Friday 30 March 2012
Hello Dear Friends and Family,
BEST BABY 2: We decided to get this little electric cart to ride along our river and our little town. We took it to the next town over but didn't find much there....lots of shops selling piping and nuts and bolts. (there are lots of factories around here.) The question is, where do those factory workers shop for food and clothes and stuff? Man can not live on bolts alone! We have named our vehicle "Best Baby 2", after our granddaughter, Eliza. Eliza got that name when we were staying with Bonnie and family last summer and she would keep Papa company and fall asleep on our mattress on the floor. The cart cost abt $400 and we get big grins from local folks who don't often (if ever) see foreigners bopping around in electric carts. We recharge it near the guard station--so far we haven't run out of charge while we are out..
CLASSES; Richard is teaching 4th grade for the first time...he's working on figuring out how and what he's supposed to be doing. I'm still teaching 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. When I first started, I always had another teacher in there helping me. Now, not so much. One time when I was teaching a 1st grade class by myself, a little girl came up to the front and told me something in Chinese ever so earnestly. Hmmm. I wonder what she is saying. Finally a little boy at the back of the class said WC. Ah, she needs to go potty. "Go ahead" I say, showing her the door. I'm not sure, but I think there was some potty jokes going on in Chinese. Then she came back because she'd forgotten her tissues. (toilet paper is not part of the deal in China. You usually have to bring your own). OK, so, I'm supposed to have some semblance of order with these "cute little" first graders? Ah well, on with the lesson. It is getting somewhat better for me, though, really. At least I've figured out how to get the third graders involved. Bribes! Good old fashioned candy bribes for the best team! Yeah! Some teachers give out chocolate. I go for the shiny cheap stuff.
2ND GRADE RAP: I made this for the 2nd graders who were learning about "a visit to the doctor". First of all, you should picture a little Chinese kid with Richard's white shirt (doctor's coat) over his uniform. Three little other children are visiting the doctor:
Hello Dear Friends and Family,
BEST BABY 2: We decided to get this little electric cart to ride along our river and our little town. We took it to the next town over but didn't find much there....lots of shops selling piping and nuts and bolts. (there are lots of factories around here.) The question is, where do those factory workers shop for food and clothes and stuff? Man can not live on bolts alone! We have named our vehicle "Best Baby 2", after our granddaughter, Eliza. Eliza got that name when we were staying with Bonnie and family last summer and she would keep Papa company and fall asleep on our mattress on the floor. The cart cost abt $400 and we get big grins from local folks who don't often (if ever) see foreigners bopping around in electric carts. We recharge it near the guard station--so far we haven't run out of charge while we are out..
CLASSES; Richard is teaching 4th grade for the first time...he's working on figuring out how and what he's supposed to be doing. I'm still teaching 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. When I first started, I always had another teacher in there helping me. Now, not so much. One time when I was teaching a 1st grade class by myself, a little girl came up to the front and told me something in Chinese ever so earnestly. Hmmm. I wonder what she is saying. Finally a little boy at the back of the class said WC. Ah, she needs to go potty. "Go ahead" I say, showing her the door. I'm not sure, but I think there was some potty jokes going on in Chinese. Then she came back because she'd forgotten her tissues. (toilet paper is not part of the deal in China. You usually have to bring your own). OK, so, I'm supposed to have some semblance of order with these "cute little" first graders? Ah well, on with the lesson. It is getting somewhat better for me, though, really. At least I've figured out how to get the third graders involved. Bribes! Good old fashioned candy bribes for the best team! Yeah! Some teachers give out chocolate. I go for the shiny cheap stuff.
2ND GRADE RAP: I made this for the 2nd graders who were learning about "a visit to the doctor". First of all, you should picture a little Chinese kid with Richard's white shirt (doctor's coat) over his uniform. Three little other children are visiting the doctor:
Doctor, Doctor, help me please.
I feel so sick and I've got to sneeze. (ah choo)
My head hurts, my back hurts, my ear hurts too.
Tell me, Doctor, what can I do?
Drink a lot of water every day,
Eat good food, that's what I say.
Go to bed at 8 o'clock every night.
Pretty soon you will feel alright.
But doctor, but doctor, I need some pills
I have a fever and I have the chills.
My head hurts, my back hurts, my ear hurts too.
Tell me doctor, what can I do?
One in the morning, two before bed
Don't take too many, the doctor said.
One in the morning,
two before bed
Don't take too many, the doctor said.
CHURCH. I'm now the Relief Society president in our small branch. (there are 10 women, 3 of which work with the children in Primary). We have the best time! One of the women taught us a fun dance/exercise class with folk dance, country, ballet, African, and jazz all within a 50 minute work out. Richard was the honorary member of Relief Society that morning and did it along with us. It takes us about 2 1/2 hours one way to get to the church. We've found that we quite enjoy the ride. We can study, snooze, kind of write. Richard is a master at getting out his notes and Chinese dictionary and getting a free Chinese lesson from a new-found friend on the bus.
