Thursday, April 08, 2004
All my bags are packed
Well, almost. Little last minute juggling to do, but I'm more or less done. Good thing, too, since I have to leave the house at 8 a.m. tomorrow, and it's nearly midnight now!
This is my last night in China. I taught my last classes today - it was very tough saying goodbye to the little Chaozhou monsters today. It was also tough saying goodbye to my colleagues/friends and to Chaozhou itself... It all still seems surreal, though. My room is empty. I've said my goodbyes, many of them tearful. I can't believe that in a few hours, I'll leave this apartment and not return at the end of the day. I can't believe that in about 72 hours, after an unbelievably long trip, I'll be seeing my family, and, soon after, my friends. Wow.
I'm not sure what I'll be doing with the blog... I have a few more stories to tell, and I'm sure I'll have some experiences with reverse culture shock that might make good stories, too... We'll see, I guess! :)
It's been quite a ride! Thanks for being part of it!
zA
This is my last night in China. I taught my last classes today - it was very tough saying goodbye to the little Chaozhou monsters today. It was also tough saying goodbye to my colleagues/friends and to Chaozhou itself... It all still seems surreal, though. My room is empty. I've said my goodbyes, many of them tearful. I can't believe that in a few hours, I'll leave this apartment and not return at the end of the day. I can't believe that in about 72 hours, after an unbelievably long trip, I'll be seeing my family, and, soon after, my friends. Wow.
I'm not sure what I'll be doing with the blog... I have a few more stories to tell, and I'm sure I'll have some experiences with reverse culture shock that might make good stories, too... We'll see, I guess! :)
It's been quite a ride! Thanks for being part of it!
Sunday, April 04, 2004
This time next week...
...I'll be back on Canadian soil.
I've suspected for a while that I'd have to go home a little early, and it's now coming to pass. I have so much to write about: Tammy and Lucille's visit (awesome!); the foreigner soap opera we all seem to have been living in (oh, the drama!); the fall-out of telling them I had to leave (ugly); packing (oh, the panic!); and my feelings about leaving China and heading home (all over the map!).
Alas, I have to get to packing and saying my goodbyes and planning my final lessons. I'll do my best to write more soon - it'll keep me from losing it completely, I'm sure!
zA
I've suspected for a while that I'd have to go home a little early, and it's now coming to pass. I have so much to write about: Tammy and Lucille's visit (awesome!); the foreigner soap opera we all seem to have been living in (oh, the drama!); the fall-out of telling them I had to leave (ugly); packing (oh, the panic!); and my feelings about leaving China and heading home (all over the map!).
Alas, I have to get to packing and saying my goodbyes and planning my final lessons. I'll do my best to write more soon - it'll keep me from losing it completely, I'm sure!
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Week of ups and downs
Down: Computer had 13 viruses... Ouch. Out of commission for a few days.
Up: Tammy and Lucille were here! Awesome time.
Point: No time to be on the computer in over a week - not for blogging, not for email, not even for doing school work. Tomorrow I'm off, so will start playing catch-up... Lots of stories to tell!
zA
Up: Tammy and Lucille were here! Awesome time.
Point: No time to be on the computer in over a week - not for blogging, not for email, not even for doing school work. Tomorrow I'm off, so will start playing catch-up... Lots of stories to tell!
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Now THIS is why I came to China!
The new term is in full swing now, so on Thursday, February 19 we headed back to Chaozhou. The kids were excited to see us and we had a blast. (Crazy as they can make me, I do actually love the little monkeys.) I passed out at lunch time, after only two classes, so I think it's going to be a tiring term... However, we don't have to teach the teachers! That makes me happier than I can say - I don't know why this decision was made, and I'm sure there's a story behind it, but I don't care!
Thursday evening, Jenny, Jess, and I went to dinner at one of the "Monk's restaurants" with Calley. There are about four or five restaurants across from a temple that only serve vegetarian food. Thing is, you'd never know you weren't eating meat or seafood - they do some pretty amazing things with tofu! I love eating there.
After dinner, we looked around some tea shops. Often, the people at the teashops will invite you to sit down and drink tea with them - it's a friendly way to show off their wares, I think. I wandered away from the group to look at a gungfu tea set that caught my eye (that I ended up buying!), and found myself drinking tea with the shop owner and a monk, trying to communicate in broken Chinese and body language. It was actually kinda cool, and I was pretty proud of myself for trying on my own before Calley found me and helped with translation.
We dropped our purchases off at the hotel, then Calley took us out to visit the many shrines set up along the street in honour of a god. Sadly, we don't know which god, the name of the holiday, or even which religion, because Calley couldn't really tell us in English.
