Changsha

Going to China, I didn't really have many pre-conceived expectations or even a notion of what it would be like, I really prefer to formulate my impressions in person with first hand observations and experiences because that's what immersion's all about. Changsha is a large city, comparable to Philly or Baltimore with its bustling aura and metropolis aesthetic. We are studying at the Central South University that the main college in the Hunan province, with 56,000 undergraduate students. After the first few days if touristy sight seeing and orientation/histories and introductions, we finally moved into our homestays. I'm living with three other students- Iris (spunky art major from Seattle who’s super chill, has great music taste and is super motivational during our early morning workouts), Marjani (NYC native polisci major at Swarthmore who breaks into song and laughter with me all day long), and Sylvia (motherly and hilarious chica from Tanzania who has been pop quizzing me on new Chinese and Swahili vocabulary). We live a 12 minute walk from CSU in a 2-story apartment in a large complex right along the main road that thrives with street venders, stores and people-watching opportunities. 

Our host parents are both professors (Dad economics, Mom geography), and since they both speak minimal English they sorta hired two of their students to live with us part time as translators and roommates- they have been a great resource to have around during meals to help facilitate conversation. Our grandparents are preciously petite and jolly, and surprisingly mobile. They help a lot with household chores and cleaning, and go on daily walks- they have gotten some great stamina from living on a 5th floor apartment…we're still getting used to the hefty flights of stairs that await us every time we get home. We have been unexpectedly spoiled, as we each have our own single room and bed- and there are still about 4 free beds left over (we may host a sleepover one weekend). We have welcomed the traditional Hunan Cuisine with open arms and open chopsticks- the simple vegetable dishes are our favorite, especially the plethora of dark leafy greens and eggplant. We're still getting used to finding out what we eat after the fact…I now know that I like snails and chicken stomach! We also hung out with our 22 year old host brother who attends university about an hour away and is studying IT, he woke us up at 7am (ouch) Saturday and Sunday so we could have productive days exploring the Tangerine Island (in the river, has a huge head of young Mao Zedong at the tip of the 5km scenic park) and Walking Street (no cars or bikes allowed, many shops and even got a Starbucks treat- although didn't test out the green tea cheesecake…).

As for the program, it's obvious that the coordinators spent a lot of time arranging the content of the site visits and guest lectures so that everything is much more synthesized than India. After having a detailed lecture from a well qualified and experienced doctor about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) we went that afternoon to the largest TCM hospital in the Hunan Province where we got to test our acupuncture (tried it in my leg and hand ahh! felt weird but cool...), peak into drawers and cabinets full of fragrant herbs and minerals (and beetles?!) in their pharmacy, speak to patents in the inpatient and outpatient sectors and even attempt a method of TCM diagnosis. They have 9 different ways of feeling a patient's pulse on along the radial artery on the wrist, using different amounts of pressure, that can reveal signs of certain diseases based on the strength flow and beat pattern. We also visited an elderly home (we played ping pong and chatted to residents), a primary community health center (focuses a lot on family planning on maternal/infant health to reinforce the one child policy), and just today a rural government-run school in Shoashan where we spoke with the principle, at a school lunch with the students then spent the afternoon touring their campus (which is right next to Mao Zedong's birthplace and house). A good chunk of IHPers were sweaty after trouncing some high schoolers in basketball, and playing ping pong/badminton/ultimate Frisbee. 

We just had a really fun unit between the HCC and GH classes about food, and how it relates to culture, security and policy. We had an exercise during lunch where we were given time to find a traditional food and to perform a food history to discover the background information on the food items that was discussed during a massive potluck feast- which included a cornucopia of noodles, rice, pancake things, miscellaneous meats on sticks, questionable gelatinous globs and even lemon tea-flavored bag of lays chips (comparable to the culturally adjusted Masala Spice flavor in India..)

Halloween was a blast- they arranged for a bus to take us across the river close to the hoppin' nightlight of Bar Street (Which we explored last weekend) to a KTV (karaoke) club where we had a private room with plenty of treats and drinks for all. The only trick was figuring out how to work the karaoke machine before Conner discovered how to turn on the English setting). Favorite song moments were the Spice Girls jamming out to some of their top hits, Katie singing Alejandro by Lady Gaga and Greg, Mark and I's debut of Love Shack. Favorite costumes were Mackenzie's barefoot doctor outfit, and Mike's Great Firewall of China (he dressed up in all red- from wig to sneakers- and taped websites like Google, Facebook and YouTube all over him with random holes cut in where he scribbled VPN on his skin). Thanks to Iri's creativity and considering its prevalence on dining room tables in this country, a lazy-Susan seemed to be the perfect costume for me- I had no problem sporting some frumpy floral pajamas and rabbit slippers- not my normal night wear choice but I could get used to such comfortable dancing garb. After a morning of class tomorrow we are off to Shanghai for the long 3-day weekend- can't wait to explore another huge city in China! Should be fun-filled…missing everyone and hope you all had a great Halloween!