Meeting of Friends, New and Old

So after resting all of the day before, I felt a whole ton better and I was ready to go again. Unfortunately, it just seems like tough luck for us because three out of the four of us got some kind of sick. I was sick all of the previous night and the previous day, but then I was fine. One of us had a cold the entire time and spent the week sipping hot water and honey or hot tea. And as soon as I was better, the next day another one of us got sick with the stomach flu too, but for them it was much longer than a day. They hadn’t recovered by the time we left the city.

But anyway, so because another one of us got the stomach flu, it was just three of us that went out the next day. We went to the French Cafe and ordered cheesecake and ice cream and coffee. It was delicious, and perfect because we just wanted something light to hold us over for the lunch we were about to have, which I will give you an introduction about now.

So the first day we got off the train in Kunming, I decided to send my old roommate from YNNU, Youya (this is her Chinese name, she’s a Korean international student), a text. I didn’t know if Youya was still there at the school, and when I was in America I tried to keep in touch with her, but her emails would come through and mine somehow would not go through to her. So I really had been thinking I was completely out of touch with her forever. And I figured most likely by the time I was back in China, she would have been long gone, already graduated and maybe returned to Korea. But I didn’t know for sure, I knew she had had some time left to go before she graduated, but I didn’t know how long and whether it was long enough that she would still be here in Kunming.

So anyway, as I had set foot in the city and had a moment to think straight I realized I still had her Kunming phone number, and that it was possible for me to text her now that I was in the city too (if she was in fact there). So I decided I’d send her a brief text message asking her if she was still in the city. I didn’t hear back from her the whole rest of the day, and so I figured that she must be gone. But the next day, as we were sitting in a restaurant, I got a text. When I looked at it, I realized that it was Youya, who didn’t recognize my number (because the number I have now is different from my Kunming number, because I live in Hubei now). Once I told her who I was, I asked her if she was available to meet up this week and she said yes. She invited me and my other friends to have lunch with her and her classmates on Thursday.

So flash-forward again to Thursday. After we had our light snack at the French Cafe, we made our way over to Yunnan Normal University to hang out until it was time to meet Youya. As we went over there, we noticed these beautiful and large lily-looking flowers on the trees nearby where we sitting. It reminded me kind of how YNNU looked when I first came. Kind of, at least by the fact that there were flowers on the trees even at the end of February. And it occurred to me that only a month and a half later, YNNU would look just like how it looked when I first arrived in Kunming in 2012.

So not long after, Youya was ready for us (they had just finished taking their final test), and we met her there on steps of the language building, where all the students of Chinese have their classes. It was really nice seeing her again, and apart from now having bangs, she was just the same as she was when I knew her in 2012. It was so great to see her again, I didn’t realize it would be that great...I had forgotten just a little bit how sweet and awesome she was, but it all came back to me fast. And I introduced her to my friends. Because one of them spoke no Chinese, Youya had to switch to English, and she did it wonderfully. I don’t know if her English had just gotten better (I think it did though) or that I never really heard her speak as much English as she had to now, but she didn’t need help at all. I guess I just never knew her complete English level before because when we were roommates, we both had a strict goal of wanting to learn Chinese. We wanted to become more fluent in Chinese, and so we both decided we would speak to each other in Chinese for pretty much the whole time unless there was something we couldn’t communicate in Chinese (whether it was because I didn’t understand the new Chinese word Youya was saying, or whether it was because I didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say in Chinese…so either way it was for the most part my fault). If we couldn’t communicate it in Chinese, then we’d switch to English…just for a little bit. My Chinese got a whole ton better as a result.

