Ahhh...nice warm weather. Greetings from Kunming, China's "Spring City". This is certainly a nice and welcome change to the cold and dry climate in Guyuan.
We arrived on Sunday the 22nd, so we had a little time to look around the city before our conference began. It is nice here, but not a lot to do. We went to a Buddhist temple called Yuantong Si. We were fortunate to get there during the prayers. Quite enchanting - looking at the pond with the colorful koi and sunbathing turtles, just across is a quite typical but picturesque Chinese pavilion, colorful flags and lanterns strung up and blowing in the breeze, the scent of burning incense in the air all while listening to the chanting of the monks and nuns inside the main temple. Cool.
Once again we struck out with the Provincial Museum here (they informed us that it would be closed until July). So, we decided to explore the area a little bit and we wound up getting some Chinese styled shirts made at a tailor's shop - I got a couple of funny pictures of Matt being measured by a really tiny Chinese woman. We also were able to see the twin pagodas (Xisi Ta - West Pagoda and Dongsi Ta - East Pagoda), but other than to walk up and around them, not much to do.
We had a little more luck at the Kunming City Museum, well at least with it being open and still there. All in all the museum wasn't that great. The only thing of note was a large pink sandstone pillar with a carved Buddhist scene. Also, watching the little kids were sliding down the marble information panels surrounding the pillar was quite funny.
We also had some time to visit the Kunming Zoo. The zoo was utterly depressing. The grounds for the visitors were really nice and spacious and well landscaped, really thought out and comfortable for the visitor. Of only they put an once of that thought and consideration into the conditions for the animals. Miserable doesn't even begin to describe the dismal conditions for the animals there. The animals were in tiny cells with barely enough room to move around. Nothing for them to do in there besides sleep - just a cement prison for animals. We could get up real close only to see a very unhealthy animal (they allow guests to feed them) often missing patches of fur and with gunky eyes. Truly depressing.
The conference for our volunteer organization, VIA went really well. It was really interesting to learn about what the other volunteers had been doing at their posts. Also, it is just really nice to be able to speak to a bunch of people at a normal conversation rate and to use complete sentences. Matt and I learned that Guyuan has the most disgusting bread (tastes like dirt) and crisps (taste like grass) and the best crap for white elephant gifts. Our wonderful Program Director, Michelle, also brought some treats from the states which were consumed, quickly.
We visited some more westernish restaurants (getting our fill as Guyuan has none) - City Cafe (really good chocolate brownies with chocolate sauce and ice cream), French Cafe (imported ham and cheese sandwich and salami sandwich), Prague Cafe (super yummy BLT and floats) and Wei's Pizzeria (excellent double pepperoni pizza). Also found a to die for Chinese version of a chocolate croissant - flaky, slightly sweet outside, warm melted chocolate inside.
We also celebrated the Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year) there with the gang. Not much happened, everything closed down on the eve. It was kind of eerie walking down the main streets and being the only people out - few cars, fewer people. Many spend the holiday with family, so much was closed. On the eve there was HOURS of firework shows and random explosions around the city. I guess that most people stay at home to watch the special New Year performances on TV. We tuned in for a little bit - some neat acrobatics and choreography, many of the songs were a strange combination about love, nature, and nationalism. Oh, there were skits too. It was all subtitled and summarized in English so we could understand what was going on. It was super! Super lame!
I was surprised to see that many kids still had all of their fingers. Seriously, the firecracker thing is a little careless. They would light them and just throw them - at people, at things, put them under things, etc. They would also light them and then fuss with the fuse, only to throw them just as they exploded. In Guyuan, kids would light firecrackers and toss them over walls, not knowing what or who was on the other side. In Dali older kids would light one and drop it on the ground in the middle of a crowed pedestrian mall and walk away, only to have it go off and scare the bejesus out of the casual strollers.
Anyhow, I'm writing this with all of my fingers still intact, for now at least....
Monday, January 30, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
Panda Brawl!
Roly-poly pandas - it has been a really long time since I have seen something so overwhelmingly cute. I know that pandas aren't really helping with their own survival (don't really like to reproduce, when they give birth they don't know what to do and often kill the baby, only will eat 20 kinds of bamboo out of China's 300 varieties, etc.) but you can't help just being completely enamored with the big black and white evolutionary challenged buffoons when you see them in person.
Matt and I went to the panda research center in Chengdu and were really impressed with the nice facility they had there for the animals - as Chinese zoos are utterly depressing. They had really nice and spacious habitats with lots of places for them to play, climb and hide (if they wanted to). All along the paths there are signs with information about the pandas as well as warnings not to feed/taunt the bears or to make loud noises. Also, the caretakers seemed to really care about the animals which was a nice change from the staff at other zoos that I have been to in Asia.
So, our tour group was walking along one of the paths and came across a panda munching on a huge mound of bamboo - cameras whipped out to capture one of the two things that pandas like to do - eating. We watched it tear into the bamboo for a little bit and laughed at the other one in the same habitat - the other panda was sleeping, face down. No, really face down. It looked like that it tripped, landed on its face and just decided to stay like that for a little nap. Okay, so onward down the path to see some more of these charismatic animals!
Because we went in the morning around feeding time, they were a little more active than usual when they are doing their other favorite activity - sleeping. We all gathered around the panda nursery and instantly became smitten with a little 5 month old baby trying to sit up - after quite a struggle, the little one flopped over front ways and put its head down because that particular activity took a lot of energy! After it rested for a little bit, it tried to get back into its enclosure (from the viewing area) by sticking its head through the bars and trying to wiggle through. Part way through he decided that wasn't a good idea and backed out, flipped on its back and then again struggled to sit up. Ahhh the difficulties of being mostly fur and fat!
Then onto panda kindergarten! More feasting going on - two pandas were having a little picnic. Then, the most active captive animals I have ever seen - one panda climbed a tree while one, then two pandas tried to pull it down - very amusing. Then some chasing around and then one of the most hilarious panda moments - panda brawl! Leeeet's get ready to rumble! Two pandas started to play/fight with each other. I don't even know how to describe it - they were biting faces, pushing, one pushed the other into a somersault roll. Right after the somersault, the instigator started to push and roll (with his head) the other panda down to the edge of the enclosure where there is a hill and ends with the trench. Then, at the climax of the struggle, the panda slides down the side of the hill and lands in the trench while his chubby friend runs back to the tree.
Oh my god! Sooo hilarious! I was able to shoot a video clip during the brawl, but can't post it, so if you would like to see it, please let me know and I will try to email it! Or, if any of you techies out there know how I can post it, let me know!
