This Sunday has been a great day. Everything has seemed sunny, despite my sore throat and runny nose. I've begun to relish the second I can step out of my quiet apartment into the hustle and bustle of the Nanchang streets. I think I'm becoming more of an extrovert instead of an introvert. I feel withdrawn and a little sad when I'm not out in the crazy, colorful world here.
Early this morning we went to fellowship downtown again. There were maybe 40 people there, which was amazing. Many of the people who had gone away for the holiday had returned. The simplicity and sort of haphazard way the service runs is starting to grow on me. The worship seems so much more powerful. The message seems more meaningful. The crumbled Chinese cookies used for communion seem so much more real. After fellowship ended at noon about 20 of us went out to eat at a restaurant. It was fun to be around other foreigners who weren't just my team, although I love my team dearly.
Then my roommate, Rachael, and I headed to Wal-mart to find contact solution. That is what outings to the store are like here. You really can only get a couple things at a time and usually takes a while to find them/ stand in line. We used charades to ask employees where contact solution was. They sent us to the eye cream aisle, the mascara aisle, and then the eye-drop aisle. We stumbled upon the contact solution in a very isolated corner of the "vision center." Just finding that one item made us feel victorious.
While at Wal-mart we also looked at cameras, because it wasn't as crowded as a few days ago. I wanted to replace my broken camera. We looked at several Kodaks, like my old camera, but the ones they sell in China aren't very good at all. They seemed a lot cheaper quality and so I had to pass on the Kodaks. I'm sorry, Grandpa! I know we all love Kodak and are loyal to Kodak, especially because you worked there...
Then we happened upon a whole street filled with camera shops! I went into several and ended up in a nice little shop. After much consideration, I bought a brand new Sony that was at a reasonable price. It also seemed pretty high quality after looking at a bunch of others. So I'm a proud new owner of a swanky camera. After finding contact solution AND a camera, it felt like our day was complete. We spoke some English and Chinese (Rachael speaks much more than I do) and we smiled a whole lot with the people around us.
As we were leaving the store we had to figure out how to get home on the bus. I'm ashamed to say I was thinking, "what's the catch?" The day had gone too smoothly. Well, we shoved our way onto Bus #231. Somebody's elbow was in my face and my bags were probably digging into people's legs. It was pretty crowded, but nothing new. We were ready to get off the bus near the old campus when it turned the exact opposite way at the last second. It drove for several minutes before coming to another stop and the end of the line.
We were deposited in what I'd like to think of as the Chinese suburbs. The wide streets and sidewalks, lined with palm trees and huge flowering bushes, were entirely deserted. It was the quietest I've ever heard China. So we started the long trek back to campus. It took 40 minutes to get to the gate, but we were still in a pretty good mood.
Tonight we had praise and request-sharing as a team, which is refreshing. I think we are all anticipating the start of a new week of teaching. Thanks for your thoughts as we start this week anew. Please let me know if I can be thinking of you!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
A Nanchang Saturday
Today is Saturday and it's almost over. The days just fly by. This morning at 10 a.m. a few of us hopped on a bus to go to a bigger supermarket down a ways on the road. I was pretty excited because I knew that this time we could get in and get out. We knew the way and there wouldn't be any obstacles. However, we got the buses mixed up and got on the wrong one. Couldn't you see that coming? Every day there is a little mini adventure and I have come to expect it and even anticipate it now.
We ended up on this random street that was like a Home Depot road. All these tiny shops were filled with countertops and toilets. Men stood out on the half sidewalk/half dirt path sawing away at things. We walked around them and around the dozen or so chickens that were sharing the same walkway with us. We ended up walking for 45 minutes to get to the supermarket. It was a Saturday morning, so it was pretty packed of course. I ended up with some raisins and crackers and even peanut butter!
It then took us a while to get back to campus because all the buses were so crowded and wouldn't even stop at the station. We stood at the station for a while as thick plumes of smoke from tons of firecrackers almost choked us. A wedding was just dismissed or whatever right next to the bus stop. Two guys carried out wheel-size firecracker boxes and commenced to explode about 6 of them. We got back to school at 12:30 p.m.-- 2 1/2 hours after we had started out.
