Break In

I'm breaking in (at the bequest of my parents) to write a little about China. It looks like they have taken stuff from my blog and pasted it in theirs already, so I'll keep this brief.

At least they couldn't snag the pictures. In fact, that has been a challenge for my parents. They are unable to post pictures on their blog. They have been left with the misfortune of entrusting the task to me (which is why there are not always pictures on my parents' blog entries. It is no one's fault but mine).

China is beautiful. I told this class so many times, they began finishing the sentence for me. Sure, it's got its problems. (My parents complained of more than a few.) But in general, the place and the people are delightful. It was an honor to visit. I hope to visit again soon.

What I'd like to mention is that my parents have had a great impact. But they also would be quick to add that they have been the beneficiaries. There is a spring in their step that wasn't there two years ago. There is a courage in my mother. There is a passion in my father. China has done wonders for them. I know it will be difficult for them to leave (though we will be happy to have them return.)

The thing is I'm proud of them. How many 66, then 67, now 68 year olds do this sort of thing? I told one class last week that when I grow up, I'd like to be just like them. Doubt I will. But it will be fun to try.

NED'S CHINESE ADVENTURE

Emails from China - 5


May 31st afternoon:



leela,


i teared up reading your last email. i really do miss you so much. i talk about you a lot to people, so it feels like you're here sometimes. and i think there will be some people that you will meet when you come here this summer. which is cool. i want to show you some things for sure. it took me four days, but i'm finally settling in here. of course tomorrow i'm leaving. ha!


today was like the others. both mom and dad had classes this morning. the way they do classes is 45 minutes then a break then the same class for another 45 minutes then a new class. i guess it is sort of like block scheduling. so my dad had me for the first 45 minutes. he had the kids perform songs for each other. they had to pick an english song, learn the vocabulary and the meaning and share it with the class. some did better than others. but it was entertaining. of course that meant that i had to sing as well. last night about 2am i decided to do Love Story by Taylor Swift. I thought they would all know it. turns out it was a good choice. they knew the song and love songs are pretty much the only songs in china. pretty hilarious. next to the michael learns to rock song which i think has got to be a government consipracy or something, the next most popular song is My Heart Will Go On. every one sings it. hilarious! so i played my mom's mini-guitar and sang taylor swift to the students. then i sang My Girl as a duet with my father. we were a hit. i think they have low expectations.

then i went to my mom's class and spoke for the second part. after a short introduction, i told the students they could ask me anything, and i would answer them. so they ripped up scrap sheets of paper and asked me everything! they asked me all kinds of stuff. of course they are interested in what i do for a living. they think being a writer is like the coolest. so i play into that a bit. ha! if they only knew! just kidding, i didn't want to give them a false impression. i tell them you are a doctor and they all think that is the very coolest thing in the world. i play into that. i tell them about our kids. they want to know our love story (of course). they ask if we spank our children. they ask why i have red (blond) hair when my parents don't. i say, "now that's a great question!" they ask me about what i think of china. I say it is beautiful. and the people are beautiful. and they ask about america and i tell them that in every city there are people from china and europe and africa and south america and so they would not feel like a foreigner if they came. which i think is mostly true. it is a lot of fun. it's most certainly in my wheelhouse. ha!

then, i went back to dad's class and did it all over again. so that was 8am-12pm. then we ran to the bus and went to the DVD store where they have befriended the woman who works there. her name is Becky. newly married. she is absolutely wonderful. she took us to her apartment which she shares with her husband, her parents, and her grandparents. they cooked us a feast. i drank many drinks with the father. i learned that if someone was "Goombwa!" that means "bottoms up" and it is culturally advisable to chug your glass (which they fill to the meniscus. it means long life or something. that God the glasses are small! we ate great food.

the food really is wonderful here. and it's not that weird in general. they cooked us all classic dishes from the area and it was like green beans and beef and potatoes. so it's not crazy. Becky is pregnant, and i offered your services. when you meet her this summer you will be more than happy to oblige. she is truly delightful. and she really deserves a better lot than she has in life. her husband Edward (named after Edward Scissor Hands) does not know English, but understands about a tenth of what i say. I told him he must learn. i hope he will. her father is thinkking about selling the business and going into toilets! ha!

he asked many questions about western toilets. on which i have much experience. but in selling them, not any. i hope i didn't lead him astray. i guess everyone needs one. i mean sort of. then it was off to the next place.


