I feel like a fly on the wall

With my only class ending at 8:30 in the morning I was prepared to get caught up on e-mails, lesson planning and of course marking but that wasn’t the case. Today the office was a buzz of activity and I just sat at my desk, red pen in hand, headphones on, trying to drown out the noise. Heated Chinese conversations grew louder and louder. Why weren’t the teachers in their classrooms giving a lesson. Each teacher that would enter the office would glance at the bulletin board, mumble a few words and then join in on the conversation adding their two bits worth. All around me conversations are flying back and forth. One lady even leaves the office closing the door rather hard. Clearly this would not be the moment to crack a joke because I am sure that they wouldn't’ even notice. Somehow the 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper that is pinned to the bulletin board under the important notices for teachers has caused quite the commotion. Giving up on marking I put my red pen down and riffle through my papers to find the computer mouse. After a couple clicks of the mouse, start, applications, games, I find the brain numbing game mindsweeper. I bet I could play this for the next hour and they would still be in their heated discussion and not even notice me, but I didn’t, just enough to get board of it and continue marking.
Later I find out that the teachers discussing how unfairly they are being treated because the have to work the next 19 days straight without any weekends off. The University Exams are being held next week which means that this weekend will be replaced by Wednesday and Thursdays classes and next weekend the monthly exams for the senior ones and twos. Every teacher will be expected to give their regular lessons during the weekends as well as observe the students during the exams. In compensation for their extra work, 60RMB for each exam day, $10 dollars Canadian per day. I think I would be a little miffed too.

So many choices to make

Another holiday is approaching and I have to make some decisions about how I want s to spend my free time. I know for sure that I want to do some sightseeing in another places besides Foshan or Guangzhou. I have narrowed it down to a couple of places.

GuiLin is known for its rice paddies, karst peaks and some amazing caves. These caves have several stalactites and stalagmites that have been forming for years.

Hainan is known as the Hawaii of China. It is a large tropical island just south of Hong Kong where you can surf the waves, soak up some sun, and visit the coconut plantations.

Hong Kong, a somewhat familiar sight, but is one of the happening places of China. During our last trek to Hong Kong we did not nearly do it justice, plus I want to check up on Ronaldo (see entry April 26). This time in Hong kong I would like to see more of the attractions and maybe climb the Tian Tan Buddha statue on Lantau Island or ride the historic Peak Tram to see the best view of the city.

So many choices and so many photo opportunities. Wherever i end up going I am sure that I will have some new photos to share once I return.

...but for right now I have to finish marking and teaching lessons to the students. Telling them about plagiarism did not go as well as I hoped. Even the teachers don’t seem to think it is such a big deal. The only things that matters is one University Entrance exam that lasts 3 days and determines which University the students are eligible to attend.

The life of a teacher

This week the top thing on my list is marking. The latest unit has been about adventure and extreme sports and the final project includes creating a sports camp brochure. The students handed their brochure assignments and now I have the joy of looking at some of their creative artwork and some not so creative artwork. One thing that I am not looking forward to this week is telling some of the students that copying a brochure off the internet complete with pictures and handing it in as homework is considered plagiarizing.

Let's see...

1. Not doing very much lately just spending time at the school, my apartment and with some of the teachers. It has been pretty laid back and relaxed around here for the past couple of days.
1. Getting ready for the aerobic exercise competition tomorrow. Representatives form the Education Bureau will be judging the students and teachers.
2. Totally feel like I want to make something creative but am completely lacking the supplies.
3. Watched a Josh Groban music video on the English TV channel. I was really surprised when I recognized the song and looked up to see him singing. Can’t wait to go to his concert in August.
4. I turned on the air conditioner in my room again, after our cold spell last week the weather has turned back to its normal 30˚.
5. Spending way too much time surfing the internet and wasting time…
6. …but I have found some cool sites and I totally have been learning new things especially from the National Geographic website (good lesson plans for teachers and some amazing photos).
7. Time to go read for a bit before bed.
8. One last thing… a photo for you to enjoy.

9. ...okay one more picture.

Headed to Guangzhou again this weekend, this time we visited Shamian Island, it once was a sand bar but has accumulated land over the centuries. The island is a kind of escape, or an oasis, from the busy city center. The British and French occupied this island and so many of the buildings are not your typical Chinese architecture but instead have large windows, columns, gardens, grand entrances, and space between the buildings. It felt really strange to see so many foreigners, especially couples and families, on the Island. They are all here preparing and planning for the adoption of their Chinese baby. The US consulate is located on the island and they take care of all the government paperwork for adoption. Each family is usually required to spend a month on the island to make sure everything is in order. Therefore, there are many shops selling all kinds of baby paraphernalia from shoes, clothes, stuff animals, hair things, portrait etchings in granite, and of course strollers. You know the saying ‘children should be seen, not heard,’ well that isn't’ the case when they are selling baby shoes that squeak. Every time we picked up a baby or toddler shoe has a plastic squeaker in each heel so the child can always be heard by the parents. We even say a few toddlers sporting these squeakers, talk about annoying for the child and for the parents for that matter.

