A Hore in China

Copyright © 2012 by Jeanie Hore. 515433

ISBN:   Softcover   978-1-4797-4423-7

             Ebook         978-1-4797-4424-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. Date:02/19/2015

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Contents

I arrive in China: Jan 2003

So began my adventures in China

The drama leading up to my holiday

Chinese New Year

I am serenaded

Did you know that there are only 100 common Chinese sir names?

The drama of SARS

My get lost adventure

I go on holiday by myself

I’m invited to a Chinese wedding

A friend comes from Australia to visit

Happy Christmas

Welcome to my second year in China.

A move to Shenzhen

My New Job

My interesting wee medical experience

My Bus adventures

A visit to Guangzhou

I move and change schools

I return to China after 6 weeks in Australia

A NEW JOB

Mid Autumn Festival

National Holiday

Sports Day

Welcome to my third year in China 2005

Ching Ming Festival

Back in China

Interesting things I noticed about Hanoi

Job hunting time again!

Some things I love about China

Congratulations to China on their successful space launch.

Christmas Time

Welcome to the New Year of 2006

WOMAN’S DAY

Qing Ming Festival

The start of a new era in China!

Welcome to 2007 in Yangshuo

LIFE IS GOOD

Chinese New Year

Hainan Island Holiday

Mid Autumn Festival

A holiday in Wuzhou

Welcome to 2008 in Yangshuo

WELCOME TO THE YEAR OF THE RAT

Sichuan earthquake

My long term students graduate

Roger and Angel leave China

Olympic Games

A visit to Fanny’s home town

Interesting information:

Christmas

New adventures in 2009

Holiday time

Lantern Festival

A new adventure begins

My next adventure

Back in Yangshuo

I leave Yangshuo

Back in China

Dafen Oil Painting Village

Welcome to another exciting year in China

More about Dafen Oil Painting Village

Welcome to the New Year

15 Facts about China that Will Blow Your Mind

HAPPY EASTER

A visit to a Chinese beach

Life in Dafen

I return to Yangshuo

 Some of the joys of living in China

Welcome to New Year of 2011

 Wedding procedures in China

Dedication

To my children who let me be and Woz who encouraged me to do.

I arrive in China: Jan 2003

For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to travel. However this was not meant to be on any grand scale. Eventually my four children became adults and I became single again. Always there was the thought of travel, but how could I do this on limited funds? While attending a wedding I chatted with a woman whom I vaguely knew. She needed a ride home as she’d sold her car. As she lived in my area I offered to help out. I asked her why she had sold her car. 

I’m going to China to teach English. 

How wonderful I replied. 

You can do it too she said 

But unlike you I’m not a teacher I informed her. 

No problem! 

She gave me an agent’s contact details to whom I promptly sent off an inquiry.

Can you be in China by January 3rd 03? It was December 3rd 02.

I couldn’t believe it was this easy, but I moved into high gear and got organized. With my credit card I bought a one way ticket to Shanghai. Christmas gave me a chance to say goodbye to family and friends and late evening, January 2nd 2003 I was on my way to China.

I knew nothing about China. I had read several books set in China, but as I was to find out, they taught me very little. I had no idea about the language, culture or how to use chop sticks. My inability to use chop sticks proved to be quite embarrassing.

I gave little thought to what I was actually going to do when I arrived at my school as I had been in sales and marketing for many years and a toastmaster so speaking or teaching was not an issue for me. The agent had neglected to tell me where I was going exactly, only that someone would meet me at Shanghai airport. 

I went to the airport waiting area where many people were standing around holding names. I walked around and inspected all the names. No-one wanted to meet me. What now? I asked the policeman standing nearby if he spoke English. Yes I do. Whew! I told him my dilemma. He asked for the agents details, got out his mobile phone and called him. Someone will pick you up in two hours he told me. 

I later discovered that the agent had forgotten to tell the school I was arriving. It was a two hour drive to the school. Exactly two hours later two young guys raced towards me. Are you Jeanie? Relief all round with lots of apologies

So began my adventures in China

I arrived in China with no expectations except that I had a job to go to. My first horrifying experience happened very quickly as I was being driven from Shanghai to Zhangjaigang. As we left the city limits the driver and passenger took off their safety belts.

What are you doing? I cried, horrified.

We don’t have to wear them once we leave the city limits. Are these guys crazy?

Then I watched with horror as many people performed suicidal acts along the highway. I gasped as I saw people constantly put themselves in dangerous situations. I was so bad that the driver told everyone about my ‘behaviour’ whenever we were driving together for the following year that I was at that school.

Two hours later we arrived in Zhangjaigang slightly north west of Shanghai. Unless it’s a very detailed map you will not find Zhangjaigang. However the larger cities of Suzhou and Wuxi will be there and both are about two hours away.

The city has a land mass of 998 square kilometres with a population close to 1.3 million. Zhangjiagang is a county-level city in Jiangsu province and is under full administration of Suzhou Prefecture City. It is situated on the southern bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Zhangjiagang was originally a farming town. Fish farms were popular plus a small fishery port. After it was selected as a city permitted to open to foreign trade in 1993, the town started its vast economic development and drastic change made it a new city with near 20% annual economic growth. Now the city is one of China’s top cities with the highest economic rating.

