From Grits to Chopsticks

Babies have been on our minds since our daughter found out that she’s expecting a boy in early March and our niece recently delivered a little girl.  Of course, babies are adorable everywhere, and China is no exception.  One of the differences here is that the babies tend to be dressed more warmly than we’re used to seeing — most wear several layers of clothing.  We were told that if it’s “officially winter,” children will be dressed in winter clothing, even if it’s 70 degF outside:

Although there are a few families with strollers, the typical mode of transportation is usually in colorful carriers on the backs of mothers or grandmothers:

 Thankfully, they’re careful how they sit on the bus!

Less common, but occasionally still seen, is a basket:

Of course, this way is always handy!

Another major difference: the ubiquitous split pants.  Not much business in diapers here!

A one-day break in the rainy season during the national holiday gave us a chance to visit the “Bamboo Temple” with some friends:

This ancient temple has expansive grounds, buildings, and a collection of 500 full-sized human sculptures, created by a Sichuanese artist in the late 1800s. 

There are also quite a few “other” statues:

Most of these statues are equipped with stoops, providing a place for worshippers to kneel and bow:

Our local temples are places mixed with ancient beauty and modern despair, perpetuating the cycle of bondage to gods of stone and wood who cannot save.  But there is good news of hope – of One who was dead and is now alive…

When we lived in the States, we tried to get out and walk a few times each week.  It was a great way to exercise and decompress.  And it’s no different here – we certainly need our regular time of exercise and decompression.  But then again, it is a little different in China.  While the scenery back in Georgia was usually the same (trees and more trees), we never know exactly what to expect when we step out of the door here (so Susan always brings the camera).  Here are a few photos from one recent walk.

A herd of goats munching happily alongside the road:

The goatherder minding his herd:

A Chinese 1hp vehicle:

Kids running through their local rubble pile after school:

A business relocation service:

And pretty mountains with a glorious sky on an unusually clear day:

When we started school a few weeks ago, we knew that this would be a busy semester.  The official count is in – I have 175 students enrolled in my four different classes.  Here’s a photo of one of my International Business classes during a trading exercise:

It will take a lot of work to get to know them all, but it is well worth it.  In addition to scheduled lunches and twice-weekly English corners at our apartment, we try to get out and do things together with students.  Here’s a group shot from a hike that we took last Thursday on the local mountain trails (I probably should have been standing on the downhill end):

Unless you’ve been to China, it’s really hard to get a true picture of how many students can be concentrated into such a small area.  On the short walk to my school each day, I walk past one university, can see another one directly behind ours, and am a half-mile away from two more (maybe a total of 50,000 students).  We took this shot as we walked by the main gate of the orthopedic university last week:

Of course, it helps when you pack 6 kids into each dormitory room!  Just like American students, many of these kids are worried about what the future holds for them.  During these uncertain times, it’s good to know the One who holds the future.

On our side of the world we’re preparing for the Mid-Autumn festival, a harvest celebration that takes place on the Autumnal Equinox.  The most visible part of this three-day holiday is the gathering of families to eat mooncakes.  And they must eat a bunch of them, because there are large displays of mooncake gift sets everywhere you look:

The gift sets are really fancy, and as with many traditions here there is a feeling that eating the right mooncakes will bring good luck.  However, eating them must not bring much help when it comes to spelling!

It’s even hard to find a loaf of bread at our local bakery.  80% of their shelf space is now occupied by mooncakes:

We’ve asked a few students about whether or not they like mooncakes and gotten mixed reviews.  It kind of reminds us of the old tradition of giving fruitcakes at Christmas (the first bite is interesting, but then…).

Unfortunately, they don’t actually “give” you a three day holiday in our country – they just “lend” it to you.  As you can see from my school calendar below, we have to make up most of these holidays (and the October national days) on the adjacent weekends:

In Chapter 3 of the book of Ecclesiates, we are reminded that there is a time for every matter under heaven.  As our city rapidly marches toward modernization, the old communities are rapidly being destroyed.  Without a great deal of warning, the Chinese character for “destroy” is spray painted on walls and buildings:

The building residents must then move out and find a new place to live, a difficult task in the face of rising rent and limited space.  Entire complexes are emptied, stripped and prepared for destruction:

The wrecking equipment arrives and bangs away, often leveling an entire city block of buildings:

In our city, we are “blessed” with this constant reminder of how temporary our biggest earthly accomplishments are.

When we arrived in our city earlier this year, we quickly learned that Yunnan province was experiencing their worst drought in over 50 years.  Lakes and rivers were drying up, and the water used for irrigation of street-side vegetation was particularly pungent (it’s pumped from the sewer…).

But then in July the rainy season descended upon us, bringing heavy showers every day.   The dust levels dropped dramatically and we worked our way through a few umbrellas:

Since our apartment is on a low floor and surrounded by other, larger buildings, the humidity stayed high.  We didn’t realize how much of a problem we had until our recent trip to the States.  We pulled out a suitcase, only to find it covered in mold.

When we returned, we also found quite a bit of mold on our furniture:

There’s definitely a lot to be said for the drying effects of air conditioning.  We can’t get one of those, but perhaps we should order a dehumidifier.

