YONGCHUAN, CHONGQING

Our lives have been moving fast since last we wrote. On September 3rd we were sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. Until then we were trainees. Thirty five of the thirty six took the oath. We were sworn in by the head of the Peace Corps from Washington, Ron Tschetter. It was Renee's birthday so she got extra attention. After the ceremony we said our goodbyes, ate lunch, and were whisked off to Yongchuan by our waiban (Foreign Affairs Officer).

We are living on the Xinghu Campus of Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences. Our campus is beautiful. The entry road is tree lined and runs along the lake. The lake is off to one side of the campus. Many of Renee's classrooms leave her a beautiful view. The lake has fish and the opportunity for some boating. There is also an island connected to the mainland by a walking bridge. It is a secluded and peaceful spot. Chinese couples are there as evening falls. The center of the campus is a huge plaza for gatherings and then sports fields and two tennis courts, The students live off to one side up a hill and the faculty live off to the other side up a hill. We live separate from most in a building mostly for the seven foreign teachers.

Our apartment has a living room of reasonable size with a comfortable couch - TV, washing machine, dryer, microwave, and water dispenser. The study has two computers with printer and a wireless hookup. We are enjoying working side by side rather than vying for the computer. The room also has a cupboard, and table and chairs for eating. It opens up to a small balcony. The bedroom is also of a good size. We have outfitted with a comfortable bed. (Rich was not too thrilled with the pink bedspread and matching pillows, but we have toned it down a bit with a more masculine looking topsheet.) There is a good sized wardrobe built in. The bathroom is a western style - thank you. The kitchen is small. The stove and limited counter space is low so I hope Renee and I don't hurt our backs. We bought a wok and have a rice cooker. We are set.

Among the great things that has happened is that one of the other foreign teachers is married to a Chinese woman. Nina would like to learn English and Renee would like to learn to cook. In part, I am the winner in that deal. Renee and Nina have been going to the open market for meat and vegetables - sanitation boards would go crazy. (Nina is also coaching me a little on my Chinese language. We laugh a lot. Most of the good food Nina has cooked, but I'm learning a bit. Much of the seasoning is a combination of ginger, garlic, and onions, soy sauce and vinegar and something like powdered chicken boullion, also salt and sugar.)

Renee starts teaching next week. She has eight Freshman classes of oral English. It looks like two of them are large. I have seven classes of Juniors on the new campus. The ride is horrible - I'll have to think how to describe it. My classes started last week. I enjoyed meeting them and reports back to me are good. They are capable students. On the new campus I have a large corner office with a great view. The schedule gives me a lot of time to use the office. I plan to have my Chinese tutoring done there. I'm off on Fridays, but Peace Corps rules say I can't leave site until 5. My eighth class is a Freshman class at Xinghu. I meet them this Wednesday.

For me my best things are three Chinese young men. Bob is in one of my classes. He has helped me with the computer (everything is in Chinese). He has talked with me, introduced his girlfriend, and shared some of Chinese student life. It will be my first try at tutoring. A second student is Xiang. I met him at the Traditional medicine clinic on campus. He is their best student. After my massage there I contacted him and he has agreed to give me massages at half the price at my apartment. What a wonderful young man. He has high asperations. The third is a group of tennis players. I have now played with them several times. I have also watched their practice several days. At this point I'm invited in and kabitz with the coaches and teachers. Two of them are names Zhou (Joe)' They invite me to play. On Saturday not only did we play, but Renee and I went with them for Duck Soup for lunch. I hope this relationship will grow. All I need to do is become proficient in Chinese.

I (Renee) feel that our life is filled with serendipities, which I know are the results of your prayers. God is very good to us. One day we met an older couple. An affectionate name for a person is Lao whatever. They said we could call them Lao Shang and Lao Wang. I guess we would be Lao Erickson. Perhaps we will share a picture of them one of these days. We can barely communicate with each other, but we seem to hit it off. Then there is Miranda, a Chinese friend of one of the other foreign teachers, who gave us a lesson in Tai Chi in the center of the campus one evening. Americans think they are interested in staying fit, but Chinese are serious about it. Women my age are agile and vigorous and walk with purpose. They love to ask how old we are and share that information. Here it is not impolite to ask. One other wonderful thing for me is that I can occasionally use one of the practice rooms in the music department to play the piano. The room is small with no sound absorbtion and the piano is well tuned, so I sound almost good:) I am a little anxious about my teaching; hopefully, I will quickly get into the swing of things.

