Some thoughts from Loudi

During the first couple of days here in Loudi, some students have written their thoughts:

Today we were greeted by a crowd of people outside of the Changsha airport where we saw at least three men [one was the school’s Party secretary—there was also an English teacher from the school in Loudi named Kate. ~Mark] with video cameras, of who’s final production was to be aired on local television. Surreal and completely flattering would be the best to describe it. I’ve been raised with the impression that in the modern day many foreign people had a negative view of Americans and frankly wouldn’t care if a bunch of clueless and obnoxious kids came waltzing through their airport; this is apparently not true in all places. We are on our way to Loudi, where we’ll be greeted by the city government, along with probably a fair number of others as well. I hope we can at least half way match their generosity and enthusiasm. I’ve been humbled, truly, by the people of China so far, living both rural and urban (Beijing). ~Kevin

We ate lunch on the way from Changsha to Loudi at a wonderful restaurant. The food we very, very spicy—some of my favorite dishes were spicy chicken with red and green peppers, fried pumpkin tops (the green stems) with chili peppers, beef cooked with peppers and cumin (zi ran niu rou), and wood ear mushrooms with pork and peppers [notice a theme to the dishes?] We stayed at the restaurant for a while after eating, playing cards in an air conditioned room. All of Loudi shuts down from between 11:30-2:30 to eat and rest during the heat of the day, like a siesta. Once we arrived in Loudi, we came to the municipal government center, a huge, new, and impressive building that looks similar to the US Capitol building in Washington DC. The Loudi bigwigs greeted us with flowers, fruit, and banners welcoming the “delegation” from Minnesota. We entered a room that feels like the Eden Prairie school council meeting room and listened to several speeches from government officials. Dr. Pladson and Nikita spoke about how happy we are to be here and how warmly we were welcomed. ~Mark

Today is the beginning of our third day here in Loudi, and it has been very fun and exiting! The family that I’m staying with literally won’t let me do anything at all they even serve my food for me (they let me eat it thank goodness!) Right now we are en rout for meishan dragon cave and I am really exited. Last night some of the American students and their host families went to see a movie called red cliff, a movie after the three kingdoms war, and it was really good, the only down side was that it was TBC (to be continued) I think this is the first movie that has ever used those words (it literally said to be continued in big firy letters) my host family and I enjoyed the movie a lot! I feel very accepted and at home here in Loudi, and I hope that the rest of my trip is this enjoyable! ~Tim

We start off now towards meishan dragon cave not knowing quite what to expect other than what appears to be an unforgettable adventure. Located in Xinhua, the caves seemed very mysterious and beautiful from the pictures we saw yesterday. If the past days have been any indication this will hold true. So far Loudi has been one adventure after another. The people here are the friendliest I have ever met, their hospitality truly knows no bounds and we are treated on the same level as Hollywood celebrities. For a small town of four million, there is much more to do here then in Eden Prairie. The first night here I walked the town with my host brother and some of his friends, seeing easily a hundred people dancing in the square on a Thursday night as well as took in a full rock concert/pop singer/kung fu/traditional instrument show. Last night a sizeable group of Eden Prairie students and Loudi students went to see “Red Cliff” a movie most of us had wanted to see since arriving in China. It was an hour and forty minutes in when we left for home, yet apparently the movie went on for a long while and was still a “To be continued”. It was subbed in both Chinese and English, which is apparently quite common. This is getting a little long, so I will end simply with a warm thankful for our hosts for taking us in and to our parents for sending us off. ~J.P. 20 Jul 08

Hello!! As of now, we're driving towards the Meishan Dragon Caves, which is located two hours out of loudi. Loudi is much more industrious than I presumed it to be. There are many buildings and shopping centers in Loudi. The biggest of them would be their new government building, where we held our welcoming ceremony. While sitting through the ceremony, I observed that many of the older as well as younger Chinese people speak English. Before this, I thought that English was a dying trend throughout the world, but when I asked my host friend Anna, she told me that the Chinese greatly desire to know English because the highly value the American Culture. The Chinese culture is very interesting and they conduct themselves in a very proper, appropriate, manner. Since I have visited china one time before, things seem the same and culture shocks don't occur frequently for me. The food is ok. We've been going to tourist restaurants that serve French fries and ketchup as an appetizer. I've only gotten a few chances to eat real food. Other than that, yesterday we went to the local steel factory. I would never work under those kind of conditions unless it was absolutely necessary. Other than that, I've learned a lot here and I've been able to learn and practice my Chinese : ). This was a great opportunity and I am very thankful. I mostly thank my parents for allowing me to go on this trip. Bye! ~Nikita, July 19, 2008

