Yandi Square, Zhuzhou

My apartment is right across the street from this awesome public area. There's always lots going on here, especially at night. Typical sights include hundreds of ladies gathering for synchronised night dancing, kids rollerblading, street vendors, water/light show observers, couples sitting on the grass, etc. This pic was taken last night on an after-dinner walk with Nora. 

So, I woke up with a spider bite for the third time. I am officially freaked out. Especially after yesterday's spider escapade in the classroom. There was a humungous black spider in my 4th period class, and several boys were trying to whack it down with a broom. It fell from the ceiling and everyone was screaming and running (including me!!!) while a boy managed to jump on it and kill it with his shoe. Ugh. So disgusting. I found a google image that looks exactly like yesterday's spider. So the thought of something like that sinking its fangs into me as I sleep isn't exactly the most soothing thought.

I don't think I'll ever sleep again.

In other news, today I spent the morning at the park with two of my students. :)

We fed pigeons, danced with swords and drums, walked through a small amusement park, and then had a delicious lunch of noodles with various vegetables. Oh, and duck. For those of you who know me well, I am a vegetarian. So I do not eat any meat except the occasional fish. But today, I really had no choice. My student asked if I wanted a piece of pig ear. I kindly declined and she looked puzzled. She then passed me a piece of duck, smiled, and said, "Today is very happy weekend!" I knew any attempt at explaining vegetarianism would cause confusion and a potential misunderstanding. So I took the piece of duck from my smiling student and pretended to enjoy it.

The Chinese people don't easily understand vegetarianism. If you have enough money to buy meat then there's no reason why you wouldn't eat meat, in their eyes. So sometimes you just have to do whatever is expected of you in order to avoid causing offense. I've managed to pass up meat up til this point, and I will continue to insist on avoiding it. Especially since refrigeration is uncommon and the variety of animals considered edible is a bit disturbing.

Anyway, I had a great morning. I'm continuously surprised by the kindness and generosity of the Chinese people. They love showing me around and getting me to try different things. I'm well taken care of here. Every day is a new adventure.

Now it's time for a long-overdue afternoon nap. :)

^ every city in China seems to have a small amusement park

^ very aggressive pigeons

^ my student Linda and her grandmother

^ adorable dog

^ the drum ladies!

^ electrical box artwork

^ duck meat. it was, ugh, good. ahem.

So, while I was trying to rearrange my bedroom, which had been bothering me due its lack of fung shui, my bed totally broke. And I mean BROKE. collapsed. wooden boards everywhere.

It was a disaster. This kind of random shit just happens to me for some reason -- I've learned to just laugh it off and try to think of practical ways to fix stuff. Not the most convenient thing at one o'clock in the morning, but hey. This is China. Of course I didn't expect the screws on my bed to pull apart from the frame, but it happened. lol. And I'm pretty sure my neighbours below absolutely hate me. This hasn't been my first moving-furniture-in-the-middle-of-the-night infraction. Except this time a lot more stuff fell. I bet they couldn't sleep a wink last night.

Here are a few pictures from my night-time adventure. Thank God for Swiss army knives... I was able to reassemble the bed and shove it against the wall so hopefully it won't collapse again any time soon.

 ^ it felt like putting something together from Ikea. except less fun.

Success. finally got to sleep...at 3:00AM ^

Some Pics from Moon Festival 中秋節

^ Aaron and Anlison at dessert

^ Gang bei'ing (toasting) for a happy Moon Festival

At a beautiful lunch banquet with Anlison's parents and extended family

^ with a high-ranking military official, who is also the mayor of Zhuzhou I think.

^ Cheers!!!

^ walking around the park after luch

^ little tiger is stuck in the tree

^ fishing on a hot afternoon

^ pagoda... a landmark near the Xiang River

^ we won prizes for our incredible aim

^ at a delicious home-cooked dinner with Aaron's parents and grandmothers.

They were so sweet!

^ example of festival decorations found all over the city

^ with Anlison's family

^ delicious dessert at Aaron's place... fruit and moon cakes.

The moon cake on the left is traditional, whereas the one on the right is modern.

^ at the park's main gate

School begins at 6:50am and goes til 10:10pm here... crazy. I'm still in my office working on lesson plans and it's 8:20pm. The bell still goes off periodically to signal the beginning and ending of periods.
What a long day for the students!

Sháoshān 韶山

Today I traveled to Shaoshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong, founder of China's Communist Party (CPC) and the People's Republic of China. It was a great day, despite being terribly sleep deprived. Proven recipe for a headache: have a few drinks at a party, get three hours of sleep, then get up bright and early to spend all day on your feet, and then have shots of Baijiu (白酒) at lunch. Baijiu means "white liquor", with a whopping 50-60% alcohol content by volume (or about 100-120 proof). Yeah... but I didn't drink by choice, it was gang bei'd upon me.

Anyway, the sights were really cool and I enjoyed spending the day in a more rural setting. Here are a few pictures from today.

