China Mojo Students Reflect on the Experience (VIDEOS)

"Think I'll Go To China" (Go Mojo): A CHINA MOJO SONG written by Dr. W

1. Think I’ll take a plane over to China
Cause China is halfway around the world
Think I’ll take a plane over to China
Cause China’s one big boomtown sold gold
Vermont to Jersey then Beijing
I hope to see most everything
Think I’ll take a plane over to Zhong guo go mojo
Think I’ll take an airplane over there

2. Think I’ll take my friends over to China
Camp Champ mojo based in Burlingtown
Big old spring break road trip there in China
How pung we get lost then we get found
On Planet China here’s the thing
We can see most everything
Think I’ll take my friends over to Zhong guo go mojo
Think I’ll take my friends right over there

3. Think we’ll jump a bus while we’re in China
Cause China’s got 5,000 years to see
Think we’ll jump a bus while we’re in China
Cause Wuhan city's footloose fancy free
Oldest country that we know
Big with Chinese on the go
Think we’ll jump a bus while we’re in Zhong guo go mojo
Think we’ll jump a bus while we are there

4. Think I’ll say Ni Hao while I’m in China
Ni Ho Ma or maybe chi le mei
Wo Jiao Rob I’ll say when I’m in China
Ni Jiao She Me Ming Zi what’s your name
Pioliang and then Xie Xie
It’s a China hen hao kind of day
Think I’ll say Ni Hao while I’m in Zhong guo go mojo
Think I’ll say Ni Hao while I am there

5. Think I’ll float a boat while we’re in China
Cause China really digs those river towns
Think we’ll float a boat while we’re in China
I like those river smells, those sights, those sounds
Yiechang Yangtze search for clues
Three Gorges Dam a mighty cruise
Pea boat Tu Jia farmers sing
China cruising is our thing
Think we’ll float a boat while we’re in Zhong guo go mojo
Think we’ll float a boat while we are there

6. Think we’ll climb a wall while we’re in China
William Lindesay is the Great Wall man
We’ll climb Great wild Wall while we’re in China
Lindesay is a hiker with a plan
Beijing dawn Jiankou by eight
Hike through the mountains feeling great
Great Wall hoof on China time
No Mongols here we’re feeling fine
Think we’ll climb a wall while we’re in Zhong guo go mojo
Think we’ll climb a wall while we are there

7. Think we’ll hoof Beijing while we’re in China
The mother of all China old Peking
Think we’ll hoof Beijing while we’re in China
Forbidden City mojo let me in
We’ll walk to Chairman Mao’s red door
Not sure they need Mao any more
Hidden history’s hard today
Tiananmen come on let’s play
Think we’ll hoof Beijing while we’re in Zhong guo go mojo
Think we’ll hoof Beijing while we are there

FINAL CHINA MOJO PROJECT: Due for IN-CLASS ORAL on Monday, April 11

The overarching goal is to post, at your PERSONAL blog, four different 300 word + multimedia posts about your China Mojo experience, due by MONDAY, April 11.







PRE-TRIP ASSIGNMENT - HERE'S A REMINDER-->

Assignment: Please answer the following FOUR questions at your personal blog (include each question for the benefit of your readers) - and be prepared to present your pre-trip multimedia beginning on Monday, February 15 in class.

Questions to answer:

1. Which media environments and technologies/applications/platforms will I use in documenting and telling the story of my China trip?

Dr. W's answer: I will be using a combination of words and "video snapshots" of 30 seconds or fewer at the China Mojo course blog.

2. What equipment/gear will I need to bring to capture my stories?

I will be bringing a Flip camera and my Mac Book Pro laptop for editing, using iMovie as a simple editing program. I will share my videos at my YouTube page.

2. How will I capture and "bottle" my stories while traveling in China?

I plan to shoot a wide variety of daily "video snapshots" while traveling, and then edit and upload them to YT as soon as is possible.

