Monday, September 25, 2006

Wake up call

There are many little differences between life here and the States about which I rarely think, much less blog. One of those is the way folks tell time. In these parts, the time is written using a twenty-four hour clock, or military time, as it's called back home. So four pm is written 16:00 and ten-thirty in the evening is written 22:30. Having filled out timesheets on second shift for years, I'm quite used to writing in that format. When I talk, however, I still use the (U.S.) standard, so I say I used to start work at three and end at eleven-thirty.

Anyway, what brought this all to mind is a phone call received this morning. About quarter to seven--06:45--the phone started ringing, waking 3/4 of the household. (Siu Wan can sleep through anything.) I stumbled out of bed to answer it. A female voice asked for Yau Neih. I said I would see if she could come to the phone, then the girl asked me where English corner was being held at. I said it was going to be at six-thirty and started to give the location when she thanked me and hung up. As she did so I could hear her start to talk with some other voices. It then dawned on me that at least a couple of students had been hanging around waiting for English corner to start, wondering where their teacher was. All because we said six-thirty rather than 18:30. It's always the little things that get you....

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Bug Fu

Classes did start Wednesday and it was sand that was dumped to make a path through the mud, not gravel. The sand worked just find to preserve everyone's shoes, though I think half of it ended up on the brand new floors and stairs of the classroom building. (My sympathies goes out to the custodians.)
***
In nature news, we dodged the bug bullet Friday night. As longtime readers may recall, we had suffered two bug invasions last year--one in the fall and one in the spring. (I never blogged about the spring invasion, as it wasn't exciting, just annoying.) Well, this semiannual event was far from our minds on Friday evening. Instead we were thinking about karate. You see, when we came back to town, our girls were invited to join in with the other expatriate kids in town for some extra curricular activities. (I know, I know. We just spent the summer telling folks that one of the things we were lacking were extracurriculars for the kids. Just goes to show that the good Lord provides...) Ga Dai is joining in on some drawing lessons from one of the college art teachers and Siu Wan is starting to take karate lessons. What does this have to do with bugs? Well, let me tell you.

Siu Wan's first class was Friday evening over at a nearby primary school. We all tagged along to observe and discuss business with the instructor. You see, the other kids have sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We weren't looking for that much of a commitment, so we wanted to see if the instructor would be willing to teach her if she only came to one session a week. So it was around sunset when we arrived at the school and went into the studio. (I'm tempted to call it a dance studio, since it's a big room with mirrors and bars along the wall, but for all I know, martial arts studios are built that way, too.) Like most places around here, the doors and windows are left wide open. We were watching the kids practice, when suddenly I noticed a bug flying around the room. It wasn't the most graceful thing. Suddenly it dawned on me that it looked like one of those bugs--about a half inch long with a dual pair of long wings. I watched it for a while and then one of the other spectators--a little girl--excitedly pointed it out. The instructor walked over and stamped on it. (It was crawling on the floor at that point. I don't want to give the impression that we were treated to some amazing kung fu bug removal or anything.) A moment later, another bug fluttered in. I pointed out to Yau Neih that it was bug invasion time again. We figured it wasn't worth running home to start closing windows. So we finished watching the class, accompanied by the antics of the 5 or 6 little critters that happened to make their way into the room.

At the end of the session we made our negotiations. We signed up for fifty sessions, with Siu Wan coming in for two hours over the weekend. We have the option to cut back to one hour, but since she's just starting out, we figured two lessons a week might be better for her. We then headed home. Once we got to the apartment, we left the lights off and quickly closed the windows. We then lit up the house and discovered that the bugs had passed us by. Either they were attracted by the light during the last two invasions or the recent construction has removed the bug breeding grounds from outside our window. Either way, we were pleasantly surprised.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Still waiting

Well, Tuesday is here but freshman classes haven't commenced. It makes no difference to Yau Neih, since she doesn't have any classes scheduled on Tuesday. ('Tis a nice thing, in and of itself, but she pays for it on Thursday when she has six hours in the classroom plus English corner in the evening.) Our neighbor Michael, on the other hand, got a day off. Well, almost. It seems nobody send him the proverbial memo, so he traipsed out to the building and discovered (along with one or two students who were likewise uninformed) that classes had been cancelled. When he told us that it looked like the powers that be had dumped some gravel between the bridge and the building. An improvement over the mud field, I suppose, but given all the rain we've been having, I don't know how much of one. So now the question is, will we have classes tomorrow?

Sunday, September 17, 2006

A hard road


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Originally uploaded by Yuek Hahn.
I've probably mentioned all the construction going on in this town. I might have even mentioned that some of it has been going on here at the college. Well, that construction has hit a bit closer to home. I'm not talking about the noise. That started last year and we quickly learned to tune that out. (After all, both Yau Neih and I grew up on the flight paths to major airports--McChord AFB and O'Hare Airport, respectively--so we're used to background noise.) No, I'm talking about this brand spanking new classroom building pictured at left. It's "grand opening" is Tuesday, though I suspect no bigwigs will be in attendance.

