day1: Plane ride and First day in China!!!!

It’s about 10:15p.m. In China. I hate all of the clocks here because they are on military time, and I don’t know how to use them as well as a normal clock. My day started at 6:30a.m. In the United States, technically it’s between two days, but that doesn’t matter. At 6:45 we had to be at school. We came early because my family is the type that is typically late, and this time we didn’t want to take any chances. Our teachers wanted us to get to the airport early. I stayed up really late the night before, so it was hard for me to stay awake. I had a bagel and a smoothie for breakfast. The smoothie was huge! It didn’t really matter that it was really big because it was also really good. After waiting a couple of hours, finally at about 11:40 we boarded the plane. It was the biggest and smallest plane that I have ever been on! It was the biggest plane that I have ever been on because there were two seats on the right and left, and five seats in the middle of the coach section. First class had these nice chair-like beds. Unfortunately, it was also tight. There was practically no space. They started movies almost as soon as we took off, probably because everybody had their own personal TV in the chair in front of them. I watched about half of Dear John, while making a bracelet for my cousin. Then, they gave us lunch. I had beef and noodles, it was ok. My brother kept getting up and moving around; when he did that I’d put down his tray table, and sleep on that. At first he was ok with it, but later he had a problem with me. Apparently, the tray was on top of his legs, and when I was on top of it too his legs got smashed. To me, it was so comfortable. I slept in between his tray and mine. I put my pillow on top of the two trays to cover the crack, and my head went in the space from the two seats in front of me. After a while of his complaining I moved. Luckily for me I brought an inflatable pillow. I slept on the bottom half/his shoulder area, while he slept on the top half of my pillow/top of my head. I felt like every time I woke up they would be giving us more, and more food. The only problem with them giving us all of the food was that it kept getting worse and worse. I had WARM yogurt! We landed around 3:00p.m. Local time, which is 4:00a.m. In the United States.
When we got off of the plane I was feeling really dizzy. It was really hot in the airport too. I told Mrs.Greenswag and Mr.Shagrin that it felt like the room was spinning. We were standing in line at the customs/quarantine section. Then it was my turn, right before I walked up I told Megan that I was either going to get sick or faint. Once I gave the lady my passport I felt even worse. Mrs. Greenswag asked if I was ok, but I couldn’t answer, it felt like part of me was floating up. The next thing I knew I was on the floor. Ms. T had my feet and Mr. Shagrin had my head. Luckily, the people still let me go through. Mr. Shagrin made me drink some water, and a chocolate cliff bar that was melted and got everywhere.
We got to this crazy hotel, the rooms were two stories. I got the top half and Megan had the bottom. We ate dinner at the hotel. They had this fruit that kind of tasted like a fruit tart. I also ate something that was most likely a piece of vertebrae. After dinner we went to Wangfujing street. There was a lot of stuff, but I didn’t see anything that I liked except a terra cotta warrior for my brother. It was my fist haggling experience. I was really nervous, but it was kind of fun.
China feels like a dream. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been awake for so long, or because everywhere I go it is both very different and the same. It’s different because everywhere I go there are glowing neon signs, and the buildings are a little different. The city is a city though. What I found weird was that on one side of the street there could be a brand new beautiful building, but on the other there could be a shack-like building with bricks falling about of it.

The new generation in china

In the movie Young and Restless in China, every single person emphasized love, and how they would become successful in life. It changed my views in china dramatically because I didn’t really know how hard these people are willing to work; all of them are breaking old traditions in some way. The all find that making money and working hard for their dreams is really important. I also was surprised to see that one of the government-owned business would dump clay into water because that is what a lot of people use to drink, and it would ruin the farmers’ crops.

The social classes are really separate. People are either rich or not, but this generation of Chinese is willing to work harder, so they do not have the struggles of their parents. They kids only take baby steps towards their goals though. For some, getting more money is just becoming a migrant worker. This means that they will travel through fields for work.

The people who live in the cities tended to have bigger goals, and knew that even though they had to work hard for it, they could make their lives better. The people who lived in rural areas became more of migrant workers. Their lives were more limited just for the simple fact of they don’t know the world as much.
My favorite story in this film was Wei Zhanyan because she went against her whole town and family by not having an arranged marriage. Wei Zhanyan knew that she would not like this, and she ended up falling in love, with a real person that she didn’t meet just for five minutes.

