| Editor's note: Andrew Gramling spent more than a year in China teaching English to middle-school children. China Dispatch is a recollection of his China experiences to give our readers a first-hand look at how regular Chinese living is all about, and how an American in China adapted to such a life. We took an old road from Hefei through the countryside to Anqing, which was about three hours away. Both cities were in Anhui province, which is said to be the poorest province in China, and there were rumors that the bird flu epidemic had its origins somewhere within the province. That didn';t stop me from enjoying and appreciating the place though. Anqing was the old provincial capital, but Hefei became the new capital within the last 50 years or so. Anqing is a much older and more historical city than Hefei, I was told. To enter into Anqing, there was a narrow dirt road surrounded by forest that we had to drive on. There was a tall cylindrical temple and several other buildings that could be seen rising above the trees in the distance as we approached the city. The small road seemed to be the only way to get in or out of the city from that side. While driving down the narrow dirt road, a man jumped out of the trees in front of us to ask for money. Mr. Wang had a few words with him, and then we proceeded past him towards the city. The city itself must have had close to a million people living there, not many when compared to the four million who lived in Hefei, and was built next to the Yangtze River. Right after we entered the city, we went straight to Daler's training school, which was a separate entity from the summer camp we were going to. There we met Daler's close friend Willimas, and Betty, Daler's girlfriend. Betty was very tall, beautiful, and kind. Willimas was a funny young, seemingly unprofessional businessman who helped his friend Daler every summer with the camps. Betty offered us some green tea and we gladly accepted it. I was having such a hard time drinking because the tea leaves were all floating to the top of the cup. So I just started chewing and swallowing the leaves as I was drinking. Then Betty came to me and said. "I don't think you are drinking green tea. I think you are eating green tea." Willimas was the first person to teach me any Chinese words. He taught me how to say "I love you," and then he smiled and told me to say it to Summer. She shied away from it and laughed, but I still said it, half-jokingly. It felt like we were all part of a family and had known each other for years, traveling and working together. After 30 minutes or so, Mr. Wang drove us all to the middle school where the first summer camp would begin in two days. The school was packed tightly into the surrounding environment, and there were no big spaces separating it from the outside world. Some schools in China are easy to pass by without even recognizing that it is a school, especially in heavily populated areas. They are concealed by large walls, and blend easily into the other buildings on either side. Other schools are easier to identify. We entered through a gate to a small courtyard surrounded by rooms on three sides. On the left side were a few classrooms, and above them was the girls' dormitory. On the right side were some teaching offices, and above them was the boys' dormitory. Directly ahead was a large classroom where all students would occasionally meet during speeches, assessment and performances. There were also showers and bathrooms, which were much different than American bathrooms. Inside the bathrooms, there were troughs in the ground with short individual barriers along them for very limited privacy, and no thrones. A timed water system would flush everything out of the trough once in a while. That definitely took some adjustment. In the northeast corner of the courtyard, there was an entrance to a basketball court, a cafeteria, a snack shop, and another building, which housed additional classrooms for the regular school season. This place would become our new home during the 10-day summer camp. Evening came, and it was time for us to go to a hotel and sleep. The buildings were built so close together that there weren't any spaces in between them, like in Washington, D.C., but they did not closely resemble American architecture. Many of the shops along the streets had garage style metal doors that the shop owners would pull down after work hours and raise again early in the morning for service. There were police cars and police vans driving around emitting an electronic bop-bop sound that traveled loudly over great distances and sounded very distinct from the horns of other vehicles. They drove slowly through the crowded streets honking to let everyone know they were coming through so no one would get hit, since pedestrians are free to walk anywhere at their own risk. When people honked their horns at each other, it seemed to be completely without animosity, unless the situation wasn't quick to change itself. There were also many taxis that greatly outnumbered personal cars flying down the streets honking the whole way through so they wouldn't have to stop for anyone. Most pedestrians I saw didn't seem too concerned about checking to see what vehicles were possibly coming toward them, like they were only focused on where they were trying to go. Taxi drivers would come within inches of them, and no one thought anything of it. Daler and Mr. Wang dropped us off at asmall hotel. It was only Nathan, Jackie, Summer, Candy, and I that would stay there in two separate rooms. Something that I thought was strange was when Daler told Nathan and I that the police would come there later to check our passports. He told us to tell the policeman that we were there to visit him, and we were going to be traveling to a mountain in a few days. We were not to mention anything about the school. I wasn't sure why exactly he wanted us to say that. There is usually something to be concerned about when the truth cannot be told when asked for. That night, while the five of us were in the hotel, Summer went outside to get a watermelon for all of us to share. Watermelons and other fruits are commonly sold at outdoor stands during the summertime. People also towed their fruit products on two wheeler carts by hand, or by small tractor-like vehicles. Jackie borrowed a big meat cleaver from the hotel boss and chopped it into pieces for everyone. The hotel boss himself had made sure that we had at least one thermos of hot drinking water and a supply of small clear plastic cups to drink out of, which was standard service at any small hotel. The water was undrinkable without first being boiled. Candy sat quietly and would only speak in Korean and Chinese to Summer because she was afraid her English was too poor. Summer started laughing at Nathan and I because she said we looked shy while eating the watermelon and spitting the seeds into a small garbage can. We were not yet used to the many habits we would have to pick up on in order to live efficiently in China. Summer was 21, but she reminded me of a little girl, still very innocent and playful, but she was also a very caring person, like a mother to everyone. Jackie was around the same age, but he was much more conservative, serious, and laid back. But occasionally, Jackie would try to get in on the jokes and loosen up his control on himself. The policeman indeed came through, and we told him what Daler told us to say. We were not yet in a position to question how to deal with the law in China, and Daler knew this. |
| China Dispatch/Andrew Gramling First day in Anqing Part 3 |
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