ODDS AND ENDS

Among our favorite odds and ends was a dumpling party. Remember the students who climbed Huang Gua Shan with us? They treated us to a big meal. In return, we planned a dumpling party. Everyone's favorite food is dumplings. We invited the five students early in the week -- not very Chinese because things are done rather last minute here, but some American customs, like planning ahead, are hard to let go of. After her class on Friday morning, Renee went into town with a friend to get the ground meat and other needs. David, her tutor and friend, agreed to honcho the process. David came early and helped assemble the food stuffs so that they would be ready when the kids came. He called his mother to get advice on the seasonings (boy. was she proud). When the students arrived, we talked a bit and when all were present we began the process of stuffing, folding, and then cooking the dumplings. Everyone loved the task and we laughed at the different styles and rules. You can guess whose dumplings looked worse and most likely fell apart. Dumplings are a good company meal because you also make your own strength of dipping sauce for the dumpling. Those whose tastes run to the spicy could make their sauce as hot as they wished. We made enough for everyone to have more than 20 and they all disappeared. We will do it again with a new group sometime.

Tomb Sweeping Day brought us a one day vacation - a long weekend. We stayed put, but four of our young Peace Corps friends came to visit us. What a treat for us. Jennifer came from Gansu on Friday and spent two nights (17 hour trip each way). It was great to see her. She had not been at the training in January and we feared we would not see her again. It was just like we had not been apart. Jennifer and Renee enjoyed finding a piano and spending an hour or so making it "sing." Unfortunately, they attracted an audience of students much too quickly, but they still had a good time.

On Saturday Patrick, Jonah and Caitlin came. Our little apartment cou;ld feed, but house? Another foreign teacher put up the boys for one night. The next morning, early, we watched the NCAA semifinals together. My two teams lost and I got little sympathy. We found a place for beer on Saturday night, played games on Sunday, and of all of the great things to do in and around our campus, Patrick and Jonah chose to find the blind masseur. They say they will come back for more, but we know how hard it is to do that, inertia being what it is. Just a post script, as a a result of this little masseus adventure, I had my first massage in China. It "tasted" like another.

Another odd was that we went to a music program. Afterwards we talked with one of the participants, who got our number and called, wanting to be friends. It turns out he is the roommate of another music major who is already our friend. The two of them organized a music night for us. They and their friends played and sang just for us. Of course, Renee was in her element - she played, we sang, she tried flutes and violins. Great night. One funny sidelight -- as we were walking to the rendezvous point to begin the evening, we met a couple of young English majors who inquired where we were going. When we explained, and they saw who we were meeting -- "boys" -- they decided to tag along. One ended up being asked for her telephone number and the other touched a piano for the very first time. She told me (Renee) later that she and many students from the countryside had never had a chance to see, let alone learn to play a musical instrument. That gave me another glimpse into how rich we really are.

Another end was a birthday party. David the tutor and dumpling chef turned 20 on Saturday. He invited us and some of his classmates to a party. This is the Chinese custom. The birthday boy throws his own party. We had a delicious meal of Duck Soup. The table was filled with small dishes to be added to and eaten from the soup. We ate so much that we did not have dinner that night.

Easter is odd here in China. It is not celebrated in any way like in America in the community nor in the churches. Being outside of the city we missed some of the goings on - apparently there were baptisms in the Catholic Church and a vigil. To prepare ourselves we watched The Passion and the Last Temptation of Christ. Easter in the Catholic Church was a confession day but with so many people not everyone got heard. The church was packed and everything took longer, but there was little except the music to indicate it was a special feast day. The Evangelical Church had a shortened service. Then a marathon of over 40 acts took the stage to sing and dance. Much of it was religious but not all. It was sort of a potluck of entertainment and praise rather than food. Many of the participants were "seniors" and from the countryside. Some of them only get to chuch on Christmas and Easter, but not because they would not like to go more often. It is very difficult for them to leave their farms. The congregation, probably the "deacons," if there are such things, cooked and distributed a boxed lunch for the crowd before the end of the show. After eating, the crowd thinned considerably.

Many odds and ends.

WHAT IS NORMAL?

