Christmas (12-29)

Christmas has been unusual for me this year, as we have had many Christmas-related activities. The celebrations started on Saturday with a party at Ying’s education center. She had invited us all to attend and sing a song. When we arrived for the 2:00 program, we were seated and served fruit and tea. Among the fruits were kumquats, my first and a new favorite. We sat for a long time before learning that the program wasn’t until 3:30. We had been asked to arrive an hour and a half early, which we weren’t happy about. So we went out for a walk and some wanton soup. 

The program was fun. Students performed well, singing and performing a short skit. Afterwards, we joined guests from the education department (Ying’s father works there.) for wine and food while others cleaned up. Then we all went to a hot pot restaurant. There were two pots in the center of the table—one with spicy water and one with plain water. As always, the meal was delicious and had more food than we could eat. People took the extra food that had been ordered home.

Christmas Eve is called Silent Night in China. The tradition is to give apples because the Chinese word for apple is similar to that for silent night. Several students gave me apples when they came for their exams Monday and Tuesday. 

Tuesday after lunch we were called to the Foreign Affairs Office because that was when the president was available to meet with us. Since I had students arriving early for their final exam, I couldn’t stay. So I was given my gift as soon as the president arrived and a photo was taken. They gave us two pairs of beautiful chopsticks and chopstick holders.

That evening, Christmas Eve, the Foreign Affairs Office took us—and several people from their office and Peggy and the head of her department—out for dinner. We had been told that we were going to a buffet. What a buffet it was! The setting was elegant. 

The food was beautifully displayed as well as delicious. 

There were about ten different buffet lines with different types of food at each: sushi, beef steak, several Chinese lines, seafood, two dessert lines. I’d never heard of any such thing, but April said such buffets with different types of international food are popular in the UK. We ate for two hours. The cost was posted at the door: 180 yuan ($30). It was a really special treat.

On the 25^th, which, of course, is not a holiday in China, we had our final exam for the teachers’ class. Mr. Huang had suggested postponing it so we didn’t have to do it on our special holiday. It was really nice of him to be so considerate, but some of us have other classes on Wednesday and had to work anyway; so we agreed that it was OK to do the exam that day. It would have been difficult to find another day when the teachers could meet. When I arrived, there was a small gift—an embroidered billfold—on the podium for me. The other teachers received gifts that day, but I had been given my Christmas present two weeks earlier; so it was a surprise to receive another small gift. The class gave me a light-weight thermos so I can always have hot water or tea. It’s quite nice, and it really keeps hot water hot. In fact, boiling water stays too hot to drink much for over an hour while the outside is cool because the rooms are cold

After lunch that day, Dale and I were called to meet the head of the Foreign Language Department. I knew this would be to receive our gifts for doing teachers’ training lectures early in the semester. Mr. Jiang thanked us for our work, and we were given electronic photo displays.

On the evening of the 25^th, we had a special English Corner activity (aka Christmas party). This was April’s idea and project, but I helped her organize it. She proposed the idea of this special activity at the beginning of the month and the Foreign Affairs Department was happy that we would do this for students. April then submitted a proposed budget three weeks ago, and we had no response. The week before Christmas we were getting concerned and decided that, if we had to, we would purchase what we needed and pay for it ourselves. The original proposal was for 150 students. When a large room was booked, April told the student organizers that all the English majors—about 300—could participate. A week before the event, I talked to Peggy. She told me that such an activity has never been held at the university and that usually students, not teachers, organize special activities. Had we known that, we could have had the students make the original suggestion. We did have two students doing a lot of the organizing, but April did most of it. Also, Christmas is a religious holiday, and religious holidays are not celebrated in China. These may have been reasons for the lack of response to the budget.

On Friday, Peggy called me and was concerned because she had been told that all of the freshmen and many of the sophomores knew about the Christmas party. Her boss had told her that they would approve the event if we limited attendance to 100 students and called it a special English Corner activity, not a Christmas party. Of course, I agreed. We then made sure that none of the music being played or sung would be religious. Sunday, April and I did the shopping for decorations, prize gifts, and candy for Santa to throw out to students. We purchased the tree at the Student Street shop because it was larger and cheaper than the ones at Carrefour. The shopkeeper also picked up a Santa outfit. We were then ready.

