This blog is my thoughts on many things and about my adventures of living and traveling in China.
Name: Carole Morris
Living in China for more than 5 years, I have had the chance to travel far and see much. I love to share what I have seen and experienced as well as every day life in China as an expat, with all those who wish to read my blog.
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Yesterday, class time was a little on the emotional side. Some of the students are from areas hit by the earthquake. Places in Gansu, Shaanxi, Tibet, and Qing Hai were also affected. We arent hearing too much about these places because of the horrible scenes in Sichuan. One of my girls is from a small town on the Shaanxi side. Her grandparents and her extended family all live there. Her parents had moved to Xi'an to work. Xi'an, from what the students say, had some damage. This girl's mother had gone to the village to see her parents. After the earthquake, my student tried in vain to reach her family. She had heard on the news that more than 100 people had died in her home town... She told me all she could do was cry she was so worried. The earthquake happened Monday, Wednesday evening at 11 p. m., her mother finally got through to her. She and all the rest of the family were okay, even her father who was in Xi'an. My student had tears streaming down her face as she told me her story. And then apologized over and over for crying. I held her for a moment and told her it was okay to cry, tears of relief were okay... I, guess, I would say that my students lost some of their innocence. Many of them told me that they had relatives or friends going to school in Chengdu and Mianyang. Some of them had received word, be it directly or indirectly, that their friends and cousins were okay. Some had not heard anything.Three of my students, however, lost friends. They were trying to put their minds around death. One of my boys, with tears, told about his best friend had not been heard from, and how he still hoped that someone would call and tell him that his friend was okay. His friend is a student in Mianyang...very close to the epicenter. Maybe, the most poignant story of the day, was one of my second year students came to talk to me about the earthquake. Last summer she joined a volunteer program that was having a English camp at guess where? Yes, Dujianyan City. She worked in one of the schools, yes, the one you see in news the most...and in one of the villages...She was having hard time because she knew many of the school's students. And the village she had been to, was completely leveled. I guess, my grandmotherly shoulder was what she needed... because her tears flowed, too. All of them expressed their feeling of helplessness...
Students on the campus put up places where people could donate money for water and food to take to the affected areas. Yes, i donated all I had with me.. about 200 remenbi... not much, The school wanted to make my donating into a big deal, but I refused. I said that the emphasis should be on the great students banding together to do what they could to help the earthquake victims, not some foreign teacher giving a paltry amount of money.
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20080513_1.htm pictures of the quake...some pictures are very graphic.
Till next time.
Big news everywhere is the earthquake in Sichuan Province. My heart just wrenches when I see the pictures of the schools and other buildings that collapsed. Can you just imagine, even for a second, what those poor parents must have felt when they realized that mass of rubble was the their child's school? Everytime I see those pictures, I have tears come to my eyes. The very horror of it...I am not saying that other people who are hurt or lost their lives are not as important. I feel for those families, too. Maybe being in the teaching community of China and dealing with young people gives me a little different take on this. So seeing the children suffer is just plain hard to take. On BBC last night, a story about a young boy, 10 years old, that was in a village closer to the epicenter, had his foot crushed by falling bricks was told. He walked 30 kilometers using a bamboo stick to help him walk, to another village, hoping to find a clinic there that might help him. (I wish in some ways, I could bring that little boy here and take him to the hospital in Wuhan. Who knows, maybe his family was killed.) Can you just imagine? Really gut wrenching. Another very poignant picture is very simple, a man sitting in front of what was left of his house, crying. Having experienced a devasting earthquake, I feel for these people.
And what about all those people in Burma/Myanmar...the government is not helping them. Children are in dire need for help and the government in Myanmar is keeping the help for themselves. I hope they, the government officials, get what they have coming ten times over. And I hope that somehow, the needed help gets to the people that are desperate for a drink of clean water.
My home country seems to having a terrible tornados. I lived in the midwest part of the US...I know how terrifying those storms are. Thank goodness, I was never in the direct path...in fact I was 17 miles from the tornado itself, but we had baseball sized hail. And it was so dark that the street lights came on even though it was 11 in the morning. Rain was coming down in sheets. Cars pulled over because drivers could not see. I was at a service station getting a flat tire fixed when the storm started. People, from the cars and sidewalks, came running in there and we all went to the back of the building where the w.c.'s were...most protected part of the building. It lasted about a half hour...and it was scary. On the way home, I saw grass that had been driven into the sides of trees like an arrow would be. Just a reminder how powerful winds can be. I hope all those affected by the storms will be able to rebuild their lives, just as I hope the earthquake victims and the residents of Myanmar/Burma will overcome the disasters affecting them. Till next time.
