Friday, August 22, 2008

Hong Kong, Our Style

Mui Wo, Lantau Island: beaches, laid back atmosphere, small villages and a hotel with a pool. Who needs the real Hong Kong? We certainly didn't for the three days before starting a 5 day Wilderness Medicine course. We pulled Steve out of retirement to teach 9 students (representing 6 nationalities) who work for an outdoor education program based in Hong Kong. They got some of his jokes. Our 5 days at a YWCA facility was plagued by unbelievably loud groups. Some were school kids who ran around screaming. Some were college freshman here for leadership training ROTC style. They shouted, marched, chanted, and sang their school anthem endlessly. Li spent her days with a friend of the course sponsor. She got to central Hong Kong for a day at Ocean World while we dodged the zealous students. We got to end our course with a typhoon, so named Nuri. Though the rest of Hong Kong got a typhoon day and had no school, by the time we got up for breakfast all the transportation services were shut down for the day thus trapping our students here. So we finished the course and watched some big rain squalls and winds gusts, though nothing stronger than what comes down the valley towards our house in Lander. At dinner time we had the eerie experience of being in the eye of the typhoon and feeling the calm. Some of our students were able to make it home, others were trapped here for the night. Now the wind and rain have picked up again, but we hope the storm has moved inland tomorrow in time for our noon flight to Chicago.

So after 12 months this MAY be our last night in China...

Friday, August 15, 2008

16 Years Ago...

we were 16 years younger and getting married. For my 40th birthday last year Steve gave me a year's trip to China, for his 40th this year I gave him a month in Japan, so for our anniversary we settled for dinner at a small seaside village restaurant in Hong Kong with fresh seafood, cold beer, friendly cats and US versus China in volleyball on TV. So far so good.

Olympic Observations

Before listing the quirks we discovered it should be said that we were excited to be at the Olympics and had a great time watching sports we knew nothing about-quickly becoming expert commentators. We attended men's and women's gymnastics, fencing, wrestling, table tennis, beach volleyball, judo and water polo. The venues were well done with plentiful squatty potties and a surplus of volunteers. Visitors were well behaved and supportive of all the athletes with a bias towards extra "jiayo's" for the Chinese athletes. We learned water polo is a vicious sport, wrestling wins or losses can literally be determined by a random draw, and beach volleyball feels like a frat party.

We were, however, glad to get out of Beijing. Besides it being a big, hot, noisy city, there was a sense of tension that was discomforting. Perhaps it was the ever present police and armed troops or the endless security checks. Even more concerning was the inconsistency of these security checks at different venues.

We were also glad that we are healthy, heat tolerant and good walkers. We spent at least 2 hours each day on crowded buses or subways simply getting to the outskirts of the venues. From there add another one or two hours walking to or between venues and standing in security lines. We were frustrated at maps that showed a key subway station which was in fact closed and the lack of easy transportation between venues. Having spent a year in China we recognize that improvements that were no doubt made to the city transportation system, but felt that many people likely defaulted to taxis given the challenges of negotiating the public system even though all buses and subways were free if you held event tickets on that day.

Our biggest frustration was the food. The Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) did well by their sponsors including McDonalds and Coca-cola. Outside food and drink were banned from any venue. Once inside the Olympic Green your only food choices were McDonalds (two of them, spaced widely apart) and snack stands featuring Coke, water, OJ, Fanta Orange soda, popcorn, chips, Snickers bars and a sugared fruit cup. If you spent 6 or 7 hours a day on the Green as we often did, food stress was a reality. The areas around the Olympic green were emptied for security reasons so leaving the area for food was not an easy or close option. The contrast between the health and fitness of the athletes and the horrid food choices available to spectators was laughable.

Overall though, our 5 days were memorable and successful. And now we can enjoy the close up action on TV with the rest of the world!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Qingdao Beaches-Lessons Learned

The City of Qingdao is situated on the east coast of China. A former German enclave it is full of European architecture and food, mixed with modern Chinese zaniness. We have spent our week exploring various beaches. Here is what we have learned.

1. When facing the upcoming international spotlight, hosting the sailing/windsurfing portion of the Olympics and dealing with the largest algae bloom in history use your greatest resource-human labor. Qingdao has dealt with this potentially fatal blow to the sailing races, a sea thick with algae soup, by using thousands of people to clean the sea by hand. In addition to people walking the beach bagging algae, most of the beaches have tractors scooping the stuff into piles for easy removal. The battle wages with increased ferocity every time the tide comes in. Of course according to the government, the sea is cleaner than it has ever been (it doesn't look bad). And in the words of the young Olympic volunteers, "Don't believe the advertising, there is no problem." In other words, don't believe the western media. I have to say though the sea weed wrapping around your legs while playing in the surf is unnerving.

2. Beach number 1-no umbrellas or tents, no digging or drawing in the sand, no changing or urinating on the beach. Swim in the shark proof net. The bans against litter and smoking went unheeded.

3. Beach number 3, apparently all of the above are fine, but move when the tractor comes to scoop up seaweed or your stuff will be plowed up.

4. Shilaoren beach. If you wish to change in the VIP changing rooms, 50Y ($8). We didn't even price the regular changing rooms or the changing tents because it was too crowded. We're pretty good at changing under clothes on the beach. Given the number of men walking around in see through underwear we figured that was a minor infraction. 2Y to wash your feet in fresh water. 1Y to use the toilet. You could pay someone to hold your stuff. Who knows how much to park your car on the street, but when there's not enough room to park parallel to the curb, simply pull straight in over the curb. The bottom line is this, if you can charge money for it, someone will.

5. When taking Bus number 304 to get out of town be prepared to be sardined into a non-air conditioned bus, completely overloaded with hot sweaty people, and hope you don't have to shove your way out to get off. Even the cops shake their heads, but do nothing. All this luxury for fifty cents.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Sayonara Japan

The countdown begins...

We spent a day in Hiroshima visiting the Peace Park, the Atomic Dome and the National Peace Museum. It was all quite impactful as you might expect, though you wouldn't otherwise know the city's history as it is quite a modern metropolis. Li asked good questions, but after a few hours she asked whether we could change the subject to something else. Fair enough.

The port city of Shimonoseki was our last stop in Japan. We spent a pleasant day strolling the aquarium learning about Blowfish from around the world. Poisonous blowfish, locally known as Fugu, are the regional delicacy. Apparently only 30% of the chefs who attend the 3 year training course to prepare the blowfish safely actually pass. The take home message is clearly not to buy any "cheap" blowfish.

Tomorrow we board our 27 hour ferry bound for Qingdao, China-goodbye civilization, hello chaos.