my dad took me to his dojo. where he learns kung fu or something. i couldn't totally understand what exactly he does there. anyway, it was closed. but on the building they have pop's picture. actually two. i guess he is good publicity. ha!

then we went to the senior center where he takes tai chi class. we were very late. so they berated him (jovially). then he talked in chinese for 20 minutes. and i just smiled. then they did the class. the 48 and the 24. which are the movements i guess. of course i had to as well. it was very humbling. all these 70 year olds doing the moves and i'm looking like a...i don't know what i look like but it couldn't have been pretty. then we jumped on a bus.


we have a tiny break. which i'm spending on this long email. then going to dinner with more people.

i'll pass out. and wake up by bugle at 6am and head to the bus stop! unbelievable. what a wild adventure. i have realized that i do not have many skills. i would not be a very good businessman. really i'm not very good at anything. i can't build things. i'm clutzy and clumsy and not very precise. but i think i would be a very good ambassador. i am certifiably nice. my one credential. i am very good at being a good guy. it's in my wheelhouse. so this trip as been pretty wheelhousy. because i have had limited time with lots of people. not long enough to really screw anything up. ha! i guess we all have a skill. some more marketable than others. i love you. miss you. i'm glad to be married to you and not my parents. it will be good to be home.
Lord willing tomorrow!


ned
Posted by Ned Erickson at 4:59 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Emails from China - 4


May 30 night:



leela,


we had french toast this morning! with chopsticks. have i told you yet that you are going to need to learn how to use them? because you are. i think my englsih writing is turning into the way that i am speaking english to the chinese. very choppy. and robotic. ugh. when i get back home you are going to have to bear with me for awhile. i have learned one big thing. my father does not and will not stop. he cannot say no. and if there is an idle minute then it is a total utter catastrophe. just like me! ha! i am not as bad, at least i don't think i am, maybe i'm worse, regardless, i certainly get this tendency from him. it is amazing to see the similarities between us. shocking. and scary! but lots of fun, too.


we went to a house church this morning. (my folks took pictures, i'll upload them when i get them.) we met a guy on the way who my parents knew and invited him along. Don Shuan or something. (my Chinese is hooked on phonics. i'm sure i spell nothing correctly.) Don Shuan is a really great guy. opera singer. i think he studied in italy or just studied italian singing, it is hard to tell. the church as you can imagine was in this gray cement dungy room. mostly college students. this morning was actually bible study which is much better i am told, because church is listening to one guy speak chinese for 45 minutes. that would definitely send me over the edge. i played a couple songs. amazing grace and how great thou art while they sang. they sang several songs in chinese. then we studied acts 18 and had a discussion. pretty cool.


we bought my bus ticket for tuesday morning. yes, my parents are dropping me off at the bus station in Yongchuan, then i will take a two hour bus ride to the airport in Chongqing and hopefully find my airplane and then go to beijing and then hopefully, find my plane, and then go to chicago, and hopefully get an earlier flight so i can get back home to y'all. i have a growing respect for global travelers. the plane over here from chicago to hong kong was 15 and a half hours. i slept at first, read, tossed, turned, took about as much as i could take, and looked at my watch and it had only been 4 hours! i had 11 and a half more to go! it was a miracle i survived it.


anyway, we came home, ate lunch then i stretched for twenty minutes because i was sequestered into playing soccer in the adult league with teach liu.



they are manchester united. we played arsenal. most are physical education soccer majors. (the soccer team.) we were a bunch of teachers and a couple of ringers i think from town.

i was given shoes. they were basically converse all stars with stubs on the bottom. they were two sizes too small, but they gave me slightly better traction. it had rained earlier. the field was thinner than astro turf.

i played well until i developed a plethora blisters. ha! i had to leave at halftime to rush to dinner at the other school campus.



xing hu. is the name of the town. (where i ate my first chinese meal with the students on day 1.) it is beautiful. a huge man made lake. with an island of flowers. the campus is right on the water. we went walking around and met up with students. they were all very cool.

we ate show cow which is basically like our mongolian barbecue, where you pick a bunch of meat and vegetables, and a guy stir fires it/deep fries it.

we had lots of laughs. good time. celebrated my dad's birthday. they gave him a kobe bryant piggy bank. i think i am going to give it to david as a present. i need to think of something for you and anna rose.



