Cultural Questions

Today’s post will be a collection of questions that friends from home have asked me about China,and conversely the most common questions that Chinese people tend to ask us.

So here goes:

Questions asked by foreigners about China.

1.Don’t all Chinese people look the same?- maybe at first but not after you know a lot of them.

2.Don’t they eat rats/dogs/cats/snakes -No.Maybe in some far-flung remote villages or in the 1950s when people were starving.But not in our experience.

3.Don’t you miss home? -sometimes,but not nearly as much as we were expecting.We sometimes hanker for bluer skies,hummus,falafel.But we have found all of these foods here and since we speak to our family a lot on Skype we are fine staying here a bit longer.

4.Can you speak/read Chinese? No. We are trying but it is really really hard. We can now order food,we know how to say where we are from and what we do,and ask the price of things,ask for larger,smaller,less expensive etc. We can’t really have much of a conversation.

5..When are you going home? We don’t know… the plan is we have no plan.

6.Is Chinese difficult? Yes,Very. As a linguist I was shocked at how difficult it is,and before we came I thought in a couple of months I would be able to chat,as I have done in almost every country we have visited. However I have come to realize this is not to be.

7.Do you know how to use chopsticks? Yes

8.Do you like Chinese food? Mostly,although i don’t like Chinese breakfast (porridge,fried dough sticks,milk tea) and I will NOT eat chicken feet or stinky tofu. However there are many dishes that I really love. And of course Chinese food is like saying “European Food” as there are different foods in every region,and China as we know is VERY BIG.

9.Don’t the police follow you around/control your movements? NO.WE can go anywhere we like.

10.Aren’t you frightened? No.The Chinese are extremely helpful and friendly and frequently go with you to show you where to go.China is a very safe country,hey nobody here walks into a cinema and just shoots people.

Poison Bar,near Xiamen University

Questions Chinese people ask us:

1.Why did you come to China?

We love travel and we came here in 2008 and realized that 3 weeks wasn’t enough and we wanted to see and learn more. Chinese people were so friendly to us then that we wanted to return.

2.Do you like China?

Yes of course,China is fascinating and every day we learn or see something new. The country is so vast and varied and we can visit many interesting places here.

Plus the school is very kind to us,gives us a salary,an apartment and our flight money so living here is a very good deal compared to most other countries.

3.What do you think about Chinese people? See above.

4.Can you use chopsticks? Yes.

5.Do you miss your family/hometown.Sometimes.See above.

6.How do you manage with the language?

We have learnt some important coping mechanisms eg. Dictionary on mobile phone,sending text messages with address in Chinese to show to people on the street,a printed page with our home address on it to show taxi drivers, etc. You have to master google maps,find out names of bus stops in Chinese and then you can manage pretty well.

(God bless the Internet)

7.What is your country like?  This is a hard one to answer.Sometimes we just show pictures,sometimes we say it is very small.The people are different,the food is different.But frankly some things cannot be given a short answer.

8,Do you know X (insert name of Chinese basketball star/singer/movie star)? No ,sorry.

9.How can I improve my Oral English? Go and talk to some foreigners,there are lots in XIamen,join couchsurfing and meet people there,find a friend and do language exchange,go to English corner at University,watch more movies without subtitles.

That’s it for now.You are invited to add your own questions.

Weather here is really hot and sultry now with the occasional downpour and thunderstorm. i love it ,D is suffering. We have started a Yoga Class twice a week (in Chinese!) run by a lady who has a ballet school for kids downstairs in the building next to ours.She has studied in Paris and so I talk to her in French which is a little bizarre.

Pictures from the Shavuot thing:

Chinese dude with kippa

 

 

 

 

On another note we are now testing our students for the end of the semester.Then we will hand in our paperwork and hop off to South Korea for 3 weeks,and then back to Israel via Hong Kong.Roll on end of the semester.We were invited to a Shavuot Dinner at the house of an israeli businessman who lives in XIamen Island.Suffice it to say that the dinner was very weird,with a very strange assortment of people,but we did enjoy meeting Tanya and Adi,a young couple who are coming to stay with us next weekend to experience the Jimei Dragon Boat race at the Jimei Dragon Pool.They are also on couchsurfing and seem very lovely.The rest of the people there were not “our kind of people”.The food however was awesome.