P.S. Japan Rail Passes Rock!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Temples versus Air Conditioning

Some days it’s a draw, but honestly some days the air conditioning wins! The last week we’ve been heading south through Japan into Temple central. Between Takayama, Kyoto and Nara, there have been plenty. Our favorite was the large Todaiji Temple in Nara-the largest wooden structure in the world (though apparently only 2/3 its original size). We elected this as our favorite because of the enormous bronze Buddha that sits in the center. In addition to periodic destruction by fire, this temple has suffered indignities during earthquakes when the giant Buddha’s head has fallen off of the statue. We can only hope the monks weren’t actively praying underneath. Though Li had already obtained enlightenment in Nagano, we thought she should have a back-up plan, so she went for the “squeeze”. This hollow in large structural post provides enlightenment for those that can fit, which is apparently exactly the size of the Buddha’s nostril. Steve made it too, much to the amusement of the on looking crowd.

In Kyoto we did some geisha spotting (3 by our count, though we think two were fakes) and strolled the back alleys of old Kyoto. Our geocaching efforts brought us to an area of town full of “men’s clubs”. It was also our most expensive geocache ever since Li found the Yukata (lightweight summer kimono) of her dreams at a nearby Kimono store. She insisted on wearing her Yukata the next day to the monthly flea market where one could find endless treasures. We were amused how many pictures tourists took of her (never knowing that was our Chinese-Wyoming daughter dressed in Japanese clothes).

Yesterday we wandered around Nara-the former Japanese capitol. Nara is famous for temples (surprise) and deer. The deer have been treated as sacred for 1200 years. As a result they are lounging everywhere and tourists take many pictures and try to pet them. The vendors sell deer biscuits. Li insisted she deserved to feed the deer after being dragged through the temples and parks. After warning her the deer might be a little aggressive, she insisted. She was nearly stampeded by the deer that continuously bit me in the butt trying to get at the biscuits. The whole event took less than 60 seconds!

Today we head south to Hiroshima to see how much history we are ready to digest.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Eating Our Way South

Our last night in Tokyo was also one of our favorite meals. The proprietor of our ryokan sent us to a small okonomiyaki restaurant (basically a bowl of ingredients you mix in an egg batter and grill at your table) making what we call "Japanese pancakes". Having done this twice before we considered ourselves somewhat expert. That is until we entered the 4 table restaurant with a hand written Japanese menu and a waitress who spoke no English. Luckily the family at the next table help us muddle through the menu and order the house specialty. As we drank draft beer to cool ourselves down the chef came over and helped us with our grilling. We were apparently fairly inept and needed continuous instruction. The chef helped himself to quite a few glasses of the house draft beer as well-so we were all in a good mood and well fed by the end.

After leaving Tokyo we went to stay with a fellow Lijiang teacher at her home near Hakone. Our conversations were a mix of English, Japanese, Chinese and French. Somehow we avoided making any crucial language mistakes-or so we think. Our first night at her house she pulled out a portable table grill and proceeded to cook us huge amounts of vegetables and meat. One piece of advice-mushroom-phobes should not come to Japan. It was all excellent, though the pig intestines were a bit "chewy". Her house lacks air conditioning so we spent our time there sweating, heading to the onsen, and sweating again as soon as we were done. During the days we went to Hakone to explore. Hakone is well set up as a tourist destination-we thought of it as the Amazing Race Part 2 (Part 1 having been the Chinese Consulate in Tokyo). In one day we were on trains, a bus, a ship, a gondola, a cable car, a narrow gauge railway and of course our feet. The food of the day was the bratwurst house Steve and Li discovered. For our last night with our friend we attended a neighborhood summer festival and drank sake with shaved ice and edamame. Steve charmed the old men (who invited him to stay and play golf) while Li admired the girls in their bright Yukatas.

The last two days we have been in Takayama. The dark brown wood buildings are strikingly reminiscent of the Berkeley hills. We opted for a local restaurant tonight and chose the recommended specialty. Small cooking braziers were placed on our table. Mine was topped by a large magnolia leaf heaped with small pieces of Hida Beef, onions, mushrooms and the local miso bean paste. I was instructed to mix and grill. Which I did. Then I ate and enjoyed! Except for the price, I could easily repeat the meal. Li's required similar cooking with help from her Dad. Desert consisted of local peaches and plums. You gotta love summer. Tomorrow we go to Kyoto-temples here we come!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

We came, we saw, we survived!

That applies to the city of Tokyo, Tokyo Disneyland and the Chinese Consulate. In case you didn't know, Tokyo in July is hot and sticky-thus so are we most of the time. We've ended up here for 6 days for the primary purpose of getting our Chinese tourist visas so we can get back into the country. To amuse ourselves while waiting we braved the crowds at Tokyo Disneyland. It is a replica of Disneyland in Anaheim-except of course the characters speak and sing in Japanese. Speaking characters is odd to begin with, but when you hear Japanese it is even stranger. Li only cried once, but I think that's par for the course for a hot, overstimulated child. The highlight of our day was watching her boundless excitement as we went through "It's a Small World". Of course we were also secretly proud that she could identify most of the nationalities in the ride. She also chose a souvenir with high breaking potential for us to tote around two countries. All in all a successful event.

Our Disneyland was the Chinese Consulate. We knew we had to to turn in our passports on Monday in order to get them back Thursday or Friday. After a series of subways and map checks we found the Consulate by following the long security line leaving the building. We had approximately 30 minutes before the Consulate closed for the day at Noon. It was a combination of 'The Amazing Race' meets Arts and Crafts. First, security check in Japanese and next all get into the elevator to the 3rd floor. Open to organized mayhem. Steve went to the left, to get a number. Shana went to the right, for the correctly positioned passport and Japan visa xerox copies. Li was the runner to move the passports to Steve for the number since Shana's line was slower. Then to figure out the copy machines and to keep all papers collated while listening for our number. Then on to gluing on passport pictures which we already had (so skipped the photo booth). Then our number came up and all our papers were accepted and we were given a time to return in 3 days. They did not want any of our documentation for our August Chinese housing or travels which we were warned to collect. Fifteen minutes later, we were done with that much time to spare. Celebrate by all going to Denny's.

Nagano and the North

Thank goodness for the mountains. At least that was our feeling as we spent 4 days in the Japanese Alps. Our first stop was Nagano and the Zenko-ji Temple. We made at least three cultural faux pas with our hostess at the shrine hostel, but that's what traveling is about! We also learned that most restaurants in Nagano close by 7! Luckily we snuck into one that closed at 7:30 for a late night dinner. It was nice to wake up in our tatami room in the 100 year old building that served as our hostel. After a morning of exploring we boarded a bus for Hakuba, one of the many small ski towns that dot the Alps. We landed in a lovely little hostel and armed ourselves with groceries and a bottle of local wine. The next day we took the gondola part way up the mountain and hiked a burly 4 miles in the mist. Periodically the clouds parted to give us a glimpse of the mountains, but it felt like we were being teased. At one point we came across a small graveyard. After the two snakes who were keeping guard disappeared we found two graves with ice axe heads cemented into them, though we couldn't quite puzzle together the story. That evening our WMI course translator from two years ago met us and we wined and dined at our hostel.