4. Please provide a "sample example" of your multimedia approach here.

See above - I shot several video snapshots of our Mandarin immersion class with Jill Madden, and then stitched the together with simple book-ended text and "cross dissolve" FX.

FINAL CHINA MOJO Core 330 REFLECTION: Due by Monday, April 11

If you are taking our course for CORE 330 credit, please complete the following reflection below.

THE PROMPT: In a written response roughly two double-spaced pages in length, reflect on how your understanding of China has changed over the course of the semester. In your response, cite specific ideas and concepts presented in the pair of courses that seem especially relevant to how you will live in, work in, and view the world differently as a result of your learning.

Please draw on our readings and films, including ORACLE BONES, CHINA ROAD, LAST TRAIN HOME, GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE, as well as your nine day CHINA MOJO trip, and post your response at your personal blog, AND e-Port (to both of your CORE professors).

Day #9: Xie Xie, China - Mojo A’Home We Go (Sunday, 3/13)

After our sketchy late night Beijing cab ride of two nights before, our cab caravan trip from the Green Tree Inn to the airport felt delightfully easy.

As did the 15 hour plane flight to Newark.

As did the slice of pepperoni pizza, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and glass of Malbec du vin rouge in the Newark Liberty Airport.

I don’t know about the rest of Mojo.

But for me, this was an incredibly successful trip.


SUNSET OVER BEIJING.

We made it halfway around the world and back, all 21 one of us, without major mishap, to experience one of the world’s most fascinating countries and cultures.

And had some remarkable adventures along the way.

I look forward to learning more about China from our students’ multimedia Mojo projects.

For now…

Xie xie, China, for keeping us on our toes, and for giving us so much to reflect on in the months ahead.

Day #8: Hoofing Beijing, The Mother Of All Chinese Cities (Saturday, 3/12)

Good morning, Bejing!

After a full day on the Great Wall of China, we slept in, meeting in the Green Tree Inn lobby at 10:00 am for our 1 hour walk to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.


CHAMP CHINA MOJO IN FRONT OF MAO AND THE FORBIDDEN CITY.


TIANANMEN SOUTH - OPEN AIR PEARL MARKET, BEIJING'S BIGGEST.


HUTONG BY NIGHT.


FORBIDDEN CITY'S NORTH GATE.


CHINA MOJO'S HUTONG HOTEL.

While more modest than the hotel we originally booked while in Beijing, the Green Tree Inn is in a fabulous location – the center of Fang Zhia hutong just 1 ½ miles from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, and full of lively little shops, eateries, and a night club/listening room or three with funky names like Hot Cat and Yes.

The hutongs – traditional Chinese urban neighborhoods first built by the Mongols when they moved the imperial city to old Peking – are one of my favorite things about Beijing: best described as little mini-mazed warrens of private one story apartments with shared communal open air living space. When the CRP ascended to power in 1949, Mao soon declared war on the hutongs, proclaiming them “backward” and a sign of the “old China.” The real estate boom hasn’t helped the hutongs’ fate, but there are still many of them left in this part of the city – and I spent some time while here just knocking around.

We were on the road by 10:00 am, and after a quick cash exchange and McD’s breakfast for some, made it to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square by 11:30. I oriented everyone, and we bought tickets and then turned everyone loose for the day in downtown Beijing.


HUTONG BISTRO CUISINE: FRIED RICE AND RED WINE.

Kat, Sean, George and I hit the trifecta – touring the Forbidden City (including the beautiful Jianing Park and temple tower that overlooks the city from the north), Tiananmen Square and Pearl Market (where we shopped like barter-seeking westerners) before heading back to the hutong via taxi before 6:00.

Because of the big CRP event downtown, and the fact that it was a reasonably nice Saturday afternoon weather-wise, downtown Beijing was hopping, and hearing their stories later, our Mojo’ers made the most of their day (some even saying they wanted another day to experience the mother of all Chinese Cities.)