That’s it for now.

Countdown to the end of the semester

Officially it’s 6 weeks to the end of the semester but this week we got a mail saying that week 16 there are no classes because of Dragon Boat Festival and nobody seems to know anything about makeup classes,therefore we need to make sure that all our students have been tested and grades have been done and paperwork filled in by end of 15th week ie 7th June.Since we only see the students once every 2 weeks that doesn’t give us much time,right?

So we are now busily testing students orally in each class and chasing up students who are missing (I have one in hospital with a broken leg) and starting to fill in grades.

This means that effectively by 14th June we are done here and can travel! Yippee!

At the moment our plan is to go to South Korea for 3 weeks then fly back to Hong Kong and on to Israel on July 16th.What to do with all of our stuff? Well since we are assuming all will be well and we can come back here next semester,we can leave stuff in our apartment. Do we need to take stuff home for the summer? Not really…but maybe we should take some stuff just in case “something happens” and we don’t make it back? All very difficult as we do NOT want to schlepp all our stuff halfway across Asia. We were contemplating going to Korea by way of Taiwan but then we can always visit Taiwan next year as we are staying in Xiamen.

We have also joined an organization called “Servas” (www.servas.org) at our friends’ Renee and Barry’s recommendation.This organization is a hosting and friendship travel group,kind of like an adult’s version of couchsurfing, (www.couchsurfing.org) with groups all over the world.We have already contacted some people in Seoul whom we hope to stay with there.The idea is not just to get a free place to crash,but to foster world trust,understanding and cross cultural meetings.It sounds pretty cool anyway.

Stay posted for our developing travel plans!

At KTV with Hamburger,Jennifer,Jen and Brie

 

The Challenging Side of China-a rather Gastric week

Sorry this title is a bit off-putting.And there aren’t going to be any wonderful glossy National Geographic type pictures this week.That’s because today is a “bad China ” Day. I appear to have Gastroenteritits. Two weeks ago  I had a nasty tummy bug.I took antibiotics (purchased over the counter) as I had done last year in Lin’an. And was fine for 2 weeks except I got a cold.Then this week it came back with a vengeance.Felt dreadful.Discovered a bunch of other people in our block also felt pretty off colour.Renee and Barry came down for the weekend and Barry was also stricken with the dreaded tummy bug,which rather dampened our enthusiasm.I went out with Renee and showed her a bit of Jimei which was great.But felt bad for Barry that he couldn’t come,and D stayed home with him to keep him company.

The next day he felt a bit better so we went off to Gulangyu island,and it being a Saturday the island was crowded to bursting point,very different to our experience the previous times we have been there.I think they still had a good time,but I found it a bit disappointing.Then Renee and Barry returned to Shanghai on the Sunday morning fast train,Barry feelng much better.And on Monday night I was felled by this terrible bug.I am sure you can appreciate that when you get sick the last thing you want is to be in some foreign land without home comforts and doctors who understand you.In addition,D had a weird burning sensation on his leg making it hard for him to walk.So this morning,Friday,instead of having a day off we took a taxi to the Taiwanese hotel in Haicang that we have visited before.3 hours later we headed home each with a collection of pharmaceuticals to take for our various ailments.Tomorrow should be a Saturday but due to the May 1st weekend we have to work Saturday and Sunday to make up for having off Monday and Tuesday.! Crazy,right/ Well this is China.At least we are over half way through the semester.And if my calculations are right by June 13 we will be done with teaching and paperwork and we can head off into the sunset to …hmmm,South Korea? Japan? Taiwan? Xinjiang? Yunnan? WE just don’t know yet.We have a month before our flight home July so we shall be going somewhere.Assuming my innards are okay of course!