We arrived back in XingHu on February 5. We had been concerned that we would feel abandoned because school was out and most of the faculty and almost all of the students were gonee ha, but immediately we had a few tasks to do. The first was cleaning the apartment. A month of absence had left a refrigerator in need of serious attention and a coating of dirt everywhere. Restoring a livable environment took about two days. The next concern was our camera. During our time away one of our camera cards became unreadable. Since we had many precious photos on it, we were sad. One of our student friends took us from store to store in town to find a way to get the pictures off our camera. No luck, but his friend took the camera card and found someone for a small fee who would try. As you have seen, he was sucessful and our travel blog had pictures, My cousin volunteered to replace the card so we are now good to go. While the local stores were almost all closed, the local farmers still sold produce on the days ending in 3, 7, and 0, so we had food. Another advantage was that one of the 17 families left on campus are good friends. We had dinner together and played with their new baby. We have come a long way since our first visit to the deserted campus before school started in September.

We also planned to get to the other two major tourist attractions in the area while we had time. Our first was the Chongqing Animal Park. It is only a short bus ride and we go by it many times a week. On our salary, the entrance fee is expensive. We decided to use our travel money to finance the entrance and we bought a season pass. On this first trip we walked around and got up close and personal with some animals. People seem to really like the safari, which is in another part of this massive park. We saved that for another visit. Those of you who looked up Yongchuan have already been introduced to the park. Tourist from all over China arrive here daily.

The other adventure was to go to Tea Mountain (Cha Shan). Our good friend Becky and one of the art students from first semester and his girl friend went with us. We wandered throught the Bamboo forest maze for about an hour and a half. We decided that it would be cool in the summer time because of the dense growth. Then we decided to head up the mountain. We were unsure of the path but marched onward. Midway, we ran into a trio of young people having a good time. They tagged along for awhile, but we were too slow. They ran off. Shortly, they returned to say they had found the way to the top. We followed along as they went ahead. They stopped at a hard stretch and helped the more mature up. Finally, we reached the top and it seemed like we were in a cloud. It will be great to go back in the summer and enjoy the coolness of the forest and the mountain. The trek down is always hard for us, and these typical Chinese young people stayed and helped us to the bottom. One of them, Xiao Wan, has become a friend. The "bottom" you should understand was a winding road that was still about a 25 minute walk to the bus stop. We got plenty of exercise that day.

School has started and three weeks are complete. My classes are the seven Junior English Teaching Major classes. I have all of the same students except one girl who has dropped out. This semester I am planning on doing speech exercises with them. Impromptu speeches are this week. Dinner with the Doctor has also started again. On the first night I had a visitor on my lap. Renee has six of the same classes of English majors and picked up my class of Freshmen from last semester. She lost two of her classes from last semester. She is sorry, but they are still around and greet her warmly. ( I, Renee, am feeling good about my classes right now. It's nice to see many familiar faces, and Rich's class is lots of fun. They already have a positive attitude toward me because they liked him so much. I am trying to weave in some study skills and some Benchmark strategies, which I think are important in any educational setting. And, of course, we are singing.) The bus rides continue, the entertainment (parties) continue, and the Saturday night dances continue.

The one non - continuous thing was this last Saturday. It wasTree Planting Day. Over 1000 students went to seven different sites to plant thousands of trees from the school's nursery. We joined the group that planted trees on the mountain. It was a mammouth bit of organization, but hundreds of students climbed half way up the mountain and then spread out to plant trees. It was a beautiful day and a great time. The mountain, the streams, river and roadsides should all be better off for this attention. Besides climbing the mountain itself, the other challenge was trying not to step on any newly planted trees because they were quite small and we were quite numerous. After completing that task, we (read "Richard") decided to continue up the mountain with some student friends. It is a somewhat strenuous climb, but doable. At the top, the plan was to go to the pear orchards and see the blossoms. We had no idea it was Flower Day. The top of the mountain was jammed with people. We made our way to the orchards and saw the pear trees and beautiful fields of flowers. One prominent flower right now is bright yellow and is used to make an inexpensive but tasty oil, rapeseed oil. Then we realized that we were hungry, but we had made no preparations for eating. It was difficult to get a table. All of the restaraunts were booked. We ended up waiting a long time for food (We could have gotten back home, but what fun would that have been?). Coming down the mounain is harder for some of us (read "Richard and Renee") than going up. Two of the guys helped me and Renee's Chinese tutor helped her all the way down. What we had planned as a two hour trip took eight hours. (I was grateful that Rich also felt the descent was difficult. Then I didn't feel like such a fuddy-duddy.)After that strenuous activity of that day, we only stayed for two dances last night.

Today after church we went to a teacher's home and made and ate dumplings for lunch, played badminton, and hopefully are prepared for tomorrow's classes.

