Forever Yang

The New Year of 2014 is quite different from the Chinese New Year.  The Chinese New Year is based around the Lunar calendar and will be celebrated later this month.  The Chinese New Year, (better translated as Spring Festival), is the most honored holiday for Chinese people.  Many children from the kindergarten have been absent since the first of this month in order to extend their New Year celebrations with family members in various parts of China.  I’ve been told that it's the craziest time to attempt travels in China.

The Western New Year’s Eve mildly interesting to Chinese people, and thankfully the first of January is considered a public holiday.  Many people told me that going out on New Year’s Eve was a mess and not to bother celebrating.  After work I headed to a friend’s place on foot.  The streets and walkways appeared no more busy than usual.  The metro stations were not crowded and no one looked festive or aggressive in any way, shape, or form.

After dinner with a friend we drove to a popular expat hangout, Brussels cafe.  The place was loaded with a mix of Chinese and foreigners, the music was great, and the party favors were a highlight.  Later on I discovered that my mask would leave smurf blue marks on my face, but thankfully I didn't have to remove my mask for the night. 

A Chinese woman told me that this year all fireworks on New Year’s Eve would be illegal due to the increase in air pollution.  Despite the warnings, someone set off fireworks on the other side of the lake and we had a grand display. 

Since January first life has returned to normal busy.  I’m preparing for an 8 day teacher workweek where the teachers will be organizing their rooms, creating more cultural materials, and practicing for a practical exam.  This is the last week of students and we will all re-convene on February 17^th.  The work week starts next week and goes across the weekend.  After this I can take a few weeks break and finally catch up with life on the other side of the globe.

This past weekend my neighbor and I set off to find Chairman Mao’s Wuhan residency on the East Lake.  The day was beautiful and the walk offered sights of birds, fragrant blooming winter trees, cycads, and soft pines.  The winding roads finally led us to our destination, but the residency is closed for the season.  We took a few pictures before heading to a nearby gala hosted by my traveling group.

During the gala the leader of the group, (Yang), showed photos from the trips to small villages interspersed with performances by both Chinese and foreign members of the group.  I sang “Wo Zhi Zai Hu Ni” by the late great Theresa Teng as the only foreigner in a Chinese singing group.  At the end of the event I sang a slightly different version of a Bob Dylan classic to honor our group leader: 

May your heart always be joyful, may your song always be sung, and may you stay……

Forever Yang

My first working Christmas

 

 Being a country without many friends or family can often be emotionally challenging during the holidays, but in China there is plenty of work to keep the mind far from emotions.  A few side weekend trips are helpful too.  Last weekend I cooked a dish called Gong Bao Ji Ding, (which means chicken dish fit for the palace guardian).  My language teacher took me and a few other students to a small city outside of Wuhan for a day of markets, cooking, and hot springs. 

Before hot springs we had to negotiate all of the ingredients in our dishes at the open markets with a little more than $3 on hand.  I thought this would be impossible for me, but I ended up doing better at bargaining than the Chinese in our group.  It helped that I was willing to take advice from a woman cutting and selling fresh dog in addition to many other common pets at her stand. 

There are many crowds this time of year for shopping.  They have deals at all shopping centers from 6 PM to 3 AM on Christmas Eve.  For Christmas one of the teachers at the school gave me a beautiful red scarf that took her 22 hours to knit.  Another teacher presented me an apple because the presentation of an apple, (pinguo), is similar to a presentation of peace, (pin pin an an).  

Despite the work and planning for January’s big eight straight days with the teachers time, I got the BEST Christmas present just a few days before the holiday.  My sister-in-law gave birth to my niece about three weeks earlier than expected.  Both mom and baby are doing well and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my skype sessions with her. 