 

Renee and Barry Redux -Shanghai weekend again

Last weekend we had 5 days off work because it was the Chinese Festival of Qing Ming. THe holiday was Thursday and Friday,with Sunday being designated a makeup day for Friday’s classes.However since we don’t teach Wednesday or Friday this meant we effectively were free from Tuesday night until Monday afteroon! We had originally planned to go off to Guangzhou and Huizhou,two cities where we have been offered jobs for next year (still having heard nothing from XMUT) but after I read the weather forecast calling for thunderstorms and heavy rain we decided to give that a miss. We also had trouble getting our passports back from the police station in time to buy train tickets. In the end,I discovered that the weather was forecast to be much better up north,so we hit on going up to see our friends Renee and Barry up in Shanghai,a splendid city which we know and love. Fortunately Barry was due in from Hawaii on that Wednesday evening, so we would be able to see him too.We bought train tickets on the fast train from Xiamen North Station to Shanghai Hongqiao Station which left Wednesday morning at 10am and arrived a mere 9 hours later at 19,20.It was a lot cheaper than flying and the train station is 10 minutes by bus from our house,whereas the airport is down on the island and you always have to check in at last 2 hours before the flight so we figured the journey would be ok and we would be able to look at the view on the way.In fact the train journey was pretty comfortable and I managed to sleep a fair bit of the way,as on Wednesday morning I woke up with a flowing nose and head cold. On arrival in Shanghai we attempted to get the metro straight to our old friend the Asset Hotel which we have stayed in twice before. However due to my cold we got off the metro at the wrong stop and ended up getting a taxi.No matter,The hotel is pretty cheap and comfortable and has free internet and wifi,and even a safe in the room and free breakfast.Tried to call Renee on her Chinese cellphone unsuccessfully.Later found out that she had tried to call me too likewise. Next day we managed to get hold of each other and they came over our hotel and we went together to our favourite haunts in Shanghai East Nanjing Road,People’s Square and the Bund.We walked around chatting and snapping and then hit a local place for lunch.Then we went back to our neighbourhood together and walked around there a bit and then found a great place for supper in the upscale shopping mall near Shanghai Stadium right near our hotel.It was a Korean barbecue place and we just had barbecued vegetables which were delicious.Had an earlyish night as my cold was still plaguing me somewhat.

Fuxing Park

 

Next day we met up again and this time went to walk in Tianzifang Art Market where we met Yossi Sedbon, the former Chief of Tel Aviv Police,whom we recognized from the TV. This market was too crowded and so we decided to head off to another area, the famous Shanghai neighbourhood called the French Concession.It is great,with some lovely architecture and an almost European feel to it.We found the beautiful Fuxing Park which had the most wonderful trees,a lake and people doing Tai Chi and couples doing ballroom dancing.The whole place was serene and gorgeous.We headed back to the Bund in the evening and went to the Peace Hotel as we had done the previous visit with Renee and Barry and again enjoyed the Jazz there.

European Style house in French Concession

 

Tai Chi in the Park

 

Now we are back in XIamen looking forward to Renee and Barry’s visit here next weekend.Tomorrow our department is taking us on a trip to the Botanical Gardens followed by a Buffet Lunch on the island.The sun is shining but everyone at XMUT is just gossipping about who is going and who is staying next semester and nobody seems to know what is true.Some have definitely signed and some have just started looking for work elsewhere.The atmosphere is pretty weird.We are leaning towards staying even though only I have been offered a job. We feel that we are not done with Xiamen yet.We feel comfortable here in the apartment and the city is great.WE have made friends here.Time will tell…..

 

 

The weird and wonderful world of Chinese bureaucracy

This month has been very bizarre.This is a kind of continuing post from the previous one as we are still in limbo-in fact things seem to have just got more and more confused. All the teachers at our Uni except one who were offered contracts for next semester turned them down for various reasons.That one has signed but may just blow them off if he has a better offer.His girlfriend apparently wants to return to her province. Now all the other teachers (like us) who were not offered new contracts are peeved,mainly because nobody told us we are not being rehired.Various rumours circulated that maybe there will be a second round of hiring.Then there were rumours that they want to vacate all our apartments and give them to party hacks or people with “guangxi” (connections/proteczia etc) but all of this is just surmise.So all of us got annoyed and started looking around for other jobs. Meanwhile the school is advertising all over the Internet for new teachers.We can’t understand why A. they don’t just tell us who is hired and who isn’t and B. why they would go looking for more teachers if they have people here who are sane and sentient and are wiling to stay on.

