After
two months in the U.S., I finally leave for China on Sunday, the 17th.
The flight leaves Chicago at 10:30 AM and arrives in Shanghai 14.5 hours later—1:00
AM on the 18th in Chicago and 3:00 PM in China. After three hours in
the airport, we leave for Chengdu, arriving at 9:30.
For the
past two months I have enjoyed visiting family in Chicago and Tallahassee and
friends in IA, NE, AZ, and CO. I first flew to Omaha to visit friends there and
in Lincoln. Since I was staying out of town and was going to Cedar Rapids, IA,
I rented a car. This was my first big driving experience for five years. (I had
driven a little on previous visits but not so far.) It was strange at first. When
I was on the interstate to my friend’s house, I felt like I was going pretty
fast until I looked at the odometer and saw that I was only going 45mph. It
took a couple days of driving short distances until I automatically drove fast.
Then I was at the speed limit easily. I also rented a car in AZ so I could go
to Tucson and Flagstaff. The rest of the time I stayed with friends and didn’t
need to go around as much; so I did not rent cars. The travels all worked out
well.
It
snowed while I was in Flagstaff—just a couple inches, but it was beautiful and
it justified in my mind the additional expense I agreed to pay for an SUV.
Other than that, I saw very little snow. But it was cold a lot of the time—below
freezing to 40 degrees.
I got
to do some walking in AZ and CO since the weather was not so cold. Sedona, as
always, was stunning.
Adapting
back to the U.S. was interesting. Since I knew I wasn’t staying, I don’t think
I went through reverse culture shock. I did feel out of place/displaced at
times, but I’ve gotten used to things here. Of course, I have not been living
on my own and have had people taking care of me and guiding me most of the
time.
Here
are some of my cultural experience highlights:
Life of
Pi in 3-D, The Hobbit, Lincoln, et al
The
Bachelor, The Big Bang Theory, Elementary, et al
HGTV: House
hunting, cooking and bride programs
IKEA
End-of-season
sales, buying clothes that fit well
Mexican,
Italian food, home-cooked American food
Below
freezing temperatures, snow—not much but some
Driving
Fast
Internet
Wi-fi
in most houses I visited
Toilet
paper and hand towels in all bathrooms, napkins on the dining table
Central
heating
Hot
water showers
Washing
machine and dryer
What I
know about China so far is not much. There are five of us going for this Peace
Corps Response assignment. We will work at universities in four provinces:
Sichuan, Gansu, Guizhou, and Chongqing. We don’t know which one we will be
assigned to. We will be in cities and will live in an apartment on the
university campus. Some housing may be on a different campus from the one we
teach at. The assignment is for six months.
Although
I have enjoyed my time in the U.S., I’m ready to move on. I’m looking forward
to experiencing a new country and culture and to teaching older students. I
have remembered that university teaching is more challenging—or challenging in
a different way—than the teaching I was doing in Thailand.
I have
read that Internet connections are not always reliable in China and that the
system works differently. So I don’t know how often I’ll be able to post blogs,
but I will do it when I can.
