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Virtual China Bikers Group #3 Perspectives

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Virtual China Bikers Group #3 Perspectives
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Subject:        Virtual China Bikers3 (03/24/96)
VIRTUAL CHINA '96 participants:

The following messages come to you from Mrs. Sherry Zahn's group of 25
student bikers who began their week long study tour of rural Southern China
on Sunday, March 24th. This is the first set of an anticipated 5 sets of
messages we expect to come from the students in "Bikers Group 3" from Hong
Kong International School.
-----------------------------------------
Author: Alexis Cuddyre
Date: March 24
Location: Village
Activity: Perspective of an ox
Editor: Erin Tallent

Trudge, trudge, trudge,,,1,2,3,4,5,. Oh! I ran out of fingers! How many of
these monsters are going whiz by me so rudely? They're so bright in their
red shirts.
I wish I didn't have to work all day in these fields and pull this stupid
plough. Here I am encrusted in dirt and pushing through the thick, sloshy
mud where the water is suctioning my hooves to the ground. All the flies
are feasting elsewhere on those pale skinned humans riding by, singing and
screaming like horns.
Then, they come up to me with their cameras and flash pictures while I am
in agony because of the bit wedged in my nose. My master pulled it so hard
today! He can be so impatient. Well, back to work.... Trudge, trudge,
trudge.
------------------------------------------------
Author: Erin Tallent
Date: March 24
Location: Village
Activity: Perspective of a chicken
Editor: Alexis Cuddyre

Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck,
Translation
Ouch! all this excitement is ruffling my feathers. Too many people (things,
monster) are whizzing around me, dodging my chicks and scaring my husband
(the rooster). Bright lights flash in my face and I feel like a statue -
not a chicken.
These things (??) seem to be sitting on objects that have wheels. The
wheels have spokes, prongs and other prickly things that can make my
children wounded for life. They ride off - after flashing their lights and
singing their stupid songs.
One such monster in a bright outfit stopped her object and stooped down to
my level. She looked different than the monsters that feed me, she had a
different shade of stingy stuff on her head. She did nothing - just stared
at me and my family. But she gave us a sense of safeness in the world of
monsters and objects - I hope these monsters come again.
---------------------------------------------
Author: Morgan Drutchas
Editor: Mrs. Goodroe
Date:25/3/96
Location: South of Sun Hing
Activity: From perspective of a vendor on the street

Message: Wow! You never know what you see now a days. A group of WHITE
people just biked by and said "ni hao" (hello). Everybody ran away because
we were shy. Of course, everybody came out and stared. They were friendly,
but still everybody were shy. They bought cakes and film, so it was my
lucky day. I see these white people only a few times a year.
---------------------------------------------
Author: Erin Tallent
Editor: Alexis Cuddyre
Date: March 25,1996
Location: Pottery factory, on the way from Tai Shun to Kaiping, China
Activity: From perspective of a factory worker

Message:
I sit here along with my clay. I smooth it into a mush and form a bowl.
Then I place the bowl that is piling high.
Then, young children who look like they have never been in the sun walk
casually into my workshop.
"Ni Hao" they all say in unison. I brush my hair out of my weary eyes and
look up at all of them. They ask me questions in a strange language. I try
to tell them that I don't understand-soon they get the picture.
After they flash their cameras they leave-laughing with each other.
But I am still alone- with my mush and my big pile of bowls.
-----------------------------------------
Author: Paul Chaveriat
Date: March 26th, 1996
Location: White Earth Village, somewhere near Sun Hing, China Activity:


Message:"Slussshhh... Squishsssshhhh... slop" went the mud as it sucked
sickly at my soaked feet. My ox pulled along the large plow that I held up
and steered .
Here I am in the middle of an overflowed rice field, up to my knees in
sludge and mud. I am hoping for a good harvest this year, I have decided to
work more than last year I will rise at dawn and work till nightfall. I
will collect all the night soil and use it to fertilize our fields. This
year I will have good fortune.
-----------------------------------------------
Author: Adam Moss
Date: March 26,1996
Location: White Earth Village
Activity: From perspective of water buffalo

Message:
I work all day being hauled around by a ring piercing through my nose. I
was sold when I was young. I walk in mud all day. The work is endless and
hard. Two weeks in a row people in red shirts have ridden by on bikes and
pulled out boxes of plastic and shot a blinding light out at me. Then they
rode off with their short lady yelling, "Stop at the next village." Then
this boy spoke to my owner. He didn't understand any of it. He just
repeated, "Yes, yes!" Then the day ended and I went to sleep on the cold
hard ground until the next day.
--------------------------------------------
Author: Chris Anderson
Date: March 26,1996
Location: White Earth Village
Activity: From perspective of a Chinese farmer