The next day she took us to a local high ropes course. She works for Project Adventure Japan and sweet talked the locals into letting us hop on the course at a reduced rate. It has been 20 years since I was on a high ropes course-the technology has certainly evolved! The course had a self belay system that allowed you to complete the entire course without a staff person on the system. We completed the course in about an hour with the requisite screams and profanity. Li was utterly fearless and kept urging her mother along when I took too long to complete an element. She was incredible!

Last stop in the north was Matsumoto Castle. A very cool 500 year old castle with three rings of moats. At one point our friend Missy commented on the gentleman wearing a striped shirt and plaid pants (something about fashion sense...) and indeed he ambled over and volunteered to be our English speaking guide. He was better as a guide than as a dresser. We biked around the town of Matsumoto, Li perched on the back of a bike on a chair cushion. After watching her on the high ropes course I didn't worry too much, that is until one of Steve's brakes stopped working...

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Japan-How Civilized!

We’ve decided to spare you all and experience our reverse culture shock in Japan. Our course hosts met us at the Narita Airport and spent the next hour helping Steve and Li buy train tickets to Nikko. My co-instructor Missy and I waved goodbye as they disappeared into the belly of the Narita train station. We had a semi-firm plan to meet in 5 days, no mobile phone and sketchy Internet. How big can Japan be?? Missy and I headed 4 hours north to Shirakawa where we taught a 2 day Wilderness First Aid course over 4 days to allow for translation time. For the first two days of errands and course set-up I couldn’t help but think, I am not in China anymore! From smelly, dirty Chinese squat toilets without toilet paper to immaculate restroom with heated toilet seats and bidets-what a contrast! I think my word for Japan is fastidious. Things are clean and efficient, the people are polite to a fault and everything runs on time. Astounding after the past year. Of course it’s as expensive here as the US, but since the bills look foreign, I don’t feel so bad about what I am spending!

Truly the best feature of Japan, however, is the onsen-the natural hot springs. We have been to an onsen every night in Japan except one. The people are also incredibly generous. Our students were respectful and attentive in class and partiers at night. In other words after two days of teaching we had been naked and drinking with our students (not at the same time)! The course went well and we did our best to flounder through Japanese formalities. We managed to connect with Steve and Li at the train station and after dinner at Denny’s (the menu looks a little different!) and some onsen time, we were all united at the course facility in the mountain.

Steve and Li spent time in Nikko and Aizu Watsumota. The main feature of their travels involved arts and crafts (of course) but they ate well and slept well and survived! After mailing 75 pounds of teaching gear to Hong Kong today we are off on our own to Nagano. Japan Rail Passes in hand we can go as we please through the country. Given how hot and humid it is in Tokyo, we opted to head north to the mountains!

The End! At Least Temporarily

Our last two weeks in China were a whirlwind of packing, examinations, dinners and many farewells. For as much effort as we put into our finals, it is disappointing to know that our grades probably won’t actually count. In other words the students that we fail, will simply be promoted into the next class regardless. Then next year’s unsuspecting foreign teachers will inherit the same problems that we did. We had two official farewell dinners. Both times we were segregated into a separate table for the “western” teachers and refused the opportunity to mingle. Such heavy handedness was imposed by the Dean of the English Department. At least he did ask us to stay next year while were taking a departmental photo-three days before leaving China! We were able to spend an afternoon with our friend LuShan and her family. Her six year old daughter and Li entertained us with dance performances and songs for the afternoon. We had some great meals with friends and students and generally felt sad at the community we were leaving. The good news is that by the time we get back here again, most of our students will have graduated and we can visit them all over China.

One of the most memorable events of our departure was the goodbye party at Li’s school. We told her teacher we wanted to come by to take some pictures and bring a few small gifts. Upon our arrival we discovered three chairs waiting for us at one end of the room and the kids ready to sing and dance for us. We put WMI tattoos on all the kids and gave out treats. Li gave away many treasures, but ended up with about the same amount in return. There was a giant cake and lots of excited screaming, and of course some tears.

Most of our household items found good homes with students and other teachers. Nevertheless we ended up shipping 10 boxes back home (1/2 of which are gifts!). In China this involves stuffing a bag full of what you want to mail, handing it to the counter person, waiting while they look in every pocket and every book, and then cringing as they pack things poorly into boxes. It will be a race to see whether we beat our boxes home.

Steve started his 40th birthday with a burly 20 mile run and ended with a foot massage and mystery cake.

On the first of July we pulled out of campus in a taxi for the last time. Our flight to Xi’an was uneventful and we managed to forgo hotel food and find a local restaurant to drink a few beers and sit outside on a sweaty summer evening. Steve did eventually unplug our hotel room phone after the third call asking if we wanted a “massage”.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The Torch Made it and So Did We

We felt a little sorry for ourselves having to get up at 6:30 and and catch a bus for our "torch duty", but then again, the students and non-foreign teachers from the College were on 5:30am duty! The days and weeks leading up to the Olympic Torch's arrival have been shrouded in mystery and speculation. Our class schedules have changed on an hour's notice, as of yesterday the College was still negotiating its role in the affair with the local government and of course the Torch route was secret. At first it appeared we, the foreigners, were meant to be show pieced by the local government for our loyalty to China and our support of the Torch. We all politely refused that honor, but nevertheless found ourselves on a bus full of foreign teachers and students from the two colleges in Lijiang and the head of the Lijiang Foreign Affairs Department (who knew we had one?). Instead of heading into town as we had expected, we headed north into Jade Dragon Snow Mountain park. We found ourselves lining a corridor full of traditionally dressed minority people (at least 1000) and students in matching t-shirts. Flags were ubiquitous. After our arrival we learned there would be a 3.5 hour wait. We had been told not to bring any bags or food for fear of "issues" so you can imagine how painful a 3.5 hour wait was with a tired, hungry, under-clothed 6 year old. Since we had expected to be in town we wore t-shirts and rain coats, fine for town, not good for the Park which is over 10,000' in elevation.

Eventually of course the excitement began. The buses bearing torch bearers dropped them off at their designated stations and we had a front row seat for the hand off of Torch Bearer #173 and #174. #173 was a big white guy, story unknown! After the brief event complete with drumming from the Tibetans and chanting from the Chinese we waited for another 1.5 hours until the Torch Bearers were reloaded in their buses and taken back down the hill. We made it home by 12:30pm in time for a nap.

In some ways the actual event was anticlimactic, but in other ways it was pretty astounding. The minority costumes were beautiful, the mountain a stunning backdrop, the actual torch hand-off occurred less than 10 feet from us and it is likely some of our pictures will make the local newspaper given the number of times we were photographed and interviewed.

