Long Lost Post: Family Time in Dharamsala

Perusing my hard drive for some writing samples today, I stumbled upon this blog post, which must have been written in March or April of 2012. I'm shocked, a) by how well it's written and b) that I never posted it.

It's quite serendipitous that I discovered it now seeing how I'm knee-deep in a Fulbright fellowship application that will (if I'm lucky) take me back to Dharamsala to write about the Tibetan refugee community. This was a really nice reminder of my connection to that place and some excellent motivation to try my hardest on this application. Fingers crossed!

---

Family Time in Dharamsala

I am thoroughly enjoying the return to routine here in Dharamsala, though of course the routine is a bit unconventional. We have been splitting our time between our host families’ homes and three hotel rooms in town where we keep our luggage, take showers, and reconnect with each other. Breakfast and dinner are eaten at “home” and the afternoons are spent in class or doing schoolwork in one of the many WiFi enabled cafes around town. It’s a weird system, but then again nothing on PacRim is normal.

Despite all the running around, this place has given me a sense of belonging unlike that of many of our previous temporary homes. Maybe its something about adjusting my internal clock to the daylight hours – waking up around 7am and crawling into bed, exhausted, no later than 10pm – that just feels good. Or maybe it’s the knowledge that someone is awaiting my arrival at the end of the day, curious about my experiences and interested in sharing theirs. Whatever it is, I am so grateful for the chance to make ties here and feel a little more connected to my surroundings.

Anna and I were lucky enough to have been paired with a family that’s “totally our style” as we like to say. They’ve shared their home with plenty of students before us, so they know the drill. But even beyond that they seem to have the same understanding of life’s transience that we on PacRim have become so accustomed to. They are the epitome of “go with the flow,” not fazed by our consecutive bouts of stomach flu, always ready and willing to offer help in any way they can, and more than happy to fit us into their daily routine. They have the best kind of generosity – not stifling or superficial, but genuine and relaxed; it is as though we are visiting old family friends. We are given a considerable amount of independence, but the degree to which we are cared for, and cared about, is never in question. I can’t help but think that a family with a similar attitude would be hard to find back home.

Also telling is their attitude toward the increasingly tense political situation in Tibet and amongst the displaced Tibetans abroad. Rather than resorting to dogmatism or negativity, they have an unyieldingly confident and practical attitude toward their situation. It is as though they know what needs to be done to achieve peace in Tibet, and are just doing their part and calmly awaiting the outcome. When I asked my host mother about whether or not she had ever considered gaining Indian citizenship, she replied with a calm face and a slight shake of the head, “No. I’m going back to Tibet.”

Her blasé attitude proved to be quite misleading at times, most memorably on March 9^th, the day before Tibet’s National Uprising Day, when Anna and I followed Amala to the temple, completely unaware that His Holiness the Dalai Lama was in attendance that day. The unusually tight security and overwhelming crowd should have tipped us off, but unfortunately they didn’t. We remained completely oblivious until the moment we were ushered through a narrow pathway of people to a space in front of His Holiness’s throne where we quickly bowed our heads and tried to catch our breath. And Amala hadn’t said a word all morning! I take it as nothing but a reflection of her wisdom and respect for the way things are. There is no need to make a fuss in her mind. Things will happen as they happen, “step by step, one by one” as she always says.

I am left wishing there was more I could do to express my gratitude for everything they’ve done for me and for my experience in Dharamsala. It reminds me of a passage from one of my favorite books, The Alchemist, which has proven relevant to my experience on PacRim time and time again. After leaving the comfort and routine of his home for the first time, the main character comes to a realization about the nature of his relationships with those he meets:

There was a language in the world that everyone understood…It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired.

I’ve never known this to be truer than after my homestay experience. Despite the language barrier my family and I, their generosity and constant kindness spoke volumes, and inspired me to be selfless in just the same way. On top of that, their ceaseless faith and devotion to their nation said more about them and their Tibetan heritage than any book or class ever could have. I have to believe that by this same token, I was able to express my gratitude, appreciation and respect for them as well.

