XueJia, Changzhou Part 2

Posted on 4 October 2010 by gypsy

With more than a hundred photos taken yesterday in XueJia, I knew that there was more to tell and show.  Thomas turned out to be as camera happy as I was as he was busy taking small video clips while Angel and Athena talked with Maureen and I.

This was the master bamboo carver, one of a long line of such carvers in the Xu family.  I noticed that in our tour of this artisan shop that quite a number of books were published on the art of bamboo carving by members of the Xu family.  There is no doubt that traditional skills are transferred from fathers to sons and mothers to daughters in China.

This is an example of the work done in this workshop.  Of course, to get a good idea of the intricacy of the workmanship, you will need to click on this image in order to see it full size.

And finally, at the end of the day, Athena and Thomas presented us with tickets to attend Expo 2010 in Shanghai.  As well, Angel promised to be our guide around Suzhou whenever we find ourselves in that city as she is now attending the University of Suzhou

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XueJia Village, Changzhou District

Posted on 3 October 2010 by gypsy

Today we got to travel with our boss, Athena, her husband, Thomas and their daughter, Angel, to Athena’s home town of XueJia which is on the outskirts of the XinBei district of Changzhou.  We have been fortunate to have been adopted by Athena and her family while in Changzhou.  They have made us feel at “home” in China.  Part of our day with this great family was spent touring this building which is representative of “Old China,” a building that was moved from the centre of Changzhou to this village and placed in the central park there.  Both Thomas and Athena had so much to tell us about their youth when they saw various things in the museum parts of the structure.

Across the road from the park was a large building dedicated to arts and crafts which we visited.  Most of the crafts were based on Shang style embroidery, a style that gives embroidery a look similar to oil painting.  Some of the portraits done looked as though they could have been photographs, they were so realistic.  And the landscapes, especially those that made me think of scenes from Suzhou, definitely had the appearance that reminded you of an oil painting.

One of my favourite pieces was this eagle’s head which was mounted on a rotating frame of cherry wood.

As well as embroidery, we got to see artisans at work doing bamboo carving likely the most difficult of all art forms as the slightest slip of the hand will ruin a complete work of art.

Once we finished touring the artisans shops we then went out for lunch with Athena’s brother and his family.  It was a morning and afternoon well spent with friends.

Just a reminder, to get a better look at these images, just click on them and you will get to see them in a larger format.   Enjoy.

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Lights of Xin Bei District

Posted on 2 October 2010 by gypsy

Bright lights, big city!  Yes, the lights of Changzhou make for great evening photography.  Most of the lighting is done use LED technology which is one of the local industrial specialty sectors.

This is one of my favorite scenes looking out from Xin Bei Park, a place Maureen and I enjoy walking in the evenings as well as during the day.

The lake in the park makes for great reflections of the tall buildings that can be seen in background.  Scenes such as these are found all over the city, especially as one walks along the canals that intersect the city in so may locations.  Changzhou is becoming more cosmopolitan in this regard.  Already it rivals the city lights for most Canadian cities.

The city has changed in this regard since the first time we arrived in August of 2006.  Changzhou is beginning to lose its “provincial” feel as it becomes a major player in the urbanization and industrialization of China.

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Where Wednesday Becomes Sunday

Posted on 25 September 2010 by gypsy

Today is a school day here in China.  I know that it is Saturday as I write this, a day that is not a school day.  But today, though it is Saturday, September 25th, for the teachers and students, it is Friday, September 24th.  Classes were postponed in order to allow students and teachers to have a three-day holiday for Mid-Autumn Festival.  This moving of classes is also matched by moving workdays for bank and government employees.

With National Day holiday coming up in a week, a holiday with three official days off, the same thing will happen in order to give everyone a week long holiday.  We work next Wednesday’s classes tomorrow, and then Thursday’s classes on Saturday October 9th.  Trust me, it all works out in the end.

These two photos were taken by Maureen while we taught at a local public school (Grades 1 to 6 primary school).  We get to teach there on Tuesday afternoons through arrangement by our university and the primary school’s administration.  Of course it means extra money so that is good.  The students are busy with “eye exercises” an activity repeated every school day in the afternoon all over China.  It was interesting to watch.  Our grandchildren Devon and Hunter will remember this event from when they visited us in the spring of 2008.

After teaching two afternoon periods, it was time for some of the students to head home.  Here the parents and grandparents are waiting for their child to leave for the day.  Not all the students leave at the same time.  Classes take turns leaving in an orderly fashion.