At any rate, it was amazing. We visited the largest shrine first, where hundreds of people were milling about a large courtyard, lighting incense and praying. Several children were watching a puppet show - the puppets were acting out a traditional Chaozhou opera. At the far end of the courtyard, there was a massive table loaded with food offerings, such as baking, fruit, vegetables, whole birds (ducks and geese, mostly), and an entire pig. As soon as we arrived, though, we became the main attraction - all eyes shifted from puppets and prayers to the three foreign girls wandering around. A woman gave me some incense, then helped me light it and put it at the shrine. I touched her hand to say thank you, and she grabbed me and wouldn't let me go.
We walked through several narrow alleys, looking at shrines, watching people, and being watched - sometimes we were even being followed! The shrines were pretty much the same, but we didn't see another dead pig. We did see a live giant lobster at one place, though - scared me to death when it moved!
All in all, we spent about an hour wandering around. In spite of all the people, I felt very peaceful... But that ended when Johnny met us at the end of an alley and hauled us off to kareoke with his friends! Fun night, but I'll tell you about that in another post!
zA
Thursday evening, Jenny, Jess, and I went to dinner at one of the "Monk's restaurants" with Calley. There are about four or five restaurants across from a temple that only serve vegetarian food. Thing is, you'd never know you weren't eating meat or seafood - they do some pretty amazing things with tofu! I love eating there.
After dinner, we looked around some tea shops. Often, the people at the teashops will invite you to sit down and drink tea with them - it's a friendly way to show off their wares, I think. I wandered away from the group to look at a gungfu tea set that caught my eye (that I ended up buying!), and found myself drinking tea with the shop owner and a monk, trying to communicate in broken Chinese and body language. It was actually kinda cool, and I was pretty proud of myself for trying on my own before Calley found me and helped with translation.
We dropped our purchases off at the hotel, then Calley took us out to visit the many shrines set up along the street in honour of a god. Sadly, we don't know which god, the name of the holiday, or even which religion, because Calley couldn't really tell us in English.
At any rate, it was amazing. We visited the largest shrine first, where hundreds of people were milling about a large courtyard, lighting incense and praying. Several children were watching a puppet show - the puppets were acting out a traditional Chaozhou opera. At the far end of the courtyard, there was a massive table loaded with food offerings, such as baking, fruit, vegetables, whole birds (ducks and geese, mostly), and an entire pig. As soon as we arrived, though, we became the main attraction - all eyes shifted from puppets and prayers to the three foreign girls wandering around. A woman gave me some incense, then helped me light it and put it at the shrine. I touched her hand to say thank you, and she grabbed me and wouldn't let me go.
We walked through several narrow alleys, looking at shrines, watching people, and being watched - sometimes we were even being followed! The shrines were pretty much the same, but we didn't see another dead pig. We did see a live giant lobster at one place, though - scared me to death when it moved!
All in all, we spent about an hour wandering around. In spite of all the people, I felt very peaceful... But that ended when Johnny met us at the end of an alley and hauled us off to kareoke with his friends! Fun night, but I'll tell you about that in another post!
New photos up!
I think it's almost time for Volume 3... Anyway, there are new photos up at Ofoto and Yahoo, should you care to wander over.
zA
No time for bloggin'
I have been working on a post about a very cool festival we went to in Chaozhou over a week ago, but I just haven't had time to finish it! I'm either working, preparing to work, or someone is on the Internet.
My schedule has changed a little, but I'm still going to have overtime hours in March. This is good - rather be busy than bored.
And, in very exciting news, a dear friend from home is coming to visit! She and her co-worker are arriving on Thursday. I'm so thrilled!!! I'm sure I'll have a few more stories when that visit is done! ;)
zA
My schedule has changed a little, but I'm still going to have overtime hours in March. This is good - rather be busy than bored.
And, in very exciting news, a dear friend from home is coming to visit! She and her co-worker are arriving on Thursday. I'm so thrilled!!! I'm sure I'll have a few more stories when that visit is done! ;)
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Here comes the sun
Finally! It's been cold, rainy, and windy here these last few weeks, due to a nasty weather system that's been hanging around Guangdong. There were all-time lows in Shantou of about 6C. I know, I know - as a Canadian I shouldn't find that cold, and outside, it's not too bad. The thing is, there is no indoor heat, anywhere. 6C outside is 6C or colder inside. Gets pretty chilly. The local solution is to "wear more clothes," but that doesn't do a whole lot of good, and it limits mobility. I'm glad the sun is finally shining again - and in a few weeks, I'll probably be complaining about the heat! ;)
Teachers, Old and New
Denice is back, and has jumped right into teaching and scheduling and all things Powerhouse. I haven't seen a whole lot of her, but it's good to have her back. David hasn't moved in yet - we're all delaying the inevitable for as long as possible.