I asked my family what they got for Christmas this year, and here are their responses:

older brother:  a new baby
Mother:  a granddaughter
younger brother:  a new niece
Father:  a granddaughter
Sister-in-law:  a daughter
My brother's dogs:  competition/sibling rivalry

I'm delighted to be an aunt.  My new niece has my face with her mother's beautiful full lips.  She already has everyone wrapped around her tiny finger.  Until I get to see her in about a month, I may enjoy a few more weekend adventures.  I'll start this weekend with a foreign teacher's Festivus celebration.  A good Festivus will help cleanse the mind of any grievances and start a fresh 2014!

Crow's Mouth

 

In the past month I’ve been taking Chinese lessons once a week.  Although I still feel like I’m in square one, my language teacher has a great amount of patience and is tremendously kind.  Having a good language teacher is not easy to come by.  Stephanie is more than worth her weight in gold.  Not only do I get vocabulary, grammar, and character practice, but also she occasionally throws in a side story. 

One lesson we were working on pronunciation and I came across the words:  Wūyā zuǐ.  Stephanie laughed a bit and explained this meaning of “crow’s mouth”.  “If someone speaks ill in a foreboding way and this turns to be true, you may say to this person ‘crow’s mouth’”.  For example, recently I was very sick.  Before I got sick someone told me that I was not wearing enough warm clothes and I would get sick.  I can now say CROW’S MOUTH to this person.

Not sure how wearing enough clothes relates to a stomach virus, but there are still many things here that I don’t understand.  Prior to this illness I was much more active in my explorations of Wuhan.  Over Thanksgiving my American neighbors, Ted and I went to a Hawaiian restaurant for an all-you-can-eat turkey buffet.  It was Ted’s first time trying turkey, stuffing, cranberry relish, and pumpkin pie.  The following weekend I attended a charity gala by the Women of Wuhan to raise funds for students whose parents have died from AIDS.  The night of dancing was well received and it gave me enough energy for my six-day workweek. 

After the Saturday morning workshop I was still feeling on top of the world.  I went with a friend to explore a natural park in Wuhan and watched Les Miserables.  Sunday morning felt fine in the beginning, but the rest of the day was gut-wrenching torture. 

The day of emptying my insides gave me my first taste of meeting a Chinese doctor.  Ted served as my translator and often his translations came across as an accusation rather than a question.  Instead of saying, “Did you eat too much on Saturday night?” I heard, “You ate too much on Saturday night”.  My quick negation helped me to realize the loss in translation.  The doctor gave me some powders and pills, and my quiet day at home will give me enough time to rest, relax, and avoid any more crows.

Tea -chers

 

While Ted and the other administrators were away at a retreat for party members I attended a tea ceremony hosted by the Women of Wuhan.  I learned more about different types of Chinese tea and tea accessories.  After sampling teas a few of us traveled to a spa and endured a 110-minute Chinese massage.  I’ve never been in so much pain following a massage.  After three days I felt a bit better, but it may be while before I have a bone filing massage again.  

The spa’s building space was exquisite.  Attached was a private museum with a collection worth billions.  The main focus of the museum are pieces of furniture carved from single trees or pieces of wood, but they also have an extensive collection of rare jewels, jade carvings, Czar Nicolas II’s dishes, a stuffed albino crocodile, and a small dinosaur skeleton.  Hopefully they’ll be able to open their museum to the public in the future.  

No drink better represents China more than green tea.  Loose green tea is a standard in any home or office.  The basis of the Chinese health care system is free Tai Chi and green tea.  Generally I prefer black tea, but green tea is growing on me.  I don’t think it will replace the status of Cuban coffee in the morning, but it has a gentle kick to it.  After a long week it is a welcoming sight.  

In the past week the director of Montessori studies at Xavier and another XU consultant from Taiwan were here.  This was a hundred times more welcoming than a cup of green tea.  Their support and guidance was the perfect Thanksgiving blessing.  The four classroom environments changed dramatically and allowed for more fluid access to all Montessori materials.  The director delivered an impeccable speech for hundreds of school families.  After lecturing for ninety minutes she answered questions for another half hour.  One parent asked if she could give just one or two sentences which sums up the essence of Montessori.  After a reflective moment, she delivered:

“Educating the individual within a community setting, having at its heart the future of humanity.”  Later was added “through a rigorous education”.

