Pandamonium

That's what happens when two schools that reside on opposite sides of the same street, with enrollment way up in the high hundreds, decide to dismiss for a National Holiday at the same time. I've been sitting in the office for the past 25 minutes and the cacophony on the street is RIDICULOUS. Curiosity got the best of me and I peered through the office window only to see a maze of cars, going this way and that, a bus trying to part the seas, and many students happily skipping across the road, just like frogger, to reach the waiting cars to take them home and away from the school for a weeks time. I think a video is the only thing that would do this scene justice.

We have found our new home. I take a deposit over to the real estate agent's office this afternoon, and when we return from our trip to Chengdu we'll sign on the dotted line. We look forward to moving in before the 15th of October, so that we don't have to pay rent twice, once for the new and once for the old. In the new place, the internet will be set up right away, so we should be able to go on skype, or chat with the other various forms of internet communication available.

We're finding our groove in this new land. The food is wonderful, and Christina has begun to agree with me... however if the meal doesn't include Sweet and Sour something, then it has to be quickly added, because that has become her new favorite. On the plus side, with the new place, and two propane burners, we look forward to enjoying some of our own creations, like curries and honey mustard chicken etc.

Riding around town continues to be a great adventure. The other night we took out one bike, Christina riding side-saddle on the back of mine, as we weaved in and around the 6 o'clock traffic to go and get dinner. I've become quite proficient at calling out when she needs to tuck her legs in, and when she is ok. All it took was forgetting once when we went past a raised concrete barrier!! No blood though, just a bit of a knock.

The weather continues to be amazing as we've seen blue sky for the past week, something that I had never experienced in my previous China stint. So we hope this nice weather follows us to Chengdu for some R&R with friends there.

Happy Chinese National Day to you all!!

The Upside

So, I was chatting with a friend from afar today, lovely to see her face, hear her voice, talk as if we were just chatting over coffee, and catch up. Our conversation consisted of many menial daily things, work, shopping, family friends, the usual, but I was curious, after a while, as to why she kept asking me, "What are some of the good things, the things you like about China?". I finally asked about what her perspective on my time here seems to be so far, and it seems that my realist, sometimes slightly pessimistic thinking has oozed through my posts to indicate a little more of the downer than the upper. So, just to make sure you know that we are not crying ourselves to sleep every night, and we are not wishing we were home, I will try to spin the upside a little more. And really, there is SUCH an upside to our experience in China thus far. To start, today is gorgeous! Probably the most gorgeous day since we have arrived. Sun, blue sky, a cool breeze but slightly warm clear air. We were out with our real estate agent today, looking at apartments. She is an absolute gem, very unlike our first agent who was a bit of a nightmare. TingTing showed Ben a few places this morning and I joined them later. Her English is fairly good and her sense of humor makes up for anything lacking in language. TingTing seems to have become more of a friend than a service provider which makes these experiences relaxing, stress free and a good break from the week. It seems we have also come upon some promising prospects for apartments, ones which are far nicer and more convenient than the one we are currently living in and may turn out to be cheaper as well. Later on this evening we will return to a few that Ben and TingTing found to be the best and explore a couple others.
As for the rest of the day we may take our bikes downtown to explore a little more and enjoy time to relax. I love riding my bike here. The traffic is horrendous which, for me, changes a bike ride into a thrilling adventure. Swerving, weaving, no hesitation, bells, horns, gliding along, watching for sudden open doors and unaware walking wanderers (which is actually pretty much everyone:). Our favorite place to eat so far is still the Muslim noodles. We have tried quite a variety of foods and restaurants and little nooks in back alleys, but the noodles are the best and for the price you simply can't go wrong. Less than a dollar for a whole meal. We have also discovered that next to our noodle place, there is a lady who makes the greasiest, tastiest flat bread with a veggie tomato sauce on top. It is a bit like flat pizza bread, hard to describe, easy to scarf down, and simply fantastic! Beer is cheap here, cheaper than water so we usually drink beer at meals out, water at home and at school. One would start to think that our figures might begin to show evidence of this practice, but because we live on the sixth floor, no elevator, and we live outside of the main area of town, no car, we get a lot of exercise into a day and we have actually both trimmed up a bit:). As for evening amusement, there is a plethora of places to choose from and decent quality. Grey's anatomy, season 1-6 for 5 dollars is fantastic! Friends, the complete series for 5 dollars, yet to look at but I was reassured it could be brought back (and I'm sure sold to another sorry sap, but 5 dollars is 5 dollars:). Recently we invested in a Chinese version of a magic bullet. We have been craving slurpies and aim to discover the best way to construct them in our new machine. It will be an interesting task, any thoughts or contributions to our experiment are welcome. Lastly, for recent purchases, we came upon a lady in the "Ren Ren Le" (translated: "People People Happy") a local grocery store, a bit like Superstore, who was quite helpful in finding us the perfect frying pan/wok. We bought one when we first arrived but returned it for various reasons. We later purchased another one from a small back alley shop, reassured it was good quality, for a lovely price of 7 dollars, which quickly rusted after one use. So, our friend at Ren Ren Le guided us through the process of finding and caring for an ideal, yet not pricey, cast iron wok. It is beautiful, cooks like magic and cleans quick. It rivals my beloved wok that is packed away in Canada, though it has separate specialities of its own.
Of all the things we do here though, we spend most time teaching. The students are growing, and language is slowly getting better. There are really some lovely students here, the quirkiness of the whole is something we are learning to laugh about, but the experience and interactions with particular individuals is quite rewarding. Each day is new and learning how to properly communicate with learners who are in a BC program but cannot handle the language of a regular BC program, a challenge but it has its prize moments. Moments when you say "aha!" or you realize you finally communicated clearly with one class, one student, for one lesson. There are moments and they are growing. We are definitely being challenged and definitely growing and we are very much enjoying ourselves, on the whole, through the process.

