2012

For me, I found the visits to the Entel Foreign Language School and Mary English School to be the most interesting. As a teacher who often teaches ESL classes, I enjoyed watching the different lessons and techniques for teaching English.
At the Entel Foreign Language School I enjoyed watching the well-developed lesson plans about numbers and the reading of a script about opening a gift. I noticed that the students were engaged, respectful, polite and eager to learn. The teacher was masterful in the activities she chose to teach and how she emphasized the main ideas. I found it particularly interesting that this lesson was teaching the students how to speak using English tones. That was an approach to teaching English that I had never considered before. In addition to the lesson, I enjoyed speaking with the 10th grade students who were helping at the summer camp especially because I primarily teach 10th grade. I noticed a lot of similarities between my students and the students at the Entel School. I liked hearing about their experience living at the school and what they wanted to do in the future.
At Mary English School, I enjoyed seeing the various classes that were being taught and the different grade levels. The students at the school seemed very excited to have us come into their classrooms and to practice English with them. The lesson that I was fortunate enough to observe had several children, all under the age of 10, who were learning English by using phonics. Again, the teacher was exceptional and her lesson was beautifully planned and executed. She focused on having very fast games and activities that moved the lesson quickly while keeping the students attention. The students were in groups and they were competing with other groups in the class, thus keeping the students actively engaged while still learning and practicing the language. It was obvious that the students enjoyed this type of friendly competition.
As a teacher, I think we are so focused on what goes on in our classroom that we often forget to look to other teachers for inspiration and new ideas. Visiting these two schools has given me several ideas on how to improve my teaching and my overall lesson planning.

One of the things that I wanted to see in China was how the younger generation of the emerging educated Middle Class was adjusting to the rapid Westernization of China. Were these young people embracing Western ideas and adopting Western culture with as much enthusiasm as US news broadcasts and magazines suggest? Interestingly, based on the small sample of young professionals I met in Hangzhou, it seems that there is certainly a great deal of excitement about the globalization of China and the access to Western ideas and businesses. But many of the young people I met also expressed concern about losing some of the cultural elements that define them as Chinese: food, tea and Confucianism. While KFC and Walmart have certainly gained a strong following in China as have certain American TV shows and movies (Big Bang Theory and Desperate Housewives seem to be the favorites), Chinese chain restaurants like Grandma's Kitchen, which serves traditional Chinese fare, attract young families and young couples. At the Buddhist College of Hangzhou, the director said that Christianity was the fastest growing religion in China. Although Christianity might be gaining followers in China, it seems that many of those followers are older. None of the young professionals with whom I spoke was even aware that there was a Christian Church in Hangzhou, but a couple of the young women I met had become Buddhist, saying they felt drawn to Buddhism as a means to connect to Chinese culture. At the Lingyin Temple, I was surprised to see so many young worshippers. During the thirty minutes I sat in front of one of the worship halls, at least 75% of the people who lit incense candles and bowed to pray were 30 or younger. This is a very different experience from the one I had in Beijing and Xi'an three years ago, where most of the worshippers were quite elderly. Is this because Western cultural influence is more pronounced in Hangzhou than in Beijing and Xi'an?

On our last Friday morning in Hangzhou, Mimi and I went for a bike excursion to capture some of the local billboards. It was a great time to go - not only did we get great shots of the ads, we were also able to see the city just waking up, before the craziness of commuter bike traffic. I hope to use the images below in my implementation plan - I'm thinking about discussing the social changes (or expectations) that come with economic growth in China, but I also see some parallels here with imperialism. This idea of a more "civlized" Hangzhou is a very interesting choice of words!
Enjoy,
Stephanie

What a striking day! On Thursday we left early for the Hangzhou Buddhist College and Lingyin Temple, which are nestled in the hills behind West Lake. It was nice to finally be out in nature after being in the bustling city the last two weeks. The absence of honking cars and mopeds was pleasantly noticeable. After taking a brief tour of the college, we talked with Buddhist monk, Huejun Ha, about the history of Buddhism in ancient and how it is evolving to address modern China and globalization.
Lunch with the monks was truly an experience. There were three basic rules:No cell phones, no talking, and no wasting food. NCTA teachers were seated facing several rows of monks dressed in gray and gold robes. The lunch "ritual" began with a repeating bell and chant. A procession of monks then filed in with buckets of food that they quickly ladled into each person's bowl. In the absence of our usual lunch chatter the vegetarian meal was over quickly, but it felt an overwhelming sense of privilege to have been allowed to peek into their daily lives like this. Each monk cleared their own place and washed their own dishes and then returned them to their seat for the next meal.
After lunch we met Mark Lu, a Chinese American from San Francisco who has been teaching English at the college here in Hangzhou for the last seven months. According to Mr Lu, the Lingyin Temple is one the most significant temples in the all of China. This was clear when we arrived. There were throngs of tourists and pilgrims climbing the cliffs to pray and see the grottos that contained religious rock carvings like the famous laughing Buddha. We climbed many stone steps to the top of one of these paths. I was thrilled to see a water vendor at the top.
I'm not sure I have words for the temple itself. I was enthralled by the pilgrims who appeared to be cleansing themselves with incense before praying at the foot of the statues. The architecture, carvings, statues and people at each level fused ancient and modern China together.
Thursday evening a small group of us went to the night market for dinner. It's filled with stands of fresh meat and vegetables on skewers that you place in a basket and hand to vendors who grill and season it all. Served with crisp refreshing beer to counter the heat, this was one of the best meals of the trip.
Well deserved foot massages finished our day off.
The following morning I planned my first and only bike ride this trip...much more intimidating than I thought it would be- though they're are tons of people on bikes,mopeds and tuk tuks, the cars, tour busses, and trucks seriously outnumber them. There are bike lanes which are fenced off, but the intersections are insane. And everyone here goes about it all very nonchalantly. One of my Chinese hosts taught me how to be a pedestrian. He said, "Walk steadily and don't make any sudden movements, then everyone will go around you." When I asked him if he had ever been hit by a bicycle or moped he responded, "Oh yes, but it was my fault. I was rushing."

