My Family in Beijing

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to show my family around Beijing. It was so good to see all of them. During the week I took them to Tiananmen, The Forbidden City, Houhai, Beihai Park, The Temple of Heaven, 798 (The art district here in Beijing), a Chinese Church, The Great Wall, and a few different markets. Despite really enjoying showing them the city I've been living in for the last year, the thing I enjoyed most was introducing them to my friends, my teachers, and my home- stay family. It was so cool to interpret for my two different families, and see them interact. Through the course of my two different families spending time together a few things became evident. They both liked each other and really seemed to enjoy spending time together. My home- stay mother actually took my family to a market I didn't know about while I was in class one day. This made for some really interesting stories about how the communicated without speaking. We also figured out that rubbing my Dad's beautiful head crosses cultures as my home- stay mother rubbed my dad's head when she gave my family a happy Buddha statue as a gift. It was so good to see my family and spend a lot of quality time with them. I really can't wait to be back home and see them on a daily basis. If anyone would like to see pictures from the trip they are all on my facebook.

Outside of seeing my family recently, I've really just been studying and hanging out with my friends. I have also had the opportunity to join a baseball team. The team is comprised of all Koreans who are going to college here in China. They are all new to the game which makes games really interesting. Outside of me and another guy on our team all of them started playing a year ago. We play every Saturday as a part of league. We've qualified for playoffs and will be starting those in two weeks. If we keep winning we'll finish sometime in the middle of May. So, hopefully I'll be able to play ball with them for about another month.

The last "text" study I had, I decided to just have everyone ask about things they wanted to know about Christianity. I thought this would be better than me teaching about a specific topic or grouping of verses as I don't feel that teaching like that is one of my gifts and most of the people who come are really just exploring Christianity and are really curious. This worked out really well I really feel like I got to clear up some misconceptions. In conversation one of the people said that she had talked to her mother about perhaps becoming a Christian and her mother told her she didn't think she should because of the pressure that comes with it. This question made me really think about the emphasis some people tend to put on works within the Christian life. I think what people tend to forget is that works are supposed to flow out of us in worship. In other words our good works are supposed to be fruits of the spirit, therefore these good works should simply flow out of our love for God. When we put emphasis on works we often tend to take the grace and love out of the Christian walk, therefore taking away the biggest thing that separates Christianity from other religions, our savior's grace. If we put our emphasis on loving God, we take the "pressure" out of the Christian life and the rest will be taken care of in our process of loving God.

Hope everyone is doing well back in the states, and

GO BRAVES!!!

It's movie time

Hello Friends!

Over the last two and a half weeks, three of my friends and I have been working on a video project for Chinese class. The video's requirements were that it be at least twenty minutes long, half of the movie must be shot off campus, and only Chinese may be spoken in the movie. When the project is due, all of the students then showcase their films at a movie festival held by our study abroad program.

Last night was the film festival and all of the nights of not sleeping, putting off Chinese homework, and hours upon hours of filming paid off. Last semester we also made a film and felt a little bit cheated as it didn't quite turn out the way we wanted to. The film turned out great and I really feel like we impressed our teachers and our peers. I'll post the film to my facebook when we get it converted and everything. I really recommend anyone who reads this to watch it.

In other news, two weekends ago I travelled to Shaolin Temple. The once humble temple has now been transformed into an international tourist attraction. So while, kicking it with all of the real karate kids I had the opportunity to see Chinese commercialization at it's finest. We toured the temple, learned some kungfu from our tour guide, and even watched a kungfu performance in between many planned photo ops for tourist seeking to spend money on obtaining a photograph with authentic Shaolin monks.

What I thought most interesting on this trip was the description of how kungfu can be used to view the world or understand life, culture, etc. I'll give you one example that our tour guide explained to us. He talked about how when you punch you don't want to over- extend cause then you're vulnerable, but you also don't want to throw a punch that extends all of a foot in front of your body because that's weak. He then explained that this can be used to understand why Chinese people often give very ambiguous answers to questions such as, " do you like my jacket, what do you think about this shoes, is the food good." More often than not a Chinese person will answer "hai keyi" to those kinds of questions. That translates into it/that's okay, or it/that's not bad. Our guide then explained that if you give an ambiguous answer you can't offend the person whose question you're answering and you also don't look silly in saying "I love your jacket" to be received by a "really? I hate this, my girlfriend makes me wear it."