Surrounding the urban area, most of communities of the city are in rural area and their economies traditionally depended on agricultural and fishing. Expatriate population is expanding and up to half million tourists visit the city every year. Today the city is doing its best contain pollution to protect its natural environment.

Arriving at the school we drove around the new campus to a five story building where I was greeted by Sylvia, the deputy principal who spoke fluent English. She reassured me as I gasped watching my bags being driven away. Come with me she said…..up five floors…pant pant! I was not fit. Into a room where I was warmly greeted by the headmaster and three local business men he was entertaining. I had not washed, changed my clothes or combed my hair for 20 hours. No matter…it’s dinner time. We sat down to a delicious banquet meal. Two young girls from England, Claire and Cam and Carol a Chinese teacher whose job it was to look after the foreign teachers, joined us. First I suffered the embarrassment of not being able to eat with chopsticks, but amazingly they found me a fork. Carol helped me make eating decisions; she was used to this. It was mostly a mystery to me. Food finished, when much to my amazement, everyone stood up together and left the room. Where was my after dinner chat and coffee or desert?

I spent my first night at a hotel as no room had been prepared for me. The next morning I was moved across the road into a large housing community where the buildings were past looking new. I shared a fully furnished apartment with Claire and Cam on the third floor. One of my cases had gotten lost by the airline along the way so it was with complete surprise that three days later I found it returned to my room. I was so happy to see it.

I love investigating new environments, so I was in my element. Claire and Cam left four days after my arrival to go on holiday. Claire left me notes and instructions. The first evening on my own I went to the supermarket they had shown me, so I could browse by myself. I was so excited. Catching a bus there was easy and I knew the bus would stop running before I had finished shopping. The minute I stood in front of a taxi to go home, I realised that I had left my notes at home. Oh dear! Where did I live? No idea! I could not even point in the general direction. Within two seconds, so it seemed, there was a crowd around me, some trying to be helpful, other watching the entertainment. I did know that I lived in a complex opposite the East Hotel so I used that as a landmark. Paper was offered by one man, pen from another. What was I supposed to do with those? A long time later I discovered that people do not always understand each other, but they can all read the same script. Eventually someone in the crowd, that seemed to increase by the minute, understood the word hotel so the taxi driver bundled me into his cab and off we went. He drove to the most expensive hotel in town. What do I do now? As we pulled up a foreign woman walked out of the hotel so I asked if she could help me. Of course, I speak Mandarin. When the taxi driver and I finally arrived at my complex we both laughed with relief.

Sunday 9am the gas man was at my door to read the meter. Fortunately he spoke a bit of English so he was able to tell me to call him if I smelt gas.

From school I can take different roads giving me an opportunity to check out the area. Old women encourage their grandchildren to wave to me. Lots of smiles! I rarely see baby strollers. They seem to prefer to carry their children till they are big enough to walk. It helps that they don’t weigh a lot! The footpaths, even the new ones, are tricky with their broken pavement or no pavement at all. Maybe that’s why they don’t use baby strollers! I always walked slowly so I can watch the ground and look around too. The roads are excellent though; all new concrete. 

The boy’s high school behind ours is huge and like ours, very new and three stories high. Very impressive! They have an Olympic gym (I know this because that’s what the sign on the gym says) and an excellent running track with high rise seating on one side. The seating for important people has all weather covering! So far I’ve only seen boys run around it for exercise. Their dormitories are at the back of the school next to the fence so they are very close by our new accommodation.

The local market is not very big, but sells a wide variety of very fresh food. There are many varieties of live fish flapping around in shallow tanks of water with oxygen added. I spotted a man scaling fish on the side of the road and a man selling meat with a smoke in his mouth. There’s no refrigeration or protection of the food.

We have CCTV9. China Central TV. Government run with no ads and some programmes repeated three times a day. We get good National news and a lot about other countries. A programme like Getaway is very interesting. All about China! There are music programmes and while they look very impressive the music is not very exciting. They use many instruments we are not familiar with. The documentaries are excellent.

My teacher students who I’m teaching for the last few weeks of the semester, decided to have no class one day as some of them had a lecture to go to. I can have a ‘rest’ they said. This word is used a lot for doing nothing or taking a break. I’m going to concentrate on basic conversation. They are good at reading the written word, but as soon as I say something that’s not written down I get blank looks from most of them. I’m going to use this time to find out about their lives and what they teach. This will prove an interesting exercise. They laugh easily so it will be a fun time.

I’ve decided that my ‘green tablets’ are anti- histamines. My nose was like a dripping tap, but after two tablets no problem!! These tabs are bought over the counter in small packets of ten and are very cheap.

On TV there’s a lot of talk about encouraging educated students still living abroad, to return home to help with the country’s development. They are offered great incentives. I get the impression that things are moving forwards very fast. A segment about religious freedom was interesting. It’s written in their constitution that it’s to be recognized. There are 60 ordained Roman Catholic Bishops. So far I’ve not seen any sign of religion around here except at the school behind us where I saw some Buddhist prayer flags just inside their gate. Tibet is mentioned a lot on TV. They have announced that everyone is now free to travel there. They always show what a beautiful progressive place it is!

I’m sure everyone will have heard that direct flights are available to Taiwan during the Spring Festival, for the first time in half a century. These ‘direct’ flights still have to go via Hong Kong or Macau, but they only land there for one hour. They don’t have to change planes anymore. Obviously just a bit of a compromise here! There is constant coverage of this on TV.