This classroom building has been called "the freshman building", since all the freshman classes are purported to be held there. So far none have, since the freshmen have been doing their military training. Anyway, we were surprised to see the building looking so nice when we returned from the States and one night a week or so ago the family ventured out to take a peek at it. Foolishly we waited until after sunset and we were gingerly stepping in the darkness, trying not to plant a foot into a mud puddle. The girls and I eventually gave in while Yau Neih stubbornly ventured forward and eventually found a path to the building. It was still very much under construction, she reported, with almost all of the rooms lacking desks or even chalkboards. We figured that the story that we heard about freshman classes being held there must have been in error. Well, no, Yau Neih's boss kept confirming that her classes would indeed be held in that building. Anyway, this Saturday, our neighbor and fellow teacher, Michael, said that he wanted to walk over to the new classroom building. Since it was daylight, we all volunteered to tag along.


Once again we sauntered along a gravel path to the big dirt road out back. The road was a tad muddy, but in the daylight avoiding the puddles was no problem at all. It was a bit of an adventure, walking past all the construction tents and equipment lying about. A handful of workers were up ahead, tending to a new section of bridge that would carry traffic over the river. We stuck to the other side of the bridge and headed across... only to discover the end of the road:


The picture here, looking from the building, shows you the lack of roadway, but it can't really give the feeling of looking out from the end of the bridge and seeing a vista of mud. We took a few tentative steps into the field, but soon stopped, fearing for life and limb... okay, maybe just relatively clean shoes. We were all in various stages of outrage, thinking that the powers that be expected us and the students to traverse such muck in the course of our daily routine. (Okay, the kids and I didn't have to make the trip, but we felt outraged anyway for the sake of solidarity.) We searched about trying to figure out just how people were expected to reach their classrooms. Michael asked a couple of the workers who happened to be nearby and they pointed out a sort of path that snaked along the mudfield. Michael was game to try that, but then he had worn his hiking boots. The rest of us were hesitant to risk our normal shoes. Then we noticed a path through the rice paddy to the left of the building. It would involve backtracking across the river and detouring to the footbridge a bit upstream, but it seemed overall a far cleaner route. So Michael went his way and we went ours. It entailed a walk atop the retaining wall and a nice stroll along the rice fields, which put us in a better mood. Eventually we arrived and met up with Michael, who was watching some farmers winnowing rice. (Michael enjoys watching the farmers at work. I have to admit that they seem to know their craft.) Together we ventured into the new building.

The tale gets (more) boring from this point on. The new building looked nice, though with the telltale signs of still being under construction. We peeked into the assigned classrooms and all of Yau Neih's rooms seemed to have been equipped with desks and chalkboards. We speculated a bit about what was really going to happen come Tuesday morning. Yau Neih suspected that classes would be shuffled over into the new building. I ventured a guess that they might bring in a bulldozer on Monday to level off a makeshift roadway. Both Yau Neih and Michael couldn't believe that the college would let things stand as is and expect people to slog through the mud to get to class. I didn't say anything myself, but I had my doubts. The folks here in this part of China put up with a lot of things that us middle class Americans would find unacceptable. And my doubts seem to be confirmed. We mentioned the lack of roadway to some students today and they told us that the official word was, "bring two pairs of shoes." Maybe that's just a rumor, maybe it's the truth, I don't know. I do know that we have a whole day left before freshman classes start. In China, who knows what can happen in that time?

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Away for the holidays

Perhaps one of the hardest things about living overseas is being away from your loved ones on the holidays. Take today, for example, September 15th, National Donut Day. Where are our dear little round loved ones? Well, there were donut shops in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and there are plenty of bakeries back home, but here--nothing. So we spend another donut day without donuts. It's sad, but that's the price you pay. Part of me wants to get some other treat so we can sort of celebrate. But what to get? The supermarket carries little muffins, which are vaguely like donuts. I suppose we could poke a hole in them and pretend or something. Or maybe I could just buy some Oreos. They're round, you know, and that might be enough to evoke the donutal spirit. Guess I'll have to poll the family and see what they think.

Practical math

We had a real difficult lesson in homeschooling yesterday. For this week in math, Siu Wan is practicing calculating with money. One of the aids we use in this are take out menus from various restaurants. We learned three things. One is that our workbook is out of date. One problem from this book from 2000 states that you have $12 to take your cousin and little brother out for lunch. The little brother is included to give the student practice in saving money from the children's menu. Fortunately, Siu Wan is also young enough to order from the children's menu. Even by upping the limit to $18, she had to borrow 77 cents from her cousin to pay for the proverbial lunch. Of course, they went to Applebee's instead of Herfy's Hamburgers, which makes a difference. She was able to order a meal for herself for under $5 at Herfy's. That was the second lesson. The more fancy the take out menu, the more pricey the meals. The third lesson is that nobody except Herfy's lists the costs of sodas on their menu. Is that because, as my wife says, most people ordering out already have drinks at home? Or is it that they assume that since people have the big bucks for this haute cuisine, they don't even need to consider the costs of the drinks? Beats me. At least I know my daughter's getting a good education. Though it was painful to have to be reminded of chocolate shakes.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Yi, Er, San, Si

I saw a soldier with flowery socks yesterday. The freshmen are all undergoing military training this week. As I was walking up a stairwell, I noticed a young lady a number of steps above me. She was dressed in camouflaged fatigues and flowered socks. It didn't quite fit in with my stereotype of a soldier. I think of soldiers wearing nothing but government issue clothing, right down to their skivvies. The freshmen drilling on campus, however are not so fully equipped. Besides the aforementioned socks, I've often seen kids "off duty" revealing commercial T-shirts under their uniform shirts.

