From Grits to Chopsticks

Forty years ago, Susan and I had our first trip together (with Susan’s parents) to Myrtle Beach, SC.  We were still quite young then (notice the hair, braces, old cars, and shorts): Things have changed a little since then:But we still love to spend time here with family: and as we celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary on August 18th, we’re thankful for the many years we’ve had together — at the beach or on the other side of the world!

The Annual English Summer Camps have begun at our school.  As usual, there are three camps – a camp for children:

and a camp for college students and a camp for teachers from countryside schools:We are thankful for the wonderful teachers and college students who come from America to lead these camps and build relationships: I usually give a welcome speech at the opening ceremony.  This year, I played a few songs with a former student:

We played a happy song and a love song, but we put most of our effort into the song that expresses how most students really feel about learning English: “The Foreign Language Blues”:Two days before we performed, I taught the student how to play the harmonica break (click to hear->FLB):We used this to illustrate three important points of language learning: have fun, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and learn something you can use.

We often see interesting things here (at least, they seem interesting to us).  Here are a few shopping photos – 4″ tire snow bikes at Wal-mart (it almost never snows here):a really great deal if you need toothpaste and a new bowl:and a bad brand name for paper cups if you leave them on your wooden furniture:It’s always fun to see what people can carry on their scooters, including a sheet of plywood:or an entire three-piece sofa set:

We also saw this scooter guard dog outside of a restaurant:

Of course, we never cease to be amazed at the construction projects all over town.  This photo from our apartment window didn’t have any tall buildings just a few years ago:

Living in China presents us with the opportunity to eat some unique foods — things that we never ate in the West.  Some of the meat items aren’t too strange, like pigs feet and potatoes,black chicken,and a wide variety of barbeque choices:But when you depart from meat dishes, things start to get interesting.  Recently, one of our students gave us something different in a “romantic” box:They turned out to be a special type of  mushroom: These 灵芝 (língzhī) mushrooms are supposed to be good for your health.  You break them up, boil them, and drink the liquid:Another student recently brought us a bagful of Lotus Pods:Each pod has a number of seeds which are peeled, split, and eaten after removing the green thing from the center:A bagful of pods contains a lot of seeds:We also received some 杨梅 (yángméi) from our neighbor:These sweet berries are only available for a short season and can be candied or eaten raw.  Another common fruit at this time of year is 荔枝 (lìzhī):These have a nice white center and are easy to peel, pit, and eat:Similar to lìzhī (but larger) are the dark purple 山竹 (shānzhú – mountain pearl):After breaking through the thick skin, inside you will find soft white segments (the pearls):If all of this doesn’t entice you to come and visit us in China, don’t fret: we also have familiar western food at the Pizza Hut downtown.  Here is an advertisement posted in our elevator to start your hunger pains:I’m not too sure what the toppings are, but the crust is very tasty!

Although many of our blogs deal with a variety of China-life topics, the majority of our time is actually spent with students.  Here is a photo of this semester’s international trade class:Some of the activities this year included negotiating business deals,trading floor experiments,accessing my website to complete group activities,the traditional year-end auction,and final exams:It was also good to eat lunch with my students and get to know them better: We also helped to teach English Corners on the university campus.  Susan was often serving food to hungry students:We taught about western birthday traditions,played games,and judged speech competitions:If you ever come to China, we hope to introduce you to some wonderful students!

We just returned from a quick trip to Thailand for a visit to the Bumrungrad Hospital, following up on Susan’s cough and shortness of breath (good news: no serious long-term problems were diagnosed!).

Since we flew on Air Asia (the discount airline), we arrived in the old Don Mueang airport: We stayed at the Best Western Sukhumvit, a short walk from the hospital:Our expat friends had recommended Bumrungrad Hospital, and we were not disappointed:Starting with an easy registration process and ending with direct billing of international insurance, they are clearly a customer-focused operation.  Their amenities weren’t bad either: The medical services are cheap enough to (almost) justify airfare from the States.  While we were there, I went ahead and had the “Premier Eye Exam” with all of the usual machines, tests, and ophthalmology exam for a total price of $63.

