Ok, I promised I'd post pictures on the next post, but Donna commented on my last post and gave me SUCH an easy way out of it. Thanks, Donna!! Her pictures are from several different sources, and they're probably much better than what I took (actually I think a couple were mine, but all the others were much better.) So I'm directing you all to look at Donna's blog and all of her wonderful pictures of the New Year's Camp.
http://eagleswingschina.blogspot.com/
Definitely check her blog, and support Eagle Wings (the group I worked with last week and the group in charge of the tenth floor kids I work for). Also, watch the video on the top of the blog, it's awesome!
:D
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Chinese New Years Camp and probably the best week here in China
After saying goodbye to the last Harvard student, I was yet again alone...but not for long. First things first, Chinese New Year on Sunday, which I celebrated with the tenth floor kids. We had firecrackers, the New Year's Eve Special, lots of fruit, nuts, and candy (YouPeng had so much he threw up), and staying up till midnight(YouPeng couldn't keep awake and fell asleep on me, must have been all that candy...). Though it wasn't a traditional Chinese New Year, it was definitely fun.
I probably shouldn't have stayed up so late, since the next morning I headed out to an apartment complex near Dennis Supermarket where I would be helping Flick, one of the Australian volunteers, put on a Chinese New Years Camp for the kids.
This week, I worked with a whole new set of kids. The ages also range from the age of 3 to 14, but they lived in a very different, and also better, environment than the orphanage. There disabilities were also very different. In general, the kids were a lot younger, but their disabilities less severe (in certain aspects). The first day was crazy, with only two of us and 19 kids, we were running all over the place trying to run things on schedule. We played with uncooked rice and colored in the morning, and did dragon projects in the afternoon. The second day, we made jiaozi and watched Mulan II, along with more craft projects. On Wednesday, three volunteers from Zhengzhou arrived to help us out. We did some more craft projects like play-doh and watched Monsters Inc. Thursday morning, XiaoGuang brought the tenth floor kids from the orphanage over to play. I was so happy to see them again (only three days and I started missing them!) It was also really strange to see them with the kids I just recently met. To make a bad pokemon reference, it was like the tenth floor kids were the original 150 pokemon, and the new kids were the second generation, and suddenly they were all interacting together! ......yah, really bad reference. What I mean to say is that, up till that time, these kids felt like separate parts of my life (which I guess is strange, since they all are part of the same orphanage) and suddenly the two parts of my life were being smashed together.
Thursday also was our chance to go outside, so we got to make kites and went to the park. The weather was amazing It was pure chaos trying to get all of the kids from point A to point B. I ended up driving a bike cart full of wheelchairs to the park. At the park all of the chinese people were staring at us like we were some sort of grand spectacle. They kept getting closer and closer to the kids, so we had to scare them off a couple of times. Some of them sneakily stuffed fruit and money into the bags we brought, as a "donation". I thought it was really weird. I kept thinking, "Thanks for your leftover oranges. I hope you feel super warm and fuzzy inside." I'm sure their intentions were well meant, but how they just forced these donations on us like we were some sort of entertainment show and they were giving us tips felt really insulting. Besides that, I had a great day. It was probably one of the top days in China. Friday was equally as exciting, starting with making lanterns and having a lantern parade outside and ending with playing games and face painting in the afternoon. I was so sad it was over!
This week was definitely my busiest and most fulling week here in Jiaozuo. This was what I had envisioned when coming over here; working with kids and actually doing activities with them. I was able to do this to a certain degree with the tenth floor kids, but it was a lot less structured than this week, and I had a lot less man-power and supplies to work with.
Overall, this post does not describe fully enough how amazing this camp has been, because I'm too exhausted to find the words to express my feelings. Sorry! However, just trust me that these kids the volunteers(aka. Donna and her kids) are the most inspiring people I've every met, and I'm definitely going to try and return.
Pictures to come in the next post!!!!