By now, I am sure you have all read about the huge quake in Sichuan. It makes me feel really sad to read about all those kids and others that were hurt or killed. I am from Alaska...I have been in some big earthquakes, including the 1964, 9.2 biggie. Yes, there was building damage in that quake and friend of mine was killed when the facade on the JC Penny Building fell... I would read about quakes that were half the size of the Alaskan quake that had far more damage...and I would wonder why or how...well, my question was answered after moving here to China. At home, we have building codes...rebar and other stablizing things are put into walls to keep them from collapsing in such events. Here as well as other places, such as Turkey, Iran and others...do not use these techniques..it is simply brick and mortar. Newer buildings do have some of the safety features. But this is land of guan xi and, I hate to say, corruption. If the boss thinks that they can get away with, say, a lessor grade of concrete or half the rebar or no rebar...then it happens. So the damage to buildings can be much worse. The quake that hit yesterday was a pretty big quake. And unfortunately, lots of damage to buildings and people were/are hurt/hurting. I am in Wuhan, Hubei Province...to give general idea where I am, Wuhan is about half way from Chengdu to Beijing. I was riding on a bus at the time of the quake and didnt feel it, returned to the school just after...all the buildings on campus had been evacuated and inspected before allowing the students to go back. Please send good thoughts to the those that are affected. Till next time.
Yesterday, the weather was perfect... When I went out to do my morning routine, the sky was a gorgeous blue. Breezes were soft, air smelled good and temperature was just right. As the day passed the temps climbed to very warm, but not hot warm. Plus, the humidity was very low..making it pleasant. After doing taiji, I went to the campus supermarket. It's small but has the essentials. Not too many vegetables, but lots of fruit, mp3s, and plethora of other stuff. Mostly, it caters to students, so lots of snacks and drinks. On my way home, I saw what "high hopes" look like. A cute little chicuaua owns a teacher who lives on campus. He had her out for a walk yesterday morning. A Tibetan Mastiff had someone else out for morning exercise. They are huge powerful dogs. It's said that a TMastiff can defend against wolf pack all by itself and are used as guard dogs..They are story for another posting. It's suffice to say they are big dogs. If there are leash laws here, they are not enforced. T'is spring so the birds and the bees are doing what birds and bees do...and dogs are doing what dogs do. It seems as though the mastiff is a girl dog and looking for boy dog. And the chicuaua is a boy dog on the prowl. They found each other. They must have gotten the preliminaries over with because when I happened upon them the boy dog was trying his best to be a good lover. But he just wasnt tall enough. But he sure tried. I laughed all the way to my room.
Around the campus there are park areas. One is right behind the admin building. It's set up as a formal park with carefully planned walkways, columned sitting areas and manicured plants. It even has a fountain that is only used on special occasions. The students like to go there. While it is not very private, it has places one can sit and talk. Unfortunately, the walkways cut through those areas. I was out walking and decided to go through that park on my way home. Much more pleasant place to walk than the street. I was winding my way through the park, minding my own business...when I happened upon a couple of students, one boy and one girl. They must have gotten the preliminaries over with because...............they were doing what boys and girls do. I thought; "omigawd, what do I do now?!?". I know I missed a step in there. There was no way I could turn around...the boy had definately seen me. You should seen the expression on his face. So, I looked straight ahead, tried not to laugh and kept on walking. Once past them, I laughed all the to my room. (PS: I bet they go for a more private place next time.)
Till next time.
One thing foreigners in China have to learn to tolerate is being stared at constantly. I have jokingly said that someday, I will write a book about China and her stairs/stares. On the foreign teachers forum, it was mentioned the other day, that even in Beijing and Shanghai, where there are many, many foreigners, staring still happens. The teacher wrote that said it would be different if it were children or elderly people who stare. Believe me, they do. What surprised him was the number of youngish to middle aged professionals who still stare. Many of them have studied abroad. And probably many of the professionals have had foreign teachers. One entry said that he had a tshirts made that read "I am a human being" and "please dont stare". I understand his sentiments. It gets very wearing to be stared at all the time. What I find more offensive, is the people who use the mobile or cell phones to take my picture. Now, not only do many Chinese stare, they want to take your picture as if you are an exhibit. Asking you for permission is not going to happen. I went into that famous US based restaurant that some call Mickiedees... home of the Big Mac... I was sitting eating my sandwich, when I noticed a I was being surveyed by a young couple in their early twenties. She slyly reached into her bag and out came her cell/mobile phone. She was playing with it in her hands. She kept looking at me without turning her head..her boyfriend was more open and he motioned to her that (I guess) it was the right time to take a picture... I realized that was their game plan when the camera side suddenly was pointed at me. I put my hand up between their line of vision and my face. The young man looked surprised and his face turned red... He got up and left, followed by the girl. Once when another foreign teacher and I were on a bus to WuDang Shan, a man (stranger to us) pulled out his moblile and pointed it right at us, blatantly. I put my bag up between him and us, the camera/phone disappeared.... going through the bus station, I have had people run in front of me to take my picture... It is aggravating, especially when the bus is about to leave and one is hurrying to get on it. I have friend who has 2 young children. People will just whip out their cameras to take pictures of them without asking my friend. He said when he realizes that people are doing that, he steps in front of his children and the people get pictures of his "butt". It's bad enough to deal with this on the street. It is even worse when you go out to dinner with friends and one of their family members whip out a cell phone camera and take your picture without permission. Then put the camera away as if the picture was proof that a foreigner had been at the dinner. Noone elses picture had been taken. It will be interesting to see when there are thousands of foreigners in Beijing for the summer event, if the staring stops. I doubt it. Till next time.
