Return and Departure from China: why and how I left.

This link will take you to Part 2 of my interview with Carol Dussere regarding the last chapter of my life in China. Escape from China. It covers everything I would have said here, so I felt it was appropriate to link it here.  

Interview with the Foreign Art Teacher in China

I wanted to share an interview I did with friend and fellow colleague, Carol Dussure, regarding my experiences in teaching and living in China. You can find the link here
American Teachers in China Part 2

For Whom the Class Bell Rings: Wide-Eyed Tales of China of To Be Continued...

Mural on a wall outside of a restaurant in Beijing we passed. 

Hello World! I apologize for it has been a few months since I have had the wherewithal to post... Life is moving quickly these days and is full of new discoveries, challenges, and realizations. 

In the swing of all the adjustments, I have found myself remiss to sit down and rap out the documentation of my adventures. Alas, three months have passed and it is time to catch up! So without further adieu, let us rewind to November and my trip to Beijing. First of all, let me say there are many mixed reviews of Beijing from other foreigners. Some will say, "Oh, it so dirty and crowded...  The air is so bad! It's expensive! It's too big! too hard to get around! It's too cold! and some still will say they love Beijing: the history, the culture, the bustle, the heat (indoors) -more on that later… So with my mixed bag of expectations, I booked the six-hour bullet train ticket to Beijing. I left Jiaxing about 5pm and I rolled into Beijing about 11pm that evening.

Bullet train ticket in Beijing

Let me just say that bullet train travel in China is the way to go! Comfortable seating, lightning fast travel, going from hub to hub of the inner city often offers quicker transport than an airplane. As airports can be packed and Chinese security seems to be thorough and strict, travelers are requested to show up at the airport as far as three hours in advance. This can really add some time to your travel plans. The train is easy and simple. Show up about 15 mins before your train, which may be booked online beforehand, walk onto the platforms, wait for your train, board and find your seat, buckle up and then watch the Chinese countryside fly past your window until you arrive at your destination.

Some of the fall color I enjoyed walking around Beijing

Train tickets are affordable too. For about half the cost of the airplane, you can arrive to your destination in a little under the time of the airplane/airport fiasco. On the train, there are charging ports, women passing by with fruit, tea, instant noodles and other unknown snacks to me. Near the bathrooms, you will find a spout which produces steaming hot water for making tea or noodles on your trip. These hot water fountains I have seen in many public transport places around China. Somewhere between the urban legend of cold water is bad for the digestive system and unsafe water practices (it must be boiled before consumption) is the fact that all spouts in China give hot water and never cold. It takes some getting used to, but on a long trip, I bring a couple of tea bags and voila, I have free tea where ever I go. In the summer months, I will carry an ice water thermos wherever I go. Nothing is more uncomfortable for a foreigner than to be forced to drink steaming hot plain water in 100 degrees 95% humidity! We all learn our tricks for survival when living abroad and this is definitely one of them!

Walking around the Hutong area of Bejing. Still plenty of green in November!

Anyhow, back to Beijing.. I arrived mid-November and was happy to see that autumn was still very much in full swing… Living in South China has its perks but the slightly warmer climate means most trees are in fact not deciduous. It makes for a green winter, which is rather appreciated, but all the same, as an artist I long for the season which sets the hills ablaze. Korea had the most beautiful autumn and it lasted for a long time. It is one of the aspects of South Korea that I missed most.

Nothing is more beautiful then visiting a Buddhist temple high on mountain top, ornately painted in bright colors of oranges, yellows and greens to the backdrop of glowing maple trees on all sides. It is a sight to see for sure! So, I was delighted to walk around Beijing the first day to see the golden leaves crunching under my feet under the clear crisp cerulean sky.

My hotel in Beijing

My trip to Beijing had two purposes: 1. I was wanting to see the capital city and understand more of what Beijing was about and 2. I was going to meet Peter and Peter’s Mom. Peter, whom I have mentioned before is one of my most significant VIPKID students as he was one of my first and most taught students. Peter, Peter’s Mom (Yen Ni) and I had become very close over the year or so I was working for VIPKID as an ESL teacher. Yen Ni had been giving me pointers on moving to China, teaching me some Chinese here and there and she was also the person who gave me my Chinese name Pan Shin Yen. From what I understand, it means ‘happy beautiful’ which is a flattering name indeed! Whenever I tell the Chinese my name they are a little shocked, they say “That is a really good name! How did you get that name?” I have yet to fully understand the puppy cocked look when I tell them this, but it seems to be a positive response, so I am rolling with it!

