Xi'an

We are off on our adventures around China and SE Asia for the Chinese New Year holiday. We will try to blog along the way as we have Internet access. First stop: Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Xi'an is one of the four great ancient capitals of China.

We bundled up and biked in tandem around the city wall which was all decorated for the Chinese New Year.
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Watched the water fountain show at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

Walked around down town near the bell & drum towers & Muslim quarter.

And best of all, we went to see the Terracotta Warriors. Chip came here five years ago, and ever since I saw his photos I have been intrigued by the emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who built an army of 8000+ to protect him in the afterlife. The clay warriors likely built around 210 BC were only recently discovered in 1974 and archaeologists have been excavating since.

Pomelos and Kumquats

Today some students came to hang out. They are done with exams but are in town a few more days because of work, and they happen to be two of the students dearest to my heart, so I was happy to have them over. They invited their math major friend, as well. They cooked some delicious Chinese dishes in our kitchen, and then we played some games.

They also brought us some Chinese candies: dried kumquats and dried pomelos. I opened mine and was immediately worried. Sensitively I said, "Sunny, I think some sort of bug died in my candy." Turns out, it was just tea. I felt stupid, but seriously, see for yourself:

Wiley Dynasty

In celebration of three years of marriage, we took traditional Chinese wedding photos. It was so much fun! We BOTH wore make-up, and I wore fake lashes for the first time. We did three costume changes, which was three trips to the hairdresser for new wigs. A student came along to translate. To see more, click on Wiley Dynasty above.

Jing Jing

Jing Jing is my Chinese tutor. She is a post-graduate student studying Chinese at our university. Her English isn't great, but that forces me to use Chinese more often. While my Chinese is still very poor, I have learned a lot from her this semester, including: Chinese sounds, tones, foods, colors, family members, parts of the body, days and months, basic verbs and adjectives, and some survival phrases.

She is always looking out for me:
1. "I'll take you shopping to buy a bigger coat."
(Note: I never mentioned wanting a bigger coat)
2. "Don't use your hot water heater often. Full of electricity."
(Would it be better for my health to shower in ice cold water?)
3. And regular reminders not to eat spicy food or oranges because they will give me more pimples.

Chip's Chewables: 16 Items They Only Sell At Chinese Walmarts

imagechina/AP

Walmart in China is very different.  I remember the first time I walked into a Walmart in Beijing.  The whole experience was a major let down.  I thought I was going to be able to find frozen pizza and boxes of cereal; however, I found dried duck, fermented eggs, and the largest aisle of cooking oils I have ever seen. 

Chinese Walmarts are not a complete waste of time.  If you like aquariums or sea food, you will be entertained by countless live options available jumping from tank to tank.  I was entertained for several minutes by the shrimp, clams, eels, turtles, and frogs all swimming or hopping in their tanks. Lets just say, the lobster tank at your local Walmart is a joke compared to the "things" you will find at a Chinese Walmart.

(please click on the link in the title to check out the odd things you can find at a Chinese Walmart)

Saved for a rainy day

As a young and new teacher fresh out of graduate school, I'm constantly second guessing my teaching style and methods.
Questions haunt me:  Do they understand a word I say?  Do they really need a native English speaker as a teacher?  Am I doing more harm than good?
But one day I came across an encouraging note as I was reading my junior writing students' journals.

To Chip

Hi, Chip. My first journal is a letter to you.

Actually, I have a lot of words to tell you. Don't be nervous, I am not felling in love with you.

At first, I didn't like you. You are my first male foreign teacher and you looked a little nervous and unnatural at your first lesson. :)

But gradually, I love your lessons. I am not a good student. When I don't like some teachers' lessons, I just run away. But I stay in your every lesson and find them interesting.

Gradually again, I find you are a very responsible person. You are strict with us and are serious on our homework. These made me moved. I believe that you are a good teacher.

Maybe you don't notice me, but I danced in a party of our college while you were sitting in the first row; I went to watch the competition of film dub and I found you were the judge; I went to Steven's apartment for speech training and you came upstairs with a big bag. (SIDE NOTE: I had a 10 kilo bag of whole wheat flour for Mallary.)

I have a lot of chances to know you. But I am a lazy girl and I have to say “hello” to you in my journal and want to be your friend as well.

I share this note with you not to make me look good because I know I have a lot to learn in the field of teaching; but rather, I want to let you know that living in China is worth it.  Is it hard living away from family and friends? Yes.  Do I get tired of eating "real" Chinese food everyday? Yes.  Does it exhaust me to live in a culture that throws logic out the window? Yes.  Do I get frustrated teaching in a rote memorization exam-based educational system.  Yes. But despite all of the "inconveniences," teaching in Qufu is ultimately very rewarding.

The Holly Spirit

In our Sophomore Western Culture classes we talked about American holidays. We even reserved an entire class period to talk about Christmas. Classes are two hours long so the first hour was the Christian Christmas story (where we read and summarized parts of Matthew and Luke) and the second hour was about the secular American Christmas.

During review week we played Christmas Pictionary. A student would draw a random Christmas word or event from a bag and then sketch it on the chalkboard for the class to guess. One student drew the word "holly." I asked her if she remembered what it was, and she confidently said yes. Then she stepped up to the chalkboard and sketched a pregnant woman with lines for wind running across her belly. I was baffled. This image looked nothing like "holly." I whispered in her ear, "What did you think the word was?" and she said "the holy spirit . . . that came upon Mary and made her pregnant."

Wow. What an awesome mistake. She had forgotten all about holly, but had remembered the importance of the Holy Spirit in the Christmas story. I could not have been more pleased.