The Nine Dragon Wall, My zodiac sign, and The Epcot Experienece

There are three nine dragon walls in china. Each dragon plays with a unique ball and each dragon is colored differently and has a 3D appearance. The Chinese dragon is said to have nine sons, each with distinct characteristics.
1. Haoxian is Reckless and adventurous.
2. Yazi is brave
3. Chiwen watches from a distance to give an early warning
4. Baxia protects the travelers from the water.
5. Pulao likes his own voice, so he tends to hear himself roar
6. Bixi is an excellent pack-animal.
7. Qiuniu loves music
8. Suanmi like smoke and fire

9. Jiaotu keeps his mouth shut and guards peace and privacy.
My zodiac sign is a Taurus. I think that my zodiac sign describes me ok, what I mean by this is I tend to be “feeling good”. I don’t really think that I switch off the world around me which is why I think this sign describes ok. I try to stay informed on what is going on in the world, and I certainly don’t ignore it. What really caught my eye while I was reading about my zodiac sign is that I control the people’s relationships around me and allow certain people to get so close. I believe that, that definitely describes me.

Unlike the rest of the class I went to Epcot in Disney for my “china town experience” because I was in Orlando for The Cheerleading Worlds. The travel around the park was hot because I had gotten used to the cold weather around here. Before we went to the restaurant we saw Chinese acrobats, they were so cool. There were two groups of girls and one group of boys. These kids were literally bending in half, and the boys did a lot of holding each other up in handstands. When we got in to the restaurant we, mom and brother, had pot stickers. They were delicious! I had sweet and sour chicken for my main course I think that the chicken was really good. After our meal we went to a movie about china that Epcot provided called the “china experience”. I learned so much about the importance of the Silk Road; it helps the farmers a lot. Not only did the video show us the agricultural side of China, but the industrial side of China. At night in cities have a busy life, with shops and street venders. It also showed how culturally diverse food is in big cities Shang Hi.

China Vs. Google the internet war

People from china who were demanding civil right hacked into Google’s system, and igniting a war upon china and Google. China was rated high in using the internet, and the people were upset with their restrictions on the things that they are allowed to see. So a group of people hacked the system, and made Google really mad. They decided that to fix the problem they will just listen to what they want, give them free reign over the internet. China made Google make restrictions for a reason, so giving the people back free searching is getting rid of what they wanted for china in the first place.
In the china newspaper it really emphasized how Google had gotten attacked by hackers, and they also mentioned a lot about how many people in china actually use the internet, which is a lot, compared to other countries (China uses the internet a lot, mostly for email). Unlike in the U.S paper the thing that was most emphasized was how they are hiding so much from the Chinese people, like if you were to search Tiananmen Square in China you would see a peaceful place, and a huge gathering center. When you search it in any other country you would see a tank from 1989! Both Newspapers talk about how this is a civil rights violation. The main difference is how we see the violation because china does not, and cannot see what they are missing because it simply isn’t there.

China's stolen sons

In China the new booming business is stealing sons, and selling them, surprised, you should be. About one hundred ninety children are stolen each day! After reading the article about how people in China steal sons, I was so surprised. I never would have thought that someone would steal a child! Wanting a son has been part of China for many years and because of the strict one-child law parents are literally desperate to have a boy due to old traditions. Zhen Zibao, a shopkeeper, says buying a son is widely accepted and that stolen children could be found in most towns and villages. "If you have only girls, you don't feel right inside," says Zhen, who has one child, an 11-year-old son. "You feel your status is lower than everyone else." Unfortunately, the parents are left heartbroken because their child is now missing, and a lot of them are not found! "We spend our life savings, we borrow money, we will do anything to find our children," says Peng Gaofeng, who formed a group for parents of stolen children after his 4-year-old son was kidnapped. "There is a hole in our hearts that will never heal." If parents turn their back for one minute, poof their child is gone. Cars don’t even stop for the child they just keep going!
The one child law
The years before the law China struggled with food for people because their population was so big. In china parents are only allowed to have one child. The population has been going down by a bunch, but it has also led to many abortions due to the fact that people want to have a boy, can also lead to neglect or, even worse, abandonment.