GETTING READY TO MOVE ON

During these weeks the Model School ended. Language classes became more intense. We often had 3 or more hours of language in a day. The focus of the learning is on survival communication - how to buy a ticket, find a bus, get repairs in your apartment, call for help. We don't focus at all on everyday conversation, which is what I want desparately to do. This learning comes to a head this week as we have our final language test. Pray for us. The test comes right when we are pretty confused - we learn Mandarin, in Chengdu they speak Sichuanhua, and this week we found a new dialect in Chongqing.

We have had a great time with our host family here. They have attempted to give us a good taste of life in and around Chengdu. We visited a Buddhist temple, Bao Guang, in Xingdu. What a nice experience. We met a monk who got us in to see the relics of Buddha. The small town had a great park for walking. After dinner we found people were dancing in the park so we joined them. We visited the home where DuFu the Chinese poet of the people wrote his poems, a setting somewhat like Monet's. We learned some Chengdu history. We spent an afternoon in a panda preserve. There are two in China. We saw some of the pandas resting in air conditioned buildings. It was too hot for them to be outside, but we walked a sweated. Along the way we met a young couple who were from Chongqing. Somehow we got to talking and spent some time walking together. We then decided to have tea. A cup of tea turns out to be an event. We ordered tea and sat in the shade around a lake. We enjoyed the coversation and watched the tea leaves settle to the bottom of the glass. A slow motion ballet is more like it. What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. I enjoyed it but will need to be careful about accepting invitations - they could take a couple of hours. This week we went fishing in a small farm village. Renee turns out to be a fisher woman. (By that he means that I caught three fish. Though I landed only one, that was the most for our family.) We ate our bounty right on the spot. Today was the family matriarch's birthday so we had a long and sumptuous meal in downtown Chengdu with family. During the week we study and I play tennis once or twice a week, Wednesday night we join the other volunteers for Pizhou Wednesday.

One new event for me, Renee, took place last Saturday morning. One of the volunteers, Jennifer, invited me to go exploring with her to find out what the drumming sound was that she heard outside her window on the weekends. We walked to where she thought the sound came from and we saw no one. However, before we could turn back, women began to appear. Some had drums, about the size of a snare drum, which they beat with two decorated mallets. Some had cymbals. A few carried fans. One who was the leader had a huge drum, too big to carry. She kept the rhythm. We were welcomed. Soon the women began to form ranks. There were about thirty altogether. We joined in as best we could, marching and clapping. They seemed to be practicing a certain routine. We wondered if there were competitions of such groups. But, of course, we could not ask. They were a happy, happy group, and we thought "What a wonderful way to get exercise and enjoy community and create beauty all at the same time."

The most important event of the time, however, was a visit to our home for the next two years. We will tell you about the place in the next blog. We are in Chongqing Province in the city of Yongchuan at the Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences. You can look any of them up and learn. Don't be surprised that small means big in China. We went there by bus. It takes three and a half hours. We were met and escorted to our new home. They have taken great care to make it comfortable. The previous volunteers had gotten a dryer, so we have a washer and dryer. So much for roughing it. Renee will be teaching Speaking English to Freshmen and I will be teaching Audio Visual English to Juniors. Our biggest challenge is that we are working on two different campuses about 45 minutes apart. When will we touch base other than in the evening at home? We will devote the next blog to life in a new town.

MODEL SCHOOL

Time is flying in China. I just used an idiom. We are learning that we use them all the time and it makes it difficult for foreigners to understand Americans.

The biggest event of the past weeks has been Model School. We have had to perform for the Peace Corps so that they can see that we can teach. For my classes I was bussed into center city to work at Sichuan Normal University. There I taught for 7 days students from 15 to 27 who wanted practice in oral English. My idea was to tell them about America and then have them tell me about China. They loved teaching me. The class started with 21 students and by the end had 30. The Peace Corps supervisors were impressed with the result and the idea.

