Untold Stories of the FBG

During my first week in China, at AYC orientation, I became friends with a fellow foreignblackgirl and HBCU alumna, Jessica. Although our placement cities are far apart and we haven't been able to reunite since October, we've still managed to keep in touch over the past 8 months. We often share our daily experiences, both positive and negative, and give each other moral support when necessary. We've had many similar situations, like the unpleasant stares and side-walk photoshoots or eating street food that didn't quite agree well with our stomachs, but it's always interesting to hear how another FBG's experience in China varies from my own. Below is one of my favorite stories she has told me thus far, and it is definitely a good example of how Chinese people have "special" ways of storing their bodily fluids.

I've seen people peeing on the sidewalk, in the bushes, and even in plastic bags, but never in a water bottle at the restaurant. I think that one takes the cake!

 - FBG

An Afternoon at the Lake.

With less than a month left in China, I am beginning to feel the pressure to 'make every minute count.' Time is flying by so quickly, yet I still have a few items on my China Bucket List that I need to accomplish before I leave. Ahhhh. So for the next few weeks, it's adventure time! -- well, when it's not teacher time.

In accordance with my master plan to explore and venture as much as physically possible this month, this weekend I went to Dongqian Lake, a popular leisure and attraction spot in Ningbo, and enjoyed a nice lakeside picnic with snacks, wine, and a warm, springtime breeze.  Although it's not quite as adventurous or exciting as a visit to The Great Wall or Tienanmen Square, which I am looking forward to very soon, I still had a wonderful afternoon parlaying with my fellow FBG, talking/taking pictures with the locals, and watching the sunset. Now it's time to make these last few weeks in China the best yet!

- FBG

American or nah?

When I meet people in China, foreigners and locals alike, they usually ask me, "Where are you from?" When I say, "America," most people's reactions fall somewhere between shock and disbelief. Once they have taken a moment to comprehend what I've said and erase the I-just-saw-a-unicorn look off their face, while still a little skeptical, they'll say:

"THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE AMERICAN; YOU MUST BE FROM...AFRICA."
*pause for dramatic effect*

This comment always perplexes me. Usually I am prone to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume they haven't been exposed to Western culture or global affairs, so their ignorance is valid. But this situation has occurred too many times for it to just be a coincidence. And as I mentioned before, these are not just Chinese people with these beliefs. There has been people from Greece and Australia who reacted the same way, as if being black and anything but African is an abomination. 

The President of the United States is a black man. Black men built the United States with their bare hands. The American NBA players idolized by the world are black men. How is it so shocking that there are black people who live in America? I guess it shows how successful America has been in erasing the identity and history of black people for all these years. I just hope that by seeing me, a BLACK AMERICAN GIRL in the flesh, at least one person can realize that what the media portrays America to be is not an accurate depiction of American life.

- FBG

Bad Air

When the weather started becoming consistently warm, the ex-track athlete in me was excited to get outside and start doing daily runs. But after a couple of weeks of running, I noticed my chest was hurting a lot so I decided to stop. I have always known that China has an issue with air pollution and smog, but being in a smaller city like Ningbo, I didn't think I would be affected by it as much as I would if I were in a more populated area like Beijing. On the days I decided to go for a run, the skies always looked pretty clear to me, but I began looking up the Air Quality Index (AQI) each day just for safety.Through my extensive research via Google, I found that people shouldn't exercise outside when the Air Quality Index is greater than 150 because this is very unhealthy. No biggie! I'll just wait for the days when the AQI is below 150 to do my running. Well, weeks had passed and after checking the AQI every day, it unfortunately never went below 150. Right when I thought about giving up completely and finding an alternative way to exercise, we had 3 days of Air Quality that was in the 80s. Yay!

- FBG

p.s. I checked the Air Quality Index in Virginia Beach, VA just to put it into perspective, and it's 32. Such a huge difference. 

Lights, Camera, Action?

While in Japan, my homegirl Ashley & I decided to indulge in the Asian photo booth experience. Apparently it's a really popular activity because the designated area in the arcade was packed with ladies, most dressed in nice clothes and make-up, ready to step in front of the camera. Ashley and I weren't exactly "photo shoot fresh," but we took our beauty shots anyway. Afterwards, we were able to decorate our photos on the computer with cute little stickers and quotes, and I even came up with an alias for the occasion: KoKo. At first I thought it was a little juvenile to take photos in a photo booth, but it was actually pretty fun! So fun, in fact, that we visited another photo booth a few days later and did it again.