The Best Western is just a short walk from the BTS skytrain, an easy way to get around town:As you travel around, you’ll see why Thailand is officially called “Buddha Land,” since there are large and small temples everywhere.  You see them on street corners:  at hotels:at the hospital:and in front of the shopping mall:The procedure for worshiping this statue is clearly spelled out and promises success:Sadly, the ones who gain the most success are the nearby people selling offering items!In addition to the ubiquitous temples, pictures of the king are displayed all over town: Minions are also quite popular:One of the best moments came when we found something unexpected: a Krispy Kreme donut shop!There wasn’t a “Hot-Now” light blinking, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the familiar taste of glazed delight in a foreign land!

Our university just graduated 4600 seniors:This year, they sat on a sea of blue plastic stools:Not surprisingly, many students were more interested in selfies and mobile phones than in listening to the program:As usual, the seating for family members was limited:And because of the large graduating class, individual department leaders simultaneously presented “diplomas” to students at their seats:Immediately after the final music played, the cleaning crew sprang into action, collecting stools and sweeping away the trash during the photo sessions underway:Our “smile muscles” were worn out by the end of the day as we had our photos taken with our own students and with other graduates who wanted a picture with a “foreigner”:   I had the opportunity to teach about 100 of the International Trade graduates.  After spending a year in the classroom with students, we will certainly miss them and hope to hear good things from them in the future!

Recently, Susan has been suffering from a severe cough and associated chest pain.  Our neighbor quickly diagnosed the problem as “gānké” (dry cough) and suggested that Susan should take the common Chinese remedy.  He started by peeling and dicing pears:according to Chinese traditional medicine, pears add moisture to your lungs:He then measured some rock sugar, dropped it in water and simmered:
The pear chunks were added and boiled for about 15 minutes:
He told Susan to drink the hot, very sweet liquid each morning and evening:
We had already scheduled an appointment at the local international health clinic later in the week.  After the doctor did a physical exam, a chest x-ray, and a blood test, he ruled out anything serious, prescribing an inhaler to treat her bronchitis.  Total cost = $52.26 (a bit cheaper than the West!).
She’s doing better, but not completely back to normal.  Whatever the cause, we’re thankful for prayers, pears, and the inhaler.

The Mingtong River flows from the north to the south end of our city, traveling about 20 miles from the Songhuaba Reservoir and ending at Dianchi Lake.  Over the past month, we took our Sunday afternoon walks along the river:We actually started in mid-town and headed north.  The city has done a good job of creating a series of paths and parks along the way: There are a number of overlooks, bridges, and dams:  Sometimes you see children playing, fishermen, and fruit sellers: We never made it all the way to the reservoir since we were blocked by a construction project that consisted of a bunch of new apartments and some pretty amazing man-made waterfalls:As we headed south, the city (and the sidewalk) was older: On the fourth leg of the journey, we finally reached the end: With our busy lives, it’s nice to take one afternoon each week to walk, talk, and occasionally, reach a minor goal together!

Just about every city in China has an “old town” with ancient buildings and historical artifacts.  While a few of the old things may be genuine, many are actually “new/old” — new things built to look old.  Our city has the “Guandu Old Town”:One of the old things in Guandu is this stupa, originally built 50 years before Columbus discovered America: There are multiple Buddhist temples – this one is almost 200 years old: Like all “old towns,” this one has it’s share of souvenir shops and jade dealers, a random Santa Claus,and as usual, there is always a game of checkers to stand around and watch:In the corner of one temple square, there were two crowds of people in close proximity trying to listen to separate singers:Click here to watch the Competing Singers, or here to listen to Singers.

Unlike some of the old towns in America, the horses here pull utility carts, not tourists:Although it is hard to separate the old from the new/old, Guandu old town is worth the visit for the price (free).