Also, this past Saturday night I finally started back up the "text" study that we had last semester. It was really good to get the back going.

Possibly the most exciting news is that my parents are arriving in Beijing this Friday night and will be here for a little over a week. I can't wait to introduce them to my home- stay and all of my friends.

God Bless,

Colton

A quick update!!

Good Morning Friends!

I have been quite busy lately. I don't know what it is about this semester, but the pace of life seems like it picked up two fold.

I'm going to end this post with the three most interesting things that have happened within the last week and a half to give more incentive to those who are like me and have a tendency to start reading something and then stop because they realize what they are reading is a bit lengthy (hopefully my posts aren't that long).

So to start, if you haven't been paying attention to World News lately it seems like every country in the World that doesn't have democratic government is now demanding one, or perhaps just a new leader. Well, some have even thrown China into this conversation and some people have tried to organize a "Jasmine Revolution" in China. The only problem, no one wants to show up. Our two program directors actually hosted a talk on this phenomenon where we discussed why nothing is going to happen in China. I'll highlight a few major reasons we discussed. The Communist government has gotten really good at suppressing any problems and keeping protesters from networking with other classes, industries, or parts of the country that have problems. Another is the fact that most everyone's life in China has gotten better in the last 30 years. Raising millions upon millions out of poverty typically doesn't lead to revolution. Finally, there is a great deal of apathy towards problems among commoners, and there is a lot of trust that given time the problems will be solved. The apathy comes mostly from seeing what protests have done in previous times, been crushed and not completely resolved problems. Also, the apathy is encouraged by the band- aids or short- term fixes the communist government puts on issues that many Chinese have problems with. So I'd say if you've got stock on the Chinese government falling, I wouldn't plan on making that bet your retirement savings now.

A really interesting side note- I got to talk to my home- stay mother about the Tiananmen incident. She was here in Beijing. My homestay mother being older and having many stories has really shown me just how incredible and wise older people are. Still considering myself young at 19, I plan to take more advantage of opportunities to talk to older people about the America and the World that they have seen in their lifetime.

Having now said a little about my homestay mother I'd like to give everyone a bit more background on her. My homestay mother is over sixty years old and has lived in Beijing for almost all of her life. She is the oldest of 6 children who shared an apartment about the size of your average American living room (She told me they slept 4 to a bed). She got married at 29 to a man who had just been released from a work camp following The Cultural Revolution (The average American should know about this, so if you don't, look it up). Then, she had one child, as the Chinese policy allows. Within the last ten years she has had a bit of a rough time. Her husband passed away in 2004 and from what I can tell (no hair) in seeing one of her younger sister's lately and my mother telling me her younger sister might not see another new year, her sister has been diagnosed with cancer. This short bio can't do justice to the incredible woman she is, but I hope it can give all of you a better picture of the woman who has taken the responsibility for taking care of me here in China.

Okay, the final three things

1) I have a few Chinese friends who have been coming to Church with me.

2) I had a really good conversation with one of my friends who typically doesn't like to open up.

3) My home-stay mother convinced a security guard that I was Chinese today without the guy even questioning her. I've officially been Sinocized! hahaha My mom told me to joke with the next person who asks me which country I'm from and say "I'm American- Chinese." I'm looking forward to that conversation.

Well, I hope all is well back in the Red, White, and Blue.

God Bless

Long Time No Update!

Hello!

It's been a while since I last updated mostly because I went a period of about 2 weeks and a half without internet access and then when I got back to Beijing I had a ton of homework to catch up on.

So the Chinese New Year took place on February second or third. I forgot the actual date because they celebrate the New Year here for a period of like 15 days. On to how they celebrate. Chinese New Year is typically celebrated by returning to your home town, spending time with your family playing cards and eating enormous amounts of food, followed by lighting off fireworks just outside your apartment building with the rest of the buildings residents. If you're not real great with visualization I'll be a bit more clear in stating that this creates a situation in which hundreds of people are lighting of fireworks in the same area, therefore between the firecrackers going off everywhere and the fireworks filling the sky, the atmosphere resembles a cross between the Fourth of July and the first six minutes of Saving Private Ryan.

