UMKC SIFE goes to China

Day 6 – Friday, September 18, 2009

Our last day in Nanjing was memorable, to say the least. We visited a prominent area of the massive defense wall that still surrounds a section of the city. During its more than 600 years of history, the Zhonghua Gate Castle of Nanjing housed troops that protected the city from invasion. The multitude of battles fought on this site is impressive. Our proud hosts gave us a tour of the historic structure. Seeing how highly revered this site is gives one a glimpse of the amount of history that makes up Chinese culture.

After browsing through some small shops one last time, we headed for our final presentation at the Nanjing Ninghai High School. With 600 students, this was one of our largest crowds; however, we were extremely prepared because of the completion of six successful presentations thus far. We had been warned that in Chinese schools, students were more hesitant to answer questions. They wanted to be sure that they knew the proper response so as not to draw negative attention and embarrassment to themselves if a wrong answer was given. Thankfully the obstacle of the difference in teaching styles between China and America did not seem to hinder the students from answering questions during the presentation.

The parts of the presentation about American culture and informal dialogue lent themselves to the most enthusiastic responses from the audience. Students readily answered these questions, showing their clear grasp of the English language. There was no shortage of questions from the students during the quick question and answer session at the end of the presentation. As in other presentations, we had more questions then we had time to answer them. We let the students know that all of the SIFE students before them had business cards with our information on them. The students at every presentation (especially this final one) were eager to receive a business card. Many of us have received emails from curious students while we were still in China. In fact, one of us received an email that night from a student requesting information about UMKC specifically.

As with the other schools, we were treated with extreme hospitality and gratitude from our hosts. The students were more than welcoming at this school, and were excited to shake our hands and receive our small gifts of thanks. All of us ran out of business cards, because of the eagerness of the students to have our information. Students here were requesting pictures, hugs, and even autographs from us SIFE students. The overwhelming sense of undeserved appreciation left us speechless. The people of China really do love American culture, and the students were overjoyed to make new American friends.

Overall, we could not have asked for a better send off back home to the United States of America. We take with us a greater knowledge of a fascinating culture with such deep history, numerous new friendships with students and faculty alike, and a stronger appreciation for our own country. We leave hundreds of students with a greater knowledge of the American school system and culture. We hope for a swift return to the People’s Republic of China.

UMKC SIFE Team 2009-2010

Day 5

The day started off with yet another great breakfast. We really owe a debt of gratitude to Mi’s family for their hospitality.

Today we spent most of our free time shopping at the Confucius Temple area. In this area there are over 120 small shops selling just about anything you could want. The whole team was able to find some nice souvenirs to bring back to family and friends.

We enjoyed lunch at a restaurant called QI FANG GE. Our meal was an 18-course tour of Nanjing consisting of small dishes that were unique to the City. A couple examples include duck stomach and hard boiled eggs that were boiled in tea and soy sauce.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel to get ready for our presentations in the afternoon. Our first presentation was at the Nanjing Jinling High School Hexi Branch.

Upon our arrival each member of the SIFE team was greeted with a very nice, full-color book covering the history of the school. I flipped through a few pages and I could tell very quickly that this school, like the others, takes a lot pride in developing great students. We made our way to the auditorium to set up our audio/visual equipment and made some last minutes preparations for one of our largest audiences of the week. This presentation required some adaptations as we only had an hour to speak to the nearly 400 students in attendance.

Although these students hadn’t been studying English for as long as some of the other students they still showed a strong familiarity with the language. At this point it was beginning to sink in how valuable it is to start learning a second language when you’re still in grammar school.

Based off the feedback we got during the question and answer session, the students understood the content of our program very well. One student even asked a question wanting us to compare the entrance examinations that students must take to get into colleges in the U.S. as compared to colleges in China. Another student asked a question wanting to know how accessible professors are in the U.S. if a student is struggling with a class.

Once we concluded the question and answer session we spent a few minutes making our way through the crowd shaking hands and thanking the audience for attending the presentation.

The second presentation for the day was held at the Jiangsu Education Service for International Exchange (JESIE). We thoroughly enjoyed having dinner with our hosts from JESIE as they already have a relationship with UMKC.

During the presentation we were able to get a lot of interaction from these students due to their great English skills. Many of them had questions regarding the life styles of American college students. I think the diversity of academic disciplines amongst the SIFE team allowed us to answer these questions with a very balanced approach. After the question and answer session was over we weren’t rushed for time so we were able to have some one-on-one conversations with students in the audience. I think this type of interaction is key in building a relationship with the students and the institution. Through these conversations it was easy to see that young men and women striving for successful careers still have similar personalities, no matter the hemisphere.