But it also got better after doing the competition in Beijing, which really made it skyrocket. So after coming back to China now and having not seen Youya since Kunming 2012, she noted that my Chinese had gotten a whole ton better…and it did. I didn’t need to switch to English at all, only one time did I ever need to switch.  Anyway, the rest of the class then joined us. I asked Youya exactly who is in her class and didn't know any of them except an Israeli student named Xia-Long (Chinese name also). Xia-long and I made it past the city level of the competition and to the finals in Beijing, along with three others from Kunming (a Brazilian girl named Shi Jinmei, an Australian named Da-long, and a Thai student named Wang Zhiyong…all Chinese names).  We weren’t super close, but it was nice to see him again, it brought back the good memories I had from the competition.

http://news.cntv.cn/20120802/120199.shtml

(The city-wide Chinese Bridge competition was filmed...kind of like how American Idol goes to different cities to find contestants and if they make it far enough they go to Hollywood. My equivalent was Beijing. And just like AI, they never broadcast the whole thing, just the highlights...the really good parts and really bad parts. So give it a watch, how many times can you find me? P.S.- I stand out pretty much. Hopefully it works...if it doesn't, either refresh it or come back to it another time.)

We all went to a Chinese restaurant further down a different branch of Foreign street, and we all had a good time. I think my friends enjoyed it too, though one spoke no Chinese and the other wasn't at the level of comfortably communicating. But all the students were so nice, they reminded me of my own class from Kunming. When it was the Americans and Europeans together, we just spoke English, but we also had Thai students in our class that didn't speak English, so when we hung out with them, we all spoke Chinese, as Youya’s class had to: they were mostly Thai and Vietnamese students who spoke no English. But they were all able to communicate comfortably together and they are such sweet people that it was easy to have a good time.

After that, one of the students who was an American (the only one in that class…Chinese American) took us to the school he had started. (Youya is a grad student, and so her class was made up of many students older than us who likely had other jobs too.) As we were walking there, I had a lot of time to catch Youya up on my life and she told me about hers. She said after she graduates this next term, she will try to stay in Kunming a little longer, but if not she'll go to another city. Either way, she'll still stay in China. So when we got to the school, it was a very small school, no bigger than a typical Chinese apartment (in fact, that’s exactly what it was…he and his wife had lived in it before he turned it into a school). But he was intending to make it bigger by setting up different branches in different places. So we sat and talked about education in China and our future plans and it was nice. He had an epic view from his window, you could see the city of Kunming for miles.

We left after a while, and I said goodbye to Youya...that was sad. I didn't know when I was going to see her again. She gave me the cute chain hanging from her phone and it said, "Love never fails." That made me even more sad. She said, "I'm sure we'll see each other again in the future." I told her if she's ever up my way in the US, then she should let me know and my family would be happy to have her over and show her around.

And that was pretty much the end of that day. The next day was more eating yummy foods and altogether good times. I had strained a muscle in my lower back bending over the first day and it suddenly got really bad and that made it hard to walk. I thought it was a vertebrate that popped out of place (*come on, look at me, I’m no doctor*) because that’s what it felt like…so I decided to get a blind massage to pop it back into place. The poor guy tried so hard to fix it…kneading and working the area to fix it…but because it was a strain that only made it worse. He asked if I felt better when he was done, and I just didn’t have the heart to tell him that it wasn’t any better, so I said “Yes, much better. Thank you.” So for the rest of the day it actually got quite swollen from the massage…but other than that the massage was amazing and he did a really good job. I love massages in China. They’re LONG and they’re CHEAP…and they will do FULL BODY, not just feet or shoulders or something.

Here are the rest of the pictures I took:

One morning, as we were walking out, this was one of the performances we saw. The girl in blue balances on a plank on top of a cylinder, while balancing on her head several magnetized bowls. The little girl (who also can do walk overs- they're like back flips without the jumping into the air) puts the bowls on the plank the older girl stands on, and the older girl flips them up on to her head. Another girl (who we saw later doing some tricks too) was walking amongst the crowd collecting money.

There are many children that come to the city center to do tricks, sing karaoke, and sell flowers and other items to people. I don't know what to think about it, because I know very little of how the kids are being treated and where they come from. Part of me wants to give money because these kids wouldn't be doing these things if they didn't need it...but part of me doesn't want to because of what I learned from Slumdog Millionaire. Some of these kids are exploited and freedoms are taken away, because their parents/guardians/bosses know that people will pay money if they see a child in need. This will continue as long as people are willing to pay. So though I don't know the full situation, I think maybe I'll not pay...just in case exploitation is happening here...until I find out further information.

