The Birthday Girl & Panda Play!

What a WONDERFUL birthday I had! I am getting old though. I was in bed before 10:00pm I think, but was awoken by a phone call from Steve! He could actually hear me which was a win in itself, but his phone card only lasted about 5 minutes so I had to call him back (on MY birthday..geeze!) That is when it got choppy again and was mostly just him saying, “Hello? Hellllllo?” but at least he knew it was me this time!

I woke up again to my parents calling! Woo hoo I love birthdays! After that my aunt called as well, and I thought that would be it for the day since I told everyone else not to call me (I didn’t have much time left on my cell phone and had no way of buying more time).

It AMAZES me how much the weather can change one’s mood (or at least MINE). I did a research paper in high school on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and study after study showed how the weather affects people. For example, in cold, dark, rainy places suicide, alcoholism, murder and divorce are all high. But ANYWAY I was so happy because there was SUN TODAY! I think that was my birthday present from God which was VERY nice! Sun meant, 1) it wasn’t raining 2) it wasn’t snowing 3) it had to be a LITTLE bit warmer! Oh it was just BEAUTIFUL! I knew we were in the mountains but hadn’t been able to see more than 10 feet in front of me, so it was so nice to be able to see the surrounding mountains!

We went to breakfast and they had the typical cardboard type “roll” but this time they brought out sugar with it! It was delicious! They must have known it was my birthday! Breakfast was PACKED (and by that I mean it was more than the 7 of us!) There were all these people, who we could tell definitely weren’t volunteering, but we had no idea why they were there! There was this one guy that looked like the Chinese version of Michael Jackson, it was great!

Carrie, Jason and I were with our Panda’s around 8:00am and my Panda Master wished me a happy birthday! I thought that was great (but found out why later) but figured she had just overheard Carrie, Jason and I talk about my birthday!

I had extra minutes on my phone since everyone had called me, so I was able to call my aunt and brother which was a very special treat! I did my last Panda cleaning and it was just beautiful. I stopped and just thought, what a great day to be alive and be able to work! With all my layers on I was comfortable, the sun was shining on my face, it was my birthday, and I was hanging out with Pandas in CHINA! Pretty good life! Other than that, the morning was filled with Panda feedings!

Apparently, someone had told Carrie and Jason that a new two year old Panda was arriving today and they were having a “Welcome Home” party for the Panda. So we decided to check it out! We arrive at the main entrance to see a lot of people and Amy was there as well. She told us we had just missed the dragons, but there was going to be more entertainment. It was a “Welcoming Party” for Fulong, a baby Panda from Vienna, Austria. China had sent two Pandas there and they produced Fulong, who was now being brought back. Most of the speeches were in Chinese (except for when the Austrians spoke..or maybe I was starting to understand Chinese!) We did make it in time to see the “dancers” and I hate being mean but they were AWFUL (video to follow soon!) They did have beautiful Chinese dresses on, with cowboy hats! We did not understand that at all. Then, all of a sudden, the Chinese Michael Jackson came out..as the magician! It was great. I have lots of pictures of him too that I will post ASAP! So we realized everyone at breakfast was the entertainment for the “Welcome Home Fulong” party!

Everything was wrapping up and I was standing next to Amy when all of a sudden we were SWARMED by Chinese people! I have NO idea who they were or where they came from, but all of a sudden they were all around us telling us how beautiful we are and they ALL wanted pictures (she is blonde too!) We started laughing, but then felt AWFUL because there were still speeches going on. We thought it was so rude they were causing such a commotion when people were trying to talk. And they definitely weren’t being discrete about it. A man in a suit even came over (we thought he would know better) to get his picture with us. Jason and Carrie were laughing from afar, but they found Carrie soon too (she is blonde as well!) It was somewhat flattering, but NOT the time or place for them to be all over us. We did have a good laugh and told Jason he should be our agent.

As we were walking back for the final feeding before our lunch, a Chinese man started talking to me (and for some reason, only me!) He asked where I was from, what the weather was like at home, etc. Finally I had to part ways and he asked for a picture with me and called me his American girlfriend (watch out Steve!) Everyone gave me a hard time later when they all saw him at lunch. Speaking of lunch, it was SO crowded because of the Welcome Party, so we had to wait at least an hour for food. Didn’t they know it was my birthday? Geeze! When I got there Julia and Willie weren’t there, but someone said they had gone into town. Luckily, even though they got back late for lunch, we hadn’t even been fed yet!