There are guards at the entrance to the apartment complex (there are maybe 100 apartments – I’ve not counted!). They are all young friendly guys who wear two different types of uniforms. Don’t know why. I’ve never seen them do anything apart from smile and greet me.

A street sweeper lady beamed at me so I took her photo much to her amusement. I saw two people sweeping dirt off the middle of the main road, but no little orange hats out for their safety!! The traffic just drove around them. They use the bushy leaves tied on stalks of bamboo to sweep with.

Meals are usually very tasty, but I give the tofu steaks a miss. They look disgusting. Sometimes there is spinach instead of the usual cabbage. Last week we had to use meal tickets, this week nothing. The staff were issued with cards which they put money into via the internet. But they were very unsure about procedures. It seems the principle has made no firm decision.

Washing! No Hills Hoists here. They drape it over railings or hang it off all sorts of things to dry. They have an obsession with airing their bedding and shoes when it’s sunny. I saw bedding draped around the railings of a public area. They have terrible tastes in linen design. Bamboo poles are put up between two trees on the side of the road to dry or air bedding. Double rail chrome stands are often outside shops with washing drying on it. From apartments it’s hung from balconies. Clothes are put onto hangers to dry.

I see a lot of the women sitting in their shops or out in the sun, knitting. Gives them something to do I guess! They always knit on four very fine needles. On my bed there is a beautiful richly coloured, heavy velour bedspread. I would love to take one home, but it’s too hot for Queensland and too heavy for my luggage. Also too heavy to sleep under!

A young girl 23, came to my teacher class. She had heard that I was giving lessons to the teachers and came too as she wants to improve her English. After class she asked me to help her. I immediately said yes, come shopping with me! Her name is Crystal. As we walked from school towards the town I got her to tell me about all the shops that I could not identify. There is even a sex shop. On our first outing we did a lot of walking. I found out many things and so did she. She is finishing her Masters degree in accountancy at a university in Tianjin near to Beijing. She’s a very ambitious young girl.

Crystal took me to her home where her father, who is a tailor, works from home. Their home is on the ground floor of a huge group of old apartments with a maze of hutongs (lanes) through them. Being on the ground floor they have a wee gated front yard. After introductions and a chat we went to the supermarket which was great fun for me as I asked Crystal hundreds of questions. If she did not know she asked the nearest person. She called her ‘uncle’ who is a good friend of her fathers, to come and drive me home. It was about 7pm by then so no buses. I was very impressed as he even left the dinner table to do this. He owned a flash car of course and was so happy to meet me.

We went back to the supermarket the following day as I wanted to buy a smaller weekend case on wheels and a weekend backpack. I easily found both of these. KFC in the supermarket complex is the only place for coffee so I waited there for my photo’s to be developed. The young ones like KFC even though it’s more expensive then local food. The teachers in my class tell me that KFC is not good for them though they do have it occasionally! I was saddened to see mothers shovelling chips into the mouths of already fat babies. There are two KFC’s here!

I discovered a Post Office across the road from our apartments that even the English girls who have been here for six months, had not noticed. It’s covered in the front by trees so it’s easily missed. Gleefully I went there to post a letter, but that’s all they do. There’s nothing for sale so I had to find a larger packet to post photos home in. Quite a big impressive building though! Australia Post would never waste so much space.

At school the place has gone crazy with exams. All the teachers in my office are marking papers and the noise level is amazing. I left! Usually they are coming or going to classes. No teachers came to my class because of this.

Carol, my minder, is organizing my ‘expert’s ticket’. To do this she had to go to other towns to visit three different Government departments. Without this ticket I cannot legally stay here past one month.

A new box office success movie to be made in China has been released. I heard a lot about it on the TV. I got Crystal to show me what I needed to know about going to the movies as the theatre was hardly five minutes walk from my place. A big impressive building with tall columns in the front of it! However Crystal could not understand why I would want to pay 30y to go see a movie when I could buy it on DVD for 10y! Maybe she had a point.

Never leave home without tissues! They do not supply toilet paper and rarely serviettes at eateries except at KFC.

I picked up my new trousers that I had made especially for me. I’m very happy with them, but next time we will have a better discussion about how baggy I want them. I would prefer them a little more fitted. At 50y they are a good buy as I saw them in dept store for 188y.

This city has a lot of large modern public buildings all built in western style. The library, like all public buildings I’ve seen so far, is very empty. They always have huge partially empty foyers! Crystal and I went up via a lift to the foreign language department and there I found a miserly selection of maybe 50-60 books in English. Fiction mostly and apparently donated. Then I discovered that they could only to be read in the library. Not for loan! Bummer! I was amused with the sign at the lift doors that said in English Do not use the lifts when there is a fire. I wonder how non-English speaking people will know this.

The art gallery is another huge partially empty building. Next to it was a youth centre, over the road a high school. All new three story buildings. In the gallery I viewed some interesting paintings that were for sale, but going on holiday stopped any temptation to buy. Some were very interesting. Upstairs there are some on display, but it’s not open on Sunday (surprise!) and I had to pay to view them.

At 4.40 pm Carol rang and asked me to come to school for dinner with the teachers. Now! I had been at school for lunch and she had said nothing about it then. I get the feeling that sometimes the right hand did not know what the left was doing. Maybe this country is a Scorpio!

