From Grits to Chopsticks

Even though our official school semester has ended, we are still very busy.  Since many of our students work at the annual South Asia Trade Expo, we like to visit with them and talk about the jobs/businesses:

Thousands of exhibitors come from all over the world to display and sell their products.  This year, we were particularly amazed by the large wood and jade carvings:

The technology sector continues to grow with VR and robotics:

Chinese companies are also reaching out to other nations, seeking contracts to build large projects like this gas plant in Myanmar:

Of course, there is always food!  After tasting coffee from different countries, we bought some from this Malaysian seller:

There were lotsa noodles to satisfy hungry customers:

but we opted for the more typical lunch of rice and … well … something:

This is also a great place to come and get your photo with a cartoon character, like a pig:

or a vegetable:

Come visit us next June, join the crowd, and have your photo taken with this lonely bottle of oil!

Our university recently hosted a visit by Mr. George Papandreou, former prime minister of Greece (between 2009 and 2011):

When he arrived on campus, our school quickly immersed him in activities, including Tai Chi:

“football”:

dancing:

and painting:

He was given ceremonial fish (for good luck) which we ate for lunch:

It was interesting to chat with him throughout the day:

discussing some of the challenges of education in our world saturated with information and shaped by modern technology:

His challenge to our students in this “information age”: examine the facts, seek the truth, and align your actions with overarching meaning and values.

When we first moved to China, these students were in Junior High School.  Now, they’re finishing college: As usual, there were a limited number of spectators:with a limited attention span… This year, the students hung tags around the venue with their post-graduation plans:and each student received a graduation ring:

I’ve been teaching “Business English” to this group of Thai students:You can listen to the song that they sang during the graduation ceremony by clicking Thailand Song.  It might surprise you to know that the lead singer was a boy (with the English name “Boy”).

Other students with interesting “English” names include “Bear” and “Rabbit”:

and “Ricardo,” a unique Mexican-sounding name for a Chinese person who hopes to open a Thai restaurant:Our students invited us to join their graduation party:We enjoyed the fish and duck: and a unique cake with each student’s name on a piece of white chocolate:The “name cards” served as a sweet way to hold a final roll call.  We’ll miss these kids, and hope to keep in touch as they embark on a new chapter of life.

The Kunming military academy trained soldiers during the first half of the 20th century.  It now houses a military museum:

In the center of the compound is a large parade ground:

Inside, the displays take you through several decades of conflicts, with photos of past heroes:

recruiting efforts:

dispensary and dormitories:

and old weapons:

There is also a large section dedicated to the anti-Japanese war:

Looking down the cannon barrel

reminding us that the Chinese and American soldiers fought side-by-side to expel the Japanese invaders from China:

On this Memorial Day weekend, we hope that both nations can continue to live in peace.

On Mother’s Day, we visited the “City of Flower” on the Northeast side of town:It’s an indoor garden, with a huge flower peacock in the center:In addition to many types of flowers, there were succulents, waterfalls,

many people taking selfies:

and some very realistic artwork: The exit of the garden becomes a French street,which leads to an antique perfumer’s shop,describing the history of fragrance extraction from Asian flowers.  The next stage in the process was a very large gift shop where you could purchase expensive perfumes, soaps, etc.

But it was Mother’s Day, so we opted for a different scent – pizza!And since it was Mother’s Day, we chose the typical “Western” pizza instead of something more suited for Asian palates (click to expand and see what’s on Pizza Hut’s menu in China):Yum yum!

When our children were small, we often enjoyed reading the Dr. Seuss book “Great Day for Up.”  It is still a good idea to look up – you never know what you might see.  Like these beautiful jacaranda trees lining the streets in our city,bright bougainvilleas,or large light fixtures designed to look like coconuts:Rooftops near the zoo exit may be adorned with something alive,while temple rooftops are often decorated with stranger things:We recently were surprised to look up and see a new, handicap “accessible” bathroom,but unfortunately, you might have to climb a flight of stairs to get there:Look up above this restaurant to see a picture of their specialty food:It’s not unusual to see a bird cage hanging in a tree outside of our apartment:but this was the first time we saw a rabbit cage in a tree:You never know what you might see, so keep looking up!

