Back to 學校 (shi shao)

     We made it safely to China on Wednesday the 4th of May at 2:15 pm. Luckily for us it was only 1 hour time difference so we didn't have to worry about jet-lag in China. I was busy on plane reading a Chinese culture book called In the Pond by Ha Jin. It was a great read about an instance of abuse of political power in the Chinese communist government. It centered on the life of a factory worker Shao Bin who isn't rising to his true artistic potential of caligraphy, writing and art. When Bin suffers corruption he uses his talents to set things right for him and his family. The cry for creative power rung in my ears and made me ponder on what contributions I will make in the society I live in.
     China is different, that's for sure. Peering out the tiny porthole, I think the very first thing I noticed was the arsenal of bikes that filled the bike racks along the tarmac. That was great! It was in stark contrast to the more modern shuttle cars of the Korean airport. The level of development resembled that of Peru's: lacking. This is more like the Asia I envision when I left the ground in San Francisco. I summed up my thoughts in the rancid Chinese bathroom after the flight: China is to Korea just as Peru is to the U.S.
      Yes, I admit, I once thought that all asians looked alike---and I still think they do, at least I can't quite make out the difference yet. (If anyone says they they can, they're lying).  I generally stuck out like a sore thumb in Korea, but as I stood in the China Customs line, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were some Charles look-alikes. Dallin laughingly affirmed the notion that I looked Chinese because after getting off the flight he waited for us near the terminal entance and he confused me with 5 others before I finally came out. I say that even asians confuse one another because Jin, my Korean friend, has a tally of how many Chinese people confuse him for being from China. As of two days into being in China he's at 10. I'm only at 4.

I admire Chinese family values

       I stared into the eyes of the Chinese customs official behind her desk, a little nervous. I ran though my mind how to say thank you, "Xièxiè...xièxiè...xièxiè." She looked back up with a pleasant smile and said,"Thank you."
"What? "Thank you"? That's not Chinese, what do I say?!" Eh, who cares, I arrived in the mainland!

Zhongua Gate