It is mid-term time for my students. Classes are finished here at the end of June, and final grades must be posted by the first week of July. Much later than most of the West. But we have a month or a little more in the middle of winter for Winter Holiday...so time off is about the same. I teach an Oral English class... my students must do a lot of speaking. I have spent the past few days doing a mid term oral exam... having the students come and speak to me one on one.. I ask them such questions as the most amazing thing that ever happened to them, or their proudest moment...things they cannot give me the standard party answer to. One of the things I ask my students, if they could go anywhere in the world, outside of China, where would they go....just to see what they think of the world outside of China. Most of the students say Australia for a variety of reasons. A lot of them have friends that have studied or are studying in Aussie land or New Zealand, another favorite spot. Some of the boys will say England or Italy or Spain...football, hotspots.. (not American football). One of the replies that made my smile was when one of my students said he thought that Norway would be good The environment is clean and people are friendly. But then he said, maybe England, he could study English and watch Manchester United play football. At least his priorities are in order...studying English came first. One girl brought tears to my eyes. She said she wanted to go to the US...then she said all the things we Americans take for granted as her reasons. But the biggest one is that "you are free to follow your dreams and not be controlled by the government like we are in China"..she wanted to know how it felt to live free. I didnt answer her but asked her instead to tell me how she thought it would feel. That is fodder for another posting. Her answer made me think all day, how lucky I am to be an American. My favorite answer was from a girl who said Canada was her choice. She gave many of the same reasons as the girl for America, but then she said; "the main reason is Canada is peaceful. I want to know what peace really feels like." So heres a tip of my hat to you, Canadians. When I pondered her words, I think maybe she is right, Canada is more peaceful than many other western countries. However, I am still proud to be an American. .. till next time....
My one window in my room faces a girl's dormitory of another college. I can look into the hallways... I guess that would be so the young men teachers in this building would not have a good view of...well, you know. There are balconys...where the girls come out to hang laundry and have private phone calls... Sometimes, when it is in the middle of the night, it can be a little bit annoying. No hushed voices...that is unthinkable..after all as far as she is concerned, she is alone. I can tell when the girls are talking to their parents.. Usually, when it's the parents, the conversation is respectful and in their dialect. (It is easy to tell when someone isnt speaking Putonghua.) When visiting with a friend the conversations are very animated. The free hand is making all kinds of gestures. And they are speaking Putonghua, most of the time. I come to realize from hearing these young women, that breaking up in any language is hard on the heart. I listened without trying to a young lady who was having this kind of conversation the other day. I understand enough Chinese to know that it was her boyfriend she was talking to. Juliet (my name for her) was crying and talking, followed by sobbing and more talking. I kinda wished I could have heard both sides of the conversation. But maybe its best I could only hear Juliet. She was hurting, in no uncertain terms. Her heart was in a million pieces. Romeo wasn't listening to her or her apologies. He wasnt hearing her words of how much she cared. She didn't beg, I don't think. Her voice never sounded like it was begging. Tears were flowing down her face. I could see them from my vantage point. I could watch her little body convulse with sobs. Finally, the phone call ended. Juliet was bent over and still crying for the next few minutes. Then it was as if someone had flipped an on/off switch, she suddenly straightened up. She wiped her cheeks, one by one, and with purpose, took a deep breath and stomped into the building. What happened next is anybody's guess. Only her swollen eyes would betray her secret. Her stance and chin showed only defiance. Pride was on shoulders. Noone had better mention Romeo by name, or I would bet she would have had their heads. I had to smile. I remembered the tears when I was a younger person. I remember the tears my daughter had when her heart was broken. We all lived and I am sure Juliet will, too. Just shows, that breaking up is the same everywhere and hard to do in any language. Till next time.
