Kevin's Travels: August 2008

Hi Family and Friends,

It is Friday, August 29, 2008. It was August 21 when 25 other students, faculty, and I flew to the city that never sleeps. It has been over week. The time has drifted by so quickly. Even though the days are scheduled with activity after activity, they still feel too short. I says this because I writing to you at 11:20 PM at night.

I want to describe to you what happened yesterday and today. Both of which have been non-stop. This is the reason there was no posting yesterday.

Yesterday morning, both Chris and I went to class by taxi to SBS. At this point, Chris's lower back, pain that he felt internally within his body, was still causing him much discomfort. The more movement seemed to irritate and sharpen his pain. In our low-level language course, we flipped to lesson 3. We do a lesson each day, which includes two dialogues. What is great about our teacher is she has us act the grammar. For example, I played the part of the waiter at a restaurant asking my classmates. Another benefit is she will continually add new vocabulary that is in addition to the book on the chalkboard. She writes all the words in Chinese characters and pinyin above it. Each character, I write down. There are so many benefits to having a native speaking teacher who only speaks and writes in Chinese.

For lunch, we ate at the SBS. The previous two days we had eaten out at a Chinese fast food restaurant. As in the photographs, there were two fish that looked like a piranha. Yet, they tasted good. In China, you eat just about everything you can get your hands on. After we finished eating, Chris's lower back suddenly began to increase in pain. A few of us walked him to the road to wave a taxi to take him back to the hotel. I was concerned. They day before the doctors said there was nothing wrong with him, just stress or not enough sleep. Yet, he spent all day on Wednesday in bed. I felt that there is a void in the medical examination.

On another note, our low level language class went after lunch to Joyce's home in suburbs of Shanghai. Homer and Emmy, both of which are student helpers for our class joined us and led us through the hustling streets and crowds of Shanghai. We took two subway trains. I must say that Shanghai's transportation system is one of the most effective that I've seen. For instance, Rob purchased an all-in-one card, which he put 200 yuan that can be used for the bus, taxi, or subway. My point is that Shanghai is clean, but cheap and very convenient.

Joyce's home was about 5 minutes walk from the entrance of the station. There were condominiums soaring 20 to 30 floors high into the sky. As we walked toward her home, it was easy to feel as home. The people in the area were all very friends. There were parks between the skyscrapers. Then we looked up and saw Joyce yelling and waving to us from far above. The condominium that Joyce lives in is about 800 to 1000 sq ft. That is a rough estimate. There were two rooms. One for Joyce and then her father and mother. There was a wide rectangular kitchen and bathroom, and luxurious family room. All the space was put to full capacity. Everything was maximized; not a space wasted. Everything had distinct purpose. When I first saw Joyce's bedroom, I was stunned by how small it was compared to my own; yet how proud she was to call it her own.

We were taught by Joyce, Homer, and Emmy how to make Jiaozi "Dumplings." I made some of the smallest while Rob made stuffed his flour pads with meat. He could hardly wrap it. LOL. We ended up making about 30 dumplings.

For dinner, we never stop eating, the table was filled with 10 dishes; all of which was home made. I loved the shrimp, fish, chicken, and our own finger pinched dumpling dishes. I even had fresh made green tea. It was a spectacular meal. I felt so honored. I told Joyce that he father and mother should open a restaurant in the Seattle area and I would be there first customer. I also told Joyce that if she comes to Seattle, she would be an honored guest at our house with American style food.

When I returned back to the hotel around 10:00 PM, there was commotion about Chris returning back to the United States, since his pain continued to persist. I could understand. The last thing a student would want would to be in bed that whole trip. In addition, on a more serious matter, what if the pain he is feeling is serious and time is of the essence for medical treatment. Both Geiger and Leslie Lum came in the room to discuss the matter with Chris about his final decision to go and not go and how to go about it such as discussion with his father and purchasing a plane ticket at the last minute. This conversation lasted until 11:00 PM.

In addition to this conversation, I talked to Geiger about my concern with language class because I learned that night that we weren't going to have class on Friday. Instead we were going to the Shanghai Museum, shopping mall, and the Bund. I was deeply concerned because we had already missed one day due to the record breaking rain fall that flooded that the city. I knew from being at BCC that you need 54 hours for a five credit class. I was worried that it wouldn't be possible to reach that may hours, complete the curriculum, and do well on the test. Geiger felt that ways too but assured me that all next week will be in class for the majority of the day. She said the reason why there has been so much travel is that it is only this week we are in the downtown area of Shanghai and SBS wanted us to experience as much of the city as possible.

Now to this morning, finally!!, I will make this quick since it is already 12:30 AM.

The whole day Chris stayed at the hotel again trying to arrange his departure with Geiger.

This morning at Shanghai Museum, a faculty member and I had a very unique experience at the entrance. There were two lines hovering outside the entrance. One on the left side and other on the right side. Well, we walked to the shorter line and meet a tour guide and a couple from Jamaica. We introduced ourselves and soon enough we were in a fascinating conversation about the couples recent experience at the Beijing Olympics. They were there for the all of the track and field sports and saw the BOLT dominate the 100 and 200 meter. There were there for the closing ceremony, which they said was by far the best of any of the Summer Olympics with which they have attended. Anyway, the line we were in were for those who had reservations. Our group didn't have reservations, but since we were engaged in a conversation with the the couple from Jamaica, it was assumed we were a part of the tour. The rest of the faculty and students had to go to the other line, which was about 30 minutes longer that our line.