A great way to finish off our visit in China.

Day #7: A Walk on the Wild Side - On the Great Wall of China with William Lindesay (Friday, 3/11)

I knew experiencing the Great Wall of China would be a highlight of the Mojo trip for our group.

So we didn’t skimp when it came to investing in a full day on the Great Wall with one of the first westerners to ever hike the entire length of the Wall.


THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA (WILD).


CHAMP CHINA MOJO ON TOP OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.

William Lindesay is a tall, rangy, smiling Brit with a passion for telling stories about Great Wall of China.

And having logged more than 1,000 days on the actual Great Wall itself, Lindesay knows of what he speaks.

He's got an amazing story.

As a child, he dreamed of walking the Wall.

In 1987, when China was just beginning to be opened to the West, he decided to act on his childhood fantasy, hiking the entire length of the Wall by himself, carrying 2 passports, tenting out and sleeping in Chinese farmers’ houses and fields, and dodging Chinese police and security along the way.


GREAT WALL EXPERT WILIAM LINDESAY.

He wrote a book about his experience.

He’ll be appearing in a National Geographic special on Saturday, April 30, 2011, devoted to the Wall.

And he runs a nonprofit devoted to preserving the Wall, gives numerous speaking engagements, and leads tours along the Great Wall of China from his home located in the mountains outside of Beijing.

Our bus met Lindesay at the crack of 7:15 a.m. on the outskirts of Beijing (Kudos to our Mojo’ers for rolling out of bed and down to the hotel lobby for our 6:30 am departure), and, as we headed into the mountains towards Lindesay’s home, he regaled us with stories of the Wall, combined with his own insights on Chinese contemporary politics and culture. A deeply engaging raconteur, Lindesay’s passion for the Wall was palpable, even in our sleep-deprived state.

After zigzagging up into the mountains to enjoy a breakfast of Danish, tea and coffee at his modest farmhouse/school/learning center, we donned our hiking shoes and headed across the village farmland and into the foothills towards towards the Wall around 10:45 am.

A Great Wall expert, Lindesay explained that he was fond of showing visitors what he called the “Wild Wall,” rather than the reconstructed and heavily trafficked Great Wall tourist sites frequented by most Great Wall visitors (including most Chinese.)


UP THE OX BOW ON THE GREAT WALL.


A SMALL STRETCH OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.


MOJO YOGA ON THE GREAT WALL.

As we climbed through sun-dappled forests of pine, marked by pockets of snow (we were the very first tour of the 2011 season, I learned later), Lindesay would stop our group every fifteen minutes or so along the trail for a Great Wall mini-lecture on the history, culture, and attempts to preserve the Wall. The Great Wall, he pointed out, is not really one Wall but many, each displaying a specific “look” and “feel” that reflects its own unique geographical and historical circumstances. Four major S’s – shelter, signaling, storage (food) and – counter-siege - help explain why the Chinese built the wall over the centuries to try and repel nomadic invaders form the North, whose lives literally depended on them being able to access (and conquer) Chinese agricultural and other resources.

The hike proved more rigorous than not, but our Mojo’ers ascended without complaint, and the views from the top of the Wall were spectacular. Even more so, to me, was Lindesay’s immense knowledge of and love for the Wall itself. I marveled at how deeply he felt a connection to this “building,” as he referred to the Wall, and how he had literally built his entire life around his connection to this famous epic Chinese structure. In a 21st century China that seems eternally on the go, eddying out with Lindesay to be rooted for just a few hours was incredible. I think the Mojo’ers agreed. As we enjoyed a lunch of delicious dumplings back at his home, they all talked of the remarkable day we had just had.

Sleep was the word of the bus ride back to Beijing. After all, we still had 2 nights and one full day ahead of us on our adventure.

While our students made plans to hit the Beijing night life, co-pilot Kat and I opted for a quiet dinner debrief at a local restaurant. I was asleep by 10:00.