After spend some quality time at the kindergarten, we went of to look at some more feasting pandas (in the background we could still see them fighting) and watch the playful red pandas. The red pandas were very active, chasing each other around the enclosure and eating guess what? Yup. Bamboo.
The tour ended at the gift shop (like so many Chinese tours do) where they also were playing a video about the center and the animals there. It was very interesting - they had some footage of pandas giving birth. Really quite strange. The mother doesn't always know what is happening and then, all of a sudden a little reddish-pinkish thing squirts out of her onto the ground. It is squirming and screaming. The new mother doesn't know what that thing is that just squirted out of her and is a little afraid of it and walks away. She later comes back and starts to sniff it and bat it around the birthing cage. Sometimes if they give birth to twins, they don't know what to do with two, so they kill one of them. The keeper runs in while the mother is on the other side of the cage and quickly picks up the shrieking baby. Hmmm...endangered because of why?
Oh, there was also a little museum on the grounds, it wasn't very good or interesting, but we did manage to get great joy out of an especially bad diorama depicting a pre-historic scene with a hominid family, elephants, tigers, leopards, sabertooth tiger, tusked pig (I think) all interacting with each other. Off to the side, eating, was a pair of pandas completely uninvolved with the rest of the scene. Also, we got a kick out of a very scientifically developed pie chart of the panda's daily life schedule in the wild. About half was devoted to sleeping, the other to eating then a little red sliver was devoted to "play time". Ahhh...good times!
After, we got to thinking that it was kind of funny that this strange animal is like the national animal of China - one of the nation's symbols. An animal who, over the ages has evolved into a completely non-self sustaining animal, who needs intervention to ward off extinction. Hmmm....
On the bus ride home we also got to speaking with another couple from the states over here teaching English. They were telling us about all of the good places to go to get Western food and other goods. We must have seemed pretty pathetic to the other tourists on the bus (the non-resident kind) - "oh, my god, they're in China and want nothing but tacos." But, hey, at that particular moment, I would have sold my everlasting soul for a good Mexican meal dripping with cheese (and a Dr. Pepper to boot).
Matt and I went to the panda research center in Chengdu and were really impressed with the nice facility they had there for the animals - as Chinese zoos are utterly depressing. They had really nice and spacious habitats with lots of places for them to play, climb and hide (if they wanted to). All along the paths there are signs with information about the pandas as well as warnings not to feed/taunt the bears or to make loud noises. Also, the caretakers seemed to really care about the animals which was a nice change from the staff at other zoos that I have been to in Asia.
So, our tour group was walking along one of the paths and came across a panda munching on a huge mound of bamboo - cameras whipped out to capture one of the two things that pandas like to do - eating. We watched it tear into the bamboo for a little bit and laughed at the other one in the same habitat - the other panda was sleeping, face down. No, really face down. It looked like that it tripped, landed on its face and just decided to stay like that for a little nap. Okay, so onward down the path to see some more of these charismatic animals!
Because we went in the morning around feeding time, they were a little more active than usual when they are doing their other favorite activity - sleeping. We all gathered around the panda nursery and instantly became smitten with a little 5 month old baby trying to sit up - after quite a struggle, the little one flopped over front ways and put its head down because that particular activity took a lot of energy! After it rested for a little bit, it tried to get back into its enclosure (from the viewing area) by sticking its head through the bars and trying to wiggle through. Part way through he decided that wasn't a good idea and backed out, flipped on its back and then again struggled to sit up. Ahhh the difficulties of being mostly fur and fat!
Then onto panda kindergarten! More feasting going on - two pandas were having a little picnic. Then, the most active captive animals I have ever seen - one panda climbed a tree while one, then two pandas tried to pull it down - very amusing. Then some chasing around and then one of the most hilarious panda moments - panda brawl! Leeeet's get ready to rumble! Two pandas started to play/fight with each other. I don't even know how to describe it - they were biting faces, pushing, one pushed the other into a somersault roll. Right after the somersault, the instigator started to push and roll (with his head) the other panda down to the edge of the enclosure where there is a hill and ends with the trench. Then, at the climax of the struggle, the panda slides down the side of the hill and lands in the trench while his chubby friend runs back to the tree.
Oh my god! Sooo hilarious! I was able to shoot a video clip during the brawl, but can't post it, so if you would like to see it, please let me know and I will try to email it! Or, if any of you techies out there know how I can post it, let me know!
After spend some quality time at the kindergarten, we went of to look at some more feasting pandas (in the background we could still see them fighting) and watch the playful red pandas. The red pandas were very active, chasing each other around the enclosure and eating guess what? Yup. Bamboo.
The tour ended at the gift shop (like so many Chinese tours do) where they also were playing a video about the center and the animals there. It was very interesting - they had some footage of pandas giving birth. Really quite strange. The mother doesn't always know what is happening and then, all of a sudden a little reddish-pinkish thing squirts out of her onto the ground. It is squirming and screaming. The new mother doesn't know what that thing is that just squirted out of her and is a little afraid of it and walks away. She later comes back and starts to sniff it and bat it around the birthing cage. Sometimes if they give birth to twins, they don't know what to do with two, so they kill one of them. The keeper runs in while the mother is on the other side of the cage and quickly picks up the shrieking baby. Hmmm...endangered because of why?
Oh, there was also a little museum on the grounds, it wasn't very good or interesting, but we did manage to get great joy out of an especially bad diorama depicting a pre-historic scene with a hominid family, elephants, tigers, leopards, sabertooth tiger, tusked pig (I think) all interacting with each other. Off to the side, eating, was a pair of pandas completely uninvolved with the rest of the scene. Also, we got a kick out of a very scientifically developed pie chart of the panda's daily life schedule in the wild. About half was devoted to sleeping, the other to eating then a little red sliver was devoted to "play time". Ahhh...good times!
After, we got to thinking that it was kind of funny that this strange animal is like the national animal of China - one of the nation's symbols. An animal who, over the ages has evolved into a completely non-self sustaining animal, who needs intervention to ward off extinction. Hmmm....
On the bus ride home we also got to speaking with another couple from the states over here teaching English. They were telling us about all of the good places to go to get Western food and other goods. We must have seemed pretty pathetic to the other tourists on the bus (the non-resident kind) - "oh, my god, they're in China and want nothing but tacos." But, hey, at that particular moment, I would have sold my everlasting soul for a good Mexican meal dripping with cheese (and a Dr. Pepper to boot).