Suddenly.....

...it turned cold. Last week, Monday to Thursday, we were still sweating our clothes soaked. The heat, smog, and mug of the city of TEDA slurps its way through everything. But suddenly, last week, as if jumping from the earth's core to the North Pole, everything changed....well, it wasn't quite that bad, but it has been fairly strange, the change, the winds, the rains. Today the skies are blue and things are bright, but the cool air still nips. No jackets this afternoon, yet still baffling that there is no sweat dripping from every pore. Today it is comfortable, my body is comfortable, in temperature, yes.
Heart and soul, thats another story. The honeymoon is over and I think we are starting to feel the beating. Students are definitely different here, there has been a different discipline and training so far for our 10-12's, and completely different to all, within the Maple Leaf School system. The Chinese Way, added to the Privileged Way, is beginning to test my confidence, my cool, my sense of direction and my outlook on things. Students are feeling more unjustifiably bold, to speak their mind (oh and what fanciful ideas they do have about a teacher's role), tell a teacher how they should be teaching, remind a teacher they are doing things wrong, compare a teacher's methods to another and indicate the unsavory flavor of a chosen technique. Everything is either too hard, too boring, they are too sleepy, too hot or too cold. There is never not a complaint in ANY class for ANY teacher. The audacity of some students completely catches me off guard, amazing, I am amazed, my small mind cannot comprehend simple cultural differences which carry a world of weight when it comes to daily interactions. Yes, of course, there are some gems and jewels, but the last couple days I have found myself drowning in coals. And yes, these coals if put in the right fire, under the right pressure can turn themselves into jewels and gems as well, but, WHAT A TASK! Do I have to be under pressure with them?! Am I a coal as well?! Perhaps I am, perhaps some pressure, some fire, I am meant to find myself, on the other side, another color, a brighter shade, a clearer crystal. Who knows.......today, strange and small, I am simply thankful that my measuring cups and spoons came to me, in a pre-ordered package, and delivered to my desk. I can finally have something to bake with. Oh love, I can't wait until we actually have a real stove, the little things, right now, are such comfort.

fours and more

The heat has been sucked out of our city, but we don't mind one bit. Starting late Thursday, the Eastern winds started blowing the ocean breeze over our way, and with it a much cooler temperature arrived. The rain has also been falling to help cool it off even further. With this sudden drop in temperature the students began to whine and wimper about it being too cold. 15 hours earlier they were saying it was too Hot!! some things will never change.

We finished another week of school in a spectacular fashion, with the Terry Fox Run. September 17th was International Terry Fox Run Day, and we joined everyone else around the globe in remembering this Great Canadian Hero. The rain drizzled slightly, but we reminded the students, and ourselves, that if Terry Fox could run a marathon each day on one leg for 140 odd days straight, we could take 15-20 minutes out of our day to honor him and the cause he chose to support. The rain fell harder, but our spirits and attitudes were lifted as we ran, thinking of just how many thousands, maybe even millions of people would be participating in the same event sometime later that day and the people's lives that could be changed, because of what Terry started some thirty years ago.

