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| Pajama Shop |
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| Emperor Zhuang Li Zhi and Empress Li Mei |
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| Walking Street |
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| Royalty |
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| Waltzing on New Year's Eve Party |
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| Dandy little Dude |
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| Who Looks Older? |
KateRichardChina: Epistles about our adventures teaching English in China. Hello dear friends. Greetings from Zhuji. Where's that, you may say? It takes us about 2 hours to get to Hangzhou. Where's Hangzhou, you may say? South of Shanghai. Now you know.
Photos for Epistle #4
What is It? Guess by number. Answers are below.
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| Guess #1 |
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| Guess #2 |
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| Guess #3 |
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| Guess #4 |
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| Guess#6 |
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| Guess#7 |
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| Guess #8 |
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| Guess #10 & 11 |
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| Guess #12 |
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| Guess #9 |
1. Pig feet and snouts.
2. Very fresh shrimp. (still moving!)
3. Classrooms
4. So many socks
5. Sorry, photo #5 got lost somewhere and I barely know what I'm doing with this blog!
6. Bags of socks
7. Plucked birds in truck bed...at the school cafeteria
8. Balloons on motorbike
9. Paper lanterns for Chinese New Year
10.and11. Ping Pong balls, mats for the floor
12. Empty boxes that had fire works
Armstrong China Epistle #3, Holiday Greetings
December 28, 2011
Greetings Nimen (Chinese for
"you", plural. I wish there was a word for this in English,
besides ya'll)
I tried to make a fancy dancy Christmas ecard but kept on getting foiled so we're just going to have to make do with an email with pictures attached. We hope this season finds you happy and well. Here's some news bits:
LEARNING CHINESE: Richard is and Kate kind of is. When someone tells me how well Richard is doing with his Chinese, I just smile. It's funny when someone is telling us something so sincerely in Chinese and Richard repeats the sounds of the last phrase, not knowing what they're saying. They think he understands and grin and point.
TEACHING. Walking across campus I hear, "hello Kate, hello Kate!" (teachers are called by their first names on this campus). Most recently we heard "Merry Christmas". Class is started with Good afternoon, class. Good afternoon, Kate. How are you? I am fine, thank-you, and you? It always makes me smile. Richard tutors the English teachers and teaches some 7th and 8th grade classes once every two weeks. I teach 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. I just begin to think I have a handle on things, and I'll face an out of control class with kids running around, throwing things, shouting in Chinese, fist fighting in the back of the classroom, you know general all out naughtiness. So, I'll have a little fear storm (what in the world was I thinking? I can't do this! It's hard). Then the next class, for no apparent reason, will be wonderful. It proves my theory about living in China: The only thing that you know for sure is that you don't know. It's expected that we'll be surprised. "Planning" takes on a whole new meaning.
CHURCH. Here's our routine. We have a standing invitation to spend Saturday night with members who live in Hangzhou. If we're going Sunday morning, we leave our 4th floor apartment at 6:50am for the early bus or 7:20 for the later bus. We flag down a bus that takes us to the bus station in the next little town. We buy our tickets and ride for about 1 hour 10 minutes to the Hangzhou bus station. Walk about 3 blocks and take another bus to the church. There we meet with our church family that we love so so much. Twice a month we have a potluck after church. Yummy. We enjoy every American bite! Richard and I gave talks on Christmas day, then shared a waffle brunch. Only 11 people (besides us) were there because many families were traveling. We then did a little "white elephant" gift exchange. Our dear neighbor and fellow teacher from the Philippines went with us on Christmas day. I'm music chairman, switch off playing the little table organ, and teach Relief Society when asked. Richard is Sunday School Pres and teaches once a month.
