Ni Hao from China - August 1, 2007
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
6
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Zhongshan, Guangdong,
China
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
I went to Macau the weekend of the Dragon Boat Festival. I was hoping that I would see some international teams, but no such luck. It ended up being pretty low key, so after a while, I started to wander around the area. I came across the Macau Tower, which is similar to the CN Tower in Toronto, and ended up going Skywalking. First of all, I had to change in to a gawdy orange suit, then they hooked me up to a safety belt that links with an overhead rail system. After that, we walked outside and around the tower's exterior, 233 meters above the ground with no handrails! As we walked around, they took pictures of us in different poses. For the first shot, they wanted us to move as close to the edge as possible. They kept telling me to move closer to the edge, but I kept reassuring them that I was close enough. The weather was gorgeous, and the view was spectacular. I have officially 'walked the walk' and am now able to 'talk the talk'.
To celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in Zhongshan, Bond took us out for lunch. Approximately 3000 years ago, a man by the name of Tu An killed himself by jumping in to a river. The people in the town fed rice to the fish so they wouldn't eat Tu An's body. Today, people in China eat sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves in memory of Tu An.
I have been doing a lot of running lately, and am hoping to register for the Macau Marathon in December. Not only do I have the challenge of trying to train for a marathon after many years of not running, I have to deal with running in high temperatures and humidity - something I am not used to. There seems to be a lot of strategy involved in organizing a long run here. I like to go out for my long runs as early as possible to try and beat the heat, but then I have to deal with the problem of running out of water, and not having any stores open in order to replenish it. Another problem I have to deal with is the traffic. I usually don't have to worry about the traffic on the road, but I DO have to worry about the traffic on the sidewalk! It is not uncommon for bikes, motorbikes, and sometimes cars (!) to drive along the sidewalks. The worst part is getting beeped by a car that's driving on the sidewalk!! When I go for a long run, I usually like to turn my music on loud, and just let my mind wander, but here, I have to constantly be aware of my surroundings. Whenever I cross the street, I look left, then right, then left, then right, then left, etc., until I get to the other side of the road. Pedestrians are low man on the totem pole here when it comes to traffic, and if you don't look out for yourself, the drivers certainly won't!
As a foreigner, I get lots of stares, but I get even more stares when I go for a run. There have been many times when people will ride by on their bikes, and crane their necks to stare at me as they ride by. I will usually say Ni Hao, or give them a quick wave. Some will get embarrassed and keep riding, others will break in to a big smile!
One day I went for a run when it was pouring rain, and there was even some thunder and lightening at one point. I guess this was way too much for people to handle, not only a foreigner, or a foreigner running, but a foreigner running in the rain! It ended up being my best run ever, as I had so much interaction with the locals. There was a boy on a bike who rode by me giving me the thumbs up and telling me that he 'really appreciates'. I'm not quite sure what he 'really appreciates' but I guess it was an opportunity for him to show off his English vocabulary. Shortly after that, there was a woman in a car who was stopped on the road. I thought she had missed the turn off for the gas station, but she had not, so I kept running. She started honking her horn. I turned around and pointed to myself, wondering if it was me that she was honking at. It was, so I went over to her car. She put the window down, and asked if I needed help. I explained to her that I was out for a run, and getting some exercise. I'm sure she drove off shaking her head. When I was closer to home, I had been waiting at a red light to cross the street. When the light turned green, I started to run across the street. A girl with an umbrella must have thought I was running to get out of the rain, so she ran up to me and held her umbrella over me! I continued on and ran by a group of guys I often see outside a porcelain shop. They said hello and gave me the thumbs up. Overall, the best run I've had so far.
A while back, we had a fundraiser to raise money for Shirley, one of the teachers who used to work at Bond, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Although there were not many who showed up for the fundraiser, the ones who did were very generous. Shirley was in the hospital in Guangzhou for her next round of treatment, so I took the money to her there. I was thrilled to see that she was now in a room with other women, rather than in a bed by herself in the hallway. She had lost most of her hair at this point, and was rambling quite a bit, but she seemed to be in good spirits. Her mother was there (just as she was the last time we went to visit), and as soon as I walked in, she made a fuss to get me a chair so I could sit down. I asked Shirley if her mother came to visit her every day, and she said her mother stays with her the whole time. She actually sleeps on the bed with Shirley. We chatted for a bit, and when it was time to leave, I said my goodbyes, and started heading for the elevator. As I was walking I could hear this shuffling of feet behind me, and when I got to the elevator, I turned around, and there was Shirley's mom. We didn't say anything to each other, but we didn't need to. I think we both felt glad that the other one was there. We said our bai bai's, and I was on my way.
Today is the last day for summer camp classes and I have to say that I am glad they will be over. For some reason, Alice (our Director of Studies) felt that I needed to teach the younger kids. I haven't taught the younger kids since February, and she is well aware that I prefer teaching older students or adults. For some reason, I just don't find it amusing when I ask the kids a question, and keep getting the answer 'go to the WC', or 'go to the toilet'. It's so much nicer teaching adults, as they want to be in class, and they want to learn. Besides, I don't have to keep telling them to sit down and stop talking. Having said that, I guess I can't blame the younger kids for acting out. For one of my classes, it was the second time they had done these classes, as it was a review class. They've already gone through the book at least once, and have done all the exercises. Not only that, this is supposed to be their summer vacation, and they are spending it going to school. During one of my classes, I asked them what they were going to do once these classes had finished. Some of them were staying in Zhongshan, and some of them were going away, but only for a couple of days, because the next round of summer camp classes starts next week, and they have to be back for those classes. After those classes finish, they will be heading back to their regular school in September. Some summer vacation!
