Nothing Really in Particular (more photos)

This post isn't really anything more than just me sharing some photos with the world.  Enjoy!

My calligraphy paintbrush sits in the dazzling late afternoon sunshine at the end of this week's class.

My calligraphy!

A makeshift lunch: a bunch of cucumbers and steamed carrots and a 2 liter bottle of some green tea beverage that I am absolutely addicted to in China.  I think it's a healthy enough meal haha.

More calligraphy

GREEN carrots.  Yes you read this correctly.  Not sure what the sauce actually is but you dip them in it and it tastes pretty awesome.  The carrots have a real bite to them, they taste alot like horseradish to me.

The Most Epic Menu in the World (for English Speakers)

My rommate and I had stayed at a second hostel in Beijing which was very close to Tiananmen square.  This area is a maze of alleyways and lanes which are lined with all sorts of cute little stores and merchants trying to peddle all kinds of merchandise.  One of these places was a rather plain but nice restaurant just down the road from our hostel.  When the waitress handed us a menu we could not believe how thick it was.  Suddenly, a loud outburst of laughter caught us by surprise from a group of people, also foreigners, a few tables away from us.  They were a group of perhaps English or Australians who were doubling over in laughter and they were pointing at the menu.  Their laughter was not just light petty laughter, you know the kind that is short-lived after hearing a decent joke- no- this was the kind of laughter that has the victim struggling to breathe, clutching their sides, writhing in pain in the stomach region, and howling all over the place.  We opened up the menu and discovered the source of their laughter.  We soon joined in.  The poor waitress looked extremely confused and possibly offended by our outrageous laughter.

"Blow up hairtail with no result"

 "The hemp rolls a self-sufficient and strategically located region into a ball"

 "Self restraint pumpkin cake"

 "The winter mushroom fertilizes the cattle boiler"

 "Humble cottage sauteed bullfrog in chili sauce"

"Fermented soya beans juice, the incense are ruthless, the hemp is ruthless, green pepper pickled Chinese cabbage"

Autumn Life

It's funny because all the locals I have met and taught here have referred to this season as "autumn" and we (ie my colleagues and I) noticed this and we have been trying to teach them to call it "fall", not "autumn" since that's how people say it back home.  Nonetheless, here I am using that word in the title of my newest blog post.  Language has a funny way of tripping people up.  Daily life here has become much more routine and orderly than it was at the beginning.  In the first two months, I was constantly working under rapidly changing schedules which reflected fluctuating student enrollment numbers, as well as an unpredictable administration.  This is moreso a reflection on cultural differences here when it comes to organizations - service and organization are not held to the same standards here as they are in the west.  However, we have finally seemed to settle in to the job and the thick of things here this past month or so.  October was a very hectic month, what with being switched to a new school (which I incidentally enjoy teaching at more than I did at the previous one), an additional college class, and a change in middle school students.  The change has been positive.  It has given me the chance to challenge my flexibility and my time management skills.
Recently, my business students have been showing extremely positive changes in their learning.  I happen to co-teach this class with my roommate and we love it because we get to really have a lot of fun learning and teaching about things going on in the world of business.  We taught them what words like debt, loan, bankruptcy, responsibility, monopoly, scandal, shareholders, stock, and philanthropy mean.  I worked hard to create engaging and stimulating powerpoints for them and I could tell they were fascinated by our lessons when their eyes looked wide and bright as we talked and gave examples of corporate failures and successes.  Some even asked me for permission to allow them to copy the powerpoints onto their USBs.  I asked them what they would like to learn about in the future and many of them replied with "Obama".  I compiled a list of words for them such as conservative, liberal, republican, democrat, and centrist or moderate.  They eagerly jotted the words down and actually took some notes.
I feel like I have grown a lot in the past three weeks.  One of my supervisors came up to me after I taught a class of about 8 students in grade 6.  Most of my students were late that day, something that was becoming increasingly problematic for me.  At the beginning of this job I did not care about this as much since I had more trouble compiling lesson plans for them.  If they showed up late, I would play jeopardy with them, a game they love.  My colleagues and I downloaded a kind of software which allows you to display five categories of your choosing, each with 100, 200, 300, or 400 question options, which of course you make up.  This is a powerpoint file, which is really convenient as well, as when it is in full screen display you can actually click whichever question the candidate chooses and it will automatically switch it to that slide with the question on it.  There is a button at the corner which you can click to take you back to the question display.  The colours are bright and pleasing to the eye, and the questions are always a lot of fun.  The students learn, but this is a game that doesn't take up enough time for a whole class.  When I had designed real lessons for them and they continued showing up late, each class a little later than the one before, it was troubling to me.  I spent time creating lessons for them and I did not want to rush through them just to play jeopardy.  My supervisor urged me to simply play jeopardy with them but I refused, and I told them that they must show up at the beginning of class, on time, from now on if they wish to play jeopardy.  The students looked a little bit shellshocked at the news but I stood by my decision firmly.  We went through the whole lesson without a hitch and I taught my students a short story and some new words.  I used up the entire classroom time without playing jeopardy.  My supervisor approached me and told me that I had progressed and improved a great deal considering the time I have been here.  She praised my decisions as a teacher and told me that I am doing a good job.  This was a really great compliment coming from her since at the beginning she was not afraid to give me constructive criticisms (and she did.)  I am curious to see in two days if my students show up on time for jeopardy or if they will underestimate my firmness.  I'll end the post with some photos of the beautiful colours in the neighbourhood

