My no good, very bad day.

I am very grumpy today. It was about 28 degrees in the classrooms and I was tired. The children were not engaged today, and were very loud. Arughhhh. Teaching was a struggle. Around noon, I got a toothache. I might have to go the dentist. I hate the dentist and never go. I'll buy some floss to try and trick him into thinking I floss regularly.

The day started out OK, as I was buoyed by Nathan's shirt. I knew I would have to get a picture of it early, since the children bring multiple shirts to school because it's so hot. I got my camera to document its awesomeness:



T-shirt designer: Hey Fang, how's this for a design?

Fang: Looks good...remember, it'll be a hit as long as there's English on it.

Designer: OK...I think I'll add some Chinese flavour by putting a dragon behind the text.

Fang: Great idea! We'll send this off to the factory tout suite! And the tooter, the sweeter. We're running late!

Designer: Hold on Fang. How does one "bump deticiate slow jams on tha radio?" And what does it mean to be fuc...

Fang: Doesn't matter! This design has to be sent in NOW!!!

And that's how Nathan's shirt came into being. Probably, anyway.

So, back to my day. Since tomorrow is Children's Day, I opted to play Bingo today because we won't be able to play in our usual Friday time slot. I like Bingo because even though it's a lot of effort, it's a different kind of effort than the regular teaching I do. It's a nice break.



Here's Lily. Ma Lao Shi was taking pictures, and she's obviously not impressed. Lily doesn't look to be a big fan of Ma...maybe she knew Ma was going to yank her around by her ponytail during today's Children's Day preparations. Lily was fighting back tears after it happened. And was trying to fix her newly loose ponytail.



This picture is for Mom...I still wear my Danish soccer jersey! It's six years old now, but gets treated well so is still going strong. Remember, you got this shipped in from Denmark for my birthday in 2002.

I put my camera away for the rest of day. I'm happy, because I don't think I want to remember my loud unattentive kids and my short temper.

I think I raised my voice three or four times today, which is more than my whole January - May total. I usually just sit there doing nothing, waiting for the children to be quiet. I got this idea from my primary school teachers since I remember them doing it too. It also wastes time and gets me a few seconds closer to the end of class. It all counts, you know.

I think I'm getting frustrated because I don't have real conversations with anyone, except maybe on Sundays. I hang out with 2 - 5 year olds all day, and they generally don't have a clue what I'm saying. I've been trying for months to get my youngest class to understand "What colour is the ....." and so far only the brightest ones have been able to grasp it.

I always thought I'd like to work in a forest fire observation tower way out in the boons somewhere, living by myself for a few months with only a stack of books for company. I also liked the idea of tending a lighthouse flame, perched on a lonely rocky knoll in the middle of a lake.

I now know this would be a bad idea for me. Being in China is pretty much the same as that forest fire observation tower, or the lighthouse. I have lots of books, and even have once-a-week English conversations. But it's not enough, and I'm crumbling mentally! I bet my social skills are really bad too, but there's no way to know since I never use them anymore.

I have basically no interaction with anyone other than my students. Having three year olds as your only friends would be tough in any situation (unless you were three as well), but much harder when they don't understand a stitch of what I'm saying.

I think my situation would be similar to living with a bunch of parrots. Like the children, the birds say a few of the same English phrases over and over, and their pronunciation is lacking.

I need to get out of the country. I need to stop teaching. I need a good hamburger.

Or learn Chinese and make new friends. I think complaining is the easier route.

Children's Day Preview

Friday is Children's Day here in China. I remember growing up and celebrating Mother's Day and Father's Day, and asking why there was never a Kids' Day. I was usually told "Every day is Kids' Day!".

I now know this to be true...every day is Children's Day! Although maybe it's different in China...maybe Friday is the only day of the year when the teachers don't brow-beat the students into learning. Hmmm. I'll get back to you on that next week.

At any rate, Children's Day means all the classes put on plays and dances, and all the parents will come and watch. It's been a stressful month due to all the practicing.

The students' outside play time was axed in favour of Children's Day rehersals, so the kids are roudy all day long, and have been since the first week of May. It's a bit frustrating as it makes teaching more of a challenge.