I probably shouldn't have stayed up so late, since the next morning I headed out to an apartment complex near Dennis Supermarket where I would be helping Flick, one of the Australian volunteers, put on a Chinese New Years Camp for the kids.
This week, I worked with a whole new set of kids. The ages also range from the age of 3 to 14, but they lived in a very different, and also better, environment than the orphanage. There disabilities were also very different. In general, the kids were a lot younger, but their disabilities less severe (in certain aspects). The first day was crazy, with only two of us and 19 kids, we were running all over the place trying to run things on schedule. We played with uncooked rice and colored in the morning, and did dragon projects in the afternoon. The second day, we made jiaozi and watched Mulan II, along with more craft projects. On Wednesday, three volunteers from Zhengzhou arrived to help us out. We did some more craft projects like play-doh and watched Monsters Inc. Thursday morning, XiaoGuang brought the tenth floor kids from the orphanage over to play. I was so happy to see them again (only three days and I started missing them!) It was also really strange to see them with the kids I just recently met. To make a bad pokemon reference, it was like the tenth floor kids were the original 150 pokemon, and the new kids were the second generation, and suddenly they were all interacting together! ......yah, really bad reference. What I mean to say is that, up till that time, these kids felt like separate parts of my life (which I guess is strange, since they all are part of the same orphanage) and suddenly the two parts of my life were being smashed together.
Thursday also was our chance to go outside, so we got to make kites and went to the park. The weather was amazing It was pure chaos trying to get all of the kids from point A to point B. I ended up driving a bike cart full of wheelchairs to the park. At the park all of the chinese people were staring at us like we were some sort of grand spectacle. They kept getting closer and closer to the kids, so we had to scare them off a couple of times. Some of them sneakily stuffed fruit and money into the bags we brought, as a "donation". I thought it was really weird. I kept thinking, "Thanks for your leftover oranges. I hope you feel super warm and fuzzy inside." I'm sure their intentions were well meant, but how they just forced these donations on us like we were some sort of entertainment show and they were giving us tips felt really insulting. Besides that, I had a great day. It was probably one of the top days in China. Friday was equally as exciting, starting with making lanterns and having a lantern parade outside and ending with playing games and face painting in the afternoon. I was so sad it was over!
This week was definitely my busiest and most fulling week here in Jiaozuo. This was what I had envisioned when coming over here; working with kids and actually doing activities with them. I was able to do this to a certain degree with the tenth floor kids, but it was a lot less structured than this week, and I had a lot less man-power and supplies to work with.
Overall, this post does not describe fully enough how amazing this camp has been, because I'm too exhausted to find the words to express my feelings. Sorry! However, just trust me that these kids the volunteers(aka. Donna and her kids) are the most inspiring people I've every met, and I'm definitely going to try and return.
Pictures to come in the next post!!!!
Monday, January 16, 2012
American Meal and Questions Answered
After a long week two of the Harvard students are gone, leaving only Laura and I. However, today I do not want to talk about them; I want to talk about my meal with Donna.
Donna invited I and the other two Harvard students (Sabrina had already left :( ) to her house on Saturday for their weekly Game Night. I was excited to get some questions answered about how the orphanage was run and the adoption process. I also wanted to know about her and what her program does.
We found her apartment easily enough, and chatted with Flick and Ali why Donna prepared food. (Flick and Ali also always went to Game Night.) Donna lived with her three adopted daughters and two foster children from the orphanage. As cheesy as it sounds, I could feel the love and warmth in the air.
The dinner was fantastic (first western, home-cooked meal since I left home) and the information I learned was fascinating.
So here is what I learned:
On the structure of the orphanage:
So I don't know if I described how the orphanage was laid out before, but here is what I found out:
1st floor-still a little unclear, I'll have to ask Donna about that next Saturday. I've seen older children (around 8 years of age or so) crawling around on the floor. It was a little disturbing. I believe this is for older children with severe mental disabilities.