All went fine once the event/party began. We foreign teachers entered singing a Chinese song that everyone knows. That was a big hit with the students. After a couple songs, we began the game playing. Each of us had a game for ten minutes. Mine was Pin the Nose on the Reindeer. Grace had drawn a colorful reindeer for me. Three student groups performed dances. And we finished with Pass the Parcel with a small gift wrapped inside many layers of newspaper. Students who had the parcel when the music stopped could unwrap it until the music started again. Then Santa Dale came out. The students went crazy when he started to throw candy and literally mobbed him. I finally got close enough to tell him to go to the stage, and then all went well. 

The evening finished with photos, of course. It was a big success. Jane from the Foreign Affairs Office and a couple English teachers were there. We wondered if they had been told to attend to report back about how it went.

When we did the shopping, April and I still didn’t know if the budget would be approved and we would be reimbursed. We had to have “commercial invoices” to submit in order to get reimbursed for expenses. These turned out to be receipts with a red stamp from the store. The store on Student Street gave us vouchers, which just had the amount of money, not what was purchased. On Friday after the activity, Peggy told me that her boss had said I could give her the commercial invoices and they will find a way to reimburse me. Perhaps because we strictly followed the rules and it was a success. When I delivered the invoices, she was surprised that I had stamped receipts from the Student Street shop. She had been collecting them from colleagues so she would have the correct amount of money to present to the department head. It didn’t matter that the receipts weren’t from the store we shopped at. It's all about having paperwork on file.

For the three days before Christmas, the tree was in my living room. We put the lights and garlands on it to see how it would look. I found that I enjoyed having it in my room and turned it on every night. Although I didn’t have a tree myself in the U.S., I always enjoyed visiting others’ trees. It was special here because there weren’t other trees to visit.

On Friday, April and I went to Chengdu to see Christmas lights at night. Jane went with us, which was fun. She is our new office mate. She is currently finishing teaching tourism English and will work for the Foreign Affairs Office full time starting next term. We started at Raffles City where we’d seen Santa hats on the panda sculpture and a tree when we went past on the way to the buffet. We walked around inside the mall to wait for the lights to be turned on to have the full effect. Several stores had Christmas trees in the store or window. When we returned outside, the lights were on. 

The wait was worthwhile. Christmas lights are magical wherever they are but especially in places where they are not common. 

The featured tree is made from 7-Up bottles. Seeing the lights there was a highlight of the night.

Next we went to Chunxi Road to see what was there. There weren’t many special Christmas lights, but we enjoyed walking around and seeing the night lights in general. We were fortunate in that the weather was a little warmer; so it was a great night to be out walking. 

The Christmas bears we’d seen at the Japanese department store had already been replaced with horses for the upcoming Year of the Horse. Jane took us to a restaurant for typical local food. After ordering, she left to join her daughter at McDonalds. When the food came, we were astounded. She ordered a total of eleven dishes: three for each of us and five to share. That was much more than we wanted, but we did well.

All of these activities made this Christmas more of an event than it has been for me for several years. It was fun.

Another special event of the week was Grace and her roommate cooking dinner again on Sunday. This time we paid for the food, which we were happy to do. They enjoy cooking, and we enjoy eating.

Grace made paper cuts for each of us, which was sweet of her. She learned to do this in an art class this term and says it’s really easy. I think not.

There are student posters advertising events on campus. Since they’re in Chinese, I don’t know what they are, but many feature Christmas-type pictures, such as Santas and gifts. Some are quite cute. The trappings of Christmas are popular. They are fun to see, but they lack the spirit behind them.

A Week of Outings (12-8)

This was a week of outings. I’d been having a yen to go back to see the baby pandas to see how much they’ve grown. So last Saturday I did it. Since it takes 2.5 hours to get there, it really is a hassle, but it was worth it.

The weather was nice—cool but not cold. I’m not sure what that means for pandas, but it was a busy day, and I saw lots of activities I hadn’t seen before. It was a perfect day to be walking around. When I started walking along the bamboo-lined path, I realized that being there was part of my yen to return to the center. In addition to having pandas, it’s a great park environment to be outside and walk around in.

When I bought my ticket, the woman gave me the senior discount, which was a pleasant surprise. The sign clearly states that Chinese citizens over 60 with a Chinese elderly card get the discount. Since I don’t qualify, I didn’t show my driver’s license to show that I am eligible for the discount. But I guess the gray hair did the job. I wasn’t given the discount the first time I went; so maybe it depends on the ticket seller or maybe I the few words of Chinese I spoke helped.

On the way to the nursery, I stopped at the red panda enclosure to see if anything was going on there. Lots of red pandas were visible. The first time I was there, I saw one on the ground and several dark balls high up in the trees. The second time, we didn’t see either. On Saturday, one red panda was on the ground. Many were on low branches in the trees and were clearly visible. A few were moving to change positions. So it was a fun day for seeing red pandas.