CHUN JIE 2009

After our travels in Yunnan, we returned to Chengdu to stay with our host family. Je Min and Rong Rong picked us up at the airport. We drove to his school to wait for their son, He Da, to finish his university classes. When that was accomplished, Je Min, He Da, and I went to play tennis while the women rested. We batted the ball around in 50 degree weather. I was to note the vast improvement in He Da's game due to his tennis lessons, and I did. The women then joined us, and we washed and went off to enjoy dinner in town. Then it was home and to bed early to rest up for the trip to Je Min's hometown the next morning.

The next day we and it seemed like most of Chengdu were up early and on the road. The trip from Chengdu to Nanchong should have taken about two and a half hours. About four hours into the trip, we stopped and the men folk got out and relieved themselves along the road. We enjoyed some fruit and started the trip again. The women folk got their chance at the next rest stop, which was like Grand Central Station at rush hour. Believe me (Renee), braving a crowded rest room in China is no mean feat. I was thinking about the people who are trampled at soccer matches as I tried to stay upright in the entering crowd while watching the exiting patrons struggling to get out through the narrow doorway that served as both entrance and exit. By this time, we were no longer hurrying. We had missed all our deadlines, but got to Nanchong in good spirits and had a meal of left overs. Renee and I stayed with Je Min's sister while the family went off to Grandmother's house. We were made as comfortable as possible, being given the parents' bedroom for our home. In the evening the entire family joined together and drove to the Jaling River where we sent off Kong Ming Lights, which are miniature hot air balloons made of paper and powered by a candle. They are usually red or gold and about the size of a bushel basket. According to legend, the lights were invented by a general during the wars of the Three Kingdoms as a tactic to light the sky so the army could fight at night. As you can see in the picture, we lit a candle in a paper lantern, and the hot air allowed it to rise into the sky. With it ascended our good wishes and hopes for the new year. This was the day before the eve of the Chinese New Year Spring Festival (Chun Jie).

The main event for the day before the New Year is making dumplings. In this family everyone has a role. The secret family recipe is provided by the Grandmother, the Nai Nai. The filling is prepared by much chopping of ingredients by the women. The dough is made by one of the uncles. Small chunks of dough are pulled and rolled into flat circles. Others are ready to start stuffing and crimping the dumplings. All the other tasks continue simultaneously because we are making a lot of dumplings. Huge pots of water are bubbling on the burners and the dumplings are brought to a boil three times to prepare them for eating. The eating had to be done in shifts. Renee and I worked on many parts of the making, but wherever we worked, the process was slowed, so we were moved on quickly. The misshapen look of my dumplings (Renee) became a family joke, and now and again someone would hold up a dumpling and say, "I wonder who made this one." But they all tasted great, and we ate and ate and ate.

As the dumpling feasting was drawing to a close, we put on the TV to watch the national spectacular on CCTVI. They tell us everyone watches it. It is a variety show which intersperses traditional and modern Chinese entertainments. (It looks just like the Friday night entertainments at our school. Obviously, the students steal the format from the professionals.) In our home the show was on but not watched intently. Mostly people talked. The kids got out their musical instruments and played. Time was taken out for group pictures. Every once in awhile something in the show would get our attention such as a feature on the earthquake and a salute to some heroes. It all seemed pretty tame for a new Year's Eve. THEN at about 11:45, everyone jumped up and wriggled into their coats; we were off to the river again. We were going to set off fireworks. So were the other 500,000 people in Nanchong. It was a harrowing ride through town as rockets flew overhead and bombs burst on both sides of the car, or so it seemed. When we got to our destination, we could hardly see because of the smoke up and down the river and along every side street leading to the river. That did not stop us. A big box of works was set up and lit and a five to ten minute show followed of small but lovely fireworks. Then we each got out our individual rocket firers and we shot them across the street and toward the river. Sparks and ash and smoke were everywhere. The university president, the foreign guests, the whole family, the grandmother - amazing. And the NOISE. It is said that all this noise scares away evil spirits and ghosts. This is serious noise. Then came the sparklers, big sparklers and firecrackers, big firecrackers. From outer space it had to look like Nanchong was being attacked. Eventually, the celebration ended for us and we were off to bed, lulled into slumber by the sounds of explosions. We woke up to them as well.