Breakfast at the Prague Cafe on the last whole day. This was one of the first foreign restaurants I went to in Kunming, and the waitresses tricked me into buying a large pizza when I ordered a small one. They put a pizza in front of me whose size was ambiguous (couldn't tell if it was a large or small), the waitress waited in the corner watching me, and after I took the first bite she came over and told me "Sorry there aren't any small pizzas". I had never been cheated before so I paid for the large, caught very much by surprise. What I should have said was, "Do you have knives? Because large pizzas can be cut into smaller ones." (Also, my Chinese wasn't good enough to say that, so that's also why I paid.) But I only went back there a few times since then. My recommendation: go to the Prague Cafe by all means (and this goes for any Chinese restaurant that's more upscale than those typical small places), but be on your guard. Do not let them cheat you...and do not always take what they say as truth. If they tell you they don't accept credit cards, ask to speak to their boss. If the boss confirms it, then no harm no foul. But most of the time, after asking this, you'll get a grumpy waiter/waitress trudging back to the cash register and after a minute or two of talking to their co-workers, they'll return and say, "Yes, we accept." This actually happened to me with my dad in Beijing. When in doubt, ask to speak to their boss...about anything for that matter, not just at restaurants.

Coffee!!

Coffee and cream!

Sorry...once more I forgot to take the picture before I started eating...but it was so yummy! And I was so hungry. Here we've got eggs and ham, fresh warm and soft bread, mashed potato, and in the middle is butter with garlic bits in it.

This is the railroad behind YNNU, my school. Whenever I wanted to get further across town and not take the longer route down the winding, complicated road, I would walk on the railroad tracks and they're a straight cut over there.

The only reason I ever went to that part of town for the most part is to get to this restaurant that, along with As You Like, serves the best pizza in town...among other things. It's also a deli with good sandwiches and fresh desserts. It's called Slice of Heaven and it's run by a lady from New Zealand. She also sells New Zealand cheese.

We ordered sandwiches, but I also got garlic bread too. This was the garlic bread. It was really good, and it was HUGE. I couldn't eat it all, so I saved it and ate the rest the morning that we left Kunming.

So that was our last full day in Kunming…and then the next day after having some wonton soup together, the four of us split in half, Malcolm and Melissa then me and Kyle…and went our separate ways, on to the next leg of our trip.

Here ends the first part of the Return to the Spring City blog, but don’t worry, we’ll come back. As I said, I am taking you on a journey with me, and so my next place will be talked about in YET ANOTHER new blog. Oh snap...I bet you're excited now!

Here is the link:

http://kexininthailand.blogspot.com/

Kunming (then and now) vs. Xiangyang

Okay, so before I move on, I think I should take this time to talk about the differences between Kunming and Xiangyang. I know I talked about it a little before, but I’d like to make it a little clearer now and add some details I left out.

The foreigner community:

Kunming has a prominent foreign community that is absolutely here to stay. There are permanent residents of the area, those who have started businesses here and are trying to watch them grow. There are temporary residents here, mostly teachers that just want to spend some time in China and/or practice their Chinese. There are A TON of students that are studying here, for extended time or for simply a term or a year. There are students that are here with programs from their school that have established joint programs with the colleges of Kunming, there are those here on the China Government Scholarship completely on their own, and there are those who are also completely on their own but they’re trying to obtain their Master’s in Chinese language or Chinese Studies in general. The foreign community here is several hundred people, which is a lot, but they’re all scattered around the city, and so the effect is such that you get a real experience of China all around you, but if you want to associate with foreigners, there are places you can go…it’s not so in your face that you start questioning whether you’re in New York or China. But as Kunming gets bigger, the foreign population will also get bigger…so that’s something to keep in mind. As for Xiangyang, well, I’m pretty sure the population of foreigners is less than a hundred…it may even be less than 50, and almost every one of them is some kind of foreign teacher or school administrator of some sort…they’re just all in education. Because of this limited number, you’ll find that the type of people here are also limited…so the growth that you may gain from friendships will be much more stagnant (especially if you don’t speak Chinese).