- FBG

Spring Break: Tokyo, Japan

I have always thought of Japan as a futuristic country, reminiscent of The Jetsons television show, where the cars fly, everything moves faster than the speed of light, and everyone is dressed like Harajuku girls, B-boys, and ninjas. Obviously, my knowledge of Japan was very limited prior to my trip to Tokyo. All I knew was sushi, fashion, Harajuku, yen. And Hiroshima. Nonetheless, I was still exciting for my spring break trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. Getting to Tokyo proved to be an adventure within itself. Coming from Ningbo, my travel partner and I took a bus to Shanghai, slept there for a night, shuttled to the airport bright and early in the morning, and flew into Ibaraki, Japan. Getting from Ibaraki to Tokyo took a bus, an Amtrak-style express train, a metro, and a visit from my old friend "pat & turner" (aka walking), but once I finally arrived in Tokyo the long journey was so worth it!

When I got off the plane and began my stay in Japan, I immediately noticed how much it was unlike China. No one was staring at me, people actually formed lines when getting on and off the bus/train/etc, the streets were much cleaner, and most noticeably, it was very quiet. Oh and everybody BOWS - excessively (cue Beyoncé). It was quite the opposite from China in many ways, pleasantly so. 

My 6-day trip, which unexpectedly turned into an 11-day trip that created a dent in my life savings, was exactly what I needed to give me a break from my monotonous wake up-teach-eat-sleep-repeat routine in Ningbo. In Tokyo, I was able to do some exploring and sightseeing and most importantly, eat lots of authentic Japanese food. Some of my favorite moments from the trip include: visiting Asakusa temple and shrines, seeing the Imperial Palace, eating ramen noodles (which are 135158 times better than the instant ones we ate growing up), seeing a bird's eye view of the entire city, partying til 6 am the next day, shopping at the cool shops on Takeshita St. and Harajuku St. and seeing the unique fashions, singing karaoke in a private room with my homies, sneaking a peak at a traditional Japanese wedding, experiencing an earthquake, and of course eating sushi. :)

I loved everything about Tokyo, except for the fact that everything was so expensive. Aside from the lack of flying cars and the fact that everything moved in real time, it was just how I imagined it would be. I will definitely miss the vending machines that served hot food and drinks and the nice public toilets that were equipped with an air freshener, built-in "distraction noises" in the event that you needed to move your bowels, a seat warmer, and a bidet. Despite the setbacks that came up during my vacation, like missing my flight back to China (twice) and being forced to take $50 cab rides when the metro wasn't feasible, I definitely had a great time on my spring break trip. Now it's time to get back to my students and finish the school year on a high note!

- FBG

Eggs and such.

Lesson Planning for my first grade classes is becoming more and more difficult each week. Since there is no textbook, and I create my own, personal lessons for the students, I rely mostly on my own brain and creative juices. At first, this was exciting because I could literally teach whatever I wanted – no rules! Now, however, I am beginning to run out of ideas. So far I’ve taught colors, animals, modes of transportation, seasons, body parts, clothing, each passing holiday, Goldilocks and the Three Bears (a personal favorite), and the list goes on. One week I even did an entire lesson about Spongebob Squarepants.

Last Monday, as I was wrecking my brain about what to teach my students and simultaneously scrolling through Instagram. I noticed an exceptional amount of people posting Easter-related pictures: their outfits, the Sunday dinners, and some people even had dyed eggs. Then it hit me - I’ll teach my students about Easter!

Although the main reason for this holiday is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I decided to go in a different direction that was more suitable for my audience. I sat and reminisced about my Easter celebrations growing up, thinking about going on Easter egg hunts and dying boiled eggs, and I decided to recreate this experience for my students. I had a mini-Easter egg hunt in the classroom and all the students LOVED it. Then, I got each student to design their very own Easter egg to go in the Easter basket aka on the poster board. They did a great job. Special thanks to Instagram for the inspiration!

-          FBG