What A Great Day !

Yesterday was a really great day for me! So.... maybe the last few posts mention “Nettie” a lot. That is because she has been very helpful and kind and basically spent the last three days showing me things, helping me out and yesterday I was lucky enough to get to spend the day not only Nettie but also with her family. We started the day by heading to a different district in Yichang called “Dangyang“ .There is a beautiful Buddhist Temple there (Yuquan Temple)http://www.lotour.com/member/travel/13401/product-259465.html It is quite stunning and is a great feeling to visit there.


I can’t think of the right way of explaining, maybe it was the feeling of history which accompanied the buildings and surrounds…this is something that is not at our beautiful temples in Australia as they are fairly new and modern. It was a real treat for me and I would like to visit more often.

There is a beautiful lake there called “Pearl Lake” when you clap your hands and make noise bubbles rise up from the bottom.

The surrounds of the Temple are really magical.
After some time here we headed out for Lunch courtesy of one of Nettie’s husbands work acquaintances. It was in a farming community and the atmosphere was great, very different to the hustle and bustle of the city and modern restaurants and the food we ate was all locally grown, fresh and on to the table for lunch. Nettie’s daughter “Carol” was particularly taken with one of the little dogs that lived there…It seems that she has a love of dogs like I do and is drawn to them all the time. As you can see Carol is quite adorable and very cool :-)

After lunch we went up the road a bit to do some fishing… I caught a fish (look closely:-)you may have to enlarge the picture!


Whilst we were in Dangyang, a phone call came through inviting us for dinner with the parents of one of the students that Nettie and I both teach English to. This is very odd for me to understand. In Australia this kind of thing is not done and infact it is almost frowned upon to have any kind of relationship with students and their families outside of the school . Here it is common it seems for students and their families to befriend you and this dinner last night was a real eye opener for me. Basically the parents invite their child’s teachers to a elaborate dinner as a way of saying thanks, they can also ask each of the teachers how their child is doing with their studies. Now the meal was amazing….I tried my first taste of Beijing Duck (Very, very yummy)and I have not seen so much food…It just kept coming and coming. I must say though that I felt like a fish out of water, for the first time I was a little overcome by the occasion, obviously there was only Chinese being spoken (except for a commentary for me by Nettie) the room was full of teachers from my school, I was totally out of my depth and was afraid to even mutter one word in Chinese (up until now this has never happened before) and I feel a bit disappointed with myself that I kind of withdrew into a hole. This is something I have made a conscious effort to change about myself since coming to China, to not withdraw when meeting and spending time with people…but last night…was too difficult. I am hoping that they do not think I was unfriendly…I honestly just didn’t really know what to do and I couldn’t speak. I was also conscious of trying to not do the wrong things as far as etiquette whilst eating etc and I still really JUST DON”T KNOW!! Still it was interesting to see, the food was great, I watched and learnt some more Chinese customs and in all probably had one of the best days since I have arrived in China.

Yichang Tourism Festival

There is so much to write about at the moment. I feel like I haven't been home for days :-) I have had much fun with great company. Saturday afternoon, after the mornings classes, I went with Nettie and some other foreign teachers from Yichang to the Festival at the "Three Gorges Dam". Suprisingly, there were quite a few Australians amongst us..I think we totaled five! Katie, Beth and Zac (the new American teachers at the university, whom I had already had lunch with previously)were also on the bus.

The drive out to the Dam is quite beautiful...this area really is very scenic. For me the show was interesting, some specky explosions of colour, many entertainers and the fascination of watching the whole crowd banging inflatable plastic hammers and clapping plastic clappy hands throughout the whole show. A bag was provided with these items inside plus a bottle of water...As with many moments in China it often feels very surreal...
For me all these different cultural experiences are really interesting.

After the show we were all bused to "The International Hotel" for a tasty Dinner and after that we walked across to our VIP seats on the river park for the fireworks display. I have to say...China knows how to do great fireworks, it was very beautiful...my favourite moment was when the fireworks went up, exploded and then Red Lanterns floated down from the sky, landed on the "Chang Jiang" and floated down the river..."Very Cool".

This is the "Yiling Bridge" at night and "The International Hotel" where we ate dinner.