We have two new teachers now, and more are on the way. Daniel is from Vernon, BC, but has been in Shantou for just over two years. He was teaching at another school, but decided not to renew his contract there. Jenny arrived on Sunday - she's from northern Alberta, and will be 21 next week. She's still got that glazed look in her eye that we all have when we first get here, but she seems to be settling in okay.
I'm not sure how many additional teachers are expected, though there is talk of two. Not sure when they're arriving, either, but likely after David goes home.
Dynamic Schedules
We're already well into February, and our schedules for the month are still not finalized. Right now (and this may change!), after Sunday I will not be teaching any classes at Powerhouse. All of my classes are at other schools - two in Chaozhou, Shantou Polytechnic, and a middle school called Shantou Foreign Language Academy (we did some English Corners and judged a speech competition there, and now we have a contract for several classes). Denice tells me there are other contracts being negotiated now at other schools, which is why we need so many new teachers. Most of the classes start next week. I'm off today and Friday, but starting Saturday I'll be doing eight days straight. The following week things should settle - unless I'm asked to teach night classes at Powerhouse again. Makes getting into some sort of routine a bit challenging, especially with the insomnia I've been battling with since the holiday...
Polytechnic Revisited
I started at Polytechnic yesterday, teaching two "conversation classes," Grade 2 (formerly taught by Evin) and Grade 1 (though not the same group I was with before). Both classes seemed to go pretty well, and we have a plan of attack for the term, so I'm hoping that I won't be facing the same frustration as I did with the Grade 1 class I taught last term. (I don't know who got stuck with them - Daniel, Jenny, or Denice.)
Tomorrow I'll be returning to my Business English classes. I'm really happy about that - I love those kids. I saw a bunch of them yesterday in the cafeteria, and they all seemed pretty happy about it, too. Lucky found me and asked me if I would be his teacher again - when I said yes, he got this look on his face that was half happiness and half relief, then gave me a firm handshake. (I suspect he wanted to hug me, but there were a lot of people around!)
I'm going to have to come up with some pretty creative ideas for lessons this term; we had a lot of fun in December, but we didn't really focus too much on "business" topics. (The text book they use doesn't, either, so I'm going to have to supplement that material.) The text is terrible - not only are the topics more or less useless for teaching "Business English," it's riddled with mistakes (typographical and grammatical), and the expressions it teaches are either outdated or just plain wrong! For example:
From Unit 2, Greeting
Culture Tip
"Forms of address are also important in English speech community... You may have noticed that native speakers tend to say 'Nice to meet you' more often than 'How do you do', although they don't know each other before."
Functional Expressions
"Stating How You Are": I'm full of the joys of spring!
"Asking after Somebody": What's happening to you?
That's just one chapter. I've been trying to do a mini-edit on it for Julian, as a way of explaining why I don't like using the text and to give myself a good laugh. It's sad, though, that this is what students are learning.
Signing Off
All this talk about text books has made me realize that not only do I need to go warm up, I also need to do some lesson planning, especially since I'm going with Sioux and Denice for a foot massage this evening. (This is a luxury I never thought I'd enjoy, but it's marvelous. Should help me sleep tonight, too!)
zA
Teachers, Old and New
Denice is back, and has jumped right into teaching and scheduling and all things Powerhouse. I haven't seen a whole lot of her, but it's good to have her back. David hasn't moved in yet - we're all delaying the inevitable for as long as possible.
We have two new teachers now, and more are on the way. Daniel is from Vernon, BC, but has been in Shantou for just over two years. He was teaching at another school, but decided not to renew his contract there. Jenny arrived on Sunday - she's from northern Alberta, and will be 21 next week. She's still got that glazed look in her eye that we all have when we first get here, but she seems to be settling in okay.
I'm not sure how many additional teachers are expected, though there is talk of two. Not sure when they're arriving, either, but likely after David goes home.
Dynamic Schedules
We're already well into February, and our schedules for the month are still not finalized. Right now (and this may change!), after Sunday I will not be teaching any classes at Powerhouse. All of my classes are at other schools - two in Chaozhou, Shantou Polytechnic, and a middle school called Shantou Foreign Language Academy (we did some English Corners and judged a speech competition there, and now we have a contract for several classes). Denice tells me there are other contracts being negotiated now at other schools, which is why we need so many new teachers. Most of the classes start next week. I'm off today and Friday, but starting Saturday I'll be doing eight days straight. The following week things should settle - unless I'm asked to teach night classes at Powerhouse again. Makes getting into some sort of routine a bit challenging, especially with the insomnia I've been battling with since the holiday...