This afternoon was uneventful as we worked on syllabi (sp?) for class and lesson plans. Then a few of us and several very animated, endearing Chinese students set out to find dinner. Nanchang has frequent power outages we have heard, but I didn't experience one until today. At dinnertime the power was out so we headed out the back gate in search of food. It was very dusky and I could just see people sitting in the little shops with candles. They weren't cooking food. So we went out on the main road in search of food, but as far as the eye could see, all the power was out.
My stomach was hurting a lot from who knows what at this point, so I turned around. I bought a big slice of watermelon from a vendor and just sat outside my apartment building in the dark spitting out millions of watermelon seeds. In the dark I looked just like a Chinese person.
Our power just came back on so now I'm cooking some noodles. Most of the rest of campus is still without power. The Chinese pop music and announcements that usually blare across campus on loudspeakers are also quiet. It is now totally dark and students are still playing basketball on the dozen or so courts beneath my window. They sure are dedicated! They play from sun up until past sun down, rain or shine, light or no light.
Last night we went to a place in downtown Nanchang called Bro's Pizza. It was one of the nicest places I've ever been to. I felt like I was stepping into a swanky New York City establishment as all the sounds and smells of the outdoors receded. The pizza was really good. It is pretty expensive for China ($4 for each of us) and it felt sort of like an escape, so maybe it will be a place to go for special occasions and not very frequently. Most of the restaurants around campus cost about 20 cents to a dollar, so that's where we eat most often. Those are some of the best places to interact with ordinary Chinese people.
Could you please lift up my health? Thankfully I've been so healthy and fine up until today. This morning I woke up with an extremely congested head, perpetually runny nose, and a constant stomach ache. It's not really bad, but enough that you feel rather crummy and unsociable. Thanks!
We ended up on this random street that was like a Home Depot road. All these tiny shops were filled with countertops and toilets. Men stood out on the half sidewalk/half dirt path sawing away at things. We walked around them and around the dozen or so chickens that were sharing the same walkway with us. We ended up walking for 45 minutes to get to the supermarket. It was a Saturday morning, so it was pretty packed of course. I ended up with some raisins and crackers and even peanut butter!
It then took us a while to get back to campus because all the buses were so crowded and wouldn't even stop at the station. We stood at the station for a while as thick plumes of smoke from tons of firecrackers almost choked us. A wedding was just dismissed or whatever right next to the bus stop. Two guys carried out wheel-size firecracker boxes and commenced to explode about 6 of them. We got back to school at 12:30 p.m.-- 2 1/2 hours after we had started out.
This afternoon was uneventful as we worked on syllabi (sp?) for class and lesson plans. Then a few of us and several very animated, endearing Chinese students set out to find dinner. Nanchang has frequent power outages we have heard, but I didn't experience one until today. At dinnertime the power was out so we headed out the back gate in search of food. It was very dusky and I could just see people sitting in the little shops with candles. They weren't cooking food. So we went out on the main road in search of food, but as far as the eye could see, all the power was out.
My stomach was hurting a lot from who knows what at this point, so I turned around. I bought a big slice of watermelon from a vendor and just sat outside my apartment building in the dark spitting out millions of watermelon seeds. In the dark I looked just like a Chinese person.
Our power just came back on so now I'm cooking some noodles. Most of the rest of campus is still without power. The Chinese pop music and announcements that usually blare across campus on loudspeakers are also quiet. It is now totally dark and students are still playing basketball on the dozen or so courts beneath my window. They sure are dedicated! They play from sun up until past sun down, rain or shine, light or no light.
Last night we went to a place in downtown Nanchang called Bro's Pizza. It was one of the nicest places I've ever been to. I felt like I was stepping into a swanky New York City establishment as all the sounds and smells of the outdoors receded. The pizza was really good. It is pretty expensive for China ($4 for each of us) and it felt sort of like an escape, so maybe it will be a place to go for special occasions and not very frequently. Most of the restaurants around campus cost about 20 cents to a dollar, so that's where we eat most often. Those are some of the best places to interact with ordinary Chinese people.