On the third floor of the canteen building, a dinning area was beautifully set up. There were 129 staff plus the gate security men. This was the school family New Year celebration. There were 11 of us at our round table. Drinks were coke, sprite, water, rice wine and that white spirit, Baijiu. I tried the wine and while it was OK I was not fussed. Unfortunately I like the Baijiu, but I was very careful not to have too much as it’s very potent! At least 20 different dishes were served though some were only small snack plates. Some I gave a miss, but I tried a few new things. I found it difficult eating with my coat on, but there was no heating in the building. I also had to reach over the table if I wanted anything. Carol told me that if I wanted to eat I had to do it. That was a challenge. Some of the plates were quite heavy and as the table was full it was hard to pass things around though they did try at times to make it easier for me.

The meal was over when a big bowl of steamed rice arrived followed by a plate of thinly sliced watermelon. By this time I was very full so I gave both of them a miss. Someone had gotten married so small boxes of sweets were given out. Towards the end of the meal they gave toasts. The principle with his two deputies began by going around all tables to drink toasts and wish everyone a Happy New Year. The boss, via Carol told me again that he was concerned for my safety when travelling and that I must have the school phone number with me. I graciously accepted his concern. I was very touched when a lot of my teacher’s class came to me to drink a toast and thank me. While all this was a noisy lively affair it only lasted about 90 minutes.

As I left I was given goodies in the form of one carton of apples, one carton of pears, and a box of cooking oil which contained four, 1.5 litre bottles plus a big bag of cooked food. The bag contained 72 dumplings the size of tennis balls, 30 small meat balls, slabs of pork, and a bag of something I had no idea about. I put most of it into the freezer. The pork I had for breakfast. I trimmed the fat off, sliced it up and threw it into the wok with tomatoes, snow peas and two eggs. All mixed up with some oyster sauce and seasoning. Yummy! I don’t really understand the purpose of these gifts. I notice the teacher’s received cartons of fruit and oil, but only Carol and I were given a bag of cooked food, but mine was bigger than hers. Another mystery! The school driver delivered it all to my place.

We never open our windows, but the dust on the floor is very black. The unit floors are terrazzo tiles like they are in all public buildings. Very cold to walk on in bare feet, but to do that we would constantly have dirty feet.

My holiday travel tickets were collected and I left for my holiday the following day. Crystal translated my itinerary and went with me to collect my tickets. At school, Carol made sure I had enough cards written out in Chinese so I wouldn’t get into trouble! I had to get a bus to Shanghai (three hours) then catch a train which goes south overnight. I’m looking forward to some warmer weather. Wuyi Shan and Xaiman are places I’m going to, wherever they are. Hopefully when I’m in Shanghai I’ll be able to buy some maps and find out. Whatever happens I’m looking forward to it all.

The drama leading up to my holiday

It all began when someone decided I would be too bored to stay here for the entire three weeks school holidays. They decided a five day trip to Hainan Island would be a good idea. I could fly there and back. From the brochures it looked too much like Australia so I declined, much to their surprise. I told them that I had lived nearby the best beaches in the world so I was not interested. We went to the travel agency and decided on the trip that I eventually took. But I would have to go there by train. It’s only since I’ve done this trip that I realize what all the concern was about. The trip to Hainan involved ‘safe’ air travel. The one I took involved a train trip which they felt very concerned about as I was travelling by myself. Carol was so concerned she went to see the Sylvia the vice- principle. It’s no problem. I told her. OK, but please be very careful. She said with real concern. Worry worry.

Back to the travel agency and my trip gets organized. I was to leave on Tuesday. Monday at 2pm Crystal met me at the agency to pick up my tickets. She told me she has a friend who works there. Popeye, (his chosen English name) a lovely young guy. He was astonished that I was doing this trip by myself so he too, went in to worry mode. He was concerned that I would not be able to find the correct ticket office at

Shanghai Railway Station (he was probably right) so he organized another young girl from the agency to go with me. He said she had a class at 1pm so we had to leave on the 8am bus. He took me to the local bus station, bought my ticket and showed me where to meet her. Crystal wrote me a note to give the taxi driver so I could get there OK in the morning.

All went well till we got to a ticket office at Shanghai Railway. My helper and an office worker looked at the ticket. A good hour of conversation and many phone calls later I’m finally called to the phone. Popeye tells me they have put the wrong destination on the ticket. For the next stop past mine! I assure him that I can get off the train OK. He is worried: Please take good care.

We left the office and went for lunch and shopping, returning a couple of hours later. I bought a copy of China Daily and Shanghai Daily newspapers, both in English. More concerned talking and phone calls. Eventually I get called to the phone again and it’s Carol this time. They had discovered that the train arrived at my destination at 4am and what if the guide is not there to meet you? (He was) Stop worrying I told her. It was now after 3pm so I don’t know what happened to my helper’s class she was supposed to go to. She was still with me. She had very limited English and could say what she needed to, but couldn’t understand me very well, no matter how slowly I talked! She escorted me onto the train and talked to the guards about my needs. I was so happy to see her go. The friendly guards were all well dressed in uniforms, 25-35 and mostly girls. From there everything went well. I got various people to call Carol at times to reassure her.

