First Impressions?

Courtney and I at a temple outside of Tonghai


One of our first assignments here was a "First Impressions" paper.

Here's an excerpt of mine:

I think it finally sunk into my head on the flight from Hong Kong to Kunming. 'I am going to China. I am going to live there for three months.' I had been telling myself this throughout the summer and yet it always seemed unreal. Even during the fourteen hour flight, still surreal. However, I think it finally started to sink in on that Dragonair flight, after I was asked, with a combination of Chinese and hand motions, if I would switch seats with someone. I said, 'hao de,' and sat down, the only westerner in the back of the plane surrounded by Mainland Chinese. Welcome back to China.
This realization, nevertheless, is slow to sink in. It is strange to be back here. [I spent last July and August in Beijing, teaching English at Bei Wai.] It is familiar in that I have been to China before; it's not the first time I have felt absurdly conspicuous as one of the few Westerners in a sea of Chinese. The pollution here in Kunming is not quite as overwhelming as the air I had to adjust to in Beijing. Yet, if it is not the pollution that throws me off, there is always something odd and/or unexpected because it is China. (I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to squat toilets). I remember being in a daze as we left the airport, exhausted by all the traveling, but still marveling at seeing people riding on mopeds, bicycles, or driving "funny" looking cars, so much smaller or old-fashioned than most of the vehicles on the streets in America. (Yet, I must also keep in mind that on the drive out to Tonghai we drove past a Mercedes-Benz dealer, a Subaru dealer and I have seen the infamous government Audi on the Kunming streets many a time). On the ride 'home' from the airport I remember being struck by how "high tech" the traffic lights were with the numbers that counted down the remaining seconds until the light changed. I also took in the colorful shops along the way, most of them just selling who knows what, and the hundreds of "China Mobile" stores, and the ubiquitous advertisements on almost everything that makes the city colorful.
Kunming seems like a really cool example of a Chinese city. In many ways, it is like Beijing. But it just seems so much more manageable. (Though manageable and Chinese city may be a bit of an oxymoron.) The buildings are not as high. The streets are not as crowded AND I can see the mountains everyday- rather than just on the few days that the sky cleared after a heavy rainstorm.
I was especially excited once I finally saw my dorm room. I never thought the surprise of finding that I have a private bathroom, (I was preparing myself to have my first experience common bathroom experience) hot water heater, and western toilet would thrill me so much- but it definitely did.
Once immersed, it did not take me too long to confirm how much Chinese I had forgotten over the summer. The language barrier, though I had experienced it before, was definitely still present. And barrier is not necessarily the best word, the Great Wall is a rather apt, (though slightly dramatic) analogy for explaining how communication often feels.




Just some other FYI. :-)
My program is based out of Kunming Nationalities University, here in Kunming. Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province, in the southwest of China. (Border countries include Vietnam, Burma/Myranmar and Laos)
Right now I'm living in a dorm with 13 other students from US universities. We will eventually be living with homestay families for two weeks, traveling northwest Yunnan together for two-weeks, and then go off and research and write independent research projects of our choice for one month.