Anyway, back to Beijing. I arrived late into the train station and got myself a taxi from the taxi lane. I had previously found the name of the hotel I was staying on the website and took a screenshot of it to show the taxi driver. I am getting better at getting around China even though there is usually a pretty severe language barrier.

I try to speak the limited Chinese I know but for now its really more of charades game. A Google Translate, and pictures situation. Traveling anywhere you do not speak the language requires some forethought before tackling any task. (Otherwise, you can find yourself walking into unnecessary frustrations and headaches.)

This metal gilded statue is a guardian of good luck.
People leave money at his feet in the hopes of granted wishes. 

A couple of minutes of pre-thought will guarantee you some success in getting what you need or where you need to go. Plus, I always make sure I have my address plugged into my map APP so I can follow along with the taxi’s progress. If a driver is going off track to my location, I have recourse to show him but as of yet, not a single taxi has taken advantage of my implied ignorance but all the same, better safe than sorry.

I arrived at the hotel, a posh place of recommendation from an expat Facebook group which I belong. Spiraling staircases, Golden trimmed architecture, a giant grand piano reflecting back from the shiny white marble floor.. it was all so sparkly! As fancy as this place was, it was not that out of the ordinary to find and does not indicate Ritz Carlton by any means. As are many aspects of China, shiny exteriors do not necessarily mean sophistication underneath, but all the same, the price was right and suited my purposes nicely for the next four days.

Ice cream roses we passed in the shopping district. 

Most hotels will come with a free hot breakfast buffet, which is nice when you are in a foreign country and feel that navigating the first meal of the day is potentially complicated. (It also cuts your costs so you can budget that into your travel expenses.) If you are really traveling on a budget pinch, one could eat a large late buffet breakfast that could technically fill you up til dinner. But as I consider cuisine an important part of traveling I find myself eating reasonably in the morning and enjoying lunch and dinner out during my stay. As in any big city, you can spend big or you can spend small and Beijing is no exception. If your tastes are for the more foreign fair, you will find yourself digging deep to enjoy your meals. The more Chinese you eat, the cheaper your meals become. I say when in Rome!

I can share more of what I ate later but I wanted to speak more specifically about my trip to Beijing. As I mentioned, I arrived late and my room for the next two days was not available for reasons not really made clear to me or reasons that made no sense to me… but it didn’t really matter as all I wanted was a bed to close my eyes in by the time I reached the hotel. Sometimes when traveling it's not really about understanding what is going on it is just about getting into the safest softest bed as soon as possible! 

Yen Ni purchasing candied crab apples from a vendor.

The next morning Yen Ni met me at my hotel as we were going to spend the day together. Peter was in school and studying for a big test I was told so it would be just the two of us for the day. It is always so interesting meeting someone you know well in two dimensions, in three dimensions. There are just simply things you cannot gauge on a computer screen, how tall or small someone is for example. And Yen Ni was quite a deal shorter than I had perceived. This is not saying much however as in general, most Chinese are on the shorter side (At a towering 5’4” I am actually rather tall in China!)..and Yen Ni is small but fills a lot of space with her unabashed character and a big heart.

She generously carved out a few days to introduce me to Beijing in a way I could have never expected.  She said I want to show you things you could not know if you are a foreign tourist. This, of course, sounding amazingly delightful to me. First, we visited a historic shopping district. There vendors and shop fronts lined the cobblestone streets selling different handmade goods and

Some of the sculpted crafts we saw.

delectables. She took me by the arm and gently tugged when there was something she wanted me to see. We looked at red paper cutting, an ancient Chinese tradition which is mind-boggling to perceive how one goes into crafting one of these delicate and intricate works of art, we saw leather goods, and steaming dumplings in the windows, towering sweet and sour candied fruit on sticks (so delicious!) and ice cream sculpted into roses and other shapes. The streets were narrow and the leaves hung golden around us framing the scene.