Polytechnic Revisited
I started at Polytechnic yesterday, teaching two "conversation classes," Grade 2 (formerly taught by Evin) and Grade 1 (though not the same group I was with before). Both classes seemed to go pretty well, and we have a plan of attack for the term, so I'm hoping that I won't be facing the same frustration as I did with the Grade 1 class I taught last term. (I don't know who got stuck with them - Daniel, Jenny, or Denice.)
Tomorrow I'll be returning to my Business English classes. I'm really happy about that - I love those kids. I saw a bunch of them yesterday in the cafeteria, and they all seemed pretty happy about it, too. Lucky found me and asked me if I would be his teacher again - when I said yes, he got this look on his face that was half happiness and half relief, then gave me a firm handshake. (I suspect he wanted to hug me, but there were a lot of people around!)
I'm going to have to come up with some pretty creative ideas for lessons this term; we had a lot of fun in December, but we didn't really focus too much on "business" topics. (The text book they use doesn't, either, so I'm going to have to supplement that material.) The text is terrible - not only are the topics more or less useless for teaching "Business English," it's riddled with mistakes (typographical and grammatical), and the expressions it teaches are either outdated or just plain wrong! For example:
From Unit 2, Greeting
Culture Tip
"Forms of address are also important in English speech community... You may have noticed that native speakers tend to say 'Nice to meet you' more often than 'How do you do', although they don't know each other before."
Functional Expressions
"Stating How You Are": I'm full of the joys of spring!
"Asking after Somebody": What's happening to you?
That's just one chapter. I've been trying to do a mini-edit on it for Julian, as a way of explaining why I don't like using the text and to give myself a good laugh. It's sad, though, that this is what students are learning.
Signing Off
All this talk about text books has made me realize that not only do I need to go warm up, I also need to do some lesson planning, especially since I'm going with Sioux and Denice for a foot massage this evening. (This is a luxury I never thought I'd enjoy, but it's marvelous. Should help me sleep tonight, too!)
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
English, Too
Since Spring Festival, things have been pretty quiet. (That's all going to change soon enough, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.)
Three of the classes I've been covering for Denice while she's away are called "E2" or "English 2." They are small classes of Senior students studying for a university entrance exam. These exams are pretty hard core: they'll be writing exams from June 7 to 11, in many different subjects, and their scores on these exams will determine what university they can go to and what they can study. These kids want to be English majors, so they have an extra exam to study for. That's what we're trying to help them with.
The E2 exam consists of three sections: Video Imitation, "Role Play" (the name does nothing to explain the format), and Oral Presentation. To emphasize how serious these kids are, and how tough the exam will be, their text book is called Destroy One By One. Ouch.
Video Imitation is pretty straightforward. The students watch a clip, and imitate what they hear, focusing not only on the words, but on intonation and emotion. This year, the exam format is a little different - instead of being marked by a teacher, they'll be recorded by a computer. We've been watching a lot of clips, mostly from Friends DVDs, to prepare for this. The clips we've chosen are a little harder than what they'll be facing on the exam, but I think that's a good thing. These kids are freaked out (and I don't blame them, with all this pressure they're facing!), and I think that if they're over-prepared, they might just relax a bit.
"Role Play" is a little more bizarre. The students watch a video clip, then are presented with questions about the clips in Chinese. They have to translate the questions and answer them in English. Why it's called "Role Play" is beyond me. It gets them thinking about translation, though, which is good.
Oral Presentation is the weirdest, in my humble opinion. We've been working on this with video clips and with pictures. Essentially, the students have to make up a story, on the spot, about what they're seeing. Again, we've been using longer clips and pictures than they'll likely see on the exam, but it's still a difficult task, especially when they'll be telling their stories to a computer.
I'm not sure if there is a writing element to the exam, but we have been doing some writing exercises together. I've really enjoyed that - especially since I've seen considerable improvement in their writing from their first assignment to their last. One of the students, a guy named Mick, won a "composition writing" contest at his school, and went to Beijing during the holiday to compete at the next level. We got together before he left so I could help him practice; he called me last night to let me know he was back. He also apologized because he "didn't pass the examination," but he didn't sound too upset - he's going to give me all the details at our next class on Saturday night. (I can't believe he apologized! Then again, it seems like a typical response from a Chinese student.)
My adult class, 1A, is nearly done. I teach them tonight, then twice next week. I don't know if they'll be returning for 1B, but I hope so. They're nice people, and very eager students.