The Xavier ladies will be greatly missed, but I have gained a stronger sense of purpose in my work with the Montessori teachers here.   My schedule will change in the future so that I can work directly with teachers and the materials without children around.  Developing skills in anything requires independent practice. I look forward to seeing how the changes impact the educators. 

Many families in the US will celebrate Thanksgiving this week and I will celebrate with a few other Americans here.  We’re not many, but it will be an after-work treat. Not sure what will be on the menu, but I look forward to trying a Chinese style turkey. 

Blessings to all

A chrysanthemum for Bachelor's Day

 

Although it may be Veteran’s Day or Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in many parts of the world, here in China it is Bachelor’s Day.  Wikipedia lists this day as Single’s Day, but Ted explained that it is the day to honor those not married, (the bachelors).  The numbers of 11-11 represent four single individuals.  Therefore, this day is appropriately made for bachelors to do………………… um.... bachelor things.  I’m not entirely sure what Ted will do to celebrate, but doubt that it will involve moon cakes. 

The camping trip was a great success.  Many Chinese and a few other expats got together to camp by Liangzi Lake from the CECP group, (China Endangered Culture Protectors).  This lake is known for the local crabs.  After setting up our tents, we talked to a fisherman who prepared a meal for us.  Following dinner we built a bonfire, sang a few songs by Bob Dylan, learned a Thai dance and song for the full moon, and shared a few other campfire songs.  In the morning the fisherman allowed us to use their wooden fishing boats to paddle around the lake.  It was my first time with crossing oars to paddle, but I was able to steer us both away from and back to the shore. 

For Halloween I attended a party hosted by the Australian exchange program.  A few Australian English teachers are working for a year here in order to prepare students who will eventually spend a year studying in Australia.  My neighbor Grace is one of the teachers.  She invited me to attend, and I configured a ninja costume out of some items found at the 2-Yuan shop.  There were dancing competitions, carnival like games, bobbing for apples, and lots of Chinese candy!  I stuffed my pockets before heading home.

The next day I visited a school that is a branch of this Montessori preschool.  They have only four classrooms, but less than 15 students in each room.  There were 3-4 teachers in each room and the high teacher to student ratio felt a bit controlling.  Luckily, we went for lunch and a discussion afterwards.  Before leaving the school gave me a gift of fancy chopsticks.  The fun never stops around here.

Speaking of fun, Grace and another Australian woman and I headed to a Bordeaux wine festival last Saturday.  All foreigners had free entrance.  This was a treat because most wine in China is rather painful to consume.  After talking to one of the winemakers I was able to sit in a Master's class on sweet Bordeaux wines and go home with two extra bottles from the vineyard.  Surprisingly there was no sick feeling or headache following the day of tasting.  Good thing too, because on Sunday I went to an amusement part with the principal's son and his German foreign exchange friend.  There were few people at the park, so we had very short lines for the few roller coasters.  The park, (Happy Valley), is only a few years old, so not all of the coasters are up and passing safety inspections.  We went on the rocky wooden coaster 4 times, and some how I managed to keep my cool throughout the day. 

This past weekend I was invited to view a private collection of Mulan paraphernalia.  The collector has turned his three-room apartment into a museum of sorts to house his collection of posters, figurines, recordings, books, stamps, and even old Chinese phone cards that depict Hua Mulan.  Mulan is supposedly from this area of China, (this is one of three areas that claim to have been her home).  There are a few different versions of her story.  One of the members of the CECP wrote the following about the experience:

On 9^th, November, CECP team visited Mr. Ye Weizhang, the heir of Mulan intangible culture and his private museum.

Mulan is an ancient heroine in Chinese history. The legends about her are widely spread at home and abroad. About 1500 years ago, the northern nomadic people invaded towards the south. Every family was required to send at least one man to the frontline to defend their country. Mulan, out of her love for her father and loyalty to the motherland, disguises herself as a male soldier to take her father’s place in the conscription army. The Disney animation Mulan is adapted from this story.