Beijing here we come!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Around NW Yunnan in 5 Days

5 days, 25 hours of driving, plenty of snacks and two moderately stir crazy children encompass the theme of our recent adventures. We traveled a large loop in NW Yunnan with our friends Molly, Bruce and Kaili Hampton, our ecoguide Lily and our tireless and always smiling driver Mr. Duan. Molly works for The Nature Conservancy (TNC)in Wyoming and was eager to see the work TNC is doing in this part of China with an eye to bringing donors at a later date. And, well, we came along for the ride. Li was ecstatic to have a long time friend and playmate (11 year old Kaili) to speak English with and to absorb some of the constant attention she gets as an adopted Chinese girl in a Caucasian family (Kaili is also adopted from China).

After a few days on our home turf in Lijiang and meals and presentations by TNC staff, we headed out of town towards Tiger Leaping Gorge. We had visited this valley once before, but this time we drove through the entire gorge on semi-maintained dirt roads with impressive cliff edges. The labor to build these roads is mind boggling. We walked down to the overlook of the famed rock the tiger leapt upon and declined the offers to be carried back up in a sedan chair-much to Li's dismay. That night we found ourselves at the Haba Snow Mountain Inn. The girls loved the huge beetles and caterpillars when they were in the garden, but didn't appreciate their company quite as much when they were in the room. Walking through the fields and houses in the village it is astounding to see how much firewood one household uses in a year-a reported 6000 pounds! TNC has been trying to help villages develop biogas programs to reduce fuel wood consumption.

The next day we continued north through Baishuitai stopping to visit the travertine terraces that reminded us of home. We discovered some wild irises and marveled at the leaves calcifying in the spring water that feeds the terraces. That afternoon we hiked through Pudacuo National Park-China's only National Park in spite of signs to the contrary. The park was lovely, but expensive and poorly promoted as a tourist destination.

After a night in Zhongdian and a morning of shopping for Tibetan knives we headed NW to the Botanical gardens. Bruce added new orchids to his list and Li took photographs of everything. After 90 minutes walking through the gardens her eyes were swollen and itchy. Perhaps she is not only allergic to Wyoming, but China as well. After a spectacularly steep drive in which we descended 4000 feet and survived a passport check point, we ended up in a small dusty Tibetan town called Benzilan. The highlight of our stay there was the hour Li and Kaili spent building sand and rock creations in the Yangtze River. In addition to negotiations at night about why our power was out we were serenaded by a man sounding like a lovesick hound dog at 1:30 in the morning. As always, Li and Kaili were fascinating to the locals and many people wanted to talk to us about them.

From Benzilan we took a "shortcut" along the Yangtze southwards. Imagine dirt roads, washouts, large boulders in the road and long drops to the river. Our driver whistled to keep himself calm. The scenery was spectacular and the remoteness of these Tibetan villages is amazing. Lander seems perfectly urban in retrospect. We passed about 20 kids walking back to school about 15 miles away. Fortunately we didn't blow a tire (I assume we had a spare) or get stuck in the mud and eventually made it back to the pavement. Li waited until this day to get carsick which is pretty good considering the driving marathon we did.

We spent our last night in Liming, a stunning village set amongst red rock towers and mesas. Whereas Haba Snow Mountain felt like Colorado and Benzilan felt like Wyoming, Liming was definitely Utah. There is an unusual red sandstone base here and houses are constructed from blocks of bright red. We hiked up to 1000 Turtle Mountain so named because the rock formation looks like 1000's of turtle shells. Our guide instructed us to take off our shoes to protect the sandstone-needless to say that was Li's favorite part of the trip! We happened to be in Liming on both Children's Day and the thrice monthly market day. Children's day was fun to see the local school kids in traditional Lisu, Naxi and Yi outfits. Market day was fun to watch the locals come to town from their villages and have a meet and greet. Many of their baskets were filed with alcohol to carry them over for the next 10 days. We were most definitely the only whites in town.

We left Liming reluctantly and headed back down the Yangtze towards Lijiang. We made one last stop in LashaHai to see our guide Lily's family home. TNC helped them build a biogas and solar system. Sitting in her courtyard eating walnuts and crabapples it is easy to forget how difficult the subsistence life of a farmer is. Lily works for an ecotourism company that is community owned and operated and tried to empower the local LashaHai villagers to celebrate their environment and create sustainable tourism.

Needless to say, starting back to school this morning was a rude awakening for us all. This was probably our last big adventure in Yunnan Province and we turn our minds towards completing the school year and two months of Asian travel this summer.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Earthquake News

As most of you know, Monday afternoon a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck a remote area to the north of us in Sichuan province. Though its effects were widely felt, we did not feel anything. My best guess is that it rocked the Sichuan plate and we are up on the Tibetan plate. The death toll is estimated to rise to 50,000. Students here are helping collect food and clothes for the survivors. Sadly the spring rains are here in earnest, hampering rescue efforts. It appears the international media is being allowed good opportunity to cover this tragic incident.

More Grandmothers!

Li has had an exceedingly good Grandmother year. She recently entertained (or vice versa?) Grandma Marcia who interspersed vacation in Lijiang with work in Hong Kong and Guilin. Marcia got to experience the high class accommodations provided to teachers here and the intermittent access to hot water during the rainy season. We did a thorough job of traversing the old town, buying unknown vegetables in the market, using up many megabytes of camera card space and filling suitcases with souvenirs. Li enjoyed showing her the exercise field and building cakes of mud and organic material. Sadly we have discovered that Li is allergic to both Wyoming and Yunnan in the spring. Clover is a common denominator.

Thinking to give her the full experience, we loaded Marcia onto a bus bound for Dali complete with gory Chinese war films, poor air conditioning and windy roads. Li, who can always be relied upon for a good vomit fest during travel, obliged. But we arrived without mishap (thank to the judicious use of the driver's horn) and barged through the line of "helpful" taxi drivers waiting to take us to their favorite hotels. The Lonely Planet failed us however as I spent the night vomiting after eating at one of their recommended dining options.

The rest of the crew forged on and walked miles around the Three Pagodas (famous on every image of Dali including its beer) in the rain. As an antidote to the throngs of tourists the next day we took the gondola up Cangshan Mountain and explored Qingbi stream. It is akin to hiking in Yosemite. We were undeterred by the Chinese tourists who told us to turn back, the "road is not good" and found ourselves alone in the canyon with the mist around us. Li brought home 5 pounds of rocks, Marcia took many pictures and Steve saw a new bird. A good time was had by all.

The rest of the trip involved lots of walking, sightseeing and eating. Lucky for us, Marcia took home an extra suitcase of our things in what is just the beginning of trying to get ourselves out of here!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Baoshan, The Stone City

The first of our three rounds of visitors have arrived! Our friend Iris managed to negotiate in country travel and successfully found the Lijiang airport. After only 36 hours in China we piled her into a car and headed off to Baoshan, the famed stone city. We chose a driver with a passenger car for this adventure thinking it would be a bit more comfortable than our usual brain jarring minivan rides. The driver is a friend of a friend and has been driving for 30 years (and he doesn't smoke!). Things were ok in spite of the drizzle that began as soon as we left Lijiang. We couldn't see much of the mountain we were circumnavigating, though we saw plenty of tourists in the ubiquitous red rental coats.