Could you please lift up my health? Thankfully I've been so healthy and fine up until today. This morning I woke up with an extremely congested head, perpetually runny nose, and a constant stomach ache. It's not really bad, but enough that you feel rather crummy and unsociable. Thanks!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Life at the Carnival
Today was like a carnival, just like all the other days of this national holiday week. This morning our school driver picked our team up and a few other foreign teachers to see all the Nanchang "sights."
First we managed to get through downtown and parked near a temple. Several of the tree-lined streets surrounding the temple were like a make-shift festival. It reminded me of an old movie. Long streets were packed with vendors selling everything from fried squid on a stick to miniature bunnies in cages. Our team leader ended up with a gold fish. People were packed so tightly on the streets that I just focused on breathing. Men with microphones stood on little stages hawking their wares to little crowds gathered before them. Kids walked around with cotton candy and beggars sat in the middle of the river of people asking for change. The constant blaring microphones and music, in addition to thick smoke from the cooking food, and all the thousands of people, started to overwhelm me after the first hour. We just walked from one street to another without a destination in sight.
After that outing we headed to Nanchang's ritzy department store, "Rainbow." It is 8 stories tall and is filled with fancy clothes and very expensive shoes. A couple of girls on my team even ate cheescake there. We ate lunch there at a Chinese-style food court. I had spicy chicken on bones, green beans, and tomatoes with egg.
For the grand finale of the day they took us to the outskirts of town to Nanchang's ferris wheel. This is not an ordinary ferris wheel. This ferris wheel was the tallest in the world until last year. It puts the London Eye to shame. A few of my teammates and I paid the 50 yuan fare and rode on it for 45 minutes. It moved so slowly that a few times I thought for sure we were stuck. It was sort of crazy. We were all pretty fine and then one teammate basically started to hyperventilate because we were moving the car so much. Anyway, I tried not to freak out. We had a good view of the hazy Nanchang skyline, which is pretty impressive for this average sized inland city. We were also perched nearly above the big brown river. Countless barges the same color as the muddy river slowly moved along.
It was a pretty good day, but I think I'm ready for the holiday to be over. I don't feel productive at all, but still tired because we go on these wild excursions nearly every day. It has been great to see more of the city and the people. I would also like to see my students again!
Speaking of students, we met up with four Chinese students last night who are sisters in him. It was very nice getting to know them. We ate dinner, went to a karaoke place, and then taught them to play baseball at the old campus. We started playing baseball at about 8:30 p.m. It was so fun. We had a consistent crowd of about 50 students and the occasional police man watching. We managed to engage quite a few of them in the game. They thought it was extremely exciting and we had a great time. We played nearly until curfew under the Nanchang sky lit up with national day fireworks. It was a fitting end to the day.
First we managed to get through downtown and parked near a temple. Several of the tree-lined streets surrounding the temple were like a make-shift festival. It reminded me of an old movie. Long streets were packed with vendors selling everything from fried squid on a stick to miniature bunnies in cages. Our team leader ended up with a gold fish. People were packed so tightly on the streets that I just focused on breathing. Men with microphones stood on little stages hawking their wares to little crowds gathered before them. Kids walked around with cotton candy and beggars sat in the middle of the river of people asking for change. The constant blaring microphones and music, in addition to thick smoke from the cooking food, and all the thousands of people, started to overwhelm me after the first hour. We just walked from one street to another without a destination in sight.
After that outing we headed to Nanchang's ritzy department store, "Rainbow." It is 8 stories tall and is filled with fancy clothes and very expensive shoes. A couple of girls on my team even ate cheescake there. We ate lunch there at a Chinese-style food court. I had spicy chicken on bones, green beans, and tomatoes with egg.