A Rain Storm in 33˚ Weather

We experience quite the storm today, complete with lightening and thunder. The weather changes within minutes here. All morning we are sweltering in 33˚ humid weather then all of a sudden the sky becomes really dark and then the show beings. It is a really strange feeling for it to be raining when it is so hot outside. it would be more fitting if I was in a tropical rain-forest under a canopy of trees. It poured rain so hard that puddles were forming in the undercover corridors and hallways on the second floor. At a neighbouring school a window broke from the wind during the storm.
Today I had an open lesson with one of my classes. It is a opportunity for other teachers to observe different teachers styles and methods in the classroom. The lesson went really well and all the students were engaged. After the lesson the teachers have a post conference where they are able to discuss the lesson, ask questions, and offer suggestions. I have been informed that my teaching method is a mix of Chinese style and Western style and that I repeat the instruction more than necessary. I think I have a habit of doing this especially when a couple of my classes have some groups of students who are lost even after I have explained the instructions twice and provided an example. Picture of my lesson to come later after I have downloaded them to the computer.

Not a heat wave...

...but the regular summer temperature. The last couple of days have been a scorcher here in Foshan. A whopping 34.5 C. I love how they give you the weather report through your cell phone for the next day, for example tomorrow is going to be between 25 and 34 C. That's a 9 degree difference making it hard to decide in the morning whether I should wear a tank-top or not. I always delete the messages as soon as they come in since they are completely in Chinese. I guess I could try and decipher the numbers hidden amongst the characters, but it isn’t usually that easy. Christine usually informs be of the temperature or I can check the special ‘wigets’ button on my computer. On top of the heat the teacher are expected to participate in the student morning exercise lessons (but we have ours in the afternoon). I guess as long as we are all sweating together no one can complain. The classrooms do have fans that are fastened to the ceilings to keep the air circulating in the classrooms. Really it is just a teaser because it only last for a few seconds and by the time you realize how nice it feels it has already moved on to another part of the room. The offices do have air conditioning though and many of the teachers, and some students, are spending their spare moments cooling off. There is also air conditioning in my room, so I am able to sleep at night without waking up in a sweat.

The end of the Gorge

On day 2 we woke up to rain showers and both Deanna and I remember reading about how the hike can be dangerous when it is wet and slippery. We decide to wait out the rain and order some breakfast to pass the time. Not long after breakfast the clouds have lifted and the sun beams are filtering their way to the ground. We pack up our belongings and hit the road for the next stretch of our hike. We make it to Tina’s Guest house just before lunch and decide to stock up on vegetables and take a rest. From this checkpoint we have several options: to hike down to the Gorge and touch the water, take the upper path, or to hike along the road. We pay the 10RMB service and maintenance fee and head down towards the Gorge. The path is a steep decent and many times we brace ourselves with the trees and strategically place chains. The path apparently took 2 years to build, as they had to chip away at some pretty steep cliffs. We finally make it to the bottom of the Gorge and area able to wash our hands in a tributary of the Yangzi River before we rest for lunch. Two more checkpoints, each 10RMB, several waterfalls and some very narrow paths are all apart of our climb back up the mountains side. It starts to sprinkle a little bit and our groups picks up the pace a notch because we want to make it to the next guesthouse before its starts to pour. After 6 1/2 hours of hiking we finally make it to Sean;s Guesthouse. It wasn’t nearly as grueling as yesterdays hike but it definitely an extreme hike. From Sean’s Guesthouse we took a taxi back to the staring point, caught a bus back to Lijiang, were we found a room at the same guesthouse as before, showered, and dropped into bed exhausted.

Are we there yet?

From Lijiang’s Yulong Xueshan Mountain (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain) in the east, to Zhongdian’s Haba Xueshan Mountain in the west, Tiger Leaping Gorge is the longest, deepest, and narrowest gorge in the world. The Gorge acquired its name because, according to a local legend, a tiger once leaped over its rapids. A warning in our tourist book, the Lonely Plant, informs us that the gorge trek is not be be taken lightly, and can be dangerous during the wet season. We read on further in our book to find out that many foreign have lost their way on the trail and some have even died. I survived though as I am able to write you this blog.

