Leftover Wine

What do you do when the party is over and your friends have gone home? A bit like Melanie I feel nostalgia for the good times. I have come to the end of teaching, I have said good-bye to my Xingtai folks and also to the tour group who left a few hours ago. I have come to the sea again for a few days and am at Rizhao, Shandong. But my stay with the tour group is over and they are on the bus half way through a ten hour return trip as I type this. I hope Pretty Girl gets some shut eye on the makeshift pillow I bought - some inflatable swimmers' armbands. The coast was inundated with tourists over the week-end, the last before school goes back, but now is virtually deserted. The sea breeze is pleasant but skies are grey and threaten a storm. I now am virtually free from responsibility and have my freedom - but human nature being what it is, now freedom is within my grasp it doesn't seem so appealing.

Mei Nu

Yep, had to say some more goodbyes on Friday, in Xingtai to my host family of Bo, Meng Hua and Yong Chao then an hour or two ago to the tour group with whom I came on a ten hour overnight excursion to the Shandong coast at Rizhao. We have spent 36 hours here. Pretty Girl (mei nu), the tour guide who invited me on the trip (she stopped her bike on the street having recognized me from a photo in the paper three months ago!) has taken away a little bit of my heart I must say. I hope she passes her November exams to graduate from local chinese guide to one certified to host international travellers. As for me, I'm staying with a fisherman's family the next two nights. Off to Jinan in a couple of days. Never a dull moment.

Who are staff and who are kindergarten kids anyway? 

Pavilions and Picnics, a good combo! 

In the News

Canada, France and Scotland have all been covered in the news here on the same day. First off though, a few days ago they mentioned we had a new Governor-General in Canada. Wow, they know more here than in Red Deer, Alberta. Secondly, Canada makes it in the news when there is any sporting event of note, i.e. Men's and Women's Rogers Cup Tennis, Formula One, World Aquatic Championships etc. But here is a sampling of the headlines a couple of days ago: "Global Impact of Bird Flu Could Be Disastrous", "Royal Bank of Scotland Buys Stake in Bank of China", "Woman Slits Throat of French Priest". The first story is from a Bank of Montreal Nesbitt Burns report assessing the potential worldwide catastrophe (worse than SARS and outpacing 1919) if Bird Flu continues to pick up speed. The Royal Bank of S is one of the world's largest apparently and is looking for a piece of the action in this hot economy. The priest assassinated in France by a mentally ill Romanian was founder of Taize. I believe I saw Frere Roger many moons ago when I was there. Also in the news (getting under George Bush's skin perhaps) are the ongoing joint military exercises between Russia and China. I'm heading to the seaside in Shandong where they are taking place to-morrow. Now, if only we could find a nice secluded beach like Omaha or Juno or..... (get the picture)?

Hey, I like your pajama outfit. Can we borrow it for our play? 

The Forbidden City, after the rain cleared out 

Sesame Lane

So how is it being back in Xingtai, teaching at Sesame Lane English School you ask? Well, unlike Beijing or Beidaihe where foreigners are frequent, back here the curiosity factor has risen dramatically again. Every move is noted. By someone, probably by everyone and their dog. Teaching young children is tough but made significantly easier by their regular teachers who are present, most young ladies in their early twenties. These past few days we have been hanging to-gether. Yesterday it was off to Kindergarten at 6pm to teach 40 bundles of energy. 30 Parents added to the atmosphere which was hot and sticky (or was that just me, and all others were like that proverbial cucumber?). Before class we met the headmistress who runs a very nice ship it must be said. The facilities were the best I've seen here, at a school down a lane in an unfashionable part of town. After class (alls well that ends well) we staff took off for a traditional chinese cuisine resto. Almost got kicked out for outsinging the tipsy folk in the corner. Acting out kids games was probably not too smart in that venue either. But hey, this is China.

Schools Out for Summer

One summer school is out, I report to the next to-morrow. That is if everything is as arranged. I have lost contact with Sesame Lane School for reasons that escape me. I will travel till my return to Canada in mid-September if there is a problem. So I have said good-bye to some great students. Ellen who wrote one of the most moving letters I have ever received. Yoyo who substituted for Cinderella on short notice and came up trumps. Sophia who looked over her head in the first two weeks then blossomed near the end. Allan who acted in his first play, addressed me as professor (fortunately that evolved), starred as Robin Hood, and knew his lines virtually flawlessly. Martin who won a prize for acting and played in two plays. Fish, the water baby, who absorbed every globe and map going and surely will aspire to that noblest of professions - geographer! Sisters Grace and Helen who were staff but very, well, gracious. Mike, a Junior A, who was in my room every time I turned around. Carl who seemed lonely but also took a lot home with him from what I could tell. Square who inherited my dictionary and was full of compliments. Kelly too, the most eloquent on campus perhaps. Jasmine who did me a big favour by mapping out scene by scene stage props. Then there was Fire, Ball, Ivy, Sophia (II) each of whom deserve volumes writen about them. Lets see, Alex, Zack, Vanessa, Clare, Monica. Wow the list goes on. Alice (not Cooper) who played Della. Margaret, dear Margaret.

Junior B's getting primed for Auld Lang Syne in English and Chinese. 

Alaleh flexing, Ball in front. She left for Iran after our meal. 

Typhoon

The thunder and lightning show two weeks ago knocked out my tv so the arrival of the typhoon came as a surprise (I'm still not sure what it was christened - if at all, this being communist China). Other parts of the country were worse hit than us. Nonetheless caution was the main theme here and the door to the centre was barred to students and teachers alike for 36 hours. Rain was steady if not overwhelming We went fully a week without sun and the humidity has been tremendous. I don't think the proverbial knife would be capable of cutting through it. Clothes take days to dry. Mould has developed on my suitcase and one or two other items. But yesterday, a downer in one respect after the Talent Show and because people have been leaving, was nonetheless sunny again. To-day though is same old, same old. I leave for Xingtai again on Monday.

Cinderella Quits

After a week in which the team I coached at the debate acquitted itself admirably, the encore this week is to be a talent show. My home room class is the Junior Bs. My approach was to let them choose a play from amongst twenty in their playbook. However the day we were to choose my class had a visit in the early morning. The President of the Training Centre who compiled the collection of plays had come to dictate which plays the class would do and who would be who. The play book arrived late Tuesday and this was Friday. There were only eight days to curtain call and she was worried. So Diana wanted to get things moving in her own manner. Trouble is she assigned two plays, not one. And my class is already singing two songs (Auld Lang Syne in English should be a treat!) So in the past they have had three weeks to prepare. Why then assign two plays which risk being compromised? With one it had a chance of being half-assed. To boot Cinderella has left school early. Daddy has whisked her off to Paris and Italy (not many Chinese get foreign holidays). My plan was to have understudies but we don't have them now. Just go with the flow I tell myself. And the Typhoon is overhead, ominous..........

Colinfucius Say

Staying up after mid-night to whip whippersnappers at cards saps Colinfucius strength. Then six on the clock wakey wakey, eight on the clock class for two hours, post class meeting to direct two plays (all on Saturday morning to boot) take away resilience thingy. Colinfucius stay one more week and then relax before moving on to next challenge. Been there, done that. Kids really good crowd though.

The adult group from Xiangfan with teachers seated in middle. 

My Russian Friends, Olga and Lidia her Mum. The Beautiful One was not Present. 

A Day in the Life

So this morning it was up at six with the bell for the students. It was harder this a.m. because of a late night at the restaurant last night to say farewell to our adult group. Their stay seemed to go off without a hitch. Yesterday I taught my juniors the well known north american song "This Land is Your Land" with the potential for them to sing an adaptation as the visitors left but because of the early departure before 8 am class it came down to only me! Class itself included oral curriculum on the entertainment industy and some instructions about the talent show slated for next week. Also a taped musical piece and a cursory look at Italy. Then swimming where the student I went with talked my ear off. The russkies were in retreat because of a lack of sun this morninig. I have prepared one of my two classes for to-morrow and this aft came to the city to post photos. the bus had a burst tire but kept going anyway! To-night, salon. Ugh, its the young ones who are slow to respond.