China-fied Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

I have now survived my first Christmas away from my family!  As much as I was dreading the experience, it actually was a lovely weekend.  It was great to have a group of homesick Canadians all banding together to avoid being lonely on the holiday weekend.  We all had plenty to do, and plenty to eat.

Taha and Meg puzzling

On Friday evening I went out for some pampering, and got a mani-pedi with a group of girls.  My manicurist complained the whole time that my nails were too short for painting, but she did it anyway!  The stress of teaching is not helping me quit a dirty nail biting habit...  After pampering we went out to a nice meal and then headed to a concert.  A few of the teachers are in a band and were doing a performance.  Unfortunately, we were too late for most of their performance - but we arrived just in time for a few Chinese bands that rocked the house.  It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen!  They sang some songs in English, but mostly they sang in Chinese.  The crowd loved them, and was dancing to the beat with waving glow sticks, and chanting "N-core, N-core" every time the band paused for more than 30 seconds.  I just sat back and enjoyed the show!

Saturday was Christmas Eve.  I woke up for a quick trip to the gym, and then headed out to do my Christmas shopping.  One of the positive things about China is that on Christmas eve it is no more busy than any other day.  Not to say that it isn't busy....I do live in a town of 6 million....but not any MORE busy!  I quickly gathered what I needed for stockings and headed home for some skype time with people back home.  That evening we ordered in, and settled on the couch for some Christmas movies and puzzles.  All of a sudden it sounded like a war zone outside; the street below was thundering with fireworks.  Apparently in the past few years China has taken on Christmas eve as a new celebration.  We went out searching for the source of the excitement.  Down in front of the mall there was a stage with a dance contest, tables with piles and piles of fireworks for sale, and many people selling paper lanterns.  We were able to buy and light our own lantern.  It was a really beautiful watching hundreds of lanterns floating up over the city lights.

The essentials  for a Chinese Christmas Eve

Canadians trying to figure out the paper lanterns

Success!

On Christmas morning we woke up early to open stockings and exchange presents.  I took on the mom role and filled the stockings with plenty of useful goodies.  It definitely made it feel like home!  I cooked us a big brunch, and then we settled in to skype home for Canada's Christmas eve.  We had a relaxing afternoon, watching movies and napping.  In the evening some friends hosted Christmas dinner, with a full turkey (cooked in a toaster oven).  It actually turned out great!  There was about 15 of us eating and celebrating together.

After Santa filled the stockings

Christmas morning

Opening our presents

Unfortunately, we had to head back to work on Monday, but it was a great Christmas.  Being without my family is not something I would like to get used to, but I am proud that I wasn't too homesick!  I hope everyone had a lovely holiday! 

Brunch of dumplings, eggs, toast, tomatoes and grilled turkey

Christmas presents!

Daily Sights

China is a beautiful country, but in such a different way than I expected.  I was anticipating smog, dirt, grime and squalor - which I found - but also so much more.  I just want to share a few pictures with you, from some of my daily sights here in China.  Some are mundane, and will match what you would see back home.  Others are unique to this strange country.

A Goat....in the restaurant district of Kai Faq Qu

Chinese Ichi-ban, much spicier than our Canadian version

Hot pot! (where the oil base is reused for every customer!)

My favourite beverage (tastes like watery Ice Cap)

Tofu Salad

First Field Trip

This year I am involved with the Model UN club on campus.  It is a pretty well developed club, and and it is one of the most popular at Maple Leaf.  One of the benefits of the club is that it is girls and guys (a pro for both the students and the teachers who get tired of dealing with only teenage boys).  The second benefit of the club is that it is all about going to conferences.  There are six of us running the club, and we meet once a week.  The meetings are all about prepping the kids to go to conferences and debate the resolutions they have written.  These kids know their way around a formal conference, and are gaining confidence daily speaking in front of large crowds.  All in all, these are some pretty impressive kids.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to chaperone a conference the students attended.  We didn't go far, just down the road to the American International School (about a 10 minute drive).  I was pretty nervous about things going smoothly, but in reality it was a pretty easy day.  I didn't lose any kids, no one was injured, everyone had lunch money, no one burst into hysterics mid speech.  None of my fears where realized!