For the grand finale of the day they took us to the outskirts of town to Nanchang's ferris wheel. This is not an ordinary ferris wheel. This ferris wheel was the tallest in the world until last year. It puts the London Eye to shame. A few of my teammates and I paid the 50 yuan fare and rode on it for 45 minutes. It moved so slowly that a few times I thought for sure we were stuck. It was sort of crazy. We were all pretty fine and then one teammate basically started to hyperventilate because we were moving the car so much. Anyway, I tried not to freak out. We had a good view of the hazy Nanchang skyline, which is pretty impressive for this average sized inland city. We were also perched nearly above the big brown river. Countless barges the same color as the muddy river slowly moved along.
It was a pretty good day, but I think I'm ready for the holiday to be over. I don't feel productive at all, but still tired because we go on these wild excursions nearly every day. It has been great to see more of the city and the people. I would also like to see my students again!
Speaking of students, we met up with four Chinese students last night who are sisters in him. It was very nice getting to know them. We ate dinner, went to a karaoke place, and then taught them to play baseball at the old campus. We started playing baseball at about 8:30 p.m. It was so fun. We had a consistent crowd of about 50 students and the occasional police man watching. We managed to engage quite a few of them in the game. They thought it was extremely exciting and we had a great time. We played nearly until curfew under the Nanchang sky lit up with national day fireworks. It was a fitting end to the day.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Walmart and National Day
What happens when you go to the world's busiest Wal-mart on its busiest day of the year? I got to find out today.
Today happens to be October 1st, which is China's national day. It is a celebration of the founding of the communist People's Republic in 1949. So it's a big deal. Well, we also happen to be in the city where the whole communist revolution began.
This morning Joelle, Rachael, and I decided to head downtown to the main square to go to the Bai Yi Walmart which is the world's busiest. We didn't think many people would be there. Actually it was the day everyone wants to go to Walmart.
We walked outside the school gates and found a bus stop. We had to wait for several buses before one finally stopped to pick us up, because they were so full the doors couldn't even open. So on one bus Joelle and Rachael dashed for the back door and I lunged in through the front door. I rode the 20 minute ride with my back plastered to the door and with my face inches from the windshield. I could better see how close our bus was to running over people and cars.
A couple minutes into the ride the bus driver started talking to me and I couldn't understand him so the 10 people around him, who were all smashed together tried to help him out. The whole front of the bus was urgently telling me something in Chinese. Then they gave up because I couldn't figure it out. A few minutes later they all tried again and I felt really dumb. Finally some kid said in English, "Your friends did not put money in the box!" Ohhhh, okayyy. So I found some money and chucked it into the box next to the driver. Then everyone was happy again. Or as happy as they could be all tangled up together on the stuffy bus.
We jumped off the bus close to the square and were swept along with thousands of other people to the square. The square was filled with Chinese sitting or standing by the monuments and red banners. Little kids carried Chinese flags. I sort of felt like I was intruding on their holiday. They seem very proud of their country.
We tried in vain to find some lunch. All the restaurants and shops were overflowing and it was impossible to get anything to eat. So we followed the wave of people to Wal-mart on one side of the square. Wal-marts in China have several levels and you have to get on escalators. Rachael, Joelle, and I hung on to each other like a train and just let the crowd take us as mobs of people fed into the escalator line.
The Wal-mart itself was also packed. Picture the worst possible day at an American Wal-mart and multiply it by at least 30. I couldn't really see anything in the aisles so I ended up with a couple of random things like spaghetti sauce, banana bread, and a hair dryer. Random Chinese shoppers went out of their way to make sure I had the perfect hair dryer. They pointed to the best ones and demonstrated. I ended up with a little Panasonic one.
To check out, we had to choose from 40 checkout lines, each one with at least 15 or 20 people in them. We finally got out of there and decided to take a taxi back. We managed to chose the craziest driver in Nanchang.
We got back to campus in record time and were miraculously safe. He drove most of the time on the opposite side of the road at 90 km/hr and would just swerve back to the right side when there were 3 lanes of buses and trucks barreling toward us. People on bikes had to jump off to avoid getting hit by him. It was better not to watch.
