ANCIENT ART OF KUNQU

If you've studied Chinese culture at all, you've probably heard of Beijing Opera. (You know what I'm talking about! That thing where the actors paint their faces, put on extremely elaborate headdresses, and sing in REALLY high-pitched voices. Feel free to Google, Bing, or Baidu it, it's pretty interesting).  

Beijing Opera

Beijing Opera is a few hundred years old, making it kind of like a drop in the river that is Chinese history. However, its parent art, Kunqu, is older still. (Brief history at: http://www.kunqusociety.org/kunqu/history/)

Kunqu actress Hu Zhifeng

Kunqu actor Yu Zhenfei


Kunqu is native to Jiangsu Province, where I'm living right now. 

From Wikipedia: Jiangsu Province
 The name comes from jiang, (city of Jiangning), and su, (city of Suzhou)

Last week, we had a culture class on Kunqu, taught by a professional actress.

She let me try on a piece of her headdress! 

It's shaped like a phoenix, which is kind of a traditional feminine symbol (the way dragons are masculine). 

Funny story: I was at a restaurant with my host family, and my host sister told me that the building we were in was roughly 250 years old. I laughed, and told her that all of America was roughly 250 years old. Situations like these are pretty common when one is in a country with one of the longest recorded histories!

CHINESE CHICKLET CHOP COOKIES

We baked cookies!!!!! This is a story. This is going to be broken into two parts, the buying stuff and the baking stuff parts.

BUYING:

By "we", I mean myself along with six other NSLI-Y kids. On Saturday, several of us (Vanessa, Elliot, Margaret, and Ida) met up outside the school and then took the bus to buy things like vanilla extract from the western grocery where I bought my bread-making things (speaking of which, I need to make more bread). 

But this is easier said then done. We got horrendously lost, and ended up hanging out by The Pants. We called another student (David) who lives by The Pants, and he and his host brother came and helped us out. We wandered around the SIP [Suzhou Industrial Park] for a little bit, before stumbling on the grocery.

I thought we were miles away from where we were. I was actually trying to get to an entirely different (and not as good) market because I had given up all hope of finding the grocery and the other market seemed closer. I practically had a spiritual moment when I decided to go another block down to see if any of the stores sold something cold to drink, and found THE store. 

Seriously, this store might as well have been the holy grail. I had literally given up.

Anyways, we bought stuff (BASIL!!!!! I HAVE BEEN TO SO MANY CHINESE GROCERY STORES, SO MANY SPICE STORES, SO MANY DIFFERENT PLACES, AND ONLY TWO PEOPLE HAD EVEN HEARD OF BASIL. I WAS CONVINCED THAT BASIL DOES NOT EXIST IN CHINA. BUT IT DOES!!!!!! :) :) :) ), and made our way back to my house. Amy joined up with us, making seven. 

BAKING:

One important thing to know about Ida is that when it comes to cooking, she is in charge. I am pretty much convinced that if you left her alone in a classroom for a few hours, she'd find a way to bake the desks in to an edible, scale model of the Great Wall or something. 

There was plenty of unit conversions and guesstimating (ha! Gmail agrees with me, "guesstimating" is a real word!), but it was all fun. We made the first batch using Hershey's chocolate chips (THAT I COULD EAT. I CHECKED IT ABOUT SEVEN TIMES, AND ALL SEVEN TIMES THE LABEL SAID IT WAS OKAY:) :) It was really tasty too, I've been missing chocolate) on an improvised cookie sheet.  

I took one of the many aluminum bread pans (they only sold them in packs of six, and I only need one), and cut lengthwise down the corners. Then I flattened out the sides. It was basically the same as a cookie sheet without corners. 

Then David, Ida, and Elliot had to go, so four of us made the second batch using the Skippers I'd brought from the States [nut-free M&Ms].

 It was wonderful to get a long, interrupted chance to talk to these people, about all kinds of things. I really do hope I'll do a better job of staying in contact with these people than I did last year when this all is over (SCARY THOUGHT, I AM AVOIDING IT)

My host grandmother tastes her first chocolate chip cookie!

SUZHOU ZOO

Entrance to Suzhou Zoo

I went to the zoo!!!!!!!! 


