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A Trip in Review: ILP China

Challis Hackley
Apr 11, 2018
6 min read

With my time in China now at an end, I thought it would be good to look back and see what I've learned and realize what I would have done different so that I can make better decisions in the future.

Sentences That I Never Thought I Would Hear

As soon as I got to China, I noticed how much I and everyone around me started saying things that I never thought, in my life, that I would hear. So I started keeping track of all the random and weird things that we said. Most of them pertain to food because, if you haven't noticed, food kind of runs my life. But I think that this list is a really quick summary of what my experience in China was like.

Why are there googly eyes on this fruit?

The beef stomach didn't taste that bad with peanut sauce.

All these little things and all the people are going to make me miss China.

That will be a good time to eat bugs.

Get away from me. I've been touching people all day.

The scorpions were better than the ice cream I had tonight.

I don’t have enough pants to fall again.

If you ever went to prison you could make it homie.

I thought it was a bean drink. I was concerned.

Functional only as an umbrella not a weapon. Now we know.

My mouth is a weird mixture of gizzard and cake.

Still somewhat useless but enjoying life anyway.

We’ll have to take the eyes off the TV.

It looked good, and then he threw it in mystery fluid.

Is there another drug deal going on?

The only thing that I am sure about in China is that Borimir dies in the first movie.

But it’s a big cult where everyone’s included.

Does the sun set in the east here?

I think I’m going to tap out. One more cartwheel.

That one’s not our creepy, flickering light.

Oh cool. We have a door handle now.

I trusted Bruce not to actually stab Mew Mew.

If I vomit on your shoes, I’m sorry.

We climbed the wrong mountain.

Marley and I were married for like an hour.

Damn, Bableonians.

What you don’t know won’t kill you. Unless someone is trying to assassinate you. Then they’ll kill you.

You know how many secrets I’m keeping right now? A crap ton. None of them are mine.

I’m flushing my toilet paper, damnit.

We have not yet achieved the rank of master at pushing our way onto the bus.

Let’s see what we can do! Buy the ticket on the chew chew.

I just learned more than every other Sunday school lesson here on this metro ride in China.

I saw Donald Trump once. Whoa, he’s dead.

Are nipple piercings still a thing?

If you were taller, you’d be prettier.

I’m an endangered species called a volunteer.

Would grave robbing keep you from going to heaven?

She stared at me while she peed and it was the most awkward thing that happened to me all week.

In case of an emergency, your backpack may be used as a wind deflector.

Penguin mode cannot be deactivated.

The body’s name is Kevin.

If there’s a cranberry though I’m gonna be pissed.

There’s nude drawings of me everywhere.

Just because I say stupid things, doesn’t mean I’m actually stupid.

Just because it’s disgusting doesn’t means it’s not good for your body. There are a lot of things that ar gross that are good for you. Like vegetables.

My last thoughts before Challis died was “She gonna die.”

I’m gonna jiggle this in front of your face.

"Are there any that you haven’t heard yet?" "I don’t know. I haven’t heard them yet."

I’ve never seen anyone practice the sport of fast-walking before.

Maybe it’s special tree paint.

I just want to get my toes eaten. I’m cold.

That’s too many llamas.

Thank you for talking like an adult.

Sometimes it makes me sad because I just want to eat it.

It’s funny when your family says that they miss you and then moves to the other side of the country.

I don’t know where my butt is.

There were a bunch of worried animals looking for you. You led a barn-full into the train station.

WiFi moves in mysterious ways.

I just want food that is not going to murder my mouth.

I’m just gonna put on a face mask and be sad.

Sometimes when the food is delicious, it has nothing to do with the price.

I think people need to read more books to improve our hearts.

How do you make vegetables taste so good here?

I think she might legitimately kill me with kindness.

So that's just a peak into my life in China and all the amazing people I met along the way.

Selfies with Strangers

So you've probably heard about how if you're foreign, people in China always want to take pictures with you. Well, during my trip, I started taking pictures with the people who took pictures of or with me and here's the results.

ILP Review

So I figured, here at the end of all things, I'd tell you what I thought about the program I went with. ILP is a volunteer organization. It is not affiliated with any school but tends to attract students attending collage. It is stationed in Provo, UT and sends volunteers to multiple countries all over the world. Those are the facts. Now here is what I think.

Here's the deal, ILP consistently reminds you that they are an "adult program" and that's their way of saying "You're going to figure this out on your own." I thought this clashed pretty bad with how many rules they set up for you to follow. The rules are there for your safety but I felt like if it was really an adult program then they wouldn't fine if you you made a decision to go traveling on your own.

If you are okay with never really knowing what is going on or getting short notice for things for most of your stay, then you'll do fine. If you're like me and you want a plan and want to know how to do thing before-hand, then you can still have a great experience with ILP, but you will be frustrated and stressed much of the time and should probably consider another program.

I choose ILP because I didn't want to go traveling by myself just yet. I wanted a support structure and I wanted to live with the people like a local and get to know them. If I could go back. I think I would try to figure it out in my own and just get someone to go with me. Plan my own trips and see the country on my own terms and at my own pace because teaching and ILP has added a lot of unnecessary stress that I would have gladly traded for the responsibility of figuring it out myself.

I didn't feel like I was treated fairly a lot too. I paid for my way to come to China. I came as a volunteer to teach kids English. I didn't want to be put on a pedestal or anything but I thought I deserved some respect. I shouldn't have had to fight for my promised vacation days or have random changes to my teaching schedule without any prior notice.

The bottom line is ILP didn't work well for me, and I probably won't ever go back with them, even though I know how they operate now. The thing is I had a great time going to China despite ILP. It was the people and the country itself that made the experience amazing. ILP works for some people, a lot of people. And I still had a great time. It just didn't work out the way I wanted so 1) know yourself 2) do the research, 3) figure out what will work best for you.

I don't want to rant and talk about all the little things that bothered me, but if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them. You can just scroll down to the bottom and write out a little message.

What I Would Have Done Differently

Aside from finding another program, there are a few other things that I would have done differently.

VPNs

I would have gotten PandaPow for my phone to. I used a free, Betternet, one for most of my stay and it did not work well. PandaPow is so cheap and I just had it on my laptop and it always worked amazing. I wish I would have gotten it on my phone before I left too.

Travel Plans

I would have planned out my vacations a little differently knowing what I know now.

My actual vacations went like this...

First 4 day weekend: Shanghai

Week-long vacation: Beijing

Second 4 day weekend: Yangshuo and Guilin

Last 4 day weekend: Husngshan

And I didn’t make it to Xi'an, Sanya and the Avatar Mountains.

If I could go back I think I would try...

First 4 day weekend: Beijing

Week-long vacation: Yangshuo, Guilin, and Sanya

Second 4 day weekend: Xian and the Avatar Mountains

Last 4 day weekend: Shanghai

This schedule would have meant traveling a lot more within my vacations and jam-packing every moment, but I would have gotten to see and do everything that I wanted.

Anyway, live and learn. I hope you had as much fun last year as I did and here's to a new year and new adventures.