part of the park was the Tibetan-themed section. It’s a real shame that the rollercoaster in that section was not running. It looked like it would have been really fun. My favorite rides were the enigmatically named “Saigon” rollercoaster, the ghost houses (one of them had statues of “Protoss” from the game Starcraft in front of it; they decorated them with random fake dismembered body parts. It was so odd yet equally as awesome), and the raft ride near the Tibetan section. I think that ride was supposed to look like ancient Sichuan province. It’s been a while since that familiar feeling of theme park-induced adrenaline has been felt. Ahh so nostalgic and yet so fresh! Overall, I highly recommend visiting Leshan and Happy Valley in Chengdu. I wonder what more adventures await me here!

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Alexis: One or two not-so-pleasant things

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

So up until this point I’ve tried to the best of my ability to write to you about the various reasons for why you should come to study abroad in China. But like my mom always says in Spanish, “not every day is a holiday” and “sometimes the pineapple is sour.” In other words, I’d like to speak about the few things that for one reason or the other I’ve found a little unpleasant and, sometimes, even slightly irritating. I want to do this because if I don’t, I would have betrayed your trust and would’ve given you an incomplete and/or blurry image of what is like to live and study in the Chengdu American Center for Study Abroad. I strongly maintain that the benefits of, and the experiences gained through, studying here significantly outweigh the negative aspects but nevertheless, it isn’t ALL good in the neighborhood.

Pollution. I know you probably hear and read about it all time but it’s really polluted here compared to back at home—compared to the rest of the world for that matter. Even though Chengdu is not the most polluted city in China, pollution is very much present here. For example, even if I clean my sink (which is located on my balcony) today, without a doubt it will be filled with dust the next morning—even though I live on the third floor! Moreover, when I run my breathing is significantly heavier here than back at home. And on the few days that it rains, you will notice an overwhelmingly cleaner smell to the air you’re breathing. One thing you can do is pray for as many rainy days as God can possibly send.

Traffic. I’ve already talked about how bad traffic is here, so you can understand why it is the second on my list. Sometimes I’m tiredly walking to class and, out of nowhere, I have to run across the street because some maniac (that’s what I’d call someone like that back home) is coming my way with no intentions of stopping, even though the light was green for me and I was at the crosswalk WAY before he got there! And don’t even get me started on the sometimes-silent-sometimes-not-so-silent scooters. It takes time to get used to them.

“Grandmother Syndrome.” By using the term “Grandmother Syndrome” I want to convey the way in which I perceive the attitude of the administration of the Chengdu American Center for Study Abroad as it regards the students. In the same way that my grandma (like many others) vehemently communicates what she thinks I should and/or shouldn’t do to the point of wanting to make decisions for me, the administration—undoubtedly out of a good heart—can sometimes come off in a way that makes things seem not so optional. As an individualistic American who is used to doing his/her own thing back at your home institution, this cherry will be a little had to swallow in the beginning. But in the same way you react with your grandmother, respond with the understanding that behind this way of doing things is a profound and deep desire from them to see you take advantage of your time in China and of bettering your life in all ways. It really is your life at the end of the day, but remember that grandma is almost always right.
Privacy. You might not be used to people having your e-mail, number, and school schedule unless they must absolutely have access to them or if you have voluntarily given it to them, but that hasn’t always been the case here. Even though this is something that the Center will rarely do, if one of your Chinese friends has your number and a person asks for it, chances are that he/she tell the person without confirming with you whether this is okay or not. So be patient and understanding when that person who you never give your contact info to sends you a text or an e-mail. The fact that they contacted you isn’t as important as what they have to say.
And those, my friends, are the few things that I battle with on a daily basis. To be honest, the fight isn’t hard at all. I don’t think I’ve been bruised or hit hard yet.

(Thinking that I’d be able to appreciate much more if air quality was better)

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Emmanuel: A Modern Day Chinese Wedding

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

Hello all!

My new destination has led me to a wonderful Chinese modern day wedding in the beautiful Henan Province. The newly wed couple invited me to their wedding a month prior and I finally got to go to their spectacular wedding! It was truly an amazing experience and made me very anxious about my future and whether I should have my wedding in China when I do.

