Author: eaw027

Howdy Doody!!

I hope everyone’s week has been spectacular.

This week has been a new adjustment, starting with moving into a homestay family in Kunming! My host family is wonderful, I have two very nice parents and a younger sister (11yrs) who happens to speak English very well, which is helpful when the parents speak Chinese a little too quickly for my taste!

Monday and Tuesday were spent in class, quizzes and assignments galore, and then on Wednesday we had a field trip! In the morning we went to a Traditional Chinese Medicinal Hospital where we received a lecture on TCM and then got a tour around the hospital. I got to try cupping, which is a glass that is heated on the inside and suctioned to your skin and left for a bit, then removed. It is supposed to help with muscle pain. For more information see Michael Phelps circa this olympics. That’s what those weird purple circles are! We also were able to see the apothecary side of medicine (see photos). I ate some ‘licorice’ and it tasted horrible and I spit it out. In the afternoon, we saw some people put on a crazy amount of makeup  and perform a Beijing Opera, I then donned some tradition clothing, but my voice is not as good.

On Saturday we departed for our “Yunnan Exploration” which is five days exploring wherever we want in Yunnan Province (where I am based). I am traveling with two other girls (Olivia and Alexandra). We left Saturday AM on a 8.5hr bus ride to XinJian, China (near Yuanyang if you were wondering). After some issues finding the bus station, where we were supposed to get off the bus and how to get to our hostel, we made it! Today we were off to see and explore the rice paddies (what this area is famous for). We found them (that wasn’t hard they are everywhere), and ended up hiking 14.5 miles (over 30,000 steps)! We are very exhausted, but are very happy with the trip so far! Off to find more rice paddies tomorrow!

 

P.S. This article was not in fact written by Elizabeth Ashley Wilkey as you probably assumed. All photos included were taken by Ms. Wilkey, but the article was written by one Olivia Stockly of the Bates College Women’s Rowing Team. Please do not get angry. Elizabeth is sorry.

Last time I posted, it was the day before I went to the Great Wall of China. That was a week ago and it sure does feel as though time is flying by. We went to a place 2 hours outside of Beijing to see the wall. It was a really neat place, we took a chair lift up the mountain and an alpine slide down. It was incredibly lucky how great the weather was. Usually it is rather overcast or hazy from the pollution, but we lucked out with a crystal clear blue sky which made for some magnificent pictures.

I returned back to Kunming and had to give a presentation on a topic I choose to study while in Beijing. I decided to study the gentrification of traditional Beijing hutongs. Hutongs are neighborhoods consisting of traditional courtyard style houses dating back to the 13^th century. The project involved speaking to residents, young and old, in order to determine how the process of gentrification was effecting daily life. Gentrification is the buying and renovation of houses in urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income individuals, which in return raises property values but often displaces low-income families and small businesses. It was really neat to use my limited Chinese skills to converse with a wide range of people.

Today, I moved in with my host family. I have a younger sister who is 11 and she is the most incredible piano player I think I have ever heard. I also have a mother and a father who is the director of Kunming University. They live on the 12^th floor of a building that is a two minute walk from my gym. I couldn’t believe, Kunming has over 9 million people and I somehow lucked out living with a family right next to the gym I have been training at! I am hoping my Chinese will improve significantly!

Until next time,

Elizabeth

It’s hard to believe I am starting my 3rd week here in China. I’m caught in some strange limbo where it feels as though I have been here for months, but then again it feels like a few days.

This past week was filled with various adventures. I joined a gym about a 10 minute walk from where my program is located and was thoroughly impressed by it’s sophistication. It has two floors which include a yoga/dance room, a crossfit training room, a weight machine room, a free weight room, a strip of countless treadmills, and a locker room with really great showers. There are also spinning and dance classes that I might jump in on as well.

Thursday was the Mid Autumn Festival which is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar corresponding to a full moon at night. It is an occasion for outdoor reunions among friends and relatives to eat mooncakes and watch the moon, a symbol of harmony and unity. Our academic director treated us to a delicious dinner and for dessert mooncake was served. A mooncake is a rich thick filling usually made from red bean or lotus seed paste and is surrounded by a thin crust that may contain yolks from salted duck eggs.

Also this week, we visited the Western Hills which are formed by the Huating, Taihua and Luohan mountain ranges rising above the eastern and northern banks of Dianchi Lake, the largest lake in Kunming. Here we visited a Buddhist Temple and climed to over 7,000ft to what is known as the Dragon Gate.The gate complex was built throughout 72 years of hard work (1781–1853). The Dragon Gate consists of 3 parts: a stone archway, a platform, a stone room and a number of sculptures, all carved out of the same rock. We hiked all the way up, a tough climb at that altitude, and took a ski lift down the mountain with spectacular views of he city.

Yesterday, we arrived in Beijing and will be here for a few days. Today we saw the Forbidden City. It is enormous and seems to go on forever with its 9,999 rooms. It was very surreal as it is a place I have always dreamed of seeing. Afterwards, we had some free time to explore the city so I decided to go with some friends to a market in one of the Hutong neighborhoods that has all sorts of exotic foods. I decided to test my luck with the scorpions. Despite their appearance they actually aren’t half bad, salty and crunchy, it almost tastes like pumpkin seeds!

Tomorrow I’m off to the great wall. I’ll check back in next week!

平安