Because of all the planning and preparation that must go into the Children's Day program, everyone is stressed. The teachers are rampaging on confused students, and the kids are being whipped into submission. I don't imagine they enjoy doing this very much, since they get yelled at and pulled around by their arms and hair so they stand in the right place.

The Chinese seem to really enjoy dancing and plays, and putting on shows. It's quite different than what I'm used to, although it could compared to the annual SDCS Christmas Program, but multiplied by forty-two. Costumes are made and bought, and it's a big deal.

Dr. Rong is usually the school doctor, but in the weeks leading up to Children's Day, she becomes a one-woman sewing sweatshop. She's been working at least ten hours a day for the last week making costumes for the kids.

The following pictures are from today's dress rehearsal. They're mostly for Carol's benefit, since I know that pictures of random kids aren't that interesting unless you know who they are.





This is Carol's class. I'd be so embarrassed...I think by the looks of their faces, they are too!







This is my class. We were initially not going to have costumes, because it would be too much work for Rong. I guess something changed, and now we're all decked out in homemade two-piece fashions. Obi gives us a close-up.





Here is the class I teach from 3:30 to 4:00. Leo or Mark is the one looking at the camera. I don't know if it's Leo or Mark because they're twins, and it's impossible to tell them apart without the name tags on their shirts.

The class sings a few Chinese songs while moving their heads from side to side. They have Chinese flags taped to their backs for some reason, the ones they were giving out when the Olympic Torch came to town.





This is Carol's baby class, dressed up as mice. There's a song that plays that I think is about cats catching mice, or something. I helped them get dressed into their costumes...they're pretty helpless. It must be so much work to be with that class all day! They are cute though.



Tina and Carrie are in the class I teach from 2:45 - 3:15. They are doing a fashion show, where they strut the runway and do stupid moves at the end of it.

I assume this is Chen Lao Shi's idea (Christina), since she buys a lot of clothes and has been losing weight since November. I wonder if she only eats rice cakes and soup. I figure she thought dressing her kids up this way would be cute, but I think it's just...I don't know.





Here are Carol's kids again. They are wearing different clothes for their second number. They're in fatigues and march a lot. Rong was busy making them each their own red beret, so they don't have them in these pictures but will on Friday.



This is the class I teach from 3:30 - 4:00 again. They're wearing the leotards that Carol's class was wearing right before. Just awesome...sharing sweaty skin-tight costumes!





Here are Karina and Joe doing their pairs dance. Karina was Carol's co-teacher, and Joe is the kindergarten's care-taker, security guard, and all around nice person. Watching their rehearsal, I noticed that Karina knows what she's doing, but doesn't really care about this dance.

I also noticed that Joe really loves dancing, but looks more like a kindergarten care-taker and security guard trying to dance, rather than a dancer who doubles as a kindergarten care-taker and security guard! At least he's passionate I guess. He does a cartwheel once, and it was...uncoordinated.



Here's Rong sewing. She's trying to stop me from taking the picture, because she feels all haggard from the hours spent toiling behind the manual sewing machine. Between classes I see her walking around stretching and rotating her arms to keep them limber. She usually has a pained look on her face while doing this.

So, that's Children's Day. There's a stage all set up in the square outside, but the weather is supposed to be really bad on Friday, so it will likely happen inside the school, just like today's rehearsal. I may take some pictures of the big event, but I may not. We'll see.

Biking in China

When I first arrived in China, I was very surprised by the variety of bikes on the roads, and the variety of things people carried with them while riding. All these things are a bit more familiar and normal to me now, but I figure once I'm back in Canada I'll want some pictures to remember them. So, here they are.

I was waiting for the bus at about 6 o'clock when everyone goes home after work. I got out my camera and began taking pictures. I was behind a concrete column, so most of the riders didn't see the tall foreigner lurking about taking their pictures.

It was a good spot because about 100m away there was a pedestrian crossing. The cars had to stop but the bikers just weaved through, so I often didn't have cars to contend with in my pictures. The streets look empty, but they're not.



This first picture is of a man delivering propane. A lot of kitchen stoves are run on propane, and you just get a new container when the old one runs out. This man can hold four, two on each side. I imagine when he's got a full load they're pretty heavy.