In non-school related news, my time of solitude here at the apartment will be over shortly. Denice will be back from Ottawa tomorrow night, and David will be moving back in for the rest of the month (shudder). I'm not sure of the reasoning or the details, as I've been happily living in my little bubble and ignoring as much of the political BS at the school as possible, but I'm not thrilled. At least it will only be for a month, then he'll be back in Canada (though he's hinted he has "other prospects" that don't involve teaching that will bring him back to Shantou).
Now I must prepare for school - these eager 1A students do not tolerate half-assed lesson plans!
zA
Three of the classes I've been covering for Denice while she's away are called "E2" or "English 2." They are small classes of Senior students studying for a university entrance exam. These exams are pretty hard core: they'll be writing exams from June 7 to 11, in many different subjects, and their scores on these exams will determine what university they can go to and what they can study. These kids want to be English majors, so they have an extra exam to study for. That's what we're trying to help them with.
The E2 exam consists of three sections: Video Imitation, "Role Play" (the name does nothing to explain the format), and Oral Presentation. To emphasize how serious these kids are, and how tough the exam will be, their text book is called Destroy One By One. Ouch.
Video Imitation is pretty straightforward. The students watch a clip, and imitate what they hear, focusing not only on the words, but on intonation and emotion. This year, the exam format is a little different - instead of being marked by a teacher, they'll be recorded by a computer. We've been watching a lot of clips, mostly from Friends DVDs, to prepare for this. The clips we've chosen are a little harder than what they'll be facing on the exam, but I think that's a good thing. These kids are freaked out (and I don't blame them, with all this pressure they're facing!), and I think that if they're over-prepared, they might just relax a bit.
"Role Play" is a little more bizarre. The students watch a video clip, then are presented with questions about the clips in Chinese. They have to translate the questions and answer them in English. Why it's called "Role Play" is beyond me. It gets them thinking about translation, though, which is good.
Oral Presentation is the weirdest, in my humble opinion. We've been working on this with video clips and with pictures. Essentially, the students have to make up a story, on the spot, about what they're seeing. Again, we've been using longer clips and pictures than they'll likely see on the exam, but it's still a difficult task, especially when they'll be telling their stories to a computer.
I'm not sure if there is a writing element to the exam, but we have been doing some writing exercises together. I've really enjoyed that - especially since I've seen considerable improvement in their writing from their first assignment to their last. One of the students, a guy named Mick, won a "composition writing" contest at his school, and went to Beijing during the holiday to compete at the next level. We got together before he left so I could help him practice; he called me last night to let me know he was back. He also apologized because he "didn't pass the examination," but he didn't sound too upset - he's going to give me all the details at our next class on Saturday night. (I can't believe he apologized! Then again, it seems like a typical response from a Chinese student.)
My adult class, 1A, is nearly done. I teach them tonight, then twice next week. I don't know if they'll be returning for 1B, but I hope so. They're nice people, and very eager students.
In non-school related news, my time of solitude here at the apartment will be over shortly. Denice will be back from Ottawa tomorrow night, and David will be moving back in for the rest of the month (shudder). I'm not sure of the reasoning or the details, as I've been happily living in my little bubble and ignoring as much of the political BS at the school as possible, but I'm not thrilled. At least it will only be for a month, then he'll be back in Canada (though he's hinted he has "other prospects" that don't involve teaching that will bring him back to Shantou).
Now I must prepare for school - these eager 1A students do not tolerate half-assed lesson plans!
Saturday, January 31, 2004
Year of the Monkey, Baby!
I was really excited about being in China for Spring Festival, the lunar New Year. Everyone I knew, though, told me that if I really wanted to experience Spring Festival, I should go to Beijing, or at least Shanghai, because "Shantou is boring." They may have had a point, but this is my home in China, and I wanted to see how things were done here.
Well, things were pretty quiet. My friends and students weren't lying to me when they said there wouldn't be a whole lot going on. Spring Festival is a time for visiting with family for Shantou residents - and since I don't have any family here, I had a pretty quiet vacation.
That's not to say it was bad, though! I spent a lot of time relaxing, which I really needed after the winter vacation classes ended, and I got out and did some fun stuff, too.
January 21, New Year's Eve
Anna, the kitten giver, decided that I needed to experience Shantou sights and Shantou food. She came to my house around 1:30 p.m. with a map and we came up with a plan that would involve the least amount of travel but the most value for our yuan. (She came up with the plan, really. I couldn't read the map.)
