Tongli

Our hosts have arranged two trips to surrounding areas as part of the program. This weekend we are traveling to Hangzhou for 2 days and last weekend we took a day trip to Tongli. ( 45 minute bus ride) Tongli is a beautiful town divided into seven islands intersected by 15 canals. Because of the landscape, almost all of the buildings in the town are along the waterfront. In front of the buildings, small stairs lead to the canals for residents to wash clothes and for traveling around the town by boat. There are 49 stone bridges linking different sections of the town, each displaying a different style. There were many tourists and a charge to enter the town. Enjoy the pics.

A Few Words on Teaching

Most of the teachers we are teaching are very young. I think they were hand picked for this program for having the greatest potential to teach in English for years to come. Raf and I have the bilingual primary school math teachers who probably are the least English proficient. Tom has the middle school English and Math teachers, Shelagh and Hector have the primary English teachers and Jane, Richard and Ian are teaching High School English teachers. It should be fun because for the next two weeks we get to rotate in the afternoons and meet all the students. Everyone, almost, is very eager to practice their English and people even stop us on the streets to have a conversation. (Had a lovely talk today with a police officer who learned to speak English on his own through books and the BBC, He said he prefered to speak "American English" and couldn't thank us enough for what we were doing, He felt it to be of great importance that American and Chinese children become friends. He also seemed quite concerned about the situation in the middle east.)

Most teachers here have between 45-55 students in each class. This makes it very difficult for them to do any kind of group work or to address students individual needs. Most of the teachers say that class size is the biggest obstacle they face. It is interesting that primary math teachers must have a degree in mathematics, unlike the US, and the degree requirements increase the higher the level taught. Remember, China graduates more engineers each year than any other country in the world. The Suzhou district is the top in the country and from what I've heard the other provinces do not have the resources we have here.

As I mentioned before, each classroom has a computer hooked up to an lcd projector, overhead, tv, boards that move up and down, projector screens, and a water cooler with hot and cold water, I join my students in drinking tea throughout the day. There is no cafeteria in any of the schools and lunch is delivered to each class. Students eat their lunch in the room. I wont go into what the bathrooms are like. We will save those pics for Miami.

Suzhou Local Market

Things have settled down a bit and we have had some time to walk around. This is a local market we stumbled upon. Sooooo kewl.

What Did We Get Ourselves Into?

As I am sure you all have noticed, we haven’t written in a week. Yes, we have started to work and it is just a time consuming and exhausting as in Miami. I will try to recap the past week for you.
Monday July 3, 2006

Eagerly anticipating meeting everyone from the program, we waited in our Shanghai hotel lobby to be picked up by the organizers of the program. Raf noticed a young guy across the street wearing bright yellow and pink Crocs and yes you guessed it,,, he was there for us. Fitting in the cab with the luggage was quite an ordeal. Albert escorted us to our new accommodations, which were about the size of the bathroom in the previous hotel, (the beds were harder than stone, the windows would not close, and there were mosquitos living there first), and instructed us to meet the next morning for breakfast in the lobby. We started to question what we had gotten ourselves into. We were no longer in the bustling area of town and couldn’t even ask someone to point us to a restaurant, Luckily, Albert walked up at that moment and we settled for a few snacks from the market down the block. He saw our profiles which included our salary (about one third of what we make at home ) and told us that teachers here make about $150 a month. We thought we had it bad.








Tuesday July 4,
Our colleagues, we found out, came from all over the US and Canada. After a tour and lunch in Shanghai, our bus headed for Suzhou. Sunny, the coordinator of the program is a tiny Chinese woman who looks like a teenager.
We got off the bus in front of the 100 Happy Hotel (what a name), which from the looks of the lobby was considerably nicer than where we had just been. Hu Ming, our principal met us in the lobby and Sunny told us he would be taking care of us from here on in. (8 of the 19 in our group including us were staying here for the month and the rest were going to outlying areas. We lucked out I think.) Due to the success of last year’s program Mr. Hu it seems had the hook up. He negotiated a better hotel than last year, and agreed to give us a stipend for food and laundry. We were given two rooms and decided that we could live together lol and use one as a workroom for the group. That seemed to please Mr. Hu and he promptly supplied the room with a printer for our use. Most of us have our own laptops but he prepared to supply us each with one if we needed one. That evening a dinner was held in our honor by the equivalent of the superintendent of the Suzhou schools. Raf of course sits next to the chiefs and when the toast was made he found that it meant literally bottoms up. He never backs down from a challenge.
Our room, by the way are large and comfortable with really strong AC!!

Wednesday July 5
The city is amazing, and we are on a street with everything: foot massage parlors, restaurants, stores (that sell clothing in sizes 0 and 2) and bars (all kinds). It runs along a really pretty canal. Amazing for a small city of 6,000,000



A bit of touring, silk museum and quick meeting at the education bureau where we were paid in full and we finally were going to visit our school. It is literally 2 short blocks from the hotel and takes 3 minutes to walk there. Each classroom has a computer, lcd projector, overhead camera, speakers with subwoofers, etc. Each teacher has a personal assistant what takes care of our every need. It’s good to be the king/queen. Mr. Hu invited the 8 of us to dinner where we had another small feast. It is hard to believe how thin everone is when you see the portions on everyone’s table.