Here's a guy carrying a pole, or maybe some mouldings. Either way, it's pretty long! He's got them in his front basket, and is holding them while he negotiates three lanes of hectic traffic.



The focus of this picture is not the bike, but the motorcycle. Notice there are three people on it. Look closely...the woman is holding a six-month old infant! I'm pretty used to this by now, but it sure gave me a start when I first saw parents with newborns riding motorcycles.



Once you're old enough to hold on, you can sit on the back of your mom's bike. This boy is mixing it by facing backwards. He's got a padded seat and a bar to hang on to, which is more than some have. Sometimes they sit directly on the uncomfortable rack!



This rider is transporting televisions. He's got two tied to his rack, but I think if he had to, he could get a few more on there. I think I've seen six TVs on one bike! He's most likely a recycler, paying the owners for their old TV. He'll then bring it to a recycling centre, and will be paid to drop it off. Definitely a hard way to make a living.



This looks to be a plaster worker. He must bring his own bucket and ladder to work it seems. There are a lot of workers riding with ladders this way in my neighbourhood.



If you don't have a bike to transport your ladder, just take the bus! This was the strangest thing I've ever seen anyone bring on a bus. Everyone on the full bus is looking at him, wondering what's going to happen. Chinese people are rarely surprised by what people bring on the bus, but these passengers sure look curious. And I sure wish the guy in the white shirt wasn't in the middle of my picture.



If you don't have a bike and would rather not take the bus, you can hail one of these three-wheeled motorcycles. They're more expensive than the bus, but cheaper than a taxi and are popular with students going home from school. I have never taken one, since I've seen one tipped over on the road. If you brought a ladder on this vehicle, tipping would be inevitable!



Here a woman sits side-saddle on the man's bike. I understand that only a man's wife or girlfriend is allowed to ride the bike this way, but I've also seen friends transporting eachother using this method.



Folding bike! I think this woman is riding the smallest wheels I've seen...it almost looks like a clown bike. This type of bike is good if you live in a high appartment building, since it will fold into a very carry-able package.



This man is piloting a three-wheeled bike that is very popular. It's the pickup truck of the bicycle world. He's got recycling in the bed, so I figure he's on his way to the recycling depot, along with the guy riding with the TVs.



I managed to take this woman's picture without her noticing. She's changing her baby's diaper on the street! She's pretty hard-core. She did it really quickly too, so she must be used to chaning diapers on the fly.

The way she's sitting on her honches is very popular here as well. Men and women of all ages will sit this way whenever they are in one place for awhile...at bus stops, while playing cards on the sidewalk, or eating dinner in a parking lot.

China's bikes...always interesting!

Hornet nests and sea creatures

While hanging my laundry last week, I came across this hornets' nest on my balcony. It's about a foot above the top of the sliding door, and is the size of a large baseball.

I considered hacking it down with a broom or a stick, but I figured I'd just upset the hornets and possibly get stung. Plus, it looks like they've put a lot of effort into their house, and it's a nice dry place out of the rain. I don't use that balcony much anyway, so I might as well let them live there.

I also think it might be a good mosquito deterrent. Since I spotted it, I haven't been getting stung as much during the night. I figure the mosquitoes get in through cracks around that balcony door, but with the hornets' nest near, they have decided to pass it by.

It's probably like the playground in primary school. Even if you're a tough kindergarten student who hits the other kids and doesn't share, you know enough not to go near the snow fort made by the Grade 8 bullies. I think it's likely that the mosquitoes are staying off the hornets' turf for the same reason.

I'm going to track the progress of the nest and see how big it gets by the time I leave.



These are some flash cards I've made recently. We're doing a unit about aquariums in one of my classes. I am told to teach the words, but am not given any materials to do it, so I must make my own. I have a book with all the words in it with pictures though, so I use those pictures as guidelines.

I used to labour long and hard to find appropriate, simple pictures on the internet to print off, but then I realized it would be easier if I just drew them myself.

I'm pretty proud of my work, actually. I start with coloured markers, and draw the outline of the animal or whatever else I'm drawing. Then, I get out my crayons and go over the marker line with a thick layer of crayon. To finish off, I fill in the spaces with lighter crayon-ing.

