The (Asian) Education of Miss 爱美丽

Highlights:

• Taking a 9 hour train ride through rural China, accompanied by Cawnry (name of his own invention) an exceedingly enthusiastic guide with a curious Southern twang to his English  who studies political science in his spare time and who dreams of going to U.Chicago. (Farthest on the left in the Hexi teacher shot below).
• Walking through a rural village and stumbling upon huge hay stacks, flocks of sheep, Cultural Revolution-era propaganda, and as always, cute Chinese babies (with open crotch  onesies, no less!)
• Presenting to reverent classes about “home,” including the Murphy clan; growing up on the coast (most of them had never seen an ocean); missing best friends at home; feeling at home in France,  NYC, and now Hong Kong; and why many young American embrace finding independence away from their home.
• Visiting a local primary where we were greeted by the T.V. station, and where I taught a class of almost 100 students to belt the lyrics (ok, maybe just the chorus) to “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!” They ate it up.
• Eating the cheapest and most delicious spicy beef noodle soup of my life – for breakfast. Several times.
• Exploring the crazy hills and valleys of the Gobi Desert – truly reminiscent of the American Southwest, but colder.
• Bonding with my assigned tour-guide and new friend Wendy over anxiety-inducing big life choices (see post below).
• Touring the Muslim market at the edge of town, where we saw charred cow’s heads, huge carcasses of mutton, and lots of beautiful produce and spices. Where I also bought my Communist/Russian hat which I adore.
• Accompanying a Peace Corps friend to a random wedding party at a local home, where we ended up playing hard-core drinking games with baijiu, and where my friend Ryan tried to hit on the groom.

And those are just the highlights! If you’re a real pal (with some real procrastination time on your hands), indulge me in a little more space to elaborate more on this eye-opening trip.

Napolean wuz here!

Legend has it that Napolean visited this once-bustling frontier town, one of the most important hubs for international trade along the Silk Road, and stayed here for one year. Not sure how accurate the history is, but there is a huge statue of Napolean in the middle of the town’s major intersection. French tyrants aside… this place is ideal for adventurous travelers, or for those who happen to be traveling the length of the old Silk Road and are committed to seeing some of China’s less frequented highlights, such as Rob Gifford did for his book China Road. I loved Zhangye for its still-intact ancient architecture  that actually shows its centuries-old age, unlike a lot of the sites that have been replaced with shiny replicas in more tourist-trodden destinations. The Sleeping Buddah (see picture below), is actually China’s largest reclining buddah and dates back at least 900 years. And like Gifford, I appreciated Zhangye not only for its glimpse into what was once a major trading post, but for its progressive energy. Sure, the town is a little dusty and kind of in the middle of nowhere… but that doesn’t stop its residents, students and small business owners from joining the rest of China in its upward and onward heave. Gifford writes about an almost tangible ambition he encounters with some PanAm salesmen there back in 2001, and I can attest to that ambition driving not only students’ far-reaching dreams, but to an earnest-looking MaryKay outlet I saw opening up. Road trip 2010, Mom?

The community at Hexi College

The success of our trip to Zhangye and its Hexi College was made largely possible because of the leadership and gracious welcoming of these wonderful people who work at the college: Gary and Rae, teachers with the Amity Foundation, and Dani, a third year Peace Corps volunteer, along with Ms. Mao – the feistiest Chinese woman I have ever met. I mean just look at those boots she went hiking in! And then there’s her overly helpful assistant Cawnry (pronounced Cowie???)…

My group had the pleasure of working with Gary’s creative writing and research writing classes. After showing pictures and talking about our different homes all over the States (Boston, Palo Alto, Chicago, Jersey), the students wrote and shared about their own homes. It was fascinating to hear where the students came from – most from remote farming villages and even several from the Mongolian plains. They hung on every word and image we gave them about America, yet they seemed extremely proud to speak about their homes and families as well. Almost all echoed feeling an accute challenge at being away from their families – families who were working overtime to pay for their tuition.

Wendy & Luke

I was lucky to be able to develop frienships with two of the most standout students I met at Hexi. Wendy was assigned as my “buddy” for the week to show me around campus and whatnot. Immediately I was struck with her strong English skills, her warmth and generosity, and her overall joie de vivre. She opened up to me about her close ties to her father, the frustration of doing long-distance with her boyfriend (who lives and teaches back in their hometown), and her anxiety about choosing between marriage/motherhood and pursuing a post-graduate degree in English. In her (and their families’) eyes, the two paths cannot exist simultaneously, despite this time of unprecedented opportunity for young people in China.

With Wendy on the edge of the Gobi desert

I met Luke, another one of Gary’s students, when I helped him edit his final – and first ever – research paper. With complete freedom of topic choice, Luke had chosen to write about the urgent need for quality teachers in rural China. Instead of line-editing his work, though, I spent my time listening to Luke’s incredible story of how he made it to college – a story of family sacrifices the likes of which most Americans could never fathom – and how he was determined to share the gift of education and upward mobility by burning and distributing DVD’s of English instruction to the children in his village at home. For free.

Here are some of the many, many kids Luke returns to each summer to teach, regardless their age or family’s income.

Town & Country

One of the best days in Zhangye was spent walking through a neighboring village with Gary as our guide. Only minutes away from the honking trucks and commercial buzz of the city, this village seemed frozen in time. Farmers hearded sheep, stacked hay, and tended to covered gardens on the outskirts, while the babies, elderly residents, and donkies stood guard along the singular strip of traditional courtyard homes that make up the village.

Cultural Revolution propaganda for farmers

We walked almost everywhere in Zhangye, and so were able to really take in the local rythm. Drawing from surrounding regions, Zhangye packs a lot of diversity- Uighar, Hui, and Tibetan minorities to name a few -  for such a small city.   A few scenes from the town:

Worth the 12 hour journey alone?

• Lamian - handpulled noodles served in a chili-oil infused beef broth topped with chopped scallions.
• Teaching ”Noodle Boy,” yes that young gentleman at the end of the table who hand-pulled the above-stated noodles I ate for several breakfasts, beer pong.  He had remarkable hand-eye coordination, naturally.

• Being welcomed into the cellular dorm room where Wendy and her fifteen other roommates happily and gratefully live.
• Playing finger games – their competitive drinking game – with Ms. Mao and the principal of the elementary school that we visited as American “foreign experts”.

In short (hah), it was an incredible trip. The End.

For more pics in the album, click here for FB or here for Flickr (yes Mom, it works even if you’re not a registered user).