It was crisp and cool in the air but as we ducked into each shop, the heat almost blew us over it, was, so WARM! This was very different from the South where I live. In China, the North has heat. By north, I mean everything above the Yellow River. The heat is subsidized by the government so everyone is cold outside but toasty indoors. This is very different from where I live outside of Shanghai, which does not have heat. Heat is produced by air conditioning units, in fact, when you want to turn your heat on the Chinese say “You want to turn on your air conditioner?” Which technically is a true statement.. and an AC conditions the air, so whether that it is cold or not is a decision of the operator… (Just another example of how our cultural perception affects our vocabulary.)

Bikes that are stored at the subway station that will be vacated come

As a result of the pay per use strategy in the South, many Southerners do not turn on their heat at all. I see many of my students and teachers wearing their winter coats inside all winter long. (That being said, winter is short and milder then what we are used to in Ohio, (but still, 45 can feel pretty frigid indoors.) Often individuals will choose not to turn on their heat even when it is a possibility. When I inquired about this phenomenon, which to me it was, because why would you willingly choose to sit in the cold when you could just turn on the heat??? So, in the meantime I find layers to be my saving grace and how many Chinese get through the Southern winter. On an average day I wear two layers of socks (one cotton, one wool), at least two pairs of pants (long underwear and pair of pants over that), Three shirts (two undershirts and one sweater or overcoat, and I always come armed with a scarf, hat, and gloves for any sudden drop in temperature. It is completely acceptable to wear all of the above in all inside spaces at all times. It takes some getting used to, and it makes for some challeging fashion choices!

Storefont in the shopping district.

It was inferred to me two things 1. Running the heat costs money, and some people do not have the money to ‘waste’ on heating their home. 2. I was told that running the heat is bad for your Chi. Blowing hot artificial air on you will dry out your body and make you sick. Concepts of ‘chi’ are very much engrained into the health psychology of China. I have just scraped the surface of what exactly ‘chi’ is and where its concept originates and for now what I can assemble is that ‘Chi’ is the life force in the body and it must remain in balance for health and wellbeing. The body can be damp or dry, cold or hot. Creating an environment which throws the body off kilter (perceived or otherwise) is rather concerning to the Chinese. This to me reads into the ‘hot water’ convenience as well. Are they not turning on the heat because they are told it is unhealthy, or are they being told is not healthy, therefore they will not turn on the heat?

Lunch of Imperial Cake in this traditional restaurant.

Anyway, the running joke (no matter how not funny it is) is that the winters in the South are much colder than Beijing. It kinda reminds me of the Mark Twain quote “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” Being a bit of cozy winter person, I have to admit this has been hard to adjust too. It can be a rather uncomfortable dinner when your teeth our chattering over your plate. I have found I must wear at least two layers when I go anywhere in the South for winter. And I really must say it did not get cold until about December and it has been promised that it will warm up again in March and be beautiful, yet rainy until June. I will keep you posted… Anyway back to Beijing… after we perused the market, we hopped in a DiDi and headed for a lunch of cake. Yes, Cake! Yen Ni is my kinda girl! Cake for lunch, I am so IN!

Our delicious cakes! 

The cake was a special cake indicative of Imperial Bejing and it is my understanding the cakes are made with meticulous precision to be identical to the cakes made only for the emperor. Each one came stamped with a special seal. We ducked into a modest shop that had only a couple of tables. We sat in the traditional table (shown here) Yen Ni ordered an assortment with tea and soon we were brought a tray of different varieties of these beautiful morsels. Each stamped with an imperial seal, they had different fillings a buttery flaky crumbling texture to them. It was like no cake I had every tried before and I assure you, this is worth the trip to Beijing alone! We sat in our little side table and nibbled on the different cakes. I remarked at the profoundness of how I ended up sitting across from the Chinese woman. I took a job with a company who connect English teachers with students. She signed up for the service. We became friends by working together a little over a year later I was being hosted across the table from her with imperial cakes in Beijing. Funny how the universe works sometimes for me…

Art Center in area 478

After lunch, we hopped in another cab and went to the 478 area of town also known as the arts district. Yen Ni said the area used to be art studio after art studio when she was in college but we found the area to be more gentrified than she remembered with the place garnished with upscale garment stores and art collectibles. Still, there were a few galleries that were of interest for me and we engaged with a few gallery owners and shop keepers. Most did not speak English and Yen Ni was not shy in engaging and translating for us as they were very curious about me. This surprised me a bit, after all, I was in Beijing, but perhaps not many foreigners wandered into this district anymore.

