03-20-2016

I forgot to mention this before, but on Thursday there was an event for international students to get paired with Chinese families that was, in my opinion, poorly run. First, students and families gathered into a single room where there was a microphone and podium. As they wished, individuals and families could go up to the podium and talk about themselves/what they wanted or were seeking from the pair-share experience. Since that was conducted on a casual as people felt comfortable basis, I think this went on for too long. At the same time, not everyone had a chance to speak, which seemed unfair on the basis that families would not know what to expect from those who did not talk (in my opinion, this portion seemed to favor those who like talking about/marketing themselves, and those who are okay with impromptu events). It might be surprising to some, but I actually went up and introduced myself. I think it's funny because it seemed that the most memorable thing I said was that 'I like to eat Chinese food'. I'm fine with that, though - it's not like that's a lie.

Afterwards, we were led into a different room with tables and snacks where students and families could talk to each other face to face and on an individual basis. Later I was told that although each student could only officially have one family, you were allowed to accompany/hang out with others if you were invited. After the lady I had been talking to for the majority of the time (whose family is to become my official Chinese family) left, another lady came up to me and invited me to her parent's house during the weekend. I accepted the invitation and she left as well after she added me on WeChat. Her English name is Gloria, and her immediate family consists of her husband and a four year old daughter named 笑笑 . 

She didn't invite me until Saturday evening, before which I had planned to relax all day on Sunday, but I figured this was an opportunity I shouldn't pass up. We went to Jing'an, about an hour outside of Nanchang. Gloria's parents still live in the town where she grew up, so it was cool that she got to introduce her hometown to me. She took me out to walk around (and her four year old daughter wanted to go with us to stay with her mom, but Gloria told me, "I don't want to take her, she's too noisy", so she messaged me on WeChat when she was ready to leave so we could go out secretly).

The river is close by to where her parents live. According to Google Maps, this is the Beilao River.

The town still felt more like a small city than a village, but there were still aspects that were reminiscent of simpler and less technologically advanced times. There was a fisher by the river that appeared to be hand-fishing, and we briefly passed by this man weaving his bamboo crafts (which I was told are essentially large plates). Gloria asked him if I could take pictures before the fact - otherwise, I would not have done so.

After we returned to her house, we had lunch. I think a couple more dishes came out after I took this picture. Everything was so good, and I didn't realize how full I was until getting up to leave the table!

Starting from the top-left, there was a bowl of bamboo and duck, a plate of tofu, and a plate of pig's ears (Gloria thought I was brave for trying it. She told me she purposefully told her mother not to cook anything 'strange' since I'm a foreigner. The pig's ear basically tasted like meat that was somewhat rubbery in texture. I don't understand why people would have any qualms about eating pig's ears, especially if they are already familiar with and eat bacon). The plates on both the right and left of the fish had meat (I think beef but I'm not sure) and obviously the one of the left has peas. I'm not sure what veggies are in the bowl on the right. Finally, the plate closest to the camera is pork. There was also rice and soup with beef and lotus seeds. Everything was very good! 

Afterwards, Gloria drove me around the town so that I could see places which might take a little more time to walk to. We stopped by a public pavilion where restaurant employees were apparently practicing for some competition, and they were shouting loudly as they walked to and fro with steps in sync. Gloria was disappointed because she thought it would be more of a dance performance ("they were shouting so loud, it was giving me a headache!")

When we returned again, Gloria decided to take her daughter to get a haircut, and I tagged along for fun. Her hair got cut pretty short and in a bowl-cut like style. I thought, 'of course her hair would get cut like this' kind of as a joke because it made her look like a picture-perfect Chinese child. It was even funnier to me because Gloria had already realized this: "I'm sure this kind of haircut is what most Westerners see when the think of Chinese children. You can take a picture if you want." I didn't take a picture because I didn't want it to come off as me doing so to comment on her hair. I was also warned that she would cry a lot during the hair cut, but she didn't make a single sound. "It might be because you're here," Gloria told me, "otherwise she might be throwing a fit."

Soon after, we left back to Nanchang. It was an event-filled day and even though the activities from yesterday and today made me feel more tired than rested after the conclusion of the weekend, I don't regret taking part in either.