The art works inside included furniture, calligraphy, poems, currency, stamps, and paintings. Some of the items where were as old as 600 A.D. For me, the furniture and the stamps were most interesting. The furniture was designed with such beauty, detail, and design that I wanted to call someone over and ask if I could make a purchase for this item and have it sent to this address. LOL. The stamps were carved in fascinating shapes or had Chinese characters written on it such small print that some required a magnifying glass. I was surprised that that character were very readable. They looked as if it had been engraved by a laser beam. I can't image how it was done by hand.

Near the Shanghai Museum, there was a shopping mall. But get this, it was underground. It was underneath the road. There was had lunch and was searching for some souvenirs and gifts for friends back home.

Later we went to the urban development site which explained and showed the designs for the 2010 world expo held in Shanghai. I will show be posting pictures of this later on. My camera's battery died when I was in the museum, but Joyce was nice enough to let me take pictures with her camera. What I found most interesting was they they portrayed Shanghai, the air, the water, the streets all perfectly clear and clean. We all know that is not true. Hopefully that will happen though in the near future. They had a huge model of Shanghai all laid out. Every apartment building to every skyscraper was displayed. It was a model of what the city is striving to become in the near future. It is absolutely mind boggling.

From there was walked towards the Bund, but made a pit stop at a Japanese restaurant. I had the seafood dish. Once at the Bund, there were fireworks in the background. It was 7:30 PM. I didn't remember seeing any two nights ago. I wondered if it is a routine every night to Shanghai's majestic prosperity. All I have to say about The Bund is continue look at it all day. It is such a remarkable piece of work. Although Beijing is the capital of China, I feel when I am at The Bund, I am on the top of the world. It's a special place for me now. I will never forget.

I hope this gives a little catch up for the last couple nights. I will be leaving tomorrow for SuZhou and then NanZhou. We will be staying at a hotel, but I don't know if they will have any Internet access. So you may not hear from me until Sunday night or Monday night.

For now, Zaijian

Kevin

Hello Family and Friends,

For Day 7, I didn't have a chance to write about my day with the first day of class, the bargaining market of linens, and the our night out in the city. What happened on Day 8, I think you will find much more interesting.

It all started at 12:00 AM. Chris turns the lights on and I squint my eyes. Chris tells me that he is having server lower back pain. He said, "I need to see a doctor now." "Can't you wait until morning?" I said. From his appearance, he looked normal. "No," he said. So took him at his word and jumped out of bed. We got dressed and went down to the lobby where I called Weihong Geiger. I told her that Chris needs to see a doctor immediately. Within 10 minutes, Chris, Geiger, and I were in Taxi driving to the nearest hospital. The back pain Chris was complaining about wasn't spasms, but internal such as organs. He didn't want to wait because the pain had increased dramatically in a few hours and he was afraid to let more time pass by. At the hospital, I was hardly awake, still in shook by all of this. The hospital looked like a ghost town. There was one only nurse at each station. After Chris was checked in, he was tested for numerous possible causes. Geiger had me call an insurance company to create a contingency plan of having Chris evacuated out of the country if needed. When he was having his blood and urine tested, I began to get lightheaded being in the hospital (VAGAL). After I went to the washroom, I started to walk unbalanced. At this point, all the tests were clear. They took him upstairs for an IV and some medication to sooth his stomach. So I turned around to head back to the washroom, and then I quickly knelt down to the ground, which I though I was about to puke. I didn't. I continued to the washroom and stayed there for about a half hour until I got myself under control and a clearer and cleaner mindset. I could have easily been patient number two for BCC. Afterwards, Geiger had me sent back to the hotel to rest. I arrived in my room about 3:30 AM. I woke up with Chris in the room at 7:00 AM. He told me he had been discharged from the hospital around 4:30 AM and given some medication to take before each meal.

The second day of class started at 8:20 AM. I was really hard at first, but then I adjusted. Again, I love the class. I love the student helpers. The teacher doesn't not speak any english, which makes such a difference. When I listen to hear and understand, there is a feeling of accomplishment. Class ended at 11:30 AM. Both the high and low level classes joined together and went to a local Chinese fast food restaurant where we had Mian Tiao (Noodles). I think all the food here in China is delicious.

We returned to the SBS. Our class is on the 12th floor. I was getting tired again, so I had a student helper join me running 12 flights of stairs. That woke me up.

In class, students helpers practice with us on materials that teacher covered in the morning. I practiced writing the Chinese characters on the black board, pronunciation of new vocabulary, and reading the dialogue. My student helper commented that I should receive an A for effort. So family, here is my first grade letter to you. LOL.

Then we went to upstairs to the culture class, we witnessed this remarkable painter. Li Zhong Tang is a renowned artist in China and abroad. Yet, I had never heard of him. This shows how little I know. He was drawing different kinds of vegetables with what first appeared like water colors. His detail to color and stroke had everyone wondering what he would do next.

He let a few group members try. Alica and Rob were the first two go. Alica drew a large apple tree, while Rob drew furious mountains with a river flowing between them. Both of which looked great.

Then we went back to the house and had a one hour break, which I spent uploading pictures. It takes a long time. So I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I do.

For Chris, he stayed in the room at the hotel for the whole day. Geiger wanted him to rest. When I saw him in the room, he told me his pain has subsided a little, but it still fluctuates. He joined the rest of students downstairs where we had dinner at the JiaJiang Chef.

Quickly, a few of students, John, and I went by taxi to the Bund. It was magnificent. You can look at the pictures all you want, but to experience it is breathtaking. I couldn't help, but to feel part of something massive in the works. I went back early to the hotel with another student who wasn't feeling well. She was feeling nauseated. I think our whole group is getting something is varied forms. I just hope I am not next. Yesterday ended for me at 11:00 Pm. This is why I write to to you that this was my longest day yet. "So Crazy."

I have to go to class for Day three, but I will keep you updated.

Kevin Osborne