The Cure for Those Guyuan Blues - Leaving!
Greetings from Chengdu! So far it has been a really great city - just getting a good "vibe" from this place! We left Guyuan Sunday morning on an all day train ride to Chengdu! The Guyuan train station was probably the least crowded train station I have ever been to! Including Matt and myself, there were only 20 people at the station.
Anyhow, the trip was long, but not too bad. We had some really annoying cabin mates. Cell phones are the creation of the devil. Honestly, every time we tried to get a little shut-eye some one would A) Make a call B) Answer a call and talk really really loud C) Tinker with the cell phone and not turn off the beep beep beepiness or D) use the cell phone as a flashlight. So, at 2 AM the Chinese were screaming into phones, screaming at each other and sitting on our beds and/or on us - I was on the top tier of our bunks (three up) so, it was quite an intentional doing to climb the ladder and sit on my feet, but they managed to get it done.
We arrived at the Chengdu station earlier than expected (4:30 AM) and decided that we should try to get our tickets for Kunming as we would be traveling during the Spring Festival rush (Chinese New Year). We found that there was a special ticket window for Foreigners and Chinese dignitaries, but eventually pieced together that the window would not open for a couple of hours (the guards at the train station were at least very helpful and friendly, especially at 4:30 in the morning). So, we decided to head to Sam's Guesthouse to see if we could get a room.
Eventually, we made it there - and were ripped off by our taxi driver - extra fast meter. We knocked on the door for the Guesthouse, and there was no answer. So, we decided to wait for a little while. After about an hour a bleary-eyed man came staggering out, rubbing his eyes and arranged our room for us. We were really pleasantly surprised when we got to our room - the bathroom had a pedestal toilet, there was a nice shower, living room and separate bedroom with a heater. Probably the best room that I have ever gotten for about $12.50 USD a night.
Anyhow, we decided to take a nap as our Chinese bunk mates made sure that we were not able to get any sleep. A little later we went to Sam's travel service to see if they could help us arrange train tickets (rather than deal with the hassle at the train station). In a pinch they found out what was available and when, they also checked on flight for us. For just a little more, they found out that we could fly to Kunming and the flight would take just over an hour - SOLD! Hmmm...let's see...about a day on a train or just over an hour for not too much more $$$. WWJD? I'd say he would fly, baby, fly! So, after the transportation was done we discussed with them the real important stuff. Getting out to see the pandas! We arranged a tour to go out and see one of the panda research centers in Sichuan. I will write about the pandas in a separate post later.
The city is really cool! We walked around the city a little bit - tried to go to the Provincial Museum, but, sadly, it is now a parking lot. We also went to one of the pet market areas. It was a little sad, but a couple of places had chinchillas, which made me miss the girls. Anyhow, I was talking to one of the little chins and it responded to me and came up to the side of the cage and poked its little nose at me. A Chinese man saw this and pushed me out of the way and started to whistle at it loudly, poke at it and bang on the cage. Freaked the poor thing out! Animals in China are not always treated very kindly.
We also went to the Wuhou Temple - it was interesting, but the Chinese do have a certain passion for large, painted, plaster statues. According to Matt and the Lonely Planet travel bible, this temple was originally for the Minister of War, Zhuge Liang. But even though the temple is for the minister, the main attraction would be the shrine and tomb of Liu Bei, who was the emperor of the Shu Kingdom and was known for his generous heart. There was a pretty garden area that would have been really pretty to see in the summer, but in the winter it was not too inspiring. I don't know a lot about the Three Kingdoms story, but Matt was really excited to be there. Oh, also, my (at times) juvenile sense of humor was peaked with a sign pointing me in the direction of the "Tingli Pavilion".
The next day we went out to see the University Museum. We thought that we would be able to find it rather easily, but for some reason, we just couldn't do it. We asked and were pointed in the right direction many times, but, dammit, we just couldn't find it. So, about to give up, we decided to walk around one of the sides of the building where the museum was supposed to be and where we had been standing in front of for about 20 minutes, and, dammit, it was right there.
The museum was really interesting and well done - they obviously had some money to spend. It was pretty empty there, one other couple (both whiteys) was there, so the guards were following them around. We realized that we weren't being followed because they probably thought that I was Chinese. The most entertaining thing though was when we exited a gallery one of the guards was tap dancing in the hallway - really going all out with the tapping and arm flailing. He didn't realize that we were watching him. His fellow guard was laughing and started to laugh a little harder when he realized that we were amused with the show. With a quick nod of the head, the dancing guard was quickly made aware that we were watching and immediately stopped and turned around and gave quite and embarrassed smile. Shortly after that we left the museum, but as we were walking down the stairs, we distinctly heard a tap-tap-tapping sound coming from where we just were with the guards.
After, we checked out the Wenshu Temple - a monastery that dates back to the Tang. What was interesting about this temple was that it still houses a population of monks and nuns. On the temple grounds, there was also a large teahouse - one of Chengdu's biggest. Now, what I pictured a teahouse to be, especially when located on the grounds of a Buddhist monastery, was quite different than what we experienced. Apparently it is quite the place to be for entertainment, gossip and the sort for people a couple of generations older than me. It was quite boisterous with excited stories and jokes, not exactly a serene time to sip tea and reflect or read a book.
On Thursday we went out to Leshan (just south of Chengdu) to see the largest Buddha in the world. So, we went there and, well, it was big. We got just what we expected and were looking for, a gi-normous Buddha. In our short time there, we did manage to get taken for a ride by a rickshaw driver - meaning that we rode in his rickshaw and he ripped us off. He charged us 50 kuai for a ride from the wharf to the base of the Buddha park. We thought that he was going to bike us around the park area - it would have been a fair deal then.
One of the best things about Chengdu was the food - both Chinese and Western. Admittedly, I did not fully partake in a lot of the spicy Sichuan cuisine, aside from some spicy sweet potato noodles and tofu, but I did get to delight in baked macaroni and cheese, potato chowder, four cheese gnocchi, chimichangas, queso and chips, fried ice cream and Dr. Pepper! We also found a place near the guesthouse that served up a nice steamer basket of the kind of dumplings that we were so fond of in Nanjing, but can't get in Guyuan. So, if you are even stuck in Chengdu and get a bit of a western itch, I strongly recommend visiting Grandma's Kitchen and Peter's Southwestern Grill on Kehua Lu - both provided us with a very delightful dining experience and western toilets. Of course if many of you are in China, you would not be looking for all things western, right?