Anyway, seeing the mass of kids drilling on campus is, like many things, not so exotic this year. Last year I was slightly intimidated, wondering how exactly I should behave as I was passing a group having their drills. This year I don't give it a second thought. They are the newbies. I belong here. (Or so my thought processes run.) Of course, having gotten to know last year's recruits, I don't see soldiers so much as new students in uniform. That view was helped this past Saturday as I returned from our weekly hike. Usually we have to circle halfway around the campus to go through the main entrance. This week someone left a gate open so we could cut across campus. I said goodbye to my fellow hikers (my family was elsewhere) at their dorm and headed down a roadway. On both sides of me were a few hundred soldiers, resting in their squads. I got a number of stares, which I returned with a smile. Then a couple kids got brave enough to say, "Hello." I said hello back, and that emboldened a few others to call out. It started a ripple effect and I ended up waving and nodding to each group, like some shmoe in a parade. I wish I would have had some candy to throw. I'll be glad as the year progresses and I can fade back into the woodwork.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Say ahhhh

Well, we've been back almost a week and there's not been much about which to write. I've been busy cleaning, unpacking, getting settled and organized for school--all under the haze of jet-lag. Essential stuff, but boring. I have a suspicion that finding things to blog about will be a bit more challenging this year. I may have to start posting cheesy book reviews of my kids' schoolbooks.

Anyway, one thing I suppose I could do is give a brief review about is our medical exams. This is one of those things that I failed to mention last year. Basically, to get a resident's permit, we foreigners have to get a medical exam from a local clinic. Our team got ours in Kunming--whether it's because that's the official clinic or if it's just for the convenience since we're all passing through, I don't know. It makes for a good bonding experience either way. The clinic is close to the airport, on the south end of town. You go to one window to get your paperwork, then you go to another to pay your fee. After that it's a free for all as you go to various rooms for this or that procedure. Both this year and last I relied heavily on my other team members to find where to go next. They require you to get measured and weighed, submit to an x-ray, EKG, ultrasound and eye exam, and provide some bodily fluids for testing. Last year it was a trifle chaotic, as we had arrived very close to the cut-off point and we were hustled through so that all the medical techs could go to lunch. The memorable event is when they checked my blood pressure and it was incredibly high. I had just come off a month of frantic packing and cleaning and a trip across the ocean. I was not at all surprised about the reading, though the techs seemed a bit concerned. Not concerned enough to kick me out, though. This year my blood pressure was fine and the process was much calmer. There was a backup at the eye exam station, so I did end up getting through the x-ray and ultrasound at the last minute. (The ultrasound was particularly difficult as I was supposed to hold my breath even though the procedure tickled.) Then the desire to hustle was our own, as we tried to get back to the hotel to check out and have lunch before our afternoon flight. Not the most pleasant way to spend time in Kunming, but at least we weren't bored.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Free at last!

Hey, I just realized today that blogspot is now unblocked in the People's Republic of China. What a treat! (Of course, it's probably been unblocked for months now....) A billion more potential readers... if you count all the people here who don't have computers or understand English, that is.)

Gee, it's good to be back home

Sigh. My blogging has been abysmal this summer, even more so these past couple of weeks. Perhaps now that I'm back across the waters, my output will improve. Time will tell.

Our journey west was slow, but pretty much hassle free. I didn't even get delayed at the ticket counter, like I did the past two trips. (Some scoundrel on "the list" has the same first and last name as myself, which has caused me an extra five minutes or so at North American check-ins.) We flew out to Hong Kong via Vancouver, arriving in the evening. I felt a bit of a rush landing there, almost like a homecoming. We spent the night there and then headed to Kunming for another overnighter. Each step closer was, well, refreshing, as I caught sights and sounds (and tastes) that were unique to that particular part of the world. It felt like I was returning to a place that was mine.

I guess that should be kind of scary, that I feel so happy to be back. It even felt a bit better than coming home to Seattle. (I should add upfront that Seattle still is home. We have no intention of going beyond this second year in China.) I suppose it makes a bit of sense. Though I've lived in Seattle for fourteen years, I'm still a Chicago lad, born and bred. I haven't lived at home for a long time. As I suspected after I moved to the Emerald City, the roots I planted there aren't all that deep. I've missed people, but visiting the familiar places really didn't touch my heart. Oh, well. Though my link to the region is tenuous, my attachment to my wife--who is deeply rooted in the northwest--is solid. So I guess whether I love Seattle or not is immaterial. There are always worse places to live.