The main event of New Year's Day was an intergenerational basketball game. Ji Min's sister, He Li, married a man with four brothers. All of them love this basketball game. It is fathers vs sons. The sons had won for the first time last year and both the fathers and sons were ready for the grudge match. I was caught between the two as I was to be the referee. I "let them play" which meant the fathers held, pulled and pushed to stay in the game. The young men groaned and complained vociferously as they ran and scored and won the game anyway. About 13 people played, so there were substitutes. The women folk and some men folk came to watch "the game." There was a score keeper and a timer and the grandmothers cheered. The family that plays together stays together.

The main event of every couple of hours was eating. Just as we had pictures taken in all sorts of groups, we had meals with all sorts of groups. Every meal was an orchestrated event. I started with an assortment of cold dishes. Then the main courses came out one at a time. It is a time for eating meat and the young men ate the meat like they had never seen it before. We enjoyed the food and the banter around the table and sometimes the games. At each of these meals there is toasting and drinking - beer, wine, bai jiu, whiskey. It is all lighthearted and sort of controlled, but there is obligatory toasting and pairings of drinkers so. The culture is a drinking culture so the young men need to be trained. This family setting was a good way to have this happen. In Nanchong the smallest gathering for one of these meals was 14 and the largest was 22. Restaurants do a great business at this time of the year. Every place we went was filled to capacity, but we were never inconvenienced because we were always in a private room. We can't remember if Chinese restaurants in America have that private room option. It is great for small gatherings, a little removed from the hustle and bustle and loud talk of the main restaurant.

In addition to all of this celebrating, we had a great time seeing Nanchong and its surroundings. We visited the sites of events and people associated with the Three Kingdom Period. The book The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is one of the classics of Chinese literature - check it out on Youtube. We visited the old city of Langchong with its Confucian temple and examination hall where the civil service exam was given every three years. Did you know that people actually died during those nine day exams? They were very stressful. It was also possible to climb a tower in the old city and look down on the roofs of the hutang, a rare example nowadays of old China where the one room houses are crowded together, side by side. Also, we went to Deng Xiaoping's home. It is close by and there is a beautiful exhibit there about his life. The exhibit doesn't tell what happened from 1969 to 1979 - interesting. People really admire what he was able to do to help make China what it is today. We were there in the morning; by afternoon there were long lines just waiting to get into the grounds.

After four days it was time to move on to Rong Rong's family home in Suining. Everyone knows that most beautiful girls come from Suining. (This claim is made by many towns in China.) This drive was much shorter and in only about an hour we arrived at Rong Rong's sisters home where we would stay. Again we were given the sister's room and private bath. Everything that could be done to make us comfortable was done, including watching the English speaking station on the television. JeMin and his family were off to the grandmother's home again, this time Rong Rong's mother and father. In both of these homes, there is limited English spoken, so we are pretty proud of ourselves for communicating and surviving and, we hope, being good guests.

We missed New Year's here, but Spring Festival continued. We had big meals every few hours and ate the traditional foods at the appropriate time alternating dumplings and Tang Yuan (a rice ball filled with - poppy seeds, brown sugar, sweet bean paste, peanut butter). For this family the highlight of the week was the return of the son from Chengdu for three days. The day after we got there, he arrived. Li is a special policeman in Chengdu. He ran along with the Olympic torch to protect it. He is in an elite group of 36 men aged 25 - 35. His parents waited and cheered his arrival. He had a hard time because his girlfriend also lives in Suining. He had to balance mom and girlfriend for three days. The biggest meals surrounded his return. He brought a bottle of Vodka and that was the beverage of choice for toasting this time. He was placed beside me - his girl friend was across the table. He spent much time walking around the table lingering with her, but toasting each person in their turn. In Suining with a smaller family the meals size ranged from 8 to 13 people. (Talking to some of my students, I learned that their largest meal had 5 people. The effects of a one child policy.)

We had a good time seeing the sights of Suining as well. We enjoined searching for ducks on the Ya (Duck) River and sunning ourselves along the river and drinking tea on one particularly beautiful afternoon. Guanyin's Temple, which is the largest of her temples in China, is in town. HeDa and a friend were our guides through the temple grounds and its traditions and cuisine. We saw the old and the new in Suining -- a brand new university going up in a barren lot and the old university torn down. Will the trees they transplanted from one environment to another survive? After three days, it was farewell to Suining.

