Perilous Hills, Fuscous Rocks, And Other Interesting Translations

It is admittedly seven years since I returned from the inaugral running of this program, so it's probably a lot smoother running now than it was when I went (not that it was that chaotic, other than where I taught, which also was due to my own lateness in applying).

I very much enjoyed my time in China, especially as it is a place which has fascinated me since I was very young, and this was a good chance to experience it in a way unmarred by being in a large group being pushed around the famous sites at high speed. I very much enjoyed the fact that I could stay long enough in a given place to get to know people, some of whom I am still in touch with, and have visited on occasion. I still wonder if the English-speaking cafe at the foot of Emei mountain still has the menus which myself and the two others wrote out by hand (for free food) - If they are, many apologies for the fact they are probably rather illegible.

I remember on one trip out to a very rural part of Sichuan, we were trying to find our way to some local temple which was meant to be rather interesting, and after the obligatory being-followed-around-by-a-crowd-of-excited-children part of the day (typically lasts an hour or so), and the being-invited-to-drink-tea-with-an-old-dude-and-his-family part (another 15-30 minutes), we asked someone for directions, who got pretty excited. Soon, a middle-aged woman joined in, and both ended up getting rather loud and red in the face, gesticulating wildly. We were then informed by someone who actually knew mandarin that this wasn't an argument, they were just really into giving us directions. The temple had since been turned into a school, but it was quite pretty.

In short - if you're willing to be very laid back, eat anything, and not feel the need to be directed around, it's a great trip , which you will learn so much from (but that probably applies to life in general).