Even though the outing was crazy, I'm so glad I got to experience it. This was Chinese culture at its greatest. This afternoon has been much slower. We are going to eat dinner with some Chinese students. I know this sounds rushed, but I better get going. Thanks for your thoughts!
Today happens to be October 1st, which is China's national day. It is a celebration of the founding of the communist People's Republic in 1949. So it's a big deal. Well, we also happen to be in the city where the whole communist revolution began.
This morning Joelle, Rachael, and I decided to head downtown to the main square to go to the Bai Yi Walmart which is the world's busiest. We didn't think many people would be there. Actually it was the day everyone wants to go to Walmart.
We walked outside the school gates and found a bus stop. We had to wait for several buses before one finally stopped to pick us up, because they were so full the doors couldn't even open. So on one bus Joelle and Rachael dashed for the back door and I lunged in through the front door. I rode the 20 minute ride with my back plastered to the door and with my face inches from the windshield. I could better see how close our bus was to running over people and cars.
A couple minutes into the ride the bus driver started talking to me and I couldn't understand him so the 10 people around him, who were all smashed together tried to help him out. The whole front of the bus was urgently telling me something in Chinese. Then they gave up because I couldn't figure it out. A few minutes later they all tried again and I felt really dumb. Finally some kid said in English, "Your friends did not put money in the box!" Ohhhh, okayyy. So I found some money and chucked it into the box next to the driver. Then everyone was happy again. Or as happy as they could be all tangled up together on the stuffy bus.
We jumped off the bus close to the square and were swept along with thousands of other people to the square. The square was filled with Chinese sitting or standing by the monuments and red banners. Little kids carried Chinese flags. I sort of felt like I was intruding on their holiday. They seem very proud of their country.
We tried in vain to find some lunch. All the restaurants and shops were overflowing and it was impossible to get anything to eat. So we followed the wave of people to Wal-mart on one side of the square. Wal-marts in China have several levels and you have to get on escalators. Rachael, Joelle, and I hung on to each other like a train and just let the crowd take us as mobs of people fed into the escalator line.
The Wal-mart itself was also packed. Picture the worst possible day at an American Wal-mart and multiply it by at least 30. I couldn't really see anything in the aisles so I ended up with a couple of random things like spaghetti sauce, banana bread, and a hair dryer. Random Chinese shoppers went out of their way to make sure I had the perfect hair dryer. They pointed to the best ones and demonstrated. I ended up with a little Panasonic one.
To check out, we had to choose from 40 checkout lines, each one with at least 15 or 20 people in them. We finally got out of there and decided to take a taxi back. We managed to chose the craziest driver in Nanchang.
We got back to campus in record time and were miraculously safe. He drove most of the time on the opposite side of the road at 90 km/hr and would just swerve back to the right side when there were 3 lanes of buses and trucks barreling toward us. People on bikes had to jump off to avoid getting hit by him. It was better not to watch.
Even though the outing was crazy, I'm so glad I got to experience it. This was Chinese culture at its greatest. This afternoon has been much slower. We are going to eat dinner with some Chinese students. I know this sounds rushed, but I better get going. Thanks for your thoughts!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Old campus happenings
There hasn't been much to report for the past couple of days. It is strange having a week-long holiday since we just got here. Tomorrow is national day and I'm starting to think it's like the 4th of July here. They shoot off fireworks every night like crazy and go travel all over the country to visit relatives.
Yesterday morning I went outside and ran around the school's track. It is difficult to exercise outside because everybody wants to join you. It was nice to run, especially because it was such a gorgeous day. Right when I stopped, students converged upon me peppering me with questions.
Last night we went out to eat for dinner as usual. We ate at a tiny dumpling store for about 1 yuan each (about 20 cents). Then the five of us girls gathered to watch a movie, which was a lot of fun.
This morning, Jodi, one of our teammates, had us work out with her to a Richard Simmons DVD. Sorry, Jodi, he's pretty creepy. Then a few of us went out the front gate in search of lunch and went to a new restaurant for us. There are so many tiny restaurants to pick from! We ended up eating some chicken, eggs with onion, and tofu.
