The Adventure Continues

Hey everybody,

So Callista's made it to China and has been there for a little over a week, but Internet access has practically been impossible to get a hold of and she just got a cell phone today, so she is having me (Tanner) put up a post or two for her until she gets some way to get on the Internet. Shes been making use of the payphone in the dorm on her floor, so she's been able to call home a couple of times and I've been able to talk to her and it really sounds like she's been having a great time. She just got back from doing some research in the rural, culturally Yi minority, village of Yangjuan. (hope I got the spelling right) It took practically an entire day to get there and an entire day to get back by way of two multiple hour long bus rides, and an even longer train ride each way. In the village though, the people were great. They were really nice and hospitable and it sounded like Callista and the others were taken care of as much as they could've been. She was worried about her Chinese though, but one of the people running the exchange hooked her up with a college educated woman in the village who spoke Mandarin, Yi, and English to help her translate. So that helped a lot.

The village itself lies in a flat valley between some foothill-ish mountains so she was able to go hiking, at least at one point, and it sounds like it was gorgeous. The mountains themselves were kinda rocky and shrubby but it was really green and beautiful. Most of the buildings in the village itself were made of clay bricks with wooden beams, and the village did have electricity but to the extent that each room in the school had a light bulb and some people had a TV in their house. She did get to sleep in bed, and it wasn't to cold or anything either. I think she was able to interview some people in the village and to get started on her research too. Except for the winter cold, I think she's really looking forward to going back to do more research in a couple of months.

So when she originally flew over to china, she was going to have a layover in Beijing then a connecting flight to Chengdu, but it ended up that her flight to Chengdu got canceled or whatever. I think there were 5 other people in the program on that flight from the UW, so the airport put them up in a pretty good hotel with lots of meal vouchers or something and she got to spend a day in Beijing! The two big places she went to were The Forbidden City, and The Temple of Heaven. (It was great and she had a great time, took lots of pictures I think, but if you want to know more about those places... you can look them up... ) When she finally did get to Chengdu she was able to spend one night in her dorm, and then was off for to go do research in Yangjuan. By the time she got back her roommate had already moved in. It turns out that it isn't some Korean, it's a German girl. She's 23, I think Callista said. Also, she's taken 2 years of Chinese, is pretty easy going, and is pretty frugal too, so Callista thinks that it should go pretty well. Turns out there isn't really a cafeteria in her dorm, but there is a little kitchen that she can make prepared food in. Also, she has to boil her water before she can drink it. Ummmm... and I think she starts classes on September 10th. Oh yeah, and so far, she's signed up for Chinese, Chinese Art appreciation (I think), and a Tai Chi class. Oh, and the cost of the dorm comes out to about $60 US a month!

Soooo that's all I can think of right now... She's been really busy, gettin' use to everything, and been having a great time.

Have a great night everyone
-Tanner-

p.s. Even though I'm posting this and not Callista, she'll definitely eventually see it, so go ahead and leave a comment for her if you'd like.