So for this blog post, I will be talking about my experience with a modern day Chinese wedding!

There is a lot of food throughout the whole entire day for everybody involved. From beginning to end, there is loud music (a whole marching band and fiddler group), lots of fireworks and a truck with an artillery cannon shooting off, random people joining in the festivities, and cameras (LOTS OF EM).

In this photo: The groom waits for his soon-to-be wife to get ready and while he waits, he eats and enjoys some “elixir” to cut the edginess of what is to come!

In this photo: The groom is made fun of and eventually gets beat up by his groomsmen and friends (to remind him not to get married again). Also he eventually looked like a clown at the end of the little march down to their new house.

In this photo: My girlfriend wanted retribution since I took a surprise picture of her. Here, Matt and I are in our “suit and tie” and are surprisingly one of the few people wearing dress clothes besides the groom and their immediate families. We both were given pockets of time to go up stage and give our congratulations to the newly weds because we were the only two foreigners there… Lol. We were one of four people to be allowed to give them a “toast”! What an honor!

In this photo: My amazing girlfriend and the lovely bride in her house getting ready for the wedding. It seems as though the wedding is a whole day thing, where the whole town is involved. There were a lot of people and there literally was a parade just for them. It was amazing!

In this video: The groom goes down the aisle to meet his soon-to-be wife and his future father-in-law. A very audio/video visual spectacle it was!

In this video: The bride and groom both go up the aisle to become officially married by the MC. Check out the “Westernization” at the end of the aisle. Lol…

In this photo: My girlfriend’s friend from high school and I give a toast to the newly weds and to our new friendship between each other; a common act in China when we sit at a table together. The people in China are very hospitable and friendly despite what you may have heard in the media. These were great people to hang around with and very welcoming!

So that’s some of my observations from the wedding, if you have any questions in regards to the wedding and how everything went “in detail” then please feel free to ask questions below in the comments section and I will respond to you as soon as possible! Stay tune for my next blog! I will be in the land of the Terracotta Warriors!

English Name: Emmanuel Nino Aurigue

Chinese Name: 郭曼宁

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James: Co Co and Co Co

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

This week I had some more interesting experiences. I have tasted what is now one my favorite drinks and once again ate some interesting food I’ve never tried before. Also on my way up to Leshan again I got to watch Chinese MTV instead of a movie like last time.

Firstly let me start with the food. Well, I haven’t tried out the drink shop Co Co in a long time, so I stopped by there again and tried out a few new things and boy were they interesting. First I tried this chocolate milk tea that had milk flavored pudding and these things called black pearls inside. The texture for that drink is so surreal, but once you get used to it you’ll like it, trust me. These black pearls are kind of like these small soft balls of black dough. It’s kind of hard to give a description of them; you’ll have to find out for yourself. The other two things I got from there recently was a Mango Slush which is pretty self-explanatory, and this icy mint drink with mesona in it. That thing tasted exactly like melted mint ice cream. I loved it.

Now to talk about my experience with Chinese MTV. My first impression is that it’s a lot better than modern U.S. MTV, at least just for the fact they actually play only music videos as opposed to a 4-hour block of television completely dedicated to shows about pregnant teenagers. So what did I see on Chinese MTV? About the widest range of music popular with Chinese people that I’ve ever heard. There was traditional Chinese music, the omnipresent Chinese love songs that can be heard in every corner of everywhere here, Chinese pop music both new and old and even Chinese rock music. The two notable things I saw on there was a Chinese pop star whom was popular about ten or so years back named Co Co (who I was told now lives in the US), and a Taiwanese band named Beyond. I thought they sounded cool. The music videos looked aesthetically identical to American music videos so it all seemed very familiar to me. It seems to me that it’s a treat at any time I get to watch Chinese Television or media.