We continue to enjoy our bicycles, and Christina has taken it upon herself to decorate her bike to ward off the would-be-thieves. In China bike theft is rampant, one co-worker is on number 4 or 5 he can't remember, but Christina has implied some devious tactics. The Chinese are wary of some numbers due to their close pronunciation with other more 'negative' words. One such number, four, shares the same pinyin as the word die, however the tone is different. Being the clever and talented artist that she is, she proceeded to draw a lovely looking number FOUR on her back fender. Take that would be thieves!! steal this bike at your own peril!! I don't have to do the same, as my bike is usually locked up with hers, however if it does go missing, it will no doubt be when Christina's bike was not there, thus proving her FOUR theory worked!!

We head to Chengdu at the end of this month for a few days reprieve and visits with a number of wonderful friends before we settle in for a few months that culminates with the end of the semester and our 4 week vacation to Thailand. Tickets are booked, Mom and Dad Farnell are excited and we wonder who may take up the offer and join us?? January 16th to February 16th.

Here are just a couple...

...of our Saturday trip to Tanggu. The cloth market and the animal market.

The foreigner finds solace in a bike and Ben Folds

In a never-ending week that is hardly halfway through, I ride my bike for break, and Benny F (both mine and the music man) hold me in sanity. Tonight, I found myself gliding along the street, twisting through traffic, incessantly ringing my bell, fruitlessly of course, no one here listens to, nor actively responds to bells, car horns, or any other sound of warning, but at least the bell carries a joyous tune that lulls out the chaos of the background....or perhaps adds to it and simply makes it a bit more harmonious and unified. The chorus of a messy machine chilling through low smoggy city streets. Whatever the case, I enjoy weaving. I smile every time I hear a horn badgering me from behind and grin, no, I don't have to move, and no, the horn is not a form of road rage, it is simply a warning, a letting me know, a strange "Move please, (though 'please' and 'thank yous' are not part of people's frequent vocabulary here) so that I can come through, even though I know you can't move, but I'm here, so, just so you know I'm here, and hey, I like leaning on my horn, its fun, its mindless, and I do it cuz I can". Nothing in my Canadian experience can compare to biking on a road in China, and I do realize my experience here, so far, has been quite the cushy China experience. So we road, we glided, we swirled around, through, over, under, and in between. Dinner, drinks, and back to the office. I am finally finished my binders with my year plans, now I have a load of marking to get through and some final planning for tomorrow's lessons, thank goodness they are mostly done, because I am MORE than done myself, ready for a good tuck in bed. Until then, oh what a merry sound is Ben Fold's voice telling me "Its ok if you don't know everything" which I don't, so I won't try, its far easier that way:)

Moving along

Today we are back in the office again. Still the weekend and still far too much to get done. This coming Wednesday we have our semester plans due. Each course requires a binder with a full course description, layout of lessons, units, PLOs, resources, activities, and assessment methods. The binders will also include sample lesson plans, and other things of the sort. It is a little stressful, to say the least, that our year must be planned in so much detail this far in advance, although it is also nice to know that once it is done it is done.
We are also in the process of looking for a new home. Ours has been nice, yes, but there are some long-term reasons we feel it is better to look for someplace new. So yesterday we trekked around town with a real estate agent who showed us 8-10 little apartments of quite the varied mix. Some were quite ornately decorated in traditional Chinese style, others were a strange mix of west and east meeting in a sortof stomach churning mulch, and still others were more modern, closer to a more western style. These newly finished and furnished western style apartments are very often designed and kept aside in hopes that foreigners will want to rent them since the living styles (cooking and cleaning to be specific) of Chinese and foreigners, tend to differ. So we are hoping this also helps us for lowering rent since we are waiting to find out if we are desirable tenants for the one we particularly like. Its located about 5 min away (by bike) from the school, on the 9th floor of an apartment highrise. There is a park below, seen from the many large glass windows, that holds kids playground areas along with dog walking friendly spaces. The apartment itself is spacious, two bedroom, living room, study, bathroom and kitchen and the colors are fairly neutral, not counting the lovely red couch that kisses the living room space quite nicely. So, we put in a rent price proposal, which we will find out about today. Unfortunately sometimes this process takes a bit of waiting and game playing, like who can hold out the longest:) So we'll see. Otherwise, until then, we are continuing work at the office and bike for time away to relax. The weather is still quite sweltering and we look forward to coolness sometime in October. I finally took my camera out yesterday when we went to the cloth market, so pictures will be posted soon:)