The morning I was to return home, the guide told me I was going home by train. I told her "no, I’m supposed to be flying back to Shanghai". I was delighted though as the train trip down had been a lot of fun. The next day we headed off to the station. Next to the station we waited in the lobby of a flash hotel, sitting on comfortable leather seats while 1000’s of Chinese were sitting/standing around outside. I insisted that she called Carol to tell her about the changed arrangements as this meant I was arriving back at school one day later. It took awhile before Carol finally answered her phone.

When it was time to get on the train I was taken straight to the head of the line (the line was very long) and upstairs to the waiting room which was full to overflowing. When it was time to get on board we made slow headway towards the train. We are about half way there when my guide got a call. ‘I was not to go by train, I’m to fly home!’ I was speechless and annoyed, but what could I do? I was returned to my hotel and the next day I was put on a plane where I had a very boring trip back to Shanghai. From there I successfully got myself on a bus back to Zhanjaigang.

My guide told me not to leave my room. She seemed very worried that something would happen to me. I discovered later that Popeye had told her to take good care of me. Poor girl! Hopefully, as the trip went well, all this worrying about me will cease. I did some day trips during the rest of the holidays, usually with Crystal. All this attention was lovely, but it did have its downside. I will let Crystal look after me till she returns to university in March. She’s a delight.

At 9am Crystal and her Mum picked me up in a car driven by her Aunt. We drove for 20 minutes out to a village. We were driven up a small mountain where there was a temple, and dropped off. The three of us walked past many road-side stalls to the top. They lit bundles of josh sticks and after bowing, left them at various shrines along the way. Despite the dirty environment many other very well dressed people were doing the same. We came upon a man who was doing pretty scroll paintings in your name which cost 5y so I ordered one. Crystal wrote my name down in Chinese for him. It’s beautiful and much to my delight has butterflies on it (to match my tattoo). Crystals Mum insisted on paying for it. We walked further along to a huge temple with many steps to be negotiated. Much to Crystals Mums disgust we had to pay 5y to go in. She made a bit of fuss, but paid up for us all. We visited all the Gods. Several monks live there. Guess this temple is Taoist, but I couldn’t find out for sure. The words Buddhist and Taoist don’t mean anything to Crystal.

When it was time to go we headed off to walk down the mountain road. Crystal was wearing very unsuitable high heel boots so she found it difficult. It was a good concrete road. At the bottom Crystal and her mum decided to take a taxi as their family were waiting for us. I offered to pay, but this fell on deaf ears. A taxi arrived and I laughed as Crystal’s Mum argued the price with the driver. It was all in local dialect, but there was no doubt about what she was doing. Eventually after much door slamming and yelling they agreed on a price. Then she realized she knew the driver as this was her home territory. They talked and laughed for the rest of the trip.

We went to Crystal’s grandparent’s home where I was the honoured guest. Her grandmother, a tiny sweet spritely woman is in her 70’s. The grandfather is not in good health. This is the first time they’ve had a European in their home; Crystal and I are given the best seats. There were two big round tables set up with cold food. Quite a lot of family gathered as it was also a cousin’s birthday. They do this for New Year every year. The birthday cake was covered with a white cream with very pretty designs on top. The cake was sponge and tasted OK, but the topping was awful. We ate our way through many dishes of food. The hot food just kept coming. I had some of that lethal white alcohol they call wine and there were many toasts with the men. Of course I was the only women drinking…. again! Too bad!

After lunch Crystal, her brother 19 and a male cousin 16, and I head off down town where there is a lot of development. One area had a lot of multinational buildings, tax free zone guarded by huge customs gates. At the river we caught a ferry across to an island on which there is a flash golf course. We wandered down a dirt track and found an elderly couple outside their home. Crystal asked them if I can see in their home. I did not feel comfortable about this, but she assured me they didn’t mind. My discomfort was overcome by my intense interest to have a look. Very old and basic, with a bare brick floor! They did have a modern fan though. Meat and fish were hanging up to dry at one end of their small main room. I took photos of them. They were tiny and probably in their early 70’s. Their son was there and he looked so out of place in his modern clothes. He was probably 25. From there we went up to the main road where Crystal, like her Mum, had big carry-on with a guy who had a motor bike with a cab on the back seating four. They eventually agreed on a price. We went to a look out, but owing to the cold and low fog we decideded that a visit in the spring would be much better. Crystal got into another argument with the driver and eventually ended up paying less than they had originally agreed to. She thinks this form of transport is dangerous, (probably is) but I wanted to try and he did not go very fast. Next time we will employ a mini van with a driver.

We returned to Crystal’s grandmother’s home to eat again; different food and some left-overs. Crystal’s Dad was anxious to go home after dinner so we left too. (it’s difficult to get used to their way of leaving straight after eating) We caught a bus back to the city. I opted for a cab back to my apartment as Crystal was going to talk to the gatemen about my lack of power. But we got no joy there so I went to visit my new American friends nearby and after watching a movie with them, Lou gave me a torch and a candle to take home. It was a very eventful day all round. Great fun! The arrival of Chinese New Year Eve will follow tomorrow.

