1st week adventures

Whewww...I finally have time to update my blog again!

It's definitely been an adventurous and busy week to say the very least. Our schedule for this past week has been language class in the morning, a special luncheon, and culture class/sightseeing in the afternoon. In addition, we've had a few get-to-know-each-other luncheons with the UM/PKU staff, past and present participants, and the professors of our respective labs. As far as sightseeing goes, we've visited the Forbidden city, witnessed Tiananmen Square and the National Flag lowering ceremony, and the Hongquiao Pearl Market.

Without reciting every little thing that we did this past week, I'm just going to mention the major events that occurred.

Language classes:
The daily language classes are taught in morning by Liu Nian. Since the level of Chinese ability varied in our group, Nian prepared separate material/assignments for the different students. I found this method very effective because the students who had no previous Chinese experience were brought along by Nian, and those students who are a little bit farther along with their Chinese can work individually at their own pace. Nian is great at turning the lessons into an "easy-going" learning experience for everyone. It was comforting to know that Nian gave each person the individual attention that they needed to work on their Chinese proficiency no matter of their starting level. And sometimes, it could get pretty amusing....haha....see pictures.....

Culture Class:
Culture class is taught by Dr. James Lee or some of the sociology graduate students from either PKU or UMich. So far, we've had four culture lessons and I've found all the talks very interesting and informative. I think culture lessons are an essential part of this program, especially at the beginning of this trip, because it provides a new/different lens from which a culture can be analyzed. I felt that these lessons were helpful in clarifying some misconceptions of Chinese culture and society. For instance, Dr. Lee's first talk on elite Chinese education discussed historical and practical reasons for standardized tests in China as well as impacts that these tests have on education methods and standards. Today's talk by a graduate student from UMich was on urban migrant workers. This talk focused on migrant workers' motivation to move to the cities, their struggles, and the socioeconomic boundaries that have limited these workers throughout their journey. Overall, these talks have been extremely helpful in touching on a wide array of issues that face contemporary China.

Hongquiao Pearl Market:
The Pearl Market......oh man..... I don't even know where to begin. We all know about those popularity competitions where the person receiving the loudest cheers wins. If that were the case, I must have lost in a heartbeat. Walking through the clothing section of the market with Marko and Tom was quite a sight because we (or shall I say "they") absolutely got bombarded with bargaining offers. Later I strolled down the same corridor by myself and received a non-response....haha Anyways, the bargaining process is something everyone should experience at least once. It feels great to buy something for 1/3 to 1/2 it's original asking price. However, it could also get extremely uncomfortable when one argues with an experience dealer. From what I was told, the key is to be able to walk away if your price isn't met, because 9 out of 10 times, the dealer will run after you and literally pull you back to their stand to renegotiate. Just when we thought we were done haggling, the our taxi driver started bargaining with us.....

For those people who are still concerned about the idea of working in another country, I would just say that this program is extremely well organized in every aspect. The support system of Dr. Coppola, Dr. James Lee and the UM/PKU Joint Institute Staff are incredibly knowledgeable and have all the necessary contacts to make our stay as comfortable as possible. It's only been a week, but after being exposed to all the resources and support staff, my comfort level of living and working in Beijing has increased dramatically.

Why participate in the UM/PKU program

As we were told, not everyone who expressed interest in the program ended up applying for it. Here are my reasons for applying to the program:
1) I'm interested in international research
2) I'm interested in improving my Chinese writing and reading skills
3) I'd like to see how working in China compares to vacationing in China (which I did the previous summer)
4) I'm originally from China
5) I think that it's important to establish working relationships in another country.

Orientation in Ann Arbor

So I'm here in Ann Arbor!

I flew from St. Louis to Detroit in the early afternoon. There was some confusion in regards to our housing situation, but we ended up settling down in Markley housing. For the past couple of days we have been doing a variety of orientation activities. These activities were designed to help us get to know each other better as a group and get a sense of what to expect once we're in China.

The first day, we had a casual get-to-know each other session with Dr. Coppola and our language instructor Liu Nian. Dr. Coppola briefed us on the main goals of the orientation-program in Ann Arbor as well as the UM/PKU program and how we were expected to contribute to the continuation of this program.

The main goals for the orientation program in Ann Arbor are: 1) for the participants to get to know each other and establish a support network 2) for the participants to learn how it's like to conduct research in a foreign country 3) for the participants to get comfortable with the idea of living in a foreign country.

After having lunch with the participants from last year's program (Justin, Brian, Tiffany), we participated in a small "group-relations" activity. The main purpose was to make the students aware of potential problems that could arise within a group of people and how to ensure that everyone's opinion is heard.

On the second day, we had two intense language sessions with our instructor Liu Nian, who will be accompanying us for the first 10 days in China. It was very interesting because Nian gave everyone a Chinese version of their own name which everyone was supposed to memorize. Then we had a very expensive.....haha....yea....($369) lunch at a Chinese restaurant and tasted a variety of delicious and "weird" dishes such as pigs intestines and pigs blood (......Allison!), spicy frog legs (Go Spencer!), duck tongue (Allison again!).....etc. In the afternoon, we had some more language instructions on basic Chinese phrases.

The third day, we had another group activity. The purpose of this activity was to promote a multicultural perspective on different situations and withholding judgment of a situation until the whole story in known. In the afternoon, we had a panel discussion with some Chinese students about Chinese culture.

Overall, I found this pre-program orientation very useful and effective (especially the language lessons and the group discussions) because they helped the students be aware of different issues that they may encounter in China. And on top of that, we were given plenty free-time to explore Ann Arbor and further get to know each other. Some things that we did in our spare time include touring the campus, watching the Finals of the Champions league's game between ManU and Chelsea, going the Natural Science Museum, pick-up basketball, etc. I think this pre-program orientation is something that should definitely be continued in future programs.