After lunch I went back to do a Panda feed, and then it was time for Panda Play! Like I had said, I have been a bit disappointed in the whole program, but specifically in the lack of contact and interaction with the Panda’s themselves. My mom made a comment on my blog about how I felt like I was “free labor” but that’s what volunteering is. It did make me think, because I did not think I was free labor at the school in Beijing. I guess I felt like this Panda program was advertised to make you think it was more than cleaning up after them. The other volunteers there (from other programs) felt the same as well. Carrie even told me she had asked if there was a lot of interaction with the Pandas and they told her yes. But, there isn’t. I got thinking about WHY I wanted to volunteer, because I could have just traveled for 4 months. I wanted to volunteer because I know how fortunate and blessed I am, and I want to be able to help others who aren’t as fortunate. I also got to thinking if, by volunteering, I expected things. And I think the answer is yes. Is that selfish of me? I don’t know, I could blame it on human nature, but I just don’t know. At the School for Poor Children, I expected to be able to bring the language of English to help others. I knew that they weren’t able to learn English from just anyone, so I felt like I was giving a gift, something that I was able to share with them, to help them for the future.

From the Panda perspective, I didn’t feel like I was giving anything. Granted, I was cleaning their cage and feeding them, but if I wasn’t there, or now that I am gone, the Master will do it and it will be no different. I guess I didn’t feel like I had an impact, I didn’t HELP them at all, maybe just saved some time for the Panda master. I think that is what I meant as free labor..I didn’t bring any of my “gifts” (being a native English speaker etc.). I don’t know if this is making ANY sense, but I think my point is..I felt like at the school I was HELPING by giving something that was from ME whereas at the Panda place I was giving something that ANYONE could have been doing.

Ok back to Panda Play! I knew that for 1,000RMB I could “play” with the one year old Panda’s for about 5 minutes. Amy had done it her first day and said it definitely wasn’t 5 minutes but she loved it. So I decided, to make my birthday special, I would treat myself to a Panda Play!

I showed up at 3:00 with Jason and Carrie (my designated picture taker!) and there were two other Americans visiting for a day who were also going to do it. It honestly was AMAZING and I would do it again in a heartbeat! I am SOOO happy I was able to do it. You have to dress like you are going into surgery (booties, a gown and gloves) and then they let you into the enclosure while they feed the Pandas. The Pandas could care less that you are there since they are eating, but I got some great photos! It doesn’t last long (until they finish eating) because they get VERY aggressive when their food is gone. If one Panda is finished it will literally attack others for their food. It’s pretty funny! I really had SO much fun and I knew it was a once in a lifetime experience, to play with baby Pandas in China, so I was so happy it worked out.

After Panda Play I was able to check my emails (thank you EVERYONE for my birthday wishes!!!!) and then I had to return my suit and volunteer pass at the Information Center. After I had to walk to the other part of the area to get a certificate saying I had been in the program etc. which will be nice to keep.

We showed up at dinner and were the ONLY ones, which was kind of creepy, but the food came out fast. We asked if we could sit in a separate room and Carrie and Jason brought their heater so it warmed up a bit (warm being relative) but my toes weren’t painfully freezing so I considered it good!

We had dinner and then were getting ready to play cards and I was actually going to stay for once! We were cleaning up from dinner when all of a sudden the door swung open and Willie came in with a cake and MASSIVE candle! Everyone sang happy birthday and it was AWESOME! The candle was the BEST candle I have ever had! It was a flower, and once lit it opened up and played happy birthday! The cake was huge and said happy birthday on it! I was SO surprised and found out that Willie and Julia went into town to get stuff for my BIRTHDAY! Words can’t explain how much it meant that everyone went to all that trouble for me. I had the cake with the awesome candle and they got me a crown (we all joked it looked like it was from Burger King) AND they even bought me a box of chocolates (they learned this week how much I LOVE chocolate). Carrie and Jason made me a card which everyone signed, INCLUDING my Pandas and the Keepers! It was SO sweet, each Panda put their paw print and their name in English and Chinese, and the Panda keepers wrote Happy Birthday in Chinese as well! They told me they thought I was going to catch on when my Panda keeper wished me a Happy Birthday (because she had signed the card the night before) but I just thought she was being nice! It really was the BEST birthday and I was NOT expecting anything. I just thought it was SO sweet that they went to all the trouble and work to make my birthday special for me. I really can’t say enough how happy I was!

Hugs and kisses from the birthday girl!