There are two trails to choose from depending on the level of difficulty you want to tackle and how long you want to hike for. We choose the higher trail, the more difficult trail, but the more scenic trail and began our 2 day hike in the gorge. It is the older route and also known as the 24-bends path, although I think it had more than 30 bends. The route starts at Qiaotou (pronounced chow-toe) where a Australian women has set up a canteen for hikers. She bakes fresh muffins and provides a map of the trail before sending you on your way.

Our first set of instructions go as follows: “To get to the high road, after crossing through the gate, cross a small stream and go 150m. Take a left fork, go through the schoolyard’s football pitch, and join the tractor road. continue until the track ends and then follow the yellow arrows to the rights. It’s a six-hours to Bendiwan or a strenuous eight hours to Walnut Garden” A strenuous eight hours it was indeed and we didn’t even make it to Walnut Garden. For the first 2 or more hours, I lost count, it is an exhausting hike up the mountain. Deanna compared it to completing the Grouse Grind twice in a row. It didn’t help that by backpack was not only full of clothes and snacks for the hike but also two 2L bottles of water. Along the way the local Naxi people are walking their horses and waiting for the moment for you to give in and pay them for a ride to the closest guesthouse. I don’t think I have even completed such a strenuous hike before, I was so focused on making it to the tope and to keep up that I didn’t really take that many pictures. The peak was rather anti-climatic, in fact we didn’t even know we had reached it until after we had been descending for 20 minutes. The Halfway point “a most excellent place indeed” it says painted on a rock a good place to spot for a picture and a snack. We continue hiking along tiny trails on the side of the mountain and look out at the breathtaking valley beside us. This trip is defiantly not for those who are scared of heights. We stop around 7:oo, just as the sun is starting to set at the Halfway Lodge and Hostel for dinner, a shower, and a good night sleep. Just before enetering the Halfway Loge we find a note painted on a rock, all the messages and instructions are painted on the rocks, that Halfway Loge has a scenic view even from the toilets.

Stay tuned for day 2 of hiking the Gorge

The most obligatory photo spot in Lijiang

Black Dragon Pool Park located on the outskirts of Old Lijiang is a beautiful and typical Chinese park with its pagodas, pavilions, lanterns, and bridges. We climbed the hillside and watch the sun set on the city and the streets become alive with people and lights. Neon lights everywhere even on the old ancient buildings are donning modern flashy neon lights. Of course we couldn’t resist some goofy shots in the park.
The next morning we caught bus number 7 to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. After a 2 hour bus ride and 140 park entrance fee we arrived at one of three scenic spots to view the snow capped mountain. We took the chair-lift to the highest possible point for tourists to venture, 4506 meters and walked on the boardwalk to have a glimpse at the awesome glacier views.
When in China you also have to pose with the famous statue of Mao Zedong, the man who is responsible for uniting and creating the modern People’s Republic of China. I am definitely learning my Chinese history and it is way better than taking a course or reading a text book.

The Customes of Lijiang

Next stop on our holiday was Lijiang, a World Heritage site in China, and a very beautiful place to visit. This city is a must see if you are planning a trip to China any time in the future. In one of the stores we watched a raw silk demonstration. The caterpillar or silkworm moth spins a cocoon that is processed to yield silk fiber. Inside each cocoon are two silkworms casings. The cocoons are soaked in water so that they are more pliable. Next they are pried apart with the tips of your fingers so that the silkworms can be removed. After three or four cocoons have been de-silkwormed they are stretched together over a half-circle stretcher and then hung from the ceiling to dry.

We were also able to watch many Naxi women performing their traditional dance. They all wear they same costumes and dance around in a circle to Naxi music, usually a woodwind/flute sound. We were even able to join in on their dance circle a couple of times but weren’t able to keep up with these well rehearsed ladies. Every town needs a good medicine doctor. I am not sure if his head piece is really necessary when it come to healing sick people but it does go with his outfit.

Not for those who are Vegetarians

After a full morning of bike riding we stumbled upon a small place to eat. The owners were enjoying a home cooked meal in their restaurant since they didn’t have any customers. As soon as we appeared at the doorstep they cleared the table in a matter of seconds and set the table with bowls and chopsticks and started pouring tea for all of us. Being a small family run business they didn't have a menu so communicating with them was a challenge. One by one they starting bringing out the vegetables from the kitchen to show us so we could pick out the ones we wanted. When the language becomes a barrier there is always a second method. I am not a picky eater but I am glad that I didn’t see the contents of the fridge until after I had finished eating. As you can see, by looking at the picture they do not cover or wrap their meat before they place it in the fridge. As soon as they obtain the meat it goes directly onto the shelf in the fridge. Raw meat just piled up upon itself does not look so appetizing in my opinion. Our meal was really delicious and provided us with the energy we need to continue biking for the rest of the day and none of us got sick.