The next stop was the sub-adult enclosure. A man was using a bamboo pole to offer panda cakes and apples to a group of two-year-olds. He would hold the food at a high, but reachable level and the pandas stood to get it. He made sure they all got a turn. I hadn’t seen this before; so it was fun to watch.

Panda kindergarten is next to the nursery. There the one-year-olds were at play. There were also a few one-year-olds who were playing. These were the ones I first saw in March when they were six months old. So it was fun to see them again. They looked and acted the same—but larger. 

When I walked into the nursery and it was empty, I was disappointed. Then I walked out the other side, and there they were—three babies sleeping on a platform. Cute, 3.5-month-old bundles of white and black fur.

Then I walked uphill to the other nursery, since a sign had indicated that the babies are on display at both nurseries. Seven of the little ones were outside. Most of these were a little larger than the ones at the first nursery. I think they were the ones born a month earlier, making them 4.5 months old. When I arrived, most of them were sleeping on a platform beside the building, but a couple were playing. 

Then a man came out and moved them onto the grass near the fence so the visitors could see them more easily. 

Some just settled onto the ground and continued sleeping, looking like guinea pigs from behind. 

But a few became active. Three went to the nearby tree, and two tried to climb. This, of course, thrilled all of us who were watching.

Next to this enclosure a seven-year-old and a one-year-old were playing around. It seemed like the older one was grooming the younger one. The younger one followed the older one around. I think the older one was the mother. 

I ended out hanging around the pandas for four hours. Obviously, I was enjoying my time there.

The other thing on my agenda was a milkshake—Western-style, that is. I was pleased to be able to communicate where I wanted to go so a man could point out the correct bus. When I got off, I couldn’t see the metro and didn’t know which way to go; so I started asking bus drivers. A man getting onto a bus understood me and then walked me across the parking lot and to the train station where the metro stop is. The milkshake was delicious, as always. I also had a sandwich, since it was dinner time.

It was a wonderful outing, and I returned home feeling refreshed.

The second outing was on Wednesday when I went out with my teachers’ class. Each class is allowed to have one outing sponsored/paid for by the Foreign Affairs Office. All classes planned to out for lunch, and the others are going to KTV for an afternoon of karaoke. My class, however, opted to go bicycle riding, which was fine with me. Unfortunately, only half of the teachers were able to join us, as the others ended out having meetings or other work they were required to do at the school. But those of us who went had a good time. We had lunch at a nice restaurant. I chose to have Chinese, not Western food, since I like it and I would be with Chinese people who know what delicious dishes to order. Also because I prefer it to Western food in general and because most Western food I’ve had here has been OK but not that good in my opinion. I was not disappointed. The teachers ordered two kinds of fish, a fish soup, chicken and mushrooms, duck, two kinds of greens, both winter and summer squash, and a special Sichuan dish in which beaten eggs are cooked in a stone bowl with hot stones on the bottom. We all left pleasantly full. 

Then we went to the Green Belt to ride. Since most are from Chengdu, they hadn’t been there before; so this was a treat for them as well as for me. It was a lovely afternoon for riding—not hot and not too cold. No one else was there. Since it’s the off season and it was a weekday, most of the gates to other paths were closed. But we had a nice ride for about an hour and a half. It was fun to be with them out of class.

We arrived back at the university just in time to go to my yoga class. It was grueling. We had another substitute teacher, and this one had us do the same routine with downward and upward facing dogs and planks. My body protested the last two times she started this yet again, and I was glad when it was over. April’s thought is that she only knows this one routine. It took a few days to recover.

The third outing was Friday afternoon when I went with seven students to Jinli Street in Chengdu. We had a very good discussion group at English Corner on Tuesday, and afterwards they invited me to join them on Friday. All but one are in one of my classes. Maybe now I’ll recognize them in class and put names with their faces. I’m really bad about that. This was their first time to go to Jinli Street, and it was fun to be their guide. Since it was a weekday, it wasn’t as crowded as it was when I went their several Saturdays ago. 

It was another lovely day to be outside. I especially enjoyed the now yellow gingko trees. 

We had snacks at the food stalls, and I got to eat the rice cooked in pineapple that I’d seen people eating but hadn’t found before. We were there for two hours, which is about the right amount of time. Then we headed back. An advantage of traveling with the girls is that they knew which buses to take. Now I do.