Carol had invited me to her place for dinner three days before the Chinese New Year eve. As I rarely know what day it is, I forgot. I had been with her for two hours that morning, but she made no mention of it. I went shopping and was returning on the bus about 5pm when Carol got on about half way through the trip. She saw me and said, I’ve been trying to ring you, let’s get off at the next stop. (I did not have a mobile phone). I wondered why, but eventually realized what was happening. We went to her parent’s home which is in the same complex as hers. As Carol works long hours, they mind her daughter and cook all the meals. Her parents are delightful. Her dad is also an English teacher. Her lovely husband was also present. He’s very funny and a policeman. (Ching Cha.) The meal was delicious, but with no heating in their apartment, once again I ate with my coat on. I was home by 7.30pm.

Chinese New Year

New Year’s Eve and I was eagerly waiting for the big concert on TV at 8pm.

Carol called at 4.30pm. "What are you doing?

Nothing much I replied.

Would you like to join my family for dinner? I immediately accepted.

We talked about how I was going to get there. I’ll call you back she said.

I knew from past experience this was now a happening thing so I dived into putting on more layers of clothes as it was very cold outside. She called back ten minutes later, directed me to get a cab and gave me a lesson on what to say to the driver. I tried a few times to get the cab driver to understand my bad Chinese, but we finally got there. Carol’s brother and his wife had arrived from another town to join us. We went to a restaurant nearby her home where we went upstairs to a private room which was very warm! I took my jumper off for some relief. The meal was delicious and different from anything I’d previously eaten. I had a lovely time. Again, I was home by 7.30. I was able to watch the New Year concert on TV though I only watched half of it as between most musical events they had comedy acts. They love sit-com which can be quite lengthy and after awhile I got sick of them. They were very funny so it was annoying that I could not understand them.

All the small non-essential shops closed for at least three days, but all the big shops in the central city area stayed open. I went there with Crystal and found so many people out shopping. We were going to go to the supermarket, but there was such a huge crowd outside we stayed on the bus till it got into town.

Some unconnected observations and events

I had to go for medical check for my permanent working visa. Carol and her friend (they always have to bring a friend) picked me up in the school car and 20 minutes later we arrived at a clinic which is only for medicals. A flash building with out-of-date equipment! I was quite bemused, but they were very efficient. It cost the school over 300y. However I was not too pleased to see my blood put into a vial and left unlabeled and open on the desk. If there are any problems I will be insisting on another test. I mentioned to Carol that I gave blood regularly to the Blood Bank in Australia as we were leaving. She asked me if I had any record of this. No…Why would I? My passport was supposed to be ready by the end of the month, but as Carol asked me to not leave town for another week I guess it’s not OK yet.

Whenever you fly internally in China you have to show your passport and it costs everyone 50y construction tax per flight.

I went for an over due haircut at the same salon the English girls had used. I figure they are experienced at cutting straight hair and I was rewarded with an excellent job. But I cannot buy hairspray. Maybe in Shanghai! It was a huge challenge getting Crystal to understand what I was talking about.

Everywhere around the city there are many shoe cleaners, but fortunately for me I wear suede boots so they don’t hassle me. The street beggars are very annoying. I refuse to give them anything as I figure they will pester me more if I do. The day I leave this place I’m going to give them all some of money. Despite their dirty habits like dropping rubbish, I’ve never seen any graffiti. Nifty rain capes that fit right over a person plus the bike are common. They come in an assortment of colours so lots of colour around when it’s raining.

Crystal has been so helpful I can’t imagine what I’m going to do when she goes back to university. She told her mother about my cleaning problem so her Mum bought me a bottle of collar cleaner. I would never have known about this as there is no English on the bottle. It’s wonderful on stains! I had squirted meat juice all down the front of my pink jacket and after two washes it was still there. Much to Crystal’s horror I used toilet cleaner. J That worked.

The local park, five minutes walk away is quite big. Come spring I’m sure it will look very beautiful too. It goes down to the river and has many paths and garden beds plus a small lake. The usual hire row-boats are very old things. The playground for kids is quite big with very modern equipment. There are quite a few interesting Chinese style buildings around the park, but as none of them were open I have no idea what they are for.

We have a DVD in our apartment so I bought three movies for 10y each. I’m getting sick of TV. On the Lonely Planet Web site I ordered some books relevant to China. I tried to order one that was not relevant and the site told me that it was not available to be shipped to China. I paid for them with my Australian credit card to be delivered here. I told Carol about it as she will take delivery for me. She really could not get her head around the concept. When they turn up I will show her how I did it. Not that she can do likewise, but maybe she has a Chinese credit card.

There are 55 ethnic minority groups in China. Amazing! The cultural shows on TV are fantastic. Maybe there are more of them at present because of the New Year holidays.

For those who love eggs; add some soy sauce to some beaten eggs. Very tasty! I do it all the time now. Some added chopped tomato is nice too though I add all sorts of things. A quick and easy meal!

About 2pm I headed off to the supermarket where I was pleased to see that the crowds outside were not as big as they had been, but it was still slow moving around inside. Only got a few things as I’d heard I was to move, but up till then I’d heard nothing definite. Arriving back home I found Carol and Bill (the school driver) waiting for me. Surely it would have been a good idea to call me earlier? Time to move to the new teacher’s apartments at school! I had done most of the packing so we zipped through the last of it, the van was packed and we drove off down the road to school.

