Sunday, November 2, 2008
November 2, 2008
- Woke up around 3 AM, and felt wide awake. Unfortunately by body thought it was 3 PM and refused to go back to sleep, so I listened to the Mandarin lessons on my iPod.
- Got out of bed around 5:15. Shaved, showered, and got dressed. That felt good. Dave and I ate breakfast: coffee and some of the German pastries we bought the night before. Dave walked me to the aprartment complex gate where a taxi was already waiting, eventhough it was only 6:30 AM.
- Although the traffic was obviously extremely light since it was early Sunday, the drive was still scary as the driver wove in and out of cyclists and pedestrians at every street corner. No one seems flustered at the constantly close calls. The ride to the Panorama Hotel in Shanghai took about 30 minutes and cost 44 RMB. ($7).
- The Hotel looked very nice…definitely elegant. I was the only one of our group, which numbers 24, who did not stay there last night.
- I’m quickly getting to know the other principals; all seem very friendly. My first acquaintances are from Montreal, Edmonton, and Springfield, Illinois. It turns out many of us were on the same flight from Vancouver yesterday. So far it’s everyone’s first trip to China. No one, other that the tour guide (Cherie) and bus driver, was in front of the hotel when I arrived, and they were distressed that the luggage compartment on the coach was already full.
- We ended up leaving about 40 minutes later than the announced 7:30 departure. Rumor had it they were getting a second bus to haul the additional luggage. My worries about being left behind were unfounded. One of my books said the Chinese were very punctual. We’ll have to see.
- I’m sitting on the bus right now, right behind the driver as we leave what must be a very heavily trafficked city. I can't imagine what it must be like on a busy rush hour work day!
- Driver uses his horn a lot. Dave told me minor fender benders are so common that people don’t even stop or get out of their cars for such events. Good reason not to own a car…the Coles don’t.
- The weather is very much like a typical morning in Whitefield, damp and foggy. I think a lot of the fog is smog according to Dave.
- The entire ride to Yangzhou reminded me a lot of d
riving along the NJ Turnpike near Newark, Perth Amboy, and Hoboken. We were continually passing one industrial plant after another. I quickly realized it was pollution causing the haze. The population density of China was also very evident throughout the trip. The number of high rise apartment complexes was incredible, and most of them were run down. Many appeared to be falling apart, and it was hard to tell if they were being renovated or just neglected. - Throughout the trip we saw people just waiting on the edge of the highway, but there were no noticeable bus stop signs. Interspersed throughout the high rises and factories were very small buildings that looked more like work sheds, but then you saw clotheslines and it was apparent that these too were people’s homes.
- Rice fields and new trees were also omni present, as were people fishing in what must have been very polluted waterways.
- I started listening to my Mandarin lessons on my iPod once I sensed the scenery was no longer demanding that I have my right hand on my camera in the ready position…I can’t believe how difficult Mandarin is!
- We crossed the Yangtse on the outskirts of Yangzhou. The river was very wide, similar to the Mississippi, almost delta like, and there was a great deal of shipping traffic on it. Once across the river, the condition of the buildings immediately started to improve.
- We drove right through a busy shopping district. Don’t know if it was the center of town, since the city population is around 4 million; it was hard to tell. The number of bicylists exploded and everyone on the bus kept wincing as rider after rider played “chicken” with our coach.
- We arrived in Yangzhou in about 4 hours, arriving around 12:10 PM.
- We pulled through a gate and into a beautiful park that included our hotel, the Yangzhou Guesthouse. I had imagined that we were going to be in a B&B, like what's a guest house. So I was really surprised to see such a beautiful complex that will be our home for the next four days.
- As the bus pulled up to the hotel, we were immediately greeted by bellhops as well as official from the Jiangsu Academic Community, Rob Corchran, an Australian. He spoke to the whole bus, told us to register for the confence, (our hotel registrations would be take care of by their staff who had collected our passports), label our bags so that they could be delivered to the proper rooms, and then head to the dining room. He commented that we were late and would have to shorten our lunch time. He recommended we use knives and forks, rather than chop sticks in order to accommodate that goal.
- As we walked into the hotel lobby, there were a couple of photographers snapping pictures of us, and the president of the JAC, Charlie ZHAO,
personally greeted each of us, and offered his business card in the traditional handed Chinese style that Ronnie Mesural had told me about. - Lunch was an incredible buffet of Chinese dishes. Most of which were not labeled. I realized I was probably eating eals, but they were good, so I finished them. I’m going to gain a ton of weight over the next four days unless I develop some will power.
- After lunch I went up to my room…it hadn’t been cleaned, so I took a walk outside, took a few pictures of the entrance to the hotel, and am now updating my log while I wait for room service to finish.
- Our first workshops began at 4 PM. They took place in the Orchard Tea house. Greeen tea and a variety of nuts and dried fruits were served.We were entertained with several cultural presentations about China: a puppeteer who completed a water color, a woman who played an instrument that was a cross between a guitar and harp, and four women who sang several ancient songs. Another woman gave us a Powerpoint on five different forms of fine art in China. The lights were dim and jet lag was getting to me. I think my neck snapped a few times!
- We also were given an introduction to the Jiangsu province and to the city of Yangzhou, and our last presentation was about the JESIE which included an explanation of how education is organized on the federal, municipal, and local levels.
- Lastly we returned for a buffet dinner at the Guesthouse. The choices were widespread and I controlled my servings in comparison to lunch. I sat with Richard from Springfield, Illinois, two women from Alabama, and a woman from Australia. The two women from Alabama have already been in China for a week. They escorted a field trip of students and parents who toured schools around Shanghai.
- After dinner I returned to my room. Got help from housekeeping to get my internet connected. Have to use a cable. They couldn’t explain why wireless isn’t working. My guess is that the wireless signals I’m picking up aren’t coming from the hotel, but that’s surprising that a hotel of this caliber wouldn’t provide wireless to it’s customers.