When we were walking through the gate one of the big guards got up from his bench and grabbed my hand. He shook it very excitedly for a really long time while smiling and staring at me. I smiled back and had to pry my hand out of his vice grip. Then I had to go catch up with my friends and we continued on our way. There's always something unexpected and random that happens.
The rest of the day will probably be spent lesson planning and writing a syllabus. I'm really looking forward to getting to know my students better. The holiday is nice, but I'm sort of anxious to get back to work.
Yesterday morning I went outside and ran around the school's track. It is difficult to exercise outside because everybody wants to join you. It was nice to run, especially because it was such a gorgeous day. Right when I stopped, students converged upon me peppering me with questions.
Last night we went out to eat for dinner as usual. We ate at a tiny dumpling store for about 1 yuan each (about 20 cents). Then the five of us girls gathered to watch a movie, which was a lot of fun.
This morning, Jodi, one of our teammates, had us work out with her to a Richard Simmons DVD. Sorry, Jodi, he's pretty creepy. Then a few of us went out the front gate in search of lunch and went to a new restaurant for us. There are so many tiny restaurants to pick from! We ended up eating some chicken, eggs with onion, and tofu.
When we were walking through the gate one of the big guards got up from his bench and grabbed my hand. He shook it very excitedly for a really long time while smiling and staring at me. I smiled back and had to pry my hand out of his vice grip. Then I had to go catch up with my friends and we continued on our way. There's always something unexpected and random that happens.
The rest of the day will probably be spent lesson planning and writing a syllabus. I'm really looking forward to getting to know my students better. The holiday is nice, but I'm sort of anxious to get back to work.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Every nation
This Sunday morning we went to international "fellowship" in downtown. We met at a hotel. There were about 30 of us--Americans, Canadians, Australians, Indonesians, Koreans, and Germans. A couple of people played guitar and we sang for worship. Then one of the Americans gave a short message on Proverbs 22. It was as close as a service you could have in China, which was cool. The best part I think was the diversity in the room. It was neat to be part of a small fellowship with other brothers and sisters who reflect just even a small portion of all the nations and languages that will gather around his throne someday.
Afterwards about 20 of us went to eat Chinese food, of course, at a nearby restaurant. Then my team and another team walked to Bai Yi square in the center of downtown. I'm sure the square will be crazy in just a few short days for national day. We hopped on a crowded bus and rode on "Beijing Street" all the way to campus. Thankfully there were no incidents today.
All in all today has been uneventful, which is sort of a nice change. The only interesting food I ate today was dumplings with donkey meat. I'm going to spend some time reading right now. So this blog post isn't very exciting! Zai jian!
Afterwards about 20 of us went to eat Chinese food, of course, at a nearby restaurant. Then my team and another team walked to Bai Yi square in the center of downtown. I'm sure the square will be crazy in just a few short days for national day. We hopped on a crowded bus and rode on "Beijing Street" all the way to campus. Thankfully there were no incidents today.
All in all today has been uneventful, which is sort of a nice change. The only interesting food I ate today was dumplings with donkey meat. I'm going to spend some time reading right now. So this blog post isn't very exciting! Zai jian!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Crazier than a movie
Today has been a bizarre day so far. The weather is pretty cool and overcast, which is a very nice change. At 7:30 a.m. we headed into downtown to get our resident cards at the security bureau. That was pretty uneventful and actually only took an hour. Then our driver took us to the new campus for us to each teach a Saturday class.
We saw so many accidents on the 30 minute trip to the new campus. In China there are technically laws and rules of the road, but nobody follows them. Mopeds, vans, tractors, bicycles, cars, and huge trucks drive in every direction on all sides of the road. And they all barrel along the road at a million miles per hour. I've been so surprised that we had not seen an accident or been in an accident yet. But today we did and I feel so sad. There was an awful lot of traffic today because next week is the October holiday. Everybody has somewhere to go right now.