2nd floor-babies and a few toddlers. Donna says that care was better at the old orphanage building because the rooms were smaller and there was only one ayi to a room, so the ayi knew her wards. Now the room is big and there are two ayis, so it's less personal. The ayis can feed the kids and change their diapers, and then go to the other side of the room and talk to each other.
3rd floor-a few babies and 15 or so older toddlers. Some of the toddlers can't sit up, so they're basically treated like babies. Others can't walk, but can stand, and there's one really old kid who just rocks back and forth in his crib. Half of the toddlers get to go to class, but the other ones that get left behind stay in their crib all day long.
4th floor- for terminally ill children. Apparently, this floor is really restricted (for obvious reasons) but also very good. Donna said that the care was so good that the kids weren't dying like they were expected to.
5th floor-the classrooms. The older kids (around 9-13), the younger kids(around 4-7) and the toddlers all go up here. Most of the kids are from the tenth floor, with a couple from second and third and one from eighth that comes sometimes.
6th floor-office. This is were the director and administration staff work.
7th floor-where I live!
8th floor- this is a Chinese non-profit organization, but they only take in "normal" kids, so there are only six kids on this floor. Donna says they only take "normal" kids because the organization doesn't want their staff to work with special needs kids, only "pretty" kids. There are two that have minor disabilities, but the others are actual orphans, meaning their parents died. Louhuan says that the ayi on the 8th floor is especially caring, though. I definitely don't like that the Chinese non-profit had so much discrimination, but I am glad that these children are well taken care of.
9th-I still don't know what this floor is for. I need to ask Donna next time.
10th-the kids Donna is in charge of, and the ones I work with the most.
I also asked what happens to the kids once they get older. Donna said once they turn fourteen they get sent to another home with older children. After they turn 18 they are no longer wards of the state. However, the orphanage doesn't really kick them out. There are a lot of 19, 20, etc. year olds still living at the homes. As long as they don't cause any trouble, they can stay.
As for the adoption process, it's up to a ten year wait for a healthy child now, and at the moment they are not accepting applications. In the past, China has only let healthy or children with slight disabilities be adopted internationally, but they are getting more and more lenient. Still, they won't usually allow mentally disabled kids to be adopted.
Donna invited I and the other two Harvard students (Sabrina had already left :( ) to her house on Saturday for their weekly Game Night. I was excited to get some questions answered about how the orphanage was run and the adoption process. I also wanted to know about her and what her program does.
We found her apartment easily enough, and chatted with Flick and Ali why Donna prepared food. (Flick and Ali also always went to Game Night.) Donna lived with her three adopted daughters and two foster children from the orphanage. As cheesy as it sounds, I could feel the love and warmth in the air.
The dinner was fantastic (first western, home-cooked meal since I left home) and the information I learned was fascinating.
So here is what I learned:
On the structure of the orphanage:
So I don't know if I described how the orphanage was laid out before, but here is what I found out:
1st floor-still a little unclear, I'll have to ask Donna about that next Saturday. I've seen older children (around 8 years of age or so) crawling around on the floor. It was a little disturbing. I believe this is for older children with severe mental disabilities.
2nd floor-babies and a few toddlers. Donna says that care was better at the old orphanage building because the rooms were smaller and there was only one ayi to a room, so the ayi knew her wards. Now the room is big and there are two ayis, so it's less personal. The ayis can feed the kids and change their diapers, and then go to the other side of the room and talk to each other.
3rd floor-a few babies and 15 or so older toddlers. Some of the toddlers can't sit up, so they're basically treated like babies. Others can't walk, but can stand, and there's one really old kid who just rocks back and forth in his crib. Half of the toddlers get to go to class, but the other ones that get left behind stay in their crib all day long.
4th floor- for terminally ill children. Apparently, this floor is really restricted (for obvious reasons) but also very good. Donna said that the care was so good that the kids weren't dying like they were expected to.
5th floor-the classrooms. The older kids (around 9-13), the younger kids(around 4-7) and the toddlers all go up here. Most of the kids are from the tenth floor, with a couple from second and third and one from eighth that comes sometimes.