Projection Installation at the Arts Center

Many shops had a gift shop on the first floor and an art gallery on the second. I saw many paintings that were of impressive skill and it has been interesting to see how artists are fusing the Western and Eastern aesthetic in their work. There was a coin shop we spent a lot of time in and I ended up purchasing a paper cut children’s book. She talked with the owner for some time and before I knew it he had lined up a few artists studios for us to visit the next day. I was excited about the prospect of being able to meet a couple of working artists in Beijing. She said I could do the ‘tourist thing’ on my own, but visiting artist studios would require her help. She was absolutely right! We visited a couple more interesting art spaces that I have featured here.

Many galleries charged an admission cost and had strict no photography rules. We stepped into a dress shop that I, unfortunately, could not document due to such a policy. They made sequence dresses that were just stunning. Absolute works of art. The entire garment embroidered with silken thread which had detailed images of dragons wrapping around the bodice and other most impressive scenes. I must have one of these dresses before I leave China!

Mirrored installation artwork we stumbled across.

After seeing art all afternoon and nibbling only on delicious cake for lunch, I had worked up quite an appetite. (Viewing art always makes me famished!) so we ducked into another cab and headed to a northern themed restaurant that a friend had recommended to Yen Ni. Jus like in South Korea, many restaurants stick to one type of cuisine that they make very well and for generations. It is very different then a western restaurant in concept (with much variety from steaks, to pasta, to salads) Also all the food is served family style and is shared. I like this very much as I get to try a lot of

Our dinner of fried tofu, roasted chicken and vegetables

dishes. I am unsure if I was starving or the food was just more delicious but it was delicious! We sat under the air con and it got so warm I had to actually remove TWO layers! This doesnot sound like much but I assure you compared to my experiences in the south, it was!

After dinner, she walked me back to my hotel in which we walked past art supply store after the art supply store. They were, unfortunately, all closed, but it was giving me goosebumps all the same! In China, they will often clump all the same kind of stores next to each other. This seems to create a conflict of interest to me, as you would rarely see five of the same kind of stores open in one area in the states but it is just how they do it here. Serendipitously, there was a large museum just up the road from my hotel, which Yen Ni pointed out. Beijing was turning out to be an artistic Mecca for Amy and I was starting to feel I was falling in love with this city!

Lunch of Dumplings, yum!

So the next day Yen Ni charged me to handle getting to her subway stop all on my own. It can be a little disconcerting navigating any new big city, let alone a new big city which mostly does not offer signs and info in your native tongue nor alphabet. But I have gotten more comfortable with the unknowns and have found resources such as my Google translate to help me through any bumps in the navigation plans. There is also the resignation to the ‘just roll with it’ aspect of travel that has become more comfortable for me as of late. Whatever happens, everything is going to be ok. Keep your wits about you, your belongings close and secure and you will surely get where you need to go eventually!  Yen Ni had walked me through most of the process the day before when we had taken the subway together.

A historical moment of Peter playing the

piano for me in real space! 

We met at her subway stop and immediately went back to her house where I could finally meet Peter. (He had been busy preparing for a piano test the day before) I was most excited to meet Peter. We had grown close over the last year and I had seen him grow so much in his abilities as we had worked together. In my profession, nothing is more rewarding than seeing that happen! They lived in a large apartment complex in a large and warm apartment : ) with Yen Ni’s mother-in-law. Peter was shy and a little unsure at first but warmed up to me rather quickly. He played some piano for me which was of great significance as he used to play for me on the computer.

He is really quite gifted for such a young boy! Afterward, we played games in the family room on a heated rug. Oh how nice! While Peter’s grandma prepared dumplings for lunch. They were delicious! After lunch, I went to see Peter perform a song on the playground that seemed to be organized by the parents of the neighborhood. I was unsure.. and then we were off to visit the artist studios!

Peter and I play a game together!

