Outside of the Shade : Flight and Hangzhou!

I'm currently on a United Airlines flight to Shanghai, and it's been a nice trip so far. The ride is approximately 14 hours, and after all these months of anticipation for the program, I have 8 hours and 29 minutes left until I finally step foot onto my host country. At first I was a bit upset because my seat in the plane is smack in the middle column in the middle seat, but then the person next to me began talking to me and it drew out to be a long conversation. He first asked me in Chinese, "你要回家嗎?" (are you returning home [China]?) I tried to explain NSLI-Y and what I'll be doing in China in Chinese, but the words kept coming out in incomplete sentences. He seemed to somewhat understand, but he then just told me, "It's okay, I can speak English." He said he's been to Hangzhou, Suzhou, Xi'an, Shanghai, and other cities many times, and this year he'll be going to Hangzhou as part of his trip. I asked him lots of questions about Hangzhou and what's nice there; he told me that much of the cuisine there has a more sweet flavor (like sweet and sour pork), and that there are specific types and qualities of teas I should search for. His English is actually very, very good. He's the Vice President of a company, and he's going to China on a business trip. He also told me that he collects all kinda of traditional Asian instruments, and he really enjoys music. I even asked him if he knew specific instruments from Burma, and he did. He was so excited talking about instruments that he showed me a video of university students in the US playing them, and they were AMAZING. There was this one professor that played a very high-pitched trumpet, along with a bigger trumpet. He then sang, and oh my goodness his voice eas so unique! His voice went so high that he sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks, but without the need of technology. The man who showed it told me that this is a call that used to be a custom in China in the hills, so they had to be loud. While we were getting our meals, he said that instant noodles were given out once for the passengers during his ride in the past, and a few people didn't know how to eat it, so they just tried to bite into the hard, dry noodles. He's actually sitting right next to me as I write this. For meals I had two special Asian vegetarians that I requested, and the second meal was just a small slider with ice cream.

After arriving in Shanghai, we took a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Hangzhou. Hangzhou is very modern and it's pretty, too. The roads and sidewalks are neat and clean, but you still have to be mindful when you're walking.There's even a separate road for bikes!

When we arrived at the host institution, we received phones, were introduced to the teachers, and then united with our host families! I expected dinner to be homemade, but we went out to eat dinner instead. When I met my grandparents, both were so surprised because I'm Chinese. Honestly, I felt a bit awkward because we didn't talk much during dinner, and my family seems a bit more formal. We were told at the PDO that they would ask lots of personal questions, but they didn't ask any of that sort. After we got home, I felt more comfortable because we were involved in a conversation and began warming up after I gave them their gifts. Did you know that their apartment is on the sixth floor, and there's no elevator? Well, I guess it's healthy since I'll be going up and down those stairs every day. My host mother actually travels to the US sometimes, and I have a host cousin living with us! She's 14 (just a year younger than I am). Tomorrow there will be more things to do at the institution, so I'll post more in a few days!

(I have more to tell you about my host family, and that'll be in my future posts).