Filling my Evenings

Filling my evenings has been a challenge since Carol left. While I used to go over to her room and do nothing, I now find I have to do nothing in my own room. I could leave, but that requires spending time on really crowded public transit, so I find myself shying away from that option.

To help me pass the time, I've turned to books. I've read more this year than any other year, ever. I churned through four books in June, generally starting one on Monday and finishing it by Friday. I don't think I've ever equaled that pace! I guess it shows how much reading you can get done when there's little else in your schedule.



Here's a selection of the books I've read this year. I've returned others, and brought some home when I left China for Lunar New Year. In this pile, I read all but three of them this semester.

Some comments about various books:

King Rat and Tai-Pan by James Clavell

I loved Tai-Pan. It's all about Hong Kong's history, and now when I go, I understand the territory a lot better. Fantastic book.

King Rat was also an excellent read. James Clavell's books are centred in Asia, and feature many foreigners living here and getting used to the way things are. For that reason, I find common ground with some of the characters and storylines.

The Watchman and The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais

I bought The Watchman in the Toronto Airport as I waited for my flight to China. I had the book finished before I landed in Beijing. I've never read a book in one go like that! It was full of car chases, gun fights, and spying.

I had big hopes for The Two Minute Rule. It even had a positive comment from the Globe and Mail. Unfortunately, it was boring and pretty stupid. Don't read it.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

I just finished this book yesterday. Carol had left it with me when she flew off to Canada. This is not the type of book I'd normally buy or read, but since I've finished most other books on my shelf, I gave it a go.

It was really frustrating...nothing really happened for the first three quarters of the book. It was all about the relationships the characters had with their estranged husbands, their deadbeat dads, their elderly crushes, their lifelong buisness partners. I grew really frustrated.

At the end of the book the author wrote a big twist into the plot. I never saw it coming and I had to respect her. I even grew emotional as I read the last few pages. Wussy!

Hornet Flight by Ken Follett

This is an action/adventure book based in Denmark at the onset of WWII. It was great and made me want to move to Denmark and learn Danish. The characters even went to Bornholm for awhile. Mormor didn't appear in the storyline unfortunately!

Next by Michael Crichton

Booooring. It's about the ethics and problems around cloning, patenting genes, and gene therapy. There were so many sub-plots I couldn't keep them straight, and they never seemed to intertwine. Then, they all magically got figured out in the last twenty pages. I don't know how this became a best seller. Avoid it if possible.

I have only one more week in China, and I have a few thin books left on my shelf. I won't have to buy anymore before I leave.

I like having the books I've read on my shelf, so I'm wondering if it's worth it taking my favourites home with me. If you keep a book on your shelf, you can remember parts of the book just by looking at the spine. If you read a book and never see it again, it's easier to forget you ever read it.

If I can spare the weight, I think I'll bring a few of these books home to Canada with me. We'll see if I can make it happen.

On the topic of books, here is the bookshelf in my classroom.



Notice Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever. This was a staple of mine growing up, and I brought it to China. The kids love it, since it's big and has great pictures. I must remember to take it home with me!

I've gone around the school and stolen all the good English books, since I bet nobody else even cares what books they have in their classroom. Some notable titles that I pilfered are My First BIG BOOK of Words, Richard Scarry's Bedtime Stories, two Curious George titles, and Where the Wild Things Are.

I also have the Stratford book that Carol brought along to China. For some reason the kids like this book too, especially identifying the various Canadian flags in it.

Good ol' books.

Children's Day pictures

This post has been a long time coming. I've been avoiding it, because there are so many pictures to post. Plus, Children's Day was at the end of May, so it's become history in the time that I've neglected it.

I figure this post will take awhile, but tonight seems like a good night to give it a go. I'm trying to stay up for the Euro2008 final between Germany and Spain, and have napped as much as I could. I also tried to stay up really late last night to get my body ready. I have a lot of time to fill before the game starts, and figure I might as well tackle the daunting Children's Day post.