Message:
All day foreigners come and rest. It's not that I don't mind the strangers,
but I cannot help myself but to stare. The final group came in the late
afternoon, they rode along the main road with their bikes, with their fancy
helmets. I was working in the herb gardens when Wang a village child came
running up and told me about the coming tourists. I placed my parsley down
and squatted to watch the coming "gwailos"! I smiled as they approached and
giggled at their outfits. Strapped up in extremely tight black shorts,
heavy gloves, and large helmets. They passed and waved to all those who
were looking. They seemed nice people, maybe they will come back next year.
---------------------------------------------
Messages from Bikers Group 3, Mrs. Zahn's group. Wednesday, March 27th, 1996


The following messages come to you from Mrs. Sherry Zahn's group of 25
student bikers who began their week long study tour of rural Southern China
on Sunday, March 24th. Their itinerary has taken them from the coastal town
of Kwang Hai (approximately 100 miles west of Hong Kong) through Tai Shan,
Hoi Ping, and into the area around Sun Hing. This is the fourth set of
messages we've received from the students in "Bikers Group 3" from Hong
Kong International School. Today they are traveling from their hotel (The
Foreign Merchants Entertainment Center) in Long Shan, about 12 km from Sun
Hing, to Siu Hing which is approximately 200 km up the Pearl River from the
coast.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Cyrena Chih
Date: March 27, 1996
Location: a village between Long Shan and Siu Hing, China
Perspective of: Math teacher at a village school

Message: (My impression of a day as Li Ming)
"I awake as usual at 1:30 am, wiping myself with a wet cloth. As I took a
deep breath of the fresh morning air, I looked out my window to see the
endless field of crops. I quickly grabbed a bun and stuffed it down.
I went outside and retrieved my bike, glancing at my watch, started off on
my bike at a faster speed. i arrived ten minutes before my first period
math class was to star, just enough time to grab a cup of tea. I walked
through the familiar yellow corridor, to my classroom, that I've entered
for the last seven years of my life. The old rusted bell rang five clangs
that woke the village. As the last clang seized, 54 children about the age
of 6 poured into my classroom. Class began at 2:15, on the dot.
"Unlike other days, today when it was time to dismiss the students for
their 4hour lunch break, I strode out the school gates. I had heard quite a
racket, but I just assumed that the boys were playing some games with a
water buffalo. Except when I arrived at the gate. I saw about ten outsiders
staring and trying to talk to the children in their almost squawking
mandarin. Although there was a young Chinese girl with passable mandarin.
Well the girl was me!
Li Ming was a really interesting mandarin guy. I learned so much! Although
what hit me like a stone was that Li Ming earned only 7,000 Yuan a YEAR!
(about 8 Yuan make a US$). I guess that's OK for the Chinese thoughts. He
was a teacher that teaches math and Chinese history (which are the only 2
subjects the children learn). He broadened my view and knowledge of China,
greatly. I could never have an end to all that he taught me if I kept on
writing.
All I have to say is that China is full of surprises and a rich culture.
(end)
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Author: Jeffrey Wright
Date: 27/3/96
Location: Monastery
Activity: From perspective of a monk in a monastery

Message:
It was early in the morning and I was cleaning our monastery before we do
our prayers. Our incense was all over the floor from our prayers from
yesterday. Suddenly, there was a large group of children in red T-shirt,
all over the first floor. They were taking pictures and asking questions. I
was on the upper floor, where we pray, and I was staring at them while they
were coming up the stairs towards me. As they came closer, I just went
ahead in my work cleaning the temple trying not to be rude. All the kids
were playing with the incenses, but there were a few kids and adults who
asked me question. There was one man who was Chinese and he translated
everything. one of the teachers asked who the three Buddhas were. I told
them they were Ami Tofu on the left, who was like the emperor of the
heaven. Satu Moni, in the middle, who is the first original Buddha, that
comes from were we are sad and the third I as not sure about. They also
asked what the 12 dots on top some of the people here meant. I answered,
the 12 dots originated in the Ming dynasty, when there were a lot of wars
and there were people who wanted to get out if the wars. The emperor said
they could but they would have to burn 12 dots on the heads as a
punishment. I told them about the monastery and that it had a history of
over 1000 years. The teachers were pulling away the kids now and they were
all leaving. I said goodbye to them and then I got back to my work. Now
that they were gone, the temple is quiet again.
--------------------------------------------------------
Author: Kristin Bailey
Date: March 27, 1996
Location: Near Siuhing China
Activity: Perspective of a child in the village

