Language and Culture

During my past six months here in China I have observed and read up about a "few" differences between language and culture in regards to the West and the East. Here is a metaphor to help understand how these two things function together and separately.

1. Language is flesh, and culture is blood. Without culture, language would be dead; without language, culture would have no shape.

2. Picture an ice berg. Language is only part of the tip that is above water; the greater part, lying hidden beneath the surface is the invisible aspect of culture.

3. Add another component of communication. Communication is swimming, language is the swimming skill and culture is water. Without language, communication would remain to a very limited degree; without culture, there would be no communication at all.

Another example of the two thought processes:

Western medicine divides the human body into different parts and treats them accordingly. In a Western hospital, patients have to go to different departments to get treated and lots of different tests are done to come to a conclusion. A traditional Chinese medicine doctor, however, looks at the patient as an organic whole, always taking into consideration the connections of different parts of the body. As a result, a patient suffering from a severe headache may get some foot treatment, as some acupoints are believed to be connected with certain parts of the head. This difference reflects the differences in the world views and thinking patterns of the two cultures. (Intercultural Communication)

I recently was sick with the stomach flu and felt that I should see a doctor to make sure it wasn't anything serious. Luckily there is an international clinic here in Kunming that has western doctors who speak English. I am very grateful for this because otherwise, I would have had to gone to the Chinese hospital. I am not afraid of Chinese doctors but they do things very differently than western doctors. For example, Chinese doctors give their patients an IV for everything and I mean everything. My friend had to get a couple of screws removed from his ankle, (he broke it a year ago and had the screws put it), and he was stuck in the hospital for 3 days with an IV, for a simple ankle surgery. Chinese doctors also give tons of antibiotics for everything. I am sure if I had gone to the hospital for a simple stomach flu I would have been given an IV, lots and lots of pill and probably would have been ordered to stay overnight. Thankfully it was just the stomach flu and I was better after a few days. The western doctor just told me to rest, drink lots of fluids and eat simple foods for the next couple of days...and all was well :)

Holiday Fun

My co-workers and I in front of our delicious Thanksgiving feast

In the spirit of the holidays, I wanted to share the holiday spirit here in Kunming. I had the advantage of enjoying two American style Thanksgiving meals, one with friends and another with co-workers. A western cafe sold cooked turkeys, most of the ovens in China are too small to bake a whole turkey in, and the turkey was surprisingly moist and delicious. I made deviled eggs with my mom's secret recipe and it was a great success. Lydia, the 4 yr old girl in the picture even snuck an extra into her mouth when her mom wasn't looking, thats how I know they were a big hit.

Cutting the turkey, and yes, that is a Lion's jersey

Yesterday I put up our Christmas tree. It might be small but it carries plenty of Christmas spirit and lots of sparkly lights. I put a wreath on my door and decorated the rest of the apartment with passed down decorations of past foreigners (thanks Whitney :). I've been playing Christmas music and deciding which kind of cookies to make. I am not sure how China will celebrate Christmas, if they will at all. The shopping malls have their lights up and ornaments hung, but I doubt I will see many trees in people's homes.

This Christmas season I am very blessed to have my family come visit me and spend Christmas in Kunming and Beijing! They will finally get to see what my life here is like and then we will all travel to the Great Wall together. I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit and remembering the real reason for the season! G-d Bl-ss.

I love my job

Last week, I was in Hong Kong for a Service Coordinator's meeting with CWEF. As some of you know CWEF is based in Hong Kong so occasionally we fly in for meetings, to get our mail, and to get a refresher about what our other offices are doing. We had our service coordinators in from Shanghai, Yunnan, Guangdong and the Philippines. We brainstormed ideas about how to be a better team leader, making emergency decisions and bridge building, but the highlight of the meetings was when we talked about our core values.

CWEF works with local partners to make sustainable long-term changes that improve livelihoods through education, community development and service. We strive to give people tools so they can change their lives. What I like about CWEF is that we are grounded on long-term development and change. It is easy for people to give a quick, short term dollar amount to a charity relief, which is needed, but we are about sustainability, teaching the people to continue on with these healthy practices after we leave.

Here in China, I live for my job. Many people can't say that they live for their job. Their job is just a means to pay the bills and a way to live the life they want to live, but I am here for a specific purpose. Sitting in my meetings last week just clarified that even more, G-d placed me here because He knew it would be a good fit and it is what I should be doing right now. I feel very bl-ssed that He has given me this opportunity and I am anxious to see where He leads me.

CWEF's Service Coordinators on our hike at Dragon's Back on Hong Kong Island

Tiger Leaping Gorge

This past weekend I traveled to Lijiang in the northwest corner of Yunnan, next to Tibet. Lijiang is a very touristy town, with a newly constructed "Old Town" and plenty of souvenirs. While many Chinese tourist go to Lijiang for the Old Town, my friends and I went for the breathtaking scenery and hike of Tiger Leaping Gorge. Lying between the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yulong Xueshan) and the Haba Snow Mountain (Haba Xueshan) is Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao) created by the Golden Sands River (Jingsha). It is believed to be the deepest gorge in the world. Near the river's mouth lies a large rock, an ancient legend says that a tiger used this rock as a stepping stone to leap from one side of the gorge to the other, and that is how the gorge got its name.

