Stephen (our oldest son) has been living in Perth this year, working for the Boston Consulting Group in support of the west Australian mining industry. Jessica (his girlfriend) has been visiting him this winter (remember: southern hemisphere) and recently made the long journey to spend some time with us in China. She had the privilege of flying into the new Kunming International Airport:
This new airport is huge – the second largest terminal building in China – they even have a Starbucks and a KFC (but no McDonald’s).
Jessica arrived on Sunday, allowing us to take her to Green Lake Park for some free entertainment. Among the many dancers, there was this group from the Bai Minority inviting people to join them in a circle dance:
Click here to see them in action: Minority Dance
The next day was the opening ceremony of one of three English Summer camps held at our school. 140 rural English teachers came to this camp to improve their teaching skills. I used balloon animals in my opening speech to illustrate a proper amount of “stretch” to help students retain and use their new knowledge:
There was also an English Camp for primary school students. Since all of the university teachers can send their kids to camp for free, they let me adopt “Bruce” for the summer so that he could also attend:
Jessica was able to join us for meals with students and teachers:
We have now entered our rainy season, but that didn’t stop us from taking Jessica for a hike on the nearby mountains:
At the end of the week, we caught a taxi to the bus station to begin a journey westward. It’s always “fun” to buy tickets:
We stopped first in a nearby city where we joined an English summer camp for the day. Here are some of the students who were celebrating Christmas in July:
We spent the next day at a friend’s house in the beautiful city of Dali. From his rooftop, you can see the misty mountains in one direction and turn the other way to see Lake Erhai:
We then took a long bus ride to Lijiang. While there, we rode the gondola up near the top of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Unfortunately, this time of year, it should be called “rain” mountain:
For the sake of contrast, here’s a photo from a visit with our sons during Christmas of 2010:
At the end of our brief visit to Lijiang, we were able to get a “soft sleeper” compartment on the overnight train back to Kunming. Although it’s not very clean, it is a good substitute for hotel rooms and busses to make the 9 hour trip:
You look good with an adopted child! It is neat that Jessica got to experience so much with y’all…
i think my favorite picture is the one of dad giving the speech for the summer camp. On one hand, he looks so professor-like with his glasses and suit, and on the other, he’s just as goofy as ever, playing with his balloon animals! Haha! I love you, dad!
I wonder how you really do buy bus tickets?
I like Tim’s comment above!
The dance costumes are beautiful!
I know Jessica had a trip she will never forget!
Regina, the bus station can be unbelieveably full of bodies, noises, and smells. I don’t think we’ve ever seen another foreigner at the nearby station which serves many small towns in the southern and western mountains. My Chinese language is really limited, so I’m never really certain I’m on the right bus until about 30 minutes into the ride!