Still Kickin' - by Chris Schave, CE Adviser in China

Last night I left off talking about my trip to a cave and a mountain with waterfalls. Quite a few other funny/interesting things happened on this adventure. Part of my newfound popularity included people in my group wanting me to eat local food they had bought. One of these instances included everyone laughing at me. A girl gave me a green patty of something sticky and said “you try.” Now I’m not one to turn down free food, so I bit into it. Apparently, these things are cooked on leaves that you are supposed to take off when you eat it. I just bit right through it and started chewing. They thought this was the funniest thing. Then, at a little market we went to on the way home, another girl kept getting me to try random samples a guy had sat out. I think one was a pickled sardine with chilies. Not so good.

Language barriers are a funny thing. I think many people use that as a reason not to communicate to other people, but all it means is that it may take longer to convey a message. Eventually, I started picking up on the meanings of the English words they use. For instance, the word friend is used for someone that you know, not necessarily someone you like. I kept trying to explain that a people would be joining my group and from then on out I was their “friend.” Either that or classmate, even though I’m not in a class right now. It's easier just to say yes sometimes then try to explain the word. Non-verbal’s always make it fun too. It’s like a constant game of charades. I taught a smaller group “on the bus” and “off the bus.” Anytime we were pulling up to a stop they would say “off the bus!”

I am incredibly sore from all that hiking yesterday. Now I have to lug around a 50-pound bag. I’m going to go through it and start getting rid of stuff. I quickly learned that I should have listened to Torry’s dad. I’m just not sure what I would get rid of. I have always had a way of justifying a “need” over a "want."

I really got a kick out of the older men on the trip. After the waterfalls we walked back to the bus, but I got sidetracked taking pictures and got left behind. I walked over to where I thought the bus would be and turned around the front of another bus. About six of the old men were standing there smoking. They all pointed at me and smiled and said what I think to be something like, “oh, there is the funny looking white guy!” I crouched down like I was about to bolt of and ran back around the bus. When I reappeared seconds later, they were all laughing hysterically. I didn’t think it was that funny, but who am I to argue with a group of elderly Chinese guys, so I joined in on the laughter. On the bus they were all clapping trying to kill these gnats, so I started clapping. This got the whole bus laughing. I like easily entertained people. The best part was when I pulled out my camera bag to put some stuff away. I opened up a few compartments and they all were looking at it, nudging one another, pointing, and saying things about this bag. It was like I pulled up in a new car and popped the hood.

A lot of this is pretty surreal. I will probably make more money in my first five years of work than these men have made their whole lives. Now money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure helps facilitate adventures like the one I’m on. I don’t feel bad for most of the people I encounter here because they seem very happy. I do feel bad for the very young kids begging for money and trying to sell random crap to westerners.

I am off to the countryside today. Until then…

I have also started a Flickr account to post all my pictures. I have limited space on the blog... I'm not really sure how you find people on Flickr, but I will find out and let you all know. www.flickr.com then search "chris schave"... that might work.



Chris- Adviser Abroad China