The cleanliness:

Kunming is cleaner. Xiangyang is not as clean. Even though in both cities, people sweep the streets every day and the roads are washed by these trucks that play “It’s a Small World”, people use the bathroom in many places other than the bathrooms in Xiangyang. In Kunming, it’s not as much so. People spit all the time in Xiangyang. And strangely, they used to do it in Kunming too…just as much, I used to have to walk down the street with my eyes on the ground to keep from stepping on the spit…but the spitting has greatly diminished in Kunming. And I’m shocked because it’s all happened in one year. Xiangyang in many places smells like trash and pee. I really haven’t smelled this smell in Kunming since I’ve been back, only the delightful smell of good food.

More English:

Not saying this is a good thing, but there is much more English in Kunming than there is in Xiangyang, and even more now than there was when I studied in 2012. Before, there used to be so many signs that attempted English, but generally failed the grammar in amusing ways. Now, I haven’t seen as much of that anymore. It’s an interesting thing to see the improvement…Kunming isn’t as representing of China as it used to be because it’s becoming more modernized, but I can’t help but be impressed at how much has happened so fast. What scares me though is that probably within the next ten years, shoot probably within the next five years, Kunming will no longer be the city I was familiar with. But hey, that’s life…it’s full of changes, I just have to deal. Anyway, in comparison with Xiangyang, Xiangyang is more like what Kunming was to me when I first arrived there in 2012…it’s just more so. There are English speakers here, mainly students of English, teachers of English, and businesspeople. But there are a lot more people that don’t speak English…if you want to be forced to practice your Chinese, simply walk out your door. I really like this about Xiangyang. I suppose as dirty and semi-rural as it is, I love the fact that it shows me the truth…it’s showing me a more accurate display of most of China. (Hint: it’s not like what you see in the movies.)

More rules and regulations:

Kunming is on top of its game for a lot of things. There is a lot more encouraging of recycling, litter is being cracked down on, and so much more. You don’t see as much chaos as you do in Xiangyang, there is so much more order. And beyond the rules and regulations, Kunming people are much more used to foreigners and so they’ll be a little more “respectful” to them…and once more, this is something that has improved since last I was here. By respectful I mean that many of them know not to stare at foreigners two feet away from their faces (I had a lot of that last time I was here, this time not at all), I’ve hardly heard them say the ever-popular term “Lao Wai” when we go by, etc. In Xiangyang, things turned out to be worse than when I was in Kunming. In Kunming, people used to try to say hello to me…but in Xiangyang, this “culture” of saying hello is a completely different thing. When they say hello to me (or any of the other foreign teachers), they’re not actually trying to communicate with me and they’re not intending to start a friendly conversation…but rather, they’re saying hello as if their friend just bet them fifty bucks to say it to me…in the sense that they’re doing it because it makes them feel braver, like they just did something really cool. How do I know this? Well, on a regular basis, I’ll be walking down the street and then some group of guys (mainly guys, it’s rarer with girls) will be walking in the opposite direction. Once our paths cross to pass each other, they’ll snap, “HALLO” in my face right as I'm passing so that there’s no time for me even to respond in any way. So I continue on, and then you can hear the laughter of the guys as they continue on their way. Not fun. That never happened in Kunming. I’ve had the occasional really rude person, but most of the time I just got stares…and they were stares of curiosity. I know the people in Xiangyang are curious too, but how they deal with it is much less passive, and in this case quite often passive-aggressive.

Emotion of the City:

In Kunming, the city altogether seems much happier. People (and I’m referring to Chinese people this time) do not leave Kunming (for the most part), they come to Kunming for opportunity and the hope of a better life for themselves and their family. One day this week I went to get a blind massage…blind massages are very common all over China, even in Xiangyang- and it’s not that the massages must be done by blind people to be special, but rather blind people go to massage shops to find jobs because they have no choice, it’s the only job they can do. So anyway, I went to get a blind massage and I asked the guy who was giving the massage if he was from Kunming. He said no, he was from another province. I asked him if his parents were with him in Kunming, to which he replied, “No, they’re at home.” I had thought that seeing as this guy (who was quite young, definitely in his 20s) was blind, then he would need to be with his family so they could take care of him. But it looked like he was the one that was taking care of his family…he was the one who had traveled to the big city to earn money for the family. And that’s basically what most of the Kunming population is, just like the majority of the population of Shanghai. They are people looking to thrive and increase their status and lot in life. Because of this, the place seems much happier and hopeful…full of opportunity and room for growth. In Xiangyang, life is very stagnant. The people (Chinese once more) that live there aren’t going anywhere, only a few of them are. They’re going to stay in the small city and not get out and see more places. When I did final oral English interviews for my students, I asked them where they had traveled to in China. While some of them had seen a few big cities around China, many of them had only been to cities within Hubei province…they hadn’t seen much at all, and they weren’t really expecting to. It’s okay to live like this, but for me I find that I can’t live the simple life. I can live amidst it for a time to learn things and gain knowledge, but ultimately I need to be in a place where growth can happen, be it physical, spiritual, emotional, or economical.

So those are really the biggest differences between Kunming and Xiangyang. My personal preference is Kunming, because the city how it is and was in 2012 is most compatible with me. Others will find Xiangyang a more interesting city, I’m sure. My ultimate conclusion about Xiangyang is that though it is a harsher life (for someone who is used to living in America or any 1^st world country), it is an important place to be aware of, an important place to see and understand because it is probably the truest reflection of the majority of China and Chinese people that I’ve seen yet, without going all the way into the Nong Cun, the countryside.

Keep this in mind: Xiangyang and Kunming are in fact strangely connected. In a way, Xiangyang IS Kunming, and Kunming is Xiangyang. Had I traveled to Kunming perhaps five to ten years earlier, I would most likely have seen what I see now in Xiangyang. And what I'm seeing in Kunming now is what I'll see in Xiangyang in five to ten years time. In time, Xiangyang will surely have a massive looming airport like Kunming does. People, Chinese and foreign alike, will be flocking to Xiangyang for the hope of finding a good job or starting a business which will ultimately result in making much money, whether for themselves or for their families in need. And as the city improves and more foreigners flock to Xiangyang, the provincial mindsets of the people will change too. They will be more aware of foreigners and the world, as well as being more aware of the different people of China. The place will become cleaner, and rules will be made to prevent chaos and unnecessary filth. And the city will thrive as the new capital of Hubei province, as Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province. As much as I don't like change, one can't help but be extremely impressed by the swiftness of China's improvement...because you can be sure that Xiangyang and Kunming are simply two of many cities that are going through this very same process.

Ungghhh...

I didn't get to sleep through the night...I was awoken constantly by my stomach being SUPER uncomfortable. I was sick again. :(

Well...I was just sick all night. That's pretty self-explanatory, even when I thought I had cleared my system of whatever could possibly remain, my stomach said, "Nope, there's more!" even after I felt completely empty and depleted.

So that was my night. And in the morning it was all over, and all I could do was just sleep. So I slept the whole day. And that was my day.

But it was okay. Because I think honestly I needed that. I think I was actually sick even in Xiangyang with all this mess in my system and not eating right and all. I think this was my body detoxing, so in reality it was just another part of my recovery. So it was a good thing. After that, I took it fairly easy for the next few days, and then I had no problems after that. I could still enjoy my epic adventure.

Sometimes you gotta completely purge yourself of all the bad, as painful as it may be, to move on and become stronger than ever. And I mean that symbolically as well as physically. Oooo, now that's something to think about.

Familiar Places and Delicious Delights

I woke up the next morning feeling the same way I did in Shanghai, refreshed and ready to go! I hadn’t felt that way in weeks…but it felt like forever ago. I keep on saying this, but it’s just really amazing how nice simple comforts really are in comparison with not actually having them. You don’t realize how important something is until it’s no longer there. Anyway, it was a great feeling.

We got ready and used the coupons we were given after renting our room for a free coffee. We took our coffees and sat at the balcony and watched the action of the morning unfold.