I figure since I already spent two days here in Leshan, I might as well cue you in on what I’ve done so far, and tell you the other half the next entry. So far, I’ve checked into Xiangdu Hotel and fortunately for me I’m on the 29^th floor and what a beautiful view it is; although it does give me a bit of vertigo. I also got to see the river in Leshan and take a nice walk beside it. I’ve seemed to have caught myself in a situation where a group of grade-schoolers where let out of their class early, so they tried to practice their English with me; their English ability far surpasses my Mandarin ability for sure. Overall, I like Leshan just as much as I do Chengdu.

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Alexis: Internship Joys

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

For a long time, I’ve been very interested in teaching and on academia. This has been crystal clear to my friends, who hear me using words like “pedagogy,” “exegesis” and “empirical” in a colloquial fashion. Moreover, one of my personal goals is to be fluent in at least 4 languages. Now, why am I mentioning these things? Well, the reason is that this week I’d like to share how I’ve been able to combine both interests. I will tell you about the joys I’ve been experiencing while teaching Chinese middle school students.

During my first week in Chengdu, I (together with four other students) signed up to participate in an internship which would focus on helping Chinese students with their English skills and American cultural awareness. While as a group we would work with different ages and focus on either activities and/or English oral practice, I was to work with Chinese middle school students focusing on their oral skills. The following points some of the innumerable joys and experiences I’ve had while working with these students.

Having to teach about American life and culture has given me new insight into the same. When you live in America you do just that—live. But when you have to teach others—like Chinese students for example—about how we live in American and why we do the things in the way we do them, you’re taken into the depths of American culture and of the priorities of our worldviews.
Teaching and interacting with Chinese students is helping me create and foster cross-cultural understanding between the two peoples. As an International Relations student I read and write a lot about globalization and world citizenry. Yet those things don’t compare to the joy I experience through being part of these processes and watching them take place right in front of my noses.
Seven 40-minute classes a week and intermingling with over 300 Chinese students can drastically improve your Chinese Mandarin skills. The desire to be able to convey the information to my students even when they don’t understand the equivalent in English words has pushed me for learn more and more Chinese characters and words. Moreover, because my students feverishly want to see “Mr. Ai (Da Long)” speak Chinese properly, my pronunciation has been drastically improved through their corrections. In all honesty, sometimes I wonder who is teaching who more.
Finally, I doubt that I’ve ever been so popular in my life or that I will ever be as famous in the future as I am in that middle school. From the moment I appear in front of the school’s gate to any other moment and/or appearance I make anywhere around the school, all I see and hear is students saying “Hello Mr. Ai!” “Hi Mr. Ai!” or “Ai Da Long!!!” Not to mention that I am the MVP of basketball-team A. I might have the smallest players in my team, but every Friday at 1 p.m. Team A turns out victories.

As I am a very tough man (*cough* *cough*) I don’t feel 100% comfortable with saying this, but for them I will do it: I am REALLY going to miss my students once I leave China^_^.

(Mr. Ai with middle school students)

(Norbertha and the students after dancing bachata with Mr. Ai)

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Shaka: It’s Show Time!

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

The Office of Foreign Affairs has done it again! I was pleased to be surprised with tickets to a marvelous Sichuan Opera. I have personally never attended an opera in America, but I can now check that off my hidden list of things to do here in China. The people of China hold their tradition very closely to their hearts and the Chinese culture is reflected into all of the Opera shows, thus the Chinese people love seeing Operas. Although they love the Opera, many locals have never been to see an Opera in person making the experience much more extraordinary for me.

I have only been studying the Chinese language for about two months and I think it is reasonable when I say that I am not fluent in Chinese. I have a general understanding of what the locals are saying to me if they speak very slowly, but the language barrier at the Opera was surprisingly no problem for me. The show titled “Tale of Red Plum” had a very interesting plot. A plot interesting enough to keep my attention the entire time and provide me with a great understanding of the story. I am proud to say that I understood some parts and I was able to fill in the blanks while keeping up with the show. This was also a breath of fresh air to me because it showed me that all my hard work and long nights of studying the Chinese language is paying off. Being invited to observe a Chinese Opera also encouraged me to do a bit of research on the topic.

