Briggs Rolfsrud Siitari writes from her new summer job:
Hi, guys. I hope all is well with everyone.
We arrived in Hangzhou, in the Zhejing Province of China yetserday. Getting here was an ordeal. Our flight was cancelled. We heard rumors of a tropical storm...but then walked right by another flight direct to Hangzhou, so then we thought we must have been lied to. We hung out in the airport for a few hours, but I was lucky enough to find a massage place, so I was pretty happy hanging out all day. It felt amazing. I thi
nk it made the trip bearable for me, because I had been very uncomfortable up until that point. We wandered around the airport, then finally got a plane ride to Shanghai. We all traveled to a bus, where we could barely fit. While trying to fit all of our luggage on board, people were yelling furiously at us for a variety of reasons I didn't understand (because my Mandarin skills are lacking).
But, we made it, and took the bus on the three hour trip to Hangzhou.
Essentially, we left Hong Kong University at 8:30 am and arrived in Hangzhou at 11 pm. It was only supposed to be a few hour trip. Ugh. The saddest part of the whole thing is that they had a lot of fun activities planned for yesterday that we had to miss out on. Sigh. But, we ate a delicious meal full of vegetables and bean curd upon our arrival, so all were happy and healthy last night.
Today, we watched a presentation on China, then had lunch at a local pizza joint. Afterward, we played icebreakers with our co-fellows, and I had dinner with two of my students, named Elwin and Library. The kids choose their own names, and some of them are unusual, like Library, Memory, Spirit and Jupiter.
We have squatting toilets, meaning they are without a seat - just a hole in the ground. I will take a picture and show you. Also, the toilet hole is right next to the shower hole in our personal bathroom (though it is slightly elevated)..so that's a little weird and unsanitary.
Tomorrow, we go to West Lake, which is rumored to be beautiful. However, it is supposed to storm, so our trip may be truncated.
I am happy and healthy. My body wasn't sore today. Everyone has been great about assisting me with everything. Annie carried all of my luggage yesterday, and yelled at me every time I got near it. She's very funny and obviously kind. Michael, my teaching partner, and I have been working on our curriculum for this next adventure. We are going to do something totally different than before.... we're just not sure what it will be. I thought we could look at the pros and cons of big name universities in the west creating campuses abroad. Do they lose credibility by doing so? Should the curriculum change to accommodate the new nation's needs, or should it stay true to its 'home' campus? I thought these might be some interesting questions to ask my 18-19 year old students as they embark upon their first semester at college here at Zhejing University.
Miss you all!
Briggs
Hi, guys. I hope all is well with everyone.
We arrived in Hangzhou, in the Zhejing Province of China yetserday. Getting here was an ordeal. Our flight was cancelled. We heard rumors of a tropical storm...but then walked right by another flight direct to Hangzhou, so then we thought we must have been lied to. We hung out in the airport for a few hours, but I was lucky enough to find a massage place, so I was pretty happy hanging out all day. It felt amazing. I thi
nk it made the trip bearable for me, because I had been very uncomfortable up until that point. We wandered around the airport, then finally got a plane ride to Shanghai. We all traveled to a bus, where we could barely fit. While trying to fit all of our luggage on board, people were yelling furiously at us for a variety of reasons I didn't understand (because my Mandarin skills are lacking).But, we made it, and took the bus on the three hour trip to Hangzhou.
Essentially, we left Hong Kong University at 8:30 am and arrived in Hangzhou at 11 pm. It was only supposed to be a few hour trip. Ugh. The saddest part of the whole thing is that they had a lot of fun activities planned for yesterday that we had to miss out on. Sigh. But, we ate a delicious meal full of vegetables and bean curd upon our arrival, so all were happy and healthy last night.
Today, we watched a presentation on China, then had lunch at a local pizza joint. Afterward, we played icebreakers with our co-fellows, and I had dinner with two of my students, named Elwin and Library. The kids choose their own names, and some of them are unusual, like Library, Memory, Spirit and Jupiter.
We have squatting toilets, meaning they are without a seat - just a hole in the ground. I will take a picture and show you. Also, the toilet hole is right next to the shower hole in our personal bathroom (though it is slightly elevated)..so that's a little weird and unsanitary.
Tomorrow, we go to West Lake, which is rumored to be beautiful. However, it is supposed to storm, so our trip may be truncated.
I am happy and healthy. My body wasn't sore today. Everyone has been great about assisting me with everything. Annie carried all of my luggage yesterday, and yelled at me every time I got near it. She's very funny and obviously kind. Michael, my teaching partner, and I have been working on our curriculum for this next adventure. We are going to do something totally different than before.... we're just not sure what it will be. I thought we could look at the pros and cons of big name universities in the west creating campuses abroad. Do they lose credibility by doing so? Should the curriculum change to accommodate the new nation's needs, or should it stay true to its 'home' campus? I thought these might be some interesting questions to ask my 18-19 year old students as they embark upon their first semester at college here at Zhejing University.
Miss you all!
Briggs
