I Dare You to Eat a Cicada

The Chinese eat many things we would not. Historically, it was a very poor country, and they found their protein wherever they could.  Yesterday afternoon they served us cicadas. Roasted, they’re rather crunchy and have a flavor like bacon.  Ever polite, Dr. Lewis accepted the challenge to eat one.

We Did It!

The purpose of this trip was to formalize two academic exchanges.  Yesterday, ETSU signed the cooperation agreement with Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology. The establishment of international partnerships is extremely formal, and the Chinese are great at formality.  Above, Dr. Lewis and the SICT president sign the relevant documents.

Drs. Lewis, Hogan, and I were awarded certificates of cultural ambassadorship and editions of the Analects of Confucius in ornate Chinese.

Moving on

From Beijing, we traveled south to Jinan on a high speed train.

 It is in places like train stations that one sees the real China, the enormous numbers of people, the blend of modern technology and ancient practices.  This woman was carting her baby boy in a straw basket.

When we arrived, our hosts assumed we’d want lunch at the Chinese MacDonald’s, but we were more interested in seeing what people actually eat here, so we went to a crowded lunch spot, where we interacted with locals, and sat on backless stools eating rice.

Every trip is different

Most of my trips to China have been for the purpose of teaching, and I’ve traveled solo, or else with my husband, Joe.  This time, I’m part of a delegation composed of   Dr. Angela Lewis, our Dean; Dr. Norma Hogan, Chair of Curriculum and Instruction and myself.  Dr. Hogan’s husband Eddie is along with us doing photography and logistics. Our goal is arranging academic exchanges with three institutions, and while Drs. Lewis and Hogan outrank me, I am the one with the longest experience in China. I’m also the only group member who speaks a bit of Chinese, so I do a lot of the planning and interface.

There’s been the usual round of meetings and sumptuous hospitality.  Below Dr. Lewis is pictured with North China University of Technology vice president Luo at our opening banquet.   

 We’ve also had a chance to do a bit of sightseeing despite the cold, and we’ve been reconnecting with former students.   Li Songshu, second from left, a graduate of our educational media program, now works for a university here in Beijing. Tang Yingjuan, far right, is a graduate of our MAT program, and runs the International Office at North China University of Technology.  

Other than cold, the chief SNAFU on this trip has been sporadic Internet access, but I’ll do my best to stay in touch.  

Morning on the Track  

Up early due to jet lag, I take a walk on the track at North China University of Technology (NCUT), where we are staying.  We arrived here at 10:00 Sunday after a  trip which took about 36 hours all told.  The track at NCUT is a morning meeting place where students and the occasional teacher walk, congregate, and work out on exercise equipment set up by the fence.

    

My skin tone and intermittent picture taking mark me an outsider, and a woman asked me what I was looking for.  Turned out she was a psychology professor interested in learning more English.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t carrying my business cards, something one should always do when traveling in China.  She promised to contact me via email.   

Incomprehension

In unfamiliar parts of the planet, we humans are out of place.  Michelle McKinnon-Young and I were in Chicago last weekend to visit my son Michael. It is not a difficult city for an Americans to navigate, since the natives speak English, and the place is laid out on a grid.  Less so for persons from farther away.The weather was very cold, and Lake Michigan was frozen in places.

The tour buses weren’t all running, but we managed to find one after a false start which included a climb down iced over stairs by the river, to a ticket booth which turned out to be closed.

Three quarters of the way through the tour, two Chinese gentlemen boarded. They knew almost no   English and did not speak standard Mandarin. It turned I was the only passenger who knew any 

Chinese, but I’m not really fluent, and their dialect was difficult to follow.  Using the translator app 

on my phone, I managed to let these visitors know they should not give the driver the hundred dollar bill they were waving at him, but should wait ‘til the end of the tour when an agent would board. 

My attempts to translate what the tour guide was saying about Chicago were less successful, but my 

good intentions were appreciated.  We exchanged business cards, a common custom in China when 

people are showing respect, and they took my picture. Then, when Michelle and I were getting off the bus, they gave me to understand that they actually wanted to visit Chicago’s Chinatown.  The driver waived the tour fee, since they’d not been on much of the tour.  I found them a cab, and told the 

driver where they wanted to go.  One of the men attempted to give me one of the several 

hundred dollar bills I saw in his wallet. I told him “bu yao” 不要 (don’t need) and “huanying dao meiguo” (Welcome to America) 欢迎到美国欢迎到美国.

I doubt the man fully realized that a 100 dollar bill is about six times more than 100 yuan, and I doubt I was up to explaining this in Chinese, even with an electronic translator. The cab sped away before I could attempt to tell him.  I can only hope for the best.  

Alternatives

As we finalized payment for the train tickets, there was a problem dealing with the Chinese agent, Dr. Hogan's picture had not uploaded properly, and the agent did not understand that ETSU email addresses can be written either someone@etsu.edu or someone@mail.etsu.edu,  and was suspicious when she saw us using both forms.

Some of us worried we'd be traveling by Chinese donkey cart.

Misunderstandings like this are extremely common when we're dealing with China.  Their system and ours do not align well, and even when agents speak English, they can misunderstand our cultural practices.  But today we got word that the tickets had been approved.  So no donkey carts.

Here's what a Chinese train ticket looks like: