"How many __ does it take to...?"

"How many men does it take to install awnings around an apartment building?"

I'll let this photo essay help you solve the riddle. 

The reason why I woke up to the sound of screeching metal by my wall

By the way, this worker originally tied his harness to my bathroom sink...

The Amazing Spidermen

Keep in mind, my apartment is on the 5th floor.

Ready for the answer? 

Five!  That's four workers (two defying death) + one student translator of Chongqing hua for the foreigners (his head can be seen popping out the window in the fifth picture). 

And there you have it, folks.  There's never a dull day in China. :)

Photographic Chongqing - Year 2012

I challenged myself to see the persisting beauty in Chongqing last year; the pictures below represent a glimpse of what I saw and are my favorites (also in the neighboring cities of Sichuan).  Warmly welcome to enjoy this look into Southwest China--my Chinese home:

On The Grid in Chongqing

CQUPT - A City On A Hill: Quite literally

Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Wok: A classic Sichuan 辣妹子 (spicy lady)

The Floating Lantern (in Dujiangyan)

The Narrow Path (at Chengdu Diocese Catholic Church)

Job Fair

A Sea of Peppers

Above Ground

Grandma's Playground: renovating the croquet court on campus

Run Red: the Chongqing Marathon

The Shock of Culture Shock

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.

This post is a long time coming.

Beginning in the fall of my second year in Chongqing, I had increasingly fewer nice things to say about my adopted homeland as my rose-colored glasses wore down: I began to see and understand more about this city and country I had grown to love; but the more I knew, the less I loved what I saw.

Could I be suffering from culture shock?  I sat in on my teammate Mary Beth's class last semester, and in Divine providence the lesson I chose to observe was about that very topic (based on Teaching in a Distant Classroom by M. Romanowski and T. McCarthy, 2009).  Even more surprising was how much I related to everything she taught.

Let's start with the symptoms: feeling angry over minor inconveniences; unusual irritability over the local way of life; overall feeling of dissatisfaction; rising stress and distrust; a change in sleep patterns--wanting to sleep all the time or not being able to sleep; excessive hand washing (OK, maybe this last one is just the normal me...).  It's safe to say I wasn't well.

But, I protest, I wasn't always like this!  Simply scrolling down to my earlier posts reveal unmistakable proof of my genuine love for Chongqing, even to the point of channeling the raspy voice of Rod Stewart (see the post titled "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?").  

Case and point, Stage One: The Honeymoon Stage

-every day is an adventure and you really enjoy discovering new things

-you're blind to all your host nation's imperfections

-you find so many things charming

Living such a year protected by what could be considered a "superficial and unrealistic experience of the [host] culture" made the crash into Stage Two that much more jarring and personally heartbreaking: the Rejection Stage.  

-the little things you found charming at first now grate on your nerves

-judgmentalism sets in

-you are cynical, derogatory and sarcastic toward the host culture

-you begin to wonder why you came to this strange land in the first place and how long you can last

How did I get here?  In a matter of months I went from rosy red to jaded green, and I am certain green is not my color.  My heart longed for the naive bliss of my first year in Chongqing, but my mind couldn’t get past what it had learned, and what it knew now was unsavory, unsettling, and wholeheartedly unwanted.

This is why I’m grateful for grace.  In reading one of Duane Elmer's cross-cultural books, I realized that I had stopped trying to see the persisting beauty of my adopted culture and instead saw only the obvious scars of the fallen world.  But grace is powerful.  By concerning myself mostly with the brokenness around me, I eventually began overlooking His presence in Chongqing and her people.  Elmer, therefore, encourages a proactive approach: "Look for the good and the beautiful, and when you see it you will see [His] grace."

After three years, I think I've finally reached Stage Four: the Adjustment Stage: having an honest appreciation for my host culture; becoming more empathetic and understanding that people are people—the good, the bad, and the ugly; interacting more freely with the host culture as a new cultural identity emerges; and gradually, seeing my host culture’s food, habits, and customs—all things I thought I would never get used to—as normal.

I invite you now to join me as I see my city with new eyes: renewed and refined to see Chongqing’s persisting beauty—and ultimately the grace of her Creator.  