May 1st was a holiday, so we took a trip to visit some friends in the city of Yuxi.  We rode the bus and subway to the new South Train Station (unusually vacant):and boarded a high-speed train for the 55 mile ride (avg speed = 103 mph):Our seats were $7 each:We passed thousands of greenhouses on the journey, reminding us of the huge quantities of food required to feed the millions of residents in our city:Upon arrival in Yuxi, our friends took us to lunch at a duck restaurant:
The duck was especially delicious and we ate almost everything, except this particular part.  I’ll let you guess what it is (hint: we left it “behind”):After lunch, we visited a beautiful park:Sorry to say, this park was entirely funded by a massive cigarette factory across the street:It is the first time where we have visited a park with statuary of famous smokers:and a cigarette museum:featuring famous Chinese and foreign brands: Behind the factory was the largest pipe I’ve ever seen (the people on the left provide a sense of scale):The smoking theme continued as we passed a forest fire on the bus ride home:It was a unique trip, and we are thankful for the opportunity to see our friends!

This week we took an afternoon off to visit Western Hills park on the southeast side of town (it’s been five years!).  Since we don’t own a car, we often need to figure out how to get to places using public transit.  In this case, we used more than the usual modes, starting with scanning/renting bikes for a ride to the bus stop: We then caught a city bus to head south: At the south bus station, we walked to the subway: By the way, our subway has a culturally appropriate announcement, reminding the passengers (in Chinese and English) not to spit (click Subway Message to listen).  We arrived at the base of Western Hills park and rode a shuttle bus to the midpoint:Since we wanted to get to the top of the mountain,we rode a cable car (the blue line on the map):After climbing to the top, the view toward the city was relatively clear:On the way down, we passed some old buildings and played a slow game of checkers with a Chinese man: To get back home, we rode our sixth mode of transportation, the ubiquitous teal taxi:Sometimes, getting there and back is half the adventure!

Here we go again with the random photos:

In our part of China, it’s harvest time – time to harvest old rebar from a nearby village that is undergoing demolition:

It’s a hard job, busting concrete and extracting the rebar.  Meanwhile, another dirty job is underway at the edge of our road, where two ladies spend all day near the dumpster, salvaging any recyclables or treasures they can find:This reminds us to be thankful for all of our blessings, including a meal of “Dai minority” food with a student:We also have the privilege of getting “shaokao” (barbecue) from a nearby chef (squinting away the spicy smoke):The orange juice company made a huge technology advance recently by adding a round spout to the top of their carton (on the right).  The old design (on the left) always dribbled so badly that we had to cut the cardboard corner and pour out of the end:During a recent visit to a park, we saw a group of fishermen crowded around a small pond:Surprisingly, one man actually caught a fish:While they fished, others “shot” birds (with their cameras):I expect that their big cameras did a better job than our compact one:Some just played checkers:When Chinese people work, they work hard.  But when they relax, they really relax.

The buildings at our new campus are large and impressive, but they have a problem:The brick veneer has been falling off:Not only does it make our new school look old, it poses an obvious safety risk for the thousands of students walking by every day:The problem was recently addressed:It may not be the best solution, but it keeps the students from dawdling on the way to the classrooms!Each week, I enjoy eating with my students in the school cafeteria:

This week, my lunch reminded me of the bluegills in the neighborhood pond where I grew up, complete with marsh plants:One more student photo:These are the students from Thailand in my Business English class.  Since it was “Songkran Festival” in Thailand that day, most of them wore traditional flowered shirts.  They are unusually happy because I brought them some durian candy (which would make most western people run and hide)!