Unfortunately, the earliest time school ever ends is 2 pm, it is an hour long trip from the school to the zoo (assuming that you don't get lost as thoroughly as Elliot and I did), and the zoo kicks everybody out at 5 pm, so I only got to thoroughly see about a third of it before I had to leave. 

Suzhou Zoo May 2012, Photo by Hang Xinwei, Xinhuanet

Long story short: :(  (sadface). 


Not as badly as I was warned that it would suck, but it is rather terrible. I was really, really close to spitting a hunk of phlem in one man's face, and the bears were particularly sad. 

Bear at Suzhou Zoo, April 2012,
Photo courtesy of McLain Family Blog at http://mclainsabroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/suzhou-zoo.html

But I got pictures! And I'm trying to see all the terrible things as potential.

1984

Reading "1984" is my latest timesuck. 


A really cool thing about being with a bunch of intellectually-minded high schoolers is that you can actually have conversations about literature without people going "wait, remind me what a book is again?" 


I'm getting lots of great recommendations. The general consensus is that I should read everything Steinbeck ever wrote (except all the guys hated "Grapes of Wrath"), but everybody hates Dickens because of adjectives. 


Vanessa calls "1984" her "comfort book". I'm half way through, and I have no idea how this book can possibly be comforting. I also can't see any possible positive ending.

ACADEMIC UPDATE

正在取得進展

I passed the Midterm. I feel that I got a far better grade than I deserve. The teacher left the grade sheet lying out on the desk, with the list of all the grades we've gotten in the past week. No one got lower than an -A on anything, it seems that the only three grades they ever give is an A+, A, or -A. So we students have decided that A+ is actually good work, A is average work, and -A is bad work. I got an A on the midterm.

The rough draft of the final project's essay is due on Friday. I'm kicking myself for picking such a hard topic. I have to have 750 characters. 300 is easy. 500 is a stretch. 750 is a nightmare. The final draft is 1000. I still have to do interviews and the survey, but progress is being made!

RETURN TO SHANGHAI

View of Shanghai from Oriental Pearl Tower, Photo by David Nielson

I went to Shanghai! 


> Best part: getting to go up in the Oriental Pearl TV Tower http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shanghai/oriental_pearl.htm . 

Blue skies in Shanghai! Photo by Claire Balani

> Worst part: spending hours walking around the Waitan and NanjingLv in 44C (111F) heat. I have a sunburn. 

Tired on the Shanghai tour

>Middle-ish part: getting to walk around the vast, maze-like history museum under the Tower that I didn't even know existed. I really had to rush through it, but it was very cool.


[Smithsonian Magazine has a 360 degree view of the Shanghai skyline, including the landmark Oriental Pearl.  http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/content/Shanghai-Panorama/shanghai-1.html
~Posted by Pam]

CAMERON AT CHINESE SCHOOL

Cameron's program director sent us a newsletter emphasizing the rigor of the Mandarin program. The students begin classes at 8 AM and spend five hours per day at school. Four hours are for language study and one hour is for cultural explorations, like tai chi, calligraphy and touring historical sites. (Photos courtesy of NSLI-Y Suzhou Newsletter #1)

That's Cameron in the center, learning what is described as "the iconic and tranquil movements of this ancient exercise".

(Cameron is 4th from left)

Poet Zhang Li made this Suzhou bridge famous in the 8th century.

Moon falls, crow caws, frost fills the sky;

Under Maple Bridge, fishermen's flares confront my weary eyes. 

Outside the city walls lies Hanshan Temple; 

Late at night the sound of its bell reaches a traveler's boat.

~Posted by Pam Hughes

HUMANE EDUCATION

We Skyped with Cameron today and saw her well-manicured green fingernails. She also shared an interesting anecdote about a recent interaction with a local boy. 


As has been described here, Cameron has been visiting regularly with some dogs outside a pet store near her apartment in Suzhou. Her favorite seems to be this little white one, whom she has named XiaoBai Snowflake. 

XiaoBai Snowflake, Photo by Cameron Ishee

Over the weekend, she stopped by to give the dogs water and pat them in their crates. Two young boys, around eight years old, were nearby, and she saw one dump kitty litter into a dog's water bowl, laughing. Well. Anyone who knows Cameron can guess what came next: a lesson in the humane treatment of animals!