We thought it was a bit unusual that our driver didn't seem to be able to shift the car in gear as we wound our way up into the mountains on dirt road. Apparently he shard our opinion because he stopped the car and spent about 15 minutes fiddling with the gear shift and clutch trying to gear the car in gear, any gear! After many futile attempts he flagged down a ride and indicated for us to stay where we were, not that we could really go anywhere. Li explored the forest and we amused ourselves for an hour and half (I had to prevent Steve from dissecting the car with his Gerber tool) until our driver returned in a minivan. He indicated that the minivan would take us to Baoshan and he would be there tomorrow. Thinking bad thoughts about transmissions and having blind faith that something would work we piled into the minivan and bumped our way down the road towards Baoshan. Enroute we picked up an array of passengers including a woman who vomited the entire drive, which in turn encouraged Li to vomit. It's hard to blame them given the curves in the road and the precipitous drop offs. Remarkably we ended up at the Baoshan a few hours late and were escorted into our guesthouse in the stone city.

The village of Baoshan is perched on top of a stone mesa overlooking the Yangtze River. Rice and wheat terraces extend 2000 feet up valley and provide a spectacular backdrop to this landscape. We spent our weekend playing by the river, walking though terraces, taking photographs, eating and marveling at the livestock who have mastered going up and down stone steps. Each narrow alley in town offers places to explore. The only downside was "evil dog", a 10 pound mutt who charged at us repeatedly from his stoop. We were pleasantly surprised when our driver did indeed show up the next day with his car repaired. Our trip home was eventful only when the cops threatened our driver (who stopped in the middle of the road to let Iris and Steve take pictures). For any of you who know Iris, you will understand that all these things will be blamed on her.

Check out the pictures of Baoshan, it is truly a remarkable place!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

The WenHai Ecolodge

Lying a mere 5 miles from us (as the crow flies of course) over a formidable ridge is a truly sublime valley known as WenHai. Access is by foot, horse or jeep. We opted for two out of three and met our guide and his trusty horse xiao hu (Little Tiger) about 10 miles north of Lijiang in a small village called Yuhu. We ascended 2000' through blooming rhododendron forests trying to keep up with Li on Little Tiger and his owner Mr. He. After a few hours we were treated to the site of WenHai Valley. We feel fortunate that the seasonal lake which fills much of the valley floor still contained some water. Within a few weeks it will be dry until the rains come again. During the steep descent into the valley Mr. He became the horse as he piggy backed Li and let Little Tiger negotiate his own way.

We arrived in time for a late lunch prepared by Mr. He's wife. Given the number of cell phone calls he answered on the way we suspect she was keeping very close tabs on his progress. We stayed at a place called the WenHai Ecolodge. It is a village cooperative run by 59 of the 65 families in the valley's villages. Various contributors have helped to fund and organize the project from The Nature Conservancy to UC Davis to the Japanese Government. Each member family must contribute a yearly quota of work and in return shares the income. The lodge is a simple converted Naxi courtyard style house, but the food was good and the beds were surprisingly comfortable. We immediately made friends with the resident dog and cat. The Ecolodge earns its name for its use of human and animal waste in biogas to create methane for cooking gas. Food is grown on site and a solar collecting tank provides hot showers. A bed for one night and three meals runs about $18/person.

The Valley is part of a larger nature preserve and we spent the afternoon wandering the grassy fields among sheep, horses, cows and pigs. Li's aim improved significantly after an hour's practice throwing mud chips into the retreating lake.

This morning we again enlisted Mr. He and Little Tiger's help to head home (that is after Little Tiger was found since he chewed through his halter and headed down valley to hang out with his friends). Today we hiked south from the valley and emerged 7 miles later at ShuHe, a small village about 1 mile from our apartment. 3 showers (one apiece) and one large meal later we feeling moderately capable of facing work tomorrow. It was wonderful to get out and hike for a change-enough buses! Li looked like a real Wyoming cowgirl.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Shaxi-Quiet and Undiscovered

As small and beautiful as our town of Lijiang is, we have come to realize how significant its tourism infrastructure is. The Old Town is flooded with "western" restaurants and full of Chinese tour groups dutifully following their guide who is holding a flag for visual identification. Most days we are glad to live a few miles north of the hubbub. We have been yearning to find someplace authentic and unaffected by tourism.

Of course authentic meant 2.5 hours by bus to the dusty town of Jianchuan and then another hour of excruciating bumps and potholes to reach Shaxi. Shaxi is nestled in a large valley full of rice and rape fields, and small villages. Its ancient market square still has the original town temple (guarded by two very large and very fierce looking red and blue gods) and theater. Every Friday the market square comes alive with Bai and Yi people. There is an animal market set up outside the town gates to accommodate the livestock trade.

We gladly stumbled out of our bright purple bus and followed a cobblestone alley to the first guest house we found. Our proprietor was a local Bai man who had 10 rooms in his traditional Bai courtyard house. As we were the only guests we got to browse through the vegetable selection to chose our dinner and hang out in the kitchen while it was being prepared. We spent a lot of time sitting in the courtyard drinking tea. Early the next morning I wandered around town with our two traveling companions taking pictures at first light. The town still boasts two of it's original gates and plenty of ancient architecture. Our host took us into some old courtyard houses and showed us into nooks and crannies. We spent a good part of the day on a 10K walk to an old stone bridge south of town. We walked through many villages and fields and answered numerous hellos. We finally found the bridge which is one of the original throughfares of the Silk Road (locally called the Tea Horse Caravan). Li played poohsticks while everyone else rested in the shade. We managed to cram into a minivan full of locals to avoid the 10K walk back and discovered the best cappuccino I have had in all of China in the market square. We drank coffee and watched kids running around playing.

The next day we returned to Jianchuan and wandered the old town which is also full of 200-300 year old architecture. Steve, Li and I stumbled onto a family making incense and watched the process while communicating in broken Chinese. Needless to say the entire process is by hand.

I thought I was getting to be an old hand at Chinese bus rides but I was still startled by the woman who loaded six 30 gallon burlap bags full of vegetables (the one nearest me was garlic) and three 40 gallon barrels of fish all into the aisle of our small bus. Emergency exit? Not. The aroma of fish and garlic combined with 2.5 hours of winding mountain roads was overpowering. Every time the bus took a sharp corner the fish buckets sloshed and splashed. I have never been so delighted to get off a bus!