I've been doing it this way for a few months now, and am happy with the finished product. The crayon/marker combo works well for these simple pictures, and creates a good result.

I'm proud of my flashcards. I can't decide if my favourite one is the penguin or the panda. I like the whale too. I rushed the parrot, since I remembered I needed it just a few minutes before class started. It's a bit weaker than the others and comes in last on my favourites list.

I'm an illustrator!

Earthquake Pics set to music

I was shown this website today. It is a collection of satellite earthquake pictures set to music, and you use your mouse to scroll around. I think the pictures were taken four days after the quake.

There are arrows on the bottom right that enable you to move from picture to picture. It shows the destruction. It seems the Chinese have taken to the earthquake relief efforts and victims more than the upcoming Olympics. Everyone is concerned, sad, and it's a national tragedy.

The website works well here in China, but maybe over in Canada it won't.

Let me know if you have any problems. (Mom...click on the word "this" in the first line to see the webpage!)

Earthquake garage sale

The school held an earthquake garage sale today. It was in the main square, and there was a TV set up showing news about the earthquake. CCTV (Central China Television, I think) is running round-the-clock coverage on some of their stations. There was also a money box for donations. The above picture is Dr. Rong and me at the sale.

There were many things to buy...the children brought toys they could do without, and bought others' toys that they wanted. There were also flowers you could buy, and other things like DVDs. Here are some pictures from the sale.



Here are some of my kids selling their toys.



Here's Chang-Chung. He wasn't selling toys, but candy! Every time he made a sale he'd happily dash off to the money box and put the proceeds in.



This is Little Raymond putting some profit into the money box. There used to be two Raymonds in his class, so he was Little Raymond. Now he's the only one, but I still call him Little Raymond everyday.



There was also a couple of small tables for the children to colour at, or make crafts.



You didn't have to buy anything to put money in the box...most people just donated without buying anything. When you donated, there was a sheet of paper where you'd write your name and how much you dropped into the box. This woman slowly fanned out her wad of cash so everyone (especially those with cameras) could see how much she was giving.





Huang Zi Cheng! He's not in my class, but comes everyday to pick up his sister. He's the only person whose Chinese name I know. He can say "Hello Jon!" and "Bye Jon" now so that's really cute. I like him. He started coming to pick her up in his stroller, but he's learned to walk since I've been here.



This is Erika. She was one of Carol's favourite students. Erika is from Vancouver, and is in Guangzhou until September. I spoke at length with her mom, in English. Her mom is in the background, wearing yellow.

She was born in China, and met her husband here in Guangzhou. They live in Vancouver now, but she likes China better because she is lonely in Vancouver as her family is in China. Also, she has trouble speaking English in Vancouver so she mainly runs in the Chinese circles.

I told her that her English was great, but she said that was because I spoke slowly to her so she could understand. In Vancouver, she gets tired of saying "Sorry? Can you say again?" because everyone speaks so quickly.

I told her that's how I feel in China, and why I am looking forward to going back to Canada in August. I said I feel a bit lonely sometimes too and never understand anything that anyone says either.

It was really great talking to her. We talked about Vancouver...the different neighbourhoods, how long it takes to get from one place to another, and compared Vancouver's SkyTrain system to the subways in Toronto, New York, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong.

It was a good morning. In the end, more than 50 000元 was raised for the earthquake victims. That's about $7500 in Canadian dollars, and it will go straight to the Red Cross. Solid effort!

A few recent pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so.



First, we've got me trying to figure out my camera's timer to document my haircut. This haircut was really good, and uneventful compared to this one. I got a scalp massage before I went under the scissors, and I ended up having a Chinese language breakthrough event. My shampooer spoke slowly and I understood what he was saying or asking. Or, I think I did...I was more making guesses.

We talked about Canada being beauitful, how to say beautiful in English, that I'm not American, and that I've been in China since August and I like it here. He didn't speak a spot of English, so I am happy we were able to communicate because of my Chinese.

I'm happy with my haircut...I had to go home and repair it right away, but after some of my own product and tussling, I was ready to go. I think it's fair to say I'm a fashion juggernaut now.

