Red Leaf Valley Dos

Here is the link to my photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009648&l=87cec&id=1013962974

Don

Red Leaf Valley with a Few of My Closest Friends

Some things make me miss Canada more than others. Take our outing this weekend for instance. We jumped at a chance to spend the day in the country at the scenically named “Red Leaf Valley”. We met one of Don’s classes early Sunday morning (real early, at 7:30) and took a bus there. It wasn’t too far so we reached this tourist destination in just over an hour, unfortunately it took us about an hour to get out of the city. As we turned off the highway, we immediately stopped. Apparently, we were not the only ones with this bright idea. We joined the traffic jam of cars, mini-buses and buses all headed up the hill towards the main entrance. As we inched along a narrow winding road, we were passed numerous times. This can’t be a good sign, I thought.



We finally got to the main entrance and I was astounded to see the number of vehicles already parked. The bus dropped us off near the entrance and we waited another hour or so before we were herded up the stairs and into the park. You would have thought we were at a concert. We finally made it inside the gate and found ourselves surrounded by more crowds. This was to be the norm for the rest of the day.





We wandered off along the trail that took us to different scenic spots. We “enjoyed” them with a few of our closest friends. There were photo ops at every turn. People took turns posing in front of the best spots. I am still amazed by how enamoured the Chinese are with getting their photos taken. Throw in the chance to get a foreigner in their photos and all hell breaks loose.



I now know what it might feel like to be in an entourage. The people’s reaction to Don was daunting. Not only did they stare (as usual), now they wanted pics with him. The most memorable photo op happened when we were sitting on a big rock waiting for Don’s students to return from a hike up yet another hill. Think Santa at Christmas time in the malls. He sits. People come to get their photos taken with him.


Here we were just sitting there minding our own business when someone appeared and asked to get their photo taken with him. They squeezed in between us and their friend took aim. I knew full well that it wasn’t important if I was in the pic so I got my camera and took a pic of them taking a pic with Don. It was all too hilarious.

No sooner did I sit down again when we realized a man had taken up position behind Don while his friend was off a ways framing the shot. We saw him inching towards Don, not an easy task since he was squatting! This was not the last time that someone, maybe too shy to ask to pose with him, sidled up inconspicuous to take up a spot closer to Don so their friend could snap the shot with him in it. Too funny!





All in all, it was a good day spent with the students but definitely NOT a relaxing day out communing with nature.

Here are a few more of my pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44767&l=fc2dd&id=571108357

Experience a bit of the ambiance for yourself! J xoxo

Minority Village Day Trip

The population of China is made up of Han (92%) and 56 ethnic minority groups. We had hoped to travel to the province of Yunnan this summer to learn more about the ethnic people but were advised not to because of aftershocks in the area. This trip was the next best thing.

Sam, our main contact from the school, took the foreign teachers to a village in the countryside about an hour’s drive away to learn about many of the ethnic groups. We were happy just to get away from the city for a day. Lately, the weather forecast had been “Smoke” which is still an odd term to see where one expects “Sunny” or “Overcast”. We’re still not sure where the smoke comes from. We like to think of it more as “Haze”.

Along the way, we saw the suburbs of Jinan that were filled with tall apartment buildings, many of which were still under construction. It’s a sign of the growth that is happening in this city and elsewhere in China. For the first time, we saw modern style houses. I also got a glimpse of the countryside I had expected to see: old villages, farm houses, fields, livestock (chickens, pigs, cows, and other characters from the Old MacDonald song).

Here are some of the other things we saw at the village: a traditional wedding entourage, one of the Russian teachers Vera got a bouncy ride as the band played around her; a Chinese totem pole; a dance by the Wa people who reminded me of Polynesians and one of the Miao people climbing a pole using a ladder of swords.



I was particularly fascinated by the Miao, mainly because of their women’s traditional costume. Yes, probably because I love silver. This group values silver adornments and sees it as a symbol of wealth. The photo at the beginning of this entry was a photo op we discovered when we entered the village. Here, tourists can pay to dress in the costume and take lots of photos. Those little girls were adorable as they posed under some bamboo.



