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.