P.S. If you want to see some extra photo's of the fireworks and the Festival...just go to my photo's page.

Smells Like Home

I had a really enjoyable day at the Yichang Tourism Festival yesterday..got some cool pic's and was ready to blog about it...but.. it has been taken over by the big arrival of my first mail here in China...(I mean snail mail :-) Today I am now feeling extremely homesick because I picked up a parcel from home. Mum and Dad, I miss and love you both very much..Thankyou for being such thoughtful and wonderful parents.
One of the teachers(Vivian)was kind enough to walk with me to China post here in Dianjun..(and I found another whole new little area yet again which I had not seen)I guess it was a 10-15 minute walk from our apartment block. I lugged a rather large parcel back with me and suddenly knew that as soon as I opened it I would feel emotional. I actually just sat and stared at it for a while before I could open it. Of course even opening the box, a waft of the smell of home hit me. It was full of many wonderful things I know from home...Vegemite (YAY), my Dockers Bear and his mates, Twinnings Lemon and Ginger Tea, Peppermint Tea, Eucalyptus Oil (great for everything) Lavender oil (smells amazing and also great for everything),a coles freezer shopping bag so I can get my frozen goods home before they all defrost, my favorite scented votive, toys from home, undies (you can never have enough undies),some extra clothing that I couldn't fit in my case when I left Australia... laminate sheets(I cant find them here and I need them for some school activity work) :-)many essentials and "Caramello Koala's and Freddo Frogs" These is really a luxurious treat now :-)and much more stuff !!Wonderful..
Seeing as I had a wonderful lunch with my friend Nettie today, I only wanted a light dinner so I went straight for the "Vegemite" I had bought some fresh bread in the city today from a bakery that actually produces very tasty bread and treats. Tonight I will have a Freddo Frog and a Caramello Koala with a cup of Lemon and Ginger Tea (I will have to ration them all though)
It is indeed wonderful....

Cool Students

I just have to say that the kids here at this school really are great. They speak to me often about many things, help me with their language, tell me Chinese traditions, walk with me,tell me places to visit, they mostly listen, learn and have much fun in class AND they like to involve me in their games. A few days ago it was a "Long Jump" game that they play frequently. You have to stand with your feet together, swing your arms, gain as much momentum as you can and jump forward. They measure the distance with the joins in the pathway. Of course it was no competition, they were easily jumping a couple of meters, me...I was at least a foot short of their marks. Today....it was Badminton. Now "Yes" I used to play Badminton, but I have not really played now for many, many, years...I was really worried I would look really stupid, but I took up the offer and played...It was so fun...I could still play (even if I was a little rusty)and the students... well I think it is just so great of them to incorporate me as a friend as well as their teacher. They make the transition here so much easier for me. Maybe I have never really grown up, I seem to fit in easier with the students than I do the adults :-)
I think it's worth noting that as you have seen from a previous post, these kids (at the moment) have no outside sports and recreation ground (because of the renovations)
They have an area near the classrooms, where there are some Badminton nets set up and another area where there are some table tennis tables. Obviously not everyone can play in these prime locations at once..but...they have great imagination and make up there own games. Basketball with ping pong balls, slam dunking the balls through the air grids above the classroom doors...this is very popular:-)Practicing ping pong against the walls...I don't know where they get all their energy from.

"The rains are a coming????"