This is another post mainly for Carol, since she'll recognize the kids in it.

Children's Day. It happens once a year at the end of May. You can read this post to familiarize yourself with the concept, and to see pictures of our dress rehearsal.

It was supposed to rain on the big day, but for the whole week before it had only started to rain in the afternoon. Since Children's Day was to happen in the morning, the thought was that we would miss the rain. The school was set up as an alternate location just in case.

Here are the pictures of the big day.

The day started early, at 8am. The children were already in the school basement getting ready by the time I arrived. By the time I had had breakfast, they were all costumed and getting their make-up put on.



This is the makeup staging area. There were four teachers in the assembly line, each doling out different cosmetic products. One was for eyes, one for cheeks, one for lips, and one for something else.



Here are three of my afternoon students whom I only teach for half an hour every day. Nina's in the middle, Sara is on the left, and Rachel is on the right. By virtue of growing up Chinese, Nina has not been diagnosed with ADHD. She's nuts! But I really like her, since she's always so happy to see me around the school and is always waving to me and showing me hyper jumping and spinning moves.





After the makeup was finished, we all went outside the school to the bowling alley, which was near where the big stage was set up. All the kids would wait here until it was time for them to be on stage. Carol's kids as well as my kids (in silver) wait.





Li Lau Shi was scheduled to perform a piano piece, so she got all dressed up. It's always interesting to see co-workers looking a lot different than you're used to. Li Lau Shi had makeup on and was wearing non-teaching clothes. Looking swell, Li!

Our class was to use the piano too, accompanied as we'd sing The Wheels on the Bus, ABC, and Happy and You Know It. Here it is being unloaded from a truck. I think one of the worst jobs in the world would be piano moving. They're so heavy and awkward.





The performance started with a selection of the school's best dancers doing the dance they did at New Years. With this dance they ended up winning some sort of prize at some sort of competition. It was spitting rain at this point, and you can see a few parents breaking out their umbrellas.



Carol's class was up next, and their number was cut short by harder rain and a crack of lightning. I like this picture as you can see the concern in the kids' faces as they cower under two umbrellas.





The parents also take cover under umbrellas, and soon it's decided the show can't go on and we must move into the school. Thirty seconds later, the parents have abandoned their chairs to escape the rain.



Because the children are all wearing costumes, they can't walk the rainy fifty metres back to the school. A Dunkirk-like rescue effort is begun, the children being ferried from the shelter of the bowling alley to the school, in school busses. The baby class is the first to be evacuated.



Everyone must patiently wait for a seat in the bus. Two of Carol's kids appear bored.



The parents have gotten themselves settled in their new digs, and eagrely await their children's appearances.







The classrooms and basement are now used as prep rooms instead of the bowling alley. Carol's kids get ready in their army fatigues and homemade berets, while my kids change from one costume to another.

Helping eighteen children get changed is a lot of work...imagine trying to get kindergarteners into snowsuits, finding their mittens, and making sure they wear their own boots, on the correct feet. I don't know how Mom lasted more than twenty years doing that!

One of my afternoon classes put on a fashion show. While I was skeptical at the rehearsal, it actually turned out really well and was a fan favourite. It was a nice change too, since most classes were doing choral speaking and dancing.



Mia is bored while she waits for the show to start. Carol named her Mia, as her Chinese name is MiMi. She was transfered to my class later, and now I always forget which is which and call her one or the other. She's smart, but never listens or pays attention in class.



This is one of my favourite pictures. No wonder the kids were nervous...look how daunting the situation seems! The teachers organize the kids from behind the barriers.



Karena and Joe got in their costumes and put on their dance. It was a big hit with the audience, but I still can't appreciate traditional Chinese dances as much as native Chinese people do.