For one accident we saw, there was a commotion on the road in front of our van. Our driver slowed down to a stop and yelled out the window. Right next to our door was a moped accident. Two mopeds were smashed to pieces and a couple men had gathered around another lifeless man. We sat and watched as they tried to pick up the man in his crumpled blue suit. They couldn't lift him though and he kept falling back onto his briefcase. He was dead. And all the crazy traffic continued to drive around him.
That was the last thing I wanted or expected to see early on a Saturday morning. Our driver shook his head sadly for a moment and then we went on. I just stared at the road and started crying. I thought mostly of his family who probably loved him and depended on him and now he was gone.
So when we finally got to class, I wasn't in the best mood. I had a freshmen English class that I really enjoy, though. They are super good kids. I was in the middle of teaching my lesson, when "BAM!" A student flew through the door from the hallway and landed at my feet by the chalkboard-- he was also lifeless. I was in disbelief. What on earth??
My class also was in disbelief and just sat there in their seats. Two other students immediately rushed in from the hallway and peeled him off the floor. They were saying to me, "Sorry, sorry." I followed them out into the hallway as they tried to revive him. He finally came to and he staggered back into a different classroom. When I looked back again at my students they acted like nothing strange had happened. Maybe they didn't want that unconscious kid to lose face? I don't understand Chinese, so I have no clue what had happened to him. I've learned not to ask questions in China...
I actually have some free time right now so I'm not sure what to do with myself. I washed some laundry and hung it out to dry. My roommate, Rachael, and I just walked a mile around the school track right outside our apartment building. Everything we do outside is under the watchful and curious eyes of dozens of people, sometimes hundreds. Just walking around the track falls under that category. The track wasn't that crowded, but by the time we left there were students playing badminton and basketball on the track as we navigated around them. There were also some very fit Chinese men doing handstands and pushups. Well, now it is time to go find another meal.
We saw so many accidents on the 30 minute trip to the new campus. In China there are technically laws and rules of the road, but nobody follows them. Mopeds, vans, tractors, bicycles, cars, and huge trucks drive in every direction on all sides of the road. And they all barrel along the road at a million miles per hour. I've been so surprised that we had not seen an accident or been in an accident yet. But today we did and I feel so sad. There was an awful lot of traffic today because next week is the October holiday. Everybody has somewhere to go right now.
For one accident we saw, there was a commotion on the road in front of our van. Our driver slowed down to a stop and yelled out the window. Right next to our door was a moped accident. Two mopeds were smashed to pieces and a couple men had gathered around another lifeless man. We sat and watched as they tried to pick up the man in his crumpled blue suit. They couldn't lift him though and he kept falling back onto his briefcase. He was dead. And all the crazy traffic continued to drive around him.
That was the last thing I wanted or expected to see early on a Saturday morning. Our driver shook his head sadly for a moment and then we went on. I just stared at the road and started crying. I thought mostly of his family who probably loved him and depended on him and now he was gone.
So when we finally got to class, I wasn't in the best mood. I had a freshmen English class that I really enjoy, though. They are super good kids. I was in the middle of teaching my lesson, when "BAM!" A student flew through the door from the hallway and landed at my feet by the chalkboard-- he was also lifeless. I was in disbelief. What on earth??
My class also was in disbelief and just sat there in their seats. Two other students immediately rushed in from the hallway and peeled him off the floor. They were saying to me, "Sorry, sorry." I followed them out into the hallway as they tried to revive him. He finally came to and he staggered back into a different classroom. When I looked back again at my students they acted like nothing strange had happened. Maybe they didn't want that unconscious kid to lose face? I don't understand Chinese, so I have no clue what had happened to him. I've learned not to ask questions in China...
I actually have some free time right now so I'm not sure what to do with myself. I washed some laundry and hung it out to dry. My roommate, Rachael, and I just walked a mile around the school track right outside our apartment building. Everything we do outside is under the watchful and curious eyes of dozens of people, sometimes hundreds. Just walking around the track falls under that category. The track wasn't that crowded, but by the time we left there were students playing badminton and basketball on the track as we navigated around them. There were also some very fit Chinese men doing handstands and pushups. Well, now it is time to go find another meal.
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