From Louise Calise

May 24, 2010

This trip has been amazing so far and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to fully describe everything and accurately describe this trip, but I will attempt to do my best. The first few days were exciting getting to meet people from CTBU and also from other foreign schools. On the first night we had a chance to hang out with a student from the UK and one from Canada. Combined with our American backgrounds it made for some interesting conversation. Within the first two days I had made some form of contact with all of the school members and many of the partners. It was very exciting to talk to the CTBU students because they are so interested in our well being. I have become good friends with many of them and hang out every night with some of the students.

During the first English corner which was amazing: I was surrounded by five Chinese students and at times more, who where asking me constant questions to help them learn a little more about America and also practice their English speaking skills. After that some other of the students and I were asked to dinner by our partners and their friends for hot pot. Chongqing is known for its spicy food and hot pot is known as the spiciest and the most closely related food to Chongqing culture. In the hot pot we had many things and CTBU students were worried that we could not handle the spicy food. Even though some of the food did make me tear up I was able to eat it all and most of it was delicious. The craziest thing that we ate was cow belly and it was ok. I could eat it, but it wasn’t my favorite dish.

The next day we toured the city some more and saw some of the technological advances that China is making. The rate at which China is developing is quite amazing and it looks like within the upcoming years they will continue to grow, as shown by the constant construction throughout the city. Later on that night we got a chance to get a massage. A student that we met on the trip arranged our trip and it was the first massage, and it was the best one I ever had. From the look of the place outside you would not expect how nice the inside was. We were able to learn and play a popular Chinese game mahjong and have some free tea while we waited for our massage. It was almost to the point where it would hurt but I ended up feeling so relaxed after.

The next day we had a day of all childhood games. All the international students and the volunteers were split up into four teams and competed against one another. I had a fun time and competed in four of the five games. The one I had to bounce on a ball across the gym which was hard because I couldn’t get low enough to bounce. The second was a mother hen and her chicken game, where I got to be the mother hen and try and block the other team from capturing our players. I also played a traditional Chinese game where we had to roll a ring up and down the gym and also pop a balloon. Finally we had a tug of war contest—the only event our team won. Overall it was a good time because we got to bond with our partners and other students.

We were lucky enough to get the chance to go to Chengdu our first weekend. We were able to see a panda resort and see how calm the pandas can be. We also got a chance to see Du Fu’s home (a famous Chinese poet) where he and other poets went to write poetry. The city of Chengdu was a good time. We were able to stay at a four star hotel right in the center of the city. On the trip our tour bus driver’s name was Kevin and by the end of the trip we became good friends with him and we plan on watching a basketball game with him sometime this week. When we returned on Sunday a few others and I went to Chinese corner: A place the opposite of English corner were we could talk Chinese. However, we got there a little late and there were not many people left. We were able to practice some Chinese but we also met some Americans and the DJ for one of the bars who is also the DJ for the CTBU evening party. It was a good contact that we made and he set up a table for us one night at one of the local nightclubs and we plan on doing our performance with his help. So far I have been constantly moving around and have not had much rest but I think it's well worth it since I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to be in China and I want to experience every aspect possible.