Day 6: Dazu

I ended up having time for a 7 minute nap this morning, so uh.... Good morning?

I rushed to pack my suitcase. And then in my haste getting ready this morning I took some vitamins that I can't take until after I eat without feeling sick. So I was further slowed by that, combined with procrastinated packing.

I made it down to breakfast just at the last minute to grab a quick bite before heading out. I didn't think I had time for rice, so I made some toast and egg sandwich with some jelly. Instead of coffee, I drank some milk tea. I'm going to have to make some for myself when I get back to the US. I forgot to take a pre eating photo due to the rush, so please excuse the half eaten sandwich bit.

This morning we will go to Dazu to see the ancient stone carvings. It's about two hours from Chongqing, and I slept the entire way.

Today will definitely be an interesting day because the guys have made bets on what is going to happen today. They think that Liz and I go to the bathroom too much (if they were more hydrated, they might be more like us). There's a bet for how many times we will use the bathroom today. I don't know who bet on what numbers, but every time one of them invites us to go use the bathroom, I know they bet on a higher number. The other bet of the day is how many photos of Lil Mao I will take. In my opinion, the guidelines for what constitutes a different photo is unclear, but I guess whatever works for them. Once again, I can tell who bet high because now they're always suggesting places for Lil Mao next photo.

We walked around Dazu to see all of the stone carvings. They are all about Buddhist philosophy. The tour guide explained all of them to us, but I don't quite remember it all. I took a bunch of pictures to cover the highlights. The carvings either talk about someone's life, or outline Buddhist philosophies such as how to raise children, how to treat your parents, or reincarnation.

Lil Mao was getting pretty into the scene himself, and we had plenty of help this morning finding great photo ops. Unfortunately, most of the area was marked "Do not touch," so we didn't get all of the great pictures we wish we had.

It was so funny because while we were walking, this small group of people kept pulling us over one by one or in groups to take photos with them. I couldn't understand much of what they said, but I did hear them commenting on our height and hair. They were so happy it was hard to be less enthusiastic around them. Then as soon as the one lady would pull us over, a bunch more people would whip out their phones and join in. It all started with Liz, and I was able to get a picture of her before I got pulled into the experience as well.

The next stop was lunch. We ate at a nice restaurant in Dazu. While we ate, we talked about our names and how people always mess them up. We also asked Lotus about what our Chinese names would be. I guess Westerners usually use their same name but translated into Chinese syllables.

After lunch, it was time to go to the airport. I took a short nap, but I was having a harder time sleeping. The areas we drove through were beautiful, and I tried to take some photos of the mountain countryside. The fog makes the mountains in the background look like a watercolor painting.

We passed through some highway checkpoint at some point, and got pulled over for a routine inspection. The driver had to get out and show his paperwork. Then the officer checked the fire extinguisher. It was expired, so the driver and officer went somewhere for a few minutes. Then the driver was back and we were on the road again.

Once we got to the airport, it was time to say goodbye to Lotus. She has been so great these past few days. I really appreciate all of the time she spent showing us around, helping us with food and shopping, and hanging out with us. I had a blast at CQU, and I am even more excited now for the fall.

We got here super early, so we had plenty of time to make it through security. I had a much easier time today. No complications with the baggage scanning or pat down search. Alexia almost got her shaving cream confiscated for some reason, but that was the biggest hitch.

Since we had so much time, we went to a coffee shop in the terminal to hang out and wait for the flight. All of the drinks were so fancy and cute. And my iced coffee was excellent.

Then we made our way to the terminal to wait for the boarding call. While we were sitting, this lady comes over with a box if instant noodles and tissues and starts passing them out. Then she puts the box on the ground and people swarm, trying to get some of the free stuff. I'm not sure I understand exactly why that was happening, but I think about 5 or 6 boxes of free noodles were passed out in total.

On the plane, I sat by a really friendly guy. I thought it was a little bit awkward because his English was good and understandable, but I don't think he knew very much. He did tell me that sometimes the air in Xi'an is bad, but not like Beijing. He also really seems to love America and kept telling me how great of a country it was. I was kind of glad it was such a short flight, though, because I didn't have too much to say..

Apparently our flight landed about 30 minutes early, which is pretty nunheard of, so we had to wait for our tour guide to pick us up from the airport. So many people were staring at us as we waited. I don't mind the staring or the fact that people take pictures of us or selfies with us as the background. But some people are just a little creepy about it. One guy stood staring at us, leaning slightly in, for at least 5 minutes. He kept circling us, which was awkward and he made no attempt to make it less awkward or obvious.