STAIRS, STAIRS, STAIRS. My record for going down n up is 8 times in a day. We live on the fourth floor and I sometimes teach on the fourth floor in another building. The other day I went down our stairs and up the other building stairs to teach.(1) Then I went down those stairs and up our stairs for lunch (2) realized that I'd left my jump drive with the house key in the computer in the classroom, so went down our stairs and up the classroom stairs to fetch the keys (3), then down those stairs and up our stairs for lunch (4), then down our stairs and up to the classroom to teach afternoon classes (5), then down those stairs and up our stairs for a break and a snack (6), then down our stairs and up just one flight to tutor a student (7), then down those stairs and up our stairs (8) Phew! My legs are getting really strong.
WILL RETURN. We've decided to return to this school next
year. (I've requested an apartment on a lower floor, see STAIRS
above). We've been doing some recruiting for the school. We've
tried to answer questions and pave the way to make it somewhat less frustrating
to get all the paper work done. Again, if any of you know of anyone
(couples preferred, but singles OK, younger than 60 with at least 2 years
teaching experience), please pass the word along. The Chinese gov't is
tightening up on the age thing.
Now from Richard: WHAT-DO-YOU-TALK-ABOUT? One day while riding
the bus we wrote a list of possible topics the Chinese were discussing so
loudly and earnestly. The bus driver (we’re in a small city) was carrying on
talking to several ladies on the bus, while we were just dumbstruck in wonder
about what they get so energized over (there were no pauses in the long
conversation). Possible topics that occurred to us:
·
Good restaurants they have enjoyed eating at
·
Price of tea in China
·
Sharing favorite recipes
·
Gardening techniques, like traditional Chinese gardening
·
The weather
·
The anticipated harvest given the cooling weather change (this
was in November)
·
Best ways to catch dogs to boil (we had just seen two boiled
dogs)
·
Gossip
·
Police actions they have heard about
·
Earthquakes, floods and rain in China and around the world
·
The strange foreigners on the bus, or weird ones they have known
·
The Chinese educational philosophy
·
Their last visit to the barber or hair stylist
·
Remedies of TCM (traditional Chinese medicine)
·
In-law attitudes and antics
·
Travel
·
Cars they’re planning to buy
·
The change on the Mainland from traditional to simplified
Chinese characters (hanzi)
·
Soap operas
·
Who-dunnits
·
Comparing fruits in China with those abroad
·
Where to go and what to buy for bargain shopping
·
The Republican primary debates in the USA
·
Hey! It’s all blither. Just speculation. Most of the time, now 4
months later we are just as clueless as to what they are talking about or
saying directly to us. At times it’s hilarious, and at other times it is
downright frustrating to not understand nor be understood
OUR TRIP TO WENLING.
We traveled to Wenling (it means “warm mountain range”) in southeast Zhejiang
province, quite near the coast. We stayed with the family of Hong Qing (Ivy), a
former student at China Women’s University. They were most hospitable to us,
and enjoyed learning and playing card games with us. They took us to an outdoor
reserve where we saw our first pandas. They were inside a glass enclosure, and
were pretty much lazy gluttons, just chewing bamboo or sleeping or standing
around. Got a good photo or two. The most fun thing we did was go to Shitang, a
coastal fishing village just outside Wenling. We visited Ivy’s grandparents and
other relatives there. Two great highlights were: 1) walking on stone paths and
stairs that wound in and around the residential part of the village, leading up
to a promontory overlooking the sea. It was called Millenial Park, and was,
purportedly, the place in China where the earliest rays of the new Millenium
sunshine was seen. Apparently many visitor came from all over the world to look
out to the eastern sea for the first rays on January 1, 2000.; and 2) riding in
a fishing boat around the harbor. We got some good pictures. On our final
morning in Wenling it was sunny for the first time, so we went to a park to
pose in imperial robes. By noon we were on a bus back to Zhuji, and it was
raining again. It was pretty cold in “Warm Mountain Ridges”. The Chinese don’t
heat their houses, they just bear the cold. Fortunately, the family put us in a
bedroom with an electric heater, and welcomed us to use it as much as we
wanted.
CONSTITUTION 101. This
is to share with you a link that will take you to an offering of a free course
by Hillsdale College on the Constitution of the USA. Yes, they are offering it
for free, though you may donate if you like. In this pivotal election year when
so much is at stake, the voters would carry out their stewardship to vote, and
do so much more wisely, if they would study the principles of liberty that our
founding fathers crafted to secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and
their posterity. Let us likewise secure these blessings of liberty to our
posterity now and after we have departed. Here is the link.(
https://www.hillsdaleoffer.com/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=13&custom_16=OCC&custom_31=forward)