Our blog has been somewhat quiet for the past few weeks as we made a quick trip back to the States to visit our family members.  On the way, we had the opportunity to stop by Timothy’s new Asian city.  Just outside of his apartment is an athletic-themed walking street, including this adult-sized teeter totter:

After visiting a local park, we stopped by Timothy’s favorite noodle shop for dinner (at least, it used to be his favorite shop – he was sick the next day).  In case you were wondering how to eat noodles with chopsticks, here’s how:

On the next segment of our trip, we ended up spending the night in Hong Kong due to a flight delay by Air China.  This might have been a pleasant side-trip if our travel schedule wasn’t already so compressed, and if it didn’t result in rebooking penalties on Delta tickets between LAX and ATL.  We tried to make the best of it, catching the train downtown and riding the tram to the top of Victoria Peak:

Speaking of airlines and food, it seems logical to include a photo of the meal that was served by China Airlines on the flight from Hong Kong to Taipei.  Where else would you get two kinds of dumplings and something wrapped in bamboo leaves?

We finally made it to Atlanta and were blessed to see family and friends there and in Columbia, SC and on the way to/from Pennsylvania.  When we arrived at Laurie’s house, it seemed appropriate to give her a uniquely Chinese baby gift.  The ubiquitous nature of these crotchless pants is one of the reasons that we always take off our shoes when entering a house in our part of the world.  You won’t find these on the gift registry at your local Target:

We enjoyed a beautiful Saturday together, including a trip to a very large miniature golf course in Strasburg, PA (“The Village Greens”).  Jeruid, our son-in-law, beat the rest of us handily with a one-over-par finish on the par 73 course (Stephen was second):

On the last day of our visit, we had the wonderful privilege of joining Laurie for a 12-week ultrasound.  It was truly amazing to see this tiny person kick his or her legs and roll over.  So here it is – the first (of many?) photos of our grandchild:

Here is our second installment on things that we find to be different in China (vs. the US).  Remember that we aren’t saying these things are bad – they are just different.  And you know what the French say: “vive la difference.”

ON THE STREET:  When you’re walking down the street, some of the food smells great and beckons you into the restaurant.  Other things might make you walk on by.  On my way to language school today, I passed by one of those meat markets where the clerk might ask the question, “Would you like horns with your goat head?”:

We always enjoy duck when we eat it in a restaurant and wonder why they don’t serve it more often in America.  Perhaps it is because you need to have a place to hang it on the sidewalk all day before serving:

It still amazes us to see the amount of rice for sale here.  In one typical shop at our local market, you can get enough rice to feed a small country:

And just when you thought it was safe to avoid the street market and head for Wal-Mart, think again: 

IN THE RESTAURANT:  Since most restaurant menus are printed in Chinese, we usually bring students along to help order.  Although it might be adventurous to point at something and see what shows up, it’s always good to have someone “in the know” to be sure you select the right variety of worms/bugs to go with a particular main course:

Whenever you get local hot-pot, you can count on a few extras in the brew:

Since we’ve never seen a restaurant with a bad rating from the local health department (of course, none of them are actually rated), we figure that they all must be safe.  As such, we end up eating at some places that probably wouldn’t even be on our radar screen back in the States, like this place where we ate some good gai fan and jiao zi (saucy rice and dumplings) with a few friends last week:

The stools were a bit short for people over 6′ tall, but underwear hanging in the corner added something special to the ambiance.  And how can you complain when you feed a group of people for 22 RMB (about $3.50).  Laugh if you will, but Susan’s only major case of food poisoning this year was the result of eating at a Taco Bell during her brief visit to the US for Stephen’s graduation.

Speaking of travel, another major food difference is found on almost all domestic airlines.  Remember the day when you would get more than a bag of peanuts on a 3 hour flight in the States?  Well, just about every flight here provides a full meal:

We can’t always figure out what’s in the bags, but the rest of the stuff seems pretty decent.

Finally, depending on the price of the restaurant, we will often bring the leftovers home in a “to-go box.”  But it’s probably not what you think – here, a “to-go box” is actually a partially used box of napkins.  Most restaurants in China do not automatically give you napkins.  You either bring your own or pay 2 RMB for a small box of them.  And when you buy the napkins in a paper-starved society, you always take home the “leftovers.”

Just after we finished grading the final exams on 17-July, two teams of summer volunteers arrived to help lead English camps at our university.  One of the groups is composed of teachers from NC and Tennessee:

This team has been working with a large group (125+) of rural teachers, helping them improve their ability to teach their students English.  We’ve enjoyed sitting in on some of these classes and have picked up some good ideas for teaching our own university students (remember, we’ve never had “real” teacher training before).

The other group of volunteers is made up of about 25 university students from Wisconsin.  They are leading two camps: one for over 100 primary school students and the other for local college students.  Here’s the Wisconsin group hanging out in our living room:

These great kids will be here for a month.  Our students love them and are learning “college English” (including some of the slang that you’d hear on an American campus).  Susan invited them to bring their dirty laundry over and has been busy trying to clean and dry it:

The washing is not a problem, but this is a tough time of year to undertake such a project without a clothes dryer.  Since this is the rainy season, everything is taking about 3 days to dry.  Fortunately, the students have reasonable expectations in the current circumstances.

Also, I had the chance to speak at the summer camp opening ceremony.  Later that day I received a call from the Provincial Education Bureau, asking for me to speak later in the week at a session for teachers heading abroad.  It turns out that their department leader attended our opening ceremony and decided that I could help their departing teachers with ideas to get integrated into the cultures where they will serve for a year as visiting scholars:

Everything was ready for my presentation at the Education Bureau until my laptop computer crashed, taking my set of PowerPoint charts with it.  But there was just enough grace in that final hour to re-create most of the charts that were on the dead Dell computer right before rushing down to the meeting room.  Nothing like a little last-minute panic to get your juices flowing before a talk.