Adam, my link still seems to be broken.
You’re losing a little ground as my favorite….
Mom
Adam, my link still seems to be broken.
You’re losing a little ground as my favorite….
Mom
Adam, if you’re reading this, I can’t log on for
emails. It says “Oops! this link is broken.” And
Crittendens are arriving in town tomorrow,
planning to communicate with me by email.
Can you help? (And what about my pirated
DVD’s? Ok to play them?)
Thanks, you’re my favorite son.
Mom
I awoke at 4:30 again, so I walked to McDonalds
for a pancake breakfast. They’re open 24 hrs.
(We’ve taught the world so much!) Then after
a short meeting at 8:30, I set off for People’s
Square. There I ran into some college
students on spring break, and they took me to
a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. I told them
I don’t drink tea, so I got all the herbal and
flowery stuff. The ceremony was fascinating,
but I wasn’t allowed to take pictures. It’s not
done in English, so if I hadn’t had my college
buddies with me, I’d have got nothing out of it.
My next Chinese party (tea ceremony)will be for
grandchildren only….the parents don’t have the
proper attitude.
I’m practicing to be a tour guide for my friends
who are arriving on Friday, so I next went to the
Bund, which is under massive reconstruction.
They’re feverishly preparing for Expo 2010 next
May, which seems to be getting as much hype as
the Olympics. They have retained their “Public
Manners Day”–the 25th of each month–when
they practice queing up, not spitting, etc. Today
I even saw a transit worker direct people to wait
for Metro passengers to exit the trains before
swarming on. I know now where all the people
are. Thirteen years ago there was one Metro
line; now there are nine. So all those people who
used to pack the buses are all underground.
Val, I even found a Gelato stand. I had a “Hazel-
nut Kissing” cone. A perfect day!
New fact I learned: America is referred to as
Mei Guo. The translation is “beautiful country.”
Oh, and I found a 4-leaf clover today. Quadruple
happiness…
After three days of “rest,” I finally began my
teaching schedule. I teach on a campus about
an hour away, except for rush hour, which adds
another half-hour. The amazing thing is that the
bus is new and air-conditioned.
The classroom is a decided improvement over
my experience last time–the students are about
the same. Because most of them are “only” child-
ren, Chinese teens are socially very backward.
Several girls told me that their favorite TV show
is Tom and Jerry cartoons. Their American
names, as written in my rollbook turned out to
be less odd than I thought when I realized what
they were trying to spell. “Jennies” became
“Janice.” A girl named “Kidult” explained that
even though she is an adult, she wants to re-
tain her childlike (kid) attributes.
There is a student monitor, I’m sure a Party
member, for every class. In addition to assist-
ing the professors, they also relay information
back to the administration. At the end of class
(3 hours), the monitor escorted me to the bus
stop where she and the Dean discussed my first
day’s performance in Chinese while we waited
for the bus. That was very comfortable. The
Dean and, for that matter, all the other faculty
members fell fast asleep before the wheels
started turning. I’ve never seen people who
sleep more. You have to wake up the vendor
to buy a banana at a fruit stand.
Today was mercifully cool and it even rained a
little this evening, making everything look and
smell fresh.
Tomorrow’s another “rest”day; then on Thursday
I teach for six hours.
I went to Church yesterday and received a small
pink box filled with Dove chocolates. The Branch
meets in a house in a gated community, but
they’re having to move because the neighbors
dislike all the traffic and noise. I guess they’ve
built a small chapel of some sort, which is
almost finished.
Today I met with Dean Li to get my marching
orders. Then I found the fabric market, and I
was in heaven! Fabrics, trims, buttons, etc., and
tailors right there to whip up any design.
Some of the new trends I’ve noticed are couples
wearing matching shirts, and women of all
ages wearing leggings. It’s a good look, but
don’t they know it’s hot here???
What hasn’t changed is their affinity for Mickey
Mouse and Hello Kitty. I’ve also seen several
Betty Boop logos.
Last Saturday in the park there were many
bamboo cages of birds hanging in the trees.
They’re not there now, so I guess the owners
take their birds to the park like we take our dogs.
It’s been a good day, but I’ll admit that it’s
kinda lonely here without Ben or Gage or even
crazy Shirley.
I start classes tomorrow, so that should keep me
more occupied. I’ve asked to do volunteer work
in my downtime, but the answer is that the
Chinese want money, not manhours.
I went skiing today, and I have a nasty bruise to
show for it. The skiing itself wasn’t a problem–
real bunny hills–but getting to the escalator was
life-threatening. The snow was artificial, of
course, and covered an assortment of foam
slabs, cement blocks, and wooden platforms.
While walking along, you would step off a solid
object (which you couldn’t see) and sink to your
knees. Some of the tiny Chinese were nearly
buried. I fell onto the corner of a cement cube,
which hurt like heck. The others there (all
young) were surprised, however, to see that
I could ski. I even helped them figure out the
tow rope to go to the top hill.
At the bottom of the hill was a large tree tree, lit
up like a Christmas tree. Pretty fun.
And speaking of Christmas, young people wear
Tshirts will the strangest sayings on them. Yes-
terday I saw a boy with a shirt that said,
“Christmas is for fruitcakes.”
It’s hot here, but yesterday had a nice breeze.
I have the beginnings of a great suntan!
OK, I’m here and already hooked up to the internet. Surprised, aren’t you? Some things have changed:
I was driven from the airport in a minivan with leather seats, AIR CONDITIONING, and a young, female driver.
My room also has air conditioning! It’s right next to our old room, Ben, on floor Wu, but the rooms have been greatly improved–hair dryers in the bathroom, no pink taffeta bedspreads, and carpeting that doesn’t predate the Qing dynasty. I’m sure the mattresses are new, but were they as hard as plywood last time?
Some things haven’t changed:
The keybox and key are still at the end of the hall, in case of a fire. Since it’s Saturday, no music over the loudspeakers, but everyone’s out on the track, doing Tai Chi, playing badminton and soccer. In the park across the street, they were even ballroom dancing at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday. The women wore dresses and heels, and many were dancing with female partners.
Oh, I spoke too soon….the music just came on over the outside loudspeakers. Same tunes… The dining room has been remodeled. Now you pay cash per meal, but the menu’s the same. Breakfast was rice gruel, an egg, dumpling, and hot Tang.
I have the day off to “relax,” so I’m headed out to find the indoor ski venue that I saw on a tourist map. I’m sure that’s also new.
I wish I knew how to send you pictures, because we were kept on the plane for an extra hour while guys with white “haz-mat” suits boarded and checked our temperatures by lazer. They were from the Health Dept., but looked pretty bizarre.
Having fun so far,
Love, Mom/Grandma/Dong Gu
Guys, I’ve set up a blog post category for each sibling clan. Here you can add posts to share the latest news in your respective families. I’ve currently given Laurie, Jill, Kristy and Ben login rights for doing so. Give me a call to get your password (and training, if desired/needed).
Also, let me know if you were not listed and would like a login (Chelsea, I wasn’t sure if you or Ben was the “historian” in your family)…
Mom has her own category for her China trip, and Dad should probably have one for his adventures as well.
The latest posts will always show up at the top of inglish.org.
Welcome to the new and improved Inglish family website. Email can be accessed here.