we then were coerced/forced (which did not take a twisting of any part of my father's appendages) into going to KTV which is the classic kareoke bar. it was everything you imagine a kareoke bar in China to be. we bought a case of beer. and sang chinese kareoke into the night. i don't know how to spell kareoke.

and sorry, lia, that i'm using these emails to chronicle the trip. i have barely a spare second (i'm serious). it's crazy how busy they are keeping me. i have this haze over my eyelids at all times. it is also very polluted. very very polluted. which puts a haze onto everything as well. so i sang I Want it That Way (twice, with two different chinese dudes) then Hero (which i thought was enrique, but it turned out to be mariah carey). the chinese guys definitely love the ballads. a couple of them, john and len (i think) really could sing lights out.

my parents sang Puff the Magic Dragon (truly worth the price of admission. classic moment.

then i ended it with We Are the World in honor of the trip i was on (and Jonathan Murfee). we finally called a cab and escaped. i'm emailing now because my dad is IMing his students/ He can't stop! am i this bad? i'm so sorry, lia! anyway, it is good to know where i get my bad habits from. and it truly does make coming to China for only a week worth the trip. i guarantee you i have done as much China in these four days as i could have done in a month on my own. i could not have lasted much longer. it is nutso!





tomorrow I am attending (performing) for four classes. then traveling into town to meet my dad's Tai Chi master. then we are eating "hot pot" for dinner with a whole nother crew of people i have not met. i'm tired just thinking about it. but i love you, lia. i have thought to myself that i was glad that you are not here sometimes because the velocity at which we are doing things is lightspeed. seriously, every minute i am being introduced to somebody or trying something new. or on my way to some fire to be thrown into. so i have thought that it was good for you to not be here. at the same time, i wish you could have experienced everything with me. china is cool the people are wonderful. and i miss you so much. and i miss the kids of course. i am not sleeping any better here than at home. it's 11pm and i will be awoken by the bugle at 6am. ugh. i love you! good night.


ned
Posted by Ned Erickson at 6:25 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Emails from China - 3



May 30th morning:


leela,


i knew david would walk as soon as i left! ha! tears.


let's see where did i leave off. i think i told you about tennis. ate lunch on a street. fish and assorted vegetable. then we came home. the tennis player's name was futichen. we also played doubles with a gal (name too difficult). when we took her picture she said she looked ugly because she was too brown.



skin color is a big deal here. especially for girls. just the opposite than the usa. the paler you are the prettier. strange how stuff like that goes. i played with two other fellas. and my father of course. my email writing is turning into the english that i speak here in china. it is choppy and short and clear. maybe not so clear. it will probably take me days to get back to regular.





about fifteen people came over in the afternoon. they were very likable. two girls were the most likable. jolene and free (above photo). i think i am going to try to connect them with some college students when i get back so they can start an american friendship with folks their age. there was a couple who came with a little boy the age of david. it may me miss the little fella. his name was shuay.





i played guitar with this guy named charles. he said it was one of the greatest moments of his life. ha! something must have gotten lost in translation. he told me about the most popular song in china. it is called Take My to Your Heart. by this band called Mike Loves to Rock i think (actually Michael Learns to Rock). it is pretty classic. you'll have to listen to it. seriously, every person in china loves this song. (i've done a bit of research. this is a danish band that sings in english. they are connected somehow to bmg in taiwan. i think it is some kind of conspiracy by the chinese government. i don't want to say more because i'm afraid they may revoke my visa).





it was time for dinner. we went to my mother's tai chi instructors apartment. her husband is a chinese teacher at the school. her name is jai ping. the way they described this woman to me was that she was the lady whose dog bit my mother. turns out my mother was bit by her little yappy dog a week after the Peace Corps had sent a memo warning about rabies in China. mom spent a week at a hospital in Chongqing. we went to her house for dinner. the first time mom has been back since the incident. i heard the dog yapping as we entered.





turns out, jai ping is one of the most delightful human beings i have ever met. her laugh was classic. and the way she spoke english was the way we should all speak english...loud, deliberate and full body. i could not stop laughing. which made her laugh. which made us all cry because we were laughing so hard. her sense of humor was remarkable. she calls her husband teacher liu. to his face. all the time teacher liu teacher liu. he is a football fanatic. i am going to play on his team tomorrow in a game! he is 46 years old. and came home remarkably drunk. it may have been the alcohol but teacher liu is possibly the funniest human being on the planet. he called me his little brother. i called him my little brother because he is only something like 5'1". he said "i am your big brother, and you are my big brother!" and he laughed so hard i had to hold him up. he was remarkable. the whole night was remarkable.





