GETTING READY TO MOVE ON

During these weeks the Model School ended. Language classes became more intense. We often had 3 or more hours of language in a day. The focus of the learning is on survival communication - how to buy a ticket, find a bus, get repairs in your apartment, call for help. We don't focus at all on everyday conversation, which is what I want desparately to do. This learning comes to a head this week as we have our final language test. Pray for us. The test comes right when we are pretty confused - we learn Mandarin, in Chengdu they speak Sichuanhua, and this week we found a new dialect in Chongqing.

We have had a great time with our host family here. They have attempted to give us a good taste of life in and around Chengdu. We visited a Buddhist temple, Bao Guang, in Xingdu. What a nice experience. We met a monk who got us in to see the relics of Buddha. The small town had a great park for walking. After dinner we found people were dancing in the park so we joined them. We visited the home where DuFu the Chinese poet of the people wrote his poems, a setting somewhat like Monet's. We learned some Chengdu history. We spent an afternoon in a panda preserve. There are two in China. We saw some of the pandas resting in air conditioned buildings. It was too hot for them to be outside, but we walked a sweated. Along the way we met a young couple who were from Chongqing. Somehow we got to talking and spent some time walking together. We then decided to have tea. A cup of tea turns out to be an event. We ordered tea and sat in the shade around a lake. We enjoyed the coversation and watched the tea leaves settle to the bottom of the glass. A slow motion ballet is more like it. What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. I enjoyed it but will need to be careful about accepting invitations - they could take a couple of hours. This week we went fishing in a small farm village. Renee turns out to be a fisher woman. (By that he means that I caught three fish. Though I landed only one, that was the most for our family.) We ate our bounty right on the spot. Today was the family matriarch's birthday so we had a long and sumptuous meal in downtown Chengdu with family. During the week we study and I play tennis once or twice a week, Wednesday night we join the other volunteers for Pizhou Wednesday.

One new event for me, Renee, took place last Saturday morning. One of the volunteers, Jennifer, invited me to go exploring with her to find out what the drumming sound was that she heard outside her window on the weekends. We walked to where she thought the sound came from and we saw no one. However, before we could turn back, women began to appear. Some had drums, about the size of a snare drum, which they beat with two decorated mallets. Some had cymbals. A few carried fans. One who was the leader had a huge drum, too big to carry. She kept the rhythm. We were welcomed. Soon the women began to form ranks. There were about thirty altogether. We joined in as best we could, marching and clapping. They seemed to be practicing a certain routine. We wondered if there were competitions of such groups. But, of course, we could not ask. They were a happy, happy group, and we thought "What a wonderful way to get exercise and enjoy community and create beauty all at the same time."

The most important event of the time, however, was a visit to our home for the next two years. We will tell you about the place in the next blog. We are in Chongqing Province in the city of Yongchuan at the Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences. You can look any of them up and learn. Don't be surprised that small means big in China. We went there by bus. It takes three and a half hours. We were met and escorted to our new home. They have taken great care to make it comfortable. The previous volunteers had gotten a dryer, so we have a washer and dryer. So much for roughing it. Renee will be teaching Speaking English to Freshmen and I will be teaching Audio Visual English to Juniors. Our biggest challenge is that we are working on two different campuses about 45 minutes apart. When will we touch base other than in the evening at home? We will devote the next blog to life in a new town.