Nevertheless Shaxi is a gem and still the real thing. Two nights lodging, two dinners and one breakfast for all three of us ran a whopping $17. Excellent cappuccino in the market square for breakfast-priceless!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Back in the Saddle

Life seems a little tame after two months of travel and vacation. We are settling back into a work/school routine and feeling a little stir crazy in the beautiful weather. As we suspected, all of our classes were changed. Shana has 250 new students to get to know and Steve managed to escape teaching a single 8am class. Li is back at school and continues to play with (torment) her friend by waking him up during nap time thus getting them both in trouble. We have kept our recent adventures close to home. We prided ourselves on a 20 mile bike ride (on our one speed bikes). We biked through the new city being built south of town. The entire city is built and it is completely empty-quite eerie really. We attended the end of a local festival and enjoyed watching many of the local Naxi people enjoy a celebratory day. We have started dance lessons again, this time we are struggling to learn to samba. Luckily the teacher is tolerant, and nice to look at. We are watching the days go by to fast and eagerly awaiting our slew of spring visitors. You too could be one of them!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Xi'an, Soldiers, Snow and Pineapple Beer

After a week at home we decided we hadn't exhausted our travel legs quite yet and headed to Xi'an for a week of hanging out. We found a wonderful hostel by the South Gate with our own 2 story Family Apartment. We visited the Terra Cotta soldiers. We learned random useful facts that may be helpful someday in Trivial Pursuit such as the mustaches of high ranking officers bend upwards and those of mid rank officers bend downwards. Regular soldiers apparently had to shave. We celebrated the Chinese Lantern festival on top of the Xi'an City Walls. We strolled along the enormous silk lantern displays (like floats in the US) and watched the fireworks all over the city. We think the window glaziers have a good business going since fireworks were being set off and exploding between two high rise buildings! Though the fireworks were lovely, by 3:45am we were a bit tired of them.

We managed to take advantage of other big city kinds of things while in Xi'an. We found an ice skating rink on the 6th floor of a shopping mall and after a few pointers from the handsome young "ice guard" Li was off on her own. We found a newly opened Science and Nature Museum. There were lots of good ideas at the museum, but after only 6 weeks many things were already broken! We found a huge kids park with giant cargo net climbing structures which Li attacked fearlessly. Steve chased after the pick pocket who tried to snag his GPS and wallet. We woke to wet blowing snow on our last day and braved the weather to try and find a western style grocery (we failed). Best of all Steve learned a lesson, pineapple beer is foul (Li liked it).

Sadly we also had to face two realities. We are half way through our year's adventure and our two months of vacation ends in another week and we need to get inspired to begin teaching again (all new classes, all new students). Poor us.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

The Monasteries of Lijiang

We decided to spend our week at home seeing new sights around Lijiang and in essence this became the Monastery tour. Most monasteries were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and are either in disarray or have been recently rebuilt. Some have just one Buddhist Monk, others have many. Some have been developed for tourism and others are tucked away and welcome a few stray visitors. Each one was different and it gave us a much better perspective of our "home" and our surroundings. One highlight was Fuguo Monastery. This monastery used to be the largest in the Lijiang Valley but was completely destroyed. It is now overseen by an 80 year old Monk whose favorite English expression is "Nice to Meet You". It sits high up on a hill which defeated us on bicycles months ago but which a minivan was able to negotiate. The monk warmly welcomes people into the second floor of his house with tea and incense and visitors' registers. It seems many people found their way to his home while biking up the hill in a rain storm. Li and Silas had their photos taken with this Lama and we all received blessings. Yufeng Monastery boasts a Camelia tree reported to have 10,000 blossoms in the spring, when we were there it was up to about 25. Wenbi Monastery was fascinating because we arrived during an active Buddhist ceremony. Li liked the Tibetan woman who took off her shoes to enter the temple and had on bright purple socks! There are many trails that offer hiking opportunities on the mountain and spectacular views of the Valley. Bai Ta Monastery is being built solely as a tourist destination (trap). We found Puji Monastery on our bicycles. After being told there wasn't much to see we hiked uphill on a well tramped goat trail and found a beautiful monastery with a rather taciturn 14 year old monk tending it. He was pretty adept at trying to extort money as well!

Chinese New Year

Our decision to return to Lijiang With Katie, Sam and Silas for Chinese New Year proved to be a good one since the entire town was virtually shut down. Stores and markets were closed for three days, buses ran on sporadic and very unpredictable schedules and none of the restaurants near the college were (or are) open. We opted to celebrate with our own fireworks at the track on campus. Our friend Ellen left us a pile of personal explosives under our Christmas tree which we dutifully carried down to the field to set off. We felt tame with our sparklers, volcanoes and roman candles. I did have to look the other way when Steve let Li hold a multi-shot rifle style firework by herself. Needless to say there were plenty of other fireworks happening all around us. For our Lander friends, it is like the 4th of July for three straight days. Apparently the fireworks at midnight were amazing, Li and I managed to sleep through them, but Steve claims they were in all directions. When the town awoke again, people were cheerful and full of optimism for the New Year.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Jianshui or Caves and Confucius

What can you say, our hotel was a 120 year old merchant's house with 14 courtyards a private pond and lovely wood carvings. The family got rich in the opium trade, and then lost all their fortune in the change of a political wind. One of the entertaining things was the period dress hanging in the closet in each room next to the intricately carved canopy bed and the computer. With some significant persuasive tactics, Katie was able to get her brother dressed up and photographed in a public place.

We were able to visit Swallows Cavern outside of Jianshui. The cave is enormous with an underground river flowing through it. In the spring tens of thousands of swiflets come here to nest, building nests on the roof of the cave from their spit. In the fall the locals come to harvest the nests and sell them to upscale restaurants for birdnest soup. For Li her experience was complete with a ride in a dragon boat on the underground river. For me it was watching the unroped, barefoot climber ascend and descend 150 feet of cave wall. For Steve it had to be either the shopping area a 1/2 mile into the cave or the "smoking rooms" which were simple little alcoves in the cave where you could sit with your cigarettes and watch the stalactites grow. Needless to say the key features were lit up by colorful lights and the trail was paved. As we have learned, very Chinese.

We rounded out our experience with a visit to an enormous 1000 year old Confucian Temple/School. It was so remarkably peaceful that we all thought we could be excellent students if we studied there. Li and Silas preferred sticks and leaves to historical placards.

Coming home from Jianshui we watched our bus driver masterfully fix the fuel line on our bus and smoke a full pack of cigarettes in 4 hours. That's talent.

Kunming and the Days of the Week

We flew from Vietnam back to Lijiang to rendezvous with Steve's sister Katie, husband Sam and 15 month old baby Silas. Our days in Kunming were spent wandering the parks, lake and zoo. Our fondest memory of our stay in Kunming was the hotel which had a "days of the week" carpet in the elevator. Perhaps it was so endearing because I did indeed have days of the week underwear (as a child).

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

How to Eat Your Way Through Halong Bay

Easy. You simply hire a private junk for a 4 day, 3 night cruise of Halong Bay. It sounded extravagant, but probably cost the same as a nice hotel and food in Hanoi for the same period of time. And it was awesome.