he autographed his book of poetry for me. he described it as love poetry though none of the poems were written about his wife. we had a rendition. we did tai chi in the computer room. they made me play guitar. it was virtually impossible to leave their apartment. but we finally made it home. i was very tired. but after all the stuff of the day it was difficult to sleep. plus, the biggest mistake of this trip was that i forgot earplugs. china is very noisy. i don't think people have any real sense of how their actions appear to others. everyone butts in line. no one waits turns for anything. the women hock loogies. and there is a rule. it may even be written, but it is certainly followed that you must be quiet until 6am. but at 6am you can be as loud as you want. some guy played saxophone outside my window for 45 minutes. no lie. they have a wake up bugle for the students at 6:20am. no lie. it's ridiculous!


the town and campuses (my parents live in one and teach in two). they are both beautiful. i don't know if i'll get pictures of them but they are very beautiful. but there is so much construction in the town that there is dust on everything. you breath dirt all day. and the haze is something to get used to. ok. that's all for now. breakfast time and another full day awaits. i love you.


ned
Posted by Ned Erickson at 12:06 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Emails from China - 2


May 29th afternoon:


Leela,


This morning I made some instant coffee which actually tasted good. Then we went to eat breakfast. It was dumplings that you dipped in sweetened soy milk. Very tasty, and some funnel cakelike substance that you dipped as well.





They are having a festival here so there are lots of balloons. Everything you can imagine for sale. Including cars! Want one?



Saw the end preparations for a wedding.





We came home and grabbed tennis rackets, and played for a couple hours.





They have tennis students here (that is their major). I demolished them. So I guess if all else fails, I can be a tennis major in the middle of nowhere in China. They are actually good hitters. Just need a little guidance. Until then, the world is safe from their dominance. It was a lot of fun. We ate with one of them (Futichen, the boy) for lunch.





A full fish and vegetables. Very good. I stuck to the middle of the fish and left the head and tail for the others. I think my parents have set up an "open house" to meet their son this afternoon. So I'll be shaking a lot hands, and bowing, and trying my best to stay awake. It's 1:46am! back home. I've actually adjusted well. I think I just planned it out to be tired when I got here (which is not hard being on a plane) and my body rebooted fairly well. We are going to need to practice chopsticks. Otherwise you will not be able to eat when you come. Other than that, I think you will be fine here in China. People are very kind, and there is a sweetness about everyone. It is not a difficult place to visit. Tonight, we're going to a bar for some live music. Hopefully, I won't pass out from exhaustion. I love you.


ned
Posted by Ned Erickson at 11:40 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Emails from China - 1
Just returned from a whirlwind trip to China. My parents live there (Go Go Peace Corps!). And I was finally afforded the time to puddle jump over the Pacific (or perhaps the Arctic (I think we may have flown north)) to visit them. It was three days of travel and four days of visiting, but it was more than worth it. We fit in more stuff in four days than I usually do in a month. So much that I don't know how best to chronicle it here. The plan for now is to record it through emails to Lia (edited...I'll save you the mushy stuff, most of it.) (Come back later to see more photos...My parents should be sending me theirs). Anyhow, here goes:




May 27th night:


I made it! I'm brushing my teeth and getting ready to bed.
Life is good. Miss you lots. Write more tomorrow.
Ned


May 29th morning:


Leela,


We had a full day yesterday. After breakfast I went to my mother's class. She taught for the first half. I answered questions for the second half. It was a lot of fun. The kids were great. Then we took a bus ride out of town to the other campus for lunch with students. Food was great. This little outdoor "restaurant". The craziest thing I ate was crawfish. But we also had things like mashed potatoes and a dish that tasted like french fries. The food was great to be honest. Then, we came back and visited with a couple students who were practicing Chinese. That was a bit painful because I was about to pass out from being so tired. But the kids were nice. It was definitely fun to see my parents in action. They are most beloved. Everywhere we go. Seriously, they are like the rock stars of Chongqing or wherever we are. I think it is Yuchuan (actually Yongchuan). Then we played ping pong for a couple hours with some students. That was a ton of fun. They have about fifty tables. Everyone is filled. Praise Buddha, I managed to hold my own!