We finished off the day holding an English Corner, an optional activity for those wanting to improve their English (or having parents who want them to improve their English).  I get the grade 5 group and Maureen gets the grade fours.  It was a fun way to spend an afternoon.

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Hong Mei Park – HongMei Gong Yuan – 红梅公园

Posted on 23 September 2010 by gypsy

Today, since we had a day off from teaching and because it was sunny and not to hot, w e walked about eight kilometres to Hong Mei Park.  This is the main entrance to the park.  The park is found at the edges of the downtown area and is quite large.  Along the way to the park we stopped at an Ajisen Ramen restaurant for a awesome bowl of Japanese noodle soup.  Of course, I ordered a “hot” version.

Leaving the restaurant we walked on to the park.  As we approached the park the top of Tianning Grand Pagoda (Tianning Baota – 天宁宝塔) became visible.  It is a massive thirteen story high pagoda that was completed before we left China in 2008.  Its golden spire is impressive.  As you can see, the day gave us blue skies in which to showcase the pagoda.  The pagoda isn’t exactly in the park, it is on the Tianning Temple grounds that are on the southwest corner adjacent to the park.  The pagoda is so big that it stands as if the guardian of the park.

Inside the park we wandered around enjoying the trees, flowers,  water and the many families out for a day in the park.  During out two and a half hours spent in the park, we took a few rests on benches including this unique version using tiny coloured pieces of glass.

The park is definitely a people place.  We actually enjoyed seeing the people using the park.  So many young families out enjoying the holiday, older people chatting or taking the time for a game of Chinese Chess such as these two men, and a lot of young men and women on a typical date in the park.

One of the young people we teach called out to us and wanted his photo taken with Maureen.  With the photo done, he showed us his girlfriend who sat on a bench near by waiting for him with a smile.  Of course, I ended up taking a photo of both of them as well.

Inside Hong Mei park is another pagoda, the Writing Brush Pagoda – WenBi Ta – 文笔塔.  In comparison with the Tianning Grand Pagoda, it is old, dating all the way back to the South Period of Chinese history.

We got back to the apartment late in the afternoon, in time for me to make my first batch of pancakes.  Life is good.  Just a reminder, you can see the large versions of these photos by clicking on them.

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Happy Mid-Autumn Festival – Zhong Qiu Kuai Le – 中秋快乐

Posted on 22 September 2010 by gypsy

I took this photo yesterday evening as the forecast for today was cloudy and scattered rain.  A good thing I did as the forecast is right on.  Why this photo?  Well, it is the centre piece of today’s festival holiday in China.  As the title says, it’s Mid-Autumn festival time.  We get three days of holiday in a row because of this festival.  The idea is to allow families to gather together in order to celebrate this harvest festival which is marked by the appearance of the harvest moon.

Mid-autumn?  Yes, I know that autumn just started yesterday in Canada and the U.S.A.  but autumn is determined here using the Chinese lunar calendar, the reason also for a different date for the Chinese New Year.  Since the celebration is about the moon, moon cakes are the traditional treats given and eaten.  The cakes are round like the full moon.  Part of the celebration is for families to gather under the moon which is a symbol of family and togetherness.

Maureen and I have been gifted with these moon cakes.  They were given to us with real appreciation as were the phone messages and e-mails.  So, in return, we wish all those who believe in this festival – Zhong Qiu Kuai Le – 中秋快乐 !

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Earning Respect in the Classroom

Posted on 20 September 2010 by gypsy

This is the main building in which I teach, building number three.  Maureen has most of her classes in building four.  However, we do share one teaching room on the third floor of this four story building, a classroom that is just to the right of the balcony seen in this photo.  Of course we teach there at different times.

This is a photo of my class this morning taken in the classroom I was talking about.  These students are in the College of Commerce studying e-business.  Today’s lesson was a mixture of two topics – Classroom Rules and Mid-Autumn Festival.  As Samson pointed out, both Maureen and I create lessons so that students can bring their knowledge to the classroom and find ways to use that knowledge in English.  It makes for a lively set of lessons for us as teachers and for them as students.  For them, it is about being active participants rather than the traditional recipients in the learning process.

For the students, they get to be teachers as much as they get to be students.  We allow them to teach us about “their” assumptions, cultural beliefs and traditions.  With them having their opportunity to speak about things they know, they are primed to hear us talk about corresponding ideas and cultural beliefs from a western world perspective.  Students are involved and feel valued – and that is the key to avoiding conflict between foreign teacher and Chinese students.  It all comes down to respect in the end.  We respect them and their knowledge and they respect us in turn allowing us to be “real” teachers in return.

