Who's Teaching Who? (rc)

Responding to my shi shi, thanks, for the ride to school my taxi driver smiled and with a sheepish grin replied "See ya!" We both gave a chuckle in acknowledgement of our limited use of each others language. What a great way to start my first day of teaching "Oral English" in China. Tom and I headed to the north gate of campus bright and early, me to hale a taxi, Tom to get it on film. I felt like a school kid whose big day has finally arrived! A quick goodbye and the realization that 4 1/2 weeks after arriving in Hefei, the elusive first day had arrived.


Here I go!

Having made a trial run to my campus and building just two days ago, the worry of getting lost on the first day was behind me. I arrived with time enough to sit outside, review plans and garner a few stares from those making their way to morning classes. Heading inside and winding my way up to the third floor I was soon standing outside Room 307.


My building, whose name I can't begin to pronounce!


This is either a really lengthy description of my room or it has another purpose I'm unaware of (most likely that's the case !).

Forty-four students eagerly sitting in their desks began a round of applause that continued as I made my way across the front of the room to the podium on the far side. Thank goodness it's a narrow room! How does one react to a greeting like that? I smiled, uttered my second shi shi of the day which was met with a round of giggles, and introduced myself.

As you can surmise by the course title, Oral English, my purpose in being there is to have the kids ( too many years at the elementary level for me to use another word) speak as much as possible. Today it was about a 60/40 exchange, me being the 60. An audible gasp occurred minutes into my introduction when I said we had TWO kids. Telling of my own family with 2 brothers and 2 sisters brought another gasp. Mentioning Tom's 2 sisters and 3 brothers nearly put them over the top! This time the gasp was accompanied with wide eyes and comments to neighbors. Unable to relate to the concept of siblings but wanting to know more, they asked me in a shy manner if I could bring Dylan and Molly with me one day. Little do they know that both Dylan and Molly are my complete lesson plan for at least 2 of our future classes!


View from the front.

The room's electrical system is quite complex and serves a dual purpose. One, it furnishes us with light and cool air from the ceiling fans once you flip the two breaker switches mounted another foot or so higher on the wall. Second, it adds decoration to the very plain cement walls.


A bit tricky figuring out what switch does what.


Although a bit stark, the halls come alive at the change of class.

The formality in the students classroom behavior soon became clear. Any questions requiring a specific student response were met with them standing at their seat and waiting there until I motioned for them to sit down after the answer had been given. It became apparent once more when I hopped up to sit on the podium as we talked rather than stand behind it. Again, the gasp. I don't think they've ever seen that done before. Imagine their surprise when later in the class I actually stood on it!


Note the podium.

We discussed a variety of topics, among them places to visit in China, what we've been doing here, our jobs at home, typical school days both here and at home, music and food. We could go on for a week just on the food topic alone. They were enamored with the idea of eating cold hard boiled eggs with salt. Maybe a better way to say that is some of them were appalled at the thought. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to turn this class into a cultural as well as a language experience, I promised to come next week armed with 2 dozen hard boiled eggs and a salt shaker. In turn they promised to partake in the tasting party. It will definitely be an interesting day!

Wanting them to know I'm as interested in learning about China as they are about the States, I asked them to write one thing they thought I should know about China. Their language skills and kindness show themselves in some of the responses:

I suggest you to learn more Chinese words.
I think knowing Chinese culture will do good to you.
The culture in China is variety. You must be interesting about it.
To learn how to get on well with us.
Your Chinese is really a little poor. I hope you will not be unhappy.
I suggest you learn the history of China because it is very long and important.
I want to make friends with you. ( a little off topic but very nice).

Shock and a round of laughter filled the room as I started a game of Simon Says for the last few minutes of the day. Not sure what to think, they slowly joined in but only from the safety of their desks. A few brave souls did run a lap with me around the room when Simon said "run" leaving the more reserved kids watching in amazement. This was both fun and a quick way for me to assess their vocabulary. I learned for example that Simon can't say things like "STOMP your foot", "WIGGLE your fingers" or "SHAKE your hands" but can say things like "TOUCH your foot", "TOUCH your fingers" or "TOUCH your hands". With that simple adjustment made the game became a lot more enjoyable. We'll keep the rules simple for now, saving the advanced version for later in the semester.

Our 90 minute class stretched into 110 as they decided to forego the break and continue talking. That in turn went to 120 when they came flooding to the podium after class to take my picture and have me sign their textbook. Yes, autograph time had begun and I was surrounded by my own personal groupies! After being in China for 6 weeks now, or perhaps it's the wisdom that comes with being 46, I realize it's not me but the American they love. I'll offer these guys what I can and am happy to be the liason between our countries for this short time. I'm looking forward to a great semester with them and already wish we were able to meet more than once a week. Certainly no one can take the place of my 5th grade class I have waiting for me at home but these guys will easily tide me over!