Lijiang "Old Town"

We hiked for about two hours to the first guest house, where we stayed the night since it was another two hours until the next guest house and it was getting dark fast. The view from my room was better than any view I've ever had at a hotel. We got up the next day, had a hearty breakfast and took off for our 8 hour hike we had ahead of us. The path was at times very steep and very much on the edge of the cliff, but was worth the effort for the view of the mountains. Seeing the snow on the tips of the mountains reminded me of when my family took a vacation out to the Rocky Mountains and I could play in the snow in the middle of July!

My friends up ahead walking on the trail around the bend of the mountain, this was the view for most of the hike

We made it down the mountain around 6 pm and were quite exhausted and sweaty. We found a van to take us back to Lijiang where we could find a hot shower and dinner. About ten minutes into the drive, we were stopped by a minor "roadblock". There were five men about 50 yrds up the mountain jarring large rocks off the mountain and onto the road. I am not sure why they were doing this, I am guessing for safety reasons, to get rid of the loose boulders so they won't come down on any cars or people. So our van waited for an hour, watching these large rocks and boulders bounce off the mountain, onto the road and into the gorge. Then the men ran down the mountain and cleared away the big rocks so the waiting cars could drive through. It was very interesting to see, a bit of a hazard but thats China.

The end of the trip concluded with a ten hour train ride back to Kunming. I tried to avoid the stares of the villager sitting 3 feet across from me but after a while I couldn't resist and starred at him back. Yunnan is a very rural province, so while traveling you might run into villagers who have never seen a foreigner in their lifetime. I am used to being starred at and don't make a big deal of it, but I knew I had ten hours ahead of me on this train and when I caught this mans gaze I couldn't help but laugh.

Overall the trip was great. I am very, very sore this week but now have some great pictures to some day turn into paintings!

Missouri Comes To Yunnan

This months service project came from the great state of Missouri. Seven adults from the Kansas City area traveled all the way to China to serve the people of rural Yunnan and provide one village with a clean drinking water system. The participants of this service project were quite different than last months. We went from 20 Shanghai high school students digging on the side of a mountain to 7 American adults digging just as hard. It was truly amazing to see my fellow midwesterners scaling down the mountainside to dig trenches and lay pipe.

The Missouri team with our government partners

Our view from where we were digging, just beautiful

While we were in the village, we took a break from digging one afternoon to visit an orange plantation and tea factory in the nearby town. The owner of the orange plantation was extremely gracious, he took us out amongst the trees and told us to eat until we were full, which we did. All of us took home quite a few oranges and had sticky hands from all the peeling we did in the field.

After the orange plantation, we headed to the tea factory where we were served pu’erh tea and were given a tour of the factory where they press and ship out tea to all over the world, including America. I was amazed to see tea leaves that were decades old. Tea is similar to wine in the idea that with age it gets better. We were taken through the process of when the tea leaves are picked from the plant, laid out to dry, pressed into bricks or discs, roasted or fermented, packaged and shipped out. China sure does tea differently than America and it was very interesting to see the process in its entirety.

The group gave the owner of the orange plantation a Kansas City baseball hat

Another afternoon in the village we visited a local school. The school had about 30 students, grades 1-3. The school had students from a few different neighboring villages and we spotted a few children we knew from the village we were digging in. We stood in front of the classroom and told them our names and where we were from. I practiced my chinese and asked the students for their names and ages. I was just as timid as they were when spotlighted to use a new and different language. We then sang the song “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” which got a real big laugh out of them.

All of the students and their teachers

Inside the classroom

New coloring books, crayons and a jumprope Happy faces

The group from Missouri had brought lots of great toys to give to the children including coloring books, crayons, jump ropes, bubbles and stickers. All of the children had huge grins on their faces and by the end of the afternoon were not so shy and afraid of the silly foreigners.

The end of our trip concluded with a bon fire/dance party with the villagers. Its a time for them to come together, have a feast (they told us they wanted to kill a cow for the dinner, which we tried to talk them out of), dance, sing and enjoy each others company. We danced under the moonlight around the fire putting a nice end onto a wonderful trip.

The group digging Just give me a hoe and some dirt and I'll give you a trench

Jiaozi and Tea

This past weekend, I was invited to a tea and dumpling event to learn about traditional chinese customs. I observed a traditional chinese tea set and tasted three different kinds of tea: green, pu'erh and black. A traditional Chinese tea set is much smaller than you might think and much more than just pouring tea from a pot. You first put the tea leaves into the pot, then pour hot water into the pot. The tea leaves expand and the first step is to pour the tea into the cups to get them warm, you don't actually drink the tea on the first pour. You dump out the tea water and pour again. This pour is the tea actually served to guests to drink.

Tasting tea is very similar to wine tasting. You look at the color, take time to smell the aroma and savor the taste on your tongue and down your throat. You keep separate tea pots for different teas and never wash the pot with soap, only rinse with water. A tea pot gets better with age the more you use it. Tea is commonly known to be good for digestion and should be enjoyed calmly and slowly.