Then we ate dinner for my father's birthday . Ate this "cake". With "icing" they drew an "old man". Tasted like foam and pineapple. The "forks" are toothpicks.



A student from another school came (Gary).





Then we headed out for a performance. It was like a variety show of skits. I was in the front row. (Like I said, rock star.) Which was great except listening to Chinese and the warmth and the jet lag definitely was putting me to sleep. I survived. It was entertaining which was helpful. The biggest laugh came from this guy dressed in drag. He started with a leg routine from behind a curtain. The Chinese have such nice legs and no hair, so it took awhile to figure out it was a man. But once we did, it was hilarious. I didn't understand a thing, but the students were very theatrical and most boisterous. The last skit was a "version" of the Little Prince. They took some liberties. Then we came home and I passed out. My folks are waiting for me to head out for breakfast. I just chugged some instant coffee (not bad). Another full day awaits. I love you.


ned

Old Friends and New

If you have been wondering about the people in our lives, Renee told you about some two weeks ago and today is my turn.

Some friends from last year have sort of vanished - Xiao Wan was maybe our best friend. His college moved to Chongqing. The move meant getting together was difficult. He then has had some family trouble and now a job. We still chat online, but our summer travel together will not happen. Sean the student who wanted to be a doctor did not pass the test. He will stay another year and work at improving his score. (Most people do worse the second time.) Gao Bin, one of my tutors also failed the GRE and now is scurrying to try to find a job. My other tutor, Jackie, failed at his duck business and now hopes to find a job in Chongqing. The others from last year continue to be an active part of my life.
Colin, the English teacher, has also moved to HongHe so I see him regularly. He is busy preparing his home for his wife to move into. He is painting this weekend. When it is ready she will move from XingHu to here. Two good times a week I ride the bus with him from HongHe to XingHu. He agreed to try and speak with me in Chinese. So for about an hour a week I get to practice Chinese conversation.



John and Paul have remained good friends. I meet with them every Wednesday for lunch. Paul has become a class leader. He is very busy, but we try to have lunch. He also then is able to keep me informed about what is going on and to invite me to things. John has also become a leader. He is the English Academy's tutors helper. He also was one of the two majors chosen for membership in the Communist Party. It should be good for his career. John has also been my interpreter now several times and does a great job. I have met his family and know his girl friend.



My best adult friend has become Wu Zhong Jun. He teaches Horticulture. I am not sure but he seems to be maybe the number two man in the department. We met through tennis. He began calling me to come and play and through that have played with more of the adults this year. He then had us to his home and to dinner. We have been out now several times. He is a good enough friend that he drove me to the airport to pick up Ned (This is not a simple task and it was his first drive to there.) It is good to have a friend who will try to say yes.





Another adult friend is Li Hai Bing. I met him at Lisa's (Renee just wrote about her) birthday party. He is a PE teacher at the school. He teaches martial arts. I have wanted to learn another form of Tai Chi called Tui Shou. He agreed to teach me. We have been meeting twice a week for English lessons and Tai Chi lessons. Through him I have gone to the Senior Center and met many other wonderful peopple. We have been out together a couple of times to shows and dinner. I am his "best" friend.





Many of my long term students friends are not my students. They are PE majors. Allen, business PE, Wu Fan, medical PE, and Fu Da Quan, tennis PE. All three of these young men have been great to me. They keep me informed. They try to help me and entertain me. I can count on them whenever I need company of information about XingHu.

Something Old and Something New

Someone just wrote and reminded us that we had not published a blog for awhile. She was thinking that must mean that we were already home. No, not yet. Rich has been patiently waiting for me to be responsible this time, and as usual I have been waiting for an inspiration. Can't wait any longer. Just do it. By the way, this is Jolene, a girl Rich met his first year of teaching in YongChuan. She has become a friend, and a good example of a determined, energetic Chinese student who is working hard to develop a prosperous future.

These next two blogs are to be about friends, so I want to update you on some old friends and introduce you to three new ones. First, the moms and babies.