6th floor-office. This is were the director and administration staff work.
7th floor-where I live!
8th floor- this is a Chinese non-profit organization, but they only take in "normal" kids, so there are only six kids on this floor. Donna says they only take "normal" kids because the organization doesn't want their staff to work with special needs kids, only "pretty" kids. There are two that have minor disabilities, but the others are actual orphans, meaning their parents died. Louhuan says that the ayi on the 8th floor is especially caring, though. I definitely don't like that the Chinese non-profit had so much discrimination, but I am glad that these children are well taken care of.
9th-I still don't know what this floor is for. I need to ask Donna next time.
10th-the kids Donna is in charge of, and the ones I work with the most.
I also asked what happens to the kids once they get older. Donna said once they turn fourteen they get sent to another home with older children. After they turn 18 they are no longer wards of the state. However, the orphanage doesn't really kick them out. There are a lot of 19, 20, etc. year olds still living at the homes. As long as they don't cause any trouble, they can stay.
As for the adoption process, it's up to a ten year wait for a healthy child now, and at the moment they are not accepting applications. In the past, China has only let healthy or children with slight disabilities be adopted internationally, but they are getting more and more lenient. Still, they won't usually allow mentally disabled kids to be adopted.
Next week, Donna is doing a camp for Chinese New Year for the Eagle Wings 6 and I'm going to see if I can help with them. It sounds super cool. They're doing all these activities, and they need the help. I don't know if I'd have much work at the orphanage since there aren't any classes going on. It would be really cool to meet the other kids. The kid groups all have different types of disabilities, so some are only physically disabled instead of mentally and physically like the tenth floor kids, or some groups have downs sydrome, etc.
Donna also said that if I had a free day I could visit their baby house, which takes way better care of their babies than 2nd and 3rd floor.
After our conversation, we all played a game of Memory, Spoons, and Swap (which is kind of like Uno). I was sad to leave, but excited to come back next Saturday, and even more excited for New Years Week, if I'm allowed to go. (Since this would be outside of the orphanage, I would need permission from Assistant Director Wang.)
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Yuntai Mountain
On Friday, Flick and Ali, the two Australians who worked with the tenth floor, asked us to supper. We ate at one of the restaurants ten minutes down the street.
Simmer pot (Not Hot Pot) They put all of the ingredients in the hot pot and cook it in front of you.
Bull frog!! It does not taste like chicken. It had a light flavor and a fish-like texture.
Ali mixing the sauce
A dude pulling the noodles
Flick and Ali knew about what conditions all of the kids had, so it was interesting to finally figure out what “problems” these children had. I also heard that morning that Jiale might be adopted. I asked Ali if this is true. She said yes, but it won’t be for another year or so. She told me not to tell Jiale, because she didn’t know. However, Marissa, Donna’s (the American who is in charge of the tenth floor) daughter, said that she did know, but she didn’t believe it because it had been so long. Hearing that just broke my heart. Jiale was one of the older girls on the tenth floor and was always helping take care of the little kids. She definitely deserves a family.
The next day we went to Yuntai Mountain and had a picnic undera frozen waterfall that included a peanut butter and jelly mantou sandwich, fruit, and crackers.
We ate here....
We ate here....
There were monkeys everywhere!! They got really close
Breathtaking icicles
The big waterfall (It's all frozen now)
Monday, January 9, 2012
The Harvard Kids are Coming! The Harvard Kids are Coming!
In the span of only two days, I went from living alone in a six person room, with no other English speakers in sight, to a full house. I now have three Harvard students, one boy and two girls, under my wing along with a 21-year-old Chinese girl who just started working at the orphanage.
But let us start from the beginning, or should I say the end of last week….
Thursday and Friday were spent on the fifth floor, teaching the kids. I finally get to teach the kids!! I felt like I was finally doing what I was suppose to.
The older kids knew a fair amount, the younger kids could recite to 5. The younger kid’s attention span was also a lot smaller than the older kids.