The second event of the evening was learning how to make jiaozi, chinese dumplings. Jiaozi is one of my favorite dishes to eat here, so I was very anxious to learn how to make it. We mixed beef, fennel, oil, salt and pepper to make one mixture and tofu, carrots, oil, salt and pepper to make a vegetarian mixture. There are many different kinds of jiaozi, you can put inside whatever you like.

We bought the dough, pre-made, at the market, already cut into circles ready to be stuffed and folded. We put the mixture in the middle of the circle, then carefully folded and crimped the dough together, creating a dumpling. My first couple dumplings looked awful, but after a bit of practice, I was a pro! Between the 8 of us at the event, we must have made easily over a hundred dumplings. You can either fry, boil or steam jiaozi. My favorite is fried, but we boiled them this evening and had a wonderful feast.

Tea and treats!

The three bowls are filled with the three different kinds of tea we tried: green, black and pu'erh. The three animal-looking figures behind the bowls are for good luck. When pouring out the first pot of tea (to get the cups and pot warm) you pour the tea over these figurines and it is believed to bring the tea owner good luck and fortune.

A traditional Chinese tea set

After several attempts, a more beautiful looking chinese dumpling.

The dough ready to be stuffed with beef and vegetables

Me, practicing making jiaozi, before it becomes a dumpling

Our delicious feast after the dumplings were boiled.

Photo Journal

Here is a little glimpse into my everyday life here in Kunming.

On my walk to class in the morning I always pass by a group of older chinese people sitting around, gossiping and people watching. I think they are very cute.

China's rule for elevators is you only need them if the building has more than 8 floors, so a lot of apartment buildings only have 7 floors so they don't need an elevator. My school is on the 6th floor, hence my walk up 6 flights everyday.

(Vegetarians close your eyes) Outside of my school there is always some sort of meat hanging waiting to be sold. As you see here, a whole goat is waiting to be cut up and sold. The big bowl underneath is filled with the blood that runs down when the goat is cut.

This family is selling roasted chestnuts, the man stands next to this barrel continuously stirring the chestnuts and coal.

Here is the postoffice I stop at to mail postcards home to America :)

JiaHua is the local bakery in Kunming. I often stop on my way to the office from school to pick up a loaf of bread. My favorite kind of bread here is BeanSprout Bread, I don't know why its called that because the bread is normal with a slight sweetness to it, delicious.

I often stop and buy fruit from villagers selling their fruit on the street. These people usually live outside of Kunming on a farm and come into the city to sell their products.

This is the menu from one of my favorite lunch spots. I am trying very hard to learn the basic chinese characters so I can read menu's like this one.

My favorite lunch in China, jiaozi! It is a chinese dumpling, usually filled with some kind of meat and vegetable. You can get them fried, steamed or boiled. Then you dip them in a soy sauce/parsley mixture. Yum. I go to this place so often, the woman who owns the shop knows what I want I don't have to order anymore.

My desk at the office

I try to dedicate a portion of my afternoon to learning Chinese characters. Here are a few of my practice sheets.

Luang Prabang, Laos

October 1^st is a nationally recognized holiday in China called National Day where the majority of people have off work for an entire week. This week is usually spent traveling around China, seeing new sights or going home to spend time with family. According to China Daily, they expected 210 million people to be traveling around China during this week. 210 million people! My roommate and I looked at each other once we heard that and confirmed that we were getting out of China for National Day.

We looked at our options and decided to head to Laos since it borders Yunnan and we could take a bus straight there. So the night before National Day, September 30^th, we hopped on a sleeper bus and headed to Laos. 26 hours later, we arrived dazed and confused in Luang Prabang, Laos’ second largest city.

Over the next four days we enjoyed a relaxful vacation filled with kayaking, swimming, hiking, eating and lounging. We kayaked to one of Luang Prabang's famous waterfalls where we swam in the cool, refreshing water and enjoyed the sun. Myself and two other friends went zip-lining through the forest above the waterfalls. I saw some great scenery and got my thrills from flying through the air high above the trees. Another day, we took a boat ride down the Mekong River to explore some caves with ancient Buddhist statues inside. The Mekong River is a widely known river within southeast Asia, as it flows through China, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

Luang Prabang is also well known for their Buddhist wats (temples). There are over 30 around the city, making them unavoidable. One morning we got up early to observe the monks collecting their morning alms and food. The monks spend their days meditating and taking care of the temple, they do not have time to buy and cook their own food, so the town’s people provide their only source of food in the morning. The majority of these monks are boys aging from 10-25 who stay in the monastery for only a short time.

Laos was reopened to tourism in 1989 and Luang Prabang was deemed a UNESCO World Heritage sight in 1995, thus leaving the city mostly bus/car free and preserving its French provincial architecture. Laos is known for its laid back attitude and we easily fell into the mood while we were there. We enjoyed French baguets and freshly made fruit shakes, a much enjoyed break from Chinese food.

Our bus ride back to Kunming was only about 20 hours. We returned safetly with many souvenirs and a new stamp in our passports.