A not so live look.

Hello all, sorry for not updating in a while. One of the people, Chelsey, who went to South Africa with me spent our time there behind a camera and was able to make a great documentary. If you want to watch it go to THIS LINK and it will automatically start loading.

Hopefully I will finish my China tales at some point... fingers crossed!

Culture Shock

It wasn't until I got on the boat on the Yangtze River that I realized that I truly had culture shock. It was partially because of the food, where it was a lack of meat, and when there was meat we were never sure what kind it truly was. Also that the food was prepared so differently, like a whole skin (and head) on chicken in a pot of soup. I had a challenging time finding food to eat other than rice. Another thing that contributed to the culture shock was the fact that I couldn't understand the language and the signs. All the other places I have traveled to speak English and have English signs. I felt so out of the loop and uninformed. It also didn't help that I am not a big fan of cities. In China, no matter where you go there are tall buildings. Whether the city is large or not that is simply how they build their towns. It is not what I have ever experienced so I felt really closed in. With time though it got a lot better, especially after I acknowledged the fact that I was experiencing culture shock.

Wuhan

I'm going to start this blog off by saying sorry that it has taken me so long to put these up. My house is currently in the process of getting AC and during the last week and a half when the heat wave hit, we had two rooms that were moderately cool. I was in no mood to do anything but stay cool, which was challenging to do at times. Hopefully I will be back to writing these and finishing my traveling tales soon.

While we were in Wuhan we got to see a seminary that is in the city. It was very run down and sad because it was in terrible conditions when compared with schools that I am used to seeing. We also got to talk to three students who are Christians living in the Wuhan area. It was surprising to hear that for them no one knows that they are Christian. They are afraid to tell anyone unless they know that they can trust them 100%. I can't imagine being afraid of others knowing that I am Christian. Afterward we had a bit of opportunity to spend more time with the students. Oddly enough, we taught one of them how to play ninja, and surprise surprise, he was good at it.

Later that night, we were on our own for dinner and a few off us wanted to just have a chill dinner. We decided that we would just go to the grocery store next door and get noodle bowls. That was a big adventure. Chinese people love spicy food, I don't. Only two or three of the types of bowls had any English on the packaging. I was lucky in that I got a non spicy beef bowl while the three others I was with all got spicier bowls. We also had fun finding crackers to go with that were not necessarily meat flavored. I have a theory that since meat is rare and expensive there, people enjoy meat flavored things instead because they are cheaper. It's still strange to me though.

The next morning we took a plane flight to Chongqing where we boarded the boat for our Yangtze river cruise.

Either Shanghai noon or Lullaby in Shanghai...

The second day we spend in Shanghai we had the opportunity to visit the sit of Trinity Church. It started out as a church, but later became office buildings, and then a movie theater. It is now being renovated to its original state. It was a beautiful church shaped like a cross, similar to many in Europe, and it was fun to sing in the sanctuary as a big group. Later in the day we were able to walk along the Bund. It is a walking area on the river that divides the two halves of the city. On one side is the old architecture and on the other is the new architecture, by new I mean within the last 16 years. We also got to visit an old, traditional shopping area that had many beautiful buildings in the old traditional Chinese architectural style. As a bit of a surprise that night we got to see an acrobatic show at the New Shanghai Circus. The show included diablos (big yo-yos on a string), contortionists, trapeze artists flying using fabric, strong men, acrobatics, plate spinners, a magician, bike tricks (mainly piling as many people as possible on one bike while riding it) and motorcyclists in a giant metal globe. It was like the traditional Chinese version of Cirque de Soleil.

The next morning we had the opportunity to go up into the Pearl Tower, (if you look at the pictures from two posts ago, it's in the city landscape picture, the building with the pink balls). They have two observation decks that we got to stand on, the first is about 265m or so, and has glass looking out. It was similar to floor to ceiling windows. Next we went down to 259m where we got to go on a glass walkway and look straight down. That one was slightly nerve wracking. Both were fun and interesting though. It was slightly cloudy so the view was not terrific but when they opened up we were able to see most of the city. In the tower we were also able to visit the museum of the history of Shanghai. It had replicas of the typical shops in the past and how the city looked at different times. It was fun to see how much the city has changed throughout history.

Unfortunately that was where our time in Shanghai ended. Our third night in China we spent on a train traveling from Shanghai to Wuhan (13 hours). Luckily we were (accidentally) in first class which meant that we got rooms that fit four apiece. In each room there was just enough space for four bunks (two on each side) storage was either under the lower bunks or above the door. Unfortunately for me, I did not get much sleep that night.

And so China began...

It was a strange feeling to have been home for less than 16 hours and be leaving again. Yet I did. This time though the group was drastically different as was the country we were traveling to. The group I was with for the flight (half of the group was staying for five extra weeks to run a camp in China) was mainly males and many of them were still in high school. Of the whole group eight were female, twelve were male, and the age range for the most part was between 14 and 28. It was strange to have so much testosterone around me. It was also strange in that there were people who were in charge rather than having everyone be independent. In some ways though I think that the dynamics of the group helped us to bond more easily. We flew to Chicago first and had a two hour layover there then we flew 13.5 hours to Shanghai. I personally liked the one long flight and it's done rather than two long flights that I had for South Africa. After arriving we got to ride in the Maglev, a light rail-esque train that goes at 431 kilometers per hour (about 260 mph). From there we took the subway to our hotel. The subway was fun to see, it was super crowded just like I expected. That night we got to go to the Shanghai Community Church's Youth Service. Though for them youth is between the ages of 20 and 40. It was interesting to see. The church was packed and everything was in mandarin. I'm sure had I been awake enough to pay much attention I would have liked it more, but I was exhausted. Luckily, soon after our night ended and we got to sleep.

Yet to come

For those of you who have been checking back over the past few weeks to read about my time in China, I came to realize once I got there that blogging is one of the many things forbidden by the government in China. So I will do my best to transcribe my journal writings into blog posts. Simply give me a bit of time to get used to signs that I can read, people who speak English, and eating without chopsticks. It may take some time. Until then, enjoy the pictures!!

Wanting to stay but ready to leave

So here I am, sitting in my room at the River View Lodge in Observatory, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. I have been here in South Africa for three weeks. Two here in Obz and one in Gugulethu. I have met numerous wonderful people from here in South Africa, and made fifteen close friends from the States here on my trip. I have learned about South African history, politics, music, food, culture, and more. I have also learned so much about myself. I have learned that I don't always pay attention to the world around me. I have learned that I am privileged, powerful, strong, and so much more. I have so many resources and opportunities that the rest of the world may not have. It is up to me to recognize them and take advantage.

I sit here typing this having finished packing my things, as people around me continue to finish packing, knowing that I am ready to be home. I miss my family, I miss my church, I miss my friends, heck i miss Minnesota. Yet I love it here in South Africa so much as well. I truly never thought I would. Africa was never on my list of things to see, places to visit. I always thought that I would sooner study abroad in Europe somewhere. Here I am though, in South Africa and in love. I wish I could live here in many ways. In others though, I would never be able to do it. I wouldn't be able to live here and know that there are so many stereotypes that remain. So much racism is still present in many people's hearts, brought on by the fear that Apartheid created. If I were to live here I wouldn't know where to live. I would want to live with the people of Gugs that I met, but I would never truly be safe there. I could also live in Obz or another suburb, but then I would feel strange living in a house when so many nearby live in shacks. No matter whether I live in the US or Cape Town, my heart will always go out to the people here who are not able to live up to their full potential, no matter the reason why. In my heart though I know that I belong in Minnesota. I will always love Cape Town and will hopefully return someday, but for now I must find a way to say good bye.