This Saturday April, Ed, and I went for a foot massage at the place that does really good ones. I didn’t find the woman I’ve been to before; maybe she wasn’t open. So we tried another place that was just as good. I had a man, since I was the only one who wanted hard pressure. And I got it. I’d forgotten that they also do the shoulders and back, which I also needed. Some points really hurt when he pressed on them hard, but he didn’t stop when I winced, which is good. My body felt really good afterwards. I really needed the massage.

Random act of kindness: Sunday I went to get a haircut. Since it was Sunday and students don’t have weekend classes, the shop was busy. I sat beside the girl who was waiting, and we chatted a bit. When her turn came, she told me I could go ahead of her. I insisted that I could wait and that she go. After my hair was washed, I was seated in the chair next to her. When the woman finished drying her hair, the girl told me she had paid for us both.

Faux pas of the week: A student I was talking with described the restaurant where she had eaten as having the name of a country, but she didn’t know the name in English but it’s not Japan. I started naming countries. When I said Taiwan, her response was, “No, it’s a country.” Oops. I forgot that Taiwan is considered to be part of China. The country turned out to be Korea.

An Extravaganza (11-29)

A highlight of the last two weeks was the Paradise Ethos Cultural Show last Saturday. Wang Cheng had six free promotional tickets to the show and was nice enough to invite Dale, April, and me to join his family. Unfortunately, his wife and son were unable to join us because she had a lot of work to do. (She’s a teacher and had papers to read.) After thinking about it, I realized that the reason they didn’t join us was probably that we wouldn’t all fit in the car and the venue was in an out-of-the way location. So I felt a little bad about that. We met at Happy Valley, a shopping mall that has a big amusement park and a large theater. First we had dinner at a really nice restaurant that features Beijing style food. Dishes included eggplant, bamboo tips with herbs, celery with peanut sauce, soup, and Peking duck. Since he was alone, Wang Cheng agreed to let us pay for the meal, which we were happy about. Cost: 300 yuan ($50) for the four of us.

The show was amazing. It combined fantastic 3-D technological backgrounds with dances. It was so visually stimulating that it was difficult to take it all in, and sometimes it was hard to know where to focus my attention—and camera. And to keep a balance between recording the experience and experiencing it. Sometimes I would be  engrossed in the experience and then it would occur to me that there was a visual image I wanted to photo and keep. The soundtrack was also wonderful. The hour went by in no time at all, since we were all so enthralled with the performances. We were truly in another world. 

Highlights included dancing on hanging ropes, dancing on poles, acrobats, sword fighting, 

ribbon dancing 

and an opera scene that included face changing, which I embarrassingly missed. When I was watching the show, I kept wondering why the men were waving their capes. 

Then I focused the camera on the singers on the balcony, which seemed more interesting than waving capes after a couple waves. Later when April mentioned the face changing, I realized I’d missed it and couldn’t think how that had happened. Fortunately for me, I caught some of it on a video and noticed as soon as I watched it closer up. Had I know what was happening, I would have focused on it longer. An example of not knowing what to focus on because so much was happening. Next time I see a show, I’ll know what to look for and won’t miss seeing the face changing live. Then again, it is easier to see it happening on the video. It’s a specialty of Sichuan opera.

Before meeting Wang Cheng, Dale, April, and I went to Chunxi Road because the Japanese department store we were meeting at is there. The area around the store and the store itself are decorated for Christmas. Outside the store there is a bear family decorated in Christmas outfits. 

Inside the store there are small Christmas trees, some Santas, snowmen, and garlands. 

Outside around the store, the theme is “Finding Wonder Christmas,” which has strange monster-like characters on the pillars, which seemed strange to us. The whole concept of finding it fashionable to use Western decorations for a holiday that is not celebrated locally always feels strange to me. It’s also intriguing.

At 4:30, the designated meeting time, we waited for Wang Cheng at the store’s entrance. When no one came to meet us, April called and learned that we were at the wrong branch of the store. She had looked it up on the Internet, and only this store was shown; so it seemed like the right place. The actual meeting place was quite far; so the plan was changed to meet at Happy Valley so we wouldn’t have to worry about getting to the theater. It all worked out fine in the end. And it was another great outing.

