Monday morning, Betty and I went to the ceremony they have every Monday morning at the beginning of the day. The classes line up in straight lines with their classes from youngest to oldest. Reminded me of the line from Madeline, "twelve little girls in two straight lines." Except that instead of twelve little girls, you have a small army.
First they listen to the anthem, then a student speaker comes and gives a (prepared) speech about a topic. Then, they are followed by a teacher who writes about a topic and speaks. This week's topic was the best ways to study and prepare for their upcoming exams.
Honestly, I thought it would be a lot more of the scary version of Communism I had in my head before I came, that was probably largely from what I studied about Mao-era China. But that's just not modern China. Yes, the country has its problems but so does America. The ceremony was very patriotic, but not much unlike what we do in the US. They listen to the Anthem and wear their scarf with their uniform every Monday, while we say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning with our hands over our heart and face the flag. They celebrate their country on October 1st every year, while we celebrate on the July 4th. Both country's children learn the same songs which are actually mostly American tunes. It's a lot more like what we teach our children than I thought it would be.
The kids heading back inside to start their lessons. All waving and shouting "Hello Ms. Lang! Hi Ms. Lang!" because at this point I've taught almost all of them. Naturally I shouted back something along the lines of "HELLO! Nice to see you again! Hi! Hi! Hi!" times 2,000 kids.
One of my students today. Kraft style! (Kraft is the name of one of my best friends.)
As I was walking away from the ceremony, our principal asked Betty if I would mind presenting myself to the staff after school. So, after school I had to give a presentation to all of the teachers at our school. Our primary school has 120 teachers, so it's monstrously huge for a primary school. Obviously, I wasn't the slightest bit nervous to present family, my American school, and my American home to my colleagues who don't speak any English save five of them... Just kidding. But, I put on my best smile, translated the key bits of information about all of the areas, and added a few well chosen jokes (in Chinese, of course).
So I introduced myself, and Betty helped with the occasional translation. I smiled a lot; they smiled a lot. They shouted out "OHHHH!" when they saw my beautiful school, home, and said my husband was very handsome (as all Asian women think, and I've heard it many times, Mike. You're a Tom Brady here. But then, you've always been one to me). They said my sister Kelly's children were many and she must be a good mother, and Mariah was lovely and congratulated me on my beautiful new niece and my sister Amanda on her beautiful new daughter. They also loved to see the pictures of my home at camp.
Here's about half of the crowd waving!
Saw this while out and about... I think it underscores the importance of proper prepositions, my Chinese friends.
Doreen, Paula, Lilly and I then headed for a shopping extravaganza. I saw this on one of the shop owners! It's the movie poster for a novel we teach in English 9 at LHS, and she doesn't know what it says. Wish I could've picked one up for my LHS colleagues!
Now, in America, we might consider parallel parking. But part of the fun of China is that this parking job someone did is totally ok! I wish I could do that in the States. Would have made getting my Drivers' License a lot easier.
We headed inside to the Yongkang Peddlers' Mall. Many, many peddlers all have little shops selling anything and everything. And ALL are willing to bargain, so it's better than any American mall! (There is a rather obvious elephant in the room: I don't speak Chinese. BUT! I have three wonderful friends who have excellent bargaining skills.)
Would you like a Chinese luck trinket?
Or a purse?
How about some undergarments?
Or inflatable toys or umbrellas?
Pearl jewelry?
Costume jewelry?
Chinese decorations for your home?
They had everything and MORE! Aisles and aisles and aisles of each thing! I found some lovely gifts for my nieces and nephew.
Doreen and I on our way to another mall. She is absolutely, stunningly beautiful.
Paula and Lilly just ahead. They asked if we have these little carts to take people around in the United States. We don't, but sometimes I wish we did. Life would be a little more fun if you could just take a ride in one of these once a week. Maybe I'll make one and do it for people around camp.
Paula is a fierce bargainer. I can't understand Chinese, but maybe it went something like this: 你可以做的比这更好的！我知道你可以给我们10元以内。Got that?!
After I very nearly literally shopped until I dropped, Betty's family invited me over for dinner. I just love her family. The dinner was at her eldest brother's home and her mother cooked the majority of the meal. And OH MY GOSH. It was absolutely delicious.
On the left is Betty's oldest brother, his wife laughing, and their only son (whom you've already met) Pom Pom. Because he is their eldest brother, his parents live with him. So, Pom lives with his grandparents and parents when he's home from university.
The mountain of clams Betty ate. And all the family ate! I always tease Betty that I don't know how someone so small can eat so much! And she teases me about everyone being worried that I never eat anything (when I eat until I'm full EVERY time!).
Here's another of my favorite things about Chinese foods: every time I eat Chinese food, someone says something about "If you eat this, it's good for this." For example, "this food is good for women for their blood" or "this food will help your skin." I have heard hundreds of these hilarious adages. I have been told many times that I have beautiful and expressive eyes. Another saying is "eating fish eyes with make your eyes brighter." SO! Obviously, I HAD to eat fish eyes at some point right?! Here I am with the little guy, ready to go...
...Maybe I should just stick with the eyes I've got.
Their family lives on the top three floors of an apartment building in a home which has been beautifully decorated. Here you see the view out the kitchen window.
Pom Pom and his mom took me to see their rooftop garden. I have seen the plants from the ground on many apartment buildings, and I was thrilled to see one in person. I thought it would be a little thing...
Uhm...
WOAH. It's a full fledged garden!
It was huge! And there were chickens! Don't worry, I didn't touch or go near them.
These are their two dogs. Because it's so desperately hot, Pom Pom cut their hair today so they wouldn't overheat. They sort of look like a blanket I someone only halfway knew how to knit, it turned out a little splotchy but the heartfelt sentiment is there...
The view of the town and the mountains from their roof. Glorious.
Bamboo: China's steel. This reminded me of Chris Farley singing "Fat guy in a little coat..." except the words should be "American girl on a little chair..."
His mother was so sweet. Her sister lives right next door and they got a pineapple and really wanted to feed me a bunch of it. I'll tell you a little secret: I hate pineapple. But I ate half of it. She was so sweet to get it and carve it, so I did my grandmother proud and ate away. :)
Fireworks for someone's marriage celebration. Betty says Yongkang weddings are usually just a ceremony feast, there is no dancing or anything and the whole event lasts about two hours. When the guest arrive, they bring a red bag filled with money, and then they give the bag (containing whatever they are able to give) to the bride and groom (who are dressed similarly to an American bridge and groom). Then, a host stands and says they host the ceremony, and thanks everyone for attending and their role in the bride and groom's lives. The bride and groom are then married in a very short ceremony, which doesn't include vows, but instead just a "Do you take this man to be your husband" and vice versa.
Then, the bride and groom give tea (which symbolizes their respect and honoring them) to their in-laws. Finally, all of the guests eat the feast with the bridge and groom and the evening ends.
After all of the fun, I went home to find one sleeping Dow baby. Babies are so beautiful when they sleep.
Another series of adventures that ended with (possibly) brighter eyes and a much fuller heart.
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