Where we've been...

Where have we been during the last month since leaving Beijing? Well, let me tell you.  We began teaching English on July 7.  Our first teaching assignment was for 2 weeks with the Pukou School District, in the northern part of Nanjing city.  We loved teaching with this district, and had some wonderful experiences, as well as met some truly exceptional people!

  Our teaching positions here were through the Jiangsu (province) Educational Services International Exchange program.  The provincial government here pays each summer for nearly 100 teachers to come from America, Australia/New Zealand, and Canada to come and teach their public school English teachers.  The focus is on improving their English listening and speaking, as well as to expose them to Western educational methods.  It is an impressive program, and we feel very fortunate to have found it and to have been allowed to participate.  

Teaching English all day has been fun, if sometimes draining.  We realized the other day, after we've now been doing it for four weeks, that basically what our lessons consist of is playing party games with a class of adult teachers for 5 hours a day.  The games are all language-based, but they make using the language fun.  It's fun for us, but as most of you know, Jon and I are not party people, so playing these sorts of game on a regular, prolonged basis gets pretty tiring.  But, overall, we have really really enjoyed the experience.  It has given us the chance to get to know Chinese culture on a much more personal and profound level.  Our lessons are also theme-based, in that each day we focus on one cultural theme and share Western cultures related to that theme, as well as get our students to tell us the Chinese cultures related to that theme.  It has really been so fun to be able to get to know the culture so well in this way.

               This is the picture of my class in Pukou -- they are all Elementary English teachers.
            Jon had a class of middle school teachers, here he is teaching them.

    They took us on a weekend trip to visit some nearby sites.  This is a giant Buddha -- the toes were even longer than mine!!
They took such great care of us, their attentiveness and hospitality was overwhelming.  These are pictures of the beautiful hotel suite that they put us up in.


    On our weekend trip, we visited a phenomenal Chinese garden.  Here we are smelling the lotuses (or is that loti?).
We've met lots of great people here in China, but we think our favorite Chinese person we've met here was Mr. He.  He was the asst. principal of the school we were teaching at, and we just loved getting to know him.
   This is the staff (and family members) of the district that hosted us. We all traveled together to Suzhou for our weekend trip.  They introduced us to lotus blossoms!

Thanks, Pukou, for such a wonderful experience!

The Soundtrack of China

Did you know that China has a soundtrack? Yep, it does. And do you know what that soundtrack is? Yep, it's Kenny G.

You know how in movies, the characters go around to all sorts of different places, but everywhere they go, the background music has the same sound -- because of course it was written by the same person for the movie's soundtrack. That's kind of how it is in China. Everywhere we go -- hotels, restaurants, even in people's cars, we hear Kenny G. It's like the Communist government wants to make us feel like we're living a movie here in China -- except then the movie that we're living starts to feel like the Truman Show because everywhere we go the music is the same. It's kind of creepy!

I guess really, though, it's just that people in China really like Kenny G. I wonder if he realizes that. Probably, because I'll bet with 1.3 billion people listening, he's making bank here!

P.S. Pictures

Here are pictures to show a little better what some of the below-mentioned goodies look like:
Lotus pod with seeds

Salty duck eggs -- the white gets kind of clear, with these crystally flower shapes on the outside.

Litchis (also called dragon eyes) -- this little fruit has changed the course of Chinese history!