National Sports Day

I heard tales of CQUPT's infamous Sports Day held every Spring: how teachers--especially foreign teachers--were encouraged to participate in events such as tug-of-war or teacher relay races; how it's the biggest school event of the year; and how the roar of the crowd echoes through campus from morning to evening (which I naively didn't realize at the time would be a problem...).

Building off the momentum of the Beijing Games combined with commemorating our University's 60th anniversary this year, CQUPT's version of Sports Day afforded every spectacle to make it a world-class event: picnic events like tug-of-war were scrapped for standard Olympic-type field events; each college packed and decorated their sections of the stadium; and the fanfare opening ceremony was reminiscent of China's October 3rd anniversary celebration parade.

For the only time in the school year, spectators filled the stadium seats:

The number "60" was displayed at all turns:

A platform similar to the Tian-an-men view of the Beijing parade was created for the University President and other higher-ups:

Students worked day and night (literally) for a whole week to practice and prepare for the 15-minute opening ceremony program:

(A quick note about where the foreign teachers' apartments are located...and let me assure you that the stadium sound system works just fine =P):

I believe these chops and kicks were to the tune of Bon Jovi's "It's My Life":

Can you guess? High School Musical, my friends. I don't know why they went with those midriff-bearing tops, though (and it was in the 50s that day, too)!

The band did a great job--glad to see them on the field!

As soon as the opening ceremony ended, the hurdles were set up on the track and the games began!

In what looks like the Yao Ming Fan Club section at a Rockets game, students learned how to cheer and be a good fan:

Most colleges opted for the recyclable noisemaker alternative: empty water bottles filled with green beans!

My college--the International College--is the smallest at our University, but we held our own when it came to rooting for our college and athletes!

Every college also has its own set of cheerleaders:

Our students could sign up for a number of volunteer positions, one being the person who notifies us when an event with a competitor from our college is coming up:

Another position being the person who waves our college's giant flag =P

And of course, students can volunteer to compete in any number of athletic events. Here's our adorable women's 400M relay team (and yes, they ran in the pictured attire; hey--we are a college of English majors, OK? =P)

Though a required event for all freshmen students, CQUPT Sports Day was a fun time of camaraderie, school pride, and canceled classes :) And as with any spectacle, you can always spot something that just doesn't seem to belong. I'll close this year's entry on CQUPT Sports Day with a curious game of "I spy"!

I spy...

Tigger?? I should've gotten him to take a jumping picture with me! =P

earphones (hey, maybe these kids are listening to a book on tape...):

Tigger (or more accurately, the guy inside Tigger) getting harassed by his buddies:

Olympic rings:

a bicyclist on the field?? I'm sure he had a legitimate reason for being there:

a spy! :) "We want to see if we know anybody on the other side!"

Looking forward to Sports Day 2011!

A hallmark of CQUPT

Ask me when the best time is to visit me in Chongqing and I will tell you mid- to late-March: that's when the cherry blossoms bloom! And ask anyone in Chongqing, and he will tell you that the best place to see cherry blossoms is on the campus of CQUPT:

You'd never know it until Spring hits — then pink, white, and green blossoms sweep across every acre of our school's campus; every walkway, garden, and street suddenly comes alive in Springtime, and even the most mundane of staircases become part of a work of art.

Japanese cherry blossom trees create a canopy over the pathways of the oldest parts of our campus, dating back to the 1950s. (That's the University's President taking a stroll; I wasn't being a paparazzo—he just happened to come along as I was setting up my camera :D)

In the residential areas of campus, the cherry blossom trees weave their beauty into the context of everyday life.

Everyone loves taking pictures with the cherry blossoms!

Truly, CQUPT put intentional effort into its landscaping. I don't remember what was there before, but the landscaping below was created just four months ago:

Since I've been here, it seems that every week plants and trees are dug up/put in. Yes, there are streets where entire rows of trees have been uprooted and replaced, or uprooted, pruned, then replaced.

I thought IVs were only for people, but apparently there are special kinds for trees, too.

It looks odd, but it seems to work!

Teachers who have worked at other Chinese universities all say that CQUPT has the best landscaping. And during Springtime, our campus is the only place in Chongqing where you can enjoy the incredible beauty of cherry blossoms for free.

I don't know about you, but I can't think of a better background for a Springtime jumping picture :)