HEALTH/FOOD. Feeling pretty good! Richard is doing Acupuncture for a pain in his shoulder/arm that bothers him at night. I'm feeling great so I'm not doing Acupuncture or drinking any gross brown Chinese medicine. 4 flights of stairs (RFA: it's only 3, but feels like 4 to Kate) a few times a day is aerobic! Some of the classrooms are on the 4th floor so it's down one staircase then up another. Found a doctor in Hangzhou where I can get my meds for cheap. Good. I ate something that made me so so sick a few weeks ago but once it was out of my system, I popped back up. This is one place where ice cream is not a temptation....expensive and a bit hard to come by. We can buy almost anything on the internet, except ice cream: (waffle iron, molasses, wheat flour, fritos, ink cartridges, books) Grocery store is a block away, just on the edge of campus. I wonder if I'll ever know what's in all those packages! It may be dried duck or something. Or maybe fermented bean curd.
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION. Here at Hailiang school, they know how to celebrate. People had to try out to be in the Christmas show. Richard and I sang "Angels We Have Heard On High" at the end of a very cute show. Every classroom had a Christmas tree and there were cute little Santas everywhere, as you will see in the picture
TRAVELS. At the first of December we spent 4 days in Beijing, where we taught the first time we were in China. We mostly hung out with our dear friends, who started out as our students, at China Women's University. It was so much visiting, looking at pictures, reminiscing, catching up on news and progress, and eating with these very special Chinese friends. They even went with us to a karaoke place, and sang happy birthday to Richard, one of his best birthday parties ever. We also got to attend a church meeting in Beijing before having to catch a return flight, and thus we got to see many of our former dear church friends. We brought them their first snow of the winter season, and were told the first snow is a blessing. ... Tomorrow we leave for a 6-day trip to Chongqing, where our hostess will be Yulin, a young Chinese woman who Richard tutored while we lived in Boston. We look forward to riding a boat on the Yangtze River, the great long river of China. We have always longed to see this river. We'll tell you more about this adventure in a later report.
Enough for now- Here's love coming to you from China,
Kate and Richard Armstrong
I tried to make a fancy dancy Christmas ecard but kept on getting foiled so we're just going to have to make do with an email with pictures attached. We hope this season finds you happy and well. Here's some news bits:
LEARNING CHINESE: Richard is and Kate kind of is. When someone tells me how well Richard is doing with his Chinese, I just smile. It's funny when someone is telling us something so sincerely in Chinese and Richard repeats the sounds of the last phrase, not knowing what they're saying. They think he understands and grin and point.
TEACHING. Walking across campus I hear, "hello Kate, hello Kate!" (teachers are called by their first names on this campus). Most recently we heard "Merry Christmas". Class is started with Good afternoon, class. Good afternoon, Kate. How are you? I am fine, thank-you, and you? It always makes me smile. Richard tutors the English teachers and teaches some 7th and 8th grade classes once every two weeks. I teach 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. I just begin to think I have a handle on things, and I'll face an out of control class with kids running around, throwing things, shouting in Chinese, fist fighting in the back of the classroom, you know general all out naughtiness. So, I'll have a little fear storm (what in the world was I thinking? I can't do this! It's hard). Then the next class, for no apparent reason, will be wonderful. It proves my theory about living in China: The only thing that you know for sure is that you don't know. It's expected that we'll be surprised. "Planning" takes on a whole new meaning.
CHURCH. Here's our routine. We have a standing invitation to spend Saturday night with members who live in Hangzhou. If we're going Sunday morning, we leave our 4th floor apartment at 6:50am for the early bus or 7:20 for the later bus. We flag down a bus that takes us to the bus station in the next little town. We buy our tickets and ride for about 1 hour 10 minutes to the Hangzhou bus station. Walk about 3 blocks and take another bus to the church. There we meet with our church family that we love so so much. Twice a month we have a potluck after church. Yummy. We enjoy every American bite! Richard and I gave talks on Christmas day, then shared a waffle brunch. Only 11 people (besides us) were there because many families were traveling. We then did a little "white elephant" gift exchange. Our dear neighbor and fellow teacher from the Philippines went with us on Christmas day. I'm music chairman, switch off playing the little table organ, and teach Relief Society when asked. Richard is Sunday School Pres and teaches once a month.
