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.

Sports Days (11-15)

Sunday was April’s birthday. I had asked if she wanted me to cook or if she wanted to eat out. She chose eating out and really got into that. She looked up restaurants online and found a groupon for a seafood dinner for 8. So the six of us and the student who helped her purchase the groupon went out Saturday night. The fixed meal included 14 dishes, mostly various kinds of seafood—squid, fish, crab, shrimp, mussels, clams. There were also a couple soups, two meat dishes (April had exchanged some dishes for those, since one person doesn’t like seafood.), a couple vegetable dishes, and steamed buns. The food was quite good even though most of it was covered with red chilies. They were dried chilies and didn’t affect the food too much; so I was able to eat all but a few dishes. Needless to say, we all ate well and enjoyed the special meal.

After dinner, we returned to our neighborhood and went to a karaoke place. April and Chrystal sang in Chinese while the rest of us used English. The guys mostly chose songs I don’t know, but it was fun to hang out there for a couple hours.

The celebration continued on Sunday, as Wang Cheng invited Dale, April, and me to have lunch with his family for April’s birthday. He took us to a really nice restaurant here in Wenjiang. I purchased a cake for the occasion as a way to contribute to the meal, since we knew they wouldn’t let us contribute to the cost. This meal, too, was delicious, of course, since we had local people to order special food. Many of the eight dishes were special Sichuan dishes, which surprised us because they weren’t full of chilies. Wang Cheng explained that a couple of the dishes traditionally don’t have chilies, and April explained later that they had emphasized that the food should not be spicy. 

Our favorite was a dish of vegetables in a ginger based sauce.

After eating, we went to a coffee shop to eat the cake and have a drink. We had a nice corner area with a low table and padded benches. It turned out that, by chance, I had selected a cake frosted with April’s favorite color—purple. She was thrilled. And she was especially happy to have a cake. This was her first birthday away from her family.

The coffee shop is in the new mall across from Floraland that Megan and I had walked around in July. So, after the family left, April, Dale, and I walked around a bit. There are more stores open now, and more people were walking around. The area near the water park was decorated with Styrofoam pumpkins. “Scary”  music was blasting from the speakers. I’m always amused at what other countries do to celebrate Western holidays and how they often leave them up much longer than we do in the U.S.

Wang Cheng and Peggy both mentioned that November 11 (11-11) is Singles’ Day in China. I’d seen a sign advertising a Singles’ Party, but, of course, the rest was in Chinese; so I didn’t know any details. Both mentioned that there are a lot of sales on this day. Peggy compared it to Black Friday. She said people were hustling to make Internet purchases to take advantage of the big discounts.

One day when I was sitting on a bench outside the library, as I do sometimes, a student joined me so she could communicate with me. (They always say “communicate,” not “talk.”) When she looked at the book I was reading and noticed that it was about China, The book is about a woman’s experiences volunteering in an orphanage from 2003-2007. When she didn’t understand the brief description on the cover, I explained that uneducated people, especially in rural areas, sometimes gave up their girl children because they wanted their one child to be a boy. She said that her grandparents don’t like her because she’s a girl, but her parents love her. The grandparents also don’t like her mother. We talked about how younger, educated people have changed their ideas and don’t always follow the old traditions.

Wednesday evening I went to yoga class with thirty students who I realized are 45 years younger than I. That’s hard to imagine. A pleasant surprise when I arrived is that the teacher speaks English well. I hadn’t thought about language when I signed up to join the class. (I did this on the day when various clubs were recruiting about a month ago.) She included instructions in English for me occasionally, which was quite nice. The music playing when we arrived sounded like music I’ve heard before in yoga classes, and it felt comfortable to have familiar music in the room. The class was good, and I was pleased that I was able to do everything they did even though I did shorten the time a few times. Participating in a class stretches me. I’m glad I went and will return each week.

Thursday and Friday were Sports Days; so no classes those days. Teachers’ events were on Thursday. Yang had invited us to sign up, and I signed up to do the 30 meter run carrying a tennis ball. She thought that meant carrying the ball on a plate, but I learned Thursday morning that the tennis ball is carried on a racket. 

I went to the opening ceremony to see how they are done in China. It was very formal with groups of students wearing various outfits marching in step into the stadium. No costumes like in Thailand. Interestingly, after the opening ceremony, they all left and didn’t stay for the competitions.

When the competitions started, I went down to the field and enjoyed watching and chatting with some of the teachers who were in my class last year. Many students greeted me when they saw me, which was also nice. It was a good visibility opportunity. I also took photos for the other foreign teachers and Peggy. Fortunately, the temperature was a little higher than it had been for a couple days; so standing around outside was pleasant. My event was after the lunch break. I was happy that I made it the whole 30 meters without dropping the ball. Then I decided I’d watched enough sports and returned home.

Friday was essentially a day off. I thought about going to see what was happening in the afternoon, but April went in the morning and reported that the events finished at 11:00. For many students both days were days off, as they didn’t participate or go to watch the competitions. Back to full weeks of classes next week—for four to six weeks, depending on when they decide we will have our final exams.

Back to Work Again (11-8)

Our "vacation" is over. By last Tuesday, I was starting to feel a bit bored and was ready to return to teaching. But I finished the week with a few busy days, which kept me from getting bored.

