Kung Fu Panda

Recently, Rhonda and I ventured out to the north side of Chengdu to see the Panda Breeding base.  This is the largest Panda Bear breeding facility in the world.  Rhonda had been looking forward to this for quite awhile.  The night before we went, she said she felt like it was Christmas eve!  She was pretty excited.

Here are some pictures of our Panda adventure:

Munching some tasty bamboo shoots!

Newborns.  Pretty cute.  

They are more agile than you might guess.  I watched this bear climb out on the thin limb to his right and try and reach the leaves.

Breakfast is served!

Some black swans in a pond we found in the middle of the park.  Very tranquil.  

Here are some other pictures from this last weeks activities:

The other day, we came across some folks practicing a form of Tai Chi with swords.  It is not unusual to see groups of men or women in public parks, practicing dance or Tai Chi

Rhonda and I went to Tianfu square the other day.  It lies at the center of Chengdu, and is famous due to the statue of Chairman Mao (Mao Zedong- Revolutionary, former communist party leader and founder of the People's Republic of China.), which can be seen behind Rhonda.

If there is one thing that has captured my heart here in China, it has been the children.  You want to pick them all up, and just hug them...although I am not sure that would go over to well.  Actually, the parents and grandparents are usually very excited to have their children visit with and speak to an american.  Here is a cutie we met on the subway.  She was very shy.  Many times, it is the grandparents you see with the children.  The parents are working and the grandparents usually will be caring for the children at home.  Most homes have 3 generations living within.  

Let me drop everything I am doing and help you!

As we enter our fourth week here in China, the dust is settling and we are feeling more comfortable in our surroundings.  We are learning enough Mandarin to communicate with the Taxi drivers as well as get ourselves into trouble if we are talking to anyone else.  They hear the few words and phrases we know, and begin talking to us like we were old friends.  My favorite response now is... “Qing, man yidian, hao bu hao.  Wo bu dong.”  Which means...”Please, can you speak a little slower.  I don’t understand.”  Then they speak a little slower, and I still don’t understand.  Oh well. 

Let me explain now the title of this weeks post.  The other day I was in the bank opening an account.  No one in the bank spoke any english.  However, there was a young woman standing nearby who asked me in broken english if she could help.  She was a student teacher at the University where I teach.  She insisted on staying and helping me open my account.  One hour later we were finished.  

Two days ago I was walking a few blocks away from our apartment, looking for a swimming pool that I had heard was nearby.  I was interested in swimming laps there for exercise.  I asked a young man on the corner who was trying to get signatures if he knew where it was.  He looked at the address, then spoke to one of his coworkers, explaining that he was going to assist this helpless american find the pool (at least that is what I think he might have said), and then he motioned for me to follow him.  We walked about 4 blocks away and finally found the pool.  It took us about 15 minutes.  I thanked him, he smiled and took off back to his work.

Last week I asked a young man in one of my graduate classes if he knew where the pool was on campus.  He said he did and would be happy to come back at lunch and show me.  He arrived and we then proceeded to walk 20 minutes to the pool  (campus is huge!)  We were told I needed to get a physical and a certificate proving I was a teacher at the school, before they would let me swim.  I glanced inside.  It was a beautiful olympic pool with 6 lifeguards on duty.  There was one person in the pool.  As I came to understand what was required to get a swimming pass, I think I understand why the pool was empty.  This student spent 2 hours with me and was late for a graduate meeting.  He wouldn’t leave me until he was satisfied that I was ok.  

I have been amazed at how anxious and willing the chinese people are to help.  Like all cultures and peoples, there is a spectrum of kindness, but the goodness of the hearts of this people, has impressed my heart.  

Classes are going well, but they are large!  Rhonda wins the prize for having the largest class...69 students!  There is hardly space for them to fit in the room.  She is frustrated with the large classes, as I am, but she is making the best of it. 

Last week I asked my class to discuss what they thought the strongest emotion was and why.  Then I asked them if light and dark can co-exist?  Can love and hate co-exist?  We then read together Martin Luther King Jr’s quote, 

“Darkness can not push out darkness.  Only light can do that.  Hate cannot push out hate.  Only love can do that”, and asked them to discuss it.  

As I listened to their insights I was amazed at how deeply they felt and thought about these ideas.  It was wonderful.  Maybe it is because english is a new language to them, but their ideas, and manner of expressing themselves was so fresh, honest and profound, that I couldn’t help smiling throughout the class.  (I say that english is new to them, but most of them have been studying english for the last 12 years)

Tonight we went to dinner with some of the members of our local branch.  I sat next to the consulate general here in Chengdu.  He married a woman from Thailand and has lived in a variety of places.  Other expatriates I have met also have a very interesting and colorful history.  Some are with the US consulate, and others work for companies like Chevron, and are working on gas or oil projects in the region.  One is here as a golf pro!  (Former asst. coach at BYU) Anyway, Pete (the consulate general) was asked what were the strangest foods he has eaten during his years in the service.  Some of the highlights included:  Porcupine, boiled wasp nest (you eat the larvae inside), and fresh Cobra meet.  It made the spicy Sichuan food that I was eating, and which was making me sweat like crazy, taste better by the bite.  

Rhonda has made our humble little apartment feel more like a home.  It is looking quite nice, thanks to her creative design ideas.  

I am afraid China has not been so kind to my back.  I am having quite a bit of trouble.  We had to cancel our trip to Xian and a trip this weekend to a minority village in the mountains nearby, due to the pain in my back.  Classes have been a bit challenging as well.  I am hopeful that things will improve soon.  