(I am just looking for an excuse to use the term "fashion juggernaut". I saw it on a shirt worn by a Chinese person last week, and it stuck with me. I like to read Chinese people's English shirts, because sometimes you come across some really interesting phrases. Like "fashion juggernaut".)

You'll notice the artwork I bought on my walls...I like them. They're fish. The Chinese really like orange fish, and it brings wealth and prosperity to have them in your house. So, maybe having paintings of them on my walls will bring good fortune as well. Good fortune or not, I like the paintings and will bring them home with me. They're real too, not just prints. I'm quite the art connoisseur you know.

You'll also notice a motivational poster Carol made for me, to think about when I was racing my last race. I realized that if I lost focus during the race and thought about teaching, going back to Canada, or all the dirty dishes in my sink, I wouldn't run as well. I needed to concentrate on racing the whole time! The poster did the trick, as I turned in my best performance of the race series after hanging it.



Here's Alison making a move during Settlers. We played on Sunday night, before she left China on Monday morning, after two years teaching here. She had to leave very unexpectedly, and had only two or three days to pack everything and say her good-byes. This Settlers game was sort of the final farewell to Alison, so lots of people were dropping by.

The game took forever because this crew was not schooled at Erik's School of Settlers Efficiency like I was. That was OK though, since the company was good and the social time was excellent. The loooong turns provided a lot of oppurtunity for banter, and it turned out to be one of the most fun Settlers games I've played.



A burger, a beer, and grapefruit juice...it must be a party! It was my birthday party in fact. I didn't mind eating it myself, since there's hardly time to talk when you're enjoying a good burger. And a good buger in China is rare, so I think it was actually good I was by myself!

My birthday was good...I was woken up by Carol, Kir, Mom and Dad singing Happy Birthday to me over the phone. I had a good conversation with them, and then Er called and I chatted with him as well. It was a great way to start the day, and I would have been happy with my birthday if that was all that went on.

At lunch I checked my email, and there were numerous birthday emails waiting for me, so that was excellent.

After school I opted to go out for a burger dinner, because I really appreciate a good all-beef patty. I took the bus for 40 minutes to Hooly's downtown, an Irish-themed pub run by two Canadians.

I'm wondering if it was worth the trip though...the bus ride on the way back was terrible. The bus was packed and I had to stand for the whole 45 minute trip. We were all squished together, and I had to smell body odour for the entire time. To make it worse, the driver had a heavy foot, both on the gas and the brake, making for a jarring trip.

I'm not a huge fan of big birthday celebrations, so this one was just fine, even though I didn't celebrate with anyone. The phone calls and emails were great, and the birds were singing outside and it was sunny. I'm happy I was born in the spring!

Here's a picture of my birthday in 2005 I think. I was in Whistler at the time, and wanted to snowboard on my birthday, even though it was raining miserably. I'm wearing my yellow raincoat that I bought at Canadian Tire for about twenty dollars. The snow is melting and I'm gapping (that's a term that means "jumping over") a patch of newly exposed gravel.



That's the way China has been on this 15th of May, 2008. Goodnight everybody.

A few race pics

May 2009 edit:

You can find official race shots in this post.

The race series sure is slow posting the pictures they took at all the races. They're having an awards party tomorrow (Thursday?!) where they will show a DVD compilation of the race footage. I hope to get my hands on one of these, but judging how slow things get done, I doubt it will happen before I leave China.

In the meantime, I have found some pics of the last race. Here they are...as always, click on the picture for a better view.

This is a nice shot of the start. You'll see my in my yellow shirt, in about 25-30th position.



I don't remember where this was on the course, but at least the rocks were dry!



Here's a shot of some runners in the river gorge section, giving you an idea what the course was like. This course didn't have any ropes, so the sections weren't as steep as in past races.



Hopefully the official pictures will be posted soon.

Photo credits to zircon on fotop.net
http://www.fotop.net/zircon

Earthquake in China

There was an earthquake here in the Middle Kingdom today. You can read about it here.

The article says the quake was felt as far as Thailand and Vietnam.

The earthquake, felt as far away as Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam, struck about 100 kilometres northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu at 2:28 p.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website.

