***These next several blogs will be about/related to my weekend trip to the high school in 舞钢 (Wu-gang literally translated: dancing steel)
It was decided that I would meet my student at noon on Friday and we would go together to his city. His uncle was going to pick us up in a car and drive us to the city. The journey there was strange from the first moment. On my way to the south gate --- our designated meeting spot--- I received a phone call from Lance (the student) who told me that he was on his way and he would meet me in a moment. This was not a problem, I had my iPod and the weather was not unbearable, so I was content having a few moments to myself while I waited. Lance showed up after a song or two only to inform me that his uncle had gotten lost on the way and that he was currently on his way from 郑州 (Zhengzhou), the provincial capital- about an hour away.
Being the flexible guy that I am, I said “Hey, no problem! We’ll just go get lunch while we are waiting!” In traditional Chinese style, Lance suggested that we go to a fancy, and thereby expensive restaurant, because he was going to treat me to meal. I really wasn’t in the mood for a large or fancy meal, so I suggested that we simply go to one of the small (and cheap) restaurants that are plentiful outside of the south gate. Unable to adequately phrase his objection in English, Lance reluctantly and awkwardly agreed. The lunch was simple, but I think I threw him off a bit, because while he stepped out to take his uncle’s phone call, I paid for the bill- 15RMB (about $2.50). He was shocked and insisted on paying me back. I was going to have nothing of it…
As we stepped out of the restaurant Lance told me that his uncle was unfamiliar with the city and without a GPS and detailed directions was unable to come meet us at campus and therefore was waiting for us on the other side of the city. We would have to take a bus over there to meet them… A bus and a short taxi ride later (Lance himself got lost, but was redirected by me) we finally met up with his uncle on the west side of Kaifeng… He was a very eager man and from the phone call that I had received only a few days before, he was exactly as I expected. Although he was happy to meet me, I got the feeling he was more interested in talking in English and asking me about words than actually listening to things I had to say, a quirk that became quite irritating by the end of the trip.
Finally, by 2 o’clock ---two hours after our original departure time—we were on the road. Judging by the number of times we got lost on the way there, you would never have been able to guess that they had just come from our destination… Still, this did not bother me as I was happy to be able to get out of Kaifeng and see new places… As we left the city, the haze that is ever-present in Chinese cities began to give way to blue skies and the cluttered urban streets to farmland.
As I looked out the window, I appreciated the sights that reminded me of home: fields and trees… Although the fields were flat and mostly tended by hand, they would be indistinguishable from ones found in the states. As I began to pay more attention to the trees, however, a strange thing became apparent to me: all of these trees are all the same relative size and in perfect rows. I asked my host about this and he informed me that all of these trees had been planted some years back to prevent soil erosion. This does not seem that strange of an idea, but it is the vast scale on which these trees were planted that is shocking… All of the trees were planted like this: entire forests, for miles upon miles. What would at first glance appear to be a nature grove of trees was just one of the countless deliberately planted and carefully tended (according to my host) stands that dotted the countryside… I know it seems simple, but it left a strange and lasting impression on me.
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