My 35 minute stroll home took me through a China I'm coming to know and love. It's a culture that's opening my eyes to a world I know very little about. Interactions like the ones I've had today make it easy to tuck some of our daily frustrations away and absorb the beauty and kindness of the people. It was a pleasant way to wrap up an already enjoyable morning with my students.


The paths through the village on my walk home.




A bit of calm in the middle of the village.


Food experiences await you at every turn.


The market stands easily meet your daily needs, and then some.


Village street on my walk home.

Happy to have the ever elusive day finally appear and go so well I can now look forward to our next several classes with a focus that wasn't possible until today.

New York to Washington to France (tc)

Since we first got here I've been wanting to get some photos posted from the early part of our trip. With much delay and no fanfare here they are:

The view from the top of the Empire State.

We flew from Seattle to New York where we stayed with Daniel and Deborah, old friends from our Iowa years. They moved east from Iowa about the time we moved west, and like us they seem to have found what they were looking for. They live on 34th street, just "down the road" from the Empire State Building, and at night from the roof of their apartment we could see it just 5 blocks or so from us. From their apartment windows we could see the Chrysler Building. Deborah took us on tours of Manhattan on foot, she had learned well that New Yorker skill of knowing just when the walk light was going to change, seeming to step off the curb in the very millisecond that the change occured. Try as I might my attempts were usually too early, leaving me running back to the curb, just dodging the still flowing traffic, arriving on the same curb I just left only to meet the sidewalk crowd now begining their skilled crossing. I have discovered why I don't live in a city. I would not survive.


Deborah showing us the Grand Central Station.

After the guided tours by Deborah we ventured onto the subway, bus, and ferries. The bus was the favorite, above ground and able to see all the sights we're so familiar with and yet sights that seem so exotic: Greenwich Village, Grand Central Station, Penn Station, Madison Square Garden.. and on and on.


Molly at the MoMA.


A really big statue in NY Harbor.

From New York we took a bus down to Washington D.C., a 4 or 5 hour trip on a bus that had a TV playing videos while we drove. Something about that just galls me. The idea that a drive of a couple hundred miles has nothing interesting enough to keep a passenger from being bored is annoying to me. But more than annoying, this attitude worries me when I think about the American connection to the natural world. We have given up the dream of a new world, ever west to open lands, now all we have is 17 inch diagonal screen and the hope for good programing. The other aspect of the movie: not only was I going to have a movie talking to me, unavoidable in the confines of the bus, but the movie wasn't even my choice! We watched the Fischer King with Robin Williams... I looked for meaning in the story as we crossed New Jersey headed south.


Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool

In Washington we stayed with my nephew and his wife, Tom & Saba. This was great, near to the Washington Mall, and a metro stop took us downtown every day. We got to see another nephew and his family (Brett & Diane) who had moved to D.C. about the same time we came to visit. We saw the usual monuments, monumental in every sense of the word: Lincoln's, Washington's, and Jefferson's Memorials mean far more than their sum. Since childhood we've owned these as our common heritage. The Vietnam memorial always brings tears to my eyes, and reading FDR's words made us even more ashamed of Bush, I didn't really think that was even possible. He lives a mile away and knows the meaning of these words less than , .. well, less than he should. I am afraid that the world will pay for his ignorance for years to come.

Throughout our time on the east coast it was REALLY hot!


A hot day on the National Mall.


A hottie on the National Mall.


Pennsylvania Avenue



Renee practices tai chi, Dylan is amazed

After D.C. we took the bus (and movie) back to NYC for a flight out to Paris. Since Molly and Dylan have been young we've talked about Paris, we had worked them into a frenzy about the streets, the food, the views, and we all had a blast. Our time in Paris was framed around Molly and Dylan, there are certain things a person hears about Paris and we wanted them to see these: the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Louvre. Certainly there are better places, and certainly the depth of feeling at many places other than these standard sights is often best, but then again, at a party one usually begins with the usual greetings.


Night time in the City of Lights




Notre Dame flying buttresses



Lunch on the Seine, near Notre Dame.

From Paris we took the train to Coligny, Erik, and Herve, and their families. We met the Trochus in 1987 while hitch-hiking in Wales, then stayed with them and their parents on several occasions after that. Erik even came to visit us in 1990 in Fort Collins. While in Coligny we were treated like family, and could not have enjoyed ourself more. We were given a home of our own, overlooking the valley of La Bresse.

The Trochu family home in Coligny, given over to us for our stay



Erik & Nadine after a late dinner out the day we arrived

Card games with Mathilde at Erik and Nadine's house

The evenings were cool and the black sky was clothed in stars. The crickets chirping through the night and the sheep bleating in the mornings, large sycamore trees overarching the narrow stone drive, this was la France profond, the France of my dreams.