The long treed pathway that connects my complex to the main road and university.

Every day people sweep the streets and clean up the leaves on the university campus as well as in the neighbourhood.

My apartment building.

Signs

Walking around campus is always delight.  You get to enjoy some peace and tranquility among some beautiful Chinese landscapes.  The sound of birds calling to each other from the tall trees that surround the impressive buildings glides to your ears with a nice fall, crisp breeze.  But what is most delightful of all is reading the amusing signs you can see dotted around the entire property every day you walk through it.  Even months after I first arrived in China, they still make me giggle.

Perhaps the most amusing sign of all.  Such a different message than what we tell our youth in the west, you know, "take the road less traveled" and "forge your own through life" and things like that.

This is a big sign you see just past the south entrance.  Beautiful.

The University of Weifang

I've been meaning to show you all what this beautiful campus looks like, but I've been super busy with work.  I think I finally have the time to give you a makeshift virtual campus tour, if you will.  I live in a neighbourhood  just next to campus called Wei da Chuei war which means "the gardens" because our neighbourhood is so nice and green.  It's especially pretty right now in the fall, when all the leaves on the trees are showing their colours.  The Gardens is actually a rather large area of town, housing most university employees and their families.  I feel quite privileged because myself and the other foreigners live in a complex known to all as the "foreign experts building"- I don't think I'm really an expert at anything but if that's how they'd like to call it I'm fine with it haha.  Please note these photos were taken about a month ago so the fall colours aren't really showing yet.

So this photo is where you cross the street to get to the south entrance to campus.  All entrances into campus are guarded by well... guards.  They are there to ensure the students are safe from any intruders since they live on campus after all.  They are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week to oversee all traffic coming in and out of the property.  You can see a "gate" of some kind in the center of the picture, that's where they sit.  Beyond it lies a rather large campus, there are many many buildings.  I would say the campus is almost as large as UBC.  It takes about twelve minutes to walk across campus at a normal speed whereas it can take a full fifteen minutes to run across the UBC campus so that should give you an idea.

At the center of campus lies this interesting statue, among other symbolic pieces.  This one is called "The Flaming Keys of Knowledge".  I assume these pieces are meant to motivate students and demonstrate how revered this place has become.  I have to say, though, I sometimes walk around this place with a real sense of awe as you'll see from the photos below.

The Flaming Keys of Knowledge from a different angle.

Near the flaming keys is a rather large artificial lake with a bridge and pagoda.  Very peaceful and tranquil.  There's another bridge behind at the other end of campus.