Winter Break and Family Time

As much as I enjoyed China’s surprises, I can’t say it was all too unbearable to leave. Compared to the other nations we visited, I can’t help but remember feeling in China like I was witnessing a big machine whirling and chugging along around me. It made me feel on edge, like I had to be aware and accountable for everything I was doing at all times. Almost like I was being watched, which is admittedly unavoidable for a white person in Asia. In any case, I was ready to get out of the spotlight I felt I was under at Hwa Nan University and get a little anonymity back. Hong Kong was the answer.

We arrived on December 23^rd at the YMCA on Kowloon Peninsula.

Hong Kong is situated on the southeast coast of China…facing the South China Sea. Covering an area of 1,104 square kilometres (425 square miles), the territory is made up of Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories. At the core is Victoria Harbour, which separates Hong Kong Island from Kowloon and beyond that, the New Territories that runs up to the boundary with Mainland China. (Source)

As I’m sure you’ve heard, Hong Kong very recently (July 1, 1997) returned to Chinese sovereignty, and is now considered to be a “Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China,” governed under a policy of “One Country, Two Systems.” This arrangement allows Hong Kong to enjoy a high degree of autonomy, retaining its capitalist system, independent rule of law, free trade and freedom of speech, while appeasing China’s desire for control.

Hong Kong immediately felt familiar, despite the aggressive Asian advertising and marketing from which we never seemed to escape. The city is spotless. I’m not kidding. And it is SO well run. The infrastructure is unbelievable. Infrastructure is something I’ve thought and talked a lot about on the trip, just because it has started to stand out as the element that seems to make or break a nation’s development and economic success. The roads were well marked; sidewalks were clean; there were garbage AND RECYCLING bins on the streets; signage was incredibly impressive, always appearing in at least three languages; public transportation is a dream – clean, efficient and timely. Whoever designed this city knew how to shuffle people around, at least as efficiently as is possible in a space so densely populated.

It was also the first time I had seen western advertisements in about four months. Seeing Gwyneth Paltrow’s giant face on the side of a building was more comforting than I’d like to admit. As was the opportunity to shop! I would have left with a whole new wardrobe if the prices had been half of what they were. And if I didn’t have to look forward to carrying my purchases on my back for the next 5 months.

On top of that, we only had about 36 hours before our big Christmas Eve Party (a PacRim tradition in which our friends and family are invited to celebrate with us in Asia!), and the media group and I were hard at work completing our first semester memory video for its Christmas Eve debut. If any of you have ever worked with Final Cut, you know that compiling and editing footage is intense. And in true college fashion, we left it to the last minute. But we are more than proud of the outcome, and it ended up being completed on time! We got to show it off, and all our guests got a much better idea of what we’d been up to for so many weeks.

Girls in their qipaos (traditional Chinese dress), and Jessica in her ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress), each of which we had tailor made in China and Vietnam!

Boys in their suits, which were also custom made in Vietnam.

The part was a blast. But unfortunately, due to a plane ticket timing snafu (i.e. my dad got confused with the time difference on the overseas flight) my family wasn’t able to make it L. I was pretty crushed about that. But it only made their arrival more special. Believe me, I was counting down the minutes. Since we didn’t have cell phones, I’d agreed to keep Skype turned on all night and await their call once they reached the hotel.

At about 11pm on the night of the party, my family and I were officially in the same country! I can’t tell you how excited I was to see their faces [virtually]. On Christmas morning, my good friend Anna and I packed up as fast as we could and made the journey out of the city and onto Hong Kong Island where their hotel was located. With all our luggage it tow! We could have shelled out for a taxi, which would have cost at least $35, but we opted to take the city bus to the airport (only a few minutes from my parents’ hotel) and then hop on the free shuttle to the hotel. We were so proud to have made it all by ourselves.

Speaking of how great Hong Kong’s public transportation is, our bus to the airport had an unexpected flat tire about 30 minutes into the trip. We had to pull over and all the passengers had to get out on the side of the highway, along with all their luggage. There was some momentary confusion, but Anna and I could hardly begin to worry because within moments (LITERALLY) another bus swooped in, loaded us on and proceeded to the airport. It was jaw-droppingly efficient, the likes of which I doubt you would see in America.