Out of the class on American foods, came the offer to take me to dinner. Actually a couple of them had the idea of taking me to HotPot. I think the original idea was to watch me eat strange foods so spicy it would kill me. In the end the opportunity went to everyone. Thirteen of the students joined me for dinner. One of the students arranged the restaurant and led us there. We sat around the table and laughed and talked for three hours. All had a good time. Instead of killing me they were very careful of the spice I ate. They were thrilled I enjoyed the cows neck and the pigs stomach. It was a successful night.

My class (Renee) was much different than Rich's. First of all, they were not all able English speakers. Their ages ranged from 14 to 17, two years to five years of formal English study in school. Some of the older students were extremely capable, but some of thc younger had great difficulty conducting a conversation. I have so much to learn about teaching oral English! Despite the obstacles, I enjoyed my seven days of teaching. I had an idea that I wanted to have "Building a Bridge" as a theme. Of course, I wanted to do some singing, so on the first day, I taught them "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." Somehow a college student was in the class that day, and she contributed the word "metaphor." That was pretty amazing, and it worked very well with the idea of language as a bridge, which I was going to bring up later. My favorite activity was role plays because the weaker students could write very basic dialogues, and the stronger students could show off. My partner, Rebecca, who is teaching now, is much better at devising many activities around a central theme. I am learning a lot from her. One fun thing was that I became wired for sound. Instead of telling me that I needed to shout to make myself heard, the Peace Corps supervisor provided me with a portable microphone pack. They said I could request on at our site:)

While teaching, we continued to study Chinese. I (Rich) have ups and downs. I speak to our busdriver and learn about his family and I'm excited. I speak to someone else and there is no communication. My teacher seems happy and I am mostly. Renee has been moved up to my class so we will be able to work together this week. On Saturday, August 2, we went to a wedding. Don't ask me why or how, but I was called on to give a speech in Chinese. The speech ended up being five lines but everyone was happy and I got across my main idea. I (Renee) was very proud of Rich.

On weekends we have also been busy. Everything seems to take the same amount of time - six hours. We visited LouDai, an old city famous for commercial ventures, Wen Shu Yuan, a Buddhist temple where the ashes of our host father are stored, Jin Sha, an archaelogical site of what is thought to be the original Chengdu, San Sun Xiang, a garden where we ate under a canopy of vines and is always referred to as the countryside. During the week we take walks around campus and into town. I have been able to play tennis, usually twice a week. This week I played with the computer faculty on Monday and Chengdu government officials on Saturday, thanks to my host father.

Renee continues to have some physical issues - a cold, a lingering cough, and a foot which is recovering from a good twisting at LouDai. I remain well with energy to do most things to the wonderment of the Chinese who can't believe someone my age can even carry my bag.

Today we had two visitors. Both were students from Wuhan, but they didn't know each other. Ace is a Junior and lives in Chengdu area. Peng Hu is a graduate student who Renee has helped with his English. He came to thank us for our help. It was his first time to fly on an airplance. He and the other Chinese humble us with their kindness.

Jim and Carol Ernst wrote this week and sent postcards from Montana. Five cards did not raise the mailing costs. We have already used them. We could use cards from Philly and PA, but also from other places if you are of a mind. We love getting snail mail as much as your email thoughts. Keep them coming:)

Dr. and Mrs. Richard Erickson

Sichuan University

Mail Box 278
Wang Jiang Road #278
Chengdu,610064

People's Republic of China

CHENGDU FIRST STOP

We are loving our time in China. We arrived a week ago Saturday and stayed at a hotel in downtown Chengdu for several days. While there, we learned more about what we are to do in China and also began our Chinese language classes. We enjoyed meeting and working with the other volunteers from all over the country, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Then we were divided into two groups. Our group was assigned to do their training at Chengdu University. We were also placed with a family. They will be our hosts for the next ten weeks. We are off to a great start with them. We met their extended family on our first day. They live a couple of hours away, but I think maybe they came to help with our luggage! We needed them. Our host family's son has been dubbbed as our teacher. He has helped us with our lessons and also with the customs of the house and China. Our host mother and father are about 15 years younger than we are, but it is a great match for us. We got the placement because I play tennis. The father and I have already done that with good success.