Unfortunately, I got a cold while we were there. It was in my chest, so I was worried about it as my breathing was getting labored. Matt and I went to the doctor (at the international hospital - wanted someone who could speak English) and she wanted to admit me in the hospital for 5 days for IV medicine and injections. Bleck! I told her that I could not be here for that long because I had to go to Kunming. She off-handedly told me that I would have to discuss that with the doctor in the hospital (I guess she was only for out-patient consultation or something). I had told her that I had something similar in the US and they were able to treat me as an out-patient with a nebulizer treatment, prednisone shot and a Z- pack of antibiotics. She didn't seemed to impressed with my self-diagnosis and treatment plan. I went back out and talked with the admitting nurse. Then, I found out the cost for treatment - at least 3,000 RMB, yea, right! So, we spoke to the nurse, told her that I did not want to stay at the hospital. Eventually, I went back to the doctor, and things quickly devolved from there. To sum up - I was frustrated and mad, she got defensive, I told her that there was no way that I was going to get injections in China, she angrily jotted down a note that I was refusing medical treatment, I angrily signed it. I wound up with a steroid inhaler, expectorant, antibiotics, bronchial dilator and anti-allergy pills. That cost about 200 RMB. Quite a savings, but cost quite a bit patience and expended a lot of energy.
So, the rest of my time in Chengdu was spent in my room at Sam's Guesthouse watching CCTV 9 - the English station (which, the programming, I must add, is not meant to be watched for 12 hours straight). Matt was able to go to a cooking class, see the big statue of Mao and look around one of the nearby parks. Anyhow the big news while we were there were the first direct across the channel flights from Taiwan to the mainland - errr "motherland" as it was referred to. They had live coverage of the planes taking off and landing and had hourly updates about the plane's flight progress. Lots of interviews of passengers saying how nice and convenient it was to be able to fly direct without stopping over in Hong Kong. Eva Airlines even "Hello Kittied" a special plane for the special flights. What a snooze! After awhile the slant seemed to be more of a political perspective about Taiwan and China and how much more convenient it would be for all of these people and businesses if Taiwan would come back to the motherland.
Anyhow, Chengdu is definitely one of my favorite cities here so far, the pandas were definitely worth the trip for me! Oh, also, Matt had a "small world moment" we ran into a girl from Alaska who was visiting some friends in China. We got to talking and found out that her mother's family all were from Mt. Carroll, IL (small midwestern town)! Chicago and burbs would be one thing, but Mt. Carroll, what are the odds of that? By flying to Kunming, we got to shave a day off of our "time on train" column on our IT. I was unable to access my blog while travelling - the site was blocked, so all of my tenses and what not will be all screwed up as I add to things that I wrote while on the trip. I will be posting quite a bit over the next few days, so, check back!
Anyhow, the trip was long, but not too bad. We had some really annoying cabin mates. Cell phones are the creation of the devil. Honestly, every time we tried to get a little shut-eye some one would A) Make a call B) Answer a call and talk really really loud C) Tinker with the cell phone and not turn off the beep beep beepiness or D) use the cell phone as a flashlight. So, at 2 AM the Chinese were screaming into phones, screaming at each other and sitting on our beds and/or on us - I was on the top tier of our bunks (three up) so, it was quite an intentional doing to climb the ladder and sit on my feet, but they managed to get it done.
We arrived at the Chengdu station earlier than expected (4:30 AM) and decided that we should try to get our tickets for Kunming as we would be traveling during the Spring Festival rush (Chinese New Year). We found that there was a special ticket window for Foreigners and Chinese dignitaries, but eventually pieced together that the window would not open for a couple of hours (the guards at the train station were at least very helpful and friendly, especially at 4:30 in the morning). So, we decided to head to Sam's Guesthouse to see if we could get a room.
Eventually, we made it there - and were ripped off by our taxi driver - extra fast meter. We knocked on the door for the Guesthouse, and there was no answer. So, we decided to wait for a little while. After about an hour a bleary-eyed man came staggering out, rubbing his eyes and arranged our room for us. We were really pleasantly surprised when we got to our room - the bathroom had a pedestal toilet, there was a nice shower, living room and separate bedroom with a heater. Probably the best room that I have ever gotten for about $12.50 USD a night.
Anyhow, we decided to take a nap as our Chinese bunk mates made sure that we were not able to get any sleep. A little later we went to Sam's travel service to see if they could help us arrange train tickets (rather than deal with the hassle at the train station). In a pinch they found out what was available and when, they also checked on flight for us. For just a little more, they found out that we could fly to Kunming and the flight would take just over an hour - SOLD! Hmmm...let's see...about a day on a train or just over an hour for not too much more $$$. WWJD? I'd say he would fly, baby, fly! So, after the transportation was done we discussed with them the real important stuff. Getting out to see the pandas! We arranged a tour to go out and see one of the panda research centers in Sichuan. I will write about the pandas in a separate post later.
The city is really cool! We walked around the city a little bit - tried to go to the Provincial Museum, but, sadly, it is now a parking lot. We also went to one of the pet market areas. It was a little sad, but a couple of places had chinchillas, which made me miss the girls. Anyhow, I was talking to one of the little chins and it responded to me and came up to the side of the cage and poked its little nose at me. A Chinese man saw this and pushed me out of the way and started to whistle at it loudly, poke at it and bang on the cage. Freaked the poor thing out! Animals in China are not always treated very kindly.
We also went to the Wuhou Temple - it was interesting, but the Chinese do have a certain passion for large, painted, plaster statues. According to Matt and the Lonely Planet travel bible, this temple was originally for the Minister of War, Zhuge Liang. But even though the temple is for the minister, the main attraction would be the shrine and tomb of Liu Bei, who was the emperor of the Shu Kingdom and was known for his generous heart. There was a pretty garden area that would have been really pretty to see in the summer, but in the winter it was not too inspiring. I don't know a lot about the Three Kingdoms story, but Matt was really excited to be there. Oh, also, my (at times) juvenile sense of humor was peaked with a sign pointing me in the direction of the "Tingli Pavilion".
The next day we went out to see the University Museum. We thought that we would be able to find it rather easily, but for some reason, we just couldn't do it. We asked and were pointed in the right direction many times, but, dammit, we just couldn't find it. So, about to give up, we decided to walk around one of the sides of the building where the museum was supposed to be and where we had been standing in front of for about 20 minutes, and, dammit, it was right there.