Last year we mentioned several times the young families who were living all around us in our apartment building. Four of the babies that were born last year became favorites. This year all the families have moved to the new campus area, as we have, but we are all living in different apartment complexes and rarely see each other. I had the idea of setting up a play date at our apartment on a Saturday morning. I arranged a corner table with kid stuff and prepared to watch and enjoy. Soon after ten, the moms (4), grandmoms (2), husband (1) and toddlers (4) arrived. I was expecting an American style playdate where the children played by themselves and the parents had some time to chat. Not so. These children mostly clung to their moms and grandmoms. I think they have little play date experience. We had Xia and Le Le (who is the beauty of the bunch), Sally and Shuai (handsome), Di and Xing Xing (star) and Gui Feng and Bao Bao (just means "baby") You know that most babies in China do not wear diapers so the play was punctuated by frequent running trips to the bathroom. They all left at 11:00, probably relieved that no disasters had occurred and that they had satisfied my desire to see them all. As they left, I felt my first real sadness about leaving China. Except for maybe Sally and her son, because she is a good friend, I don't think I'll ever see those little ones again.

You may also remember Becky, our Chinese friend who sells DVD's. Big changes have occurred in her life. First of all, she is married. The picture shows her with her new husband, Edward. She gave him his English name after Edward Scissorhand because he loves movies and because he often helped her mom cut the yarn that she sold in the corner of their shop. Edward is a country boy, and we enjoyed delicious food at the day long wedding celebration in his home village. We like him very much. Second, the newly-weds and Becky's parents are closing out the DVD business and planning to open another kind of shop. And third, Becky is pregnant:) They are not ready for such an event, but they are getting very excited. Please pray along with us that all will go well with the pregnancy and the delivery.

I can't remember if we put on the blog that I was bitten by a dog, but I was. Not much harm done, though going to Peace Corps headquarters to get preventive rabies injections and being observed for a week did interrupt my schedule. Out of it all, though, has come a lovely friendship with Jia Ping, a teacher at our school and one of the dog's owners. We have a symbiotic relationship: I help her with her English, and she teaches me Tai Ji Chuan. We laugh all the time about who has the better student. Very generously, she provided me with a real Tai Ji outfit. We went into Yong Chuan to "old" street, up a hill and down an alley to a nondescript door. Inside was a woman beside an ironing board, her husband eating in front of the television, and dozens of outfits in various stages of completion. She measured me, not writing anything down until she was all finished. Her only comment was, "She's a big girl." Indeed.
The fourth friend I would like you to meet is Sandy. Sandy is my latest language tutor. She was a student of mine last year and had seemed to want to stay in touch, so when my tutor David no longer had enough time to come here to help me, I asked Sandy if she would be interested. We have had a good time together, and I was happy to be able to tell her that when I took my language exam in April, I had moved up a level. I was glad to be able to tell her that good news because she was determined to regard any failure on my part to be a failure on her part. Not so. This week I hope that we are going together to visit a special school in Yong Chuan for the blind and the deaf. I have hopes of finding out if they can utilize student volunteers and maybe learning some other ways we could help them. Sandy is a sweet and conscientious girl. I am lucky to have her help.

Last but not least is Free. Once long, long ago my college roommate came to visit me and we talked so much that my throat was dry and sore and I could barely speak. It's almost like that with Free. She loves to read and we have read and discussed several books over these two years. Now she is giving me a brief outline of Chinese history punctuated by many stories that seem to flow effortlessly from her mind. I think she is much smarter than I am, and I am constantly amazed by her insights into literature. Besides that she has boundless enthusiasm and energy. I would like to borrow some.

I told Rich yesterday that some days I would like to go back to America tomorrow and some days I would like to stay in China forever. He says he understands. We have been very blessed by our time here and hope to have many opportunities to share some of joys and concerns with you, face to face, even though we have been warned that you may not be so very interested:) We love you anyway.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

After a long, long break the school year began. We each now have eight classes or sixteen hours of classes. We each picked up an extra class when one of the foreign teachers did not return this term. Renee has six of her classes at HongHe where we live and two classes on Thursday in XingHu where we lived last year. All of the classes are sophomores and all classes she has had before. She has been having them solve riddles and tell jokes while she tries to motivate them and give them a bigger vision of what could be accomplished now and in their lives. I have four Buiness English classes at HongHe, one of them a new class. My other four classes are at XingHu where I go three times a week. Here I have two sophomore classes and two new freshmen classes.