The children were asked to make their own costumes that promoted recycling and re-using. The Children's Day program was to end with a parade of individual costumes across the stage. The costumes they made were great, but it ended in a disogranized mish-mash as they had to parade on the school floor instead.

The children ended up mixing with parents, teachers, grandparents trying to go home, and other people who got in the way. The recycling parade lost its panache without the stage...the idea was great, but it eventually fell victim to the rain and having to be held inside.



Chang-Chang displays his newspaper pirate outfit. I wonder if he made it himself!



Jennifer, Cherry, and Lily all grow tired of getting their picture taken. They are pretty cute though. They're all very polite, happy, and smart kids who are easy to teach. Obviously(!) I don't have favourites in my classroom, but if I did, these three would top the list.



These girls have edible headwear and jewlery! Notice the necklaces made of vegetables, and the tiara. It's made of a watermelon headband, with carrots cut in the shape of flowers and fastened with toothpicks. Think of all the effort!



Here's Benny with a costume that also took a lot of effort. Benny is one of my most frustrating kids. He entered the class two months ago (you can come to the kindergarten any time...four of my eighteen students enrolled after Lunar New Year) and is between half an hour and an hour late, every day.

He knows no English, and doesn't care about the classroom rules or procedures. His mom can't get herself together to deliver him on time, cutting down on his oppurtunities to learn English and the way things work. So frustrating. Often I have to spend my time policing him rather than teaching the kids who have been in class every day, on time, since September. He tries my patience like no other student.



Li Lau Shi seems to have limitless patience. Maybe I should trade Benny to her class for a box of crayons. No, that's obviously an unfair deal. Maybe Li will go for half a box.

I've never seen Li get frustrated or upset, and she teaches the most frustrating and upsetting class of crying two year-olds. I think Li actually really and truly enjoys teaching. I didn't think it possible, but Li Lau Shi seems must look forward to teaching every single day. Model teacher, Li Lau Shi.

Here she is saying goodbye to one of her kids before they leave at the end of Children's Day.

Children's Day ended just before lunch, and most of the kids went home. Only sixteen children out of the school's seventy-five didn't leave with their parents, so I only had to teach one class that afternoon. It turned out to be a great and restful finish to the day.

Once Children's Day was over, all the teachers were much less stressed, and the school's atmosphere in the following weeks was much improved. Before Children's Day, the teachers were agitated and tense. Afterwards, they were more relaxed. Oh Children's Day. Such a stressful event!

Friday at the Mall.

Today is Friday, and as usual I hit the town after school was done. I have dropped my pizza habit though, in order to save money. Instead, I browsed the mall. It's not that I like malling, but rather that I need to fill up my evening somehow. The malls usually have interesting things to see, and a mall sure beats my appartment. I made sure to bring my camera.

Here are pictures from my evening.



Haha! How embarassing! This girl has been stuck with an advertising sticker. These stickers are everywhere...stuck on bus stops, sidewalks, walls, and hydro poles. I figure they're the same thing as the "Make $2000/wk, from home!" signs that you see at traffic lights back home. This area was recently stickered, and this lucky girl didn't escape the sticker-er's attention. Very funny. At least to me.



This is Tee Mall. It has seven levels, which you can count. I think I got them all in the picture. While at first I wasn't used to these MegaMalls, now I am. And to think I used to consider the Eaton Centre in Toronto big!



On one of the top floors, there is an arcade. It has video games, carnival games like ring-toss, darts, and this water gun game. The game spits out tickets if you do well. This girl is doing well, and seems to have been playing for quite some time. Look at her haul!





And then there's this guy. He's playing a game where he slips his token in, and a vibrating table makes the coin dance all over. He's trying to aim the token into different holes on the board, without it going into the gutter. Some holes are worth more points than others. The gutter isn't worth any points. Points mean tickets, and look at all his tickets. He's not seven years old either...he's probably thirty. I hope I'm not spending hours at the arcade when I turn thirty!



