art... in china

All of the students we are working with are juniors at Shandong University School of Art and Desing (SUAD). Most of them are 21 and look 14 but they are all incredibly friendly and eager to learn. We have enjoyed a very warm welcome here from students and faculty alike.

Li Li (or Lily) is my Chinese student-partner. She is adorable. She speaks better English than I do Chinese, but the language barrier is difficult. We've decided to do a video project together. Things are moving slowly, but I imagine that they'll start to pick up in the next couple days... especially since our exhibition in Sunday. I'm working on an individual project for the exhibition as well as my partner-project with Lily. I'm very excited to see how both turn out.

I'm still having a hard time adjusting to Chinese customs. Lily and Sylvan's partner, Jared, insist on paying for all of our meals, drinks, snacks, etc. Jared even bought some supplies for Sylvan at the school store. Lily and Jared insist that Sylvan and I sit together at every meal and if we're walking somewhere as a group, they always make sure that Sylvan and I are near each other. It's cute and at the same time very strange. Sylvan and I have done our best to argue for the bill but we because we don't speak Chinese, we seem always to be at a disadvantage.

My classmates and I have noticed that our Chinese partners are eager to work with us but that they are more eager to follow our instruction and make us happy. I have asked Lily several times what she would like to do, but she always defauts to my suggestions. I am under the assumption that creativity is not encouraged as much in the Chinese education system and that it may be unnatural for a lot of these kids to come up with ideas on their own.

Our days have been filled with partner-project time, meals, and various other activities. Every other day we take a trip to some famouse monument, temple, mountain, etc. The University is taking extremely good care of us to the point where I wish they weren't. It's nice to have a schedule, but unfortunate when you are rushed and herded like cattle from one destination to anther. It's also unfortunate that we don't have m0re free time to wander the streets and hang out with our new Chinese friends. I enjoy them most when we're walking from place to place or during meals when we can talk about our cultural differences and share experiences with one another. Today we were able to sneak away after lunch for a while and play ping pong. We also found a few minutes after dinner to play a short game of basketball as the last rays of smoggy daylight faded over the mountains.