^ Chinese word for "beginning" - shǐ
The first part of the character is nü 女, which means "woman"  

^ Walking around Mao's home during his early childhood years

^ With the monument at the town square

^ Jarret was brave enough to eat chicken feet

^ Place to give offerings and blessings to Mao

^ School children in the fields (there was some sort of documentary being filmed)

^ Feeding the huge orange fish (which I think were carp)

^ The big man himself, 毛泽东 

^ Beautiful painting of Mao's home in Sháoshān

^ Our breakfast was huge ~ pea/corn porridge, vegetables, noodles, egg, cucumbers, and more!

^ Lotus, a vegetable. We ate the seeds but you can also cook its roots. Yum!

And very healthy to eat during autumn, according to Chinese traditional medicine

^ Little boy watching the ducks

^ Small river in Sháoshān

Long Weekend

This weekend is a three-day weekend, which is extremely rare here in China. It is so nice to have an extra day off, and everyone feels the same way. Yesterday the kids got out of school 30 minutes early and you could just feel excitement in the air. ^_^  (Chinese smiley)

Last night I went to a banquet, spent some time people-watching downtown, and then watched a movie back at my apartment. It was super relaxing. Today I'm going with Anlison and Aaron to a famous local market. Hopefully I can get a few more things to decorate my apartment -- and some essentials like a body towel and sheets. Tonight is a party at Sarah's place on the edge of town, and then bright and early at 7:00AM I'm heading out with Jarret and a few Brits to Chairman Mao's hometown for the day. Should be an awesome weekend!!

Here are a few more pics from last night. The first is of the little shrimpies on a stick. Haha. The second is me and Jane, a fellow English teacher. The next pic is of two tables at the banquet holding up their drinks in gang bei style. They were a wild crowd. And the last two photos are of a bamboo root dish and a smattering of our community-style dining dishes, respectively. Yum!

^ buying decorations for my apartment

Zhōngqiū Jié (中秋节)

Today was a great day. My classes were mostly all behaved and we had a ton of fun learning and singing a song about weather. I've learned that the more animated a class is, the more students will want to participate. =)

I received lots more cards and moon cakes to celebrate Teachers Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, respectively. Also, I was invited to an 8th period formal celebration for all the teachers, complete with traditional Chinese dancing, singing, and an amazing banquet. It was really fun.

It was, however, a night of firsts.

First time I gang bei-ed (making toasts/blessings in honour of other people...it's huge in Chinese culture and a sign of respect) and had to make toasts to important higher-ups in my school. Let's just say a lot of drinking was involved.

Hmmm. It was also the first time I ate bamboo root, which is actually pretty good. Not as good as the shrimp-on-a-stick, which -- get this -- is eaten not only with its shell on but with its head and whiskers and everything. Yeah.

I got asked to "see a film" by a fellow young teacher at the banquet, who was sitting with a few other guys flirting shamelessly with the blond-haired foreigner. Turns out he was married, making that a first too. "I think he wants to date with you!" joked Summer, my English-speaking liaison, "But he is married. I think he is making a joke with you." That's not awkward at all. He probably had a few too many Tsing Taos.

For the first time since arriving in China I had time to just sit somewhere and observe the things going on around me. I was in a downtown area after wandering around after the banquet, and I spotted a crowd of people dancing. So I walked over and sat amongst the locals to watch the dancing. I felt such a respect for the Chinese and an appreciation for their collectivism and culture. It was beautiful to watch men dance with their women, spinning them around and taking such pleasure in knowing all the steps by heart. (Most of the people dancing were my grandparents' age, but some were younger). Everyone was so graceful and enjoying the evening, not hurrying to be anywhere but living in the moment. On the sidelines were parents and children, grandparents, vendors, casual observers such as myself, and people setting up decorations for Mid-Autumn Festival. It was such a peaceful moment for me.

And as I was crossing the street to get home, a man walking from the other direction literally almost got slammed by a motorcyclist... because the guy walking was staring at me and wasn't looking at the traffic. It was both flattering and shocking at the same time. lol.

Below are a few pictures. The first is a Moon Cake (中秋节) - the traditional food given as a gift to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, or Zhōngqiū Jié (中秋节) in Chinese. Really delicious, save the cooked egg yolk in the middle of some varieties. The second picture is a few of the cards I received for Teachers Day. =) More pictures to come!!

Teacher's Day

Today was Teacher's Day here at Jing Yan, and in typical Chinese style I didn't find out until about an hour before the festivities. lol. It was mid-afternoon, and I was getting ready for my second class when four students burst in to my office, inviting me to their class parties during 8th period. "Sure," I said, "I'd love to come!"

The parties were great, albeit a bit awkward having to leave each one after ten minutes to divide my time equally among the four classes. In addition to hearing songs, poems, and blessings in English and Chinese, I heard a variety of traditional Chinese instruments played by several talented students. It was great. The kicker was when I was asked to sing in front of two of the classes. "Teacher Cait! Teacher Cait!" the students and teachers exclaimed. "Sing us a song!" I was then handed a microphone.

Okay, I think to myself. I'm not the greatest singer, so this'll be interesting. 
What on earth do I sing??


When in doubt, revert back to the song your grade nine teacher made you sing each morning in high school.

So I sing the Canadian national anthem.
In French.

Thus begins my singing career in China. ;)