Day 4 started off with another wonderful breakfast filled with traditional Nanjing dishes. The most common is the salted duck, it is the best duck that I have ever had. One thing that is very different food wise is that in China all the tea is served Hot, the soda and milk are room temperature and they also serve Soy Milk that is hot.

After we finished out breakfast we had about 4 hours to go sightseeing. Today we went to see the Ming Dynasty Tombs and the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, both places that are important in China’s history.

When we arrived at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Mi told us that there would be some stairs we would need to climb to see the Tomb, but she didn’t prepare us for what we would see next… stairs for as far as we could see, 392 stairs to be exact. Each stair represents one million citizens that resided in China when Dr. Sun Yat-Sen died in the 1920’s. After what seemed like forever, we arrived at the top and were able to see one of the few tombs that are open to the public.

We then headed over to the Ming Dynasty Tombs and spent about an hour roaming around the area learning more about the history of China. We were very happy that there were not a lot of stairs here; I know that after the earlier hike all of our feet were very sore.

We then boarded the bus and met Mi’s father for a delicious lunch at the local mall; we enjoyed one of the best steak dinners ever. The best part was the price, it was only 25 RMB per person which works out to ~$ 3.50 a person.

We next headed back to the hotel to change for our presentation, and after a short bus ride we arrived at the school. Our first presentation of the day was at the Nanjing Foreign Language School, the students here had been studying English for quite some time and were very interested in the information we had for them. The students had some interesting questions for us. A few wanted to know if the student’s lives they see in American movies were really like that. We were able to give them a general “day in the life” for the typical college student.

After all the questions were answered it was time for us to take a bus half way across town to then transfer onto another bus that the next school had arranged for us.

The second presentation of the day was at Nanjing University of Technology, which is located a good distance from the city. Because of traffic, our bus ride was almost 2 hours long, but it gave us the chance to really see the entire city. When we arrived, we were greeted by their Dean and were treated to a very delicious, traditional Chinese’s Dinner.

At dinner we spoke with members of their SIFE team and discussed the projects that both the teams have done in the past and plans for the future; we made a commitment to work on a joint project that would further the relationship that this project has built.

After dinner we headed over to the grand hall where there were 80 students waiting for us to give our presentation. We spoke for over 90 minutes but could have talked for hours; a large majority of the students at this school are planning to go to another country to get their master’s degrees. The students here asked a lot of questions, ranging from how much school costs and how to find scholarships to picking their own schedules for classes.

After the presentation was finished we took taxies back to the hotel to finish day 4.

If you want to see more pictures of our trip then I have posted here, check out http://photobucket.com/umkcsife

Day 3 started with a huge breakfast followed by us reworking our presentation based on some suggestions we received at dinner the night before.

We spend most of our time until we had to leave for the school refining the presentation except for the 45-minute break to have lunch at the local Mc. Donald’s.

We had to present at the Nanjing Qiuzhen High School at 3:00 pm so a bus came to pick us up at 2:15 pm to take us over there.

When we arrived we were greeted with a huge sign and banner welcoming us to their school it was really too much, the welcome that we received from the school made us really feel special.

The presentation went really well and all the students thought the information we provided would help them in their future trips to the U.S.; we left the school feeling like we were bigger then the Beatles.

That evening after another traditional Chinese dinner, the team went to check out the Confusions Temple and do some shopping in the area. One thing that I really like about China is the rich history, everywhere we go there is a story.

We had a great time shopping and thanks to Mi, we learned to negotiate like pros. Because of here help we all have a lot of wonderful gifts to give to our families when we return.

Day 2 started with us waking up at 7:00am to check out of the hotel and have breakfast at the hotel. Breakfast was buffet style with a variety of soups, porridge, noodle dishes, bread, and a stuffed bread dish.

After breakfast we loaded all our stuff into the van and headed to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. We took the elevator to the observation deck that is ~300 meters above the ground. After walking the circle, we headed down one level where there is second observation area that allows you to walk out from the side of the building on a glass walkway and look down at the ground below. It was really cool to see in all directions out of the city.

After our time at the radio tower we headed down to Nanjing Road, which is a huge shopping district. Due to our tight schedule we were only able to stop by a few stores, it was a little over whelming to see all the shops.

On our way to the train station our driver took us to a local restaurant where we enjoyed another delicious traditional Chinese meal.

After lunch we headed to the train station to take the train to Nanjing. The train ride took just under 2 hours and was very smooth, not smooth enough for a nap but smooth enough to forget that we were traveling almost 100 mph.

Once we arrived into Nanjing we met up with Mi’s dad who let us on our subway ride to the hotel; after the short 15-minute walk to our hotel we were ready to sit down and relax, but there were other plans for our night. With only a half an hour of rest we were off to dinner, Papa Johns; if was just like you would find it in the US only with more seafood options. After our dinner we finally were able to get our much needed rest.