It’s all very mysterious but apparently in Chinese culture it’s bad for to say no to people in person and better to just say nothing and let them draw their own conclusions. Needless to say we feel a massive cultural gulf in this situation and we don’t really undestand what we are supposed to do.We may go elsewhere or just go home.

Today it’s pouring with rain (although warm) and seems to match my mood.We are supposed to go away next weekend for a long weekend as it is Qing Ming (Tomg Sweeping Festival) but since D has not yet got his passport back from the police we can’t buy triain tickets yet.We are planning on heading down to Guangzhou and Huizhou,a city which our neighbour Shannon has much praise for,as he taught there last year. It may be our new home but the way things are looking right now everything is unclear.

Socially we have met some more nice people-a Chinese teacher called Michael who wants to hang out with us,Laura another member of our department who lives on the island with her husband and came to see one of my classes and David Liu also a deaprtment teacher who has tried to find out for us what is going down,but not with much success.

Last week I went for an interview at a place called “Xiamen City University” which was more of a Polytechnic or Vocational College.It was pretty nice but they have only one job there and they have small rooms for teachers and give only a little subsidy for an apartment off campus and flats in Xiamen are REALLY expensive to rent.

We have sniffed around Jimei University and Huaqiao University here in Jimei but nobody seems to know if they are hiring yet so it’s the same all over.

That’s about it for now.Looking forward to our friends Renee and Barry coming down next month to visit from Shanghai. Hope it stops raining by then.

XMUT sports day (when it wasn’t raining)

 

Gulangyu Island Part 2

We had visited Gulangyu Island when we came to Xiamen last December but it had been a rather rushed visit and had wanted to go back so this weekend when the mercury shot up to 24 C in the daytime we decided the time was right.So we popped onto the BRT right to the end of the route and from then walked to the Pier for the 5 minute crossing to the wonderful island.IT is car-less and bicycle-less,has a mountain in the middle called Sunlight Rock,and 2 museums,one a Piano Museum and one Organ Museum. The island is home to about 25,000 people and has lots of old colonial buildings and some beaches and is a relaxing getaway but to be avoided over national holidays.The best thing to do however is just meander aimlessly around the streets,look at the twee little shops selling knicknacks and relax. IT is a very relaxing place. This time we thought we would climb up Sunlight Rock which we didn’t do last time,but again the visibility was poor despite the sun,so we passed on paying 60RMB each for that and made do with the Piano Museum which was most rewarding.WE then went to the Park surrounding it,and another small museum of Chinese artifacts,and just hung out generally.

Piano Museum

 

colonial buildings

The beach is lovely,maybe not world quality but a pleasant place especially because it is not crowded and sweaty.WE will return to Gulangyu again and make it up to Sunlight Rock next time. In the evening we had intended to hear a rock band in the village of Zen cuoAn near to Xiamen University but were a bit tired and since the last BRT home is at 10pm we didn’t fancy returning by taxi so we had dinner at Pizza Hut and caught the bus home.Today we have the long awaited Xmas dinner at the five star Royal Victoria Hotel Xiamen as guests of the University so I guess that will deserve another blog entry. On a side note,Danny’s collection of Chinese sleeping in weird places is coming along nicely!

In another 3 weeks we will be back in Israel so I am not sure how much I will be blogging then,but time will tell.Today,on the teachers’ bus to Metro supermarket we met a couple from Ireland ,Stephen and Lavinia,who are Bahai,and they will be in Israel end of January so of course we will invite them over to have dinner with us in Jerusalem.