HEALTH/FOOD. Feeling pretty good! Richard is doing Acupuncture for a pain in his shoulder/arm that bothers him at night. I'm feeling great so I'm not doing Acupuncture or drinking any gross brown Chinese medicine. 4 flights of stairs (RFA: it's only 3, but feels like 4 to Kate) a few times a day is aerobic! Some of the classrooms are on the 4th floor so it's down one staircase then up another. Found a doctor in Hangzhou where I can get my meds for cheap. Good. I ate something that made me so so sick a few weeks ago but once it was out of my system, I popped back up. This is one place where ice cream is not a temptation....expensive and a bit hard to come by. We can buy almost anything on the internet, except ice cream: (waffle iron, molasses, wheat flour, fritos, ink cartridges, books) Grocery store is a block away, just on the edge of campus. I wonder if I'll ever know what's in all those packages! It may be dried duck or something. Or maybe fermented bean curd.
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION. Here at Hailiang school, they know how to celebrate. People had to try out to be in the Christmas show. Richard and I sang "Angels We Have Heard On High" at the end of a very cute show. Every classroom had a Christmas tree and there were cute little Santas everywhere, as you will see in the picture
TRAVELS. At the first of December we spent 4 days in Beijing, where we taught the first time we were in China. We mostly hung out with our dear friends, who started out as our students, at China Women's University. It was so much visiting, looking at pictures, reminiscing, catching up on news and progress, and eating with these very special Chinese friends. They even went with us to a karaoke place, and sang happy birthday to Richard, one of his best birthday parties ever. We also got to attend a church meeting in Beijing before having to catch a return flight, and thus we got to see many of our former dear church friends. We brought them their first snow of the winter season, and were told the first snow is a blessing. ... Tomorrow we leave for a 6-day trip to Chongqing, where our hostess will be Yulin, a young Chinese woman who Richard tutored while we lived in Boston. We look forward to riding a boat on the Yangtze River, the great long river of China. We have always longed to see this river. We'll tell you more about this adventure in a later report.
Enough for now- Here's love coming to you from China,
Kate and Richard Armstrong
PHOTOS: dancers, jingle bells, confetti, Chirstmas card message board, Kindergarten Santas
Armstrong China Epistle #2, The Reverse Bank Robbery
7 November 2011
Hello Everyone,
THE REVERSE BANK ROBBERY So, we got our first pay and went to the bank to deposit it. Since the bank was closed, Richard tried to put the cash in the machine. It didn't like some of the bills and spit them back out, then it didn't credit our account with the amount deposited. Doh.
Another China dilemma.
Through the iron bars, we could still see the bankers working so we knocked and motioned for one of them to come. He assured us that he would personally take care of it the next day. (his English was very good and he definitely knew who we were)
The next day, Richard returned to the bank with one of our coworkers. It turns out that the machine would only take a certain amount at a time. They credited our account and all was well. I urged Richard to please just deposit the money when the bank was open so we could get a receipt etc. His reply, "there's no need to do that since we now know the problem". Now, let's take a vote. Which of you would just go to the bank when it was open????
EAT, EAT, EAT.(or sometimes not)
from our friend Loretta: Chinese eat anything that has wings except for airplanes and anything that has legs except for furniture. I heard that dogs were raised as food but really didn't know it first hand until we saw a whole dog, skin and all, being boiled on the side of the road. Turned my stomach. (why is it that we'll eat cows, chickens, and pigs but dogs seem so gross?) Anyway, I'm quickly becoming a vegetarian while in China.