Our week follows a pattern. On Monday we have dinner with students from one of the classes. They are organized so everyone gets a chance to eat with us during the year. Tuesday, Renee is off to see Becky to tutor or to talk with in Yongchuan. I get to read and sometimes play ping pong or walk. We have been following So You Think You Can Dance on Tuesday nights. On Wednesday we have English Corner in one of the two sites. I go to the gym after my class and after that or English Corner, I have shao kao, fried vegetables and meat, and some beer with a group of my young men friends on the street. Afterwards I go to Yang Lu's Karate School where I have learned TaiChi and have met some great people. On Thursday Renee is off to XinbgHu where she teaches, has lunch, plays the piano, gets tutored, and every other week has shao kao with her young girls friends. Thursday night we have been following that weeks events on American Idol. Friday after I return from XingHu is our day to just do whatever and often watch whatever the film of the week is. Saturday we go into town and have a traditional Chinese breakfast of steamed dumplings, fried bread, and hot soy milk. Then I often play tennis with whoever I can and Renee cleans. Once a month she goes to a big store in Chongqing to buy "western" things. Last Saturday we had a big day in the afternoon we went to a birthday party for a 30 year old friend in town. Then to an English Program on the public Square in HongHe. We returned to the birthday party for dinner' and then went back to campus. On campus on Saturday night there is a show and afterwards dancing. We are regulars at both. Last weekend an art student friend invited us to go with him and his girl friend for tea so the evening was eventful. Sunday we go to church in the morning. Now we alternate between the Catholic and the Evangelical church. Both have advantages and disadvantages for us. Sometimes in the afternoon we go to a college age house church. Last Sunday one of the Russian teachers gave a piano concert so we enjoyed Shubert, Chopin, deBussy, and Rachmaninov. A week in a glimpse. It leaves out some tutoring, Renee's reading buddy, and our Chinese tutors. AND it leaves out Renee's dog bite. Bitten by a teacher's little house dog, Renee then had to go to ChengDu at the Peace Corps insistance to get shots and be observed. The process took a whole week of time.

During this time we got to the top of Huang Qua Shan for what should be our last time. We went on during the flower festival which turned out to be one week too early. But we had a great time with some student friends and saw some new sights on the top of the mountain.

There is also a new park that has been built right behind our dorm. There is no gate there so it takes 20 minutes just to get there. A bus driver pointed it out to us. We have gone with our neighbors from last year -Sally, her husband and baby. I have then gone with some students to climb the man made mountain and see the whole of the mad made lakes and gardens. A local business man has built the park in exchange for the land which he will now make a fortune off of by building houses, offices, and businesses.

SPRING FESTIVAL 2010

Not to let any grass grow under our feet before we left for Spring Festival we kept busy. One of the English teachers Zhang AnLi who drives me to class on Mondays took us to SongJi. JongJi is an ancient town here in Yongchuan. He and his friend showed us some of the sites and treated us to local foods. Then we went down to the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) to look for stones. This is their favorite activity when they go to SongJi. We have some rocks to show for our time there. We also went to a local art show where we saw local artists of many diferent media exhiibit. Then we were off to our student, David's kindergarten.

It was a fun but cold day. This school is a modern as you can get and is growing quickly. David was hired because they wanted the preschoolers to be introduced to English. We, of course, were guests of honor.
Then off to Guangzhou for the Spring Festival. We were staying with Dr. Wang's family. You may remember back in 1986 four Chinese came and visited us and Marple Newtown High School. Dr. Wang was one of them and although he died a couple of years ago I have been intouch first with him and then his family for over these 20 years. Sam Wang greeted us at the airport and we were off to his mother's. We spent the five days with them.

The Grandmother Guo and her son Wang Liang and his wife and their teenage daughter Aki. Sam and his family live about 15 minutes away. Sam was incharge of us since he drove and had the best English.
We visited a reconstructed village and sampled the food. We made dumplings with the family and were not even laughed at. We visited and ate with various parts of the family over the next days. Somehow they coordinated so that we sampled the vaious Cantonese style foods of Guangzhou. Besides eating our way through Guangzhou we visited Sam's home in a luxury apartment, rode a bicycle built for two through a park, saw the vaious fireworks displays from atop the city, and drove forever through the countryside. Spring Festival was different in Guangzhou. Since it is a huge city fireworks are controlled so there was no World War III like last year. The family was smaller and the extended family was actually located in Shanghai too far to visit. The meals were not punctuated with toasts as last year and drinking was not the sport of the day. It was great to renew our ties to these old friends.
We returned and spent three days in Chongqing. Grace, another English teacher, met us at the airport and got us a hotel with computer in center city. She and her boy friend hosted us for the three days. We spent a day with one of our students John who lives just outside the city. His family was more than gracious to us. The next day we met another student and toured the Three Gorges Museum. It is huge and tells the history of Chongqing and its culture. Grace and Chu HongZe tools us one night for pizza at Papa John's (their choice because they wanted to try) and another night to have Peking Duck.