Just thought this was worth a brief mention. Went shopping yesterday afternoon, got a text message from the school saying that the "Mr fix it men" were in my apartment fixing the toilets and hot water system, which have been dodgy lately and needed repair work. "O.K, great...thankyou" I am basically on the bus heading home anyway.
I walk in and although the guys are not in sight, I figure they must be on the roof doing something to the hot water system,the water was sputtering slightly out of the excess water pipe in my bathroom (trying to get working) so I go back in the kitchen and start unpacking the shopping...Literally only about two minutes later, the two young (very cute..i must add) repair guys come back in indicating it is all fixed...I say good and we walk into my bedroom to check out the bathroom ensuite and.......my whole bedroom is FLOODED...the blockage had cleared...the drain was blocked(I have never used this shower because it has never had hot water) and my whole bedroom was a swimming pool.
Now....all things could have been said and done, yelled and panic etc...but we were all so shocked we looked at each other in disbelief, quickly turned off the water and basically LAUGHED !!! Honestly there was no point in yelling, anger and whatever, it was not done on purpose...and we were all so stunned anyway. After the initial shock I quickly grabbed the mops (luckily I had bought a new one and still had the old one) and I have a window cleaner which I use to sweep excess water off the floor and down the drain in the bathroom after a shower....and a dustpan and brush and we set to work...It only took about half and hour or so. I was trying to find Chinese words to fit the occasion and they were moving there arms and pretending to swim...
The only thing I was a little worried about was the power pack for my computer was on the ground I picked it up and unplugged it just as the water had reached it (the other side of the room) It seems fine...I think I got there just in time ...
OH also on a different subject, maybe it's been on the news? There is a crisis here in China with MILK..basically it is all (as i have mentioned )UHT or powdered milk. Well they have found traces of Melamine (can cause kidney stones) in allegedly three main companies products. The authorities say it is still safe to consume but I had a email from the Australian consulate saying "Until further notice...NO DAIRY" :-( sob sob..
Now I really have to think outside the square as far as cooking and eating! The products are still on the shelf (except for the main offender)and I still see the kids at school drinking the little boxes of the milk and yohgurt. It's hard in these situations to distinguish between over the top reactions and just what is the truth!

Go Figure !!

Although this is nothing suprising to those foreign teachers already working in China, it's all new to me. Just check this out !
I was told we have a week holiday next week (National Day holiday)....yippee...Then I was informed the next piece of news..In order for the week holiday, we all have to work this Saturday and Sunday (Go figure) I actually was told an understandable explanation (I think) from one of the teachers. The holiday falls on Wed, Thurs and Fri of next week and the weekend follows it as normal, but because many Chinese like to travel at this time to visit family etc they prefer to have this preceding weekend on the Monday and Tuesday, giving them 7 days in a row holiday (I can just imagine the outcry in Australia if they told us this..lol)..SO, OK, I think that kind of makes sense. BUT, it gets better.....So you may ask.."Sue, what classes are you teaching this weekend" Let me try and give you the run down...
This Friday (tomorrow the 26th) I will teach next Mondays classes. Saturday, I will teach next Tuesdays classes. Sunday, I will teach this Fridays (normally tomorrows) classes....BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Period 4 on Friday (which is now on Sunday) will be taught in Period one on Monday (which is now on Friday (tomorrow)(I think this is something to do with a flag raising ceremony)If you say it all quickly, it sounds like a skit from "The Two Ronnies Show"
Sooooooo.. Have you got that ! It will be a miracle if I actual get to these classes on the correct day and time...
OH there is one other thing - I have been invited by the "Yichang Municipal Foreign Affairs Office" to attend an afternoon of entertainment celebrating the opening ceremony of the "9th International Yangtze Three Gorges Tourism Festival of Yichang" at "The Three Gorges Dam Project" This is on Saturday afternoon, so I casually mentioned "What about Tuesday's classes on Saturday afternoon? :-)" OHHHHH....Maybe they hadn't thought about that...I can only ponder what will happen.
But back to the ceremony..Nettie (one of the Chinese English teachers) has been invited to accompany me and we get picked up and driven, watch all the entertainment and finish the afternoon by going to a banquet meal at "International Hotel" It sounds like a great afternoon and I think that a few Yichang Foreign Experts teachers(our official title ;-) are invited, so hopefully I will meet some others like myself :-)

Steak house Lunch !

Today made a nice change. I got to repay the favour of lunch to Salina. Of course, I had no idea where to actually go and left it up to Salina to choose. The restaurant was very nice and we both ate Peppered Steak. It tasted good and the service there was great, seems like most of the staff there can speak some English. What was very cool, was when the sweetest little boy decided he would come and speak with me. I heard this little voice say "Hello" and I turned and there he was...So cute :-)His mum was happy for us to take a picture.

Salina is an English teacher at a different school to me. She is lovely, kind and helpful and it was really nice to get to spend some time with her today.

Walking back through the square after lunch I finally got to ask someone what the sticks with what look like tiny toffee apples actually are...Well, they taste like little toffee apples, but they are not apples, they are some other kind of fruit...I couldn't recognise it and Salina was not certain of it's English name...so I'm still not sure what they are...but now I know they are quite delicious...uh oh!!Lucky I have all those stairs to keep walking up and down!