A better look into campus at the south end of campus.

The pathway that takes you from the main road through my neighbourhood and to my apartment building.  This pathway is really nice to walk through when it's sunny out and also at night because it gets so dark.  That sounds like a possible turn off to some but the city can be so bright and artificial at night so it's really nice to walk through a real dark treed path every once in a while.  The neighbourhood is also guarded at all entrances 24 hours/day, 7 days/week so I try to wave hello to the guards as I walk by every morning.  On the south (the opposite) end of my neighbourhood and a short stroll down the end of the block there is a Jia Le Jia or grocery store which is nice.  There are also grocery stores or convenience stores at the end of the path and just to the right for all our needs.  There is a kindergarten day care center just to the left of those trees in there.  Sometimes we are walking and we can hear kids music and see them playing.  How cute.  A woman sometimes drops by with a kind of mobile cart where she'll sell quail eggs on a stick.  She's got a machine with special holes that she cracks the eggs into, 5 in a straight line.  She places a stick through the holes which heat up and cook the eggs.  When they're finished, the kids and parents buy them like hotcakes. We love them too, and for 5 quai you can get 2 skewers of eggs.  She'll even spice your skewer up for you with ketchup or strawberry sauce or chilies or herbs.  MMM so good I had some tonight. 

On the other side of the pagoda is "Ambition Mountain", a rather large pile of rocks.  Interesting concept.

Calligraphy: From China with Love (and lots of practice)

I absolutely LOVE calligraphy.  I'm completely obsessed.  I could just sit at the desk for hours with my instructor and practice my lines for hours and hours and not think about anything else.  I was talking about this with a friend and coworker today and we had marveled at the realization that it's almost like going into a different world when we practice calligraphy.  We decided to follow through on an idea to have a calligraphy party!  No, this isn't a real raver/thriller/skins style/aggressive bash we're talking about, we want this to be the kind of thing your grandmother would enjoy.  That's right, we're kind of nerdy but we love it, because we love calligraphy and we want to sit around a big table with an infinitely long zen music playlist, our wolf/sheep haired calligraphy brushes and ink and practice over a nice cup of green tea.  I'm really looking forward to it!  In the meantime, you can take a look at a bunch of the photos we took from today.  You can see my instructor in one of them.  His name is Guo Wei and he is the model of inspiration for many of us since he runs marathons, bikes thousands of kilometers, and is a master at Tai Chi and calligraphy.  You wouldn't necessarily think it just from looking at him, but oh boy is he an incredible man.

Warmth

The government switched the heat on in China a few days ago.  Just as the temperature started to plummet.  MMMMM it's so nice and warm in our apartment.  Even so, I wanted to buy a second set of bedding since it takes a while for my sheets to dry after washing.  So I went to the Good Shopping Mall, this absolutely ridiculously ginormous sized mall that has just about anything money can buy.  I spent about 100 quai on a package that included 2 sheets and 2 pillow cases.  The colours are so pretty! Much more inviting than the plain white stuff that the place came with.  And then I also spent about 200 quai (a bit much, I know, but it's so worth it!) on the most comfortable blanket EVER.  You can't touch but you can look.  The slippers I got at WalMart for 50.