The museum was really interesting and well done - they obviously had some money to spend. It was pretty empty there, one other couple (both whiteys) was there, so the guards were following them around. We realized that we weren't being followed because they probably thought that I was Chinese. The most entertaining thing though was when we exited a gallery one of the guards was tap dancing in the hallway - really going all out with the tapping and arm flailing. He didn't realize that we were watching him. His fellow guard was laughing and started to laugh a little harder when he realized that we were amused with the show. With a quick nod of the head, the dancing guard was quickly made aware that we were watching and immediately stopped and turned around and gave quite and embarrassed smile. Shortly after that we left the museum, but as we were walking down the stairs, we distinctly heard a tap-tap-tapping sound coming from where we just were with the guards.
After, we checked out the Wenshu Temple - a monastery that dates back to the Tang. What was interesting about this temple was that it still houses a population of monks and nuns. On the temple grounds, there was also a large teahouse - one of Chengdu's biggest. Now, what I pictured a teahouse to be, especially when located on the grounds of a Buddhist monastery, was quite different than what we experienced. Apparently it is quite the place to be for entertainment, gossip and the sort for people a couple of generations older than me. It was quite boisterous with excited stories and jokes, not exactly a serene time to sip tea and reflect or read a book.
On Thursday we went out to Leshan (just south of Chengdu) to see the largest Buddha in the world. So, we went there and, well, it was big. We got just what we expected and were looking for, a gi-normous Buddha. In our short time there, we did manage to get taken for a ride by a rickshaw driver - meaning that we rode in his rickshaw and he ripped us off. He charged us 50 kuai for a ride from the wharf to the base of the Buddha park. We thought that he was going to bike us around the park area - it would have been a fair deal then.
One of the best things about Chengdu was the food - both Chinese and Western. Admittedly, I did not fully partake in a lot of the spicy Sichuan cuisine, aside from some spicy sweet potato noodles and tofu, but I did get to delight in baked macaroni and cheese, potato chowder, four cheese gnocchi, chimichangas, queso and chips, fried ice cream and Dr. Pepper! We also found a place near the guesthouse that served up a nice steamer basket of the kind of dumplings that we were so fond of in Nanjing, but can't get in Guyuan. So, if you are even stuck in Chengdu and get a bit of a western itch, I strongly recommend visiting Grandma's Kitchen and Peter's Southwestern Grill on Kehua Lu - both provided us with a very delightful dining experience and western toilets. Of course if many of you are in China, you would not be looking for all things western, right?
Unfortunately, I got a cold while we were there. It was in my chest, so I was worried about it as my breathing was getting labored. Matt and I went to the doctor (at the international hospital - wanted someone who could speak English) and she wanted to admit me in the hospital for 5 days for IV medicine and injections. Bleck! I told her that I could not be here for that long because I had to go to Kunming. She off-handedly told me that I would have to discuss that with the doctor in the hospital (I guess she was only for out-patient consultation or something). I had told her that I had something similar in the US and they were able to treat me as an out-patient with a nebulizer treatment, prednisone shot and a Z- pack of antibiotics. She didn't seemed to impressed with my self-diagnosis and treatment plan. I went back out and talked with the admitting nurse. Then, I found out the cost for treatment - at least 3,000 RMB, yea, right! So, we spoke to the nurse, told her that I did not want to stay at the hospital. Eventually, I went back to the doctor, and things quickly devolved from there. To sum up - I was frustrated and mad, she got defensive, I told her that there was no way that I was going to get injections in China, she angrily jotted down a note that I was refusing medical treatment, I angrily signed it. I wound up with a steroid inhaler, expectorant, antibiotics, bronchial dilator and anti-allergy pills. That cost about 200 RMB. Quite a savings, but cost quite a bit patience and expended a lot of energy.
So, the rest of my time in Chengdu was spent in my room at Sam's Guesthouse watching CCTV 9 - the English station (which, the programming, I must add, is not meant to be watched for 12 hours straight). Matt was able to go to a cooking class, see the big statue of Mao and look around one of the nearby parks. Anyhow the big news while we were there were the first direct across the channel flights from Taiwan to the mainland - errr "motherland" as it was referred to. They had live coverage of the planes taking off and landing and had hourly updates about the plane's flight progress. Lots of interviews of passengers saying how nice and convenient it was to be able to fly direct without stopping over in Hong Kong. Eva Airlines even "Hello Kittied" a special plane for the special flights. What a snooze! After awhile the slant seemed to be more of a political perspective about Taiwan and China and how much more convenient it would be for all of these people and businesses if Taiwan would come back to the motherland.
Anyhow, Chengdu is definitely one of my favorite cities here so far, the pandas were definitely worth the trip for me! Oh, also, Matt had a "small world moment" we ran into a girl from Alaska who was visiting some friends in China. We got to talking and found out that her mother's family all were from Mt. Carroll, IL (small midwestern town)! Chicago and burbs would be one thing, but Mt. Carroll, what are the odds of that? By flying to Kunming, we got to shave a day off of our "time on train" column on our IT. I was unable to access my blog while travelling - the site was blocked, so all of my tenses and what not will be all screwed up as I add to things that I wrote while on the trip. I will be posting quite a bit over the next few days, so, check back!
Saturday, January 14, 2006
The Significance of Peanuts
Hopefully the next time that I post, it will be from an internet cafe in Chengdu. We're still in Guyuan, but more on our travel plans in a bit.
On Wednesday, Matt and I went to a wedding for one of the Senior School English teachers Matt works with. It was quite interesting to watch. First, we wondered what was going to happen because it was all taking place on a Wednesday afternoon (at noon). We met some of the other English teachers and took a car out to a new restaurant/hotel in town (it officially opened a little earlier in the week).
We went to one of the little banquet rooms and sat there with a few of the English teachers and had some snacks. Eventually, we were told that it was time to go to the ceremony. So, we walked up to the next floor of the building to a larger room where there was a stage at the head of the room and a bunch of chairs and sofas set up, lining the sides.
The couple walked into an instrumental version on "Here Comes the Bride" and went up onto the little stage with the MC for the ceremony. The MC was one of the English teachers from the Senior School. The bride was wearing a white wedding dress - Western looking, and the groom was wearing a suit. While they walked down the aisle, one of the guests sprayed them with that squirt string stuff and threw a bunch of confetti at them.
On the stage, the MC was apparently telling some really funny stories about the couple as the guests were laughing quite a lot and the couple looked a little embarrassed at times. The bride had to climb a chair and untie two little corsages that were pinned up high on the wall. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of watching them try to get them (the couple is rather short). After that there was some more talking, more silly string squirting and a lot more laughing.