Our first stop was the Old City; Shantou is a reasonably young city, having been established as a Special Economic Zone about 30 or so years ago (please don't quote me on this - I can't get a firm date out of anyone about this, so I'm giving it my best estimate). The Old City was, well, old - at about 100 years old, it's young for China, mind you, but old to locals.
We walked around, looking at old buildings, visiting a very old temple, watching people, and enjoying the atmosphere of a sunny, exciting day. People were actually bustling! Young and old, male and female - everyone was busy with last minute preparations for their festival celebrations. We stopped to eat at a very popular restaurant that served all sorts of Shantou snacks - everything was delicious! I can't tell you what I ate, though, because Anna didn't know how to tell me what everything was in English...
We wandered around some more, and visited the church where Anna goes to sing every week (though it's not her home congregation). We took a terrifying ride from the Old City to Anna's high school in a motorized tricycle - Anna was so scared she made him stop a few blocks early and we walked the rest of the way!
She showed me her school, which was closed for the holiday - we just walked around the grounds for about five minutes, then left again. We then wandered through some alleys and laneways and narrow streets until we reached the walking street. We did a little window shopping there (by this time it was nearly 6 p.m.), then Julian met me to take me out to dinner with his family. Anna says there are still many more sights she wants to show me, and a lot more food I need to try - I have no objection to either of these things!
Dinner with Julian and his family was fun and relaxing. Julian, his wife, daughter, and parents and I went to a local seafood restaurant for dinner. Julian was the only one who could speak English, but we all managed to communicate and have a good time. His daughter, who is almost three years old, is quite adorable. She was a little shy at first, but by the end of the evening she was giving me candy and inviting me back to her house for tea and a DVD. She called me "foreign auntie," which cracked everybody up.
The meal itself was unusual for me, but very tasty. We had mussels served with garlic and vermicelli to start - I'm not a big fan of mussels, but these were delightful. We also had what Julian told me were snails - some served in soup, others on a plate. I couldn't eat a lot of them, but they were tasty. (When we were leaving the restaurant, Julian showed me what we had eaten - not snails, but some sort of crazy-looking clam with a foot-long "tongue" protruding from the shell!) The other unusual dish we had was a fish that looked a lot like some kind of sting ray, except that both its eyes were on the same side of its head. I can't think of the name right now, and I'm too lazy to go look it up - but if anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd appreciate it if you could share your knowledge!
After dinner, I went back to Julian's house for tea. Julian played some of his daughter's English DVDs, and I took some pictures as she danced and sang. I didn't stay too long, as it was getting late and the little girl needed to get to bed - and so did I, for that matter! (Aside: Julian's daughter has no English name, and no one told me her Chinese name - I'm not trying to be rude by calling her "little girl" or "Julian's daughter." Same deal with "Julian's wife" and "Julian's parents.") It was a quiet evening, but it really meant a lot to me to have been invited, first of all, but also welcomed into this family at this time of year.
January 22, New Year's Day
I did nothing all day - and it was wonderful.
January 23, Second Day of Spring Festival
Nancy, the training co-ordinator at Kodak, invited me to have lunch with her family on the second day of Spring Festival. She and her husband (whose name was not mentioned) prepared a fantastic meal of shrimp, mussels, snails, and dumplings, while I played with Sarah, their seven-year-old daughter. (We also had beer - Nancy's husband was quite amazed that I could drink at all, as are most men in China. I was good, though! Besides, Sarah had asked me not to get drunk, and I could hardly ignore her wishes!)
After lunch, daughter and husband went for a nap, while Nancy and I stayed in the living room, talking about all sorts of things, including books and music. (I don't get to have these kinds of conversations with a lot of Chinese people, sadly, because our tastes and backgrounds are often too different - we usually don't know the same authors or musicians.)
We talked about Sarah a lot - she's 7, an only child (typical in China), and very bright. Her English is very good, especially for someone her age, and she's not afraid of foreigners, which is excellent. When she was awake, Sarah was very entertaining, dancing, singing, showing me pictures, giving me things, and generally being cute!
I had the same warm feeling of welcome being with Nancy and her family that I did when I was with Julian and his family. While Julian and his family are all locals, though, Nancy is from a province north of Beijing - she not only knows about being away from family, she knows about being an outsider in Shantou and how lonely that can get. I was moved beyond words at her generosity and friendship.
January 24
The weather this year was pretty nasty - cold, rainy, and generally inclement - so there weren't a lot of the typical Spring Festival activities held in the city this year. However, there was some fun stuff going on, and on Saturday, Sophia and I spent the day taking some of it in!