I also get to teach music and art with them. They don’t know how to read music, and only know this weird number system that I’ve never encountered before. I’m going to try and teach them real music notation, but I don’t know if they’ll get it.
Art is fun because they love arts and crafts so much. I have so many ideas for art projects!!
Sunday was the day of the week where I get to hang out with the tenth floor kids. An Australian, named Flick, came to help out. Apparently, she got here around Christmas time (probably right when I left for Beijing) and she would stay here till February. I was excited to have an English speaker to talk to.
In the morning, Louhuan thought it would be nice to take the children out. So she designated the morning for the younger kids and the afternoon for the older kids. I was sent with an ayi, six younger kids and two older kids (they helped us watch the younger kids) to a park. We took the van half way there, and then hopped on a bus.
At the park, the kids kept wandering off; I felt like a sheep dog. Also, Tianxi, one of the boys, was causing trouble. He pooped in a public area, had a temper tantrum near the monkey exhibit, and refused to budge near the end of our trip. I ended up having to carry him the rest of the way. (He’s around eight and kind of heavy).
However, I felt that it was all worth it, because the children rarely get to go outside and explore.
In the afternoon, I stayed home with the younger kids while Flick and Louhuan took the older kids out. This time, Tianxi, Youpeng, and Guoce kept rough housing and causing trouble. At supper time, Tianxi had another fit and Youpeng started throwing food.
By the end of the day I was exhausted. It was a difficult day, but I didn’t really mind. Sometimes, kids have bad days, but it doesn’t mean they’re bad kids. Later, Louhuan kept apologizing, but I really didn’t mind the hard work. That’s what I’m here for.
On Monday morning, Liuting arrived. She was to live with me in my room. For the rest of the day, I showed her around and helped her out. It was weird that I was helping someone else out, when usually it’s the other way around.
Around seven, Laura, one of the Harvard kids, arrived. She also had one and a half years of Chinese under her belt. Our fluency level is about the same. Now I had two people to talk to who were my age!
In the morning, Sabrina arrived. That left only one Harvard student, Josh. No one knew when he would arrive, and no one know how to contact him. In the evening, we all started to worry. We met up with the director and assistant director at the bus stop for three hours but he never came.
The director brought his little boy with him while we were waiting for Josh. (I think the boy is adopted) He was so cute!! The director wanted to have a picture with all of us, and the boy LOVED the camera
We kept trying to make phone calls to different people and tried to figure out where he went, but in the end we went back to the orphanage and just hoped that he’d arrive in the morning or contact us somehow. At one in the morning, I got a call from him saying he had arrived.
The next morning, I had to pick him up. Now there were three. The funny thing was, I was in charge of helping the orphanage pick up all of the Harvard kids, and now I was in charge of getting them settled in. When did I become in charge of everything?! It seemed only yesterday I felt like I couldn’t even figure out my own way around this place, let alone help others.
Since everyone was here, I decided that we would celebrate and go out to eat.
Our first meal out with the Harvard kids
Afterwards, we went to the supermarket. They were so excited about all the Chinese snacks and their new surroundings.
KFC by the supermarket
Candy!!
Which fruit to buy?......
Also, Sabrina loves to take pictures, so I stole her pictures (with her permission, of course.)
This is what I do at the orphanage:
The lobby of the orphanage
Josh with Guoce
Laura and Xialan
Guoce got a hold of the flashcards...
One of the therapy rooms. No idea what it's used for
Me making a prototype mask for our arts project
Xiali writing on the board during English class
Me feeding Ajia
Me pushing Ajia and Huajie on the swing
The front of the orphanage
Monday, January 2, 2012
Christmas in China
I packed up some blankets and my Christmas gift for Jing up in my smaller suitcase and got a ride to the train station. In the morning, I was back in good ole' Beijing. Oh civilization, how I missed you.
After a 15 minute walk and a 45 minute a subway ride, I finally met up with Jing and she took me to her mom's friend's house (we call her a yi), where she was staying. It was good to be with someone who spoke English.