And here's another thirty year-old, playing some sort of Dance Dance Revolution game. The screen shows you which dance moves to make, and you must dance the correct moves by stepping on the coloured pads of light. If you do it right, you get points. I think you can win tickets in this game too. He's holding the railing for support.



This is taken in the store where you can cash in your tickets. They have the usual little trinkets and key fobs, but also some bigger ticket items. This Sony PSP is maybe what the ticket guy is going for. It costs 320 000 tickets. I hope he has a goal in mind, and isn't just spending hours and hours at the same game because he thinks it's fun. Even I get bored of playing online hearts or Windows Tetris!

I barely saw any teenagers in the mall...it was all people my age or older hanging out. I find it interesting that malling is a more mature hobby in China than it is in Canada. I wonder what Chinese teenagers do. Probably their homework, all the time.



Once you're done in the arcade, you can come down to the ground level and buy a Rolex. Yep, there's a Rolex store in the mall. There's a Tudor store a few metres away, as well as an Omega boutique across the hall. In Canada, I don't even know where you'd go if you wanted to buy an expensive watch. In Guangzhou, you just go to the mall.





If you're in the mood for something a bit more spendy than a Rolex, you can always check out the Maserati Quattroporte, on display just inside the front doors. This is the car that Bono drives (or used to drive) so you know it's good. These are two GT Executive models. They have a 4.2L, eight-cylinder engine that drives the rear wheels and puts out 400HP @ 7000RPM. And, Yahoo Autos Canada lists its MSRP at $120 600.

Who knew...Rolex watches and Maseratis. At the mall.





If the Maserati is a bit too up-market for you, there is a Toyota Yaris display on one of the middle floors. I always wondered how they get cars into dealership showrooms and mall foyers. Now, I get to wonder how they get the cars into the elevators that bring them up to the fourth floor. Notice the Yaris banners. HUGE!

The posters and banners in the mall, along with a lot of other Chinese advertising, like to depict white people. There are more white people featured in the mall than Asians, for sure. I don't mind this, as a trip to the mall allows me to look at attractive female whiteys. When I see millions of Asians every day, it's nice to see some forigners for a change, even if they're only two-dimensional.





Some of the posters feature attractive women wearing designer clothes, while others show dorky dudes in dorky clothes, being dorks. Like the guys playing pool, and the guy with his horse.



A closer look at the dorky horse guy poster gives us insight into Baleno, the brand being advertised. It's a brand that I see a lot of here in China. Let's familiarize ourselves with the brand's history, shall we?

"Great Sir of BALENO, established this brand of BALENO in 1883,experience the smoked pottery of the history of more than 100 years, spread to accept England expensive room classic, provide the superior quality for the highly respectable customer of, the exquisite article of the good tasty."

Ok, then.

I should find the BALENO head office, and ask them to pay me to edit all their slogans and advertising literature. At least then they'd stop embarrassing themselves.

That was my trip to the mall. It was quite a success...my trip accomplished my primary goal of eating up my evening, and also provided me with excellent blog fodder.

Report Card Season

It's report card season again.

I had my reports done a week ago, as I was asked by the office. I asked if I should use the same one as I did last symester, and Feline (who interviewed me in Ontario and works in the office here in Guangzhou) said that would be OK.

Yesterday, Guo asked that I make changes to the report, so it's not the same as last symester, and could I have them done by Friday? I said that would be fine. There's really no other answer! They don't want me to use the same frame of evaluation.

Last symester, there were things like: "Can understand simple English instructions"; "Can use scissors and crayons"; "Can count to three; and "Attends to stories or instructions for 15 minutes". There are about forty of these questions. I put a check in the appropirate box, signifiying that the skill is Developed, Developing, or Not Yet Developed by the child.

It's fair that they've asked me to update the reports, as it makes sense that the report shouldn't be the same. I just wish everyone was a bit more organized with what they want from me.