Two things I will NEVER get over

There are two things that I will never get over seeing here in China. I feel they still shock me and tickle me with hilarity. The first. When it is hot, and these days it mostly is, the air is sticky, muggy, smoggy and almost completely unbearable. And in this state, men in China have a tendency to feel it is entirely above bar, to roll up their shirts (curling the material inwards of course) to cool off. But, not ONLY to cool off, these men often proceed to rub their belly as if just easing into their second trimester and lovingly contemplating the life within. Strange, so strange. As well, many men here have tatoos on their belly and front chest, so it is not just a phenomenon, it also becomes a lovely art exhibit for all to see:) Also, men don't simply restrict their 'shirt rolling, tummy rubbing' habits to parks, beaches and pools, in fact, I have only been to one of the three and seen no cases present. The ones I have had the privilege of witnessing, have been in restaurants, at banks, in malls and grocery stores, along with busy city streets. I will never tire of this, nor not look twice to grin and wonder.
The second. I will never not be shocked and bewildered by toilet training practices in China. Diapers, cloth, plastic, doesn't matter, are pretty much non-existent here. Chinese babies are trained from birth, to listen to the cool shivering whisper of their mother hissing in their ear to provoke their bladder to purge. In order to do this quickly and efficiently, instead of wrestling with a child's pants and maneuvering through undies and such, boys and girls don what I would like to deem "Chinese baby chaps". Strangest thing ever. I don't really know why they wear the chaps at all. Bum and bits are fully exposed, in the open, whether the child is trucking around on their own, or being held in an elder's arms. I tend to be constantly curious, if once a child has graduated from their 'chaps' to pants, they might have serious problems if they ever heard the hissing of another mother nearby, provoking their own childhood conditioning. I have also wondered if, since all Chinese have been trained this way, it might be a serious problem if I wandered around town, lightly hissing as I passed by. I wonder.

Sunday in the office

Its sunday, and we're both sitting in the office trying to get ready for monday, because we both have new classes. Christina is no longer teaching Business 10, but is going to tackle Math 10 instead. As for me, I'm no longer teaching Science 10 and Math/Science 9 because I have been officially named the CSL (Chinese as a Second Language) teacher. Yes, I will be teaching Mandarin 12 to a select group of students. I downloaded a few of the old provincial exams and I'm about to start writing them to see if I know all the characters and can answer the questions for the class that I'm about to begin teaching.... we'll let you know how these new classes pan out.

As for life apart from work, yesterday we took our bikes, along with a friend, who also works at the school, and rode over to the neighboring town of Tanggu. Our friend Keith, showed us some of the more popular places to visit in this town, a walking market, a vegetable market, a large 'everything' market, and Christina's favorite, the pet market. We had a lot of fun walking up and down the streets looking at all the different animals for sale. Lizards, snakes, fish, crickets, white frogs, kittens and of course cuddly little puppies. Christina fell in love with a large potato sized pooch with black hair and buggy little eyes. I was confident that if we ever bought a dog that small, it would most likely meet an unfortunate demise because of its miniature stature, namely being inadvertently squished by anything and everything.... in the end we walked away from the market with a new bathmat and no dog, however, i'm not sure if Christina is allowed to go back there on her own, or with her girlfriends. If that's the case then I may have to confiscate all forms of cash and credit from her wallet before she leaves the house.

Still Alive

Yup, as far as I can tell, we are still alive and breathing. Although the air here is STIFLING! I sweat through half my classes which are on the third flour with no air conditioning. Its ridiculous. We are told that in 3-4 weeks the weather should turn cooler and less muggy. Everything is sticky though, clothes, hands, face, YUCK! Today is day two. I think we are all still feeling a little overwhelmed with all that is going on, all that has to be done, and working with students whose language levels are extremely low. But we press on. Tomorrow will be friday, and we will finally be able to breathe a little perhaps. The weekend will be spent with more prep and perhaps a break on the bikes, but otherwise, we haven't had too many adventures lately, other than the adventures in teaching....which is definitely ENOUGH for now:)

day one...

Day one is finito!! We met our new students, internally chuckled at a few of their chosen english names, and we kicked off the school year with a bang... fireworks included!! The day seems a blur now, but it was the start of our year, and a good start. Beginnings are a stepping stone, you are able to put all of the pre-planning days and anxious moments aside, and actually begin. From here it doesn't get any easier, for there will be tests and assignments, lab reports and missing homework, but at least we've started and we're off and running.
In other news the smog is getting thicker by the day. Visibility has decreased to the point that the highrise that was visible across the highway is now a figment of our non-smoggy imaginations!! Last night I suggested to Christina that we should get a bamboo plant for the house, for two reasons. One, we need to have a plant, every house should have one, and secondly, bamboo is a wonderful litmus test of the surrounding air quality. bamboo should and will thrive anywhere as long as it has water, sun (daylight) and finally decent air. We'll see how much potential damage we might be doing to ourselves by the lifespan or life of our bamboo. Once purchased, we will post a picture of this said bamboo... until next time....