Nature!
Last week, I boldly walked into the great amphitheater of the world: nature! I can't be sure that this really happened, but last Friday or Saturday evening, a group of us walked five minutes away from our quarantine dormitory area and suddenly came upon a tree-covered hill/mountain. It must have been some sort of fold in the space-time continuum that I'll never be able to access again, but it was at least true that on that very day, there existed a beautiful hill-mountain several blocks away. If you visit me, I'll try my best to locate it, but honestly, it just doesn't make any sense that it exists where it does.
We tried to walk quietly and lightly up the hill/mountain but the majority us of soon began to wheeze and perspire like water buffalo in heat. Not five minutes into our walk, we came across a pair of dueling flutists. Yes, that means that sheer moments away from exiting a campus where people routinely run into each other because they are amazon-shopping on their phones and walking at the same time, there are actually older gentlemen who gather in small groups to play ancient songs on a traditional instrument.
That's the thing I've noticed about here. You don't even have to turn a corner to be struck by something fantastically traditional and totally at-odds with everything else around it. I wish I had taken a picture, but during this gorgeous, spiritual moment, a 5 year old boy catapulted down the hill towards us while yelling like a drunken banshee, wearing neon colors and holding a smart phone that was blaring a video game. To see him streak past the two men playing their flutes was just...incredible.
The hill/mountain was intriguing for other reasons too. Back during the Japanese-Chinese war, this hill was staked out by the Japanese during their attempt to take Wuhan. There's a look out tower, trenches, tunnels, and their cannon shooting range.
Trench/hideaway:
Old Graffiti:
On the very crest of the hill, we got a nice aerial of Wuhan; the city and east lake.
View of East Lake:
View of the city:
On the way back down, we passed by a beautiful, traditional style house.
To top that day off, we went to eat middle-eastern food and I spotted these:
Later that weekend, I went on a bike ride with a ragtag group of teachers/students. I finally made it to east lake, which is the biggest lake in central China. Luckily for me, it abuts the east side of our campus at HUST, so I could walk to the entrance! East lake is miles and miles of protected land that you can bike/walk/scooter/drive like a maniac through.
Lotus pond in the park:
Our group:
Beautiful bike path that came with complimentary opera music coming from decorative stones:
Wholesome photo:
Rugged scenery:
Really good selfie:
East lake!
Besides nature, I think the most interesting part of my week were the glimpses into Chinese culture that I've been lucky enough to get. Yesterday, I met up with my new running buddy, William, who is a Chinese graduate student in International Business at HUST. William likes to talk about culture and justice and philosophy and poetry (all the things, I think); we trade metaphors as we run around in circles. Last night when I got to the track, he asked if I wanted to talk about Chinese culture with some of his friends before we started running. So, I found myself sitting in a circle on the artificial grass of the soccer field at dusk with William and two Ethiopian PHD students, talking about the nuances of culture.
We talked about why it was hard for foreign students/people to break the ice with Chinese students/people at HUST, which meandered into a discussion on the importance of the family unit above all other relationships in China. Apparently intimacy in friendships isn't as important to many people in China because family easily eclipses all other relationships. William also mentioned that Chinese students didn't necessarily see the point in doing things like hanging out, drinking, partying, or going out. The mindset being: we are students, we are here to study. This naturally creates a divide between a lot of the foreign international students- many of whom like to go out- and the Chinese students. Another divide is created by the constant complaining that many foreigners do about China and the Chinese. William says that his feelings are often hurt when he overhears such things.
Then, there's the funny cultural misunderstandings. The blunt or roundabout wechat messages that leave both parties- foreign and Chinese- confused and sometimes upset. One of the Ethiopian students mentioned his bewilderment when he was reunited with several fellow Chinese grad students who had been away for months in America, and instead of saying hello and chatting about their trips, the students sat down quietly and simply resumed their work. And, the phenomenon of ignoring your friend when you see them in public, since you are probably both in too much of a hurry to talk.
Whenever you make sweeping statements about cultures, there's generalizing and stereotyping going on. It's hard to avoid it all the time; our human brains love nothing more than to categorize. Of course, not all Chinese people are_____ or ______. And, of course not all foreigners like to party or are like ______. It is true that Chinese culture does seem to be much more focused on balance, harmony, hard work, and community than anything that I've personally ever experienced. Throughout our discussion, it became apparent that many of those features of Chinese culture also resonated with the two Ethiopians and their experiences. It is true that there are some misunderstandings and that sometimes the differences between cultures is so bewildering that you don't have the energy to approach it with humor. I liked our discussion because there was no final 'aha!' or solution, it was simply people from three very different cultures sitting on the ground in the moonlight and talking about the frustrations and pleasures of getting to know each other.
It can get lonely here, probably for anyone. On the campus, the focus is study and work, more than any other learning institute I've ever been around. You can feel it; it's palpable. It's obvious that people are spending their entire days (and now I am too!) studying, working, reading, and preparing. In the face of this isolation, it can be easy to sense and blame the cultural differences. It becomes easy to have a whole litany of complaints against China. On the flip side, it's probably not that hard to label foreigner teacher and students as odd, frivolous, or aggressive.
The history of civilization: groups of humans complaining about other groups of humans.