Real Chinese Food

Are you kidding me? Have we had real Chinese food yet? We're up to our ears in real Chinese food, and some days I would die for a decent non-Chinese meal. I've discovered many things that I quite like in real Chinese cuisine, along with many things I do not like. Number one on that list is that we really are not fans of Chinese breakfasts, and we think that when we get back we may need to have at least 3 days worth of breakfast at every meal to make up for all of our breakfasts here. The main reason for this is that Americans like sweets of course -- the Chinese do not like sweets. If you think about it, that really gets in the way of a decent breakfast!
But, if nothing else, eating in China is definitely part of the adventure of being here, and thus part of the fun. So, for the sake of impressiveness and to tell a good story, we've been making a list of all of the new foods that we've tried while here thus far. (Complete with a 5 star rating system 1*=Hide it under you napkin 2**=I can choke it down if necessary 3***=Take it or leave it 4****=If given a choice, I'll say yes 5*****=It's become a staple)
1. Duck -- including duck meat ... depending on the preparation, this ranges from 3 to 4 *
duck tongue ... 2**
duck egg ... our one experience rated a 1*
2. Squid -- for me ... 2** -- it looked really scary, but we were at dinner with the administrators of the school district we were going to be teaching for, and so I had to choke it down.
3. Many kinds of fish, and if you know me, you know that fish is pretty low on the scale , but I will admit I've had some decent experiences with fish here, so maybe I'll try harder to like it in the states.
4. Pig ear -- yep, you got it! It was a definite 1*
5. Whole chicken served up in the bowl of soup -- they keep telling us that the meat just comes right off, and it really doesn't taste bad, but something about seeing the head peeking out at you from the bowl changes the experience! 3***
6. Jumbo shrimp -- I'm going to have to go with 2** on this one too -- sorry seafood lovers of the world. (as an aside, we've also been served lots of regular shrimp also, which is nicely served with the eyes and antennas smiling away to enhance your eating pleasure!)
7. Lots of kinds of fresh-squeezed juices, including (but not limited to) watermelon juice, corn juice, and cucumber juice -- they can be kind of different, but all in all, I'd give them 4****
8. Litchis -- a strange little fruit that has a long history among Chinese imperial concubines, but missed the American scene for some reason. This one gets a 4****
9. A whole meal with various servings of mushrooms, a pretty hearty 2**
10. Tofu jerky -- you never knew that tofu could be made into a convenient, easy-to-carry travel snack! It may be convenient, but I'm going to have to go with 1 1/2*
11. Tea-flavored pumpkin seeds -- also a fun snack, kind of like sunflower seeds, which are also popular.
12. Goose meat -- this one was not a bad experience 3***
13. Fat loaf -- kind of like meat loaf, only comprised entirely of fat -- you guessed it ... 1*
14. Soy sauce eggs -- I don't know how they do it, but soy sauce is sucked into the egg by some process of osmosis, and the whole boiled egg is black and reeks of salty soy saucey goodness ... sorry to disappoint you soy sauce fans, but you can have too much of a good thing 1*
15. Steamed bread -- it kind of comes out rubbery on the outside, but bread-like on the inside. If they served it with some sugar, it could be all right. But remember, we're in China, they don't do sugar. I'm going to go with 3***
16. Sugared tomatoes -- oops, I lied, they do serve sugar on some things, like tomatoes. It's not exactly what I had in mind, though, when I wanted sweet. 3***
17. Bayberry -- hard to describe, but quite good 4****
18. Lotus -- a famous flower in China, also with a long history. We were taught that you can eat the seeds, and they're not bad. They also slice up the pod that they seeds are in, and it's not so great but it's supposed to bring good luck, so we try it for appearances sake. 3***
19. Hairy meat -- that's Jon's nickname for it, we really don't know what it is -- some sort of dried meat, but it looks kind of scary. 3***
20. Cowpea -- read it out loud and it sounds more interesting than it really is! 4****

I hate to make eating here in China sound like it's not good -- mostly, I've loved getting to try many great Chinese dishes. The variety of dishes they have here is phenomenal! At a single meal, we have been served up to 25 different dishes, each of which we had never had before here, and many of which we haven't had since. American Chinese food really doesn't do their cuisine justice, and I've really liked many of the new things we've tried. However, I would be lying if I said I didn't relish our trips to get ice cream and oreos (5*****) at the local market!!

4. Beijing

Hi all. I'm back, are you ready for more?? So after Xi'an, we boarded another overnight train headed to Beijing. We again tried the hostel thing, and were impressed once more. Hostels are good!
The first day in Beijing, we went to the Temple of Heaven complex, which has three temples from the imperial cult of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The temples are very colorful and impressive. In one part of the complex there is a circular wall which is built so that if you and another person stand at opposite points in the circle and talk, you can hear one another. It's pretty cool!
Our second day in Beijing, we decided to try being true American tourists, and we hired a tour guide and van through the hostel to take us to Ming Tombs and Great Wall. The plus side of this was that Jon got to sit back and follow someone else's lead, rather than having to guide us everywhere. The down side of having a tour guide is that they give cheap rates by subsidizing their tour with commissions from various shopping spots that they take you to along the tour. We were warned about this in advance by the hostel, and we actually opted for it because it meant it cost us less money. We visited three different places during the day in addition to our desired destinations. We stopped at a jade factory, a pottery factory, and a Tibetan Medicine hospital (that was the funniest, because it was an actual hospital with a real Tibetan doctor that came and listened to our pulse, asked us questions about our health, and then gave recommendations about which Tibetan medicines would solve all of our problems!! They made it look so official, but it kind of felt like getting your fortune told.)
Anyway, the Great Wall was obviously the highlight of the day. The part we visited was very steep, and a great workout! Apparently it is famous because there is a famous quote by Chairman Mao about that section of the wall. He said that if you could climb to the top, you were a "real man." I'm happy to report that by the end of the day, we were all "real men!"
That same evening, we went to an acrobat show, which if you've never seen Chinese acrobatics, you've never been truly impressed! If you want a taste, check out this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeOb3ZiXRQ4
Our last day in Beijing, we visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City or Imperial Palace, and the Lama Buddhist Temple. The Forbidden City is where the emperor of China used to live (it's also the famous one you always see with a huge picture of Chairman Mao on the front -- but Chairman Mao has nothing to do with it, I'm not sure why they put him there). It really is a whole city inside of Beijing that is isolated from the rest of civilization. It is huge, and there is tons to see!! Really, I'm pretty sure the castles of Europe have nothing on China when it comes to royal living!
That evening we boarded a train for the final time to head to our teaching city in Nanjing. We had to pay extra for our spots, because the cheap beds were full, so we got to go first class in the soft sleepers. We had our very own compartment, and it was practically like a hotel with a complimentary toothbrush and washcloth -- the works!!
Real men at top of the wall!

