The Paparazzi Found Me

Author: Tiffany Luers

Program: Hangzhou, China – Study Center 

Upon our arrival in China, G20 was just around the corner.  G20 is a meeting of 20 leaders from the world’s largest economies to discuss international finance and monetary policies, and this year it is being hosted in the very city that my study abroad semester is taking place – Hangzhou!  While it is very exciting that G20 is happening in my new home, we needed to get away.  Why?  Because everything shut down for G20.  Okay, maybe not everything, but some of my favorite street food places, coffee shops with free VPN’s (virtual private network), and the pancake place by the international dorm were all boarded up and deserted as if they had never been there.  Buses stopped running earlier. Stores and restaurants had shorter hours.  The city was cleaner and the streets quieter than I remembered, and the security around the university and West Lake was tighter than ever.  This was not the restless and ever-bustling city of Hangzhou that I had experienced last summer when I was on the Valpo Study Abroad 5-week summer program.  Yet, G20 gave us the perfect excuse to explore other parts of China for the next ten days while Hangzhou was on lock down.  The first stop was Beijing!

During the three days we spent in Beijing we visited the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and of course, the Great Wall.  Walking around the tourist sites, our group received a lot of attention.  As Chinese people walked passed us, their eyes widened and they would say “外国人” (wai guo ren) meaning “foreigner”, and many of them took photos of us.  Some were very friendly and asked us for photos, while others tried to be sneaky and take photos without us noticing even though their “selfie” was most definitely not fooling anyone.  Having grown up abroad and mostly in Asia, I am accustomed to having people take photos of me, or

touch my skin, or even ask if they can cut off some of my blond hair.  It really doesn’t bother me too much and I understand their intrigue.  While yes, it can be uncomfortable at times, laughing it off can be the best thing to do in those situations and I know that this is just the beginning of the photos and curious looks for the 10-day trip let alone a semester here! Now whenever I encounter one of my photographers I use it as an opportunity to practice my Chinese and strike up a conversation with them.

With my newfound paparazzi, I’ll have to start working on my poses!

-Tiffany