Tears were shed and hugs were exchanged when we greeted my parents in the lobby where they were anxiously awaiting our arrival. Then we went upstairs to open presents (!!) because it was Christmas morning after all. My family had packed a few gifts from home, along with a present for Anna from her parents so that we all had something to open.

But even though it was Christmas, we couldn’t forget that we were in Hong Kong and on vacation! We decided to make the most of our day by visiting the Tian Tan Buddha, one of the must-see destinations in Hong Kong.

From inside the gondola.

The ascent.

As is customary in Buddhist tradition, this sacred site is located high above the surrounding buildings and residences, requiring visitors to climb (or take a gondola, which we did) to reach it and thereby increasing its significance. To be honest, compared to the [buttload of] Buddhas/stupas/monasteries we’d seen by then, this one was pretty sterile. By that I just mean un-spiritual. It was built in 1993 and was clearly intended for tourism. I mean, there was a fricken SUBWAY restaurant (among many other souvenir and eating joints) just below the steps to the statue. Nevertheless, it was a fun way to spend the day and a cool thing for my family to see.

Anna caught a flight to Germany later that night, and the next day my family and I set out to explore the city. Unfortunately, the location of our hotel ended up kind of sucking - all the action of Hong Kong takes place on Hong Kong Island or Kowloon, requiring us to take an initial 20 min. train ride from Lantau Island. The trains were a breeze though. Very Minority Report-like.

Finally on my own with my family, it felt weird for me to all of a sudden be the leader of the group. I became the resident travel expert (at least in my own mind), which lead to some mildly awkward battles of supremacy. Our study abroad group had fallen into such a nice groove after so many weeks together. We knew the drill - how to bargain, how best to plan our days, what to pack, how to be prepared, how to handle unexpected changes. But seeing my family in such an unfamiliar environment and immediately having to interact with them in “survival travel mode” took some getting used to. For me, travelling sort of chisels you down to the basics of living. It's primitive in a lot of ways. How do I find food? Where can I go to the bathroom? How do I stay clean? How will I get from point A to point B? Where am I? There are certain parts of you that aren't necessarily revealed in day to day middle class life. But working together and compromising as a family in an unfamiliar environment certainly leaves nothing to hide. That was hard for me to face at first. 

Now that I think about it, embarking on this trip with a group of strangers was actually ideal. No baggage. No one to disappoint (at least at first). No expectations. No lingering drama. We were all free to fall into a pattern with each other, to learn and grow together and find our place. I miss that atmosphere terribly. I hope I have the chance to be a part of something like it again in my life. It’s incredibly liberating. 

Back to my family. I’m going to pretend they wont be reading this. I was super impressed with Elliott. He takes things like a champ and always goes with the flow. As long as he has eaten fairly recently. My family has problems admitting to their hanger (in case you missed it, hanger is a term coined by my fellow Pacrimmer, Jeremy to describe the state of irritable bitchiness resulting from low blood sugar; hunger + anger = hanger). I also had issues being told what I could and could not do when my parents were around. But then again, I've always had issues with that.

Of course, although things took some getting used to, I was more than ecstatic to have my family with me to share this wonderful part of my life. It absolutely wouldn’t have felt complete had they not joined me.

Over the next few days, we took advantage of a very tourist-y but ultimately super convenient transportation service called Big Bus Tours, which allowed us to cruise around the city in a double decker bus, hop on and off at designated stops whenever we wanted, and listen to a Jude Law doppelganger give us a guided tour all along the way! We got to cover way more ground than we would have otherwise.

Here are some views from the tour:

Antique market stall on our stocking-stuffer shopping trip.

Tom Heerman-style souvenirs.

Dad and Elliott. And John.

View from the top of the Big Bus. This is the "other side" of the island.
Insanely expensive beachfront properties.  Reminded us of the OC.

As seen in The Dark Knight.

Of course, our trip wouldn’t have been complete without a view of the famous Symphony of Lights across Victoria Harbor, “a spectacular light and laser show synchronized to music and staged every night at 8:00PM. This is the world's largest permanent light and sound show as recognized by the Guinness World Records” (Source). It was especially cool at that time because of the special holiday themed lighting designs.