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Culture and Friendship

Posted on 19 September 2010 by gypsy

Yesterday evening we were invited by the Mayor’s office to attend the unveiling of a new book by a celebrated author who had spent quite a few years living and writing in France.  This is a picture of him unveiling his book, “Regard de la Rive Gauche sur la Rive Droite.” Of course the book is in Chinese, after all, we are in China.  After speaking with the author after his presentation (in French of course), Maureen and I were given gifts of his book.  This book is coming home, that’s for sure.

We went to this event with our neighbours who now live in our old apartment across the hall, Lynn and Frank, a couple from Australia.  While we were at the event we got to meet three teachers from the neighboring He Hai University and more importantly, a great lady we met in September 2006, Linda.

I can say without a doubt that going back to Changzhou was indeed like going back home.  Linda has given us strict instructions that we are not to go play in Changzhou without her – these two ladies are destined to be best friends.  It takes returning to change from “friends of the moment” to “friendship for life.”

We didn’t spend all of the evening talking with other laowai.  We did get to talk with a number of Chinese at the event which was really all about them.  The event was about the new book by a returning son of Changzhou.  However, the event was also a celebration of all those sons who are returning to Changzhou from Canada, America and different places in Europe.  The vice-mayor told us that 1500 Chinese expats have returned to Changzhou.  We talked with a Chinese man who has a home in Calgary and another man who has a home in Chicago.  Both are now involved in Changzhou life in a way that benefits everyone.

At the end of the evening, we were treated to an incredible display of fireworks and then sent on our way with the traditional gift of Mooncakes.  It was a great evening, one that will be remembered for many years.

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Street Photography in Changzhou

Posted on 18 September 2010 by gypsy

On a long walk taking in another old area that we used to stroll through we came across this scene of two couples with one young girl who are resting in the shade under a truck’s bed.  They are waiting for their turn to access the construction site that is behind me.  There was a lot of waving and posing for a photo for the foreigners.  Our walk took us to the China Dinosaur Park and on to new areas that have since been added.  The park is now ten years old and will be celebrating that ten years with a birthday party in two days.

Continuing with the walk, we came across these two guys who decided to take a break in the shade as well.  Their tricycle wagons were parked on the street while they engaged in an active game of cards, slapping down cards with enthusiasm with each play.   It’s a hot day and finding shade is important.  There isn’t the same world view here as in the western world.  In the western world, the work would continue.  Common sense, in China, says the work will wait.  And of course, a rested worker works better – and longer.  The workday here goes from about 6:00 until well after darkness descends.

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Learning English is Hard Work

Posted on 17 September 2010 by gypsy

There are a lot of hours that go into preparation to teach, there isn’t much question about that.  Creating the lesson plan is just the first part of the process.  Once the plan is in place, one has to run it through the mind in order to see how it fits, not only with what one has already done, but also with one’s teaching style and the group of students one will use the plan with in class.  Needless to say, we might use the same lesson plan four times in one week, but the lesson will never be quite the same each time.

Before the lesson gets taught, the head is wandering all over the place imagining scenarios of what might happen and how one would respond.  It seems as though the lesson is just an excuse for inner brain-storming so that the lesson begins to take on life.  Since Maureen and I work together in planning, the brain-storming also takes place outside of the head with all kinds of “what if’s” and “I wonder if this will work?” thrown in for good measure.

It sounds like a lot of work, and it is.  But, that is what is needed if we are to enjoy teaching and provide our students with an opportunity to actually learn.  Unfortunately, most Foreign Teachers don’t make this investment and as a result they don’t get to enjoy the teaching experience – and their students suffer with another “dancing monkey.”

Here is a group of my students involved in acting out a scenario from life in the dorms.  The idea is to represent a problem in dorm living and to find a solution to the problem.  Of course, the students have fun with the acting but struggle to find the words in English to “fit” the scenario.  Maureen and I use this activity as a way to create rules for the English classroom so that we don’t find ourselves on both sides, battling problems all semester long.

Needless to say, after 45 minutes of intense acting, listening and speaking, the ten minute break is a welcome time to recuperate and dig in deep for more energy.

The teaching week is now done for Maureen and I as we negotiated for Friday’s off so that we could have three-day week-ends in case we wanted to spend time travelling in the relatively closer areas.  Our next teaching week will even be shorter as it’s going to be the Mid-Autumn festival beginning on Wednesday.  Of course, you will get to hear more about this in a few days.  For now, it’s time to enjoy the week-end.

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