Chengdu, close to the epicentre, is north of where I am in Guangzhou. Thailand and Vietnam are south of where I live. It would make sense that I'd have some first-hand earthquake stories for you, but I don't.

I've always wanted to (safely) experience what an earthquake is like. People say when the earth moves, the very foundation of your earthly experience gets shaken up, and it's quite the mental puzzle. What an interesting experience!

There are many people dead and many injured though, and probably thousands of lives have been changed. I don't mean to be glib in this post...I understand the destruction that earthquakes bring, especially to people who have little way of rebuilding their lives. I hope the hardworking Chinese spirit will help them rebuild.

I've lost it!

I think the recent decline of English conversations I have is getting to me...I found myself talking to my laundry yesterday. Don't worry, it was just the regular stuff you'd say to your laundry, like "My, aren't you a dirty sock."

The good thing is that when I'm out and about, I'm using more of my meagre Chinese. I don't think I've learned anything new, but I'm becoming more comfortable stammering through the words and phrases I already know.

I hope my laundry understands English instead of Chinese!

The Olympic torch comes to Guangzhou

The torch came to Guangzhou today.

Yesterday Guo said that our class would go over to Samson's house and watch the torch news coverage, and the kids were pretty excited. We went over just before 10am to watch it on Samson's big projection TV. Turns out Samson's mom couldn't figure out her expensive electronic equipment, and didn't even know how to change the TV channels. Plus, the projector wasn't working right so the colour was terrible and unwatchable.

For 45 minutes they fooled around with all the remotes and finally got it figured out. By then it was way past 10, but that was OK because coverage didn't start until 11. When 11 came around it still wasn't on, so we waited another half hour before calling it quits and heading back to school. We didn't end up seeing the torch after all.

It was a bit frustrating for me, but I didn't care a whole lot because it was cutting into my teaching time, and the less I have to teach the better. However, the whole experience was like when your prof at university can't figure the AV out and it just makes you want to leave!

The kids didn't seem to mind either, because they got to play with all of Samson's toys for an hour and a half, and he has lots of them. I just played with them and ate apple slices.

Yesterday I went out and found this guy doing brisk business selling Relay shirts and flags in preparation for today's big event.



Today after school I went downtown, without even thinking about today's torch event. There were people everywhere! Here are some pictures I took of everyone trying to make it home after the relay ended.



When I saw the bus stop and all the people waiting for busses, I knew I'd have to take an alternative route home. Here is the 804 bus that I take all the time. If I wanted to take it tonight, I'd have to join the mob!







I opted to take the subway north, and then take a different bus home. I would have to use the subway and the bus, so it would be a more complicated and longer journey. It would be worth it in my opinion, because those crowded busses didn't really appeal to me.

I had to transfer from one subway line to another. This transfer station is usually pretty busy, but it's never been crowded like this before! They had lots of extra staff, and they managed the crowds really well. They had barricades set up, and would only let certain blocks of people move at a time, like traffic lights for pedestrians. I was impressed with how efficiently (for the situation) I was able to move through the station.









They even had police men on duty!

Once I got on the next subway line, I found myself standing near a group of classmates fresh from the relay. I asked to take their picture, since they looked pretty stoked to have seen the torch. They had flags and bullhorns to help them cheer.



Once I asked to take their picture, I became the most popular person on the subway! Everyone was asking me to be in pictures with them, and I posed for probably 12 different pictures with that group of friends. When I thought the photo session was over, someone overcame their previous shyness and approached me, which started round two.

I used all my Chinese words, and the girls giggled a lot, especially when I spoke Chinese for the first time, telling them I was an English teacher. They spoke to me in English, and I tried to reply in Chinese. It was fun.







I was thinking...for patients who struggle with self worth issues, doctors shouldn't recommend medication or therapy. They should suggest a plane ticket to China. If you're white, you go from zero to hero right off the plane!

When I got off the subway and walked to my bus stop, I saw a familiar scene even though we were far from where the relay was. Here, an almost empty bus pulls up, and the passengers create a scrum for seats.



All in all, I was happy to have joined the crowds today. Everyone seemed really happy and in a good spirits, excited to be part of the Olympic experience. This was a nice departure from all the political sabre rattling that has been surrounding the relay lately.