It felt like home to get back to Chengdu. We moved back to where we had stayed this summer and settled in. We ended up staying longer than we planned because of the people we were to meet and Peace Corps obligations we had to meet. We visited the Peace Corps offices and picked up my passport. We saw the medical staff and talked and ate with several of the staff working there. We then met with three groups of students from my Model school class this summer. Parker and Paul are now freshmen students in Beijing and Chongqing respectively. They shared a big lunch, sort of a meat fondue. and lots of good stories about the freshman life away from home. We then joined up with Andy who works at the Chengdu airport. All of us walked to a Bamboo Park near Sichuan University. It was a nice park with lots of activities where people could try their hand at some old crafts and skills of China. The next day we met Nicole and Super Pig, (Charlie) freshmen students at Sichuan Normal University and about to be American bound to study at Pittsburg State. They took us to Nicole's hometown and planned a day around what they thought we would especially like. Both of them come from rather upper middle class families, and Charlie had a car to transport us. He is a very good driver. We had great conversation and learned some new ideas about Chinese history as well. Our last day we roamed around Shiling remembering our time there last summer, a good way to end our near month long travel.

TRAVELING IN CHINA

The Western New Year came and went. December 31st was a quiet night. We went to a New Year's "Ball," run by students, which was poorly attended. We enjoyed ourselves on an uncrowded dance floor. At 9:30, the usual end of dance time, we strolled back to our apartment and watched a video and Chinese TV. At midnight we listened for noise but heard none. I think in the big cities, like Chongqing there was some. The Chinese New Year was not until January 25 so January 1st was not a big day for them. I got to watch some bowl games thanks to a computer feed and enjoyed the short break from school. We had to make up the three day holiday. For us that meant rescheduling classes and compacting our exam schedule. We had to have all our grades ready and turned in by January 6. By grace, we did it.

January 7 we left Yongchuan for Chengdu. We had three days of inservice training. Mostly we were looking forward to seeing our friends from the summer. We had only seen the few who live in Chongqing. The language test went well and we both felt good about our progress. Thanks for your prayers. The sessions were long but the laughter was real. We met some new people, China 13's, and enjoyed them. We had some good meals with friends. We were able to explore the area around Sichuan University, so we feel more at home in the city. Two discoveries are worthy of note -- a Turkish restaurant and a bookstore/library called The Bookworm. Some China 13's introduced us to the restaurant, complete with hookahs, though we didn't sit on the floor on cushions the way they do in Turkey. Nor did we personally sample the pipes. The Bookworm bears some similarities to Borders though it is much, much smaller and most of the books are donated oldies but goodies. There are plenty of comfortable places to sit. Best of all IT WAS WARM. Rich and I had special fun reading a few books to two wee Chinese, a brother and a sister.

We left Chengdu to start our solo travels on January 11. We were helped to the airport by a student from my model school class, who seems to know all sorts of important things like the airline will send a van to pick you up if you have purchased your ticket ahead of time and you have it it hand. Yippee. Everything seemed to be going so smoothly. Then.... At the counter getting our boarding passes it was discovered that I had another volunteers passport and he probably had mine. We remembered that we had checked into the hotel at the same time and the mixup must have happened then. After some negotiation back and forth in second languages we were given boarding passes based on my copy of my passport -- take note *** one should always carry a copy of one's passport*** and my work permit (It has my picture and it lists my passport number) We left the errant passport at the airport for someone to pick up and hoped my passport would be forwarded to me. Security was skeptical, but we got through. The fight was uneventful but we wondered about our other flight and hotels which require passports. (Later the Peace Corps security person told me that he never heard of the airlines allowing someone to fly on the copy of a passport. The passport was never forwarded, and we spent all of our travels without one.) God is good.

We arrived in Kunming and were met by Li Yanlin and her father. We had met Yanlin on a previous trip to China, and she is now a student in America who has visited our home. They graciously got us dinner and drove us to where we would be staying on the Yunnan Agricultural University campus. We had a great four cold days in Kunming. It is the city of eternal spring, but not for our stay. We visited with Yanlin and her family, saw the campus, visited some sights around the city, and even explored by bus on our own. We felt good to be able to manage this, eat and make purchases. Most of all we got to meet some great people as we gathered at night around the table at Yanlin's home, Among them was a teenage boy whose English is better than most of my College Junior English majors. We also visited some young Chinese whom we had met on our trip to Kunming several years ago with Clifford Liu.