Yesterday we visited the Loudi museum. The very first exhibit was a collection of photographs from the Sichuan earthquake. Sichuan, a once beautiful province, was devastated by a massive earthquake that killed an estimated 80,000 people. Words cannot describe the anguish of the people of Sichuan. The pictures were so moving. Complete with death, loss, and tears, they were also full of hope, heros, and a yearning to begin moving forward, rebuilding. This experience was very important to me. In other news, I very much enjoyed a walk through the park my first night in Loudi. Chinese people are very active. Upon arrival to the park, my host sister and I viewed a block of about two hundred people doing a choreographed dance to music. The park also had many amusement park rides for young children. In the center was a pond, complete with many people paddling around in boats. In a small sitting area there was a band playing and a woman singing. Early, we came across another park that had a playground with equipment for adults to exercise. The difference between these park and parks in Minnesota is that in China, there are many things for people to do and many ways for people to stay active. People in China go out every night to exercise and be with other people. That is why they are so healthy. Now that I’ve eaten several meals in Loudi, I can say that the food in Beijing was not very authentic. The food here is very spicy, and yes, the rumors are true. We have had pigs feet, chicken feet, and fish fin soup. Ox blood might just be coming up next! J ~Margaret

Ni How! Zao shang hao! Hello, good morning! I have been learning many words of Chinese since my host family has taken me in. My host father will point at something on the breakfast table and tell me the word in Chinese, which I lamely try to repeat. Ah well, it is more amusing than anything else.
Right now our tour bus in trying to get through a muddy road in small town in the Hunan countryside since we are on our way to visit a famous cave. Whew! We made it! The driving here is absolutely insane. I have never heard more cars honking so often in my life. Driving is a free for all, and you can go wherever you want—even so far as going between oncoming traffic. All I hope is that we make it through this trip without any accidents!
Anyway, yesterday some of us went to an arcade (an attraction that is popular in China) and dripped with sweat as we played racing games. Luckily, the evening rain cooled down the air to around 75 degrees. I feel like my English has become broken, which might be why I am struggling so much with this entry, because I have been speaking simple English to everyone here. I will even catch myself talking to one of the American students in incomplete sentences. It’s a good thing I will have a few months to…um, fancify…my grammar before AP English starts third term! I will write more later, but now we have arrived! I miss you Minnesota!

The Meishan Dragon Cave was really refreshing in two ways, it was very cold compared to the outside, we were in warm and muggy weather outside and it was very miserable but when we went inside the cave, things cooled off really quick! It was also refreshing in the way that we had only been seeing man-made sights, this one was completely made by nature and it was equally as beautiful, if not more beautiful, than anywhere else on the trip. It was about a two-hour drive out to the cave and the scenery was really beautiful with rice fields and classic Chinese buildings. Later we went to a Kung Fu performance and talking as a kung fu student, it was really amazing! I really enjoyed the entire thing. They actually had some EP students come out (including me!) and get taught Kung Fu, it was a really fun and cool experience and I wish I could do it again someday. This entire day has been a blast, a very hot blast, but still a blast and I have learned more in this one day than with a month of schoolwork I believe! ~Tim

The cave was absolutely beautiful. It is amazing what water can do to rock. There were many stalagmites and stalactites, and several looked crystalized from years of water running over them. Also the scenery was awesome. I have seen mountains before but these were nothing like the Rockies. They were covered with plant life unlike anything that can be seen in the U.S., and there were some cool rock formations as well. Although it was a long drive I really enjoyed it. The Kung Fu performance was awesome as well. I truly admire the hard work and dedication the students put in to learning this art. It is obvious they really appreciate the traditional Chinese Kung Fu and want to learn it properly. As I watched I could see the energy and concentration in their whole bodies. You do not always that kind of dedication in America. It is something I have noticed and admire in all the Chinese people. They have incredible pride in their history and heritage. ~Sallie