The Greatest Chinese Invention of All Time

No, I'm not talking about fireworks or papermaking or the compass or gunpowder (yes, all that's true!) but I'm talking about the most brilliantly simple invention of all: the Jianzi or the Chinese version of hacky sack.
Let me tell you the story of how I came to discover this amazing little thing that can occupy hours of your time, ward off boredom, AND gets your body moving.  Healthy and fun!  Who knew?
About two weeks ago, one of my bosses told me that some guests from a nearby English training school were going to watch me teach my grade 4 students.  I had no problem with this because I had developed a great system for teaching them.  The students are of course easily bored and in order to keep them motivated and having fun, I decided to reward them with little coloured star shaped stickers if they spell a word correctly or win a game of flash cards.  Once they collect ten stickers, I'll give them a prize.  The stickers and the prizes, which are key chains or Canada notepads or other small goods, were all brought from Canada.  This system is so effective, I even use some of these prizes to lift students' spirits in my college classes!  Canada pins are great for this too.
Anyway, the guests were pretty impressed after watching me handle a classroom of energetic kids with as much ease as I had.  The kids were even memorizing English dialogues for me by the end of the class.  However, this also meant that I was being transferred to this new training school because these guests were paying my employers a good deal of money to have me teach at their school now.  I was nervous about the change.
My bosses drove me to the new school the next day for an orientation.  I was so anxious because I had no idea what kind of students I would get, whether the school had helpful staff, or even if I would get any classroom equipment.
I was blown away.  The school is absolutely amazing.  I never expected this place to be as beautifully decorated or as welcoming as it was.  They even have an elevator to get people up to the fifth floor where the school is, which is impressive since elevators are rare in China.  The hallways are nicely painted bright colours, the staff are so lovely to talk to, but what impresses me most is the classroom equipment.  There is a new computer and smartboard in every classroom!  These devices, smartboards, are like projectors but you can draw on them electronically.  You can make your powerpoints more dynamic and get students included in the presentations, you can write things out and make your whole class more tight and efficient but also fun at the same time.  I love working here.
Anyway, on Halloween they were having a party for the kids in the evening and they asked me to come by and introduce myself.  Once again, I was so completely taken aback at how well they had decorated things, the costumes, and the games.  They even made a haunted tunnel in one room!  And they had a guy wearing a full mickey mouse suit (wish I had taken a picture with him.)  There were musical chairs, throwing ping pong balls into baskets, and dance-offs with the kids.  One of the games, though, was this Chinese version of hacky sack.  The kids are divided into teams and one by one, they have to bounce it off their feet or knees or body as many times as possible.  Whichever team has done cumulatively more bounces wins candy.  I had a Chinese staff member by my side the whole night, ensuring I was able to see every room and escorting me to any place I needed to be.  I asked her, "wow, that looks really hard!"  and she said "oh no, maybe in Canada it's hard, but here, everyone is really good at it because we all learn to play from a very young age.  Even the parents and the elderly and grandparents are experts at this game.  We all learn to play from a young age."  And sure enough, as she said this, a very corporate looking parent, a woman dressed in a conservative suit and high heeled boots started playing with the jianzi.  She was impeccable, tossing it up and down from her foot with such ease so many times.  I was so impressed!
I had asked her where I could buy one, because I immediately thought of one of my sisters as I watched the feathery device fly through the air and click and clank in satisfying sounds as it got bounced around.  She loves hacky sack.  I bought two yesterday for my apartment and my roommate has one as well.  We stayed up for two hours last night playing the game, even though I am rather bad at it.  Playing it with electronic music in the background is recommended.
So what exactly is this device?
Well, it's basically a rubber stand that has usually 4 feathers affixed to it.  The feathers make spotting the device as it flies through the air much easier, though I have a white feathered one, a black one, and a multicoloured one.  In my experience, the white one is superior since the black one is really hard to see and the multicoloured one can also be hard to follow.  The rubber stand is weighted in such a way so that when it is propelled into the air it always turns around again so that the feathers are pointing up and when you kick it, you never hit them.  There are some metal discs attached around the center of the stand which make a small noise when it bounces.
I find them to be rather beautiful to look at, and they are quite cheap (only 3 or 4 quai for one here) so I'll try to bring more home to Canada.

These are our jianzis.  Pretty awesome, eh?

My new school I work at.  Isn't it so pretty?  Those orange things hanging across the hallway are pumpkins for the Halloween party.  

I (tried) to look the part for Halloween.  Mickey Mouse ears ftw.  You can kind of see behind me they set up a big Halloween decorated wall and behind it is the smartboard for the presentation.

All the teaching staff (except me) dressed as witches.

They even set up a kind of runway decorated with balloons.  Then, they put in some funky music and the kids walked down the runway and posed in their costumes.  This cute little girl loved playing with the balloons!