From Kunming we flew to Lijiang in the mountains of Yunnan Province. We were concerned about the cold, but the sun shown everyday and we were able to walk about without our winter coats. Lijiang is beautiful. The scene of Snow Mountain hovering over the pool of Black Dragon Pond is gorgeous. Each day we explored a little more of the old town, but there is still more to see and do. One exciting thing about our stay was that we were at Mama Naxi's Guest House. It is a "lonely Planet" recommended place. It was full each night with young people from all over the world. What a delight to sit around the table and talk with them. A second highlight was going to an unregistered church. We were escorted by a young Chinese missionary to a home on the outskirts of the city. What a great experience there and also with his family for the day. A third experience was in our search for a Buddhist temple. We could see it but we couldn't find a way to get there. We asked a number of people in our "great" Chinese. They kept pointing up. We went up. Near the top of the hill we still could see no signs of a path, so we asked once more. A wonderful man motioned that we should follow him. That was not too unusual because Chinese are very kind and often go out of their way to take us to a place we are seeking. However, he took us to his home where we had tea and fruit and a half an hour or more of conversation in two languages. Then he took us to the roof of his house and showed us the Buddhist temple on another hill (You can't get there from here.) The panorama was worth the climb in itself. We returned before we left Lijiang and had lunch with him. He says to come back, so maybe we will return to beautiful Lijiang. One funny thing about that second visit was that they were expecting company, the first ever visit from their son's girlfriend's family. The lady of the house was pretty upset with her husband for sitting around and saying he was not busy when she pretty obviously thought he should be. We couldn't understand the words, but the intent seemed pretty clear:)

Next we moved on to Dali. We did this bus totally on our own and got to our destination the Three Pagoda Youth Hostel just outside the north gate of the old city. We strolled the city and then returned to see what dinner around this table would be like. Totally different. The guests were Chinese, and English was at a premium. During dinner we expressed our hopes for the next day. After dinner as we talked with the receptionist trying to set up our day when two of the dinner guests appeared, and soon we were all planning. We had a delightful day with them and the receptionist and a private driver and even a meal. The two were teachers from Taiwan on holiday. One of the highlights was a performance by the Bai people which included the serving of "three cups of tea." I wish I had my book here so that I could read the significance of those three cups in Three Cups of Tea. But the day wasn't over. A young couple heard that we wanted to go to town for a Tibetan dinner and they invited us to join them - two more teachers, this time from Chongqing. A good meal and great conversation was had by all as we walked the city before and after dinner.

We were off to Kunming in the morning by bus. An accident on the road made it a long day. It also allowed us to experience the worst public toilet we have seen in China. IT was truly "any port in a storm" and it served the purpose. We returned to Yunnan Agricultural University for the night. There we had a feast of a dinner with the young English speaker's family and our hosts. Of course, everyone had to have breakfast together and then we experienced a mad dash to the airport in the congested traffic of Kunming. It was harrowing, but another memory for our growing memory bank. We will also remember lots of warm beds, which were very hard to leave each morning for the rest of our world, which was usually not at all warm. Even Lijiang and Dali started each day in chill mode.

There was some time constraint for our trip because of the Spring Festival which we were to celebrate with our Host Family from the summer. THAT IS THE NEXT STORY!

CHRISTMAS

People started asking us if we would go home for Christmas (Sheng Dan Jie) many weeks ago. Just the thought made us homesick. They understand that Christmas is a family holiday so they assumed we would join our family just like they will for their Spring Festival. Except for this reminder we mostly were too busy to worry about Christmas.

• Our first Christmas party was sponsored by the Electricity and Engineering Department. They invited Renee and I to be part of their entertainment for the party. We were to be the feature of a game like Name That Tune. We arrived early and practiced. They gave us ear phones and played a Chinese tune. We were to hum or sing along and contestants were to name that tune and sing it. We weren't sure anybody could, but we agreed to "have a try." We didn't always get the words, but Renee can pick out any tune. The contestants or the audience got every one. Our gift was a too large Santa as you can see in the picture with other gifts. It was fun and an honor to be invited.
  
• On December 18 Renee and several of the other foreign teachers went to Chongqing for a celebration. (Some of us had classes and had to work.) It was a long ride and a long day. The program was entertainment by foreign students from the province. Renee got to see our other Peace Corps friends, so it was worth the time and effort to attend, but barely.
  
• Both Renee and I had our classes do Pollyannas. We included ourselves. I gave Welsh Cookies for my gift and Renee gave a crocheted rose for hers. Of course, our Pollyanna's loved their gifts. The students each got a gift - made or bought for 7 RMB ($1) or less. The students loved every minute of it. We talked about giving and receiving gifts American style. It's very interesting that in China when a person receives a gift he or she puts it aside to open later in private. You know, of course, in America we can hardly wait to see what is inside the wrapping. The gift giving speeches should have been recorded. The receiving couldn't be. There were mostly shrieks of joy and hugs all around for the simple gifts. We were thanked often for the great activity. Even the boys who were the special targets got into the spirit.
  
