We are not in Indiana any more…welcome to the future

Except for the unfamiliar banter around me I might as well be sitting in some coffee shop just blocks away from any American college campus: Worn brick accents on the walls, chic wooden shelves, the occasional potted plant, a wall covered in sticky notes, colorful couches, abundant wifi, and cartoon chalkboard art. Instead I’m in 1897, a little cafe tucked into the first floor of one of the Yuquan Campus’ numerous dorms in Hangzhou.

Mr. Egg, a local English teacher and tutor who I met last Sunday invited me here last night (just a five minute walk through the maze of buildings from my dorm) to participate in another English club. There were seven Chinese at the club this evening. All of us were college students except for Mr. Egg and a guy named Erik, a software designer. I was the only foreigner. Most of the students happened to be studying some form of mechanical engineering which I thought was pretty neat, and provided at least some initial fodder for conversation.

We talked about job aspirations, hometowns, families, sports, transportation (trains and vehicles) and eventually politics. (Fun Fact: Hangzhou grants license plates via a lottery system: 10,000 a month, though they often get 100,000 applicants a month.) Erik asked about my opinion on a Scottish independence. Unfortunately I was caught flat-footed on that particular topic because although I’ve had plenty of time in the last week to indulge my news-reading appetite I had not read anything on the subject. Erik seemed surprising concerned about the economic effects (in China) of Scottish independence. I was at first very surprised, but his reasons were not too far-fetched. Then today on CNN International I noticed an article highlighting fears in China over Scottish independence. Although the article was substantially more focused on the political implications of successful separatist movements.

~ ~ ~ Post interrupted: time to go to dinner with Leifeng, new friend from Sunday’s English club. ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ 24 hours later… ~ ~ ~

Well this place is just incredible.

Leifeng picked up four of us (foreigners), took us to dinner and then an English Club. Now if I’ve experienced any “culture shock” since arriving it hasn’t been the numerous people, the odd smells, the lack of a personal bubbles or the new food—it has been the utter generosity, friendliness, and curiosity of the Chinese. In comparison Americans seem cold, aloof and overly private. Back to the story…

I felt surprisingly safe riding shotgun as Leifeng deftly maneuvered his Porsche Cayenne through the obstacle course that is Hangzhou traffic. Dinner was at a ubiquitous yet wonderful hole-in-the-wall restaurant. At the English Club I spent most of the time talking with a man named Alan, who works in the financial sector. He taught himself English as a hobby, and loves reading classics such as A Tale of Two Cities and keeping up with world (western) news. Though we ended up talking about the cultural differences in relationships, dating, and marriage—why? (Yes, why are on the Chinese so interested in the American hook-up culture and our terrible divorce rate?) Alan’s explanation of for his relationship-oriented questions was brilliant: “Love is universal.” Whew, being a conduit for the American-norm is a rather gargantuan task, though it provided ample opportunity to reflect on norms we take for granted.

Now going back in time by a day: On Wednesday the Valpo/Luther group took a city bus to Zhejiang’s main campus. Huge slate and glass academic buildings surrounded the southern perimeter while an expansive park and lake filled the middle of campus (with dorms on the northern half). No American campus can compare except maybe Stanford. (In an attempt to be politically correct I’ve tried to use United States instead of America whenever possible, but the international community clearly recognizes us as America or American.)

We ate lunch on the Zinjingang campus in at complex that can serve 15,000 students per meal. The cafeteria we were in had a single counter (probably a 100’+ long) with every dish individually plated and a slow progressing crowd of Chinese often two or three people deep filling their trays while the cashiers did the mental addition so fast that number pads would be superfluous. (Turns out the second cafeteria was closed so this one was doing double duty, but for the price and variety I was completely fine with giving up all personal space and tolerating ten minutes of gently pushing through the crowd.)

China has somehow managed to become a model of efficiency (probably out of shear necessity). The controlled chaos of traffic and nonexistent lines can leave more regimented foreigners scratching their heads. It helps immensely that Chinese exhibit very little aggression or need for personal space.

Since ZJU’s orientation doesn’t start until next week our dorm has seen an increasing number of new foreign students arriving in the last few days. In the last hour I made new friends from Belgium, England and France…nothing liking traveling to the opposite side of the globe as a way to make new friends! We’ve shared a meal, visited the ATM and convenience store, climbed the ridge behind campus and are going clubbing together tonight!