Here are some more pictures:

Shahe river, which runs in front of one of the campuses.  We cross this bridge as we enter campus.

Library on Qingshuihe campus.  Largest in China

Main administrative building on Qingshuihe campus on a very rare day that we could see some blue sky!

Crossing the street in China is quite an experience.  Pedestrians are at the bottom of the ladder.  Not many people pay any attention to the street lights, so one has to be very careful.  Here you catch a glimpse of a typical crossing.  Pedestrians, bicycles, electric scooters (which are by far the most prevalent means of transportation, behind cars), autos and buses, all vying for position on the road.  The 3 wheeled vehicle you see in the image above is a motorized rickshaw.  Rhonda calls them a motorized tin box.  We have tried them a couple of times, and they are not kind to one's back!

Here you see more of the electric scooters.  They are everywhere!  They look like fun!

You can see how Rhonda has helped to make our humble apartment into a home!

Tonight we passed by the Chengdu Global Center.  It is the largest building in the world.  Wow.  It is hard to get the feel from these pictures how big this building actually is.  As you can see, there is a beach inside of the building.  

Ni hao,

Well, we are in China.  It has taken me a while to update this blog, partly due to my losing 2 hours worth of entry that I failed to save adequately.  Lesson learned.  25 hours, layovers in Seattle in Shanghai, and we finally arrived in Chengdu.  We had a 3 hour layover in Shanghai and almost missed our flight due to a remarkably slow customs agent (20 minutes per person...really!)  We ran 15 minutes through a monstrous Shanghai airport and reached our gate just in time.  We then proceeded to wait on the tarmac for 90 minutes before take off, due to bad weather in Chengdu.  We flew though a lightning storm that was pretty exciting and arrived safe, sound but exhausted in Chengdu at 2:30 am.  Nancy, one of the other foreign teachers at UESTC (University of Electronic Science and Technology) was there to great us with a smile (tired smile) on her face.  

Our apartment was not ready, so we stayed in a different apartment for the first few days until ours was vacated.  The condition of the apartments were a bit less than ideal.  Rhonda spent much time removing black mold, and other sundry wall and floor coverings in order to make the place more livable.  The next few days were spent traveling to police and health departments to acquire necessary permits, getting x-rays taken for said permits, purchasing cleaning supplies, water, food basics.  Purchasing more cleaning supplies, etc...

The apartment complex we live in is filled with a wonderful array of foreign teachers from different parts of the world including England, France, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, and US.  They have been very welcoming and helpful.  We are making new friends each day.  Pete and Vickie Carrier traveled with us from the US and are part of the BYU Kennedy Center program we are involved with.  They have become wonderful friends and we have leaned on each other during this time of adjustment.

We have been walking a lot.  There is public transportation available, but until we learn the lay of the land a bit more, we find ourselves walking most of the time.  We are starting to use buses more, a taxi here and there, and for extra excitement, a 3 wheeled vehicle that looks a bit like a motorized chariot.  We have also been on their subway, which is very modern and convenient.  Chengdu is a city of 13 million.  It takes awhile to get from place to place.

There are two campuses and they are both beautiful.  Especially the Qingshuehe campus, which is only a few years old.  There are 30,000 students that attend the UESTC and it is rated #3 in the country.  

Unfortunately, Rhonda became ill shortly after we arrived.  She was very sick for several days.  This was particularly difficult in that she was also trying to prepare for her first classes.  She teaches 5 classes.  I was able to attend her first class and was impressed at how well she did.  She was amazing and bonded with the students very quickly.  She responded quickly and effectively to their questions and several unexpected situations.  She was awesome.  I was proud of how well she taught, but even more impressed due to what I understood she was experiencing within herself.  This was not easy for Rhonda.  She is naturally shy and does not like to be in front of a group.  She felt very anxious, not to mention sick, but faced this with great courage.  I admire and love her for that. 

I have been very impressed with the students I have been teaching.  In the admittedly short period of time I have been with them, I have noticed the following:

• They are respectful
• They are anxious to learn
• They are anxious to help
• They are fearful and slow to ask questions or give answers
• They have a great sense of humor
• They almost fainted when I told them I have 12 children (Most are an only child. Very few have one sibling-  China 1 child policy)
• They love their families very much.  I asked them to tell me about their families on their information sheets and was very touched at what they shared.
• They are very intelligent.  

I teach 6 classes of Phd students.  They are very bright.  I enjoyed my first week very much and look forward to sharing more time with these students.

There is much more to share, but I need to go to bed.  I teach 3 classes tomorrow at the other campus and need to be at the bus by 7:00 am.  Here are a few pictures which hopefully will help paint a picture of what we are experiencing here in Chengdu!  

Kent, Rhonda, Vickie and Pete Carrier in front of the Shahe campus (Old Campus)

The day after we arrived, we were invited to attend the welcoming ceremony for new students.  9000 students were welcomed by the school president and administration.  I enjoyed the president's speech very much (yes, it was translated on the large screens)

Cranes within view of our campus.  The other day, while downtown, I counted 33 cranes being used for construction.  There is a lot of construction going on in China!

Here is a typical toilet in China.  They are called "Squatters"  I think you get the idea.  A bit challenging for us folks with bad backs.  This is a toilet on campus.  Thankfully, we have western style toilets in our apartment.  

Here is the toilet in our bathroom.  Cleaning in process!  The shower head is right above the toilet.  Convenient if you want to multitask.  I haven't been that brave.  

Here is one street of the Shahe campus

Rhonda shopping for some fruit from a neighborhood vendor

Our friday night date...we found a McDonalds!!!!!!!!