I spent a semester in China in 2002. August through December. The first day of orientation, our program director looked us all in the eye and said, “Welcome to China. You’ll be back.” She went on to explain how no one can spend more than a few weeks in China and not be sufficiently fascinated, impressed, and…hooked. She was right. I’ll be interested to see how different China is now. How differently I see it, looking through my current lens.
Forgive the atrocious quality of these photos- they were taken with a 35mm and scanned back when technology wasn’t quite so great. 2002 is already ancient history, people! But here was China in 2002:
This is my fave eggplant dish, hongshao qiezi. No two restaurants make it the same. I remember this exact date because I was in Xi’an and it was James’ birthday, Sept. 27. He was turning 20. I wanted to celebrate somehow, but…I was in China. So I ate eggplant and toasted James. And yes, my tongue used to be pierced. I was a wild child.
This is the professor. He lives in Corn Town.
My memories of China 2002 are of visiting many places I didn’t know the name of and meeting many people whose names I could never fully understand or remember. So I named them as best I could. This picture was taken in a rural area west of Xi’an. The town was filled with ears of corn. Hanging from the roof of each building, corn husks littering the ground. They even spread corn kernels out on the street and waited for cars to drive over them to grind them into corn meal. I don’t think this guy was actually professor, but with his glasses, pipe, and intent gaze, he seems to fit the stereotype.
Ignore the date on this picture, my camera was messed up. We visited a school in Apple Town. (Guess what they did there.) It was awesome. The kids alternated between enthusiastic hyperactivity and cute bashfulness.
So, that was China then, for my 21-year-old study abroad self. This trip is going to be totally different in a lot of ways. But I’m sure it’ll be just as amazing, if not more so.