COOKIES FOR DINNER
We were spending Saturday night at a church member's house so that we wouldn't have to travel so far on Sunday morning. She had gotten some wonderful whole grain flour for us and had made a wonderful dinner using the flour to make pizza pockets. She was telling us that her mom was really into whole grains and in fact was canning a mixture of whole grains. "Oh, really? I've done some of that, too", I said. She said that her mom had taken a class from a lady who wrote a book about it. "Is it called Cookies for Dinner"?"
"Yes, have you heard of it?" She then went into the next room and came back with our book. (this is China remember). I showed her my name on the cover as the co-author. So that was fun. She already knows where to find the grains in China. Her 4 kids, all red heads like her, call us Papa and Grammy. Actually 2 of them are too small to call us anything yet. It's great to enjoy instant family!!
STAYING WITH FOLKS
Members of the church in Hangzhou have welcomed us with open arms and open homes. "come stay with us" are not just words, they really mean it. We've stayed with 2 different families so far and are making our way around the branch.
ARMSTRONG TRIBUTE TO KID HISTORY
Our daughter, Laurel produced a fun video featuring many of our family. Now I've shown it to all the classes in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. So the kids are famous in China...and they know it. If you'd like to take a look at the famous video, you can look it by going to youtube and typing in
the Armstrong tribute to kid history.
HALLOWEEN
Enjoyed a fun halloween party with branch members. We danced and had a "mummy candy roll" (you put pieces of duct tape sticky side out around the person who then rolls in the candy to pick it up.
Enough for now...love to all.
Kate and Richard
PHOTOS: hot pot, (something like fondue). a laughing Bhudda with children climbing all over him. Sometimes we feel like this when the children have to touch everything!!!
PHOTOS: hot pot, (something like fondue). a laughing Bhudda with children climbing all over him. Sometimes we feel like this when the children have to touch everything!!!
Armstrong China Epistle #1 Finally in China
October 16, 2011
We are finally in China, and have had some interesting experiences, so it’s time to make our first report. We finally arrived on Thursday, October 13th, about six weeks past the start of the school semester at the Zhuji Foreign Language School. Let me start with an interesting incident during the trip.
We flew from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles, then switched to Korean Air and made our first ever visit to South Korea, to the Incheon Airport. While passing through security there, the scanner found a small bullet in my fanny pack, one that had escaped detection in the first two scans (SLC and LA). We were detained for investigation by Korean airport police, and Kate was rather annoyed that I hadn’t checked my pack and removed the clutter (bullet). I told them I didn’t know I had or where I had even got it, that I had probably found it on a street in the USA and put in my pack to show it to a grandchild. I told him I didn’t have a weapon, so I could hardly do anything destructive with a lone bullet, trying not to be flippant. I had to show documentation that I was hired to teach school in China. The conclusion of the matter brought me great mirth. (Kate still doesn’t think it’s very funny) I signed a form to relinquish the bullet to the airport police, and the policeman dictated what I had to write on the form: “I forgive this item.” We suggested other more appropriate words, but he insisted I write what he had dictated.
Before leaving the airport in Korea for our final leg to Shanghai, we were met by Kate Hee Dyuk Park, a young English teacher lady whom I had tutored in Boston. She had returned to Seoul, and wanted to see us, which pleased us immensely. As we had seven hours wait for the final flight, we were happy to join her at an airport restaurant for Korean food (at a buffet). Being of Asian culture, she insisted on treating us. I believe all Asians are incredibly generous and kind. I love them.
Our worry about how to get five tubs, two suitcases, and two other bags with computers from the Shanghai airport to a train station and then onto a train bound for Zhuji in Zhejiang Province was unnecessary. We were met by our school waiban (the one who deals with foreign employees/affairs), who had a driver and a truck. We only needed to sit in the back seat and fall asleep or read or play Sudoku for a no-worry trip to our new home and employment. But there were still surprises in store. We were hired to teach English at a high school, which meant we would have to stay in a hotel for a couple of months until the new residential building under construction was ready for occupation. Instead, we were driven to a different campus of the Hailiang School (www.hailiangschool.cn), in a different city, the campus where primary and middle school children board. Despite the shock that I might be teaching elementary school, we at least were able to move into a fairly comfortable apartment on the top (fourth) floor, an older place without an elevator. Looks like we are going to stay quite trim.
