Culture Classes

paper cutting class

making dumplings 

Chinese Chess

volunteering at a nursing home 

The host institution I'm attending is called 浙 大 附 中 (Zhedafuzhong)...AKA The High School Attached to Zhejiang University. After my four hours of language classes with Li Lao Shi and Zhang Lao Shi, we sometimes have a culture class. Here are some pictures of what we did so far.

Haircut? I think so.

Haircut? 

Yes. Haircut. My host sister told me after dinner that she was going to cut her hair, and I tagged along to have my hair cut as well. I actually wanted to grow out my hair to be longer, but I wondered, "why not?" I was really excited to get a haircut in China. The salon is actually right across the street from my house. After the barbers found out that I'm American, they all wanted to cut my hair and make a new "style" for me. I don't have blonde hair or anything, so I don't know what makes my dark brown/black hair so special compared to other people. Anyways, I first had my hair washed and then a nice man started to trim my hair. Lots of people were staring at me, and another  worker kept coming by and told my barber to do different things, like make my hair shorter (which I didn't want). I can tell that that worker really wanted to style my hair (which I also didn't want). He even gave me an iPad with pictures of different hairstyles I can choose from, but they all were curly hair. All I wanted was a simple haircut with maybe a bit of style, but not much. Thankfully, the barber I had did exactly what I wanted. He was extremely patient with my requests, and he talked to me in Chinese while he worked. The total cost was 58 yuan (about maybe $9-10). The total time was probably a little more than an hour. They gave me their card and escorted my sister and I out the door afterwards. So much attention even though I look Chinese! 

getting my hair washed 

my barber

new hair

The Fang (fun) Family

My host family's home has two floors. The bottom is the living room, kitchen, dining room, my room, a bathroom, and my host aunt/uncle's room. Upstairs there's an empty living area, my sister's, cousins's, and grandma's room, an extra room, a study room, and a bathroom. My house is pretty big, now that I think about it. I'll post pictures of the inside of the house when I get my family's permission...and when I think it'll be alright. Like I said, my grandma cooks in the house, and the meals seem to be fairly similar on most days. In every meal there is at least one dish including bamboo and/or gourd. There's also always one seafood dish. The food is actually delicious, and even better than the restaurants. I actually helped her make a kind of noodle on one of the days.

Some Confusion

Some confusion? A big confusion.

Okay, so remember all this time when I told you that I'm not living with my host parents, but only with my host uncle and host mom (and of course host grandparents and host sister and host cousin)? I also told you that my host dad and host aunt lived in Pu Jiang. Okay, well, I've been thinking all this time WHY the host uncle and host aunt don't live together (host uncle is brother to host mom) and the host mom and host dad don't live together. I felt that it was strange, so I brought the question up to my sister. She was so surprised and said "no!" I was completely wrong. The host aunt and uncle actually were the two people I thought were host uncle and host mom (They look extremely alike), and my host mom and host dad live in Pu Jiang. I'm sorry if this is confusing or doesn't make sense, but wow I was wrong!

西 湖 (West Lake)

Since today is a Saturday, I asked my family if I can go somewhere yesterday. My sister said I can go to the silk market with my grandma tomorrow, but I ended up going to West Lake with my grandpa. JUST my grandpa. We left the house at 7 AM and finished at 11:30 AM. Although we walked a lot and explored many places, I HAVE to go back there again because there are so many more areas there that I haven't been to. I had some quality bonding time with my grandpa. At first I was scared to go because we will only be able to speak Chinese, but it was alright. 西 湖 (Xi hu) really is a beautiful place. The aesthetic natural scenery is breathtaking, with the lake, mountains, and plants were all together. Willow trees lined the road, as well as many other types of plants that I didn't know the name of. I also went to different areas that were remains of the Song and Qing dynasties. There were lots of lotuses...and I mean LOTS. The lake has a lively atmosphere, with people dancing, doing tai chi, practicing kong fu, and just having fun. When I got there around 8 am, there were already so many people, especially 老 人 (old people). The elders here in Hangzhou are very active and all seem very healthy, and so are my grandparents. Near the end of our trip, I asked my grandpa if he's tired, and he said no. I was so tired after walking and climbing steps for such a long period of time! He can definitely climb any mountain if he wanted to. One thing I like about looking Chinese is that no one suspects I came from America (that is until I speak). Because of that, I don't get stared at. I like the fact that I can blend in and seem like any other person because I don't attract any attention. I asked a woman to take a picture for my grandpa and I today, and after she did, my grandpa told her that I'm from America. Right after that, she seemed to have awakened and called her daughter over so that I can practice English with her. That didn't happen because we daughter was too shy. The lady was extremely nice. I think a lot of people were smiling at my grandpa and I because there weren't many people that would spend time with JUST their grandpa or just their grandchild. (of course they thought we were related because everyone here says I look Chinese). So yeah, this morning was fun, and I'll be going to a nice park tonight with my whole family.

By the way...my host dad and my host aunt came from Pu Jiang (a city in Zhejiang province) to stay with us over the weekend. Actually, my family is from Pu Jiang, but came to Hangzhou for education. Currently, I'm living with a host mom, host dad, host aunt, host uncle, host grandpa, host grandpa, host sister, and host cousin. Awesome, right? I love big families.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

Every day I take the bus to and from school. I felt comfortable using the bus these past few days because there weren't too many people in it, and also my host sister went with me. Today, however, I went on the bus alone, and school ended at the unusual 5 PM. The bus was extremely crowded, and I could barely breathe; it was the worst experience for me so far in Hangzhou. 5 PM is rush hour (I assume), and every part of my body felt uncomfortable in there. The ride seemed to take extremely long because of traffic, and that made everything harder for me. You can't move at all, or you'll run into someone. Every part of your body will be touching something; either the inside of the bus or someone else..LITERALLY. The bus was filled with various odors, both good and bad, but mainly bad. I just hope I never have to use the bus during that time ever...if I come across it then I'll just choose to walk. It's much better walking a long distance than being sandwiched between different people and body odors for half an hour.

Although that was true for today, yesterday was an amazing day to take the bus. When I went on the bus to leave for school with my sister, there were only six people on the bus, including us and the bus driver. Usually the bus would have much more people, so it was strange. Did you know that even at 6:30 AM, the buses are starting to get full? My host sister and I always leave the house at 6:30 AM and head for the bus station. All the seats are always taken, so normally we stand during the ride. Here's a picture of how it looked yesterday on the bus....we got to sit!!!!!!!!!