Social Study Week: Inner Mongolia: Days 1&2

As students in previous years have said, the social study week is what sets HBA apart from other programs such as PIB and ACC. I completely agree - it was a fantastic experience that gave everyone a good break from the rhythmic daily classes and quizzes. There were a lot of choices this year: ShanXi, Shanghai, Shaolin Temple, SiMaTai countryside, or to stay in Beijing. I chose, along with 18 other students, to go to Inner Mongolia.

The trip was organized so that it would be interviews coupled with tourist attractions and other fun. We left on Friday night and took an overnight train to Hohhut. We were in the "hard-bunk" car, which meant we were able to lie down comfortably (it's not as bad as it sounds - there's still hard-sitting!) The dreadful thing about the trip that everyone knew prior to going was the bathroom/shower situation. We were planning to sleep in traditional Mongolian tents on Saturday and Sunday night, which meant no showering or regular Western toilets for 3 nights. Furthermore, we wouldn't get to our hotel on Monday until evening. That was quite miserable, as nobody could shower for 3 1/2 days, but it was also a bonding experience where everyone complained and shared their misery. Gradually, our living conditions got better.

The first day, we interviewed mu ming, people who raise sheep in the countryside, and by countryside, I mean THE REAL countryside, where there is one or two houses every half mile or more. It was very humbling listening to them talk about their lives. The family we interviewed had 2 children who went to boarding school in the city. Tuition costs a fortune for these families, and the children are often removed from home at an early age because they can't make the daily commute to the city. Still, they were very welcoming, and this was definitely one of my favorite parts of this trip.

Still, the Mongolian tents were awesome! There was one big tent and a few smaller ones. I stayed in the big tent with 7 other people, and it was like a big camping sleepover where we stayed up and played mafia or just told jokes and what not.

The first night was really eventful. First off, we were served lamb meat...after we saw the sheep being killed just for the occasion. Let's just say it wasn't the best meal ever...they don't like to season their meat...at all.
Dinner was a lot of toasting. Mongolians LOVE bai jiu (white wine). Most Americans, however, do not. Yet, the toasting is really fun and it is a sign of courtesy as the Mongolians welcome their guests. So of course, everybody participated in the fun. They also made us sing before we drank, which was interesting because none of us knew many Chinese songs.

Look how happy bai jiu makes you...

At night, we watched (and participated in) Mongolian wrestling. Let me tell you - it is intense. Director Feng, who also came on the trip, made all the guys join in, and most of us acquired some sort of injury as a result. My shirt was definitely bloodied by my opponent...it was a fun experience nonetheless.

On Saturday morning, a few friends and I got up at 5 Am to see the sunrise. It was nice, but I don't know if it was worth such little sleep... Judge for yourself:

Some people couldn't make it up...

The second day, we went to Huang Hua Gou (Yellow River Valley). We got to ride horses (seen below), watch horse racing, and take a short hike down into a large basin with great views.
That's just a quick sprint through the first two days, which should give you all a good sense of how fun this trip was. I'll continue to update on the rest of the week later, but for now, I've gotta start by social study report. 2000 characters - rough draft due tomorrow! Great...

July 4th & Summer Palace

The internet here is incredibly shoddy. We (as foreign students) pay 140 yuan (about 16-17 US$), but it is pretty terrible. The service drops a lot every few minutes, so it can be really frustrating when you're trying to use zhongwen.com, check facebook, espn.com, etc. But besides that, this has been a great week.

This week, we had incredibly hard lessons. Both Ch. 7 and 8 in the 4th year curriculum cover history topics, so the vocabulary and sentence structures are incredibly formal and more difficult to use. Even the teachers and local grad students sympathized with us on this one, but as usual, we got through the week unscathed.

Thursday was July 4th, and the air was amidst with American pride. A lot of students wore red, white and blue and at there were excursions to McDonalds and Pizza Hut for meals that day. For dinner, I went to "The Sauce," which is a Western-style restaurant in the university's cafeteria. I had iceberg lettuce for the first time since Yale ended - it was a good break from the monotony of oily Chinese vegetables they usually have in the dining hall. We also had pizza there, and also we had to wait a ridiculous 50 minutes, it was surprisingly good. I'd recommend going to The Sauce as a good getaway from the typical rice dish. At night, a few of us headed out to Propaganda, which is a local club near BeiYu's campus. It was great celebrating July 4th there, because the club is notorious for attracting foreign students, and that night it was mostly American.

Saturday's scheduled excursion with HBA was to the Ming Tombs, but I had already been and I also remembered that it was not very exciting. Not many students decided to go, and instead, I went to Yi He Yuan (Summer Palace) with a few friends instead. It was dreadfully hot, but the Summer Palace was very relaxing and a great escape from the business and constant action that the rest of Beijing provides. It was an easy bus ride (only 1 yuan or $.12) to get there, and the entrance fee was also very cheap. The place was very large, and we spent about 6 hours there, including an hour boat ride where we just went around the large lake and resting our feet after a long day. When we were coming back, we got caught in one of Beijing's notorious thunderstorms. We ran through the street in pouring rain to find shelter after getting off the bus, and just 30 minutes later, the rain had stopped. (Ridiculous) In any case, it was an eventful day, but now I am pretty tired and debating what to do tonight. A few PIB students are visiting BeiYu, so we might head out on an excursion somewhere. For now, here are some pics from Yi He Yuan.

The other kids...Jesse, Ming, Amy, Rachel

Marble Boat

Lazy Sundays

Ah, end of week 2 - I think everyone finally got more adjusted to our schedule/overcoming sickness/dealing with stomach issues. M-F is still pretty routine, class in the mornings, lunch, afternoon tutorial, then study, dinner, more studying. This week, we discussed Chinese students' perspectives on America. There are two main views: a hegemonic America and an America that is technologically developed and free society. Our essay for the week was to write about American college students' view of developing China. It was interesting, but I felt like everyone ran out of things to say by the end of the week.

This weekend, our HBA trip was to go see Beijing opera. It was actually really exciting and better than I expected. The singing itself was sometimes painful on the ears and hard to understand, but the stunts and the staged fighting was really entertaining. Below are some pictures.

PS - we keep running into random Yale kids in Beijing - whether it's ACC kids, PIB, or Bulldogs people. This includes random clubs, shopping centers, etc. It's quite fascinating how much Yale is invading Beijing hah.

The food they gave us.

Some cool/crazy acrobatic stuff with "arrows".

Some HBAers - more fun times to come...