I also had to prepare a list of all the songs we've learned this year. I compiled that, and had it ready the day after Guo asked me for it, which was Tuesday. Today, Guo asked if I would do the same for all the words I've taught, and the phrases I've taught. And, it needs to be done by tomorrow since another teacher will be testing my students.

Now that we're into the second term, it's very difficult to quantify what I've taught the children in the last eight months. I can churn out the words in the different units that I've been required to teach, but I've taught them much more than that. The children can now form simple sentences on their own, answer questions, and tell me little stories. These things aren't a product of rote memorization, but of months and months of labourious, patience-testing classroom conversation.

Gosh. It's frustrating being given requests that need to be fulfilled by the next day. I probably wouldn't work on the projects until the night before anyway, but it's still aggrivating. I figure the office is busy and they don't know what they want from me until the day before. I guess this is the way the world works though, and I should just get used to it.

Next Friday is the last day of school, but also another Parents' Day where I have to come up with, yet again, a fun and engaging way to show the parents everything I've taught the children in the past year. I've run out of ideas, since I've done quite a few of these now.

After lunch when Parents' Day is done, I'm to meet with all the parents and talk about their children, and how they can improve their English. Groan. Like anything being taught to three and four year olds, the only thing you can do is repeat everything a million times, and be supportive in both success and failure. So, I'll just tell the parents that if they want to help their children learn, they must be patient and encouraging in the process.

OK, on to my reports.

38

Apparently it was thirty-eight degrees in Guangzhou today.

That's hot!

I usually make a habit of checking the temperature on our class' thermometer, but I forgot today. The weather forcast said it would be thirty-eight, but unfortunately there's no personal confirmation.

My thoughts on Bali

My Bali trip with Kir is coming up in less than two weeks. Carol mentioned again that she is really disappointed that she's not able to come, and that got me thinking about how I feel about the trip.

While I should be really excited, I find I am not. I know it's a once in a lifetime experience, but at the moment I'm not giving the trip the excitement it deserves. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not counting down the days or anything like that.

There are a few reasons for my muted anticipation. First of all, I've grown weary of Asia and I'm longing to finish this chapter of my life. Secondly, I'm anxious about getting set up in Canada once I get back. I'm apprehensive about looking for work and digging up a place to live. I want to get those things sorted out as soon as possible.

I know that when you look to the future too much, you forget to enjoy the present. I understand that since I'm only in China for two more weeks, I should try to enjoy it. I also recognize that I might never be in Bali again, so I need to make sure I savour my time there, and not fret the whole trip away.

I need to enjoy my last two weeks in China. I need to enjoy Bail. I need to not worry so much about what will happen when I return to Canada.

It's pretty hard though.

Another Hong Kong trip

Oh Hong Kong, how I love you.

I went today to take care of finances, and also solidify some plans for when Kir arrives in a couple weeks. I looked into luggage storage, and also made a hostel reservation for us.

I found out while cruising the money changers that if I go to the right stall when exchanging money, I can receive up to fifty dollars more than if I go to the wrong one, because of their rates. It pays to research. I did the math in my head wrong, and wasted twenty five dollars by going to the wrong changer.

Today was the first full day that it hasn't rained, since the second week of May. I saw blue sky all day today, so that was a welcome change. It was more than thirty degrees outside today, and the HK government had issued a "Very Hot!" warning.

It was good to go to Hong Kong today, since going anywhere when it's raining buckets is depressing, annoying, and tends to dampen(!) my spirits. I'm more used to the heat now, so I wasn't as bothered by today's temperature as I might have been a year ago.

After passing through customs, I took the MTR (subway/metro) two stops into the New Territories, which is the northern-most part of Hong Kong. The New Territories bump up against the Chinese border. I walked around, and enjoyed seeing bike lanes and football pitches, people lining up for buses, and cars obeying traffic signs.