For Christmas Eve, we wandered around our favorite Hutong for chewy and delicious noodles, and even went back to Beijing Normal University to pick up some shack jiaozi and some movies. Around 8pm we headed back to Jing's and bought some chocolate, fruit, cookies, and bread. We were making chocolate fondue.
For the rest of the night we ate chocolate covered fruit and cookies, talked with Ayi and Shushu, and watched Knotting Hill (it was Jing's favorite movie to watch on Christmas). In the morning, we made Ayi and Shushu an all american meal: French toast. Of course, we didn't have any syrup, so we improvised and sauteed the leftover fruit and made melted more chocolate. I didn't know if Ayi and Shushu enjoyed it (Chinese people usually don't eat such a sugary meal for breakfast) but they finished it, at least.
After breakfast, Jing and I had a movie marathon, and before I knew it, it was time for supper. Christmas also happened to be Jing's dad's last day in China, so we ate at this supper nice restaurant with all of Jing's dad's friends. We had Beijing duck (my favorite!), shu mai (a dumpling that's wrapped up in this thin wrapping and looks kind of like a flower), and so much more. I would have taken pictures, but I didn't think it would be polite.
The day after Christmas we were taken out to eat again. I also tried to get help for my visa, (the office in Beijing said I needed more documentation). Jing's dad called in all of his guanxi (relations) but it seemed to be getting more and more confusing. Everyone told us different things. Oh Chinese red-taped bureaucracy. In the end, we decided to follow up in Jiaozuo, since that seemed the easiest to get my visa extension. After lunch, Jing and I wandered around Qianmen a bit and then met up with our teacher, Shang Laoshi, who took us out to eat at another fancy restaurant on this street that was covered in red lanterns. We had Beijing duck, again, along with dessert! Afterward, Jing and I decided to explore the red lantern street. It was very pretty.
We also came across some people dancing and playing music in front of this mall, and we joined in. Neither of us knew how to dance, but it was still fun. The night ended with another movie and I was excited for the next day.
On Tuesday we went back to the mall with the dancers from the night before. After exploring that mall, we at a Uyghur restaurant on the red lantern street and then went to an ice skating rink. It was really tiny, and the skates hurt a lot! Jing is on the ice skating team at Dartmouth, but couldn't show me any of her tricks because of the rink and skate conditions. After ice skating we went to the movies (on the recommendation of Shang Laoshi) and watched Flowers of War. It was by the same director who made Hero. I was extremely impressed, and recommend it to others. :) But beware, it's a tear-jerker, and not for the faint of heart.
On the last day, Jing and I finished up our chocolate, and lazed about the house. I was sad to be leaving. However, I had work the next day. (Also I bought my tickets too late and was stuck with a hard seat on the way back to Jiaozuo. I was not too excited about that).
We ate at Annie's (an italian restaurant) as our farewell meal, and Jing sent me off at the subway station. I'm just happy to know that she's coming to visit me at the orphanage during Chinese New Year. (I'm also going over to her dad's hometown during the weekend of Chinese New Year, since it's only 20 minutes away.)
Jiaozuo TV
December 21st was suppose to be a normal day. However, midway through the morning I was called to the cafeteria. Confused, I went down to the cafeteria. They were making jiaozi, and there were two reporters running around and filming us. I helped the cafeteria ladies make jiaozi, and afterwards, I was interviewed by the reporters.
It was a pretty awkward affair. I was finally told that today was a holiday and that on this holiday everyone eats jiaozi. For the "interview" I had to tell the reporter that I was at the orphanage to help the children, and that this was my first time here during the holiday and I would be giving the children jiaozi, and this made me very happy. These were all scripted lines created by the reporter and the director. In the background the cafeteria ladies were snickering at me.
Finally, I was let go. I was grateful I got a break from the doldrum of the third floor, but I felt a little used. Basically, the whole affair was a publicity stunt, and I was just another gimmick.
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