We are going to the university each day for classes. We have two language classes each day. Renee and I have been in the same class, We have a great teacher and we have made good progress. We are able to go to a restaurant and order food, pay the bill, and be courteous. We can get directions and ask and tell time. We also have classes in cross cultural contact and in teaching English as a foreign language. We mostly enjoy all of this along with eating great Chinese food particularly in our home and being with some outstanding young people.

The other day we were treated to an interesting cross-cultural simulation. A young man and a young woman entered the lobby in which we were all assembled. They were dressed in white toga-like garments. The man communicated with a series of clucks with his tongue. something like "Clock, clock." After a few "clocks", the woman knelt. The man then pushed her head futher down. Then the woman got up and give the man a bowl. He took it to all the men and indicated that they dip their fingers in the bowl. Then the woman came to the women and hissed. She wiggled her toes and we figured out that we were supposed to take off our shoes, which we did. Then the man when to each of the men and made his sounds and assumed a position before each one that looked sort of like a Hindu god. Then the woman took another bowl and fed the other women. Finally, the man and the woman took a female member of our group and departed.

During the "debriefing" most of us felt that this was some sort of a sacred ceremony in a culture that was definitely male dominated. (The woman had knelt and had her head pushed down more than once.) One funny comment was from the male language teacher. "I like this culture," he said, "because in Chengdu the women are the boss." Men must have a "soft ear." Then the leaders explained the simulation. In this culture the earth is sacred because it can produce life. Women are also sacred because they produce life. The women are the only ones who can touch the earth. Hence, they do not wear shoes. The man touched the woman's head because that is the only way he can worship the earth. The women were fed because they must keep up their strength. They picked the woman with the biggest feet to join them. The point of the simulatin was to show us how our own cultural experiences color our interpretation of behaviors in another culture. I thought it was a very interesting experience.

We sweat all the time. Today was no expection. We traveled about an hour and a half north to observe some Peace Corps volunteers who are doing a summer project that tries to improve the classroom teaching of teachers from outlying communities. Then after lunch we visited the Giant Buddha, the largest Buddha statue in this area. The town is LeShan if you would like to Google it. Rich climbed and I rode in a boat, but we both sweated.

OFF TO CHINA

The days have gone by quickly. We are in better shape for going than we thought we would be. I can tell you that Goodwill, Purple Heart, and CityTeam in Chester have gotten a good deal from us over the last two weeks.

In addition to getting ready, we have been visited by our son and his family and Doug Long, one of Renee's high school classmates. Any number of friends have stopped by and it was great to see each and every one of them. It has been also good to get the phone calls and notes from so many people. Thanks for all of the good wishes.

Tomorrow at 8:15 we leave for the train to Washington. In Washington we take a taxi to the Doubletree Hotel in Arlington for staging. We will meet our teammates and some of our leaders. We will learn more about procedures. One night we will be out to dinner with some returned Peace Corps volunteers. We fly out on Monday the 30th. We go direct to Beijing and after a short layover we fly to Chengdu.

In Chengdu we stay in a hotel for a couple of days getting our sea legs. While that is happening, we will begin our Chinese lessons. We will meet our In Country staff. By the end of the week we will be introduced to our host family and be moving in. Pray for them and us. We also will be divided into two groups and then even smaller so that the training will be more specific. After going out with the staff for one meal, we will have to fend for ourselves.

We have been warned that internet access this first week may be limited and may even be more so when we move in with the host family. Every day's schedule seems packed, so our time is structured. We will do our best to communicate, but be patient. You can always reach us at erickson3@comcast.net.

We are as prepared as we are going to be -- now the adventure begins.

Home Again Home Again

We have spent the last three weeks traveling. First we went to North Carolina. We visited with our son, Ned, and his wife, Lia, and daughter, Anna Rose. We were joined there by my sister, Janet, and her husband, Dan, and their grandson, Jacob. We had a great time hanging out. Jacob and Anna quickly became great friends. This was our really first goodbye. It was hard to do - two years seems like a long time, but we do know it will pass quickly. Fortunately, Renee's sister Melanie and her family live close by so that we were able to spend some time with them as well.