Years of camp counselling prepped me for the constant counting of kids, continually tracking where everyone is, and the art of herding a group of youth along a path.  I am grateful to have had these experiences, so that I was able to be calm and enjoy the day watching the kids excel in their debates.  

Field trips are a great way to get to know the students beyond the daily grind.  I was able to see students, not just my own crew of 100, grow in their English skills and genuinely enjoy a learning experience.  The next Model UN trip is March and involves a plane ride and two nights in a hotel!  Warm-up round went well, though, so bring on the big one!

A Little Christmas in China

Hey Friends,

My internet is still not working that great (which is why I haven't updated my Great Wall post yet), but I got enough juice to upload one photo.  I was able to put up a little Christmas tree in my place this year!  It has certainly helped it to feel more like home, and more like the season.  It is hard to believe Christmas is so close when we have no decorations, or no holiday to look forward to!  I have been spending my evenings in front of my tree listening to Christmas music - and it almost feels like home.

A Very Great Wall

Beijing Trip Part II:

On Sunday morning we woke up early to join a tour to the great wall.  A tour is the easiest way to see the wall, as the wall is actually a bit of a drive out of Beijing.  We went to a section that was about an hour and a half drive.  After a solid nap in the van, we arrived at one of the seven wonders.

From the bottom of the hill the wall doesn't actually look that impressive, but that is because you can't see the scope of it.  After a quick chairlift ride to the top you could see how immense the wall really was.  It runs along the peak of the mountain as far as you can see.  The part we were at was originally built as a border between China and Mongolia.  Much of the wall has been restored and widened, but even without the restoration the craftsmanship of it all was amazing.  It is huge!  We were reading "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost in class today and one of my students asked me: "Why the speaker always had to mend his wall every spring. Why couldn't he have just made it strong, like the great wall?  If concrete existed then I am sure it existed when Frost wrote this poem."  I was not sure how to answer, but I guess Frost could learn a thing or two about building a lasting wall from the ancient Chinese.

We had three hours to explore the wall, and we made the most of it.  We were only allowed to go 23 guard towers (at which point it became "wild" and we were warned we may never return).  Our tour guide thought that going to the 23rd tower would be a bit too much, but we accepted our challenge readily.  It was a very cold, but clear day on the wall and our power charging to the end definitely kept us warm.  We all wore every piece of clothing we had packed to Beijing, but quite quickly stuffed layers into our (read: Taha's) bag to cool off.


I was not expecting quite so many steps, or at least not so many steep steps!  I was most impressed with the older sections, the ones that were not restored for the Beijing Olympics.  These sections were much narrower, and made of many mismatched stones.  Along the way there were little stalls offering pop and chips, offered by locals who make the hike up to the wall everyday.  As I was walking I was imagining being one of the guards up on the wall.  Warming up in one of the towers.  Peering out into Mongolia, eyes open to attackers.  Marching back and forth, back and forth, atop a giant wall.   Although the concept of the wall is infinitely strange to me, seeing it was amazing.

After three hours of trekking across the wall, we lined up to take the slide down.  That's right, the slide.  You are allowed to take the chairlift back down, but the other option is a giant slide that looks like a water slide sans water.  You sit on a wheeled sled and get a push off at the top!  There is a break, but I only used it once I caught up to Meg!  It was a ton of fun jetting down the mountain.  Only in China would they build a slide as the primary method of transportation...

At the bottom we had lunch with our tour group, and drove back to Beijing.  Although we had planned to try out Peking Duck that night, we were out of time.  We drank a few cups of coffee, and then headed to the airport.

It was a great weekend, and I was able to see most of what I wanted to see in Beijing.  I will definitely be back there again this year!