In the afternoon we went to the first artist studio of an artist named Kang Yu? He worked on large scale oil paintings which were sort of  what I would call Contemporary  Baroque surrealism with a fusion of east and west aesthetic. It was awesome to go to the artist district of Beijing to see how Chinese Artists were living. Kang Yu lived in a loft with several other artists… quite similar to the way I lived in Oakland at the Vulcan Studios lofts. He showed me his work and then we sat down for tea at a large oak table. There were two people on the sofa lounging smoking cigarettes and watching tv. Yen Ni sat beside me and translated as we talked to each other about art and culture and China vs the US. We had complicated but successful exchanges and Yen Ni did a great job with the translation.

I showed him my work and he was very interested in the installations. I spoke of my desire to do an

One of the paintings displayed in KangYu's studio

installation in China and he said yes.. “what about the Great Wall?” I said, “Well, yes, that would be a dream!” He said ok. Let me know when and we can make this happen. “ And that’s how it goes it China. You wanna do it? We will figure out how. . I have bookmarked this opportunity for now and we will revisit it as I get more established here in China… but still, I can’t wait. That being said, the plastic pollution question is sort of irrelevant here in China as there really is not plastic pollution to be found on the streets or in the fields. Everything is an economy in China, so I have found people resourcing even the scraps on the street to make a living. So there simply is not discarded plastics here to address. This brings up many interesting questions for me as an artist, and I will begin to develop my creative colloboration with this culture as time progresses.

For now, I have been collecting my only discarded

Yen Ni, The Sculptor and I

consumables and will be incorporating them into some 2D work just as SOON as I have time. LOL. Anyway back to the studio.. we exchanged contact info and this artist still sends me messages today. After his studio, we walked through the warehouse district of the area of Beijing we were in. We walked through a couple galleries but the area was a ghost town. It was November and extremely cold, so it was a chilly walk to the next studio. This artist was a sculptor and his work was very much more narrative based and romantic. Many references to deer and animals.

Hot Pot floating restaurant

Later we hopped in a cab to go meet Peter, his grandma, and his dad for dinner. We went to a gorgeous floating restaurant on the river which made Beijing hot pot using a copper kettle. It was delicious and so comforting after a long day walking in the cold. Peter’s mom brought leftovers in Tupperware containers to the restaurant which she placed amongst the other small dishes spread out on the table. It was a several floor restaurant and the whole place steamed with bubbling pots from centers of tables. After dinner, we all crawled in Peter’s Dad’s car and they dropped me at the subway station as they were on their way out of town for  Peter’s piano competition. They all waved to me from the cramped car and said in unison “come to Beijing!” I took the subway back to my hotel with a little help from a masked stranger… She spoke English well and yes she was masked due to the air pollution (which I will explain later) and she helped me locate my stop and purchase the ticket for the ride. Oh so very grateful for the kindness of strangers when travellling!!

Hot Pot, Beijing style! 

The next day I was completely on my own in Beijing and I was tasking myself to do all the tourist things Yen Ni said I could do on my own. I had a slow morning indulging at the buffet and drinking as much coffee as I could stand.. it’s the little things you don’t get that you enjoy! And then my game plan was to walk to Tiananmen Square, walk through the Forbidden Palace and then walk to the Hutong to see the ancient city area of Beijing. The weather was perfect! Blue skies, crisp air, the leaves were all changing colors.. it was perfect Amy weather! I walked for a good mile to get to Tiananmen Square. I was haggled a few times by buggy bikes but for the most part, was able to feign them off. I was mostly sure where I was going and then the crowd seems to bottleneck on the street and it seemed I was close to my first stop.

Tiananmen Square was of particular interest to me as it was going to be interesting to see how China acknowledged the student uprising and the giant Mao propaganda simultaneously, as expected there was no mention to be found of the g rebellion. This to me is very Chinese. There is a huge difference between presentation and what lies underneath in the interpretation of meaning. People seemed to be giving equal reverence to the invisible monument of the student rebellion. You can read about that moment here. Tin omen square serves the giant red entrance to the Forbidden Palace it is simple in design and of course hangs in the center a magnanimous portrait of Mao, the father of Communist China. I still have yet to figure out how China identifies its policies now politically. In some ways, it is very communist… the sense of Collectivism is undeniable when considering community dealings. But in other ways it is a vibrant capitalist society, insatiably developing at an astronomical rate.