Sophia came over at about 10:30 a.m. By the time we got on a bus that wasn't overflowing with people, it was about 11 by the time we got on the road. Our first stop - The Old City! We didn't spend nearly as much time there as Anna and I had, since I had just been there and since Sophia didn't really know her way around. We spent most of our time at Zhongshan Park.
I've never been to this park before, but it's massive. It was also crowded! We wandered around there much as we had in the old city: taking pictures and watching people. There were plenty of things there for people to do - amusement park rides, petting zoo, paddle boats, a rockery, a bamboo maze - as well as several performances for Spring Festival. At the main entrance to the park (there are three), we watched some musicians and drummers in traditional dress play traditional music on traditional instruments. These traditions were not from Guangdong province, Sophia was quick to tell me - however, she was unable to tell me just what province they were traditional to. We also watched some pretty funky tightrope artists, riding motorcycles and unicycles, and doing fan dances on (and suspended from) a wire suspended above the lake.
Sadly, these were the only performances going on when we were there. Well, that's not 100% true - we did see a few minutes of a skit being performed in local dialect, a couple of dance numbers by a teenage dance troupe, and what appeared to be a dance competition, but these weren't exactly what we'd hoped to watch. Sophia was outraged that these performances were going on instead of the "Chinese cultural performances" the brochure had promised us.
As we were about to leave the park, I had a call from Calley saying she was in Shantou and wanted to meet up with us - we finally tracked her down at the main gate (she'd gone to the wrong park first, then the wrong gate at the right park), and the three of us walked around and ended up shopping on the walking street. We each had some necklaces made by a man who writes on grains of rice - very cool. By 6 p.m., I was hungry, Sophia's family was trying to track her down, and Calley needed to catch a bus back to Chaozhou, so we had a quick snack at KFC and went our separate ways.
January 25
Another day of nothing! Woo!
January 26
Prep day... same old, same old.
January 27
Back to the grind...
As for the blog, I think I'm officially all caught up! I can now return to documenting the mundane details of my everyday life in Shantou! ;)
zA
Well, things were pretty quiet. My friends and students weren't lying to me when they said there wouldn't be a whole lot going on. Spring Festival is a time for visiting with family for Shantou residents - and since I don't have any family here, I had a pretty quiet vacation.
That's not to say it was bad, though! I spent a lot of time relaxing, which I really needed after the winter vacation classes ended, and I got out and did some fun stuff, too.
January 21, New Year's Eve
Anna, the kitten giver, decided that I needed to experience Shantou sights and Shantou food. She came to my house around 1:30 p.m. with a map and we came up with a plan that would involve the least amount of travel but the most value for our yuan. (She came up with the plan, really. I couldn't read the map.)
Our first stop was the Old City; Shantou is a reasonably young city, having been established as a Special Economic Zone about 30 or so years ago (please don't quote me on this - I can't get a firm date out of anyone about this, so I'm giving it my best estimate). The Old City was, well, old - at about 100 years old, it's young for China, mind you, but old to locals.
We walked around, looking at old buildings, visiting a very old temple, watching people, and enjoying the atmosphere of a sunny, exciting day. People were actually bustling! Young and old, male and female - everyone was busy with last minute preparations for their festival celebrations. We stopped to eat at a very popular restaurant that served all sorts of Shantou snacks - everything was delicious! I can't tell you what I ate, though, because Anna didn't know how to tell me what everything was in English...
We wandered around some more, and visited the church where Anna goes to sing every week (though it's not her home congregation). We took a terrifying ride from the Old City to Anna's high school in a motorized tricycle - Anna was so scared she made him stop a few blocks early and we walked the rest of the way!
She showed me her school, which was closed for the holiday - we just walked around the grounds for about five minutes, then left again. We then wandered through some alleys and laneways and narrow streets until we reached the walking street. We did a little window shopping there (by this time it was nearly 6 p.m.), then Julian met me to take me out to dinner with his family. Anna says there are still many more sights she wants to show me, and a lot more food I need to try - I have no objection to either of these things!
Dinner with Julian and his family was fun and relaxing. Julian, his wife, daughter, and parents and I went to a local seafood restaurant for dinner. Julian was the only one who could speak English, but we all managed to communicate and have a good time. His daughter, who is almost three years old, is quite adorable. She was a little shy at first, but by the end of the evening she was giving me candy and inviting me back to her house for tea and a DVD. She called me "foreign auntie," which cracked everybody up.