In her best Mandarin, she told the boys that what they did was not good and that it could make the dog sick or even die. They were visibly skeptical that the animal could die from drinking the contaminated water. But she made sure they saw her dump it out, and use a lot of water to rinse out any bacteria, before filling it again with fresh, clear water.


Soon after, one of the boys pushed a stick through the cage of XiaoBai Snowflake and began poking her with it. Cameron again corrected him, in a kind but firm manner. He protested that he wasn't hurting the dog, that she liked it and was having fun. 


Cameron stopped him and asked him a simple question:  If someone poked you in the side with a stick, would you like that? Would that feel fun to you?  He looked stunned, as if such a thought had never occurred to him.


The boy walked away with his stick and then, after a while, came back to her. He held the stick far out in front of him, and then threw it away dramatically, saying something like, "I don't want this, no, no, I don't!"  Then he bent down and began petting the dog he had been tormenting. He seemed happy with his decision. And so was Cameron...


Some readers may not know that Cameron is working with a renowned primatologist at the conservation division of the San Diego Zoo. Dr. Chia Tan is studying how to save a rare species of monkey that survives in only one forest in China. It is one of the most endangered animals on earth.

Guizhou Snub-nosed monkey (Photo courtesy of Xiaoping Lei)

In addition to studying its habitat and other issues critical to the species' survival, Dr. Tan is creating a conservation education project for schoolchildren in the local community called Little Green Guards. She is targeting eight-year-olds, whom she believes to be at the perfect age to learn new ways of relating to animals. (You can read about this project on Cameron's zoo blog here: http://chinazoos.blogspot.com/2012/05/awesome-person-dr-chia-tan.html )


The aim is to help the next generation of Chinese develop a connection to animals beyond utility, and inspire them to preserve those species they can. Their theme is : 播撒博爱之种,促进物种保护! (Sowing the Seeds of Love to Promote Species Conservation!) The Chinese-led campaign to save the Giant Panda has inspired the world and offers a shining example of what can be accomplished when the Chinese people set their mind to something important.

Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding

Cameron is very excited about the opportunity to support Dr. Tan's work. Currently, Cam is helping to build conservation libraries at three primary schools in Guizhou Province and will develop a curriculum on preventing forest fires, (with Ling-Ling the tiger playing the role of our Smokey the Bear). When she returns to California, Cameron will make a video for third-graders for Dr. Tan to deliver on her next trip to China.

Little Green Guards of Guizhou

I think with this young boy in Suzhou, Cameron got a taste of the impact she can have, and reinforced her passion for how, someday, she might apply all she is learning about communication and culture in China. By planting the seed of empathy in that child's mind, Cam may have just slightly altered the trajectory of his life regarding animals, and opened a door to a lifetime of relating with animals differently than his parents did. The harvest may be amplified by all the people he might impact with his new awareness throughout his life. 


To me, this small incident speaks volumes about why we let our little girl travel so far away from us. Cameron is destined to make this world a better place, in many ways, and it seems likely that one of those venues will be supporting the growing movement for animal welfare in China. Through such work, all the talents and energy that make Cameron Cameron could come together and contribute to meaningful change. Isn't that what we all hope for our children? The chance to follow their bliss and live lives of meaning and passion?

Cameron at age 12

~ Posted by Pam Hughes

How do you say "MANICURE" in Chinese?

My host sister, one of my fellow exchange students, her host sister, two of their friends and I all went to two restaurants and a nail salon on Saturday. (Yes, THAT is how much of an effort I am making to get these people to like me. I spent Saturday at TWO restaurants and a NAIL SALON.) My fingernails are now perfectly rounded -- and green. I'd honestly never realized what stubby, misshapen, ugly fingernails I have until I spent hours with people who care very much about having sleek, long, perfectly painted nails. (The woman who painted mine was pretty horrified by my hangnails!) 

These pictures are mostly from the second shop (which sold super fancy, expensive chocolates).

Wearing Jianing's glasses

 By canal near salon

 American exchange student Amy

Host sister Jianing

OLD TOWN SUZHOU

Photo by Cameron Ishee

I took this photo a couple of days ago on a trip to Old Suzhou with my school. 


There's no such thing as smoking breaks in China. You smoke and work, or you don't smoke.