Then there was a presentation of their new ID's (?), marriage books (?) - I don't know what they were, but the couple each got a new little red book with their picture in it. Then some firecrackers were lit - we were able to enjoy the cracking noise both from the live action fireworks outside as well as the pre-recorded sound of them being fired off from inside. Then the couple was presented with Chinese silk by members of their families - the people would come up and wrap the couple with the fabric.
After that, the parents of the couple came up and the bride fed each of them a small candy before both of them bowed three times to their parents. We were told afterward that it isn't traditional for the bride's parents to come to the wedding, just the groom's. Then, all of a sudden everyone just got up and started to walk out - bride and groom lost in the crowd.
We were then escorted to a banquet room with all of the school administration folks (I would have preferred to sit with the English teachers as they can communicate with us) and had a lunch. The fathers of the bride and groom came around and poured baijou for all of the guests - two shots of the nasty stuff for each guest (two is supposed to be lucky). For me, they made an exception and I got cola - our waiban told me that while pouring the cola, the man told her that he was really nervous and was sweating because he had never poured cola before (he was from the country side). Then the bride and groom came and did the same with all of the guests.
Our waiban said that their wedding was not very traditional, that there were many modern elements to the ceremony. She also told us about how the bride's parents are not usually present, about some of the meanings of the ceremony, and that drinking two shots of the alcohol is lucky. Also, told us about how it is customary for the bride to change clothing three times during the day. Ms. Wang also told us that it was traditional at weddings to serve the guests peanuts because they represent the womb and two children. So, eating peanuts is to symbolize blessing the union with many children. But because of the one child policy, she said now the meaning is meaningless. This then launched a bit of a discussion about the one child policy - which I'm sure was interesting, but we couldn't understand.
We found out that people who are Han (largest ethnic group in China) are only allowed to have one child. But, if you live in the country side and are Han, you are allowed 2 or 3 children (to help with the work on the farm). If you are an ethnic minority you can have 3 or 4 children. If a Han marries a non-Han, they can have 2 children. If a Han has more than one child, they will have to pay a large fine to the government.
Shortly before 2 PM the headmaster did a finishing toast and we all left because everyone had to return to work. So, from start to finish, the whole shebang took about 2 hours - very short by Chinese banquet and American wedding standards. But, hey, we're not complaining.
Anyhow, we feel very fortunate to be included in the celebration for one of the teachers we work with. It was definitely an interesting event to witness and be a part of. The hotel manager even managed to take a picture of Matt to hang on the wall - "Look, the foreigner likes to eat here!"
So, we have officially started our winter vacation! Still in Guyuan, but we are looking to leave for Chengdu on Sunday. We are a little delayed as we didn't realize that the train tickets would be so scarce - each train station is allotted a certain number of seats on a train, because our train station is so small, for the train that we need to go to Chengdu, they are only allotted 3 seats. Arrrgh! The ticketing lady was not helpful at all, we wound up going to our waiban and she hooked us up for Sunday!
Anyhow, the trip out to Chengdu will be about a full day on the train, but once there, we are hoping to get in some panda goodness and spicy food - pandas are sooo cute, but, how are they not extinct yet? Seriously? I have been reading about them, and they are just not fit for this world. Also, Matt wants to challenge his taste buds to some of the spicy Sichuan cuisine as nothing that he has had in Asian so far has been that spicy. While in Sichuan we also hope to get out to Leshan to see the giant Buddha.
After Sichuan, we hop another train for another full day ride out to Kunming in Yunnan Province. Here, our volunteer organization, VIA will have a conference. We will spend the Chinese New Year here (they call it "Spring Festival"), so that will be very interesting to experience. After the conference, we hope to travel around that province a little bit, go to Dali and what not. Then, off on another train (yes, another full day train trip) to Chongqing. In Chongqing, we are looking to take a boat trip down the Yangtze river to see the Three Gorges dam area. That will be a little cold, but, hey, we've got that hearty Mid-Western blood! Then, back to Guyuan via Xi'an (if time, we might chill there for a few days and get our fill of pizza) to finish up the rest of the year.
Anyhow, that's what we have planned in our heads as what we want to do, but, being that we can't make any reservations for anything here, plans can quickly change. So, no new pictures until mid-February, but hopefully I will be able to post a little along the way!
On Wednesday, Matt and I went to a wedding for one of the Senior School English teachers Matt works with. It was quite interesting to watch. First, we wondered what was going to happen because it was all taking place on a Wednesday afternoon (at noon). We met some of the other English teachers and took a car out to a new restaurant/hotel in town (it officially opened a little earlier in the week).
We went to one of the little banquet rooms and sat there with a few of the English teachers and had some snacks. Eventually, we were told that it was time to go to the ceremony. So, we walked up to the next floor of the building to a larger room where there was a stage at the head of the room and a bunch of chairs and sofas set up, lining the sides.
The couple walked into an instrumental version on "Here Comes the Bride" and went up onto the little stage with the MC for the ceremony. The MC was one of the English teachers from the Senior School. The bride was wearing a white wedding dress - Western looking, and the groom was wearing a suit. While they walked down the aisle, one of the guests sprayed them with that squirt string stuff and threw a bunch of confetti at them.
On the stage, the MC was apparently telling some really funny stories about the couple as the guests were laughing quite a lot and the couple looked a little embarrassed at times. The bride had to climb a chair and untie two little corsages that were pinned up high on the wall. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of watching them try to get them (the couple is rather short). After that there was some more talking, more silly string squirting and a lot more laughing.
Then there was a presentation of their new ID's (?), marriage books (?) - I don't know what they were, but the couple each got a new little red book with their picture in it. Then some firecrackers were lit - we were able to enjoy the cracking noise both from the live action fireworks outside as well as the pre-recorded sound of them being fired off from inside. Then the couple was presented with Chinese silk by members of their families - the people would come up and wrap the couple with the fabric.
After that, the parents of the couple came up and the bride fed each of them a small candy before both of them bowed three times to their parents. We were told afterward that it isn't traditional for the bride's parents to come to the wedding, just the groom's. Then, all of a sudden everyone just got up and started to walk out - bride and groom lost in the crowd.
We were then escorted to a banquet room with all of the school administration folks (I would have preferred to sit with the English teachers as they can communicate with us) and had a lunch. The fathers of the bride and groom came around and poured baijou for all of the guests - two shots of the nasty stuff for each guest (two is supposed to be lucky). For me, they made an exception and I got cola - our waiban told me that while pouring the cola, the man told her that he was really nervous and was sweating because he had never poured cola before (he was from the country side). Then the bride and groom came and did the same with all of the guests.