Tiananmen Square

The Temple of Heaven

3. Xi'an

Yay Xi'an (pronounced She On)! This was one of our favorite stops.  We were pretty beat after a very long train ride, and then a very long hot day visiting the caves (there were lots of stairs!), and nerves were getting pretty frayed by the time we made it to the end of 2 (or was it 3 -- do you count traveling days, and if so how? that time change throws it all off!) Anyway, we arrived in Xi'an very tired, and kind of cranky.  Luckily, though, we had the good fortune to have found an amazing hostel to stay in.  I had never stayed in a hostel before, and this was a very good introduction to the experience.  First, they had air conditioning, a definite plus.  Second, the staff spoke English, which alleviated some of the load that Jon had been carrying solo since we could finally do some things for ourselves (like ask where the bathroom was).  Third, we had our own space (the four of us had our own room) where we could drop our bags and breathe for a few seconds without being surrounded by millions of Chinese people (it's surprising how that really gets to you after a while).

Our first full day in Xi'an we toured the city by taking a bike ride (tandem style) around the top of the old city wall (see pictures from a couple posts ago).  No, riding a bike on a tandem bike doesn't get drafty, at least not when it's nearly 100 degrees out with over 90% humidity! Though there is the problem of riding up your leg as you pedal, and exposing white lines from beneath the white skirt! This particular problem came up later, because as we were riding around the wall, two other bikes came up next to us with three foreigners.  They turned and asked us if we were from Utah.  Chrisy (also wearing a skirt) and I thought for sure they had noticed our exposed lines! But, come to find out, they were old friends of the Felt's from Sandy.  Five of their family were in China touring for a couple of weeks.  Doesn't that just make you want to break into a nice long round of "It's a Small World"?! Our coincidental meeting led to spending the day with them to go to see the famous Terracotta Warriors, and then a great fountain show that evening. 

        (The outside of our hostel.)
     (The city wall which we biked around.)

The next day we went to see a very large pagoda, and to the Xi'an museum.  They were both interesting, but sorry, not many stories to tell. Suffice it to say, Jon was in heaven surrounded by so much ancient Chinese history!

On our third and final day, we got up and went to the Great Mosque in Xi'an.  One of the oldest and largest Muslim communities is in Xi'an, and they have a large mosque there.  It was so fun to see the Chinese style mosque in the middle of the city, as well as to see the Chinese Muslim people with their Chinese appearance with the traditional Muslim clothing.  I found it absolutely fascinating! That day we also went to see another, smaller pagoda.  This one we actually got to go into and climb, which Jon thought was even more great.  After that we went to the drum and bell towers of the city, and heard a short concert of traditional Chinese instruments.  

      (Jon in his seventh heaven at the base of the pagoda.)
At the end of the third day in Xi'an, we braved the crowded train stations again to get on for another overnight train ride to Beijing.

2. Next up: Luoyang and Longmen

Okay, are you ready for more?

After a night on the long train ride, we arrived in a small town (read 1 million people or so) named Luoyang. If we thought people stared on the train, we didn't know what we were in for when we got off! We got lots of stares all around, but when they heard Jon speak Chinese they were fascinated, and people flocked (literally!) around him.  He had to fight his way out of a crowd of Chinese men to try to make a phone call (they all wanted to either help, listen, or stare)! (You can just see his face peeking through in the picture)

Not many tourists make it to Luoyang, because it's not large and kind of out of the way.  But our expert in Chinese history and so-called professional tour guide (a.k.a. Jon), knew that this place was a must-see.  Nearby, at Longmen, there are thousands of grottoes carved into the mountainside with Buddhas inside them.  During the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 A.D.), the grottoes were commissioned by Chinese rulers and rich families, and the monks carved them.  Each Buddha you had carved increased your merit, and better merit means a higher state in the next reincarnation.  Although the day was extremely hot and muggy, which was fairly unpleasant, it was balanced by the fact that the whole place was incredibly impressive.  It made a pretty good introduction to China, if you ask me.