Dr. Amy Camardese, Westminster assistant professor of education, recently visited China as a Fulbright Scholar.

Camardese earned a Fulbright Scholarship for a five-week tour of China last summer.

"One of our goals was to compare Chinese higher education with ours," Camardese said. "Higher education in the United States has an excellent reputation. A degree from the United States is a status symbol in China, but few who have one go back to China. So China has implemented a new program called the two plus two program where the Chinese student attends college one year in China, two years in the United States and then the last year in China."

Visiting higher education institutions was just one of the things the Fulbright visitors did. They were readied before even arriving in China by taking a crash course in "Survival Chinese."

"We learned words and phrases like hello, bathroom, price, directions, and other words we might need in an emergency," Camardese said. "Most of the time we had a new interpreter at each city because of the many different dialects spoken in China like Mandarin, Cantonese to name just two."

Some of the traveler's free time was spent at the host's residence in Beijing and the Tibetan Plateau. "My host in Beijing took me to a restaurant where there was a wedding reception going on in another room. They allowed us to stay and view the festivities for a while. In China the bride wears red. We also walked around the neighborhood stores and schools. Their grocery store was called "Woo Mart."

"In Qinghai, I slept on a kang, which is a bed of bricks covered by a quilt. I couldn't sleep," Camardese commented.

"The Silk Market was like a flea market with a lot of silk items and a sea of souvenirs," Camardese continued. "It had seven floors lined with stalls on each side of the halls. People would come out in the hall and pull you by the arm to stop you. I bought some pearls, scarves, silk pajamas, and a Tonga in Tibet."

One of the main things about the tour were the multitude of lectures.

"At the Ministry of Religion we got the Communist Party line. They only allow five religions and the government is involved in all communications such as newspapers, radio, and television. CNN is on a 15-20 second delay so the government can alter it if they wish.

"At the lecture about the Olympics, a tech person talked about the buildings already finished. The Olympic stadium, called the Bird's Nest, is a very unusual building," Camardese said. "Beijing is in the middle of a building explosion there and the traffic is a problem. All the tourist attractions are getting renovated and there is a large clock that does the count down to the Olympics start time."

"I enjoyed the Tibet area the best," Camardese concluded. "There was an annual festival going on while we were there, and it was like being in the middle of an Indiana Jones movie. There were people in costume, body piercing, and sacrifices of fake goats thrown to the fire to honor the Mountain Gods."

Camardese, who has been with Westminster College since 2001, earned her undergraduate degree from Ohio University, master's from the University of Pittsburgh, and Ph.D. from Kent State University.

Contact Camardese at (724) 946-7183 or e-mail camardah@westminster.edu for more information.

Dr. Amy Camardese