Wu'an

Hello from Wu'an! We have just returned from our time in the village with one of my students. His English name is Marty and he is one of the few students I have maintained contact with since leaving China. Marty is an amazing person and every time I spend time with him I realize what a servant he is as well. I have reached for my wallet to pay for something about 5-6 times since we have been here and each time he has told me to put it away. There is no point in trying to argue with him either because it is a tradition in China to treat a guest to your hometown this way.

The trip to the village started on Wednesday after Ashley and I took an overnight train from Hangzhou to Beijing South Train Station. The train was only around 11 hours long and we arrived at the station at 7:44am. Did not sleep much due to the fact the pillows were smaller than the previous overnight and our roommates did not sleep very much. One of them had a phone that kept going off and lighting up and he kept his computer on all night. The only good part from this train was the no smoking policy. When we arrived in Beijing South on Thursday we had an hour and a half to get to the Beijing West station for our 9:12am train to Handan. Instead of taking the subway (we made the mistake of bringing a huge suitcase) we took a taxi. This is the worst idea you can make if you are traveling in the morning through Beijing. Traffic was horrendous and it ended up costing us 40 yuan for a trip that was only 10 km (the fee is 2 yuan per km, but we were in traffic raising the fare). The price was not the main problem because he dropped us off at the entrance of the train station at 9:05am. We literally had 7 minutes to make it to our train to avoid losing money and time getting to Handan to see my student. During our intense and exhausting run through the station I am sure that I pushed over at least 3 Chinese people who were in my way, shouting, “Dui bu qi” (I'm sorry) while Ashley followed closely behind. We successfully made it on the train panting heavily and I definitely pulled something in one of my legs because it still hurts right now.

After arriving in Handan six hours later we walked to the bus station to take the 1-hour bus to Wu an, which is closer to Marty’s village. While walking to the bus station we heard many people shouting "Měiguó” (American). Marty told us they were trying to guess our nationality. Getting on the bus showed me once again what life is like in the country with the largest population in the world. It was a pushing and shoving match to get a seat on the bus and it just so happened that our bus was the most popular one. The best way to describe it would be like a mosh pit where everyone is pushing forward to fit through a gap the size of two people side by side. It is an exhilarating experience where anything goes (cutting in line is not a problem and being a foreigner does not give you preference in line).

We finally made it to Wu an and we checked into the hotel next door to the bus station where Marty’s friend was waiting to take us to the village in his car. Once again, staying at hotels in China as foreigners isn't exactly easy, especially if it is not a major tourist place. It took about an hour to get checked in because we had to check our passports and visas with the local police department (power trip) and they were highly suspicious. This city is not a popular one for foreigners so we got lots of stares.

After arriving at Marty’s house we were greeted by my Chinese family. When I taught in China I was able to visit a few of my students' hometowns and the people in each location were very friendly. I am sure that since my relationship with Marty developed more than the others this family is by far the ones I am closest with. Despite the language barrier we are always greeted with a warm welcome and lots of food! The most food we have eaten on our entire journey through China has been in Marty’s home. As we continued to spend time together we exchanged gifts. We really just wanted to give his family some famous “Longjing” tea that we purchased in Hangzhou, but they gave Ashley some money since it was her first time in China and at their home. We did everything we could to reject the money, but Marty told us that we better accept the gift. I am sure their family does not earn too much money, but they still wanted to bless us and thank us for coming.(Also, it is good luck for them to give money to a guest somehow).

The second day of the trip to the village was once again filled with adventure. We finally got to see his sister’s new baby! Marty was given the honor of naming his nephew and were able to give him his English name. He is a very cute little boy and as we were passing him off around the room they told us that they were worried he was going to pee on us. Fortunately he did not, but I did get to witness a couple of things I have never seen before. As we were sitting and watching a movie in the house the baby was hungry and so not realizing what was going on I looked over to see the baby and ended up seeing more than I wanted to of the mother. I quickly looked away and sat waiting for the moment to end. After this he needed to use the restroom so Marty’s sister tried to hold the baby over a bucket and aim his pee and poop from getting on the floor. Well, he missed completely and we got to see him pee on the wall and poop on the floor. Ashley and I just laughed it was a pretty funny sight to see. Diapers are not something that is used in many parts of China and the children simply have a slit in their pants to do the deed when necessary. When the children are very young I am sure it is quite an adventure trying to figure out when to aim him/her at the bucket!

Here's another picture of a diaper-less baby

We made it to Marty’s house and showed our wedding video to his family. After watching it one time through, more neighbors had showed up and wanted to watch the wedding video as well. Round three of the wedding video came later that evening when Marty’s friends came over to play cards and drink. We had somewhat of a party in his home that night which pretty much consisted of lots of food, a few card games, and lots of smoke. While we did not smoke, we walked away smelling as if we had smoked an entire pack. The room was filled with so much smoke that you could see it in all the photos we took that evening. We took a picture with Marty and his parents and said goodbye to them for the last time.

Here's a video of Taylor and Marty singing the Backstreet Boys.