We capped off our day trip with lunch at a restaurant by a canal. This waterway is a popular weekend and holiday destination as evidenced by many cars that line the roadside. The restaurants are all found on the other side of the canal so there is bridge after bridge strung across the water. The bridges come in all shapes and sizes. For the adventurous, there are swinging ones and for the faint of heart, nice firm cement ones. We drove across ours. Sam ordered a feast of traditional food: dried shrimps wrapped in a millet wafer, celery, chicken, Yellow River carp, tempura vegetable, and deep fried pork, eggplant, and a spicy pork soup. He even got the teachers to try duck eggs. According to the reviews, it’s something of an acquired taste.

Besides the restaurants, the other draw are the water sports available. The canal is made up of steps of shallow water. There are paddle boats, inflatable boats, and plastic bubbles that you walk inside of to make it move on the water. Families were also having bbq’s and picnics on the side of the canal. We even saw people fishing and camping.

More pics:

June's
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42623&l=62491&id=571108357

Don's
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008825&l=11cee&id=1013962974

Something Different

We were invited to join some extra activities at a local language school during our holiday and spent a morning with some young and eager English students.

With no concept of what to expect, we showed up to discover that we had to learn a little dance to go with a song we were going to “teach”. I kept reminding the Chinese teachers that we were just there to help them teach so we’ll follow what they do.

It was quickly very clear to us that different skills were needed to teach children. First, we had to learn the words to the song. No problem – Princess, sheriff, ghost and clown. One, two, three, four, five, sit down. Princess, sheriff, ghost and clown. Five, six, seven, eight, sit down. But then there’s motions to go along with it. Each of the characters had a certain move. Then we had to wave BOTH of our hands counting with Chinese fingers. This means that we had to remember the gestures to count in the Chinese way. Let’s just say that we could have handled each thing but not all three and definitely can’t coordinate them all in a 5 minute lesson. Then we had to get out in front of these kids and do it to music! And luckily it was in an outdoor park so the spectators grew.

Despite our hesitations, we ended up having a great time. I played games with the younger kids. Basically, they were set ups so I could ask the little ones very basic questions like “What's your name?” or “How old are you?” while Don chatted with older kids during an election. He was entertained by songs, speeches, jokes and plays and fielded questions. The little kids were so adorable. Some easily understood the questions and answered while others had to be helped by their Chinese teachers. They never did quite get the idea that I couldn’t understand them though. It’s all a part of the “but she looks just like me” problem I constantly face here. While we were taking some group photos, one little boy kept saying “teacher, teacher” (which is one of the few words I’ve learned) and then continued to speak to me in Mandarin. I tried to tell him I didn’t understand but of course, he couldn’t understand me. They were fascinated by us though and wanted to take lots of photos with us. I’m sure we’ll be appearing in the school’s future marketing material.

National Day Golden Week

National Holiday

This 7 day holiday is one of two such Golden Weeks in China. The other is the Spring Festival holiday or what we know as Chinese New Year. These holidays encourage domestic tourism and gives people time to travel to visit distant hometowns. Since only 3 of the days are paid, we had to work on the Saturday and Sunday before the holiday to make up the full 7 days off.

True to the intent, lots of people take advantage of it to travel, see the family or go to tourist destinations. That’s precisely why we decided to stay put instead of fighting our way through the masses of people. I was watching the news last night and they were saying how the transportation systems were being taxed because of everyone trying to get home. They also showed the snake of people on the Great Wall and other sites around Beijing, especially the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube, which were opened to the public for the first time this week.

59^th Anniversary of the PRC

Foreign teachers were invited to a banquet celebrating the 59^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It was held at the swanky Sofitel hotel downtown. The evening got started with a performance from the army band seen here. While we enjoyed a buffet of delicious Chinese and Western dishes, we were treated to a variety of folk music performances. We really enjoyed our roasted potatoes! We haven’t had much “western” food for a while now and didn’t quite appreciate how much we missed it. Funny what you miss.