Her friend has little chance to speak English so he was anxious to spend whatever time he could with us. We think he may even come to visit us in Yongchuan.

DOWN UNDER

As the semester ended, we had a couple of invitations for dinner. One of the invitations was from a teacher and the other from one of my students. The teacher is a horticulture teacher and he is one of my tennis group. We have done a number of things together. It turned out to be a party with three couples and us. It was a good time. The student was a girl from my Business English class. She had been my timer for the midterm and that little responsibility turned around her semester. She and her good friend took us for a tasty meal of duck hotpot. Renee really liked Annie. She wants to introduce her to our student friend David. They may not hit it off though. Annie wants to go help people in Tibet, and David thinks he wants to be a businessman in Chongqing.

We delayed our vacation trip because of a wedding. The wedding was in Jiamgjin where we did our summer project. Mr. Li and Shelly had moved their date up so we would be able to attend. It was a large gathering. Renee and I were in the wedding procession (of cars, not people). I prepared a part of my wedding speech to present. It was another elaborate occasion with over 800 guests. (The Chinese weddings we have attended have all followed the same pattern. They are held in a restaurant. There is usually an arbor through which the couple enters. The bride is dressed in white and maybe even walks to Lohengrin's Wedding March. There is a stage where the couple stands and listens to speeches, pours wine into a configuration of glasses so that somehow you pour into the top glass and all the glasses are filled, and cuts the wedding cake. In one wedding the couple even played some silly games. Then the bride throws her bouquet. Next the bride changes into a red dress and the bride and groom go from table to table toasting. We have learned that they often use water or very weak wine because so much toasting can be "bad for your health" as the Chinese say. Meanwhile the guests are eating from the multitudes of dishes that are gracing their round tables. After about an hour and a half, everyone leaves. There is no minister or any official to "now pronounce them man and wife." Sometimes the wedding occurs months or even years after a couple is "married" legally because the weddings are so expensive.)

During that same weekend we had the second student bemoan to us that his parents had arranged a blind date for him. In this case, the young man found his date to be lovely and hopes that the future communication will lead to better times. (Actually, we had a little laugh at his expensive. He had spent about an hour telling us how upset he was about this action that his parents had taken. Then we happened to see him the next day with the girl, who was so beautiful. The boy was grinning from ear to ear. Maybe parents do have a good idea now and then:)

Then we were off to Australia. We flew to Sydney and stayed with the Gibbons, friends from our travel in Eastern Europe. They have a lovely home on the beach. We enjoyed our days of seeing the surfers, swimming in the sea pool, and touring the sites. The beaches are beautiful, the animals are exotic, the harbor is majestic. We enjoyed our time with the Gibbins and with Yanlin, our friend from Kunming. She has just moved to Sydney with her husband.

Next stop, Melbourne to become spectators at the Australian Open. (Rich had to choose our hotel online and he did a great job. While the location was not in the center of town, the transportation system made it easy to travel to the tournmant and to other sites, and we had a beautiful park right across the street.) The tennis was great, but the site was very crowded. We saw many players -- The Williams sisters, the Bryan Brothers, John Isner, Sam Querry, Robby Ginepri, Ferdinand Gonzales, the Chinese players -- and some good matches. We also saw some of Melbourne -- the night market, docks, gardens, and we went to the theater and saw Jersey Boys. It was a good show. (It was a treat to be in a Western country, to hear English all around, to have people constantly say please and thank you, to have automobile drivers actually be considerate of pedestrians. What wasn't so great was always looking the wrong way when we crossed the street. We could not get used to the reversed driving lanes. We could get used to the great weather, though. Unless we were sitting directly in the sun, we were very comfortable. The only problem was sunburned lips! How did that happen?)
On returning to China, we exchanged our summer clothes for winter ones and went to Chengdu for a week of Peace Corps inservice training and language review. (We enjoyed meeting the China 15s, the new group that came to China in the summer. They seem to have a positive "aura" and three of them are from eastern Pennsylvania!) We spent another evening and a day with former students and now we are back in Yongchuan for a week or so before our next adventure. So far our holiday has been stupendous.