A Learning Curve

From my experience so far with Chinese English, I guess this may be said “A curve to be learnt” or “A curve to be journeyed”
In the past at university etc I was taught to think of my achievements on a scale using “Peaks and Plateaus” ie : There will be times when you learn earnestly and advance forward (Peaks) and also there will be times when there is stillness, advancement seems to cease and it feels like you are stuck in mud or just treading water (Plateau)...Maybe now I view it more as “Curves and Straights”. Sometimes it feels like a straight road which is being walked (maybe for long periods of time) with seemingly no real advancement, just much the same everyday. In this situation (I think) that the mind may have a tendency to try and throw things up to try and alter your direction, maybe trying to propel you towards a curve in this road, but maybe you are on a straight road and you don't want to alter your direction and you may fight within yourself.
If you do suddenly find yourself negotiating a curve in your road, now it is seemingly pointless to try and look backwards to the past or forwards to the future....you cant see around those bends so why bother predicting what may be around a curve or reliving what you have passed before. Here it seems the wisest thing to do is live in the present moment as this will determine what will lie ahead of you around the bend, becoming your next present moment.
A very wise person that I know in Perth, describes uncomfortable difficulties that we may experience on our journeys as “Growing Pains”, so if we encounter these, YES they may feel uncomfortable for a while, but as with everything in time they will pass and you will learn and grow from the experience.I find this rather comforting.
SO why am I talking about this, because coming to China is one big learning curve and I think that in one way or another, someone can only grow from an experience such as this.

Construction at the school

The second day of the semester saw them start to rip up all of the sport field and track etc..I've been meaning to get pictures at different stages but I keep forgetting..Today I remembered!!
Doesn't look pretty...infact...a demolition site,but I've been told it will be great when it's finished..So I'll show you some more as it happens. Oh, the building in the background with the blue roof is where my apartment is.

Look at this class of sixty angels :-)

So a very impromptu request, but they were happy to oblige...I just wanted you to see one of my big classes. There are 60 students in this class (I couldn't stand far enough back to fit everyone in), but with the younger classes they split them into groups of 30. This class is exceptionally good, well behaved and very quick to learn and have fun! So just before the bell rang to end class, I asked them to say a very quick hello to Australia...I was suprised they were happy to do it because that kind of thing can make them a bit shy...but here they are! Just press the play button:-)

Exploration!

So today I decided I was fed up (It's easy to get reliant on getting help from locals who can speak some English, or people in the know)I was feeling like exploring..I couldn't find out what time the ferry runs across the river to "Riverside Park", I didn't know what bus runs to "Riverside Park"...Heck, I didn't even know which direction it was from where I get off my regular bus...but I was determined to find it...so I walked and walked! I found it and as you can see, it is quite beautiful and seems to run for kilometres along the river. Here are some Pictures (you can see more if you go to my public photo gallery)










I also ventured through "The Childrens Park" which was very cool..Much around Yichang seems to cater for young children, lots of things to do and little toys and balloons etc for sale everywhere and this park is really great for young and old.
I also got asked for the "Please be in our photo" I obliged and handed my camera over too :-)They were very happy and full of thanks!

Mid Autumn Festival

So today is the second day and celebration day (of the moon) in the Mid Autumn Festival. The Chinese celebrate by eating "Moon Cakes" and fruit and I was told that the moon cakes should be eaten whilst drinking Green Tea (because they can be very sweet)This is link for those who wish to read more about it (Thanks Anna).. it's very interesting http://www1.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/28/content_72879.htm Here is a present from my teacher friends at School, a big box of moon cakes...as you can see I've also got the green tea and the fruit at the ready..

Also, just for you mum....a yijin (1/2 kilo) of Local Yichang Freshly Roasted Chestnuts, still warm (they are roasted in hot coals in the city streets) I paid 10 yuan..$1.00 AUD is worth about 6 YUAN...so very cheap (and I was probably ripped off because I'm a waigou ren (foreigner) We pay a fortune for these in Australia (and we have to grill or roast them ourselves) so I wasn't complaining.

HAPPY TEACHERS DAY !

