First Impressions

Ni Hao! (I would love to impress you all with much more mandarin, but alas complete immersion is a slow process) I have now been in the Republic for 4 days and in order to appease those of you who have been shamelessly badgering me, I thought it was time to let the masses know how I am doing thus far! (You know who you are...) Honesty though, I am so grateful for the desire to know how I am doing, it is good to know that I am not so easily forgotten. ;o)

~THE TRIP~
The trip to China went very smoothly, dare say uneventful. I left the states at midnight on the 24th and arrived in China the morning of the 26th. (never fear, China is 15 hours ahead of the west coast, it was not an inhumane, claustrophobic captive plane ride...wait...scratch that!) I arrived in Ghoungzhou, went through customs, and saw my first Chinese McDonalds within 3 minutes! We then took the trip to Wuhan where I was met by my waiban (foreign official) Her name was Helen, her English was fantastic and she was an absolute angel.


Wuhan was a true experience, I saw so much filth and sadness there, despite the grandeur of the government buildings the real people were living a much different life. I was "shielded" from this when I was treated to fantastic meals and stayed in a very nice hotel...this was all wonderful but turned out to be a buttering up of the foreign so I would be in good spirits and compliant when I was to be stripped, poked, and prodded in a Chinese hospital! But I passed with flying colors and declared a good investment for the university ;o) And the driving!!! Driving in China is...lets just say there are no rules and it is every crazy man for himself!


I arrived in Shiyan by a 6 hour train ride, during which I had my first Chinese/English conversation! The gentlemen across from me in the sleeper kept anxiously smiling at me for an hour and finally got up the courage to say, "I want have conversation with you". (Can I just say that the Chinese' smiles are SO infectious that I have found it impossible to refuse a one?) After Robin and I exhausted "Hi, my name is" "Nice to meet you" and "How are you" it was a tough go, but he did manage to display appropriate dismay at my singlehood, call boys in the states crazy and sweetly offer to be my boyfriend! *Something that didn't happen to often in the states...had he not been pushing 40 it may have been something to consider... ;o) Yeah, I took a picture of him when he was sleeping...had to remember him

~MY HOME~
I am pleasantly surprised by Shiyan, compared to the rest of China it is very accommodating to my anally clean self! My apartment has its good points (Hobbit Door) and bad points (Shower that saturates the entire bathroom) The school just underwent a major sprucing up for evaluations and it is lovely (flowers and ivy everywhere). The province of Hubei is quite warm, dang near tropical and I feel as if I will never be dry again! But I am assured that in 3 weeks time it will be a temperate paradise and there is fantastic hiking to take in the views. Down the block is a row of little hole in the wall restaurants (where we eat every meal for 5 kuai-the equivalent of about $70 cents-and the food is out of this world), bakeries, fruit stands, and the cutest little Chinese puppies running around! The city is small (probably only 250,000 within the limits) but filled with everything you could possibly need. I even found Oreos in a grocery store ;o) We are hours by train to some of the most famous and beautiful parts of China, Wudang Mountain, The Three Gorges and the Terracotta Soldiers, all of which I cannot wait to see. I can say with full assurance that despite the smells, lack of cleanliness, and squaty-potties...I am in love with the place!

~THE PEOPLE~
It is impossible not to smile all the time. The Chinese have the most infectious smiles and so far have not been too upset with my language inadequacies! I have met several who speak quite good English (one of the many languages they seem to have mastered, amazing) and they love to practice by cornering you with conversation after conversation. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting a group last night at family time who were nothing short of blessings. I was told that I would not fall in love with China, but the Chinese, and I have found that to be the truth. I can't wait til I have more to share with you about these amazing people.
The group in Shiyan with me has been fantastic. Angelyn, Brian and Trip are here with me: they have been babysitting the newbie around the city and I feel so welcomed into the fold. I have been introduced to Chicken Strip Market, The Hobbit Hole, Happy Guys and LOST (apparently there are many rules and regulations to being a member of the LOST cult, but I drank the Koolaid and there is no going back now!) The others are across town, but we were together for family time yesterday and it was wonderful. There are really no adequate words and I wish I had a way to express what I was able to experience. I will be anxiously waiting for each time the family is together. I can already tell that those times will be my bread and butter.
Amazing things are happening here, there is an undeniable presence and a fierce movement. The following have been our meditation, maybe these words can say what I am not able to- 49 2:12,13,19-22

~THE FOREIGNER~
The foreigner is well. There were many tears the first few hours on the plane (I will chalk that up to lack of sleep and Lisa See's ability to rip your heart out with her words, not my blubbery nature), many words sent up for strength and contentment, many rubs of my magic locket (for courage, thanks to my laotong!) and much empathizing with the others on the journey over the pond with me. But as usual, I received everything that I asked for and can say with full confidence that I am happy and assured that I followed where I was led. I miss you all so much, you can't know how much (when an image of a boy playing a guitar in a store window can make you tear up, you know you are in trouble - rock on my brothers), but I have a family here who will take care of me and love me until I can see you all again. And I have pretty wicked company hanging around my heart - and He gets me ya know? Laughs at my jokes and sends me white butterflies... ;o)

Much Love - GWG, Jessica

P.S. China has blocked this website from thier network, so I can only post this, not see what it looks like myself. Hopefully the formatting is legible!