Our waiban said that their wedding was not very traditional, that there were many modern elements to the ceremony. She also told us about how the bride's parents are not usually present, about some of the meanings of the ceremony, and that drinking two shots of the alcohol is lucky. Also, told us about how it is customary for the bride to change clothing three times during the day. Ms. Wang also told us that it was traditional at weddings to serve the guests peanuts because they represent the womb and two children. So, eating peanuts is to symbolize blessing the union with many children. But because of the one child policy, she said now the meaning is meaningless. This then launched a bit of a discussion about the one child policy - which I'm sure was interesting, but we couldn't understand.
We found out that people who are Han (largest ethnic group in China) are only allowed to have one child. But, if you live in the country side and are Han, you are allowed 2 or 3 children (to help with the work on the farm). If you are an ethnic minority you can have 3 or 4 children. If a Han marries a non-Han, they can have 2 children. If a Han has more than one child, they will have to pay a large fine to the government.
Shortly before 2 PM the headmaster did a finishing toast and we all left because everyone had to return to work. So, from start to finish, the whole shebang took about 2 hours - very short by Chinese banquet and American wedding standards. But, hey, we're not complaining.
Anyhow, we feel very fortunate to be included in the celebration for one of the teachers we work with. It was definitely an interesting event to witness and be a part of. The hotel manager even managed to take a picture of Matt to hang on the wall - "Look, the foreigner likes to eat here!"
So, we have officially started our winter vacation! Still in Guyuan, but we are looking to leave for Chengdu on Sunday. We are a little delayed as we didn't realize that the train tickets would be so scarce - each train station is allotted a certain number of seats on a train, because our train station is so small, for the train that we need to go to Chengdu, they are only allotted 3 seats. Arrrgh! The ticketing lady was not helpful at all, we wound up going to our waiban and she hooked us up for Sunday!
Anyhow, the trip out to Chengdu will be about a full day on the train, but once there, we are hoping to get in some panda goodness and spicy food - pandas are sooo cute, but, how are they not extinct yet? Seriously? I have been reading about them, and they are just not fit for this world. Also, Matt wants to challenge his taste buds to some of the spicy Sichuan cuisine as nothing that he has had in Asian so far has been that spicy. While in Sichuan we also hope to get out to Leshan to see the giant Buddha.
After Sichuan, we hop another train for another full day ride out to Kunming in Yunnan Province. Here, our volunteer organization, VIA will have a conference. We will spend the Chinese New Year here (they call it "Spring Festival"), so that will be very interesting to experience. After the conference, we hope to travel around that province a little bit, go to Dali and what not. Then, off on another train (yes, another full day train trip) to Chongqing. In Chongqing, we are looking to take a boat trip down the Yangtze river to see the Three Gorges dam area. That will be a little cold, but, hey, we've got that hearty Mid-Western blood! Then, back to Guyuan via Xi'an (if time, we might chill there for a few days and get our fill of pizza) to finish up the rest of the year.
Anyhow, that's what we have planned in our heads as what we want to do, but, being that we can't make any reservations for anything here, plans can quickly change. So, no new pictures until mid-February, but hopefully I will be able to post a little along the way!
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Big Scary Metal Monster with Sharp Pointy Teeth
So, I wanted to tell you a little about one of the things I enjoy doing here in Guyuan, but first, do you remember when you were little how scary the escalator was? Everyone knew about "that kid" who got his/her shoelaces caught in the teeth of the escalator. And admit it or not, after knowing about that unfortunate kid, you ALWAYS checked the status of your laces - even going out of your way to tuck them inside your shoes before boarding the great metal monster.
Well, escalators are rather new technology here in Guyuan - only two places in town have them, the underground grocery store and the new mall (the one that had the protest). One of the things that I like to do is watch people use them. It can be quite entertaining!
When the mall first opened an older lady and her daughter were standing in front of the great moving staircase. The lady was working up the nerve to jump on. She would advance and retreat, advance and retreat. Finally, laughing, she waved it off and decided to use the stairs.
I never thought about using the device - just hop on and enjoy the ride! I don't really think twice before stepping on. But, being that they have never been used here until now, people just don't always know what to do.
At the grocery store about 2 weeks ago, I watched a man unsuccessfully try to go up the wrong side - 4 times. He finally stopped and watched someone else use the up escalator. Then stood at the bottom, timed it, misstepped it once, waited some more, misstepped again, and finally carefully jumped onto one of the stairs. Success! But, he panicked at the top (that darn monster) and tripped and stumbled off.
Watching women with groceries and little kids use it is always interesting. The kids seem to conquer the fear of the monster faster than their parents - so kids are running all over the place, mom is juggling groceries and trying to time hopping on and making sure the kids don't get gobbled up by the monster. One mom made her kids wait for her at the bottom of the escalator, first she brought up the groceries and then brought up each one of her kids separately.
Of course little kids and escalators are the same every where you go. Once the fear of the monster is gone, they love to tear up and down the escalators going against the designated direction. One little kid was worried about me getting on the new-fangled device and insisted on holding my hand on my ride down and scolded me for not hanging onto the railing. This is the first time that I have ever had a finger waved at me by a 6 year old.
Most recently, I earned me some serious elevator cred. with the youngsters by nonchalantly stepping on the escalator and walking up and getting off without a second thought. When I got off they were pointing at me and ahhhing. Then one of the kids tried to get on the device like I just had done and, I'm afraid to say, bit it on the step down.
Oh well, so I guess when our foreign exotic appeal wears off on the folks here Matt and I can dazzle the crowd with our mad escalator skills.
Well, escalators are rather new technology here in Guyuan - only two places in town have them, the underground grocery store and the new mall (the one that had the protest). One of the things that I like to do is watch people use them. It can be quite entertaining!
When the mall first opened an older lady and her daughter were standing in front of the great moving staircase. The lady was working up the nerve to jump on. She would advance and retreat, advance and retreat. Finally, laughing, she waved it off and decided to use the stairs.
I never thought about using the device - just hop on and enjoy the ride! I don't really think twice before stepping on. But, being that they have never been used here until now, people just don't always know what to do.
At the grocery store about 2 weeks ago, I watched a man unsuccessfully try to go up the wrong side - 4 times. He finally stopped and watched someone else use the up escalator. Then stood at the bottom, timed it, misstepped it once, waited some more, misstepped again, and finally carefully jumped onto one of the stairs. Success! But, he panicked at the top (that darn monster) and tripped and stumbled off.
