Living in Kunming
On my second day in Kunming, I get into a taxi near my hostel to go to visit my university here (Yunnan university). After telling the cab driver where I needed to go, instead of taking off he tells me that I should take a bus to get there because it's cheaper and more convenient. He even gives me a bus number to go there from my hostel. Shocked by his honesty and helpfulness, I get out to take the bus. A few weeks later, I left my (non-smart) cell phone on a public bus. Thinking it was gone forever, I decided to forget about it and planned to buy a new phone. Then a day later, I get contacted by a graduate student I had met at Yunnan University and he said that someone had turned in the phone and I could go pick it up at the bus station. Soon after that I went and got it back. A week or so after that, at a Carrefour (the French Walmart) looking for sheets and bedding for my new apartment, I approach an employee for help. Instead of just telling where I can find the items I'm looking for, she takes me to the aisles and literally helps me pick them out.
These initial acts of kindness from local people along with the pleasant weather, abundant peaceful natural sites and the flavorful food here have helped me fall for Kunming (known as the Spring City) since I got here December 14th. It’s literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air here after three and a half months in Harbin. Daily hurried treks through frigid weather, subsumed in smog in Harbin have given way to leisure strolls under picturesque sunny, blue skies and temperate weather in Kunming. The pressures of language study and daily class shaping my life in Harbin has given way to a more open-ended, self-managed routine here in Kunming. I've moved up from a university dorm in Harbin into a spacious, inexpensive, fully-furnished studio near the downtown in Kunming. Sitting at a bustling intersection right across from the entrance to Kunming Zoo, my apartment building's in a central location to most places I want to go. I’m walking distance from my university (Yunnan University) and the nearby Green Lake which is great for runs. There’s also a river that runs close to my apartment building good for walks.
Despite how much I enjoy Kunming and my quality of life here, I'm still in somewhat of a transition period. I don't really know many people here yet so socially I haven't done much. I lack the immediate social circle and people to do things with like that CET provided. Also, the open-ended nature of my life here and the slow progress at times with my research can make me feel that I have little to do at times and somewhat frustrated because of that. I have tried to get out more and go to social events posted on a foreigner-run website called gokunming.com. I'm also meeting with a Chinese tutor once a week. I even tried to volunteer at an organization down the hall from my apartment (which turned out to be a Christian match-making/ healthy living company for the middle-aged and elderly) but I got rejected. I'm hoping when the Spring semester begins at my university in March, things will start to change though.
Research progress
Bad timing
Coming here towards the end of the academic semester at my university in Kunming, Yunnan University, has made it difficult to get much done. It’s an awkward time where people are busy and don’t have as much time to talk to me. As a result, progress in my fieldwork has gone slowly. It’s hard to come into a situation and a city that you’re not completely familiar with so there has been a bit of a learning curve; I’m learning what I can get done here and who I can get in touch to help me do that. Pretty much getting things done during my Fulbright scholarship will depend mostly on the contacts I can make while I’m here (which is what I was told by Fulbright alumni at our orientation this past June). This is especially true because my research relies heavily on conducting interviews. So my initial efforts here require finding the right people and building up a network here. Unfortunately it’s a somewhat slow process especially right now because my university has gone on the Chinese New Year break until March. Moreover, the sites where I want to do fieldwork, secondary schools, are also winding up for the break and I cannot get access to them until March.
My advisor at Yunnan University, Professor Mei Wu, is a kind woman who has been fairly helpful in getting me started here. Though her research work does not really overlap with mine so she can’t give me as much direct guidance and advice. At the same time though this gives me more freedom in my research. She has put me in touch with some other people who are more knowledgeable on topics related to my work. Through her connections, I’ve already met with two professors and the head of a private English training school.
What I have found out so far
Despite these limitations, I have made some interesting findings already that have slightly changed the direction of my work. Largely this has come from reading through government documents and articles I found on the internet (all in Mandarin). In particular, I was struck by the local government’s effort to make Kunming into a center for international education which I did not know before coming here. What that entails, based on the articles I’ve read so far, is somewhat vague but there are three components to this plan. Based on the motto promoted by the Yunnan education bureau (一家园三平台- “one homeland, three platforms”), the plan has three aims (roughly translated): creating a foundation for international education (through constructing international-caliber schools from primary to tertiary level), boosting international education cooperation and exchanges, and developing international-caliber talent. At the same time, in recent years, public senior middle schools (high schools) in Kunming (with the encouragement of the local government) have been establishing international departments 国际部 and international tracks 国际班. The international track, from what I know, is mainly to prepare students for studying abroad and, despite being in a public school, is very expensive to get into (according to one estimate, tuition and fees per year is close to 90,000 RMB or about $13,600).
What fascinates me about these initiatives is that as Kunming rapidly develops economically and develop its trade ties with Southeast Asia, the local government seems to be trying to reinvent the city from its perceived backwardness and elevate its status by internationalizing its education system.
Next semester, I would like to further explore the international track in these schools. In particular I would like to examine their English language courses like their curriculum, pedagogy and learning materials. I would like to also better understand how and why these schools establish their international departments and tracks and how they typically operate.
So though the start of my on-the-ground fieldwork has started out slow, it’s given me time to better grasp the local situation in Kunming. Uncovering these findings also makes the work more exciting. These personal discoveries add new twists and surprises as I slowly put together the pieces together to understand the local policy context for my fieldwork. It’s also allowed me to sharpen the focus of my project when I finally get to go into schools here.