Halong Bay is often described as Guilin under water. The Bay is full of karst islands, secret coves, floating fishing villages and secluded beaches. Our junk was staffed by a crew of 6 for the 5 of us (our friends Bob and Naomi Klaw were with us). Good ratio. One crew member was our personal tour guide, another our cook. We knew we had made a good choice when we arrived on the boat and were immediately served a 6 course lunch of fresh seafood, watermelon juice and outstanding coffee. Each meal trumped the next. I suspect we consumed an easy 2000 calories at each sitting. In addition to incredible food, the assistant captain was a master vegetable and fruit carver and our table was always decorated with his creations-fishermen, hummingbirds, boats, etc.

We were able to see much of the Bay including caves, beaches (beautiful and isolated), small villages and temples. But simply cruising through the islands was magnificent. The pictures don't do the scenery justice. Had it been a bit warmer we probably would have spent all our time sitting on the top deck, but the picture windows by the comfy couches were a nice alternative.

This was absolutely a once in a life time trip on a beautiful boat with a cook we all wished to marry.

Hanoi and the Magical Mystery Tour

All the research we did suggested that the "easiest" way to get from Yangshuo/Guilin to Hanoi, Vietnam was a train/bus combo. So we dutifully booked our package which included a 5 hour train ride, a pick-up at the train station and escort to our hotel, the hotel, an escort to the bus station in the morning, our bus ticket to Hanoi, and an escort across the border-all for $60/person. It all worked and included fun surprises such as having seats on the train next to where all the people came to smoke under the no smoking sign, a very traditional Chinese hotel with rock hard beds and squat toilets, a surly travel guy to help us, and 7 hours on a very comfortable bus to be dropped off in a random place in Hanoi. The countryside was beautiful and all the logistics went smoothly.

Hanoi is the most unbelievably crazy city we have ever been in. All the small streets and alleys are packed with motor scooters, pedestrians and cars. The traffic is like water and one feels like Moses parting the red sea when you cross a street. Just don't stop. Hanoi is a tourist/shopper paradise and has the infrastructure to support it. Shops quote you prices in dollars and people speak English and French. This part of Vietnam has the service industry down-it is so different than China. And we must say thank you to the French for leaving a legacy of wonderful pastries and unbelievably good coffee.

Yangshuo and Li's 6th Birthday

On the web site the Riverside Retreat looked lovely, just 4km from Yangshuo with views of the Li River and flowers all around. Indeed it was lovely and FREEZING! The stone floors radiated cold. Luckily our rooms had heaters that brought the temperature up enough that you couldn't see your breath. You can imagine getting Li to take a bath was a challenge.

Luckily our host and tour guide Kate was gracious and accommodating. The first day our friend Bob Klaw and Steve went off exploring the town and surrounding area dressed for arctic conditions. Li was pretty sniffly so Bob's wife Naomi and I opted for spending time in the kitchen learning local dishes from the cook and massages from the masseuse who came to our hotel room. Mine was relaxing for about 20 minutes until Li came in having vomited all over during her nap! The next day we braved tourist alley and shopped in town. Most importantly we found fleece lined pants for Li that she would wear! Bob and Steve went to a local clinic to watch the medicine and were intrigued by one doctor and horrified by another. Both vowed not to get injured on this trip.

The next day we decided to go rafting on a bamboo raft on the Li River. Since it was Li's birthday what better way to celebrate than making her freeze on a boat on a river! But is is her river... A brisk walk through the rice fields to warm up and all was well. That night Naomi and I shivered in the kitchen watching the cook make dinner-that meant we could avoid eating the snails that Bob and Li devoured. Post dinner we celebrated with cake and a bottle of wine. Li didn't like the wine, but approved of the cake.

Yangshuo truly is beautiful and I can imagine it would be delightful to walk through the karst hills-in the spring!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

A Visit to Li's Orphanage

We arrived in Guilin today. The cold and rain is a bit brutal after a week at the beach in Sanya! Apparently we brought the rain. We had a single goal in Guilin-to visit Li’s orphanage and to view her adoption file.

Our adoption agency representative from 5 years ago was able to set up a visit to the orphanage and arrange a translator which all worked very smoothly. We went from the hotel to the Orphanage with our translator and met with two women who do all the babies’ files. The older one "remembered" Li, or was at least there 5 years ago. She remembered my mother visiting 2 years ago and I had a picture of them together. We met the man who named Li and learned that he meant for her middle name to mean "strong jade" (we were told precious jade originally)-that was great because most people can't translate the Chinese character for her middle name Yao. We saw the Playroom built by a charitable group called Half the Sky, one of the young children's playrooms and one baby room-all from the outside. We looked at Li’s file which had very little in it and no information we didn't know. We did take a picture of the only picture in her file, one we had never seen. The staff seemed content to see us but not overly excited. It seemed pretty routine for them. Our translator does adoption work in Guangzhou and was home in Guilin on vacation. He was young and nice. The whole tone was very easy going. We joked with the man who named Li (who must be 30 at tops) who drives the babies and runs errands etc. No one had any real emotional response. We drove by her finding place but in the past 5 years it has been converted from a hospital to an apartment building so we could only take pictures from the outside. We asked about her foster mother (who she was only with for a month and we never knew her name). We asked if she was still caring for babies. They said that they weren't allowed to give us a name and they had forgotten who it was and many of the foster families from 5 years ago no longer took kids.

I am not sure what we expected, but I think it was what happened. We learned a few tidbits, but nothing more. Li didn't feel any connection and we weren't allowed to go into any of the rooms with kids. We were definitely shown the model rooms. I think also being in China for 4 months has made so many things feel routine that there were no big surprises to be had. Perhaps if we had been with a group gearing up for this visit we would have been allowed to spend more time or actually go into rooms with babies, but they were certainly not offering us that opportunity.

We are glad we had the chance to visit and take some pictures. Perhaps we can return when Li is older and she may have a stronger response to the place she spent the first 10 months of her life.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Sanya and the $7 Massage

Sanya is known as the "Hawaii" of China. Though we haven't explored to our usual extent, the 17km of white sand beach lined with palm trees makes a pretty good approximation. We found a great hotel right across the street from the beach complete with hot tub and faux roses entwined in the bedroom lamp. After 4 months without water Li has turned into a fish again has been braving the waves and playing in the ocean. Yesterday she surprised us both by swimming under water and scooping up a handful of sand complete with a starfish. Her surprise and subsequent scream resulted in a lucky escape for the starfish.

Sanya is apparently a pilgrimage location for Russians trying to escape the frigid north. Restaurants and shops here offer menus in Russian and cater to Russian tastes including borsht and oxtail soup. Most of the Russians congregate in another part of the city so we are not surrounded by too many overweight Caucasians in small swimsuits.