The Entrance to the Forbidden City

Tianommon Square 

The rich have money and spend it lavishly the poor are entrepreneurial and hard working and often can find ways to work their way into a comfortable living. Many say that China is the land of the new American Dream. I am thinking about all of this as I stand as one of the only foreigners in the mass of Chinese people coming to pay respects for the alter to Chairman Mao. We all file in through a tunnel that leads us out of the municipal area of Beijing and into the ancient passes of China. The Forbidden palace is simply breathtaking.. The tunnel is cold and damp and dark and as you exit you are surrounded by a grand courtyard flanked with merigold tiled roofs and red brick buildings.

Marble statuary ebbs and flows around you as dragons and Phoenix crawl up and down the architectural fixtures. You meander though the maze like pathways from building to building, each small house fulfilling a different purpose and housing a different history. Finally, I meandered into the Royal garden. Meticulously arranged rock gardens and bonsai trees, reflecting ponds and flowering gardens. It was beautful, contemplative and meditative. With much ground to cover in one day, I then headed to the Hutong area.

I popped into a noodle shop and tried some local dumplings at a place I felt I could navigate the menu. Still, I meandered further and came across the Hutong. It was a river village, with tourists shoppers and vendors. Live music filled the air and street performers practiced their Kung fu and Chinese calligraphy. I popped into a traditional tea shop and was whisked into a seat and offered a tea tasting and I had little choice in the matter. She poured me several flavors of tea and spoke her broken English telling me about the health benefits and flavor profile of each one. I selected some tea and a traditional cup which is reminiscent of the tea Yen Ni and me shared

Gardens of the Forbidden City 

with the lid on the top and no handle. I also purchased a lovely cashmere embroidered scarf and of course my post card for Larry and Linda.

Afterward, I was feeling a bit exhausted, looking can be exhausting! And decided to meander my way back to the hotel. I walked through little inlet streams and tiled houses, the leaves were changing and the sun was setting. The streets were vibrant but not overcrowded and I felt safe. It was not at all the sess pool that people had described. Dirty, dingy, rude, overcrowded, polluted. This was not the Beijing I encountered in the slightest. I spent four days there and it was barely enough to feel that I had scraped the surface. I made it back to my hotel clocking about nine miles of walking that day and decided to check out the museum around the corner from me before I caught my train back to Jiaxing the following day. The next morning after brunch, I walked half of a block to my first National Museum in China. It was a small but versatile museum and in it housed traditional works as well as some contemporary representations.

The museum was crowded for early Sunday morning and I was thrilled to see the third floor covered with tons of students making art. Their art was impressively good too! It is a bit frustrating as all the placards are in Chinese but visual information was gathered and I could be a full on art appreciator! After the museum, I headed to the train station and finally boarded the train back to Jiaxing. Beijing was an amazing experience in history, culture, and landscape. I have to admit I was making plans to relocate the whole way back to Jiaxing. China offers so many

One of the Paintings on display at the museum. 

 variances of experiences too. I have yet to explore the Panda land of Chendu, the history of Xian, the tropical paradise of Xiamen or the far reaches of the West near Nepal. There is simply so much to explore!

Galleries are full of students hard at work on Sunday morning! 

What’s great about my job is that I get to do all of this and return to work Monday morning still in an exotic land sharing culture and art. And although I miss my family and friends terribly, every day is so exciting and interesting, it's hard not to be enchanted into separation for extended durations as my commitments demand.

On Pollution:

I would be remiss if I did not represent the full picture of what is has been to live in South China over the past five months. And as winter has come to Jiaxing, so has the air pollution which was a bit shocking to me. I was forewarned that the pollution was coming but up until this point, I was operating in ignorant bliss that for the most part the sky was blue and therefor the air was clean. But come November 15, China turns on it heaters country wide and for millions of factories, businesses, institutions, and homes the heat goes on and the plumes of smoke descend into our living space.