Thursday April and I went to Qingcheng Mountain, where I’d gone with Megan in June. Of course, it was a different experience this time. The bus to Dujiangyen was a rickety, old, local bus, not a direct bus like we had in June. Perhaps this was because it was a weekday, not a weekend when many people go there. Every time the bus stopped, it stalled. We were thankful it got us there, as we’d had visions of standing along the road waiting for the next bus.

As Megan and I had planned to do before we met Karen and Ju, April and I took the cable car up the mountain and walked down. There’s still a good bit of walking to get to the cable car entrance and from the exit up to the top. 

Views from the top were clearer, and we could see more of the valley below, which was fun. Walking down was much easier than walking up. The stairs were the same, but going down in cool weather isn’t as strenuous as going up in the extremely hot weather in June. No one was selling fans. When we were walking, the temperature was perfect. 

I was hoping for some autumn color, as the mountain has a lot of gingko trees. We did see some yellow ones, but most weren’t brilliantly yellow. Like the ones on campus, they’re mostly dingy yellow, but some were brilliant. 

We also saw a patch of red leaves in the distance. 

I especially enjoyed an area called “Nature’s Painting,” which we hadn’t noticed before. April pointed out that you have to think like the Chinese, as the painting was the trees. They did remind me of trees in many Chinese paintings. All in all, it was a perfect day to be hiking on the mountain. We missed the last bus back to Wenjiang by five minutes and had to take a taxi, but we were both OK with that since we’d had such a great day.

Friday afternoon I went into Chengdu. Three weeks ago I'd made a dental appointment for Saturday. (Actually, Yang made it for me in Chinese.) At the time I didn't know about the two weeks without students and thought it would be a treat to go into the city Friday night and have an early Saturday appointment. After Thursday, though, I really wanted to stay home Friday. But off I went. I'd arranged to meet Amanda from last term for dinner. She had heard about a highly recommended pizza place. It serves New York style pizza. I think the older man walking around is the American owner. I had a three cheese pizza that was delicious.

Saturday morning the dental clinic didn't have my appointment, but they let me in. They’d been doing some renovations and used that as the reason my appointment wasn’t recorded. My teeth are now clean again. No cavities. Gums are OK but she indicated that I should only brush downward in one place. (We didn’t have much language in common although she spoke more English than the last person I saw.) Afterwards I went to treat myself to a milkshake, but I missed the restaurant and found an Indian restaurant; so I had chicken masala and naan for lunch. This was another delicious meal. It was really nice to have the different flavor in my mouth. 

Next I went to Jinli, another renovated old street area to walk around and to go to the outdoor clothing place I'd read about. 

Jinli is known for its shops that sell handicrafts, and I enjoyed looking at them.

Outside the area are the outdoor clothing stores. I needed a jacket, since my light one is not enough on these cool days. Temperatures have been in the mid-50s to mid-60s with more of the former this week. I bought a packable down jacket, which I have learned from a friend is probably a down sweater. It's not what I had in mind, but I fell in love with it when I tried it on. Cost: $65. That's about the lowest price I saw in other shops. Most cost $100 or more. They aren't cheap here, either.

The three days were a nice finish to the “vacation.” I was ready to start teaching again for two uninterrupted months. Then we learned that Sports Days are next week, and classes are cancelled on Thursday and Friday for the event. Oh, well.

The event at school this week was speech contests. Dale and I were invited to be judges for the Foreign Language Department contestants Monday night. Ed went along to listen, and, of course, he got to be a judge, too. We were told to give no scores under 80 (out of 100). Some of the students were quite good, but others were difficult to understand. After they spoke, Dale and a Chinese teacher were asked to make a few remarks. Dale talked about the need for students to practice speaking and improve their pronunciation, and the Chinese teacher then made similar remarks, following his example, I think. On Tuesday, one of my students told me that she had just been to a meeting where they were told to organize students in each class into small groups and have a speaking topic to practice speaking every day. I think this is a direct result of their comments.

The final contest for students in all departments was Wednesday afternoon. Dale and I were invited to be judges, and, when I mentioned that we were still teaching our teachers’ classes, Peggy said we could cancel them. I didn’t think that would go over well with the Foreign Affairs Department, since they are very serious about these classes. Peggy communicated with Yang, who passed on the request to her superiors. Late Tuesday night, Peggy called to let me know that Dale and Ed would be judges, and Dale’s teachers could join my class for the last part. It’s always interesting to see how they work things out. That was a possibility that had occurred to me. After class, I went to hear the rest of the speeches, and I noticed that April was also judging. She had been informed at 12:50, just before our 1:00 class, that she would be a judge.

Other teaching news is that I don’t have to do any more lectures this term (unless they decided to have six more instead of five). I’ve done one lecture and have five more prepared from last term. Dale did his lecture this week. Then they have added the other four into the schedule. So much different from last term when we each had to give two lectures a month.

When I was walking back to the apartment after class one day, a few girls turned and glanced at me and then looked at me again in astonishment. Then one explained that they had thought I was Chinese and that I look a little Chinese at first glance. I’d never heard that before.

And another funny story: One of the Peace Corps doctors who doesn’t know me, called one day. When I returned her call, she must not have had her file open, as the first question she asked was, “Are you still taking birth control?” Obviously, not. She was calling people who get meds purchased in the U.S. to prepare the next order. Birth control is not the meds I need.

Even with the two-day break from classes next week, it is good to be back at it again.