Last night I followed the advice of our hotel proprietor and went to the Jade Massage Saloon for a 60 minute foot massage ("for your health" he said, who was I to argue?). My family left me wearing pink slippers heading upstairs into the unknown. After being shown into a private room with an overstuffed armchair and ottoman a young, admittedly quite handsome, and very muscular man came in with a tub of steaming water. I mistakenly assumed he was simply the labor to move the water tubs around, but no, he was indeed my masseuse. Thor is really the only name that does him justice. Step one was a 20 minute neck and back massage while sitting on the ottoman and soaking my feet in water mixed with Chinese brown herb. Step two was another 50 minutes of foot massage, lotion, more massage, etc. Don't get too excited about the etc., "Thor" did not speak nor make eye contact with me the entire time. At the end of my session he removed the dirty bucket of water and towels, and then returned promptly with a new bucket of steaming water. Thereupon he proceeded to wash my feet and lower legs with clean hot water. It's quite an image to be sitting with your feet in hot water and have a lovely young man wash them. Anyway, for $7 it's worth another go round! Good for my health.

We will be sad to leave the slow, relaxing pace of Sanya, but there are more adventures to be had.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Xiamen the Seaside Town

We have acquired a new pattern of seeing places, we call it the mystery tour. Each day we set out with a single destination. Each evening we realize we have walked 10K or so in pursuit of said destination and all the associated places it led to. It's much like surfing the web... We did it all in Xiamen: Temples, the University, the Island Guluangyu, the aquarium, the river, the birds, the fort, the beach, the flea market, the art gallery. Good thing we are handy with a bus map! Our friend Bea joined us for most of the week and as her Chinese is far superior to ours it was a great help! She, however, has no problem asking directions which makes Steve, map in hand, want to hide. As much fun as it is exploring cities, we are ready to stick with "Chinese towns". The verdict on Xiamen is, "Easy place to spend a week, expensive food, construction central." Next stop, the beach in Sanya.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Kunming or How Many Animals Can I Feed

We spent two days exploring Kunming while waiting for the Vietnamese Consulate to issue our visas. We guess we walked about 10 miles in 2 days. Li’s legs are burly. Yesterday we fed birds and fish, today we fed rabbits. We are trying to avoid any animals that could be rabies carriers.

Being in a bigger city really makes us appreciate how peaceful life is in Lijiang. Driving, or more accurately being driven is unbelievably hazardous. We witnessed our first traffic fatality today. It is surprising we haven’t seen more. It’s not clear what the rules of the road are, but the bus drivers certainly abide by the “might is right” theory. There are usually only inches between cars, buses, bicycles, motor scooters and pedestrians. It’s not clear that there really is a “safer” form of transportation. Off to Xiamen tomorrow.

End of Semester Craziness

Apparently our blog fan club has been complaining about our lack of recent entries. We will try and make up for our misbehavior during the next eight weeks of vacation!

The last few weeks have been full of end of semester responsibilities and hosting responsibilities. Our students diligently or not so diligently studied for their finals. A few of course emailed asking exactly what was going to be covered and when they were told that anything that was discussed in class or in the assigned reading could appear on the test they cried that was too much. Most of our students wouldn’t make it in an American College. Even they admit that high school was significantly harder than college.

In between finals we had the opportunity to host Jack and Jill in Kunming and Lijiang. First we got to see Grandma Jill give a talk at the Kunming Provincial Library. Li was excited to see her Grandma, though 90 minutes of astronomy talk was a bit much for her. We explored Kunming and Lijiang with them and celebrated Christmas in a low key way. Well it was low key except for the much anticipated Christmas Party (actually a misnamed Christmas show). This Party was thrown by the Dean of the English Department. Students had to try out to participate and there were many selective criteria. We were arm twisted into singing a rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The only one who really enjoyed it was Li who got to play Rudolph and wear red lipstick on her nose. We managed to leave the Party after an hour of loud music and flashing strobe lights. We couldn’t dodge a short television interview however and staff at the hotel Jack and Jill were staying at recognized us from the TV. Apparently the Party went until 11:30pm.

We did manage to visit the First bend of the Yangtze and Tiger Leaping Gorge with Jack and Jill. Though it meant 5 hours in a minivan, to experience these sights without other tourists was really remarkable. Grandma Jill also got to experience a New Year’s performance at Li’s school-I think she is glad she doesn’t have 35 grandchildren.

After hours and hours of grading (not helped by the fact that Li did not have school), we turned in our grades, turned off the water in our apartment to fend off disaster, and headed out of town.

A Typical Friday Afternoon

This is a synopsis of a meeting we had last Friday. This meeting was called by the Dean of the English Department and all foreign and Chinese English teachers were required to attend as well as select students. Teachers who had regularly scheduled classes were forced to cancel their classes and required to schedule a time to make them up (note, the foreign teachers all have their finals next week).

The meeting was really a lecture by said Dean. The topic of the lecture was "Learner Autonomy". I should say that some of the ideas contained in this lecture were good, but they were self evident to anyone who is accustomed to a western style of education. The basic message was students need to develop personal responsibility for their own learning and teachers need to actively engage students in the learning process. Of course we had to sit through 40 PPT slides, each one containing two complete paragraphs of text, to get this message.

The lecture was held in a large auditorium style room. And as I have come to learn, the fact that the audience of 300 people were eating, talking, grading papers, reading books, and otherwise seemingly not paying attention is quite normal. The Dean nevertheless claimed he was in control and loudly read every single word on every single PPT slide pointing at each one with a large bamboo stick. Can you say power trip? He completely ignored the one individual who tried to ask a question, because, after all, it was his talk.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from his slides (note the fact that in spite of the presence of 8 native English speakers on campus he did ask anyone to proofread his slides):

"self-realizationist"
"self-discontented"
"Students abuse their privileges of independence and freedom, waste time at will."
"The students reflection shows their confusion about they can learn efficiently."
"Learning is the goal of teaching."
"Students should be dominated in the classroom."
"Arouse students..."
"Integrant and together cultivate..."
"However studying should occupy all of the free time on the schedule. It is important to set aside time for relaxation, hobbies and entertainment as well."
"If you as a University student fail to do an assignment, or miss classes, you should be disciplined by yourself or by the Department." (self-flagellation anyone?)

This last really highlights the experience here. We are teaching 20 year-olds as if they are in high school. We take attendance at every class. Monitors assess whether students go to class at night and the mandatory reading period at 7:30am. Students cheat freely and are supported by their teachers in copying things from the internet-even their senior thesis papers. These students have no experience with time management or work prioritization. You can fail 4-5 of your 9 classes in a semester and be allowed to continue. Each student in each major takes exactly the same classes, whether or not they passed the previous year's class in that subject. Their world revolves around passing the national exam in their subject area so they spend their time memorizing vocabulary and answering fill in the blank style questions. Foreign languages are taught by teaching separate classes in: Listening, Dictation, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Even the Dean acknowledged in his talk this was simply because this is how the textbooks are written and it is easier to assign teachers to classes that way, but it doesn't work. He didn't say anything about changing it however.

Welcome to China.