I've given up on getting pictures up here for now, so instead I'll just write about my countryside travels. (I apologize if my English is worse than it used to be.)
Even though it was a mere four days long, I really think this trip was one of the more memorable trips I've been on (and I've been to some amazing places!). This may be partly because it was more removed from my world and the world I'm familiar with than anywhere else I've been. Right off the bat, it was clear that we were a bit out of place -- everyone stared at us. Since there were only five students on the trip, we often found ourselves absolutely surrounded by curious onlookers, most of whom were too shy to actually talk to us (except to request pictures with us). In other ways, though, the Chinese countryside wasn't as different as I thought it would be. Hebei is a big corn-growing region, so when we visited actual farms I was reminded of my lovely home state of Iowa. Also, many of the differences between Beijing and the Hebei countryside were similar to those I'd expect to find between American urban and rural regions.
After I wrote my last blog post, I was a little worried that I was only going to get three hours of sleep before my trip, but that turned out to be a very good thing. I slept the entire way to Yuxian, first on the train and then on the bus, both of which I probably would have found a bit cramped for my taste had I been conscious. As it was, I arrived feeling very refreshed, which helped me handle what happened next a bit better. What happened was this: at the hotel, they wanted to see our passports, presumably because they had to check our visas by law. Unfortunately, another student and I hadn't realized that we had to bring our passports, and the hotel absolutely refused to let us stay there. Instead we each spent the night at the house of a different host (our hosts were two extremely gracious men who had been classmates in a class taught by our teacher's mom, and who basically led us around during our entire visit). That evening we went to a sort of town square, where it seemed that the whole town was eating, dancing, and chatting. In that square we had our first taste of the staring, which was probably only intensified because we were speaking Chinese.
The next day was extremely fun and interesting. We began by visiting an elementary school in a farming village, where we first got some basic facts about the school and about Chinese education from the principal, and afterward talked to a few teachers and students. I learned too many things to write here, but I'll mention the most surprising and noteworthy. Probably what startled me most was the discovery that the students board at the school starting in third grade. I saw for myself that their dormitories are pretty crowded, and as far as I could tell, they really didn't have much private space or time to themselves. Nonetheless, the kids seemed really happy, and they told me they like school a lot. Another surprising discovery was that they all take "morality class". Apparently this is a class in which they are taught right from wrong, as well as less weighty matters of etiquette. I guess this makes sense, because since they live at school, they can't learn that kind of thing from their parents, as we typically do in America. Other than that, the subjects they study are mostly what American elementary school students study, although they begin learning English in third grade.
I realize I've only gotten through half of the first real day (actually not even that, since I haven't fully described my experience at the school), but I really need pause for now if I'm going to get any sleep. This time I really will continue this post tomorrow.