Photo by Cameron Ishee

People really do use boats in the canals 

like cars in the streets!

The urban core of Suzhou is informally called Old Suzhou or Old Town Suzhou (central blue rectangle). Suzhou Industrial Park (in green), where Cameron lives, is on the east of the Old Town, and Suzhou High & New Technology Development Zone is on the west.

The Chinese news agency Xinhuanet.com published this about Old Suzhou in 2010.
~ Posted by Pam Hughes

Suzhou's old town a cherished oasis of tranquility

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-06/29/c_13375886.htm

 

KARAOKE!

Cameron & Jianing

Yesterday, my h-family and I went to sing karaoke. It's a BIIIIIIIG deal in China, these karaoke things!

LI FAMILY OUTING

Mr. Li, Cam, Jianing and Ms. Zhang

Last night, we went to a riverside Indian restaurant, called The Ganesh. This is us by the banks of the river.

CAMERON'S NEIGHBORHOOD

Jianing & Cameron

This is my host sister and I in the garden in the middle of our apartment campus. 


Cameron's family lives in a newly built, modern district called Suzhou Industrial Park. There are a number of  high-rises in their residential complex. Cam lives in a building like those in the background of this photo.

CLASSICAL PAINTING

We had a class in classical Chinese painting!  We painted (or attempted to paint) grapes, using traditional items like the maobi (the brush).

HUMBLE ADMINISTRATOR'S GARDEN

Suzhou is renowned for its numerous classical gardens, referred to by UNESCO as "masterpeices fo the genre" and designated as World Heritage Sites. Nine of these gardens are described here: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/813/


Cam took a field trip to Suzhou's gardens during her summer in Shanghai and reported an almost spiritual experience of deep relaxation and bliss.


In part because of its delightful name, Cameron intends to visit the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou. It is a classical example of the gardens of the Ming Dynasty and was created in 1509. It is the basis of many garden designs throughout China, and one can even find a replica in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art!


According to a travel website: "The main scenic spots include Distance Fragrance Hall, Fragrance Islet, Lotus-viewing Pavillion, See-the-hill Building and Pipa Garden. In this well-preserved private garden, one will enjoy the original and ingenious design as well as the calmness that is within your mind."


For more on the art and design of the Ming garden, the Met has a publication that explains it well.
http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/for-educators/publications-for-educators/~/media/Files/Learn/For%20Educators/Publications%20for%20Educators/nature_chinese_garden.ashx


~ Posted by Pam Hughes

SUZHOU STREET SCENE

(Photo by Cameron Ishee)

Cameron shot this charming scene of three laughing boys from inside a vehicle.


~ Posted by Pam Hughes

SUZHOU STREET SCENE

Photo by Cameron Ishee

A street vendor displays a giant cricket in a bamboo cage. 

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CAMERON ISHEE?

Cameron is in the lovely city of Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province.  The anglicized pronounciation is "Suze-Joe".


Suzhou is known for its extraordinary gardens and its network of lakes and canals. Some call it the Venice of Asia!


It is a city with an ancient heritage, first built 2,500 years ago. Marco Polo called it "The Noble City of Soochow"!

But Cameron is living in a campus of modern high-rise buildings in the newly developed district known as the Suzhou Industrial Park.


If you are curious about Cam's summer home, you'll find an excellent site in English here: http://www.classicsuzhou.com/

~ Posted by Pam Hughes

CULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS

(Photo credit: www.telegraph.co.uk)

Cam reports that she is learning a lot about cross-cultural communication by living with the Li family. Her instinct was to be very polite and respectful in both demeanor and language, lots of "please" and "thank you" and "may I?"


Turns out, they felt such formal courtesy was putting a distance between them, as if she didn't feel at home or want to be part of the family. (There is a Chinese word for this style of distant etiquette, but I can't pronounce it!) So she has been encouraged to be more familiar, which she is trying to do.


Some of the communication issues are rooted in the basic language divide. The adults speak no English and the host sister, Jianing, is reluctant to show her limited range.


Cameron's Mandarin is conversational but she lacks the vocabulary for more complex concepts, which can easily lead to misunderstanding. But they are all trying to work it out, and by the time she leaves, I'm sure Cameron will have taken her Mandarin skills and cultural understanding to a new level.

~ Posted by Pam Hughes