Finally our guide shows up. Her name is Cathy and she did not stop talking the entire hour on the way from the airport. I fell asleep for most of it, but I did hear a good bit about Xi'an before nodding off. It used to be China's capital for several dynasties. Now, it is the cultural center for China. Beijing is the political center, Shanghai is the business center, and Xi'an is the cultural center. It is a very academic place, with more than 100 universities in the province. Teachers are very well respected. I also got the sense that she was kind of bitter toward Beijing because she was always explaining how Xi'an is older or less polluted or more beautiful... I'd be so curious to know if she picked the name Cathy, or if people just called her a Chatty Cathy and it caught on.

It was late when we got to the hotel, but we were hungry and wanted to go try some local food. Cathy gave us a few choices of places to go, and some rough directions to get there. She also warned us not to stay out late because after 11 is when the drunks and drug eaters come out. I am kind of skeptical about this claim... We think it's probably just college kids walking around.

We tried to follow Cathy's directions, but the map she drew was a little confusing compared to the actual streets.

I asked for directions a few times, but we still had a hard timing finding the restaurant. It was cool to see the people walking around at night, although I was expecting a lot more people to be out and about on a Saturday night. One concerning thing we did see was a couple walking together, but the girl kept struggling like she was trying to get away and the guy kept grabbing her. We didn't really know what was going on, and we were unable to even ask if she needed help. I wish we could have figured out what was going on, but all we can do is hope that she's okay.

Eventually we found the restaurant. The elevator to get to it was super sketchy, but the inside of the restaurant itself looks very nice. Overall, though, our mission was a pretty big failure because we had no success communicating with the staff. We got the impression that the people didn't want us there, or maybe they were closed. I tried numerous different approaches to try to get any information across, but the staff just stared blankly at us. Eventually one staff member called someone on the phone and handed it to me. The guy on the other end spoke a little tiny bit of English. He didn't know what was going on and didn't understand my explaination. Eventually we just gave up and left. I felt pretty bad that we failed so spectacularly, but I also am surprised Cathy recommended that we go to a place knowing that none of us have any kind of fluency in Mandarin. I also think that maybe we were so used to traveling with a guide or Lotus that we didn't even think twice about how it might work out.

With no other ideas, Alexia and I voted to take everyone to SulBing, a Korean dessert cafe. At least we knew that menu...

The people there were so friendly. We had to use a translator app a little bit to communicate because my Mandarin skills weren't quite enough, but everyone was super understanding and helpful. We ordered strawberry red bean bingsu, chocolate brownie bingsu, and some cheesy kimchi thing. It was so delicious. For those unfamiliar with this Korean dessert, bingsu is a frozen dessert made out of finally shaved frozen milk and topped with pretty much anything (similar to an ice cream sundae). I really love bingsu and didn't think I would be able to get it again any time soon. Even though the dinner plans didn't work out, I was quite pleased with the bingsu.

After that, it was getting late. We didn't want to run into the drug eaters, so we headed back to the hotel. Everyone we saw who were the "drug eaters" looked like college kids going to a dance club or something.

Since we didn't actually get any real dinner (unless you're like me and count bingsu as dinner), so we going to order some room service back at the hotel to supplement our meal. I really wanted to shower, and it was getting pretty late, so I was going to shower and then catch up with them. Instead, I took too long to shower, and Liz and Alexia were already back when I finished. By then we were all wiped out, and I can't even remember if I actually made it under the blanket before I fell asleep.

Day 5: CQU Part Two

I didn't sleep much last night, so I think I'll have to rely on coffee and hype to make it through the day. I woke up kinds of late and scurried down to breakfast at the last minute. I hope I told the hostess the right room number...

I had a quick breakfast of rice with a fried egg, coffee, water, and kiwi juice. While I ate, the others were discussing the fact that the same song has been playing on repeat all morning. It's a Christmas song. I've noticed that in Chongqing, Christmas decorations are everywhere country around Christmas time, so I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to holiday cheer. If anything, I was expecting less Christmas spirit because I thought a lot of people here would be Buddhist. I asked Lotus and she said that a lot of people go to Buddhist temples because of traditions, but she is not sure how many of them actually follow the Buddhist beliefs.

Lotus took us on a campus tour this morning of CQU Campus D. Like the other campuses, it is big and beautiful. I think this campus is the most beautiful. It is a lot like a park or nature preserve. There are even signs that describe the different plants and wildlife around.