In the interest of sparing you from fatigue and boredom, I will tell only a couple of other interesting details, saving the rest for later. Although we have spent a year teaching English previously in China (in Beijing at China Women’s University), this experience will be very different. We are in a suburb of Zhuji called Diankou, about 45 minutes drive closer to Hangzhou than Zhuji. That’s a big plus because we will attend church in Hangzhou each Sunday. We live on campus and see little noisy cute kids all over the place. The kids at this boarding school range from first grade through eighth or ninth grade. Kate will be teaching 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade kids to speak English, and I’ll be teaching 7th and 8th and will be tutoring one-on-one 24 Chinese English teachers, including the campus principal.
There is a canteen (dining hall) for the adults and older students. There are only a few dishes prepared each meal, and the dinner and lunch dishes are prepared with MSG, which is practically deadly for Kate. If we order our meals in advance, we can get dishes prepared without MSG. Once we ordered these and got our eating time mixed up and missed dinner. Once I was eating beef combined with bamboo shoots (and MSG), and discovered at the very bottom in the dark brown sauce a dead fly. I found that rather repulsive, though I didn’t gag. I kept the container to show a Chinese teacher and asked her if this were something we could expect frequently. She tried to reassure me that all the other Chinese faculty regularly eats at this canteen, so we had nothing to worry about. Did I feel reassured? Go figure.
Today, Sunday, we got to attend church for the first time. It required a 1.5 hour bus ride to the Hangzhou bus station, followed by a 15-minute taxi ride. We were late for church, but didn’t miss the sacrament. It cost us about US $20 in bus and taxi fares to make the round trip, and this is what we may anticipate each Sunday. Since there is no group of our faith meeting in Diankou or Zhuji, we will plan to make this journey every Sunday. Our church friends, the Roths (of Springfield, Massachusetts), were assigned to the Zhuji campus farther away, and sometimes they have to teach on Sunday. I don’t know if we will get to see them or travel to church with them much. Anyway, we received the most enthusiastic welcome from fellow church members in Hangzhou. I love our church and the attitudes of love and service that emanate from the faithful, converted members.
That’s enough for this report. Enjoy a few pictures. If you have any questions or comments, just reply, and we’ll love to hear from some of you. We’ll do our best to live and love our experience vicariously for the rest of you. We are going to love it here!
Richard and Kate Armstrong
.
PHOTOS
1:Long Johns 2:Chinglish for ATM Online Banking Experiencing Zone 3:Kindergartners hold shirt of kid in front 4:School entrance 5:Sugar cane for sale
We are finally in China, and have had some interesting experiences, so it’s time to make our first report. We finally arrived on Thursday, October 13th, about six weeks past the start of the school semester at the Zhuji Foreign Language School. Let me start with an interesting incident during the trip.
We flew from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles, then switched to Korean Air and made our first ever visit to South Korea, to the Incheon Airport. While passing through security there, the scanner found a small bullet in my fanny pack, one that had escaped detection in the first two scans (SLC and LA). We were detained for investigation by Korean airport police, and Kate was rather annoyed that I hadn’t checked my pack and removed the clutter (bullet). I told them I didn’t know I had or where I had even got it, that I had probably found it on a street in the USA and put in my pack to show it to a grandchild. I told him I didn’t have a weapon, so I could hardly do anything destructive with a lone bullet, trying not to be flippant. I had to show documentation that I was hired to teach school in China. The conclusion of the matter brought me great mirth. (Kate still doesn’t think it’s very funny) I signed a form to relinquish the bullet to the airport police, and the policeman dictated what I had to write on the form: “I forgive this item.” We suggested other more appropriate words, but he insisted I write what he had dictated.