Biking, pagodas, and wheat

Today at school I told my students the story about the taxi driver and the miscommunication and they loved it. They also enjoyed the pictures I shared with them from my holidays. People in China do not travel very much within their own country or within their own province for that matter. I feel fortunate that I have traveled across Canada twice with my family. Mom and Dad thanks for the putting up with us for two whole long months driving across Canada, setting up the tent, taking down the tent, answering the never ending “Are we there yet?” and playing the ABC game to keep us entertained on those long stretches of road.

Part II Biking in Dali
Dali is well known for its Three Pagodas. On the hillside just outside of the Old City are three Pagodas and are among the oldest standing structures in southwestern China. The tallest of the three has 16 tiers and is 70 m tall and built in the mid-9th century, at least thats what I read from the Lonely Planet. The other two Pagodas are much smaller and only reach a height of 42m. After stopping for a brief moment to take s some pictures of the Pagodas and some pictures with Chinese tourists who think all foreigners are wonderful people and are a must have in their photos, we continued biking. In total we biked 18 km to the town of Xizhou and 18 km back again. Along the way we passed many farms we many workers tending their crops.
All the farming is done by hand, the planting, harvesting, and separating the grain from the chaff. Well the separating the grain from the chaff is helped along by cars, trucks, and bikes, basically any vehicle or things that passes over the road. The farmers collect the wheat and lay it across the entire road. When the cars, trucks, horses, and bikes cross over the wheat they wheat pops the grain seeds and separates the wheat from the chaff. The farms then use a pitch fork and broom to collect their harvest. We rode over several wheat covered roads and sometimes had to pull the straw out from the spokes of our bike. The wheat really slows you down but I suppose it would cushion your fall and prevent road burn.

More pictures to share

I need a holiday to recuperate from my holiday

Actually, I had the whole day today to recuperate and it was perfect because I was able to do laundry, download pictures, catch up on e-mails, and plan my lesson for tomorrow. I am peeling from a sunburn and sneezing from a cold. How the two go together I am not really sure but I am suffering from both. The sunburn is from biking in the countryside, even though I applied sunscreen several times throughout the day but seemed to miss the tops of my hand, and the cold ...well I am not sure where I picked that up. I have so many pictures (over 600) and so many stories to tell.
Deanna and I spent the last 9 days in Yunnan Province learning about the different cultures in China and climbing some incredible mountains. Yunnan Province neighbors Tibet and Guangxi and is north of Vietnam. Kunming is the Capital city of Yunnan Provicne and the first stop on our itinerary. From the airport we climbed into a taxi headed off to our hostel, or so we thought. The taxi driver just kept driving and driving and driving and clearly did not understand where we wanted to go. We had the phone number of the hostel and had the taxi driver talk to the reception. Apparently, the hostel was quite far outside of town and they didn’t even have our reservation. After some hand gestures and Deanna’s basic Mandarin the taxi driver drove us back to the airport. It took some time, probably an hour, to negotiate the price down for the 'taxi ride to nowhere' but managed with the help of a nice lady at the airport. The meter read 100RMB but we ended up paying him 20RMB.
After dropping our luggage off at a hostel in the city we headed to Yunnan Nationalities Museum. There are 56 ethnic groups represented in China and 23 of them are from the province of Yunnan. Each ethnic group has their own traditional costume and customs. The free English tour guide at the museum was a great source of information and we learned many interesting stories about Chinese culture. More of those stories to come later...but I will leave with this...What do pleated skirts, foxes, and umbrellas have to do with each other?
Sleeper busses in China are very common because you are able to travel through the night and arrive somewhat rested. The busses are the same size as a Greyhound bus but does not have any seats only bunk-beds. There are three sets of bunk-beds across with two aisles that are no wider than your shoulders. You have to turn sideways to walk down the aisles. The beds are really skinny with only about 2 inches on either side of you hips. Each bus as approximately 36 beds two of which are for the two drivers. We took the sleeper bus to Dali and arrived very early in the morning but were allowed to stay on the bus to sleep until a decent hour, if you call 6am a decent hour. We met some other foreigners on the bus, several from France and a guy from Quebec, and caught the local bus together into the Old City of Dali. Dali, located on the mountain side, is an historic town that is composed of two parts the old city and the new city. Old Dali is a miniature walled city with cobblestone streets and traditional chinese architectures.

To be continued...
(More to come about biking the countryside in Dali)