#simplehappiness

It was so peaceful just sitting in the cool (but not freezing) air filled with the smell of delicious food, watching the people of Kunming below. In the plaza not far from the two gates, a group of Shaoshu Minzu (少数民族), ethnic minorities, formed a circle and danced traditional dances while going around the circle. Some of them were dressed in full traditional garb, others in partial traditional garb, others wore no traditional garb at all, and some carried traditional instruments and played them as they traveled around the circle. It was a very interesting thing to watch, similar to what I saw the Nakhi tribe (pronounced NAH-shee) do when I went to Lijiang with my friend Min Dan.

If you look closely at these pictures, you'll be able to see some of the people holding traditional instruments and others in traditional clothing. Some pictures you'll see this clearer than others...remember you can click on them to make them bigger.

One thing that I was reminded very quickly of being back in Kunming is how Yunnan province is filled with different ethnic minorities. Not all of them are native to Yunnan, but migrated there as Chinese imperialism spread. Yunnan province is home to the largest amount of ethnic minorities in all of China, harboring 26 different ethnicities, including the largest ethnicity, the Han group. I think I took this for granted when I was living in Kunming, because I really hadn’t seen any other city in China (Shanghai not included), and so I didn’t know what it was like to NOT have this kind of culture being a large part of the culture of the city. Now I’ve seen what most cities are like in China (Xiangyang is a city with no ethnic minorities- or at least very few- which is like most cities in China), and so now this ethnic minority culture stands out to me very vividly and is even more fascinating to me than before.

It’s so interesting to see the different outfits, music, physical appearances, and dances of these different groups. It is a small whisper of a reminder that China used to be many many different cultures…in fact, I am certain that what is now China at once point used to be much more like what is now Europe: a large landmass filled with many different cultures all over the place, each with different art, dance, music, foods, religions, and languages. An event that occurred later in my epic adventures really drove home this idea, but I will talk about that when the time comes…no spoilers.

So after we had our coffee and hung out there for a while, we made our way to the place that is the hub of Western deliciousness in Kunming: Foreigner Street, “Wenhua Xiang” (文化巷).

On this street, if you haven’t read my Kunming blog (I think it’s mentioned there), there is a line of different foreign-style restaurants owned by foreigners, and by some Chinese (not too many). There is a French cafe, a Mexican restaurant, an Indian restaurant, a few Korean restaurants, and many restaurants with certain Western specialties as pizza, pasta, sandwiches, and more.

Most of these restaurants are cafe/bar/restaurants, evolving into these different things at different times of the day. In the morning, they are more of a cafe which serves breakfast foods (most of them at least). At lunch and dinner, they are more full-blown restaurants, especially at dinnertime. At late night, they turn into a bar, and snacks and light meals are served alongside the drinks. In the in-between hours of the day they switch back into a cafe, where people just chill out, use the internet, do homework, and mingle. Of course, you can get anything you want at any time of the day (ex. Alcoholic drinks for breakfast, breakfast for dinner…that is, if you REALLY want to), but in general, most people don’t do that. I’ve had some really great times at these places, and some not so great times. But these restaurants (only a short walk away from Yunnan Normal University) kept me going when I needed some Western food to alleviate my culture shock in Kunming.

There’s something about knowing that something you like exists in a place near you that keeps you from craving it too much…but if ever it’s completely out of sight with no hope of getting it, then that’s when you start to crave it more. Bread and cheese (as I think I mentioned before) was my main thing that I crave when Western food is completely out of sight. There are other foreign restaurants at other places around the city (there’s an Irish pub, several very nice cafes, a New Zealand style pizza place/deli, and of course The Hump Hostel/Bar), but they’re generally isolated and spread out in different places around the city. Foreigner street is probably the biggest smorgasbord of foreign delights in the whole of Kunming.

Anyway, the place we went to first was Salvador’s, the Mexican style restaurant on Foreigner Street. We were all craving some salsa and refried beans. And boy did we get it. I ordered some nachos, and boy did I get some…I thought it would be small, but it was more than I could eat and I needed my friends to help me. But they tasted like heaven. I picked up the first nacho, scooped it into the pile of sour cream, salsa, refried beans, and lettuce, and took a bite. BURST OF DELICIOUSNESS IN MY MOUTH!! It was amazing!