The new accommodation is very nice, adequate and big. BUT, there are so many things that still need to be attended to. However my bed, TV and shower all worked so figure the rest of the problems will be easily overcome. They are too numerous to mention, but no drinking water and no power in the kitchen, so no coffee makes a good start! The TV has satellite, but only four channels: CNN (boring) Sport and National Geographic….I watched couple of Aussie guys catch snakes. Just what I needed! I think the other one is music orientated. But no-one knows how to tune in the English Channel CC TV9. Bloody amazing! I’m sure Crystal will know how to fix it. The finals of an English speaking contest are on and I will be miffed if I miss it. It’s for university students and very interesting. It gets shown three times a day so I have till 8pm to catch it. The English girls return on Saturday from their five week holiday and in two weeks an American woman will arrive with her young daughter.

By 11am the next morning I was fed up with pottering and dealing with all the problems so wrote a note and left it on the table. I bought a bottle of water then walked 20 minutes to the internet cafe to vent off my annoyance. I had lunch and coffee at our very cosy, comfortable, western style coffee shop. Armed with a book it’s an excellent place to spend a few hours to sooth the soul. They have very clean bathrooms and give you glasses of hot water and small plates of snacks.

Two days later at 4.30pm I had another of those ‘come to dinner invitations’. You will be picked up at 5pm. Why do they eat so early? This time it was the vice-principle, Sylvia who is the loveliest person, probably in her mid 40’s. Her brother and son picked me up. At new, very flash restaurant where once again it was upstairs to a private room. Twelve of her family gathered for her brother’s birthday! (She has three of them) Her husband was next door with his brothers and family. The banquet was delicious with very little starch food so it would have been expensive. (Sylvia paid the bill) A small bowl of noodles, all individually served at the end of the meal, symbolized good luck for the birthday boy. No rice. We were served one cooked shell fish each that was presented like we do oysters. The shell was about the same size, but looked and tasted different. We all drank red wine except one brother who had Chinese tea; he was the driver. We did not get served any tea. A very pleasant event! Once again I was home by 7.30. And so life goes on…..

Our school apartments are three floors and half of it’s a waste of space. I’m on the first level (they start counting floors here at the ground so I’m on the second floor) with Claire and Cam, the English girls. Downstairs there are two apartments, a dinning room and a large kitchen. On the next two floors there are three apartments. On each level there is a big common room with nothing in it. It’s big enough to fit a lounge suite comfortably in one corner. We cannot find out what, if anything they will be used for. Each identical apartment is equipped with a double bed, two bedside drawer sets, a TV, a built-in wardrobe, desk, chair and a computer and one wall has shelving. Except for the ground floor we all have a small outside deck area with drying rails for our washing.

When I moved in it was holiday time so it was a real challenge getting things attended to. Our house minder is a history teacher (they are all multi skilled) in his late 30’s. I named him Andy. He’s very charming and speaks a bit of English. The English girls call him he who loves himself so I guess that means he’s rather good looking. All sorts of people have been in and out of our place, even the principles. I made the most of their visit to show them what needed attending to. I don’t feel comfortable complaining, but future foreign teachers will all be told to expect everything perfect so I may as well get it sorted now. Our conditions are decadent compared to what other students and teachers here have to live with. The most glaring difference is that we have permanent hot water (except in the kitchen) and power 24/7. I don’t understand why, but the kitchen hot water is collected in large thermoses not too far from our front door, at the back of the canteen kitchen where there is an abundance of hot water with many taps for the students to fill their thermoses (their only hot water). A lot of them eat instant noodles so it’s always a busy place at meal times. But these taps are only turned on when the students are out of class. The students have no laundry only a large plastic bowl each for washing everything! We still have no laundry either so I’ve had to resort to hand washing, but it takes forever to dry in this weather. But the weather is improving. I noticed some Camellias flowering the other day so spring is on the horizon. I don’t know exactly what the power situation is at the dormitories here, but at the high school dormitories over at the back of us, the power goes off at 10pm. It’s announced by playing a track of Richard Clayderman music. Always the same, but quite lovely!

All the offices in the school have heating and the little ones have it in their class rooms. Where Crystal goes to university in the north, it’s very cold in winter and very hot in summer. They only have power in the dormitories from 6am-8am and from 6pm-11pm.

Crystal is returning to university tomorrow as she failed her English exam. (They are very difficult) Hopefully she is now a lot better having spent a good month with me. I’m going to miss her; she is so delightful and kind. Nothing is too much trouble. I’m going with her to see her off on the train, but I can’t recall where she said it leaves from. She can’t understand why I would want to do this as her parents never do. It’s another city so I can also sort out how to get there and back. Always a challenge! 

I have 13, 40 minute classes a week and my students are all teenagers. I can teach what I like as they are oral English lessons. This school is new and very lacking in resources. We are unable to print anything off the internet as the only printer in the school is in the printing office. I have a good clear world map, but that’s all. Time for some lateral thinking!

For those of you who may be concerned about the latest earthquake, it’s a very long way from where I am. It’s near the border of China and the ex Russian countries that have very long names. They are still having tremors; very sad for them as the death toll rises daily.