Xiamen from the ferry

Sports Day and trip to Quanzhou

This weekend we had the promised sports day which was cancelled last week due to the rain .So we were informed that we would have no classes on Thursday afternoon or on Friday,which made no difference to me as I don’t teach then,but Danny got two hours off. So we decided to head to Quanzhou on Friday, a place which I had heard was interesting historically and only a half hour train ride from Xiamen. We had actually passed through on the train to Fuzhou on our way to the Speaking Competition.

But first we had Sports Day,on which all University lessons were cancelled to allow the whole school to parade around the running track and do various other incomprehensible things. WE were asked to meet all the other foreign teachers outside the International Office at 12.30. We then had to march around the running track in lines of 6 and wave to the crowd. It was hilarious. We waved periodically and said “Ni hao” to the students and they all roared with laughter and photographed us. Then there were short speeches by various important university dudes (none of which we could understand of course) and at 2.30pm we were free to go!

On Friday morning we caught the 11am train to Quanzhou which was the city from which Marco Polo had supposedly sailed back to Italy.In the ticket line we met a lovely young student who helped us buy tickets and told us she lived in Quanzhou and studied at Huaquiao University in Jimei,just near our house. She sat with us on the train and told us she was a teacher of Chinese to foreigners and was going back to Quanzhou to get a passport,as she wanted to go to study for a second degree in Hong Kong. She also translated for us whenever the Chinese couple opposite wanted to ask us questions.

We exchanged phone numbers on arrival in Quanzhou and hope to meet up with her again.

Quanzhou has various interesting old Buddhist temples,a mosque and a few museums. We checked into our hotel and went out to explore. We found the Kaiyuan Temple to be very beautiful. It was a short bus ride from the hotel and we enjoyed the serenity of the temple.In the temple we met a beautiful tall Chinese girl who told us she was a Sports Major from Guangzhou and was obviously very keen to talk to us. Her English was very good and she was quite charming accompanying us around the temple and taking photos with us. We went with her from there to the Mosque which was not so impressive but on the way there we passed another temple which was really beautiful and ornate in the South Fujian style.

Pagoda at Kaiyuan temple

outside the other temple with Long Ping

Long Ping,our new friend said she was travelling alone and was continuing after Quanzhou to Xiamen and then back to Guangzhou. She invited us to go with her to a pop concert that night but we decided not to pay 250RMB each to see a Chinese pop singer,but said maybe we could meet her the next evening in Xiamen after we got back from our trip. Long Ping went off to look at Huaquiao University campus and we said goodbye. We had some supper in a Taiwanese fast food place and then took a taxi to the Brickyard a so-called British pub in another part of the city not far from our hotel. It being Happy hour we got free Qingdao beer and peanuts but failed to meet anyone interesting there and left when the Karaoke got started. We were exhausted anyway.

Next morning after the breakfast buffet at our hotel (bacon,eggs,sausage and lots of weird Chinese vegetables) we set off to see the Overseas Chinese Museum. On the way we ran into a kind of promotion of various food and drinks. Danny threw some beanbags at a target and won two bottles of some Chinese liquor. When my student gets here I shall ask him what it is.

The Overseas Chinese Museum proved to be very interesting,and also free of charge. It outlined the lives of the people who left China during the colonial period,to escape being exploited as “coolie labourers” and went to build a new life for themselves overseas. It turns out that it was quite similar to the lives of Jews setting off to be immigrants in foreign shores and being enterprising ane making a fortune. Many such immigrants became industrial magnates in Singapore,Indonesia and the Philippines,thus incurring the racial hatred of the indigenous peoples who then massacred them. Many Chinese became wealthy from rubber and sugar plantations,and trade and sent money back to their families. They also set up clubs and welfare organizations for other overseas Chinese,and schools to teach their children about their Chinese language and culture. One of these was of course our very own Chen Jiageng who built the University city in Jimei where we work. Again I couldn’t help thinking of the attachment between the Diaspora Jewry and Israel. It seems we are not special in our wish to preserve our culture or to help our fellow countrymen when we are abroad.

After the museum and a short walk in Dongu Park across the road we got the train back to Xiamen.

