Our First Chinese Wedding

Last night we went to our first Chinese wedding. The bride is a teacher in Qufu, and also a sister, so we were delighted to attend her wedding. She looked stunning!

I should stop here and point out that this was not a classy wedding by American standards. You might describe it is tacky, cheesey, or immature, but by Chinese standards, it was beautiful.

Fake flower arches

Light up columns

A rotating screen of images of the bride and groom with flashing cartoons.

The groom in spotlight singing to his approaching bride.

Bubbles!

Indoor fireworks. . .maybe my favorite part.


Lighting a candle with the groom's parents. The bride's parents are not invited to attend. Each family should have a separate wedding banquet.

The Bride in her red qi pao (traditional Chinese wedding dress)

And way too much food. When we thought they couldn't possibly bring anymore, they just piled the dishes on top!

The names of the bride and groom on an arch outside of the hotel hosting the wedding.


The day before the wedding. . .

Alison and I went to the home the day before the wedding to pick up wedding candy and invitations. There was an archway of fake flowers in front of her apartment complex.

A new bed that would be made up by her husband's family on the morning of the wedding.

The room was decorated by friends and family.

With many warm wishes for a son!

Chip's Chewable: 18 Facts about China

Chew on this: 18 Facts About China That Will Blow Your Mind

"For all the crazy stories you've heard about China, the world's biggest country is going to keep blowing your mind." (Please click on the link to read the entire article)

Wen zi

Now that it's warm, mosquitoes (Chinese: wen zi) are swarming. Despite our efforts, somehow the pesky little bugs fly into our home. So this is the latest in our efforts to avoid waking up with mosquito bites!

Rookies

This was baseball week in Western Culture class. It sounds fun, but actually, baseball has a lot of rules and if you haven't grown up watching and playing the game, it really is confusing. Chip did his best to teach and reteach and reteach.

Some students hit better than others.

But I'm not sure we ever found a good pitcher.

The outfielders needed a little motivation.

But with every run, there was much cheering!

Best moments:
1. Sunny running with the ball to second base and then handing it to the second baseman. To which I yelled, "Sunny, it would be faster to throw the ball."
2. Chip getting frustrated every time a student called a "run" a "point."
3. Jack running all the bases past his teammates on base (who were oblivious to the fact that they should be running, too).
4. Poppy getting almost to first base and realizing she was still holding the bat.

Chip's Chewables: Forced Adpotions

Chew on this:  "Families in a poor mountainous region have had children seized, and apparently sold, in the name of China's one-child policy"  (Please click on the link to read the entire article)

Teaching Beyond the Classroom

Beijing is a world of culture that we simply do not have in small town Qufu. So when we had some spare time during the debate competition, I was able to share some experiences from Western culture with the students.

#1: Western Food


The girls are eating sandwiches for the first time at a Subway restaurant in Beijing.

Cold Stone is really too expensive to buy, but I took them inside, showed them how it all works, and then took a picture of us eating the sign.

Cheese. I mean, they didn't even know there were different kinds.

Magnum bars. Thank you, Belgium, for making good chocolate.

We also went to Jenny's Wang's (an import grocery store where I showed them a cereal aisle), smelling at Starbucks, and Tex-Mex for dinner!

#2: Swimming

These students don't own bathing suits and have never been in a pool in their lives. Sophie was convinced she couldn't breathe as soon as she got in the water. In her words, "The water is crushing me." Not to mention the fear of drowning in spite of the fact that her feet could touch the bottom. I tried to give her some basic swimming lessons, but to be honest, her grip never left the rim of the pool.

#3: Bowling

They have seen it in movies, but never experienced it. The weight of the ball was daunting at first, but they got the swing of it. The humor in this is really just that I, Mallary, was teaching them bowling. I am proud to say it's the first time in my life that I have won a game of bowling!


#4: Art

We went to the 798 district in Beijing which is mostly old warehouses converted into art studios. In this particular case, I wasn't really teaching them, we were just enjoying the art together.









I was proud that they all recognized him.


And last but not least, teaching them how to be gangstas.

Breaking Night Party

The Breaking Night Party at the debate competition is when the 128 teams find out who "broke" into the top 32. We knew we didn't have a chance, but we still enjoyed the party!



Back row: April (a sophomore who came along as a timer for debates), Felecity (JR), Me, Cathy (Xingtan coach), and Sophie (SR)
Front row: Gen and Alex (debaters from Xingtan college)

All the ladies!