Before leaving the airport in Korea for our final leg to Shanghai, we were met by Kate Hee Dyuk Park, a young English teacher lady whom I had tutored in Boston. She had returned to Seoul, and wanted to see us, which pleased us immensely. As we had seven hours wait for the final flight, we were happy to join her at an airport restaurant for Korean food (at a buffet). Being of Asian culture, she insisted on treating us. I believe all Asians are incredibly generous and kind. I love them.
Our worry about how to get five tubs, two suitcases, and two other bags with computers from the Shanghai airport to a train station and then onto a train bound for Zhuji in Zhejiang Province was unnecessary. We were met by our school waiban (the one who deals with foreign employees/affairs), who had a driver and a truck. We only needed to sit in the back seat and fall asleep or read or play Sudoku for a no-worry trip to our new home and employment. But there were still surprises in store. We were hired to teach English at a high school, which meant we would have to stay in a hotel for a couple of months until the new residential building under construction was ready for occupation. Instead, we were driven to a different campus of the Hailiang School (www.hailiangschool.cn), in a different city, the campus where primary and middle school children board. Despite the shock that I might be teaching elementary school, we at least were able to move into a fairly comfortable apartment on the top (fourth) floor, an older place without an elevator. Looks like we are going to stay quite trim.
In the interest of sparing you from fatigue and boredom, I will tell only a couple of other interesting details, saving the rest for later. Although we have spent a year teaching English previously in China (in Beijing at China Women’s University), this experience will be very different. We are in a suburb of Zhuji called Diankou, about 45 minutes drive closer to Hangzhou than Zhuji. That’s a big plus because we will attend church in Hangzhou each Sunday. We live on campus and see little noisy cute kids all over the place. The kids at this boarding school range from first grade through eighth or ninth grade. Kate will be teaching 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade kids to speak English, and I’ll be teaching 7th and 8th and will be tutoring one-on-one 24 Chinese English teachers, including the campus principal.
There is a canteen (dining hall) for the adults and older students. There are only a few dishes prepared each meal, and the dinner and lunch dishes are prepared with MSG, which is practically deadly for Kate. If we order our meals in advance, we can get dishes prepared without MSG. Once we ordered these and got our eating time mixed up and missed dinner. Once I was eating beef combined with bamboo shoots (and MSG), and discovered at the very bottom in the dark brown sauce a dead fly. I found that rather repulsive, though I didn’t gag. I kept the container to show a Chinese teacher and asked her if this were something we could expect frequently. She tried to reassure me that all the other Chinese faculty regularly eats at this canteen, so we had nothing to worry about. Did I feel reassured? Go figure.
Today, Sunday, we got to attend church for the first time. It required a 1.5 hour bus ride to the Hangzhou bus station, followed by a 15-minute taxi ride. We were late for church, but didn’t miss the sacrament. It cost us about US $20 in bus and taxi fares to make the round trip, and this is what we may anticipate each Sunday. Since there is no group of our faith meeting in Diankou or Zhuji, we will plan to make this journey every Sunday. Our church friends, the Roths (of Springfield, Massachusetts), were assigned to the Zhuji campus farther away, and sometimes they have to teach on Sunday. I don’t know if we will get to see them or travel to church with them much. Anyway, we received the most enthusiastic welcome from fellow church members in Hangzhou. I love our church and the attitudes of love and service that emanate from the faithful, converted members.
That’s enough for this report. Enjoy a few pictures. If you have any questions or comments, just reply, and we’ll love to hear from some of you. We’ll do our best to live and love our experience vicariously for the rest of you. We are going to love it here!
Richard and Kate Armstrong
.
PHOTOS
1:Long Johns 2:Chinglish for ATM Online Banking Experiencing Zone 3:Kindergartners hold shirt of kid in front 4:School entrance 5:Sugar cane for sale
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