After spending time with my homestay family during the biggest night of celebration, my homestay family, my friend Obi, and I went down to Nanchang to spend some time at my homestay sister's house. This was a really cool opportunity as I got to meet a lot of my sister's friends (The majority being communist party members) and to were less clothing (Nanchang is significantly warmer than BEijing. I also got to see how some of the more wealthy Chinese people live, which was very interesting.

After spending time in Nanchang I flew down to Yunnan to meet up with the rest of the people in my study abroad program for our long trip. The trip was awesome! We went from Kunming (the capital of Yunnan) down to Pu'er (The home of Pu' er tea, China's best tea) and then down to Xishuangbanna (A city right next to the Mekong River). The whole way we got to drink delicious tea, eat delicious food, wear shorts and t- shirts, and party with the Party. Highlights from the trip included learning about how China is currently pouring investment into Laos, Vietnam, Burma, and Cambodia, seeing how a lot of business connections are made in China (dinner, alcohol, and KTV are typically a pretty good formula for success), making new friends, and spending two days in a small minority village. On China's investment, if you're one of those who don't believe China will make the jump from investment to investor, think again. There are major infrastructure projects under construction connecting China to Burma, Laos, and Cambodia, all of which have even cheaper labor than China and are just begging for development.

After following the Mekong river for a week and a half we unfortunately had to head home. Once arriving in chilly Beijing I got back to work on classes and making more Chinese friends. Also it was really nice to get back to my homestay. I missed my homestay mother a bit while I was gone.

I hope everyone is well and I love and miss you all!!! Happy Year of the Rabbit!!!

Love,

Colton

Internship

So this semester I have the opportunity to intern at a Chinese company. The company's name is Pax. They sell data processing equipment, and they just recently publicly listed in Hong Kong. If any of you are looking for investment opportunities, they may be an interesting company to research especially as the credit card industry, etc. has yet to take off in China (it is growing however).

I started with Pax about two weeks ago. In total I've been in the office about a week and a half. In that time I figured out I'm the only English speaker in the office and the use of english is not needed at the Beijing branch, Chinese sales are very different than sales in the U.S. (This is mostly due to people in the office reiterating this point to me every chance they get), and that Chinese business etiquette is very different from American business etiquette.

I'll start by describing the not- so- english friendly working environment. In keeping with the theme of having to be flexible and go with the flow here in China, my first communications with anyone in the office were done with my boss, all in Chinese. After half understanding, and being scared witless about how I could actually help the office, I was given a cubicle and introduced to my co- workers (once again, in Chinese). I was then given product manuals to study and familiarize myself with the products I would be hoping to sell or help sell by the end of the semester (as above, in Chinese characters). I then proceeded to spend the rest of the day using Pax's english site and google translate to create a database of vocab I need to learn so that I can be of use to the office. Currently I don't have any responsibilities, but I'm trying hard to become literate in Pax's business and to find ways that I can help out around the office.

I've also learned that Chinese sales are very different from sales in the U.S. They're more complicated. Unlike the U.S., sales in China aren't based entirely off of a product's quality and then the price that one can get it at. Sales in China have a lot to do with the way you treat the person that you're trying to sell to and the type of relationship you have with him or her. This can mean that taking a client out to get drunk and sign karaoke on a regular basis can be incredibly beneficial to business. I think this aspect of Chinese business will change as more Chinese business make their move into selling their product and brand in other countries. For those of you fearing the U.S. economy taking a back seat to China in coming years, you'll know it's arrived when you're buying brands you can't imagine trying to pronounce correctly.

Finally, Chinese business etiquette is possibly one of the most interesting things I've gotten to observe during my internship. A few things to note are a lack of work breaks, socializing, or a lack of inappropriate times to answer phone calls. If there are any real work breaks taken to socialize it has to be done through QQ (China's version of AIM). The office remains quite all day except for an occasional phone call. That brings me to another observation. I have had the opportunity to follow one of the salesmen to negotiations. This allowed me to get a feel of what negotiations are like in China. Something very interesting that I noticed was that Chinese people answer calls in the middle of meetings with clients and it is entirely appropriate. I guess the best way I could describe Chinese business etiquette is casual. From jeans and a sweater being appropriate business attire to watching negotiations happen around a ping pong table in an unfinished conference room, Chinese business is significantly more casual than American business.

