A few fun happenings from April and May

During the month of April Senior I and Senior II students have their ‘Spring Outing’. Given an invitation, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to see exactly what a Chinese field trip would entail. I traveled to Shanghai with the Senior II group where we spent the day visiting the Science and Technology Museum. Though the students warned me this wouldn’t be an exciting field trip, I had a great day. The organization of the trip is what really amazed me. Eighteen coach buses caravanned the group of almost 800 students. Once we arrived, the students were off to tour the place on their own and instructed where to meet to board the buses in the afternoon. We were gone from about 7:00 am until 5:00 pm, but the day went off without a hitch. The trip with the Senior I students was handled the same way. A procession of buses took us the four-hour ride to Shaoxing Scenic area. This sight is chosen as the Senior I destination because it’s the birthplace of Lu Xun, sort of like China’s literary equivalent to Mark Twain in the States. The scenic area is attached to an ancient water town where actors dressed as famous characters from The True Story of Ah Q performed for the audience in the streets. The kids got a real taste of life and characters from China’s history.

A quick weekend trip to Jingdezhen, porcelain and pottery capital of China, proved to be a fun and productive shopping venture with Courtney and a couple of SAS friends. Our guide, Monte, made sure we found all the interesting spots to check out, including a tour of the ancient kilns.

At the end of April, I was able to travel north and visit Jessie and Dave in their home city of Luoyang. We decided to meet up in Zhengzhou where I took myself on an early morning walking tour through the city’s parks. On the streets and throughout the parks, groups of old and young alike were practicing tai chi, tae kwon do, and doing other traditional arts. Jessie, Dave and one of the teachers from their school rode the bus in from Luoyang. When they arrived we were all excited to go for lunch at Pizza Hut. Sometimes there’s a craving for western food you’ve just got to satisfy.

I made it to Luoyang in time to catch the end of the Peony Festival. Dave had an extra bike from when his son had come to visit, so we all spent a day riding out to the new suburban area of the city where the festival’s park is located. The climate in Louyang reminded me a lot of Colorado – it’s really dry in this part of China. I had a terrific time spending a few days here seeing their school and touring the sites. Then, since I was so close, I took a bus a couple of hours to another former capital city of China, Kaifeng. I spent a night here and took in the sights, sounds and smells of open markets, ancient temples, parks and museums.

The first week of May in China is another ‘golden’ holiday, meaning much of China has this time off. Jessie, June, Bret, Francesca and I braved the crowds and spent five days in Qingdao. We enjoyed our time together taking in the German architecture and strolling along the beach. The brewery tour and beer wasn't all bad either.

A surprise for me this year has been making new friends with folks from Portland, Oregon. No. 10’s sister school is Portland’s Jackson Middle School. They have an ongoing exchange program with students, teachers and parents involved. A group of twelve students, two teachers, spouses and a few parents were recently here for their tour of Suzhou and other parts of China. I got to spend a night at Tai Hu (lake) with the adults and Chinese host teachers, while students lived with their Chinese host families. The lake’s a really wonderful area about an hour drive from Suzhou. We had a chance to tour an ancient village in the area, visit one of the lake’s many islands for a hike, and pick the local louquat fruit that’s now in season.

The highlights seem to be unending. New places and experiences have become the norm. What a year! At our last English Corner meeting, the students decided they wanted to give me a ‘real’ Chinese name. We came up with Wang Meng Zhen. Meng Zhen means dream come true – that’s largely what teaching in China’s been to me. The kids told me it’s sort of an unusual name. I told them I think it sounds just right.