China Immigration, China Town, and Chinese New Year Celebration
History of Chinese Immigration
Chinese immigrants first started coming to the United States from 1849-1882 for the gold rush, and they began spreading out all over the Unted States after the transcontinental railroad. Mostly young men came over and they usually got jobs as laborers, which meant they worked with their hands. The people came from rural areas, and this was thought as a job opportunity. They came again from 1882-1965. Not very many people even had access to the United States and only a few groups were allowed to leave their country. There was one major problem though, people weren’t treated equally due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the Chinese-Americans were stuck in ghettos, and worse, work was hard and the pay was low and they had tough working conditions. The people were subject to neglect here in the States and they had a really tough time getting jobs, or even getting in! The Exclusion Act was signed in 1882 and in completely left out Chinese people from even getting in to the United States. They had such a hard time, even for the few who made it into the States. Eventually the Chinese-Americans were able to see the light. In 1995 the Chinese Act was started, this finally gave the people to have equal rights. Now they live along side with us everyday. J

Chinatown
In the 1870s the Chinese Immigrants started coming to Chicago instead of by the Pacific Coast, like normal. They had the same tough laws like the Pacific Coast, but they found more opportunity here with jobs at restaurants and several other places. When China faced tough times with communism the Chinese population in Chicago grew hugely ranking fourth in the country for Chinese population! China Town was trying to establish itself in 1905, but they heard of the hard times in California, which was becoming a reality for Chicago to. People were forced to move south because company owners soud not afford to pay them. In the 1970s they decided to try again! The location was in the North Side of Chicago. The people became really good at accommodating for the new immigrants that were coming to Chinatown in Chicago, they learned English and even were able to get social service jobs, in the later years. Chinatown started become a huge attraction site, as more and more business stared forming there, like groceries and restaurants. Unfortunately for the growing town they had problems with housing all of them, and it became economically in trouble. Eventually Chinatown was extended to McCormick Place. When they wanted to extend it there was one problem: it was dangerous! There was a lot of pollution and biohazards, Eventually they finished and we got the Chinatown that we have today!
The Chinese New Year Celebration
The Chinese New Year is not quite what it seems! At first glance you see colors, and firecrackers and good food, but the celebration goes with an age long tradition that you won’t believe.
First off, The Chinese New Year is based off of the lunar calendar. It comes along with an ancient myth of a wild beast that came to the town once a year and killed many people! They used red and bright lights to scare away the horrible beast. Now it is one of the biggest and most important holidays on the calendar. A long time ago it was not so wonderful. As year passed that was a bad thing because many people died due to flood or famine. The families came together and enjoyed a feast for the ones that were still alive! Now, the families still get together, but it is for a celebration of 15 days. The first day the streets light up with many firecrackers. After is 2 weeks of rest, filled with big dinners, with fish for abundance and chicken for luck. People are all over the place buying red for abundance and food for their great feasts. On the fifteenth day the sky is filled with lanterns and is a symbol of the end of the holiday. The streets are also filled with a lively parade that consists of dragons and lion dancers that promise good luck in the upcoming year. Surprisingly the Chinese New Year hasn’t always been the same time. The Emperors would change it to the time that they thought was right, but the tradition has been going on since 200 B.C.E. 2010 was the year of Tiger. Each year has an animal and the lunar calendar consist of 12 animals: Pig, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Horse, Snake, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

cooking!

In class we were assigned to cook Chinese food out of our recipe book. My brother and I decided to work together and make egg drop soup. All we needed was some eggs, spinach, and chicken broth. First, my brother poured the broth, and put it into a pan (we had to wait for it to boil). During this, I got the eggs and began to separate them. Next, he whisked the eggs together and I cut up all of the lettuce into nice, small, thin strips (we had to improvise because my brother went to the store and bought the wrong thing!) Finally the broth came to a boil. He poured the eggs slowly so that they wouldn't get all clumped together, I stirred for the same reason because at the end the soup is supposed to look the eggs are in weird thin strips, some even with a little bit of an awkward shape. Finally we were done, hot right to my mom. when asked about the soup she said, "It's delicious!" Although she knew that we didn't use spinach she added, "It would have probably tasted better if you used spinach, the right thing." Oh well, maybe next time! I thought it was good, the only problem was I ate it after everybody else, so it wasn't as warm.