It's much different from Mainland China, where cars drive and park on the sidewalk, speed into oncoming traffic, and people push and shove to get on the bus. I like Hong Kong so much because everything's more familiar, although after almost a year in China, the Mainland has become pretty familiar now too.

I had planned to go out for pizza with Dr. Rong when I got back from Hong Kong, but I just didn't want to put in the effort to rush through my errands. I wanted to relax and enjoy being in Hong Kong, and not be constantly checking my watch to see if I'd make it back to Guangzhou on time. It takes about three hours to go from my house to Hong Kong, and today it seemed like a waste to hurry back.

Also, having dinner with Rong is a lot of work. She knows a tad more English than I know Chinese, so in the course of a meal, we might cover only two conversational topics. Each sentence requires us to break out our respective Chinese/English dictionaries and search for words, and then try and explain what we're saying. Today, I wasn't up for the social effort, so I cancelled. I'm happy I did.

Here are some pictures from today. Remember, click the picture to make it bigger.



This is the China/Hong Kong border. Notice the barbed wire and razor wire. Many Mainland Chinese attempt to enter Hong Kong where wages are higher and things are more prosperous. The picture is taken from an indoor bridge that is between the Exiting China passport checkpoint, and the Entering Hong Kong checkpoint.



This is in a back stairwell in the Chung King Mansions, an old building with lots of hostel rooms, garment factories, curry houses, and appartments in it. Carol and I stayed here once, so I came back to take this picture. If you happen to be a telephone repair man in Hong Kong and get called to the Chung King mansions, don't go. This is what you'll have to deal with!





I went to the waterfront and hung out there for a portion of the afternoon. It was super hot at around 34C, so the breeze was nice. There were lots and lots of tourists about, so I fit right in! We were all enjoying the first sunny day in more than a month.



Everyone is taking pictures of Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong is the undisputed World Skyline champion. This website has become an authority on the world's top skylines. It mentions that HK has forty-three buildings over 200 meters tall, including four of the seventeen tallest buildings in the world. (Guangzhou cracks the top twenty.)



When cruising the Hong Kong waterfront, it's important to keep your child on a leash. OK, maybe it's not. I could understand leashing your kid if you had all access trackside tickets to NASCAR, but here?



My fellow tourists rest after a long day in the sun.




I returned to the MTR, and made my way back to China. I took this picture to demonstrate the "suicide doors" in place at the subway station. These doors open and close when a train arrives, and the train always lines up in the right spot. Toronto should consider installing these. I seem to remember people always commenting on the number of people jumping/falling/getting pushed onto the tracks.

Now, to comment on the picture at the beginning of the post. I wanted a picture of me and the skyline, but was too nervous to ask at first. Then, I spotted someone with a serious looking camera, and asked him to take it. I think he did a good job.

I'm wearing my new Holland football jersey! I didn't intend to keep it for myself, but now I think I will. It's a copy I bought in Guangzhou, and it's not branded, allowing me to wear a Dutch jersey without sporting the Nike Swoosh. It's also made of really light, airy fabric that kept me cool all day in the heat.

This jersey design is new this year, the first time the national team has worn blue. Apparently this light blue is loosely connected to the Dutch royal family. I like it because the jersey gives you an option to support your team without wearing a screaming orange jersey. The orange design is still their Home jersey, while this blue one is the lesser used Away design.

I wore the jersey to show support for the Holland-Russia game tonight. I saw one person wearing the same jersey today, and we shared a connection. As we walked by eachother in the subway station, I gave him a smile and a nod, while he tapped his chest over the Dutch insignia. Hup Holland!

My hair is nearing Rambo length. It's always nice to make the transition from Aunt Jemima. I'm due for a haircut, but I find that wearing a bandana allows me to avoid Chinese hair salons for just a little bit longer.

Now, I must nap for a couple hours before the football game starts. I have decided not to go downtown to watch it, since it's just too much effort at 3 in the morning. I'll watch it in my room, and turn the Cantonese announcers off.