All in all, Hong Kong was a blast. The perfect place to ease first-time foreigners into travel abroad. Super easy to get around; tons of great food, both gourmet and blue collar; lots of stuff to see and places to shop. Not to mention world-class people watching. It didn’t steal my heart in any unique way, but I’d love to go back.

Next time, off to Thailand!

I Have Returned!

As you probably could have guessed, I have successfully made my return to the States and am working on getting back into my “normal” routine in MN, as I process and reflect on the incredible nine month journey I’ve just completed. Coming home was weird…to say the least…but I’ve been surprised by how quickly and easily I’ve re-acclimated to my old habits and customs. That’s not to say I haven’t been changed. On the contrary, I think I’ve come back with a much different outlook, set of expectations for myself and my living environment and a better sense of my own life purpose. But I’ll explain my profound revelations in a later post.

For now, I want to first apologize for failing to keep you updated about my final four months abroad. After winter break, I started to get bogged down with my independent research project (required of each PacRimmer) and to be honest, my enthusiasm and intrigue with the travel process started to fade. Nevertheless, there was no shortage of amazing adventures in those final months, and now that I have (way too much) free time, I want to share them with you. By the end of the summer, I hope to have you completely filled in.

I also want to thank you all for showing interest in my life and for giving me an outlet to share my experiences without truly being connected to home. It wasn’t until I returned that I was told how many of my family and friends have enjoyed my writing, and I am so grateful for your loyalty. Without you, I’d have no reason to write, and much less motivation to reflect on what I’ve been doing. Thank you, and  enjoy the rest of the journey!

Semester 1, Check.

To all my faithful readers,


I apologize that I haven't been updating you as often as I would like. As I'm sure you have guessed, a lot has happened between Thanksgiving in China and now. Here's a sneak preview: I am currently in Mysore, India studying Hindu architecture and comparing it to Angkor Wat and the other temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia, which we toured a few weeks ago.


I promise to fill you in soon, but in the mean time, please enjoy this video that I, and four other PacRimmers put together at the end of first semester.


http://player.vimeo.com/video/35865991?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0


Hope you like it!

So Many Things to Try!

Overall, I found the food in China to be hearty and comforting compared to the light, bright flavors of Vietnam. It was also considerably colder in Fuzhou (usually in the 40s or 50s), so I craved warm comfort food a lot.

The first meal I had on campus, which I ended up having nearly once a day, was a bowl of soup from the cafeteria’s made-to-order soup station. It was so awesome.

It worked like this: first, you pick up an orange basket and choose your soup ingredients from the refrigerators. There were tons of options: cauliflower, taro, seaweed, lots of mushrooms, fungus, eggs (hard boiled or fresh), tofu, bean sprouts, greens, tomato, fish balls, crab, sausages and much more. There were a few different noodle options too.

Next, you give your basket to the cook in the window, who places all your ingredients in one of the individual boiling baskets in a huge pot of broth to cook. It takes 5 or 10 minutes, but it is so worth it. Outside the window are bowls of garlic paste, chili sauce (I’m officially addicted), scallions, ground pepper and vinegar to mix in.

Eating it is kind of a process, and it takes a while. By now I’ve become pretty good with chopsticks I’m proud to say, and I actually prefer them for noodle soup. Chopstick natives eat soup with two hands by scooping up a little broth with a flat ceramic spoon in their left hand and plopping a few noodles on top using their chopsticks in the right hand. The perfect bite. Eventually I figured it out, but it was awkward for a while.

Almost all the food at the cafeteria was made-to-order. One station even offered fresh, hand-pulled noodles, and you could watch them being pulled all day long. I don’t think anyone was quite as excited about that as I was. The Hwa Nan cafeteria wasn’t unique either. Hardly any ingredients are actually packaged or processed in China no matter where you get a meal, except probably the flour, sauces and spices. Otherwise it’s all fresh. And it’s incredibly cheap, at least by my standards. A bowl of soup at the soup station was between 6 and 9 Yuan, which is about $1.00-$1.50. But Sophie told me she didn’t like eating at the cafeteria because it was so expensive. It’s all relative.

