Happy May(Day)!

How is it already May 1st? I cannot believe how fast my last semester is going!

May 1, also called May Day, is International Workers Day. The holiday is celebrated in over 80 countries, including China. As a result, classes are canceled today. Bonus: we also had Monday and Tuesday off.

On the flip side, in China, whenever there is a holiday, you are required to make up the days you miss on the weekends. So I had to teach on Saturday. It doesn’t make any kind of sense to me, but it’s a necessary evil all teachers (and students) have to deal with.

In any case, I took advantage of my day off yesterday and finally went to the Thousand Buddha Cliffs, located in Jiajiang, Sichuan, about 45 minutes outside of Leshan. It was an adventure a year in the making; last spring I tried to go there with a few friends but we failed miserably. This year, I was smarter and did a little more homework before the adventure began.

From Leshan my friend Beckie and I hired a car to take us straight to the park – 25 rmb each. It was super convenient and definitely worth the extra rmb. At the gate, you have to walk about 10 minutes before you reach the actual park. The entrance fee is a mere 5 rmb. We took the bus back to Leshan, which was almost as easy. From Leshan, take a bus to Jiajiang from the Central Bus Station (8.50 rmb, 40 minutes). From the station in Jiajiang, take Bus No. 1 to the end of the line (1.50 rmb, 25 minutes). This will take you to the gate of the park – you’ll know it because there is a big map of the park and I believe the sign also has English on it.

Truthfully, there isn’t a whole lot to see there. There are the cliffs, into which are 162 niches carved. In the niches are over 2,400 Buddhas carved. The carvings began during the Sui Dynasty and were completed in the Tang Dynasty. The site is pretty well-preserved, however, many of the Buddhas’ heads were bashed in during the Cultural Revolution. I haven’t found very much information on why this was done, but it was really cool to see.

Apart from the niches, there is a small mountain to climb (all stairs!). The views are really nice, especially on a clear day like yesterday. The park is on a very peaceful river, with crops growing alongside. The park also advertised a handmade paper museum, but we couldn’t find it and/or it was closed. Possibly the best part about this place, though, is that it was uncharacteristically uncrowded. Most tourist places in China are PACKED – people pushing and shoving everywhere, barely any room to breathe. Thousand Buddha Cliffs, though, not a whole lot of people. It was a really nice and peaceful afternoon.

Below are some pictures – Enjoy!!

The week without English speakers

As I mentioned before, this week my host parents were gone on vacation to Tibet, leaving me with Grandma and Grandpa, who speak no English. This definitely put my Chinese skills, or lack thereof, to the test. It was frustrating never really knowing what was going on because of the huge language barrier. I definitely felt like a child more than I usually do here, not being able to express myself to them and never really understanding what they would be trying to tell me. It was a challenging week, but its over now!

And with the weekend came some exciting news: on Thursday, we all received our site placements. *Drumroll please* I’ll be teaching at Leshan Vocational & Technical College in Leshan, Sichuan. The city is about 2 hours south of Chengdu, home of the tallest stone Buddha in the entire world.

Giant Buddha, or "Dafo"

My site is a new one, meaning I’ll be the first Peace Corps Volunteer at my school. There is, however, another PCV in Leshan. She’s a China 16 and teaches at the school right next to mine, which will be nice. Two of my language teachers here in Chengdu also live in Leshan, so I’m feeling pretty good about my placement.

Tomorrow we all go on week-long site visits. In order to prepare for these, we were instructed to call our waiban (director of foreign affairs at the university) so that they would know what time to come get us from the bus/train station.

My waiban is on vacation in Thailand. Not sure when she’ll be back.

So I freaked out a bit after hearing that I might not even meet her at all during my visit. But I settled down, took a chill pill, called her the next day (today) and found out that she did have a plan. Another teacher would be coming to get me. A little while later this teacher did give me a call and ensured me that both she and my host mom would meet me at the bus station. Now, this may not sound like a big deal, but there was a good 24 hours in between where I had no idea if anyone would even be coming to get me. I suppose that’s Peace Corps in a nutshell: ambiguous, vague and slightly frustrating.

Me and Lisa at the entrance of Jinli Street

Nice and early today, Grandma and Grandpa took me and my host cousin, Lisa, to Jinli Street, where we took the above gem of a picture. I actually didn’t really like it. It was extremely crowded, super touristy, 8,000 degrees out, and overall not my cup of tea. We look like awkward sisters in that photo. I guess when you think about it, we kind of are. She’s always kind of around and I’m not exactly sure how she’s related to my host family. My mom said she was her husband’s cousin, or something, awhile back, so I’m going with that. She speaks English really well, though, so having her today at Jinli Street was definitely my saving grace.

Time to pack! Tomorrow I’m going to Leshan for the week – new host family, new city, new language barriers, new obstacles. Wish me luck!