Imagine my surprise when I opened my curtains one Sunday morning expecting there to be a clear sky, but instead found a post-apoalytic haze lingering in the courtyard and wrapping around the highrises which surrounded me. I was out to dinner with some foreigners not but a week before and they were explaining to me the importance of the face mask and showed me how theirs works and how to look for good ones, with exchangeable filters. They showed me the air filter app on my phone where I could check the quality of the air whenever going outside to be sure it was safe enough to walk with out protection. But this day it was palapable and inescapable. Seeing the world within this kind of state felt claustrophobic and toxic. Thankfully I had ordered an air purifier for my home about a month earlier and within the confines of my apartment, I breathe air that is cleaner than the air of my hometown of Toledo.

Pollution out my window as it moved in for winter. 

However, the air is not as clean outside nor in my school. (I will be investing in another air filter for my school room but as of yet, have not) That first day to walk out into the polluted fog I felt way under-protected armed with only my mask. I felt I needed a biohazard suit quite frankly! But as I have adjusted to the realites around here, the air conditions have normalized in my response to them. The first few days I would walk with a mask on and covering as much of my skin as possible and the Chinese around me were walking carefree through the

The mask I wear to and from school. 

streets with their children and I started to feel a little silly.

This sentiment was only confirmed further when I asked Emma about air pollution and how bad is it really, and why doesn’t China do something about it? She replied rather frankly “Well, Amy, there are still old men in Beijing.” This is logic I could not argue with. So now I wear my mask when I can, keep my air filter on and the air is promised to improve in Spring. This was all rather jarring to me and the

Well, also I tried BRAIN! It was organ-ny. 

few calming conversations I have had with people have given me some perspective on the matter. I should say some teachers never wear masks or have filters in their homes but that seems precarious to me. When I raised an issue with the state of Asia’s air pollution, people responded with resounding realities. “China is a developing country and this is how developing countries operate. Think about Europe in the late nineteenth century during the Industrial Revolution. This is the developmental climate of China today.”

Also, I heard “Are you enjoying all the things in your life that were made in the factories of China? Is the rest of the world cozy in the multitudes of thingness they are able to buy at their convenience? This quality of life is a direct result of the air quality here.” There is also the rates of improvement that are occurring in China on an annual basis. Comparatively, there have been platittues of improvements and I have hopes that in years to come we will all be breathing the clean air we should as a human right.

For now, I sit in the awareness that until now I lived in ignorant bliss in my clean air and clear sky environments. The tangible industrial fingerprint I walk through every day becomes an undeniable motivator to be a part of the solution going forward. Again I work on my ability to be a patient and silent observer and not a judge nor critique

Our Chinese New Year Party at the school. 

nor be a campaigner of change. That is annoying foreigner agenda and I allow these moments to be opporutnities of reflection and not frustration. I can now absolutely say with out a doubt that it matters. How we consume, what we consume. I hope for a future where I leave as little of a carbon footprint as possible and experience like this only solidifies the realization.

Xenothenque:

Students participating in the Xenotheque Poetry reading

My fellow colleague and former peer from Syracuse University Emily Farranto messaged me and asked me to participate in a Xenoteche poetry reading. This was a reading that would take place simultaneously globally in multiple languages. I talked with the Middle School department of my school and some students volunteered to participate. It was a wonderful event and the students were passionate about reading their poems in English and in Chinese. It was beautiful to hear them in both languages.

I was asked to participate in a final showcase to feature my students work.
Here are some of the projects we completed throughout the year.

Home for the Holidays:

My school granted me leave for Christmas, which was not something traditionally offered through the National Division. Unfortunately, I got very sick the day before leaving for my trip and remained very ill for the duration of my trip back home. Living abroad exposes you to many wonderful cultural experiences it also leaves you open to experience a world of culture of germs which can wreak havoc on your immune system. So far I have had a cold about every month since moving here. I remember having a similar sick record when I moved to South Korea. Next year promises more resilience, and I just take the punches as they come. Unfortunately, that illness really knocked me off my feet and I ended up having to stay in the States until I got better which extended my trip (which was not fun, I spent all of it in bed) by about two weeks. I am glad I got this sick in the US. It can be lonely and difficult to be very sick abroad. It also makes me nervous to receive health care in China, but it is the give and take of living in a culture different from your own.

End of semester lunch with the Art Department!

Students participating in an Art Appreciation
night at the local Contemporary Art Center