And you have to realize that this is all relative, I’m coming from Xiangyang where the food is so-so and if you’re not SUPER used to Chinese food then you’ll be craving Western food before long, and so I’ve learned to take pleasure from certain simple foods like bread and cheese. Maybe if you’re coming straight from America to Kunming you’ll think, “Oh, the chips were just normal chips, nothing special; the pizza’s too small and thin; the drinks aren’t sweet enough.” But hey, to me, Kunming was the very paradise I needed to recover from Xiangyang. Kunming had been my home, and it will always be like a second home to me even if I never go back there to live, and the fact is that there’s more than just good food here…there’s LIFE. So if you ever decide to come to Kunming, or if you simply just want a true perspective on what Kunming is (and truth once again is all relative), what I’ll say is this: there is hope and happiness here, the people are nice and happy and the environment grows happier every year. The friends you make here will give you a closeness like that of a family, because everyone here has come for a reason and they value the friendships they make that help them get through the day or serve to enhance their great adventures. So if you come here with any form of an open mind, Kunming will welcome you with open arms. Ok I need to stop now because I’m not actually trying to advertise the place.

Anyway, so that meal was really good, and we proceeded on our way. We wanted to visit the schools that me and Malcolm studied at while we were here. Malcolm had studied at Yunnan University, and I had studied at Yunnan Normal University. Both schools are excellent schools and I can’t really compare specifics between them because I only know my own school, but I do know this: what everyone says is that Yunnan University is a great school for Chinese students trying to obtain a general education. Yunnan University is a MUCH bigger school, it has far more diversity of subjects and majors being offered and it’s just a nice place…the campus is huge and beautiful. I had friends that went to school there, foreign and Chinese alike…and it does have its share of Chinese programs. ON THE OTHER HAND, everyone says that while Yunnan University is the better school for Chinese students trying to obtain a general education, Yunnan Normal University is the better school for foreign students trying to study Chinese. At Yunnan Normal University, the program is pretty intensive, and the teachers of Chinese are specifically trained to teach Chinese to foreign students. They have learned teaching styles and learning patterns of efficient ways to teach Chinese to foreigners. When I arrived in Kunming, I could hire a cab and order food at a restaurant and hold simple conversation. When I returned to the United States, I could call myself fluent in Chinese and received an Advanced title after passing my Oral Efficiency Test for my major at Carnegie Mellon University. Because of my time in Kunming and Yunnan Normal University. You be the judge of which school to choose to study Chinese.

But no matter what school you choose, you will not improve a single bit if you don’t try. A huge part of getting better is entirely up to you…you have to put in the work. You can’t just passively sit in a class and hope by just sitting there and just doing the homework that you’ll magically speak Chinese by the end of it. It’s up to you.

So we visited Yunnan University and Malcolm told us what was the same and what was different. Most of it was the same, but the building he had studied in had been knocked down. The place looked very much like how I remembered it to look.

Then we went over to my school…and that hit home to me much more. That place was very special to me, even though the conditions I lived in were far cruder than any dorm you’d find in America. I think in comparing my time in Xiangyang and my time in Kunming, I’ve learned that it’s not necessarily needing to live in super comfortable conditions that will keep you going…it’s having at least something or a few somethings that keep you motivated that’s important. I don’t really have too many "somethings" in Xiangyang…but in Kunming, I had friends that were happy and open and caring, good food whenever I needed it, warm weather, and the promise of an adventure (even if very small) on a regular basis.

My school hadn’t really changed too much, except for some sort of net wrapped around the trees in front of the library. That was really it. And at my school, there were flowers still growing even in the winter when it should be cold. Every time I’ve been at YNNU, there have been flowers growing at least somewhere. It was beautiful. I saw my dorm, and then I saw my classroom building. I was hoping to see my former main teacher, but upon talking to another teacher I had known from before I found out that she was now teaching in Thailand. Wow, that was a surprise.