Wuhan, it seems, has been given some kind of special designation such as Special Economic Zone or something like that. Now, foreign countries can open consulates in the city making it easier for expats to take care of passport and other issues. I guess that is good. With all the political stuff going on in China right now, I dont think it matters much. Wuhan was, so I read, the location of some the largest anti Carrefour demonstrations. And it seems, now all French people are the same as Carrefour... all of this is just plain stupid. I wish I could say that this isnt affecting life for all foreigners here, but it is. Starting today, it is the Labor Day Holiday. Three days off to celebrate. I had not made any plans to travel. I dont like traveling in trains so crowded you cannot breathe. So holidays, I usually just stay put. This year, I only received my passport back from the PSB, yesterday. (I couldnt book a flight or get a hotel room without it.) Took over three weeks to get my residents permit. Before this year it was a couple of days. I read on the foreign teachers forum, where a gentleman had to return all the way to Chicago just to get the correct visa when before he could got it in Hong Kong.
A friend of mine lost his mother this past week. She had been ill for a long time. So her passing was probably a blessing as well as a sorrow. The government, a couple of weeks ago, called for boycott of Carrefour for today. My school asked me to stay away from there.
My foreign affairs officer very nicely asked me to consider staying at the college over the holiday. She cannot keep me here if I choose to go off campus. However, she was very nice and sincere about her concerns. Since I had not received back my passport, I thought no problem. Besides, I need to write many things...especially for the ones I get paid for. Now, my friend's family is having the services, and I cannot go. Makes me feel kind of bad. I will say, despite all the political things going on, my friends have not treated me any differently. Thank goodness friendships can be above all this, for lack of a better word, crap. I love my Chinese friends. They are really cool people. They have opened up their lives and homes to me. Just like back home. I worry about what will happen to them in the fallout over all this political stuff. My American friend in Xiangfan says it hasnt been affected. I am glad to hear that. Anyway, take care of your friendships, wherever they may be. Till next time.
I survived a speech competition last night. I like to go support my students if I know about these events. I was asked to be a judge. I dislike being a judge, big time. For me it is hard to mark the kids. I feel like I am between a rock and a hard place. This is not their mother tongue. So how do you judge someone who is trying very hard, but can barely speak the language? Is it fair to judge engineering students against English majors? And sometimes, these competitions can be very political. Certain students are expected to win. I don’t always agree with the choices. Most of the time, I go and just watch. Or I have been the person to ask the speaker questions. But rarely, have I been a judge. Most of the speakers last night were pretty decent. Some of the speakers are in my classes. In fact the winner is one my students. He is very good. And I was very proud of him. He is a reminder why most of foreigners find teaching in The topic the students spoke about was their life on campus. One day in class, I asked the students what they thought of their college life. I got the standard answers such as boring. Another answer is…”this is a third tier school”… (in
Right now, the weather in my part of China is pretty good. Getting very warm, but the humidity doesn't sem to be all high yet. It's coming though. Just as sure as taxes and death, it will arrive. My home state of Alaska just got buried in a record snowfall. And my friends in Oregon, tell me that its been cold there for the past week. Crazy weather...
Anyway, back to China...a good place to go visit if you are tired of being in Xiangfan but only have a day to escape before you have to be back, is Lumensi. Meng Haoran, famous Tang Dynasty, poet spent most of his life there. I would imagine it was a bit more rustic than now. Three Kingdom era, Pang De Gong was another famous historical resident. He, too, spent most of his adult life here. Famed Zhuge Liang, Three Kingdom hero, would come to Lumensi to see his friend, maybe even sought after his advice.
Today, it is a park. At the entrancei s an area where a thatched hut has been built. I think I read somewhere, it is suppose to be like the houses erected at the time of Meng Haoran's life..couple thousand years ago. There are a couple of buildings that examples of calligrahy and poetry are hung. A couple of pieces of furniture from that time are shown. I doubt they are antiques. Probably, copies, but great to see. And a statue of Mr. Meng greets you. A path up the hill or road takes to you to the main tourist area. There are various eating spots and the usual people selling incense and the like. A couple of working temples are the main focal places. When I was there, it cost 2 yuan to go into one the temples. It may cost more now. The other temple was closed. A huge dirt mound is on the hill behind this area, that is reported to be Meng Haoran's tomb.
Another resident that spent a lot of his adult life in this area was Pang de Gong. He was a scholar, teacher and scientist of his time. He was one of the explorers of plant medicine. He was also reportedly a good friend of Three Kingdom hero, Zhuge Liang. There is a building erected at where he had his home. While it is not like the buildings back then, it still has quite a view from the second story.
The best part of Lumensi are the trails up the hills. There are various hiking trails around the park. Once you get to the top of the hills surrounding this area, there are views of the Han River and its valley to die for. It is really very beautiful.
Getting there isnt all that hard even if you dont have your own wheels. You can take the city bus or taxi. Till next time.
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