The Exchange - National Committee on United States-China Relations

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Report from Mongolia Janet Schoor I just came back from Mongolia, where I had a wonderful time! Lots of open wide spaces, a big sky with gorgeous clouds, and horses everywhere! In fact, horses were a big part of this vacation for me; I went horseback riding three times – up mountains, near herds of mares and their foals, yaks and cattle with their calves, and sheep with lambs – near lakes, on open plains, everywhere. Since I haven’t been on a horse in many years, by now, whatever part of my body didn’t hurt after the first few hours on a horse, hurts now. In fact, just as my legs are feeling better, my back really hurts, and yesterday, a friend took me to a doctor for a therapeutic massage. I’m probably going to go back tomorrow and within a few days I should be fine. <strong>The</strong> countryside is beautiful. <strong>The</strong> first stop was a gorgeous lake called “Hovsgol” which we flew to. In fact, we managed to buy tickets on a chartered flight because there was an international race there so we went up with some of the runners and doctors. <strong>The</strong>y ran a marathon and for those who still had energy left, there was another race immediately, so the whole distance was 100 kilometers! <strong>The</strong>re was no paved runway and landing on wet grass was no joke. Also, when the guide and I drove, a few days later, from Ulaanbaatar to an ancient monastery, it took us all day to drive about 200 kilometers because the road was full of holes. Although he has a few quirks, he was a fine guide, and I was satisfied. While I was there he got word that he became a full professor. When we were at Hovsgol, we rode from our tourist camp to another one, probably 20 kilometers away. It was just lucky that there was a group of tourists there and there was a show for them which we watched. One person, in costume, played the horse fiddle and did some “throat singing,” which was certainly unusual. <strong>The</strong> second person, probably the best ankle-bone player in the region, gave us a few tunes and also sang. <strong>The</strong> city of Ulaanbaatar looks very Russian. <strong>The</strong> Russians have been a big influence the entire last century and have only left one or two years ago. <strong>The</strong> buildings are solid and ponderous and the Cyrillic alphabet is used everywhere. Written Mongolian is a much prettier script, but it’s archaic now and most people don’t want to have to learn it. Even though the city is grimy, it does have some interesting museums (some of those are Chinese style architecture, from the years before the Russians). A lot of the religious things came from Tibet, so I felt many things were very familiar. Two other terrific places not far from Ulaanbaatar were a protected area in which there are Pzewalski’s horses, a wild, ancient breed, which was reintroduced to Mongolia, and a national park in the opposite direction, called Turich. It was magnificent! I stayed overnight there, and took out a horse again. Accommodations were interesting; in the countryside we stayed in gers, large round tents (yurts), which were very comfortable inside. <strong>The</strong>y had real beds, a small fireplace, mirror, table, etc., with a clean washroom and restaurant nearby. All in all, it was great! Jackson Middle School Trip to Suzhou In May, the Portland-Suzhou student exchange continued when a group of Jackson Middle School students spent two weeks in China. Students wrote about their trip. Yesterday was really busy, but really fun! It started off with us riding our bikes to school. It took me [Helen] fifteen minutes, and Claire forty-five (she lives the farthest away). We spent half a day at school going to their English class, chemistry class, and P.E. class. In English we did hidden word puzzles and crossword puzzles. <strong>The</strong> table that finished them first got a prize (chocolate). <strong>The</strong>n we went to chemistry class, which was in a lab with lots of chemicals and stations where students worked in groups of two. We mixed water and a poisonous chemical that would burn your skin if you touched it together, and it turned burning hot. <strong>The</strong>n we went to P.E., and did Tai Chi for about thirty minutes. It was really confusing. We also played badminton and a really fun game that is kind of hard to explain. After lunch we went to Tiger Hill on a boat. It was really beautiful, with lots of flowers, old buildings, and a few stores for the kids who wanted to shop. Our favorite part was in the bamboo forest. Mr. Hong showed us how to climb the bamboo, and pretty soon everyone was climbing the trees and having their picture taken. <strong>The</strong>n we went to the embroidery institute, and watched the workers embroider. It was really amazing because they just give them a picture and they have to decide how to do it. <strong>The</strong>n we went into the store and looked at all of the big embroidered pieces, and bought a couple of the very small ones each. <strong>The</strong>y were all very life like. After we left the store, we got back in the bus and went back to No. 10 Middle School. Our host-students were waiting for us, Helen went straight home with Jing. Claire went to a teahouse for dinner and Helen had dinner at home. <strong>The</strong>n we went to bed, and now it is today, Tuesday. – Helen Helfand & Claire Miller 30
Final Travels Joanne Parkhouse I can’t believe my second year has already come to an end. My last few days here are being spent with friends, going out for a last meal, chatting, saying goodbye. <strong>The</strong> goodbyes are not as difficult this time because we know I’ll be returning again soon. Suzhou is my second home, and whenever Jack and I return, we’ll always have friends and family here to welcome us! Jack and I just returned from traveling for three weeks. <strong>The</strong> first two weeks we traveled with a friend of mine from work, and we had a great time hitting the highlights of China and doing some great shopping and bargaining! <strong>The</strong> third week we went to Jiuzhaigou, a national park, for our honeymoon. <strong>The</strong> park was kind of like Yellowstone, and it was just beautiful – mountains, waterfalls, colorful clear lakes. I needed to be away from the city for awhile. Jack Song and Joanne Parkhouse at the Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve in Sichuan <strong>The</strong> last couple days were difficult, though, because I drank some bad water. I ended up with major intestinal trauma and got so dehydrated I landed myself with an IV in a health clinic on top of a mountain in western China. Crazy. I’m finally starting feel better again! Teacher Orientation Program At the conclusion of the exchange year, many of the Chinese teachers elected to participate in a ten-day orientation program organized by the <strong>National</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> on U.S-China Relations. Designed to introduce American history, culture, and society, their travels included visits to Williamsburg, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Highlights of the tour included exploring Colonial Williamsburg, celebrating the 4th of July on the <strong>National</strong> Mall in Washington, D.C., and visiting City Harvest in New York City. Some of the 2001-2002 Chinese teachers at the Chinese Division of the Voice of America office in Washington, D.C. 31
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Page 25 and 26: Proms Yang Haiyan Last Friday, I we
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The Exchange - National Committee on United States-China Relations

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