• For the last month we both taught our Freshmen classes a Christmas song each week. They learned Deck the Halls, Joy to the World, Jingle Bells, and Silent Night. The purpose was so that we could go caroling. They learned the songs with gusto. The night wasn't so nice with a slight mist and a solid chill. About 100 showed up - by the end of the evening maybe 50 or so. Many brought candles and that was a thrill for them. We sang at many of the dorms and were well received by those who knew we were there. The Physical Education dorm especially went crazy. Caroling was a first for the students. They had some interesting reflections. One said that she had experienced American culture. Another said that when we bring happiness to others, that is our happiness. Indeed. We could not pull together hot chocolate and cookies but maybe next year.
• 
  Christmas Eve Day we began to get presents. The most common present is an apple. We aren't clear about the why, but it is the time for apple parties where they paint, carve, and at midnight eat an apple. It has something to do with healthy and happy or safety and the new year or purity and wholeness or full life - the story is not clear. The students were generous in their good wishes and gifts. They want us to be "happy every day." The Foreign Language Department had a Christmas entertainment. There was little Christmasy about it, but it was fun. Renee was included in the program singing her lullaby with her students. My song "When Christmas Comes to Town," which I was to do with one of classes was axed from the program. (to Rich's chagrin) The school provided transportation so the other teachers and students got a free ride back to our XingHu
  campus.
• I said others because Renee and I didn't go back. To the consternation of those who watch over us we went by public transport to church. We missed the Protestant celebration at 7:30, but the Catholic service was at 9:30. When we got off the bus, the street was crowded with people as was the walkway up to the church (You can't see the church from the street.) The gate to the church was blocked by the police. They readily admitted us - we think they were keeping drunks out. Inside the whole area was lit with lights as was the steeple of the church as seen in the picture to the left. The courtyard was mobbed and we could have been swallowed up in it. There were fireworks, music, entertainments, foods, and people everywhere. We still do not understand that scene of revelry and what exactly the people are celebrating here in China at Christmas time. It seemed like a medieval fair. A stage was set up at one end of the courtyard and people were running around in funny lighted hats. Vendors provided snacks. Finally, we made our way to the church itself. There were mobs of people there as well. We went to where we usually sit hoping to find our seat mates from Sunday, but no. We found a good place to stand, but the choir director was looking for us. She is a librarian at our school and she had taught Richard -- in Chinese, mind you -- the song for Christmas Eve. She had us pulled through the crowd and we joined the choir in the front - conspicuous we were. The church seats 600 and there wasn't any standing room so perhaps 1000 were there. Balloons and lights and flowers were everywhere and the crowd never really quieted. There were three processions - the priests and leaders == children carrying a creche to the altar -- wise men bringing gifts which were the communion elements as well as a bucket to receive an offering. The choir that night was made up of some students from the college and the choir leader and organist, who is also from the college. They were careful to guard us in the crowd and around midnight we returned home.
  Christmas Day was Thursday my (Rich) heavy class load day. My Chinese tutors had arranged, though, to have lunch with me. They also brought along a small collection of student friends, but not those I teach. We went out for lunch and had a grand time, planning the next two years and all they want me to do. It was fun. The most interesting of these guests was an art student who barely speaks English. I have been working with him for a month or so. He has made great progress. (Not the point but I love the piece he is working on which is a block print = he has to make 5. I hope I get one of them) He pulled me aside and gave me a hand carved block so I can seal my writings, another example of the kindness in their extreme busyness of holidays and exams. This was followed by a gathering of the foreign teachers in the Russian artist apartment. We shared some laughs and some food and cheer and hopefully made a new bond between us.
  
• My (Renee) students too outdid themselves to keep our spirits up. Thanks to them we have a little Christmas tree with flashing lights on the TV and a huge red happiness knot hanging from the ceiling, and two Chinese lanterns displayed on the balcony. I also have a huge teddy bear and a lion pillow in which can be imbedded my Ipod so I can listen to music while I sleep. Nonetheless, we could hardly bear to think much about Christmas with family and friends at home.
  
• Soon we will travel to Chengdu (January 7) to participate in a few days of further training.
• For the moment the Peace Corps has nixed our travel plans after that, so we are not sure what will happen. We have quite a long vacation; school does not begin again until mid-February, but we can only be away from our site for a limited number of days. Ah, sweet mystery of life, complicated by many, many rules and restrictions.