Watching women with groceries and little kids use it is always interesting. The kids seem to conquer the fear of the monster faster than their parents - so kids are running all over the place, mom is juggling groceries and trying to time hopping on and making sure the kids don't get gobbled up by the monster. One mom made her kids wait for her at the bottom of the escalator, first she brought up the groceries and then brought up each one of her kids separately.
Of course little kids and escalators are the same every where you go. Once the fear of the monster is gone, they love to tear up and down the escalators going against the designated direction. One little kid was worried about me getting on the new-fangled device and insisted on holding my hand on my ride down and scolded me for not hanging onto the railing. This is the first time that I have ever had a finger waved at me by a 6 year old.
Most recently, I earned me some serious elevator cred. with the youngsters by nonchalantly stepping on the escalator and walking up and getting off without a second thought. When I got off they were pointing at me and ahhhing. Then one of the kids tried to get on the device like I just had done and, I'm afraid to say, bit it on the step down.
Oh well, so I guess when our foreign exotic appeal wears off on the folks here Matt and I can dazzle the crowd with our mad escalator skills.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Snow Therapy
Hello and Happy New Year!
Unfortunately, Matt was sick for his birthday, therefore sick for New Year's, and remains sick as I write this (he is down hacking it up on the sofa).
New Year's was definitely different than how we celebrate in the US. For us, it started with about 20 student parties. All of the senior classes throw a party and many of the teachers visit the parties for the classes they teach. For us, that meant visiting about 20 parties and singing at each and every one! Needless to say, Matt's voice was pretty much shot after that.
The next day we went to dinner with the English department from the senior school (only 3 hours this time!) We were able to escape without any of the post dinner activities - dancing and karaoke - because of Matt's cold. But, of course, we were not able to escape the dinner without a nice, healthy serving of Chinese guilt for sitting out the night time festivities.
The next evening we were supposed to go to a dinner for all of the junior teachers, but I called and cancelled - I just couldn't bear to spend several hours cornered by math teacher. Again, we were able to escape the dinner, but not the guilt trip.
One of the things that is really difficult to get used to is how everything is done at the last minute. The big final exam for the term is supposed to be next week, but no one can tell me what the schedule will be, if I will be having my classes and, if so, which ones and on what days. Frustrating.
One of the other things that has been getting on my nerves is the relentless commentary on my clothing. This has been going on ever since I had that cold. Every day I get an average of 12 comments about the thickness of my clothing, how my coat isn’t made of cotton, therefore it isn’t warm, blah, blah, BLAH! Very tiring - just think about it, about 12 comments a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but an average of 12 a day. Okay, now think of all those comments going on for a couple of weeks AND take into consideration that I am only at the main school building (where my office is) for about 1.75 hours a day - in class for about 1.5 hours of that, so about 12 comments a day in about 15 minutes - irritating and exhausting.
So. Today. After the 14th comment about my attire, I decided that I needed to chill with some of my kids. I dropped in on some of my Jr. 2’s during their open period and we played around a little bit. Then, I decided to head back home - I wound up cutting through the campus to avoid the slippery sidewalk. Some of my Jr. 1’s were playing outside - then it happened. I got hit. In the shoulder. With, yes, a snowball. It was an “accident” and the boys looked genuinely worried about it - even scared. Everything just stopped. Apologies started to pour out. My reaction? Why, to scoop up some snow and return fire! So, as suddenly as the mood turned to worry from the “misfire” we were laughing and running around chucking snow at each other.
Some of the other teachers gathered around and were watching this unusual sight - one of the adult teachers, running around with the kids throwing snow. I don’t think they really knew what to make of it. I tried to get them to join in on the fun - no luck. I didn’t really expect them to anyhow. Oh well, their loss!
The bell rang, I said goodbye to the kids gave them hugs and started my way home - very cold, very wet, but very happy.
Unfortunately, Matt was sick for his birthday, therefore sick for New Year's, and remains sick as I write this (he is down hacking it up on the sofa).
New Year's was definitely different than how we celebrate in the US. For us, it started with about 20 student parties. All of the senior classes throw a party and many of the teachers visit the parties for the classes they teach. For us, that meant visiting about 20 parties and singing at each and every one! Needless to say, Matt's voice was pretty much shot after that.
The next day we went to dinner with the English department from the senior school (only 3 hours this time!) We were able to escape without any of the post dinner activities - dancing and karaoke - because of Matt's cold. But, of course, we were not able to escape the dinner without a nice, healthy serving of Chinese guilt for sitting out the night time festivities.
The next evening we were supposed to go to a dinner for all of the junior teachers, but I called and cancelled - I just couldn't bear to spend several hours cornered by math teacher. Again, we were able to escape the dinner, but not the guilt trip.
One of the things that is really difficult to get used to is how everything is done at the last minute. The big final exam for the term is supposed to be next week, but no one can tell me what the schedule will be, if I will be having my classes and, if so, which ones and on what days. Frustrating.
One of the other things that has been getting on my nerves is the relentless commentary on my clothing. This has been going on ever since I had that cold. Every day I get an average of 12 comments about the thickness of my clothing, how my coat isn’t made of cotton, therefore it isn’t warm, blah, blah, BLAH! Very tiring - just think about it, about 12 comments a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but an average of 12 a day. Okay, now think of all those comments going on for a couple of weeks AND take into consideration that I am only at the main school building (where my office is) for about 1.75 hours a day - in class for about 1.5 hours of that, so about 12 comments a day in about 15 minutes - irritating and exhausting.
So. Today. After the 14th comment about my attire, I decided that I needed to chill with some of my kids. I dropped in on some of my Jr. 2’s during their open period and we played around a little bit. Then, I decided to head back home - I wound up cutting through the campus to avoid the slippery sidewalk. Some of my Jr. 1’s were playing outside - then it happened. I got hit. In the shoulder. With, yes, a snowball. It was an “accident” and the boys looked genuinely worried about it - even scared. Everything just stopped. Apologies started to pour out. My reaction? Why, to scoop up some snow and return fire! So, as suddenly as the mood turned to worry from the “misfire” we were laughing and running around chucking snow at each other.
Some of the other teachers gathered around and were watching this unusual sight - one of the adult teachers, running around with the kids throwing snow. I don’t think they really knew what to make of it. I tried to get them to join in on the fun - no luck. I didn’t really expect them to anyhow. Oh well, their loss!
The bell rang, I said goodbye to the kids gave them hugs and started my way home - very cold, very wet, but very happy.
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