The private museum is a little bit small but full of treasures related to Mulan. New Year pictures, a unique folk art for New Year celebrations, are dated back to around 1930s or 1950s. Porcelains printed with Mulan-related pictures, like teapots, vases and cups, are made of Dehua china, one of the top three Chinese ceramics. Some of them were used by civilians during the Anti-Japanese War period.

The legends of Mulan have been performed on the stage since the Ming dynasty in different forms, including Beijing opera, Shaoxing opera, Kunqu and so on. Mr. Ye has collected these theater tickets, vinyl record and videotapes through different sources. There are also some written materials in Chinese, French or Dutch on the Mulan culture. Some of them are rare and vulnerable and have to be preserved under special condition.

Thanks to Mr. Ye’s twenty-year devotion to Mulan culture, people around the world are able to enjoy such a precious culture and spirit. Meanwhile, more can be achieved by the joint efforts of responsible individuals and government.

The Botanical Gardens are showcasing an exhibit on Chrysanthemums.  Yesterday called for a visit to the gardens and a chance to photograph the beautiful blooms.  This week I am trying out winter again after a few years of hiatus in Miami.  I bought a pair of fleece-lined leggings in the XXL size.  In the US and Europe I usually wear a small or medium, but in China I fit most comfortably into XL and XXL.  It’s fine.  As long as the clothes fit, companies can name my size whatever they like.  May all bachelors enjoy their size no matter what it may be.

Happy Helloween Party!

 

It’s almost Happy Helloween Party time!  Be sure to greet your neighbors with a special “Hello-ween”.  Although Helloween time is popular for commercial and party reasons, there is no official holiday here in China.  It will be a normal school day for our students.  Last year there was a huge celebration at the kindergarten with costumes, fake webbing, bobbing for apples, and trick-or-treating around the classrooms.  This year they decided not to do this again and for a good reason.  The university will host its annual sport’s weekend! 

This is a time where average university students compete in various track and field events.  Because these students do not regularly compete or carry on a basic exercise routine, many come in jeans and sweaters.  Some get winded and quit races before they finish.  Sadly, foreigners are not allowed to compete, so I may opt out and travel with some of the neighbors in my building of foreign 'experts', (this is our housing block for all visiting professors and foreign language teachers). 

Recently I met another group of foreigners that go camping and hiking on the weekends.  I will join them this weekend for an excursion.  Not too many details were involved, but I found a tent, sleeping bag, and ground mat.  The weather is not hot anymore, but certainly not too cold.  The coldest it gets here at this time of year is around 50 F/10 C).  Thankfully my sleeping bag is rated for -5 C.  My cold-blooded nature will be protected in the sleeping bag oven. 

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Ah…. Cooler weather finally rolls in and with this comes sore necks and runny noses.  The children at the kindergarten are practicing the habit of using a tissue, (ALL BY THEMSELVES), and covering their mouths when they sneeze.  These may sound like common courtesies, but in China, young children rarely exercise them.  Most adults wipe everything for a child and public coughing, sneezing, and spitting is a common sight here among people of all ages. 

I've finished my third week with one particular classroom.  This month I’ve been spending one week in each of the four classrooms rather than one day/week in each room.  It allows for more time with each classroom more time to develop and assist each classroom environment as necessary. 

My own throat is a bit sore, but thankfully I am in the land of delightful citrus varieties.  I can load up on vitamin C through green oranges, tangerines, and the most amazing miniature tangerines known as tiny sweet honey oranges.  They are the width of a Ping-Pong ball and just as good as the name suggests.  The tea and honey is also quite abundant, so I imagine recovery will take place in the next day or so. Hopefully sore throats to not disturb the Happy Helloween Party time in the rest of the world.