The main attraction on this campus I would say is the giant lake in the middle. It is filled with lotus plants. Unfortunately they're all dead right now; although I still thought they were beautiful, I can only imagine how much more beautiful they are in full bloom.

We hiked around campus for a while, just enjoying the scenery. Lotus told us a bit about campus life. Everyone lives in the dorms, and even though they're not great, they are so cheap that it's okay. That is so much different than dorm housing in the US. She was also telling us that although their tuition is much less expensive at CQU, the UC tuition is much more inclusive. We have great budgets for student organizations, the rec center, and really nice libraries/study facilities. At CQU, the gym equipment is super out of date, and the library isn't big enough to hold enough students. It also closes at 10 or 11 PM every day, which means there isn't a nice place on campus to study late at night.

We eventually made our way to the JCI-UC office, where all of the staff we had dinner with last night work. They were on another campus today at an administrative meeting. Lotus was telling us that they keep all of the paperwork, student exams, and lab reports here. I guess the students don't keep their assignments, but the JCI office holds onto them until the students graduate in case there is any discrepancy or debate in the grades.

By the time we walked all of the way through campus, it was lunch time. We walk around China so much that I'm almost always hungry. Lotus took us to experience the CQU dining hall. Unlike CenterCourt at UC, the CQU dining hall is like a cafeteria where you can buy food from one of many small restaurants in the dining center.

I decided to try some spicy pig's feet noodles today. There were a lot of bones, so I had a pretty hard time eating the pig's feet. The meat was very tender, though. I liked the dish overall, even though it wasn't actually spicy.

We took the campus shuttle from one campus to another. It cost 5元, but the other campus was practically an hour away so it was fine.

On the way, we got word that the location for our presentation was closed for maintenance until halfway through our scheduled time to present. Lotus had to rearrange the schedule so that we could have the meeting after the class we will shadow this afternoon.

Since we had an hour to kill, we went to explore the Walmart down the street. It was so different than the US Walmarts. I want to say that it was a little bit nicer, and it seemed to attract a more normal crowd. It was fun to look around and see all of the Chinese selections. All of the dishes and silverware was so cheap; Liz, Alexia, and I really wanted to buy all of it but unfortunately it would have been a little bit too big to fit in my carry-on bag.

Then it was time to go shadow the CQU JCI class. We sat in on an EE Machining lecture. I didn't realize that the class was two hours until it was starting, but it turned out to be okay. This was the last lecture before exams, so their professor promised to give them a fun lecture about his research.

He is a Chinese professor who speaks with a Chinese British accent, which I've never heard before so that was neat. The class was in English, so we were able to understand most of it. I can't tell if we made him nervous observing the class or if he's just more of s nervous guy.. he kept apologizing, particularly when he would clarify a complex term in Chinese to make sure the JCI students understood.

Lil Mao was ready to help take some notes on what the class was like. The first thing we noticed is that the first three rows of the classroom were completely unoccupied. Nobody sat in them, which is so strange to me because sometimes we're fighting over seats in the front row of classes. There's usually at least a few people (like me) who always sit in the front.

As a slight side note, I've been wearing my glasses and it's been great to see all of the things. Even when we were sitting in the back of this classroom, I could read the whole PowerPoint so clearly.

Anyway, I think the students's behavior was for the most part a lot like it is in the US. Some people were paying attention and maybe taking a few notes. Other people were texting a little bit, but they were trying to do it more discretely I think. I didn't catch anyone sleeping, but it was also only one lecture so I cannot say that this is completely representative of the usual behavior.

The one big difference I did note was that nobody left during the class. Once people arrived, they stayed put. CQU also uses a bell system so that professors know when they have to stop the lectures or have the short break in class. Everyone we talked to were so confused as to how a university could function without the bells. Hopefully it won't be too big of an adjustment for them when they move in the fall

After the class, it was time for our presentation. Most of the students who attended were in the class we just observed, and the professor also sat in the hear what we had to say.

I had to trust Lil Mao with Jacob and Jonathan to watch while we were presenting. From what they say, he was a very attentive listener and quite the talented doodler (pictures will arrive when I receive them).

We also had some technical difficulties with the presentation to start, but they were soon resolved and we were able to present. Overall, I felt like the presentation went very well. The students seemed interested to hear what we were saying, and they asked some good questions that made me think they're excited and maybe a little nervous to come to UC but not so overly worried they will have a bad time.