Speaking of adults, on Tuesday nights, I have a business English class at a business here in Zhongshan. Although we use a book for most of our lessons, we often start talking about subjects that aren't related to the book. I always feel that they are just as useful, as any kind of talking gives them a chance to practice their English. One night in particular, we got on to the subject of food - always an interesting topic in China! They asked me if I had ever eaten pigeon. When I said I hadn't, they made plans to take me out so I could try it! They picked me up one Saturday and took me to a huge restaurant whose specialty is pigeon. It was pretty cool - they seated us in an area that was set up like a bird cage. We had lots of food, and of course, pigeon. Even though they are just little critters, they are quite tasty!
There is a new pool/spa that just opened up here a couple of months ago called Hawaii. It has a pool, and many different water stations where you can relax in hot pools, lounge on jets, or stand under a waterfall. It's very frustrating trying to do laps in the pool though, as there doesn't seem to be any sort of system where you swim in a circular motion. Each person will swim in their own lane, so when it gets busy, I get out because I get too frustrated trying to swim around everyone. It's a nice place to go and just relax, but the best part is when I tell Lisa, 'I'll see you later, I'm going to Hawaii'!
On July 8th I turned 48 (yikes!), and Lisa and I went to Macau for my birthday. We took the bus to Zhuhai after I got off work on Sunday, and were at our hotel in Macau by 8:30. After having a mediocre dinner, we went to the Wynn casino where I put 20 Hong Kong dollars in to one of the slot machines and turned it in to 132! I went exploring the next morning while Lisa slept and discovered Fisherman's Wharf, a nice, relaxing place to chill and do a bit of shopping. I went back to the hotel to get Lisa, and we spent the rest of the day shopping and exploring, then headed back to Zhongshan around 6pm.
Last weekend, Christy and I went to Hong Kong Disneyland. My students kept telling me that it was small and crowded, so my expectations were pretty low. When we got to Hong Kong, we met up with Laura, another foreign teacher who had just finished her contract. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised once we got there. It definitely was much smaller than the Disneyland in California or Florida, but it was Disneyland just the same. The grounds were spotless, the rides were fun, and the shows were amazing. As I listened to the familiar tune of 'M-I-C-K-E-Y', I couldn't help but wonder what life would be like if we didn't have Disney!
It's hard to believe, but on Friday, it will be my seven month anniversary for being in China. It seems like the longer I've been here, the faster the time flies. I have been a little bit frustrated with things at Bond lately, but I'm finding now that once again, I am looking at China through the eyes of a traveler instead of the eyes of a frustrated Bond employee. Every day I have to smile when I see people going about their everyday lives. One of the most interesting sights is people on motorbikes. They are the main mode of transportation and are the 'family car' for many families. It's interesting to see kids riding on motorbikes. Just like we have different types of car seats for different ages of children, the way children ride motorbikes varies depending on their age. For newborns, they will ride in a Snugli-like contraption on the front or back of the driver. For toddlers, they will ride either in front of, or behind the driver, attached to the driver by a thick strap, similar to a luggage strap. The next step up, they will either stand on the ledge in front of the driver, or sit behind them and hang on for dear life! There are also many different variations of ridership, regardless of age. On a regular bike, a passenger will either ride on the rat trap, or stand with one foot on either side of the bar that holds the wheel in place. On motorbikes, I have seen anywhere from one passenger to three passengers on one bike. I have even seen a woman breastfeeding while riding as a passenger!
As I said earlier, today is the last day of summer camp classes, and tomorrow is the first day of our four week holiday. Lisa and I have been talking about doing this trip for some time now, and it's hard to believe that it's already here. Tomorrow morning, we will take a bus to Guangzhou Airport, and fly to Chengdu. Originally we were going to fly in to Chengdu on the 6th, but seeing as classes ended earlier, we decided to leave earlier. We are hoping to see the panda bears while we are there. We are also hoping to take the train from Chengdu to Lhasa, Tibet on August 9th. However, although we have been in contact with a fellow to order our tickets, we still have not heard anything back from him as to whether or not he got the tickets. If he was unable to get them, then we will have to fly to Lhasa. After Tibet, we will go to Zhongdian in Yunnan Province, aka Shangri La, and made famous by the movie Lost Horizon. After that, we will hike through Tiger Leaping Gorge where we will head down to the Yangtze River. After that, it's on to Lijiang, and possibly Dali. We will end our trip on August 29th with a flight from Kunming to Guangzhou, then the bus back to Zhongshan.
Now for the best news of all! This year marks 30 years since I graduated from high school, and our 30 year reunion. I have been given the time off, and have booked my flights so that I can go to Vancouver for the reunion at the end of September. Unfortunately, I will only be there from September 26th to October 5th, but hey, it's better than nothing at all. I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends, and of course, eating some western food!
I certainly am a very lucky girl!
Until next time,
Gaye
