I awoke every morning to yogurt and hard-boiled eggs. Every day I had hours of Chinese class where I was forced to speak and learn. I spent the afternoons getting to know people from all over the States who were just like me yet delightfully different. Every evening my hosts, the Yang family, made a feast. New dishes seemed to appear every night, and while there were many new challenges to overcome, I convinced myself that mastering chopsticks could become an analogy for Chinese culture and language.
There was so much to love about my Peace Corps Pre-Service Training (PST). After arriving in Chengdu, PR China, I and my 70 new colleagues were divided into four universities around the city. Spending only occasional Fridays and weekends with the other three groups only helped to strengthen our bonds. We all experienced the coming together and attachments that form out of a need for normalcy. After we received our site assignments we experienced the separation that occurs because of China's great distances. Some volunteers ended up separated by a four day train ride.
Reminded of the Talking Heads song "Once in a Lifetime", I often wondered how I got here. My journey to Peace Corps began as an idea in the fall of 2010 when I found myself 27 years old and in debt from my travels to Europe. The idea was to apply to Peace Corps and keep all my options open. I knew I wanted China, but I especially wanted to be out of debt by 2012, regardless of whether China was on the horizon.
During PST volunteers are interviewed by the country director. In late August I sat down with CD Bonnie Thie at Sichuan Normal University (SNU). As I shared with her my experiences in 2008 with Peace Corps Togo she asked if I regretted not receiving a West Africa assignment.
"No!" I replied quickly.
"Then why China?", she asked.
"I can't imagine anyone wanting to be anywhere else", I replied. China is what's happening.
On July 2, 2012 Peace Corps China's 18th cohort arrived in Chengdu, China. During the next few days we stayed at a hotel on the campus of Sichuan University. Every morning I asked myself how this happened. Did I really want to be here? What had I just sacrificed to be here? Was this really where I belonged?
The bus ride from the airport and the subsequent few days at the hotel didn't give me much time to digest everything that had happened. The difficult goodbyes in DC, the long orientation day in Los Angeles, the hours on the airplane over the Pacific, the night in Thailand, the awkward and sleepless interactions with strangers: as I replay everything that happened in the space of that week I realize now what a wonderful and exciting time we had.
If waking up the morning of my 29th birthday was the beginning of that wonder and excitement, meeting my host brother Luke Johnson and his family opened the next chapter. I wasn't truly in China until I shook Luke's hand and he said to me in brilliant American English:
"I'm Luke Johnson. You have nothing to worry about."
He cussed like an American. He watched WWE. He asked me if I'd seen the latest Family Guy spoof of Return of the Jedi. I knew from the moment he said "China is more open now", that Luke Johnson and I were going to be friends.
Luke represents a new China. Yes, it could be that Luke has spent the last 8 summers hosting Peace Corps volunteers. But I think it's the will to look west that brought the volunteers, not the other way around.
Before arriving in China most of my knowledge about China and its people came from The Economist and KungFu movies. Despite his often grizzled exterior, Luke helped me understand what China looks like today. And while I still woke up wondering how I got here, Luke helped me make a lot more sense of everything.
You may find yourself living in another part of the world...
There was so much to love about my Peace Corps Pre-Service Training (PST). After arriving in Chengdu, PR China, I and my 70 new colleagues were divided into four universities around the city. Spending only occasional Fridays and weekends with the other three groups only helped to strengthen our bonds. We all experienced the coming together and attachments that form out of a need for normalcy. After we received our site assignments we experienced the separation that occurs because of China's great distances. Some volunteers ended up separated by a four day train ride.
***
During PST volunteers are interviewed by the country director. In late August I sat down with CD Bonnie Thie at Sichuan Normal University (SNU). As I shared with her my experiences in 2008 with Peace Corps Togo she asked if I regretted not receiving a West Africa assignment.
"No!" I replied quickly.
"Then why China?", she asked.
"I can't imagine anyone wanting to be anywhere else", I replied. China is what's happening.
***
On July 2, 2012 Peace Corps China's 18th cohort arrived in Chengdu, China. During the next few days we stayed at a hotel on the campus of Sichuan University. Every morning I asked myself how this happened. Did I really want to be here? What had I just sacrificed to be here? Was this really where I belonged?
The bus ride from the airport and the subsequent few days at the hotel didn't give me much time to digest everything that had happened. The difficult goodbyes in DC, the long orientation day in Los Angeles, the hours on the airplane over the Pacific, the night in Thailand, the awkward and sleepless interactions with strangers: as I replay everything that happened in the space of that week I realize now what a wonderful and exciting time we had.
If waking up the morning of my 29th birthday was the beginning of that wonder and excitement, meeting my host brother Luke Johnson and his family opened the next chapter. I wasn't truly in China until I shook Luke's hand and he said to me in brilliant American English:
"I'm Luke Johnson. You have nothing to worry about."
***
Luke represents a new China. Yes, it could be that Luke has spent the last 8 summers hosting Peace Corps volunteers. But I think it's the will to look west that brought the volunteers, not the other way around.
Before arriving in China most of my knowledge about China and its people came from The Economist and KungFu movies. Despite his often grizzled exterior, Luke helped me understand what China looks like today. And while I still woke up wondering how I got here, Luke helped me make a lot more sense of everything.
You may find yourself living in another part of the world...
The Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
 |
| Luke and me at Qingcheng Mountain, where Taoism was founded. |
1 comment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfQam8VtXoM
Post a Comment