Well, I hope everyone back home is well, and I love and miss you all. I plan on starting a "text" study this week, and I'm not really sure how I want to go about it as I feel like my gifts aren't necessarily in researching and teaching "Dad's" word.

Yours,

Colton

New Semester

Hello!

Well, it's a new semester now. We haven't officially started class, but we started orientation this past weekend and I've been very busy helping the RA's get all of the new students accustomed to Beijing and their new surroundings. I've been busy, but fortunately I've made some new friends. In particular, I've met several girls who want to learn how to salsa. Therefore, I've found my new salsa partners. Thanks to Lisa for teaching me!!!

I'm all settled back into my home- stay and it is good to be back. Fortunately my Chinese hasn't gotten too much worse so I'm still able to communicate with my home- stay mother very well. The most recent topic of conversation has been the new love interest my home- stay cousin/ sister has. My mother doesn't really like him and is afraid of my home- stay sister dating him. As for my personal opinion... I didn't have a great first impression of him, but it was at a bar so it wasn't a great atmosphere to get to know him.

A very funny story: My mother called me in the middle of my pre- test the other day to tell me to get home as fast as I could because my home- stay sister was coming over and bringing her new love interest. At first I just thought my home- stay mother just wanted me there so that I could see my home- stay sister, however, after my home- stay sister had left my mother told me that she wanted me there because she didn't know what she would talk with this new guy about because she didn't like him. Unfortunately, the new guy didn't end up coming and I didn't have the opportunity to mediate the situation.

Other developments: I will be traveling with my home- stay to another family member's house for the Chinese new year in a few weeks. I could really use a partner in sharing "Dad's" word this semester. Finally, I previously thought I had a case of yellow fever (an obsession with asian woman) but I have found that I just simply like pretty girls and it just so happens that in China most pretty girls are asians.

Yours,

Colton

Not so long til Christmas break...

Hello everyone!!!

I know it's been a little while now, my apologies. However, I've been really busy and have felt like I've been flying by the seat of my pants for the last two weeks. We had our third test last week. I had a paper due the previous week, and for the last two weeks I've been working on filming a movie in CHinese with my friends to put on display at a movie festival our study abroad program is having.

So I'll start with some exciting news and move the most exciting at the end of my post. I am going to get to sing with my Chinese home- stay sister Kou Dan at IES's China night. It's essentially like a sending off performance type of thing for all of IES and the people involved the night before everyone leaves. We're gonna sing Beijing welcomes you (that would be the title of the song in English). I'm super excited, but it's going to be a bit of a feat singing it as it is like a 7 minute song, meaning 7 minutes worth of words to memorize. haha The other bit of really cool news is that I will be appearing on a Beijing television talk show this upcoming thursday to be interviewed on what being a foreigner in China is like. We've had several lessons on how to talk about that in my classes so I should be able to use a lot of Chinese. I'm super excited and want to represent Americans well. So prayers for that would be very welcome!

The coolest news now. Tonight Lisa and I led a "Dad meeting" with four Chinese girls. I was supposed to prepare a lesson, but in the end decided that a more or less question answer format was best. The night went really well and we got to lay down the framework of who "Dad" is and what his son did for us. So cool! It was such a wonderful opportunity and I think all of the girls were even more interested at the end of the night so I'm looking forward to continuing to invest in them. Now we just need to get some guys to start coming.

In other news, I went to see some of the Ming dynasty's tombs this weekend with my home stay mom. My home stay mom brought back the closest thing to a Chinese burrito you will find in China for dinner tonight. My friends and I got our butts kicked by my Chinese kung fu teacher and one of my friends who does martial arts back in the U.S. for our movie's fight scene today, and my home stay mom called me "xiao huai dan" the other day. It means little bad egg, or in a better translation, little bastard. It's supposedly a term of endearment in China according to my Chinese teachers and I believe them as my mom said it with a smile on her face the whole time and doesn't seem like she could ever say anything mean.

Well, we've got a really light week with Thanksgiving coming up, so I should be able to update more, but for those family members I will be missing. Travel safe, I'll be missing you and all the delicious food we always eat.

Oh, also, the Chinese government finally turned on the heat after weeks of shivering in my home stay. I first wanted to thank Hu Jin Tao and second wanted to let my parents that due to the increase in the internal temperature of my house I am now showering every other day instead of every third or fourth.

God Bless!!!