Sichuan Opera (Chuan Ju) was initiated at the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). That is almost four hundred years ago! The opera started with having a very similar plot in each story line. It then branched out for the better with the flood of immigrants into Sichuan. The mix of people and cultures generated different dramas. The different dramas also began to blend with the local dialect, customs, folk music and dances. Slowly but surely, Sichuan Opera had a humorous taste added to it as its last key component which is not the Chinese opera that we all love today. Face changing and fire blowing is the highlight of Sichuan Opera. It is said that ancient people painted their faces to drive away wild animals. Sichuan Opera soaks up this ancient skill and now has it perfected into an art.

The plot of the “Tale of Red Plum” also gave me insight on the ancient culture of China. It was a story of a young lady in the late Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) named Li Huiniang. She was chosen, but refused to be the mistress of the cunning prime minister. He wanted her all to himself but she fell in love with a scholar who came to visit the prime minister. She was then tragically killed by the prime minister, but as a ghost she kept refusing to accept the cold heartedness of the prime minister and continually troubled until his death at last.

Although this was not on the top of my “list of things to do while in China,” I am happy that I was given the chance to attend and gained all the experience that came along with it.

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James: Trying ever more new food, doing ever more new things

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

This week I ate even more new things: new dinners, new dinner experiences, new novelty flavored chips, some new healthy food, and much more. It’s a shame I ended up not doing too much this weekend due to the earthquake, but I’m happy and grateful to be okay.

I’ll start with the amazing novelty flavored chips I’ve found. Well I’ve certainly seen lots of kooky flavors in my years but I’ve never seen one’s like these. When I realized the multitude of flavors there it really makes me wonder why flavors aren’t as varied in the US as they are here. I saw with Lay’s potato chips ‘French Chicken,’ ‘Italian Red Meat,’ ‘Mexican Tomato and Chicken,’ ‘Grilled Prawn,’ ‘Texas Grilled Steak,’ ‘Hot Pot,’ ‘Lobster with Lemon and Butter,’ and the strangest but still oddly delicious ‘Chicken and Cola’ flavored. All of them taste good, especially the lobster flavored one; it’s the cheapest alternative to a lobster dinner one could ever have! The Cheetos here are also very interesting. Besides having zero percent of cheese flavor the flavors I’ve had of that was ‘American-style Turkey,’ ‘Spicy Beef,’ and ‘Teriyaki Steak.’ Another new thing I tried was some pastries at a bunch of different bakeries. All of them were superb but I think my personal favorite bakery is Bread Talk where I had this amazing treat called ‘magic pillow’.

I’ve also been trying to eat a little bit healthier since the opportunities are all around me. So what healthy stuff have I been snacking on? I’ve been drinking some yogurt, some more vegetables in my meals, milk biscuits, and packaged bamboo. It’s cool that being here motivated me to eat yogurt again. It’s been a long while since I’ve had that. The milk biscuits are interestin; there is cow milk flavor and goat milk flavor. The packaged bamboo is great too; I highly recommend it as a snack when traveling.

I had two other interesting food experiences this week. One was a restaurant just right outside my campus which was this restaurant that was like an all-you-can-eat buffet but the main course was fish. The fish was so delicious but alas there was a price to pay for it, as in the bones…so many bones. I got used to it though, and it was well worth it. The other cool restaurant experience I had was when I went to this one random restaurant somewhere around where the bridge and river is located and I ate this dumpling soup there. This dumpling soup had miniscule shrimp and squid in the soup, I’ve never seen or tasted anything like it. Also the owners of that restaurant were speaking a language that I nor my girlfriend could recognize. It wasn’t Cantonese or Tibetan and definitely wasn’t Mandarin…a mystery to solve for another day I suppose.

I’ve started a Q and A on Facebook about debunking or confirming myths about China. Some of my friends were very surprised at my answers and I was even surprised by some of their questions. I hope that through doing this I can create a less ethnocentric and more harmonious planet. I absolutely love China and wish to show this to others so that they themselves can at the very least learn something new.