This was along the path outside of Yunnan University on the way to Yunnan Normal University. They didn't sell these delicious looking beauties when I was there, they only sold fruit at the time. If they had, you better believe this would have been the place I would've grabbed lunch from on a regular basis. I didn't get to sample these during the first week in Kunming, but when I go back I definitely will.

On the way to YNNU (Yunnan Normal)

This was my old dormitory. I was on the third floor, the third from the right. We weren't allowed to go in this time, but it didn't matter. There was no one I knew in the dorms any more, so there wasn't any point. All my friends had either moved somewhere else or left. Most of them left.

This is the classroom building for the foreign language students. I've had friends from the US, England, Russia, Germany, Israel, Thailand, Vietnam, Latvia, Estonia, Switzerland, Holland, Canada, Malaysia, and Indonesia (and more that I can't think of) that have studied here.

This is the pond that they have by the main gate. It's like the focal point of the whole campus.

So after that, we went down to Green Lake and did some walking by there. It was really pretty, and we happened to be there around the time of a kind of holiday they were celebrating...not an official one,just a kind of festival celebration unique to Kunming I guess . There’s a certain time of year when the seagulls come from, well, the sea I guess, and flock over to Green Lake in very very large amounts. And the Chinese people think it’s really awesome, and the only thing I’m thinking is that I hope they don’t poop on my head or bite me.

Here you can see more clearly some of the traditional wear. That dress the lady is wearing reminds me of something I'd see in Mexican clothing, with the bright colors and the stripes. 

These ladies to the left are also wearing a different kind of traditional clothing. They have these aprons with tassles that hang down. I know that the Nakhi tribe has these kind of aprons, but I don't know if that's what these ladies are.

The baby carrier this lady has is a common one here in Yunnan province...the carrier itself is not of an ethnic minority group, but the design I believe is. I'm not certain though, don't hold me to that. All I know for sure is that many women in Yunnan province walk around with this particular design, and I haven't seen this anywhere else. But as I said, don't hold me to it.

Seagulls...

More.

Now this is yet another type of traditional clothing...I have no idea which ethnic minority these ladies belong to.

While we were there walking around the lake, and seeing the hundreds of birds, we also saw more ethnic minorities dancing. They had their traditional garb and their traditional instruments. I find it fascinating that their outfits and traditions reminded me of some of the Native American groups I’ve seen. Many of their outfits have feathers and designs reminiscent of what I’ve seen in America, and it makes a lot of sense because if you look at a map of human migration, that was the path that the Native Americans (as well as any natives to the Americas) took to get there. They started in Africa, as we all did, made their way through the Saudi Arabian peninsula, through Asia, up to Russia, through a strip of land that used to exist at the Bering Strait, and then down through Alaska and Canada, and into North America, Central America, and South America (and then after that the Caribbean).

Anyway, it’s cool to see similarities in cultures because it reminds us that we are not a set of races, we are all one race of humans, all connected in more ways than we even know. It’s a pretty cool thing to be aware of, and the more places I go, the more connections I find between two cultures that I thought were pretty distinct and independent of each other…and then I realize that’s not so. Go to a place like Kazakhstan or Tajikistan or Xinjiang in China or New Zealand and see the natives to these places, or simply meet them face to face, and just by looking at them it will shatter any belief you had that there are distinct races of humans. No sir, we are all one people, all connected…the only thing that makes us different is that the places we live (the geography- be it mountains or rivers, the climate- be it hot desert or endless winter, and the wildlife) influence our methods of survival, how we thrive, how we look at the world, and much more. A future event has also driven this idea home for me, but once again no spoilers.

After we walked around the lake, we went back to the hostel. We grabbed some dumplings and rolls called “bao zi” (包子) at the Chinese restaurant on the second floor below us and then took a break. Before long it was time for dinner, and we decided to go to an Italian restaurant we saw nearby the city center as we were walking earlier in the day. Strangely, I was still “full” from eating earlier in the day. We went there and three of us ordered lasagna. It was delicious, I just wish I wasn’t feeling so full. I couldn’t enjoy it like I wanted to. We went back to the hostel afterwards and then went to sleep.