Pumpkin Party

To celebrate Halloween with our tutors, we had a pumpkin decorating party.  Not necessarily a pumpkin carving party because Chinese pumpkins are small and difficult to cut into, but more a

"paint a pumpkin" party.

Me and my tutor with our pumpkin before the paint

I told my tutor about all sorts of things associated with Halloween (spiders, bats, ghosts, black cats, candy, trick-or-treating, witches, etc.) and we took turns painting images on the little pumpkin.

The people who were determined to carve into those little pumpkins

Shaunda and her tutor were bunnies

 

Chip and Bumann, in my opinion, don't look that much alike, but tutors here get them confused all the time.  So they dressed up as each for Halloween by name-tagging themselves with the other's name.  The tutors thought it was hilarious.  When Chip and I announced our pregnancy, one of the tutors congratulated Bumann on being a father.

Erica is nerd, Lauren is a deviled egg, and Chip painted a jack-o-lantern on my belly for baby's first Halloween costume.

Siping Orphanage

Over the weekend, two classmates and I traveled to Siping, a nearby city, to visit an orphanage.  It was a great experience.  While the kids have obvious hardships and disabilities, I felt much joy and contentment within them as we held them and played together. 

Holding a nine month old precious baby

Lauren with a boy whose leg casts were just removed in the last week. Hopefully he will learn to walk.

Emily with a joyful little mute child

Some children do get adopted out, but the ones with more severe physical and mental disabilities may be here for a long time.

This young boy will be going home with a family soon

The boy in the pink here is blind, but he was very vocal and energetic!

They loved seeing photos of themselves

One of the caregivers holding a wee one

 

This one broke my heart.  A Chinese student volunteer told me she has one quarter of the mental capability that we have.  I asked if he thought she would be adopted.  He said probably not.  Only the "normal" children get adopted.  I asked what would happen to her.  He said she would stay here until she grows up and then find some sort of simple work. 

 This is the toddler room, but there are older children, as well.  All the kids eat, sleep, and go to school within the orphanage complex.

Showing off his new hat

This little one was crying on the floor and I held and him/her (sometimes genders were unclear) and emotions subsided.  How sweet are those eyes peering up at me?  We have American friends who live in Siping who visit the orphanage every Saturday.  What an awesome way to serve the least and the lost.

Tug-of-War

 Today the Foreign Student Department at our university had a tug-of-war competition.  Our American class competed against other classes of foreign students.  Over the past few years, the American class has gotten a reputation and set a record for winning, not necessarily because of strength, but I believe due to a competitive spirit and the determination to win. 

Crowds forming before the event

Anticipating

 With only a loss or two, the American class managed to win overall!  But it wasn't easy.  There were some long periods of pulling and lots of sore arms, hands, and legs by the end of it.

Holding on until the end!

One of our PE major tutors giving Ashley an arm massage between matches.  

I think I'm gonna have a lot of sore classmates tomorrow.

Calligraphy 书法

This semester I enrolled in a Chinese Calligraphy class (书法).  I love it!  The teacher is great and for most of the period he plays ancient Chinese music while we paint basic strokes.  It is really quite relaxing.  Right now we have only practiced the basic horizontal and vertical strokes and it is more difficult than it looks.  It is truly an art.

Similar to my Tai Chi class last spring, taking this elective has given me the chance to make friends from many different countries including Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia, and England. And while we do not often speak each other's native tongue, we can easily converse using Chinese.

Stacks of practice paper

 Our teacher also shares interesting stories from Chinese history based on ancient art.  Yesterday he showed us this painting (which I later found on Google images).  This is Wang Zhaojun, one of China's historical beauties.  I want to share her story based on what I gathered from my teacher.  She was the wife of a Chinese emperor, but one of many wives.  The emperor had so many wives that he rarely saw each one.  So that he could better choose who to sleep with at night, he had an artist paint each of his wives.  Many of the wives gave the painter a bribe to make them look more beautiful.  Wang Zhaojun did not pay a bribe so the painter portrayed her as particularly ugly.  At this time in history, China was at war with Mongolia.  The Mongolian emperor agreed to peace if he was given a Chinese bride.  The Chinese emperor agreed, but to further insult Mongolia he wanted to choose the ugliest woman possible.  He chose Wang Zhaojun.

When Wang Zhaojun was offered to Mongolia, it was the Chinese emperor's first time to set eyes on her.  He was amazed by her beauty and wanted to take back the offer, but Wang Zhaojun was an upright woman and agreed to go.  The Mongolian emperor was so pleased by the exchange that China and Mongolia experienced many years of peace.  For Wikipedia's take on the story, click here.

Minute to Win It

Last week we had a party with our tutors using the games from the American game show Minute to Win It.  The night was great fun full of laughter and healthy competition between four teams: Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow.  My proud  moment was giving instructions for one of the games all in Chinese!  It was the game where put an Oreo on your forehead and you have to get it into your mouth without using your hands.  Pretty humorous--and a lot more difficult than you'd think.

These photos were sent to me by a Chinese friend.  

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera that night. 

Looks like Chip lost his UK hat to another member of the blue team

One of my friends posted a great blog about the event with fun photos of the teams and some of the games.  Click here to check out my friend, Erica's, blog.

Chinese Barbecue

 Chinese barbecue (串) is a lot like shish kabobs--lots of skewered meats and veggies.  It's something we eat a lot of in China because you can buy it on the street or at cheap restaurants and just buy as many sticks as you are hungry enough to eat.  But last night we went out with some Chinese friends who took us to a fancy Chinese barbecue restaurant.

My favorite 串 is cilantro wrapped in dried tofu (not pictured here).  I also love the grilled steamed bread and grilled thin slices of potato.

All the veggies were pre-grilled, but we grilled the meat ourselves right at our table.

Watching in awe as the meat sizzles 

 Our friend got her grilled bread a little too close to the flames

 Posing with one of Chip's all-time favorite tutors

 Our table had a personal TV so we watched my favorite Chinese dating show that just happened to be on.  Even after we finished eating, I insisted that everyone stay and watch the next contestant because I had seen that particular episode and knew it was a quite romantic.  We got home a little late for a school night and I did not do nearly as much homework as I should have, but we were grateful for time with such fun American and Chinese friends.

Our Teacher's Wedding

Big poster of the couple at the entrance to the hotel

 Our Chinese teacher from last year got married this past Sunday.  Below is a collection of photos from her beautiful wedding celebration.

韩老师, her new husband, and the students from last year's class

Just me and Chip :)

The banquet hall was lovely with massive red chandeliers

Gold purse wedding favors full of good candy--even Dove chocolate!

Photos with the bride

 

Perhaps the most exciting part for me and my classmates was singing a Chinese love song to start off the celebration.  While this photo is not great, you can imagine the pressure:  big spotlight, standing center stage with a large crowd watching, and singing a song all in Chinese.  After the first verse, the bride and groom joined us swaying and singing.  It was definitely an unforgettable experience.

Lots of toasting!

The happy couple

Toasting at each guest table

Fancy food

Even a live goldfish in the center of the shrimp platter