I'm glad that William is forcing people out of their comfort zones. I'm glad he made me wait an hour to run, even though I felt a twinge of annoyance at first. I want to work past that twinge--that initial prickly feeling I get when I run into a confusing situation or I am delayed or inconvenienced or uncomfortable---there's usually something life-giving on the other side. The twinge is the feeling you get when you step outside of your well-tread routines and thoughts and are forced to open your eyes and look at others.
We tried to walk quietly and lightly up the hill/mountain but the majority us of soon began to wheeze and perspire like water buffalo in heat. Not five minutes into our walk, we came across a pair of dueling flutists. Yes, that means that sheer moments away from exiting a campus where people routinely run into each other because they are amazon-shopping on their phones and walking at the same time, there are actually older gentlemen who gather in small groups to play ancient songs on a traditional instrument.
That's the thing I've noticed about here. You don't even have to turn a corner to be struck by something fantastically traditional and totally at-odds with everything else around it. I wish I had taken a picture, but during this gorgeous, spiritual moment, a 5 year old boy catapulted down the hill towards us while yelling like a drunken banshee, wearing neon colors and holding a smart phone that was blaring a video game. To see him streak past the two men playing their flutes was just...incredible.
The hill/mountain was intriguing for other reasons too. Back during the Japanese-Chinese war, this hill was staked out by the Japanese during their attempt to take Wuhan. There's a look out tower, trenches, tunnels, and their cannon shooting range.
Trench/hideaway:
Where the cannons used to be:
Old Graffiti:
On the very crest of the hill, we got a nice aerial of Wuhan; the city and east lake.
View of East Lake:
View of the city:
On the way back down, we passed by a beautiful, traditional style house.
To top that day off, we went to eat middle-eastern food and I spotted these:
Later that weekend, I went on a bike ride with a ragtag group of teachers/students. I finally made it to east lake, which is the biggest lake in central China. Luckily for me, it abuts the east side of our campus at HUST, so I could walk to the entrance! East lake is miles and miles of protected land that you can bike/walk/scooter/drive like a maniac through.
Lotus pond in the park:
Besides nature, I think the most interesting part of my week were the glimpses into Chinese culture that I've been lucky enough to get. Yesterday, I met up with my new running buddy, William, who is a Chinese graduate student in International Business at HUST. William likes to talk about culture and justice and philosophy and poetry (all the things, I think); we trade metaphors as we run around in circles. Last night when I got to the track, he asked if I wanted to talk about Chinese culture with some of his friends before we started running. So, I found myself sitting in a circle on the artificial grass of the soccer field at dusk with William and two Ethiopian PHD students, talking about the nuances of culture.
We talked about why it was hard for foreign students/people to break the ice with Chinese students/people at HUST, which meandered into a discussion on the importance of the family unit above all other relationships in China. Apparently intimacy in friendships isn't as important to many people in China because family easily eclipses all other relationships. William also mentioned that Chinese students didn't necessarily see the point in doing things like hanging out, drinking, partying, or going out. The mindset being: we are students, we are here to study. This naturally creates a divide between a lot of the foreign international students- many of whom like to go out- and the Chinese students. Another divide is created by the constant complaining that many foreigners do about China and the Chinese. William says that his feelings are often hurt when he overhears such things.
Then, there's the funny cultural misunderstandings. The blunt or roundabout wechat messages that leave both parties- foreign and Chinese- confused and sometimes upset. One of the Ethiopian students mentioned his bewilderment when he was reunited with several fellow Chinese grad students who had been away for months in America, and instead of saying hello and chatting about their trips, the students sat down quietly and simply resumed their work. And, the phenomenon of ignoring your friend when you see them in public, since you are probably both in too much of a hurry to talk.
Whenever you make sweeping statements about cultures, there's generalizing and stereotyping going on. It's hard to avoid it all the time; our human brains love nothing more than to categorize. Of course, not all Chinese people are_____ or ______. And, of course not all foreigners like to party or are like ______. It is true that Chinese culture does seem to be much more focused on balance, harmony, hard work, and community than anything that I've personally ever experienced. Throughout our discussion, it became apparent that many of those features of Chinese culture also resonated with the two Ethiopians and their experiences. It is true that there are some misunderstandings and that sometimes the differences between cultures is so bewildering that you don't have the energy to approach it with humor. I liked our discussion because there was no final 'aha!' or solution, it was simply people from three very different cultures sitting on the ground in the moonlight and talking about the frustrations and pleasures of getting to know each other.
It can get lonely here, probably for anyone. On the campus, the focus is study and work, more than any other learning institute I've ever been around. You can feel it; it's palpable. It's obvious that people are spending their entire days (and now I am too!) studying, working, reading, and preparing. In the face of this isolation, it can be easy to sense and blame the cultural differences. It becomes easy to have a whole litany of complaints against China. On the flip side, it's probably not that hard to label foreigner teacher and students as odd, frivolous, or aggressive.
The history of civilization: groups of humans complaining about other groups of humans.
I'm glad that William is forcing people out of their comfort zones. I'm glad he made me wait an hour to run, even though I felt a twinge of annoyance at first. I want to work past that twinge--that initial prickly feeling I get when I run into a confusing situation or I am delayed or inconvenienced or uncomfortable---there's usually something life-giving on the other side. The twinge is the feeling you get when you step outside of your well-tread routines and thoughts and are forced to open your eyes and look at others.
Missing all of you goofballs!
Ils
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