(Disclaimer: The following post is aimed at describing one of the most amazing days of my life…I only hope to do it the justice it deserves.
Last night a student named Marco (the President of the Senior Class of Economics majors here at ICB) asked me, Enoch, Rodney and his wife Jessica if we would like to join a group of students on an excursion out of the city. In Denver, this is the type of thing that I would have surely avoided partaking in…because it would involve fraternization with students. However, as I have been told by administration several times already…in China…things are different; so…why not!
He asked us to meet him and his fellow classmates at the south entrance to campus at 7:45 a.m. and told us simply to bring 300 RMB to cover the costs of the entire day. (Sidenote: The budgeting skills of this student group was AMAZING…everything was accounted for in the budget…right down to the last dime). The previous night I had decided to partake in my first Asian karaoke experience (which is another post in and of itself) so I got much less sleep than normal…thus 7:45 rolled around very early! But Enoch and I showed up right on time and there was a group of our students with three cars lined up packed and ready to go!
(This is the best picture I have of the students...minus one student and with the addition of Rodney).
Upon arrival we first had some paperwork to take care of. Apparently the students decided that they should purchase insurance for each of the faculty members (all in the budget), so we signed a few forms and then divided ourselves up into the cars. We were asked to only sit one faculty member in each car in case of an accident (this way if something happened they wouldn’t wipe out half of the ICB faculty in one car crash…these students REALLY thought of everything). I chose the car which one of my students named Daniel was driving. He told me I made a good choice as the driver of one of the other cars just got his license two weeks ago (phew!!!). We piled in and were on our way…or so I thought.
We drove a couple of blocks and pulled into a KFC parking lot where two of their classmates were waiting for them with bags full of food…they had purchased breakfast for everyone! And not just breakfast…coffee! Oh glorious coffee! This was my first cup of coffee since coming to China and it was MUCH appreciated after a late night and not much sleep. After breakfast was distributed we redistributed everyone in the cars and were really on our way. We drove for a couple of miles and then pulled into the Olympic Stadium. Are we going to explore the stadium too? I was getting excited as I LOVE the Olympics and have been wanting to come here…but apparently no. We had lost a car…our inexperienced driver was lost. Oops. After a few phone calls and a little bit of waiting he caught up to us and we decided he should probably be the middle car from here on out. Once he found us…we were off again.
After about an hour we came to our first destination, a place which translates in English to something like ‘The Lavender Fields’. Apparently these are just huge fields of Chinese Lavender (different then American lavender with almost no smell whatsoever) with different ‘objects’ placed throughout for photographic moments. There were benches, pianos, flowing curtains, classic cars, words like ‘LOVE’, windmills, etc. A photographers dream. We saw many people taking wedding pictures and lots of professional photographers. The students insisted we all take some photos…so we obliged.
(Note: If I become a famous Chinese Pop Star I think this should be my album cover).
After our photo shoots we were back in the car and headed toward lunch. All the students were very concerned about me. “Professor are you hungry?” “You are hungry aren’t you?” “We brought you an extra hamburger…just let us know when you need it.” These are probably the most thoughtful people I have ever met in my life. Their mission was to take care of us professors in ALL regards. I assured them I wasn’t hungry and that they should just choose the place to eat that they thought was best. So about another half an hour or so into the drive we pull into a place which is translated as a ‘you-fish’ restaurant. Essentially, you catch the fish that you want to eat, and then you bring it to the restaurant and tell them how to prepare it for you. The first place we stopped was deemed “not delicious enough looking” and we were told we would find somewhere “more delicious rated”.
A couple miles down the road we pulled into another place that was rated highly. We stopped and immediately the students went to work grabbing fishing poles. According to them we would need about 5-6 fish to feed us all so we better start the fishing. This area is known for having some of the best Golden Rainbow Trout in the world (You all know my eternal loathing of all things fish related…so the phrase ‘best fish in the world’ doesn’t hold a lot of clout in my book…but…I was certainly going to give it a try). A few of us took turns ‘fishing’ and before we knew it we had 5 beautiful fish in the bag in front of us. I use the word ‘fishing’ cautiously as these fish didn’t stand a chance…but nonetheless, the students loved it!
After they came over and killed the fish with a stick, the students told them how to prepare the fish and ordered what turned out to be a HUGE feast!
We all went inside and sat at a huge table and we taught the students how to play Uno (something they were dying to know the ‘real rules’ for. (Sidenote: I taught them the rules for killer Uno…I secretly love that killer Uno may slowly spread through China). Before lunch came the students brought over gifts that they had purchased for us and toasted the new professors and thanked us for coming to teach them. They wanted to make sure that they welcomed us to China in style…and they certainly did :-). Lunch came and we feasted on what was seriously DELICIOUS fish. And yes…I just said that. I cannot believe how good the fish tasted. It was absolutely amazing. Once we thoroughly convinced the students that we could not eat another bite we loaded up into the cars and headed back on the road toward the Great Wall.
After another half an hour or so we came upon the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall of China. This section is a little further away then the heavy tourist section near Beijing and also involves a little more serious of a hike…but the students all said it was definitely worth the extra effort (and I agree!). We left the car and headed up on the path toward the wall…this involved basically stair after stair after stair. Apparently the students were all worried about whether I was going to be able to ‘make-it’ and during the beginning they kept asking if “professor needed to stop and rest”. But, after awhile they soon discovered that they should not have been worried…and started asking me to slow down (Sidenote: 14ers in Colorado are certainly a good enough preparation to hike the Great Wall :-)
After what was a very good workout we finally made it to the Great Wall…
Once on the Great Wall we decided to walk a good portion of it. This essentially involved another set of about a million stairs…but every single one of them was worth it. This time of year the mountains and surrounding area were green and lush and beautiful. The students did their best to describe how on one side of the wall were the Mongolian invaders and how the different lookout posts were positioned with men in arrows to keep them at bay. We came across ancient cannons and look outs and sleeping quarters and basically just marveled at the amazing structure we were walking upon.
Throughout the entire walk the students split themselves up into groups to ‘protect’ us. Enoch and I weren’t winded by the stairs so two of the students went ahead with us while the others fell back with Rodney and his wife. We were cautioned to ‘be careful professor’ whenever the steps got large or the terrain was a little rocky. The students were so caring and helpful, it was truly amazing. I was deemed the photographer of the group so took as many photos as I could for this once in a lifetime experience. After a few hours of exploring on The Great Wall we made our way back down and passed through the little merchants who set up their trinkets to try to sell to foreigners. The students were impressed with two phrases that I apparently say really well ‘Boo yaou’ which means, ‘I don’t want any’…and ‘Tai Gui La’…”Too Expensive”.
(This is at the end of the hike on the wall...Rodney, Jessica, Enoch and Myself).
We all loaded back into the cars and finished off the trip by heading to dinner at a restaurant on campus. We used the remainder of our budget to order a feast and recount the details of the amazing day we just had. I left the feast feeling like a different man. Teachers in China are treated with so much respect. These are students that I will see in class again on Tuesday. Some will work hard and gain A’s. Some will inevitably earn grades less than their liking…but all of them have such a respect for their professors and a kindness toward us that it is absolutely incredible to behold. I am truly appreciative for them welcoming us to China and helping us to experience their culture and letting us in on their lives. I will do my best to heed their advice and ‘relax’ and ‘have fun’ as much as I can while I am here.
I’m sure I left out many of the amazing events that made today so great…but I’m left feeling drained, exhausted, and grateful that I took a chance, stepped outside my comfort zone, and embarked on a journey to China.
Zaijian for now,
Gary
Eating fish AND hiking in the same day!!! I'm so proud! :)
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