Immediately after we left the restaurant it was time to start boarding the plane. We would be taking the trip in a real workhouse of the industry, the Boeing 747-400. This plane was HUGE; if you have never been on one, in economy class each row has 10 seats broken into 3 – 4 – 3 configuration. In the business class section the seats are paired together and instead of the traditional seats, as they recline back, a foot rest folds out much like a recliner at home giving the passenger an almost bed like experience.

Here are the a couple pictures of the team in our seats waiting the next 15 hours that we will be confined to an aluminum tube.

About an hour and a half into the flight we received out first meal; we had the choice of either Braised Beef with BBQ sauce, roasted potatoes, and vegetables or Asian Soy Chicken Breast with rice and carrots. Both meals were served with a Shrimp Cocktail, a Seasonal Green Salad and your choice of a drink.

Katie, Jeremy and I all chose to give the Asian Soy Chicken Breast a try… and must say that we made the right choice; it was the best meal in an airplane we have enjoyed in some time and it beat the meal at the airport hands down.

About 6 hours into the flight we were served a small snack consisting of a hand full of grapes, a small egg salad sandwich, two Milano cookies, and a 3oz tube of water. Once again our expectations were exceeded the sandwich was very moist, the grapes were fresh and tasty, the water was cold and the cookies were a great way to finish the whole snack off.

Approximately 2 hours before we landed in Shanghai we were served our final meal, a breakfast with a choice of an omelet or chicken Teriyaki with fried rice, both were served with orange juice and fresh fruit

After we landed at Shanghai International Airport and taxied to our gate it only took 30 or so minutes for us to get from the plane thru the health screening and customs to the curb where our transportation was waiting to take us to our hotel. During the course of planning this trip we were unsure of what the procedure would be when we landed because of the concern over the H1N1 Flu.

Because of what I had read in the paper and on the Internet I know I was expecting a group of Chinese officials to board the plane and check our temperature, but none of that happened. We were however required to fill out a short medical survey asking if in the last 7 days had experienced any symptoms that might indicate exposure to the flu. We then left the plane walked to a counter, handed in the questioner, showed our passports and walked thru an area that scanned out body temperature with an inferred camera. We proceeded to the customs both and had our passports stamped, collected our luggage at the baggage claim, went thru the customs area and loaded into the bus and enjoyed the 40 minute ride to the hotel.

The trip to the hotel was eye opening, even though it was after 8:30 in the evening the traffic was terrible. I would compare it to the type of traffic you would experience while leaving a Chiefs or Royals Game. Bumper to bumper for as far as the eye can see. It was truly amazing the way that the traffic flows; it is semi-controlled state of chaos. Traffic is merging and cutting you off from all directions, there was at least 5 times that I thought we were going to be involved in some sort of car to car contact but our driver handled it like a real pro and got us to our destinations safely.

For our first night in China we had a reservation at the Aronotics Hotel. This hotel was in the process of being renovated but all of our rooms had been updated and were very nice.

For our first dinner in China, we took a walk down the local KFC to see if it was similar to the ones in the States. There were several menu items that were the same like Fried Chicken but this location offered several meals with shrimp and other seafood. Another big difference was that they offered French fries instead of the potato wedges.

That is the end of day one in China, check back later for more details of our trip including our visit to the first school.

Saturday, September, 12th 2009

Sorry for the delay in posting to the blog… the hotel we stayed in our first night did not provide access to the Internet.

The members of the SIFE team that are traveling to China today met at Kansas City International Airport the quick 2 hours flight to Detroit.

Here we are waiting for the plane near our gate.

When we arrive in Detroit it was lunch time so we immediately went looking for a good place to eat, well as good as you can find in an airport. This let us to the National Coney Island Restaurant. I can say that the food was as we expected, “airport” quality; poor Tara found 3 pieces of saran wrap in her turkey sandwich… she got the new sandwich, but wasn’t really able to enjoy it because of the previous encounter. Right after we finished up lunch, we headed over to our gate, boarded the plane and got ready for the 14 hour flight to Shanghai.

It is rather late and I am extremely tired from all the travel.But please check back for the next chapter of our blog, I will talk about flight to China, and our relatively entry into China.

Today, the members of the SIFE team that will travel to China next week attended the last of our school’s “How to” classes.  Today it was at the UMKC Law School and the team received a lot of useful information about what to expect while in China. I know that I feel better about the trip since I was able to ask someone that has actually traveled to China about what to really expect.

We are just a little more then 9 days away from our departure time to China.  With a few last minute changes to the presentation, a travel class at the Law School and some packing we should be ready to go.