Apart from noodle soup, most of what I ate was some sort of vegetable stir-fry with white rice. The vegetables in China were awesome. So many mushrooms! Bean sprouts, bok choy, kale, cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, and so much more. Tofu is really common too.

In fact, my greatest food-related discoveries in China often weren’t actual dishes, but just individual ingredients. Here are some of the best:

Taro

Some of my Asian classmates were familiar with taro prior to our trip, but I had never seen it before. Oh my god, it changed my life. Taro is a root vegetable similar to a potato in texture, but not in flavor. It is much sweeter and more smooth, but not quite like a sweet potato. They have a slight lavender color to them too. I’ve now had it fried, baked, boiled, freeze-dried and frozen in ice cream. But by far my favorite incarnation was when I had mashed taro with sesame seeds at Sophie’s house.

It was amazing: creamy, starchy and unctuous (not exactly sure what ‘unctuous’ means, but I heard Padma Lakshmi say it once, so hopefully I’m in the clear). I hope to god I can find it at home. I don’t know if I can live without it anymore.

Dried Sweet Potato

Speaking of potatoes, one of the literally THOUSANDS of weird packaged Chinese snacks was dried sweet potato. Dried fruit has become my staple snack on the trip, so I was down to try it. It took some getting used to though. I still don’t quite understand how such a naturally dry food can become chewy as it is dehydrated, but apparently it can.

It is very mild tasting and not very sweet. And it’s bright orange. I actually mistook it for mango at first because most Chinese packaging doesn’t have English translations.

It wasn’t anything mind-blowing, but I decided to throw it in because I ate it so often in China.

Chestnuts

Though a bit tough to peel, chestnuts became one of my favorite snacks in China. You can find them steamed and roasted at little shops and restaurants all over the place. Chestnuts are sweet and nutty tasting, but much more starchy than a regular nut. They are kind of like a cross between a walnut and a potato in flavor. They are delicious little surprises in stir-fry dishes, but they must be a huge bummer to prepare. Their shells are pretty tough, and you can’t really peel them without a knife.

Pamelo

These guys are a lot like giant grapefruits, but with a much milder flavor. You peel the skin and eat them in slices like an orange, but they are like four times the size. Our school convenience store sold them and peeled them for free! They are SUPER filling though, and it is hard to stop eating them once you’ve started.

I only had the yellow pomelos, but the insides look pretty much the same to matter the color. They are surprisingly easy to peel. Once the outer rind is gone, you just have to work around the pith. Also kind of labor intensive, but very rewarding.

This is not my cat.

Fungus

Similar to mushrooms but with a much different texture, fungus like this was everywhere in China. They feel kind of like a human ear when you touch them (sorry if that’s gross) and they have a little bit of a rubbery crunch. They are awesome in soup and in egg stir-fry.

I know they don't look like much, but just wait until you've tried them. The texture is really unique.

Chili sauce

There are SO many different kinds, but by the end of my visit, I poured some type of spicy sauce on to practically everything I ate. The most common was the dried chili oil that I put in my soup everyday. A word to the wise: the oil is much spicier than the actual chili pieces.

My absolute favorite was a smooth, vinegar-y sauce that I ate with these incredible mushroom dumplings on my last day in Fuzhou. It wasn’t sweet at all, and it wasn’t too spicy to be used as a dipping sauce. That was probably my second favorite meal in China, right behind the homemade lunch at Sophie’s house.

Food in Fuzhou was much different than any Chinese food I’ve had in America, probably because of the huge selection of ingredients. But I have to say, it was just as oily if not oilier than American Chinese food. A few of my friends had to stop eating at the cafeteria because the oil made them sick. It was pretty heavy, but I like to think the vegetables cancelled out the greasiness a little bit J.

But wait! I can’t go without a word on the weirdo Chinese street food snacks. They were definitely out-of-this-world, and not necessarily yummy. I think pictures are the only way to go here:

The Chinese love kitschy little treats in small packages, and I swear, 90% of them had some kind of stuffing or filling. They were very colorful and creative, and I certainly won't find them anywhere else in the world.