After the presentation, we decided to go out for Chongqing hot pot with any of the students who wanted to join us. To give the students time to put away their backpacks and such, Lotus took us to see a traditional outdoor market. It was fascinating to see all of the different cuts of meat being sold. I also made the mistake of asking how they keep the flies away from the meat (spoiler alert: the answer is that they don't).

Next stop: hotpot. I've been hearing so much about how incredible the Chongqing hotpot is, and that we really need to try it while we are here. I hoped that the anticipation didn't kill the actual excitement of eating it.

Hotpot is a meal where there is basically a hot pot of water (maybe spicy or non spicy stuff is added) in the middle of the table. The waiters bring raw meat or vegetables out and you put them in the hot pot to cook. We had a lot of different stuff in our hotpot. The two signature things were cow stomach and duck intestine. The cow stomach has a weird texture and I thought it was a little bit chewy, but it wasn't bad. I actually really liked the duck intestines. We also had pork, beef, mutton, shrimp, spam, and tofu skin (they explained to me what that was but I forget exactly... Some kind of delicious tofu). I never eat spam unless I'm in Asia, so every time I see it in some sort of fine dining setting it cracks me up.

We also ate these fried pork things. Apparently they were supposed to make your mouth numb or something, but I ate a bunch of them and never noticed....

You also get your own personal seasoning oil to dip the food in. They give you the oil and you can add whatever flavors you want. I had no idea what to put in mine so I just made the same one that Shorey did.

I really loved the hotpot. It was so delicious, and I had a great time talking to the CQU students. We talked about everything from hobbies/videogames to what we wanted to do after graduation to different stereotypes about our cultures. I think the best thing we discussed was hair color and how we have trouble distinguishing things that the other finds easy. For example, telling the different between blond, bleached, brown, and red hair is so easy for me, but I cannot tell the difference between the super dark brown natural Asian hair color and dyed black hair.

Matt has been dying to play basketball this whole trip, so after dinner he finally got a group together to play. We went back to the university to play. To clarify, I wasn't playing at all-- just watching and supporting Liz.

On the way to CQU, we stumbled across a cat. It was so cute! When I tried to take a picture with Lil Mao, though, I had to spend my time rescuing him instead of taking a nice picture. As soon as I set Lil Mao down, the cat started moving aggressively toward it. We were all scared for Lil Mao and due to the circumstances, this picture below is the best I have.

Looked like a pretty intense game, but I didn't actually end up watching too much. Instead, I spent the time talking to two female EEs. They were super nice, and I think that the more I talked to them, the more I realized that although we might seem super different at first, we have so much in common. We are sharing the same school experience, we've all had awful and wonderful professors. Some people know exactly what they want to do when they graduate, others have no idea. We're all so similar, so I feel so hopeful that in the fall everything will work out smoothly.

After they finished the basketball game, we hung out around the courts for a while. I was trying to take a girls photo with Lil Mao, but he was taken out of the picture by a very insistent Matt. So then we had to take a "family photo" with all of the guys, including Lil Mao. Then they guys spent some time trying to get Lil Mao to sit on the hoop for a picture. I think it's so funny that when I first had the cat and was taking pictures, some people seemed to be rolling their eyes, but now Lil Mao seems to be a full member of our group.

When we finished up the basketball, we still had one last activity to try with our CQU friends: KTV. I was so tired already but it was our last night here so I couldn't pass it up.

KTV is like karaoke, except you rent a private room with your friends instead of singing in front of so many strangers. At this particular place, if we spent a certain amount of money buying snacks, we could get the room for free. This gave us a great chance to try some of the Chinese snack foods.

Only Shorey, Jeremy, and Lotus joined us from the JCI, so it was a slightly smaller group which I enjoyed much more I think. Lil Mao was ready for KTV all night, but I ended up falling asleep after a few hours. I don't really know how long my impromptu nap was, but I guess it was surprising to everyone that I slept through all of the karaoke. To be fair it was pretty loud and there was some *beautiful* singing going on. I really think I can sleep through anything, though, and this KTV trip just kind of enforced that.

When we were leaving, I was only half asleep and very cold because that's how it always is when I wake up from a nap... There was a super drunk Korean couple waiting by the elevator with us, and they kept trying to give us cigarettes. I look forward to arriving back in the US where the smoking less common and more regulated.

It was so fun hanging out with everyone tonight. I wish we had more time in Chongqing to get to know everyone more. Hopefully I'll get to see them all in the fall.

Looks like I'll be pulling an all nighter tonight so I can get packed. We leave for Xi'an tomorrow, so I'll just use that plane ride to catch up on my sleep. This trip is really flying by but I'm loving every second of it.

Until next time!