July 19
With so little time left in Hangzhou I felt like I really wanted to pursue my quest of finding some of the spots where the West Lake stories took place. We started out on the Su Causeway. With the breezes blowing, willows weeping and water calm except for a few fish jumping, we had a tranquil walk.
We passed the Three Moon Reflecting Pools - stone lanterns in the water. This site represents the Stone Incense burner story. I was surprised that these pagodas were not made more prominent - pictures of the pagodas lit up adorn many a post card and guide book.
As it got dark we walked to the Leifeng Pagada. It was quite beautiful. Outside there was a sculpture depicting the White Snake, the most famous West Lake Story. Each floor of the inside of the pagoda represented many different perspectives of the West Lake. Buddhist paintings adorned one floor, historical depictions of the lake another, and calligraphy and poetry about the lake were in another. Best of all was the floor that completely retold the White Snake story in wooden relief sculptures. These art works were intricate and delicate and at the same time strong and powerful. I loved seeing this most famous folk tale retold.
A moving love story is contained in the Leifeng Pagoda history. The story tells of a young scholar who falls in love with a beautiful woman, unaware that she is a white snake who has taken on human form. A monk intervenes in order to save the scholar’s soul and casts the white snake into a deep well at the Leifeng Pagoda. Over centuries the story has evolved from horror story to romance with the scholar and the white snake-woman genuinely in love with one another, but such a relationship is forbidden by the laws of Heaven. The legend was existed as oral traditions long before any written compilation. It has since become a major subject of several Chinese opera, films and TV series.
http://www.topchinatravel.com/china-guide/chinese-traditional-performan…

July, 20, 2012
We got a taste of tea culture from Professor Ma. She introduced us to a poem by to
Tong Lu that described the different emotional stages experienced with each cup of tea. "The first cup moistens my lips and throat, the second cup breaks my loneliness?" Tea is powerful stuff. Tea bricks were described and it was suggested that ancient money had holes in their middles, mimicking the holes in the bricks. I enjoyed imagining the foam making contests during the Sung dynasty whip contests.
My favorite part of the talk was the legend that showed the medicinal properties of Emperor Qianlong's sleeve:
During one of his trips to the area, Emperor Qianlong was watching the locals picking the tea at the foot of Shi Feng Mountain and joined in. While picking the tea he received word that his mother was ill and requested him to return to Beijing. He put the tea leaves he picked into his sleeve and quickly went back to Beijing to visit his mother. When visiting his mother, she noticed the smell of the leaves emanating from his sleeves. He remembered the tea and brewed the leaves for her. They liked the tea so much that it became a tribute tea to the imperial court. It is rumored that the flat shape of the tea is created to resemble the flattened leaves found in Emperor Qianlong’s sleeves.
I would have liked to hear about the tea culture of the peasants. It seems like the tea customs were all Emperor driven.
In the afternoon we went to the National Tea museum. We were able to see some of the tea related things that we just heard about: tea bricks, tea sets, and other tools for making tea.
We had a delightful tea tasting where we sipped Longjing tea, a Hangzhou specialty , Olong and some others.
Afterwards we walked around the tea plantation where workers were spraying with pesticides. It seems ironic that the tea is supposed to promote health yet it is sprayed with pesticides.
This was a beautiful place to end our study tour.

Today we talked with Huejun Han, a Buddhist monk at Hangzhou Buddhist Academy who gave us an introduction to the history of Buddhism in China and discussed our many questions about the practice of Buddhism in China today. While at the monastery, we had the incredible opportunity to eat a vegetarian lunch with the monks who were there. We had to eat in silence and eat everything on our plate, which wasn’t a problem for any of us since the food was delicious! The highlight for me was witnessing the monks chanting and singing prayers prior to the meal.
In the afternoon we explored Lingyin Temple. I can’t describe in words or in pictures the dramatic scale of Lingyin Temple, which is really a series of massive Buddhist temples built one above another on a mountainside. We had a great day exploring not only the various temples, but also the many caves and the hundreds of carved statues of Buddha in grottos all over the mountainside facing Lingyin Temple.

One of the highlights of my trip has been the partnership with State Street. Sarah, Steph, Angela, and I had great times with our mentors, Meg, Lillian, Emily, Sunshine, and more of their friends and co-workers. They are so sweet I would love to take them home with me! From them, I learned that young Chinese and American professionals are very similar. After discussing our favorite TV shows, stores, and leisure activities on the first night, we just happened to walk by a coffee shop that is actually "Central Perk" from the TV show "Friends," which we grew up on! This "Central Perk" is decorated like the set of the show and it plays Friends episodes (with Chinese subtitles) all day. The picture below is my favorite from this trip. I think this is more than just a fun coincidence, though; for me it represents just how similar American culture and Chinese culture are, and that China is not something to fear or despise. Of course, there are many more examples, but I'm sure my students will enjoy this one!
However, one major difference between us is that Chinese women can walk for an hour to dinner in high heels and arrive without an ache or pain or a drop of sweat!
On our free day, our mentors took us to KTV and it was a blast. Now I understand why Asians love karaoke and I do not understand why we don't do it this way in America!
I had a great time with our Chinese "Friends".