Me and Batman in the Pub Street,Quanzhou

The Speaking Competition in Fuzhou

We have just returned from a really interesting weekend accompanying the team of three girls that we coached to participate in the Regional English Speaking Contest in Fuzhou. Altogether 75 candidates from different Universities in the province competed to go to the National Contest in Beijing. Our team consisted of Mavis,Witty and Shirley three lovely girls who have somehow become our “Xiamen Daughters” or possibly the 3 Musketeers.

WE coached them on pronunciation, presentation,body language and suchlike over the course of the last 6 weeks and became very close. They frequently came over to work at our house and were regaled with tea and biscuits. Anyway the culmination of this process was the contest. For this we had to take a fast train for 2 hours to neighbouring Fuzhou where we were met by a volunteer from the Fuzhou College of Foreign Languages and Trade,this year’s venue for the Contest. The organization of this contest was terrible even for China, but despite all the hitches we had a great time. This was partly because of the girls, but also because of the people we met.Out of all the hundreds of people attending,the only non  Chinese were me,Danny, a coach for the Xiamen University team called Michael Oviedo (A Jewish guy from California) and Michael Garnett, a judge from Hatfield,(more of him later) and another lady judge whom we didn’t talk to.The girls were really nervous but did a great job. We got 6th place out of 74 and they performed really well.On arrival at the venue there was a draw to determine the contestants’ running order. WE got 1,23 and 37 which meant first contestant and then one in the middle and one almost last,as there were two separate rooms of speakers. The girls had to give a 3 minute prepared speech and then an impromptu unprepared speech followed by questions. Then we were taken by bus to the hotel (not so great but ok) and then dinner. Chaos was the main theme of the checkin at the hotel and then the subsequent running of the contest. What was really enjoyable was meeting all the young people participating and seeing their seriousness and fervour in preparing for their speeches. Some were really excellent too,although a few were weak. During the long afternoon in which the girls got all dolled up in their best and put on makeup and practised, we were suddenly approached by a Chinese lady who addressed us in fluent Hebrew! She turned out to be the wife of Michael Garnett,and had spent 10 years living in Israel,on Kibbutz Hazorea and then in Haifa. She embraced us like long lost family and said that now she and Michael live in Fuzhou and teach at Fujian College! Talk about a small world!. We of course exchanged phone numbers and emails and will stay in touch.

Mavis doing her thing

At one point Shirley was in the lead,but at the end of the day the 3 winning contestants were from Xiamen University and Fujian University. The contest finished at 6pm when we were returned by bus to the Fuznou train station,together with Kevin the Chinese teacher from our school who had been a judge in one of the rooms. On arrival back in Xiamen,Kevin ran us home in his car which he had parked at the station,and thanked us for all of our hard work. Today is Sunday,so we have a well earned day of rest!.

Mavis,Witty,Me,Danny,Kevin and Shirley

Kevin #3 ,the BRT and the wonders of the Tea House

We have now been here exactly a month, so this is a good point to sum up some first impressions of the city and the new setup we have. Some friends have asked me how this job compares to last year’s one, and of course we find ourselves constantly comparing,as this is inevitable. Firstly living off campus,and not having taught at all yet means that so far we have not had any meetings with students yet. Our teaching will start only after the October holiday week. But we have met many other teachers,both foreign and Chinese,all of whom are interesting,friendly and welcoming. We have a little grocery store under our building and are on good nodding terms with the owner. Through the local Expat website we met a charming girl called Ivy who advertised she wanted people to “hang out with” and so we had coffee with her downtown,invited her to lunch, and who is going to take me to the hairdressers next week. We then met a lovely man (from Couchsurfing) who is a retired Navy commander from Taiwan who now works for a travel agency which organizes trips to Taiwan. He is Kevin #3 of the title-the other 2 being staff of the International department at the University. And last night again through aforementioned website we met a girl called Jane who wants to meet foreigners. She is an English major who now works for a trading company .Jane took us to a tea house owned by a friend of hers where we sat chatting for 2 hours,our cups being constantly refilled,as we nibble on peanuts, and she told us a bit about herself,and translated all the time for her friend who knew no English at all. We then had to rush to the bus stop to get a bus back to the BRT station to catch the last bus back home.Unfortunately the BRT,for all its wonderfulness,(cheap,clean,easy to use) has one serious drawback,and that is that the last bus home is at 10pm. We had not bargained for the scene at the BRT station.

