外国志愿者在中国之：格林卫的大熊猫基地志愿者

Panda volunteering work in China

Sichuan, China – August 2013 from Marie Slettan Ulvund on Vimeo.

I am working on blog posts from the last week in China, but it’s gonna take some time because I have a lot to write about!

Back in Norway

Monday, 26 August 2013

        11 hours on a plane next to a guy who smelled like he's been eating garlic for 40 years, a layover in Germany and the world's shortest flight from Oslo - Kristiansund and I'm home.

        Now I’ve got two weeks off before I head back to England for my second year of uni. What to do these two weeks? I have no idea. Think I’ll just be sitting around dreaming my way back to China. I already bought a guidebook and is planning my next trip to this amazing country. In the mean time I guess I’ll just get rid of my jet-lag, study Chinese and blog about my trip.

        One of the things that strikes me most about China is how different it is from Norway. It seems that they do everything here that we are taught not to do. It’s kind of funny to watch most of it. So be sure to have the window open if you sit behind the driver in a taxi. And I have no idea how many near death experiences I’ve had while on a bus or taxi, probably a hundred. But eventually you stop caring and realise that driving on Chinese roads requires skills and high concentration. Maybe it’s because of this controlled chaos that we have only seen one accident here, while several accidents a day are reported on Norwegian news in the summer.

        Now you’re beginning to get the picture.

        At the same time I get annoyed by foreigners who come here and expect everything to be like where they come from. In China they eat meat, rice, vegetables and soy sauce. The food is also often spicy. They do not eat cheese here, and peanut butter costs 40 Yuan because it is imported. They speak Chinese, not English. On the other hand I could perfectly understand it if a Chinese person went to Europe, America or Africa and spoke only Chinese and the local people got annoyed as a result. They buy live chickens here and butcher them when they get home, and dogs run around loose on the street. There will always be cultural differences, and even if you do not completely fit into the culture it is better to try instead of complaining about everything that is wrong with the country. It was you who came to China; China did not come to you.

        Today’s message: I’m tired of foreigners who do not even try to make the best out of something that they have chosen to go on. Smile so the world smiles back at you! Be open to new cultures and people and enjoy the differences rather than expecting things to be the same as at home. It is best to come home after experiencing a new culture for at least a few weeks and I’m looking forward to eating boiled potatoes and fish.

Some pictures of China

panda base hostel

feeding panda

        

preparing panda food

twins were born

baby panda

        

This kid really fell in love with Rony because she has white skin.

panda base map

Ya’an

Sunday, 18 August 2013

Ya'an city

fast food from Taiwan

the smallest banana I've ever seen

sunset of Ya'an

Panda and Ya’an

Sunday, 18 August 2013

        We met the pandas we will be taking care off while we are here. There are five of us taking care of four pandas. Yiping, GeGe, MaoMao and LiLi.Yiping is the oldest panda at the base, 17 years old. She (I think it’s a girl) is quite small compared to the others. GeGe is a bit of a joker who always sleeps, and LiLi is always waiting for us to bring her food every day. I haven’t seen much of MaoMao she might be pregnant so she’s mostly sleeping.

   

       

        It's simly amazing to be so close to these animals. They all have their own personality and mood, and you'll always forget how big and strong they are since they look so cuddly with their funny-shaped ears. But when they are on their crushing bamboo with their bare hands throwing pieces here and there you are reminded that these are animals you shouldn't get cross.

        Every morning we start the day by cleaning their cages and feed them(the toilet in our hostel smells worse than their cages. Bad plumbing ..) We then feed them three more times during the day. A lot of breaks in between with time to explore the rest of the park.

        Yesterday afternoon we rented two cars to go to the nearest city, Ya’an, to do some shopping, get cash out and stuff like that. Nice town, with a gorgeous bridge in the city center. We only had two hours there so we didn’t have the time to explore that much. I noticed there were a lot of clothes shops, so might take a trip again next week. We also found a junk food place to eat dinner, since we are served the same stuff every day for lunch and dinner, which we are quite tired of already even though it’s very tasty!

        Today it’s been so freaking warm here. 33 degrees during the day and 25 five at night. Too hot for a Norwegian person. When we haven’t been working we’ve mostly just been sitting still, and I also went with one of the other volunteers to check out her hostel, which was quite different from ours. Before dinner we all learned how to make Chinese dumplings, and we had a lesson in basic Chinese after that. Good revision for me!

        此篇博文来自格林卫中国 2013夏季 熊猫基地志愿者 挪威志愿者Marie的博客分享

        格林卫中国接收来自全球各地，参与间隔年中国之行的志愿者。其中参与四川省雅安市的大熊猫志愿活动的海外志愿者人数每一年达300人左右，热烈欢迎国内外有志愿参与熊猫活动的你们的加入！