Evening at Herve and Michelle's summer home near Coligny

Dinners lasted hours, conversation never stopped, nor did the best food and wine one can imagine.

Herve's family, their youngest had gone to bed as we talked past midnight


The French Countryside: like no other.

And we were never subjected to a movie while the beautiful countryside waited outside the window. We've always enjoyed the Trochu's view of life, and while they love France like no other, they also are great fans of America, still not forgetting our sacrifices from WWII.

From Coligny we had one more family to visit, in La Vialle Montmorin, a small village near Clermont Ferrand. We met Pierre, Emese, and their kids when we were in Fort Collins in 1985, and then stayed with them in 1987 & 1988 on multiple occasions while we were in Europe. We enjoyed our time with them again, and once again we were moved by the incredibly warm reception.


Pierre and Renee


Mattieu, Renee, and Pierre, and an ice cold beer

If you have seen Pierre walking the hillsides near his home, and heard his exclamations both profane and profound, you're a lucky person.

A Bit of Beijing (rc)

Taking the night train from Hefei was definitely the way to arrive in Beijing rested. Although maneuvering our way through the train station and on to our hotel was a feat in itself, we were ready to take on this city of 15 million. Depositing our bags in our clean, comfortable, air-conditioned room, a complete contrast to our boat trip accomodations of two weeks ago, we gave each other a smile, grabbed our phrase book and pocket dictionary and headed out. Our plans for the next four days were many so we caught a taxi and after a bit of talking, and eventually having to resort to our guide book, we were on our way to Tiananmen Square.


The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall is a fairly unremarkable bulding right in the middle of the Square.



His body has been preserved in a crystal coffin and is raised from a freezer each morning enabling thousands to pass by in a never-ending procession. Quite a bit of pomp for a man who requested cremation!

Just a few steps north and we were at the entrance to the Forbidden City. The walkways and courtyards here went on and on and on. We were looking at a sea of buildings to which there was no end. With 800 buildings and some 9000 chambers, it literally spanned several blocks. There was no way we were going to see it all in just a day or two.







For over 500 years ordinary Chinese people weren't allowed to approach the outside walls. What a far cry from today's throngs of tourists with their cameras and cell phones.

Designed to create a balance and feeling of harmony, it was heavily decorated with dragons symbolizing imperial power and cranes and turtles for longevity of reign.



Since the reign lasted 500 years maybe there was something to that! The entire place speaks to excess from the buildings and courtyards to the elaborate detail you witness at every turn.






Moving down the walkways and sitting on a comfortable shady perch, we had time just to look around and try to imagine what it was like at its peak. An entire city within a city without anyone from the outside allowed in or even to approach is beyond me. I struggle to get beyond the extravagant lifestyle of the emperor so even when I have the time to sit and imagine, I can't!



A walk down an outdoor touristy market on Liulichang Lu found us bargaining with an occasional shopkeeper for a souvenir we liked and knew was overpriced.



I like the bargaining more for the interaction it forces between me and the seller than actually trying to lower the price. Some prices are ridiculously high and this becomes painfully obvious when you begin to walk away and they call you back handing you a calculator and telling you to name your price. With my new command of the numbers I now try it without the calculator and offer them just half of their asking price. They appear pained, in a good natured way, and say that's no good for them. A few more tries and maybe another exit on my part followed by a call back and the deal is set. They've still made a profit, I have my souvenir and we've had a good time. Enough bargaining, the hutongs were waiting!









The local neighborhoods, hutongs, held us captive for a good two hours. Every turn of the head gave a fabulous and at the same time limited glimpse into the real life here. The streets, resembling more a wide sidewalk than a road, wove an intricate web through multiple blocks making it difficult to retrace our steps. Doorways led to walkways soon lost to our eyes by curves leading to places belonging to those who lived there.



Both inviting and private, they added to the intrigue. Passing neighbors visiting with each other on stools in the street and young kids playing, we exchanged greetings and moved on.

Multiple potted plants arranged 3-4 high adorned the fronts of many homes while squash plants grew on and hung from the rooftops of others.







Often several bikes could be spotted in the walkways leaning against the walls. Their rusty frames, broken or sometimes completely springless seats and dented fenders waiting to join the busy streets with other bikes in equivalent condition. It was picturesque and made me feel like there were many stories to be told.

Never crowded nor lacking for action, it was easy to come upon people honking their bike horns while snaking around whatever obstacle they may encounter be it fellow cyclists, walkers, workers or kids playing. It was all very calm yet obvious everyone had a purpose. But even with the honking it felt like there was an element of respect that seems to be lacking once you leave the hutongs behind. Spending a few hours walking through the hutongs should be at the top of every tourists list of "must do's" in China. It was without a doubt one of the more interesting days for me so far.