There were loads of people all trying to get on the trains. I have experienced crowded before ,but nothing like this,even in Shanghai. Everyone pushed hysterically onto the bus,I was sandwiched between tons of people,and the automatic door shut on my finger and Danny’s arm. Nothing serious,but quite an “Asian Experience”!

The Once bookshop teahouse we visited with Ivy

We have had a couple of departmental meals with Matthew,head of English teaching,and next week there is a Mid-Autumn festival meal at a hotel downtown for everyone,but on the whole,because the department is so huge,and the teaching staff live all over, some on campus,some in our block. some in a different apartment block near campus and some down town,it is harder to get to know everyone. It feels as if our social life,unlike Lin’an ,will not revolve around university,and that uni life will only be a small part of our lives here.We were going  to go on a run with the local Hash House Harriers (google it!) -did not go in the end as it was thundering and threatening to pour (it didn’t) Instead we had  tea and cake with Donna,a veteran teacher here who lives on campus. So life is pretty busy and full.

 

Xiamen Horticultural Gardens. actually in Jimei near our house

The city itself is great. Of course the beach is marvellous and we have not explored that a great deal yet. The shopping areas are many and diverse,likewise restaurants,coffee bars etc. The city is big but not unmanageable and overwhelming,and there are many more signs in English than there were in Hangzhou. There are green parks everywhere and many tree- lined avenues making it pleasant to stroll around. There is a pervading sense that many people here have money-we walked along near the sea front and there were some huge stunning villas there,making it look a bit like a Chinese Miami beach. Living in Jimei is kind of like living in the suburbs of London and going down to the West End occasionally.And Jimei is a lot bigger than we originally thought.The downtown area of Jimei,a ten minute bus ride away is lively and fun,and even has a crocodile zoo!

Anway enough for now…. more anon.

Back in the Holyland- and the Laura Linkup

Well we are back in Israel for the summer after a rather weird journey back but first I want to pay my dues by writing up the wonderful linkup we did at the end of June between Danny’s Middle school kids and my friend Laura Shashua’s class of Middle school kids in Holon,Israel.It was Laura’s idea to do a joint lesson between the Chinese and Israeli students using Skype.So having discussed the content of such a class and preparing the kids for the meeting,the day arrived.It was logistically tricky due to the time difference and the original date was postponed because Laura’s class suddenly had their lesson cancelled,it finally took place in Danny’s last lesson ,before our trip to Chengdu.

Henry answers a question from Israel

We checked all the connections on the computer,had a dry run with no students and checked whether we could hear each other on the skype. The screens were not so clear,and the sound not so great but it was passable. WE had two Chinese English teachers with us, and there were twice as many Chinese students as Israelis. Never mind. When the bell rang we had two classes facing each other from across the globe. Laura had worked hard to prepare her kids,and they had a huge Israeli flag at the back of the room ,and the kids all had their names written on cards, in Hebrew and English.We quickly scrambled in Lin’an to find a Chinese flag and only found a small one,and made the kids name signs too.The plan was to have the kids ask each other questions about their lives,for the kids do demonstrate how to eat with chopsticks/knives and forks, and at the end to sing “My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean” together.

Danny and the students

The main thing that was clear was how shy the Chinese were compared to the Israelis.The Chinese kids were very reticent but we finally got a kid who was happy to ask and answer questions. We had the Israeli kids greet their friends with “Ni Hao!” and the Chinese respond with “Shalom!” there was plenty of waving and smiling, the food eating demonstration was partially marred by technical problems but the final rendition of “My Bonnie ” was a roaring success,and all in all we think it went pretty well.

Hopefully we can try this again in future.

Lin’an students show how to eat with chopsticks