Another special treat last weekend was two students preparing dinner in my kitchen. Grace and Shelly had offered to cook dinner for me after English Corner. I think it was as much for the opportunity to cook a meal themselves (They don’t have a place to cook in the dormitory.) as for cooking for me. It was also about inviting Michael, whom they really like and, I think, whom Grace has a crush on. Friday evening they arrived with way too many vegetables and a small amount of pork. I was left with several carrots and about a pound of cauliflower, of which they had purchased a huge head. Everything was cooked separately in the wok, except that the pork and green pepper were combined. I silently gasped when I saw the amount of oil they poured into the wok for each dish. Three inches of the bottle of oil, which had lasted me for six months, disappeared after they cooked three items. Then they were aghast and didn’t know what to do about cooking the last greens. I showed them how to do it with the oil coating the wok and some water, and it became greens with broth. All worked out well. In addition to the raw vegetables, I had leftover cooked greens. And the pork dish which I gave to Michael. It was an enjoyable evening.

I’ve been enjoying the autumn season here. Weather has varied from cool to nice with temperatures from the mid-50s to mid-60s, but we also had a spell of colder weather for a few days. Without heating, classrooms usually stay cool. Students seldom take off their jackets, and they encourage me to put my coat back on if I take it off. My fingers were so cold for a couple days that I could hardly type on the computer, which is how I project information to the classes. I learned to take a glass container and put boiling water in it so I can hold it to keep my hands warm. I am thankful that we have heating in our apartments.

For the cooler weather, students/women wear tights with their shorts or short skirts. Sometimes they wear high boots and have a gap between the top of the boots and the bottom of the short skirt.

I’ve also been enjoying some of the trees that are blooming again. And a few gingkos have finally turned a lovely yellow.

When walking back to the dormitory on Wednesday, I noticed a small Christmas tree with yellow ribbons. When I asked the girls at the table about it, I learned that it was for Thanksgiving. Students wrote something they were thankful for and the ribbon was put on the tree. So it was a Thanksgiving tree. I wrote that I am thankful for all my good friends in many countries. Of course, photos were taken.

Wednesday afternoon we were invited to a special English Corner put on by students. I learned from Peggy that students are required to do an activity for which they get credit. The event was held at the stadium and students had arranged several games. All freshmen were required to attend and had to sign in. It was fun to watch. Of course, foreign teachers were invited to participate. One of my boys asked me to do the guessing game with him; so, of course, I did.

Last Sunday I went for a massage. I think I went to the first place I had used, but the woman was different; so I’m not sure. She’s an older woman. When she was massaging my abdomen, she chatted with me and told me with words and gestures that I have pretty eyes and that my white face is beautiful. Later I realized that I actually understood the key words and a few other things she said. Progress! Chinese is finally starting to come together for me. I know I won’t be fluent, which is fine, but I do feel good that I can understand a few things and more people seem to understand my simple sentences. For example, I successfully asked a man if he has smaller blankets.

Other news of the week is that the new office for foreign teachers in the Administration Building is completed and we are expected to do our office hours there now. So I’ve cleaned out the old office that has been for Peace Corps Volunteers for several years. I’m not really happy about moving because I like being in the building with the other teachers and I usually stop to speak to Peggy and Kelly when I’m there. That’s how we got to be good friends. But, after thinking about it, I realized that it is a waste of the room to be used only a couple hours a week when the Foreign Language Department has other teachers who could and will use the room more often. I learned from Yang the Foreign Language Department told the Foreign Affairs Office that they should have an office for the foreign teachers. And from Peggy I learned that a teacher will have a new position as assistant to the dean, and she will use the office.

The office was completed several weeks ago but has been airing out, since it is new and the furniture is new. They converted an empty area in the hall to an office. It’s actually a nice office with nice desks. If we lived off-campus and needed an office to work in, it would be very nice. However, we live here and like working at home, as it’s more convenient and more comfortable. Also because we do most of our planning at night, not during the morning or afternoon when people would see us working in the office. In the Foreign Language Department, we are expected to have office hours for two hours a week. This seemed to be news to Mr. Huang. People in the Foreign Affairs Office spend the whole day in their offices. For foreign teachers, part of the issue is probably our visibility in the office. And they built the office; so it should be used often. Mr. Huang’s expectation seemed to be that we will all take our computers to the office and work there. We’re waiting to learn what the decision about the time required in the new office will be.

Grace visited Friday evening for a chat. She had just played ping pong for 3.5 hours. She’s on the school team, and they practice intensely. I think she’s a little homesick, since her home is far away. She told me that she misses her grandmother and talking with me makes her feel connected with her grandmother. That was sweet. She’s also serious about improving her oral English. She’s a pleasant person and is easy to chat with; so I’m happy to chat with her sometimes.

I learned that Chinese people don’t display photos of people because photos of the dead are displayed in remembrance of them. So it is not appropriate to display photos of the living.