Jo and Ted's Excellent Adventure

The adventure started early Tuesday morning.  After catching a cab to the train station and boarding the train we traveled at around 200 km/hr. to the city of Yichang.  We walked around the city and ate few street snacks before heading to the Wooden Fish town in hopes of catching a last minute bus to Dajiuhu.  During the five-hour bus trip we stopped for a bathroom break around location of the first kiwi fruits.  Vendors with various sized kiwis lined the road for the remainder of the trip.  Although the ride was spectacular with amazing views of the towering ancient mountains, we arrived late into Wooden Fish town.  A police officer told us that his father could spare a room at his home for the night.  The father showed up on a motorbike and invited us to hop on for a short trip to his place. 

The bike carried us to his home, which has been recently converted into somewhat of a hotel.  Not a legal hotel by any means, but certainly a place with many lockable rooms, clean beds, and a bit of shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom.  The price was right and after a full day of travels we were happy to each have our own warm and clean bed.  The owner also called a friend to take us to Dajiuhu in the morning.  A passenger van arrived around 6:30 AM and we were whisked away to another site where more tourists waited for a ride.  The van had only 5 extra seats, but he managed to squeeze in a 6^th person.  The people were a mixture from Wuhan and Beijing.  They were busy discussing how much easier it would have been to have traveled with an agency. 

Although we had no intention to travel to the Dragon Rack geological park, the park was unavoidable if we wanted to visit Dajiuhu.  Before entering we purchased two passes to Dragon, (or peasant) Rack and Dajiuhu National parks.  The credit card-esque ticket had a superimposed image of the famous Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys in front of the geological park.  After admitting us all into the park, our passenger van was stopped by the police.  The driver was known to have carried in tourists before, but on this day he was fined for not being a licensed tourist bus and was forced to take us back to where we bought the tickets.  Luckily he did not charge us for driving to the ticket site and he waited in the long line for us to get bus tours with a licensed company.  

On the licensed bus we watched videos on repeat showing imagines of the park and the playful monkeys.  I kept a lookout for wildlife, but with the thousands of tourists during the national holiday, the wildlife was limited to a few common birds and many common insects.  After three hours of travel our first stop was Dajiuhu.  We had one hour to enjoy the national wetland park and to climb up to a lookout tower and see the many natural lakes of the area.  Next we had almost an hour to climb around the rock structures of Dragon Rack and read about their not-so-obvious resemblance to various images, such as “girl looking into mirror” or “meeting gate of the immortals”. 

The trip had a few more stopovers in lookout points of interest.  The golden monkey falls was fairly spectacular.  The final stop of the trip took us to see a few of the famous Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys play around in cages.  Thankfully the cages had enough space for the monkeys to move and swing, and a guard to keep people from throwing stuff into their cages. 

When we got back we were starved.  After finding place to stay for the night we stopped at the first restaurant we could find.  The tables were full, but a table of University students recognized me from the bus ride into the town and invited us to sit with them.  We shared a feast of several dishes and a hot pot before pouring ourselves into bed.  Our goal of the morning was to get to Dangyang, the town of a teacher from the school.  She had invited us to spend the days of the national holiday with her and her former classmates.  In order to get there, we would need to first get back to Yichang.  The direct tickets were sold out for the day so we took a short trip to a town about an hour away and then found seats in a bus to Yichang.  We arrived in Dangyang before the late afternoon and Lucy picked us up from the bus station.

Everything about Lucy is lovable.  She and her classmates have done well in life and they enjoy getting together during the break times.  In the three days we were there we had a banquet every day.  The children were just as happy as the adults to have a foreign guest.  They were extremely hospitable and invited us to play/watch/learn mahjong.  I proved to be too much of a slowpoke to keep up with the pros.  I’ve never seen marked stones fly around so quickly. 

In addition to the food, fun, and mahjong, we visited a small village museum, a large man-made dam, (built in 1957 by over 100,000 workers with only mud, stones, and other natural materials), a large Buddhist temple, and the 4^th largest reservoir in this country.   A friend of Lucy’s gave us a ride back to the city for a few days of rest before returning to work.  I’m looking forward to starting workweek and introducing a way to honor a person’s birthday in the Montessori classroom this Wednesday.