"Wake up!", called my mother on here way out to the fields to help my
father, "The foreigners are coming today, and you need to help grandma!"
I yawned lazily, wishing my 4-year-old body could have an extra 5 minutes
sleep in the hay-stuffed mat on the floor. I slowly opened my eyes to look
at the plain room full of stuff from the few acres of land that we own.
With a sudden jolt I remembered that today was the day that I was going to
help my Christian grandma do her shopping and chores, a rare treat. With
grandma, nothing was ever boring.
I raced out of bed and pulled on my cotton pants and shirt, slipping on my
flip-flops at the same time. In front of the mirror, I quickly ran my
fingers through my midnight black hair and watched my deep black eyes stare
back at me from the mirror.
My mother had left breakfast on the table, a simple meal of congee. I
swallowed the thin meal quickly and ran across the two-foot path to
grandma's, leaving the house with the Ching Dynasty design behind. Grandma
was eager and waiting and within 5 minutes we were off on our day. We had
hats to make, food to bake, gods to pray to, and foreigners to see.
"This is the life", I thought, as I brought some slop to the piglets
walking through the paths. "This is the life, a daily pattern of work with
the occasional surprise of a foreigner's visit. This is the life."
------------------------------------------------------------
The following messages come to you from Mrs. Sherry Zahn's group of 25
student bikers who are coming to the end of their week long study tour of
rural Southern China. Their itinerary has taken them from the coastal town
of Kwang Hai (approximately 100 miles west of Hong Kong) through Tai Shan,
Hoi Ping, then Sun Hing, and today in and around the Pearl River city of
Siu Hing. This is the fifth set of messages from the students in "Bikers
Group 3" from Hong Kong International School. At 7:00 p.m. this evening
this group of tired bikers will board the overnight ferry in Siu Hing,
bound for an early morning arrival in Hong Kong.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Kate Goodroe, parent chaperone
Date: March 28, 1996
Zahn, Biker Group 3
Location: a small village across the Pearl River from Siu Hing, China
Activity: Writing from the perspective of a villager in Nam Tong

As usual, I sit in my house weaving straw into baskets. As normal, I
greeted my friends and relatives, and hear the sounds of babies crying.
Everything is always the same and only occasionally does an interesting
sight come along! Today was one of those days that an interesting sight
appeared. I first saw them when their bright red jackets were visible down
the dusty road. They came into our village and asked, what seemed, a
million questions! They were for sure weird group of foreigners. I guess
there was at least 30 of these 'weird' bikers, all of them on their spiffy
mountain bikes. What an interesting sight. A rare occasion for me. Now I
sit here again weaving.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Charlie Dedeu
Date: March 28, 1996
Zahn, Biker Group 3
Location: Ferry boat headed back to Hong Kong
Activity: Writing from the perspective of a ferry boat driver

As I honk this horn I've honked for the last several years to support my
starving family, I see a long, big, red serpent figure coming to my ferry.
As I see it getting closer I see that it is a bunch of Guai-Los
(foreigners) riding bikes with bright red T-shirts on their sweaty bodies.
As they board my ferry, I see a weird man puffing away on cigarette. I hope
these people won't screw up my boat.
VIRTUAL CHINA '96 participants:
March 29th, 1996
Bikers Group 3, Mrs. Zahn's group ..... this group's last messages!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The following messages come to you from Mrs. Sherry Zahn's group of 25
student bikers who are coming to the end of their week long study tour of
rural Southern China. Their itinerary started at the coastal town of Kwang
Hai (approximately 100 miles west of Hong Kong) then north through Tai
Shan, Hoi Ping, Sun Hing, and finally Siu Hing. At approximately 8:00 a.m.
this morning they arrived back in Hong Kong having taken an overnight ferry
from Siu Hing. This is the final set of messages from the students in
"Bikers Group 3" Hong Kong International School.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Paul Chaveriat
Date: March, 29, 1996
Location: Zhao Qing
Activity: Perspective of my bike

Everyday some guy they call "Paul", obviously a superior being, takes me
off a truck, straps a bag to my waist, puts a water bottle in my pocket,
and rides on my back. This "Paul" must be: a) crazy or b) a lover of mud.
At least 3 times a day, he drops me and himself in a puddle of mud, and if
we're going fast down a road, he would go through every puddle. However, he
treated me well and kept my wheels straight. At the end of the trip he
cleaned me really well.
-------------------------------------------
Author: Chris Anderson
Date: 29 March 1996
Location: Zhao Qing, Guangdong Province, China
Activity: From perspective of a bike

The trip was . . . well . . . boring. My rider has treated me well and has
tried not to get me too messed up. There were some times when I doubted his
intentions, but, now I know it's alright. The people, as I have observed,
have been friendly. But the way I get treated has been anything but... Most
of the time I'm riding free on the road. But sometimes I'm packed into the
van with about 30 other bikes, shifting this way and that. Sometimes we
were dropped out of the truck with such force it made us sore for days.
Some terrain has been really bad for road bikes who were hurt so badly that
they had their tires amputated.
The trip was dangerous. . . . but I think I'd want to do it again.
----------------------------------------------------
Author: Adam Moss
Date: 29 March 1996
Location: River near Zhao Qing (Siu Hing), Guangdong Province, China
Activity: From perspective of a barge

They drive me back and forth transporting people and goods. It is a boring
life and I hate
it, but what can I do? I don't have much of a brain but somebody drives me
around day and night. It stinks!! But something did happen today that was
different. First I saw a truck and people wearing red shirts. Later, a bus
came on with four people on it. One was a woman tending to a young boy who
had hurt his arm. The second was the boy who had hurt his arm and it was
sad because he could not join his friends. Third was a driver driving the
bus, and 4th was the guide yelling at the driver. The bus had trouble
getting on me but finally they did and I took them across and then they had
trouble getting off.
Finally they left me and I went back to my boring life.
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