The meal itself was unusual for me, but very tasty. We had mussels served with garlic and vermicelli to start - I'm not a big fan of mussels, but these were delightful. We also had what Julian told me were snails - some served in soup, others on a plate. I couldn't eat a lot of them, but they were tasty. (When we were leaving the restaurant, Julian showed me what we had eaten - not snails, but some sort of crazy-looking clam with a foot-long "tongue" protruding from the shell!) The other unusual dish we had was a fish that looked a lot like some kind of sting ray, except that both its eyes were on the same side of its head. I can't think of the name right now, and I'm too lazy to go look it up - but if anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd appreciate it if you could share your knowledge!
After dinner, I went back to Julian's house for tea. Julian played some of his daughter's English DVDs, and I took some pictures as she danced and sang. I didn't stay too long, as it was getting late and the little girl needed to get to bed - and so did I, for that matter! (Aside: Julian's daughter has no English name, and no one told me her Chinese name - I'm not trying to be rude by calling her "little girl" or "Julian's daughter." Same deal with "Julian's wife" and "Julian's parents.") It was a quiet evening, but it really meant a lot to me to have been invited, first of all, but also welcomed into this family at this time of year.
January 22, New Year's Day
I did nothing all day - and it was wonderful.
January 23, Second Day of Spring Festival
Nancy, the training co-ordinator at Kodak, invited me to have lunch with her family on the second day of Spring Festival. She and her husband (whose name was not mentioned) prepared a fantastic meal of shrimp, mussels, snails, and dumplings, while I played with Sarah, their seven-year-old daughter. (We also had beer - Nancy's husband was quite amazed that I could drink at all, as are most men in China. I was good, though! Besides, Sarah had asked me not to get drunk, and I could hardly ignore her wishes!)
After lunch, daughter and husband went for a nap, while Nancy and I stayed in the living room, talking about all sorts of things, including books and music. (I don't get to have these kinds of conversations with a lot of Chinese people, sadly, because our tastes and backgrounds are often too different - we usually don't know the same authors or musicians.)
We talked about Sarah a lot - she's 7, an only child (typical in China), and very bright. Her English is very good, especially for someone her age, and she's not afraid of foreigners, which is excellent. When she was awake, Sarah was very entertaining, dancing, singing, showing me pictures, giving me things, and generally being cute!
I had the same warm feeling of welcome being with Nancy and her family that I did when I was with Julian and his family. While Julian and his family are all locals, though, Nancy is from a province north of Beijing - she not only knows about being away from family, she knows about being an outsider in Shantou and how lonely that can get. I was moved beyond words at her generosity and friendship.
January 24
The weather this year was pretty nasty - cold, rainy, and generally inclement - so there weren't a lot of the typical Spring Festival activities held in the city this year. However, there was some fun stuff going on, and on Saturday, Sophia and I spent the day taking some of it in!
Sophia came over at about 10:30 a.m. By the time we got on a bus that wasn't overflowing with people, it was about 11 by the time we got on the road. Our first stop - The Old City! We didn't spend nearly as much time there as Anna and I had, since I had just been there and since Sophia didn't really know her way around. We spent most of our time at Zhongshan Park.
I've never been to this park before, but it's massive. It was also crowded! We wandered around there much as we had in the old city: taking pictures and watching people. There were plenty of things there for people to do - amusement park rides, petting zoo, paddle boats, a rockery, a bamboo maze - as well as several performances for Spring Festival. At the main entrance to the park (there are three), we watched some musicians and drummers in traditional dress play traditional music on traditional instruments. These traditions were not from Guangdong province, Sophia was quick to tell me - however, she was unable to tell me just what province they were traditional to. We also watched some pretty funky tightrope artists, riding motorcycles and unicycles, and doing fan dances on (and suspended from) a wire suspended above the lake.
Sadly, these were the only performances going on when we were there. Well, that's not 100% true - we did see a few minutes of a skit being performed in local dialect, a couple of dance numbers by a teenage dance troupe, and what appeared to be a dance competition, but these weren't exactly what we'd hoped to watch. Sophia was outraged that these performances were going on instead of the "Chinese cultural performances" the brochure had promised us.
As we were about to leave the park, I had a call from Calley saying she was in Shantou and wanted to meet up with us - we finally tracked her down at the main gate (she'd gone to the wrong park first, then the wrong gate at the right park), and the three of us walked around and ended up shopping on the walking street. We each had some necklaces made by a man who writes on grains of rice - very cool. By 6 p.m., I was hungry, Sophia's family was trying to track her down, and Calley needed to catch a bus back to Chaozhou, so we had a quick snack at KFC and went our separate ways.
January 25
Another day of nothing! Woo!
January 26
Prep day... same old, same old.
January 27
Back to the grind...
As for the blog, I think I'm officially all caught up! I can now return to documenting the mundane details of my everyday life in Shantou! ;)