What a great concept, much celebration today for "Teachers Day" gifts from the school and big "Happy Teachers Day" from the the students (and many text messages from all the teachers I have met)
As you can see from the picture I received a beautiful bunch of flowers and a special limited edition Stamp, DVD and picture package about "The Three Gorges","Gezhouba Dam" and the surrounding towns such as Yichang. Very special and very kind of them! Thanks everyone "Happy Teachers Day".

Electrical Storm

So I've had no internet for a couple of days with thanks to an electrical storm we had here a couple of nights ago. There was thunder, lightening and a bit of rain. Two of the biggest thunder claps I think I have ever heard in my life made the place shake making me sit up in bed. "Why did my bed feel all gritty". I jumped up and put the en suit bathroom light on to see my light hanging precariously from the ceiling (plaster all over the bed), hence to say I have spent the last two nights on the couch..It is fixed now and whilst it doesn't look 100% attached, I'm assured it's safe to go back to my bed!

Some random pics!

In the city on Saturday...just took a couple of random pics, maybe your interested!
1)You thought I was kidding about the stairs in this place...just check out what you need to walk up to get to the Train station up the top ! Luckily we got driven to the station by car when we went to Wuhan.
2)I'm not sure exactly what the inflatable arch with the dragons is for...It just kinda appeared on Saturday in the square.
3)There's a man sells little packs of food for the children to feed the Pigeons...very cute. It's funny I've never seen these pigeons before and I walk past this area a lot..They obviously know the exact time and day to appear for a good feed.

Thankyou!

During this week I have been very lucky to meet with two other foreign teachers here in the city. Amy and Brad teach at the university and are back here for their third year. Thank you both for your warm welcome and all the handy bits of information. Not only can I now find some groceries that make life easier, but Amy has forwarded on a cook book that the foreign teachers have put together after a few years of experience of living here in Yichang...maybe this will also give me an opportunity to improve my culinary skills. Maybe some of you don't realise, but it is actually very difficult to come across many of the things we are so used to eating. We can only get plastic cheese slices,strange sweet tasting bread usually with bits of sultanas in it, boxes of (cow in the cupboard) milk and it's quite bizzare that many of the drinks here such as instant coffee (are literally instant) the milk powder, sweetener etc are all in the little packet and you just put it in the cup and add hot water. If you want the real stuff, first you have to track it down....then you usually have to pay a price ! I have found one thing I love (thanks again Amy and Brad) ...."Milky Pearl Tea" (see above picture)It's kind of odd drinking a drink with black jelly like balls in the bottom of the glass...but I like it !! I have to mention a special thanks to Amy's friend Salina (a Chinese English teacher here who speaks English very well)who was extremely kind and treated a whole bunch of us to a wonderful lunch today ( I had Mild Chicken Curry) It is so good to get reminders about how many kind, helpful people there are around.

Blog Neglection

I've neglected my blog a little of late.. These photo's are the students having a randomly called exercise time and the view from the 7th floor classroom
A quick update -
Classes have started pretty successfully, the kids are great. Most of them seem very respectful towards their teachers (the main difference from Australia)but really so far this week, I think they have enjoyed their conversational English classes. The other teachers have commented on the amount of fun and laughter coming from the classrooms...I have been playing ball games and fluffy dice games incorporated into introduction lessons..Throwing them around the classroom ( a tip I learnt at A.T.A training college)Very Successful ! One of the things the students had to tell me was what they liked to do in their spare time...most answers where as norm'.. watching T.V, playing computer games, reading, movies, listening to music,playing sport etc....but there was one rather disturbing answer from a very small normal looking kid...it was "Kill Pig" whilst making a cutting motion across his forearm...(lol)I queried this a few times before writing it on the board. I have to say most of the class laughed...so I don't think it's common practice for Junior 2's...It was funny though because afterwards I was thinking about our young farming kids in Western Australia and how that kind of thing is probably quite normal for them also !!
There has been a few mix ups with my timetable (classrooms in the wrong spot and wrong time etc)It's not too much problem but most of my classes are on the 6th and 7th floor ...I have never had such a thorough cardio workout (my apartment is also on the 6th floor of my block)The students run up and down past me as I struggle to floor 7 and then get told "oh no that's on floor 2"...OH Well !