We then flew to Turkey to visit with our daughter, Lee, and her husband, David, and children, Rebecca, Joshua, Samuel, and Peter. We barely got settled in Istanbul when we left for Macedonia to visit our friends there. We took an overnight bus trip complete with the smuggling of cigarettes and prerequisite border stops. It was worth it to see Nikola and Anica and their new daughter-in-law, Goce. We also were able to meet our Roma friends, the large Gashi family. We were able to see first hand Iso's new baby Erhan. The newlyweds seem to have settled nicely. Iso has found a steady but hard job. Seeing others from the Roma church was also great.

Back in Turkey we visited David's English class. We met Hafize, who became our tour guide through part of historic Istanbul. Most of our time, though, was spent playing with grandchildren. We were able to play with the neighborhood kids -- taught a little baseball -- and met many of the neighbor mothers. One family had us in for an evening. Peter, the youngest grandchild, has been growing fast. He certainly looks and feel sturdy after a seven week early start. Their neighborhood is new so the roads are dusty and often noisy with construction, but that will soon enough be complete.

We arrived home with much to do. High on our list is the language training. We continue to try and spend some time each day. Second, we have worked on the myriad of forms that need to be filled out before our departure. Third, has been the consideration of packing. Suitcase space is limited by number but also size of bags - we usually try to play by the rules. Renee has a mound of clothes on a bed just for her that will never fit into the suitcases - Help!

Our address for the first three months will be

Dr. and Mrs, Richard Erickson

Sichuan University

Mail Box 278

Wang Jiang Road # 29

Chengdu, China 610064

People's Republic of China

We give you this only because we know you would like us to have mail when we arrive.

Yes, Chengdu is the staging area for all of the earthquake relief that is going on in China. We have been able to get good information on the extent of the tragedy in the area. It will not directly affect us. The only change we know so far is that some of the host families will not be able to take PC volunteers this time because they have taken in family from the affected area. If you would like to contribute toward the relief effort, we know the following agency will send all contributions with no administrative cost to the effort.

American International Cultural Exchange Institute

216 Avondale Drive

North Wales, PA 19454

This is the group we went to China with last year. They will be able to do direct funding of the relief monies. You could also contribute to the Chinese Red Cross or other agency which is working in China.

Pray for us to calmly use these last weeks to prepare ourselves for this adventure.

From Winston Salem to Istanbul

The last two weeks have been busy ones. We have continued to spend time each day studying Chinese. We have a teacher from our church, Michi Chen. She patiently listens to us butcher the pronunciation of every phrase. She says we sound like foreigners. Go figure. We can say a few standard opening phrases, but really we are building some vocabulary and some structure. Ni hao, ma? Hun hao! Wo zai kan su. Ta zai tiao wu. Nimen shi de women peng you. Try and figure that out. (How are you? Very good. I am reading. She is dancing. You are our friends.)

We are in Winston-Salem this weekend with our son, Ned, and his wife, Lia and daughter, Anna Rose. My sister, Janet, and her husband, Dan, and grandson, Jacob, also came up to say goodbye. It is the first real goodbye we have had. It was hard, but they will get worse. We will get home Monday night and then leave for Istanbul, Turkey to visit our daughter, Lee and her family -- husband, David, and children Rebecca, Joshua, Samuel, and Peter. It will be a long time away from home, but it is important to make the connection.

There is movement on the home front as well. I think we have solved the social security riddle, but I still need to work on the supplemental insurance. The house has been taken care of.

Jesse Bean and his wife Tanya will be living here for our twenty seven months away. The Ford Focus was sold to our Ukrainian friends who now have their first car. The Taurus is spoken for but the details need to be worked out. There remain a lot of nitty gritty things we need to do to get ourselves ready. Pray for us.

We were shocked as much of the world by the 7.8 earthquake in China. The location of the earthquake is right in the area where we will be going. The Peace Corps has contacted us and reports that all current volunteers are safe. The center of the project is Chengdu, 60 miles from the epicenter, but that city was not damaged and the program and timing remains the same. We have also been in contact with several of our friends in China and they also report that daily life continues. One of the places we are likely to be placed had the volunteers evacuated not for damage or danger, but because they were foreigners. They hope to return, but we wonder how the Chinese in this area will feel about new foreigners arriving. While the Peace Corps seems in good shape, the Chinese country side needs much help and support. We hope that we can be agents of some comfort for them.