Those of you who pray -- pray for our Chinese language test on January 7. We are trying not to obsess about it. Our Chinese works well enough for us to do our daily living and then some, but we have a long way to go:),

PARTY TIME

The weather has turned cold. Today the temperature was in the high 40's. It seems colder than that because it is a wet cold. In the past two weeks we have had some beautiful weather even into the 60's with sun. Then there were several days in a row where there was drizzle and clouds and the feeling of cold. Supposedly, December is better and it becomes drier. (Then our skin will dry out and our lips will crack:) We will see. Of course, the Chinese thought that winter was here when the temperature dropped below 70 here in Yongchuan. I may soon have to get out my winter coat!
There have been three parties of note since we wrote last. (The Chinese call almost any gathering a party = I will have to think what they call them in Chinese. In English it is party.) The first was a birthday party. I had met a businessman from Yongchuan at English Corner. He came because he is going to American next year on business and he is working on his English. Jerry hopes to make that good enough that one of the companies he will visit will offer him a job in America. He has taken me to lunch and to dinner. He called and invited us to his birthday party. He met us and took us by taxi to a restaurant. There we joined his friends. As is common in China, they are his friends from Middle School (High School days) In total 12 people. We had a delicious meal around a Chicken hot pot. Maybe it was mild because of the western guests. They (we) had a good time around the table talking and laughing. Then the drinking games began. Each person took turns challenging one by one the others to a game in which the loser drinks. They did it well and everyone survived nicely. From there we went to a Karaoke bar (here it is called KTV. We actually had a private room with our own technology. ) They sang and we sang and danced. They had a grand time and we tried to relax. The next day was a school and work day so we were not late. Jerry saw us to and arranged a taxi to take us back to campus since the busses stop running at 8. Good time was had by all.

The second party was the Freshman English Majors turn to run an entertainment for the campus. It was one of the Saturday night affairs we have described before. There is some singing and dancing and usually a funny skit or two and an audience participation game. This show featured Renee and two of her students playing guitar and singing. They sang a Chinese lullaby. The students and audience went wild that a foreigner could sing in Chinese. Crowd estimates are hard, but it filled the basketball court and most of the seats surroundding it. I think about a 1000 attend. The night ends with a dance - bunny hop, chacha, and waltz. The dance lasts until 9:30 and then the crowd disperses.
Party number three was Thanksgiving. We went to Chongqing to celebrate on Saturday after the fact (we taught on the day). We managed the transportation and with some help the big city public busses as well to arrive at Renee Vetch's (Can you believe that in our small group of volunteers there is another Renee??!!)apartment. Renee is another volunteer who is working in Chongqing. Renee had the meal well in hand with many things at a good stage of preparation. We arrived and talked and planned. Jason LaBoyer, another volunteer from California, then joined us . Jason and I went out to get some last minute items and the women folk worked in the kitchen. The party was joined by their language tutor and Renee's waiban. The last guest was another foreign teacher. Margaret is from Kentucky by way of England. What American accent are the students learning?? We had a grand time around the table. It felt like Thanksgiving.
Christmas is coming and there are some plans in the air, maybe. There are suppose to be two Christmas parties that the school runs - one at each campus and we will be invited. Renee and I have been invited to sing but so far that seems an idea rather than a reality. Renee and the other foreign teachers will go to a big deal Christmas program in Chongqing on the 18th while I am teaching. We think the churches have Christmas eve services and we are trying to arrange being able to attend. We are teaching our classes some Christmas carols and plan to take them caroling. They are excited about the idea. We get raisins on Tuesday and will try to make a slew of Welsh cookins, an Erickson treat, to give as gifts. There are too many people here we would like to give to so we have some figuring out to do. The students have studied about Christmas every year since they started learning English. They can sing Jingle Bells, Silent Night, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. We hope to share the meaning of Christmas so they can hear it anew and from a new perspective.

Things feel a bit breathless. This last picture is of me and several of Rich's students. One of his class leaders is arranging small dinner gatherings, about 8 students at a time, so that Rich will have a chance to talk more with his students and vice versa. I have been invited to join them, and sometimes I do. I am amazed at the level of English skill that his juniors have in comparison to my freshmen. My students have a long way to go. Rich and I just discovered that we have to take a Mardarin Chinese test when we go for our triaining meeting in January. Yikes! Talk about having a long way to go. We do. And I hate tests!!! Oh well.