The weather has improved so fewer layers of clothes to put on. Thank goodness! It was only two weeks ago when I woke up to find we’d had a heavy fall of snow. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had slept well with no heater on. That day I had arranged to go to Wuxi (say wooshe) a much bigger city, with Crystal and we had already bought our bus tickets. I was to meet her at the bus station before 8pm so I put on an extra layer of clothes (makes going to the toilet a real adventure) and headed out of school to find a taxi. They were all covered in snow so not easy to spot, but they saw me. I was glad I went as we had front seats on the bus and the view was fabulous. May never see it again as it rarely snows here. The snow stayed around all day as there was no sun, so it was rather unpleasant. But I was warm enough, only my face felt the cold. Crystal wanted to show me where all the necessary things were. We caught a bus that did the rounds of a lot of the interesting tourist sites. I spotted a big book shop, so I headed in to see if there were any English books. NO, just the usual old classics! However in the travel department I found some good maps and a newly printed guide book about Jiangsu Province. So it was worth a visit. The warm book shop was very busy, but I wondered if it was because it was so cold outside. The following two nights we had light snow falls followed by two days of rain then sunshine and warmer. How quickly things change. Claire and Cam were sorry they had missed the snow when they arrived back two days later.

The books I ordered through Lonely Planet arrived. Two guide books and a Mandarin phrase translation book. My ear is slowly starting to get in tune with the language; they have four tones and a no tone, so not easy. I’ve learnt a few necessary things though. Ting bu dong…I don’t understand.

Classes are going well, but as they all have different levels of understanding, I do different lessons for some of the classes. The students are great, but Claire told me I have the advantage of being older! On Saturday Shondel from Texas, USA, arrived with her eight year old daughter Jaz. WE all attended a delicious banquet dinner to welcome them. Shondel will teach and Jaz will go to class.

I went with Crystal to Suxhou (say suejoe) where she caught a train to go north to Tianjing near Beijing. About 12 hours travel! I will miss her. We had about four hours to look around and found ourselves in an old part of town with narrow shopping lanes and pathways where you could easily break your leg. Very dirty with lots of hustlers! We had a great time doing a bit of unnecessary shopping. Crystal left at 2.30pm, but as it was raining I did not bother going back to the shopping area. I just wandered around the shops near the station. There were many street vendors selling mandarins and other assorted food. Even though I was eating an ice-cream they still tried to sell me food. I spotted a place to have coffee (always hard to find) where I studied my maps in the warmth. When it was near time to catch my bus I walked ten minutes to the bus station.

I bought some hot food from the first vendor I came to so they would not all hassle me. I bought a fried bread stick. It’s freshly made, unhealthy, fattening and very yummy. They make very thin pancakes; spread an egg over it as its cooking then wrap two of these bread sticks in them. So delicious! And even better when it’s wet and cold. I’m pleased no-one near school makes them. Though there is a man near another high school that makes pancakes covered with egg then lays another pancake on top, sprinkles spring onions and pickles then it’s folded into a parcel. He is there to feed the kids after school about 5pm. Maybe that school does not have so many borders.

The return bus trip from Suzhou was after dark. It was interesting to see all the bikes and carts returning home with no lights. Some of the newer carts had registration plates which reflected, but mostly they were just dark moving objects. The bus driver obviously knows to look out for them though they were mostly off the driving part of the road. The bus generally cruised along at 60kms. It does not stop till it reaches Zhangjaigang unless there is someone on the bus who lives along the way and wants to get off. It takes one and a half hours so figure it’s about 100kms. The buses are modern and have a TV which always seems to feature a high action packed movie. As usual Crystal worried that something may go wrong once she left me so she rang me just after I reached home. Hmmm, I don’t ever remember any of my kids doing that! Can’t imagine what she would do if I had a problem though she would call Carol immediately.

We were given 400y to spend at the canteen on meals. I thought it was for one year, but it’s for one term. As the meals are between 3-4y I figure it will take awhile to use up. In future if I’m home I will go in for supper at 5pm. Way too early to eat though. The canteen is a mere two minutes walk from our place. I only cook breakfast at home.

I went to the Post Office with two neatly wrapped parcels and the girl there promptly opened them to be inspected so I put them both into one box that they gave me to use. I did not know they had boxes at the Post Office. (They were out the back) The girl had a hard time trying to understand why I came in with two parcels and only posted one!

I am serenaded

I had been in China three months when I went to explore a little of Shanghai. I stayed with Lou and Robert at the Shanghai Tennis Club. I met them in Zhangjaigang where Robert works for a French company, but they always return to Shanghai for the weekends. Wandering down Nanjing Road in central Shanghai towards the Huang Pu River I checked out the many sights. By the time I arrived at the Huangpu River over three hours later I spotted river cruise boats. Just what my sore feet needed. I took an hour long cruise and rest. My return walk was made easier by using the small shuttle buses that operate in the central area of Nanjing Road. About 5pm as I was heading back to my bus stop, I became aware that the man walking beside me was talking to me. It’s quite common for touts to do this, but I soon realized he just wanted to chat. He told me he was a music teacher, played the violin and his dream was to play in the Sydney Opera House. Upon finding out my name he said, "I know a song with that name in it. It’s called I Dream of Jeanie". Then, much to my embarrassment, he sang this song to me as we walked along the street. I looked around me at the masses, but no-one took any notice. Very strange! As I had to wait 30 minutes for my bus, we went to a nearby Starbucks for a drink. There he told me that the person who wrote my song also wrote another very famous song called Beautiful Dreamer. He then sang this song to me in Starbucks. I was embarrassed, but again, no-one took any notice. Not even