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Emmanuel: Daoism – The Way

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

Ni hao from Han Gu Guan! The home of Daoism; or more commonly known in America as Taoism!

The start of a philosophy! The introduction of Qi (chi’i)! The beginning of the yin-yang, Feng Shui, and many more ideas that are now an integral part of Chinese society!

In this photo: The entrance to the Daoism Park. This place is where Lao Tzu, the founder of Daoism created the book: Tao Te Ching. This book is fundamental to Chinese culture just as Confucianism and Buddhism is to the Chinese people. These different religion’s philosophies helped create the foundation for the Chinese people.

In this photo: My girlfriend and I enjoy a nice cool breeze at the Lake of Dao. A very calming presence was felt throughout the park; a side effect of Feng Shui’s power among its recipients.

Feng Shui was developed by Daoism as a system of laws that govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the flow of energy. Feng means wind and Shui means water. These two elements represent the yin – water (female, dark, stagnation, death, cold) and yang – wind (male, active, moving, life, warmth ). The two are integral pieces of the other and cannot exist without the other. In other words, they complement rather than undermine each other.

Here is another portion of the lake where one can relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of Feng Shui and its relaxing effects.

On the way to another location!

In this photo: An art house, filled with many cultural, historical, and fine art pieces devoted to Daoism and its followers. Still under construction however, this park, like many others are being continuously renovated! Many new additions will be here in the park by the time you come to China and check out this wonderful new world!

Here stands a one hundred forty five pound gold plated statue of Mr. Lao Tzu himself! A very awe-inspiring statue that can be seen from the farthest part of the park!

Here is a close-up of him! In front of him is an incense table and behind him is the entrance to the old park prior to the Cultural Revolution.

In this photo: The Tao Te Ching is engraved into the wall in both Ancient Chinese and Simplified Mandarin. It is written in the same format (up-down) as it was written many centuries ago. (bamboo shoots)

In this photo: You have to come to China and find it for yourself ^_^

There were a lot of stairs so my friend Matt Koser and I raced up one of the many flights of stairs!

I won but then it was a harder time getting down…

Anyways, thanks for keeping up with my blog! Hope you liked this one just as much as I enjoyed looking back at my adventures! Keep up with my next one! CHINESE WEDDINGS!

By Emmanuel Nino Aurigue (郭曼宁)

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Shaka: Farm life – g-MEO Students Go to Work

Posted on May 6, 2013 by admin

China is all about exploring for me. Being open-minded is the key to all of the events here in Chengdu. This weekend I experienced otherwise. Thanks to FAO, I visited the city of Peng Zhou which was about 2 hours away from the center.

You may all know by now that I am a city girl. I have never experienced what it is like to live on a farm. The bizarre thing is that I actually enjoyed myself. The day started with an informational section about the history of the site. The China National Agriculture Development Group is the central agriculture enterprise run by the state government. Majority, if not all, of the vegetables and fruits in China are produced and shipped out from this site. I was excited to explore the hub that created most of the food I eat on a daily basis.

The host kindly drove me around the packaging department as I witnessed the daily life of the farmers. As shown in the pictures I have attached, the locals all live in the packaging building. I have noticed that this is a norm here in China. When it is possible, workers live in the basement or above their work place. There were mini houses in the enormous building and each family sat outside of their home working and trading different items.

I was then taken out to the fields to experience how the vegetables were produced. While driving on the highway, I often passed the farms but I never put much thought into all the hard work it required. The locals met me on the field and they began to explain how that we would be how to plant my favorite vegetable corn. As the sun glazed down on me, my classmates and I completed 3 rows before we gave up. The amount of strength it required and the tedious work drained all of my energy. We all worked together taking turns making the rows, digging small holes and planting the corn. I could only image how long this would have taken me if I was left to complete it alone.

Overall, I really enjoyed the day. It brought the group closer as we had to point out each other’s strengths while we assigned the different task. I was horrible at planting the corn, but I did an excellent job at making the rows. I am glad I decided to attend the trip; the wonderful city of Peng Zhou taught me a skill that I will never forget.