Thursday July 6
Our students, who are all teachers, are so cute and young and mostly girls. ( mine a all girls and math majors!) We had to administer a writing test and conduct interviews all morning. I wish I spoke Chinese as well as my students speak English. Many of the students have been selected to participate based on their qualifications and many teach in what is called an experimental school: having the lastest technology etc
The teachers we are working with, Richard, Shelagh, Jane, Tom, Hector(who has been living in Suzhou for 3 years and is a great resource) and Ian are all experienced teachers and a pleasure to work with. We collaborate as much as possible to alleviate the work load. Went to Starbucks in a taxi for that coffee fix with Hector. It was around $1.25 each way.

Friday July7
After a full day of class, getting to know the students and their level (planning) we headed to a Sichuan restaurant recommended by Raf’s assistant with Shelagh, Jane and Shelagh’s son Jonathan. We discovered a whole new area of town in the center of the city with shops and many people. Very modern. We had another feast, slathered in spicy peppers for about $4 each including 3 large bottles of beer. Absolutely delicious. Finished the day the Chinese way, with an hour long foot massage ($5.00). Wow, this could be habit forming.

Weekend
It’s getting shorter. Can you tell I’m tired?? Shopping, more great food and discovered an Italian restaurant, owned by an Italian with better pizza and tiramisu, than Miami. We splurged and spent $8 per person. He didn’t speak English but we had no trouble communicating in Spanish and French and a little Italian. It is a big time soccer place Rossoneri (AC Milan). They are all over the place. The guy however opted to watch the finals in our common room at 3 AM the next day. Had to work on Mon. Spent the day Sun writing lessons for the week. That is why I have some time to write. Hot Pot here we come.
Miss you all. Feel free to post any comments on this site.

Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai

Did I happen to mention that every single night we’ve been here so far there has been a torrential down pour? Thunder and lightening. So much for finding that perfect martini, which I had sworn off last year, and there is only so much bottled water and local beer one can drink. Maybe I'll just stick with tea. Tonight in Xian, where temperatures are in the upper 90s and the air, usually very dry (a nice break from the humidity) we decided to walk to the center of town where yes the skies open on us once again. We just got to see a little of the town center with bell and drum towers. I think this is going to be a bad hair month.

It is now 11 PM and we are sitting in the hotel lobby bar, in front of the England vs. Portugal match on a big screen TV. I, with my laptop and Raf glued to the game. I think the staff was getting ready to close just as we walked in but were gracious and didn’t say no. Not sure how long before we are asked to leave, if they can communicate that to us. Most people in the hotels don't speak Eglish very well, but service in exrtemely important and everyone tries hard to please.

Earlier today we visited the site of the Terracotta Warriors, with our new guide, Ruby. Although we had seen pictures and read about this place, we were awestruck. Only one warrior was found in tact and all the others had to be reconstructed from fragments. When they were found they had color that disappeared quickly from exposure to the elements. Many will not be uncovered until the technology to preserve them becomes available.
Next day, the sun is out and we stop to visit the preserved city wall that takes about 1 hour on bicycle to ride around. Unfortunately, we did not get to visit the Moslem quarter, but I guess you have to leave something out to make you want to come back. Everyone stares at Raf, but in the Xian Historical Museum, a group of American students were really checking him out. Out of nowhere we hear…Mr. Trinidad!! An ex student of his, Julie, from Miami Beach was on tour with a student ambassador program. What a small world.

Hey lady, watches, shoes, handbags, good price!!! Welcome to Shanghai. Nanjing Road is a shoppers paradise, just a few blocks from our hotel, with lots of lights at night and tons of tourists walking around. Most of the clothes are size 0 and very lacy. There are tall department stores advertising every major cosmetic on the planet. Even Maybeline and Loreal are sold in the department stores. This is the largest hotel room we’ve had so far but the carpets are really dirty. (not like the Xian airport where the floors are polished every 5 minutes. We got a good workout lifting our legs while waiting for our delayed flight) The view of the city and the financial district from our window on the 15th floor is breathtaking. Our original guide, who picked us up from the airport, was very different from the ones we had in Xian and Beijing. He was a little flamboyant and claimed to be a shopaholic who enjoyed the nightlife. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it back in the morning but his replacement, who usually caters to the business crowd, was very nice. So far we really like Shanghai and are excited to be able to spend 3 nights here before we leave. Did I mention that its hot? Our guide said it is hotter than what the weather report says because the government does not want the people to panic. The hottest that is reported is 37C, but it really is much hotter. The Jade Buddha temple and gardens were beautiful, but it was hard not to think of going somewhere cooler. We walked on the Bund, which would have been much better if it wasn’t so hazy. Here you find all the designer shops and financial institutions. Although businesses can buy or rent buildings, and many have returned, the government still owns all the land. We made arrangements to be picked up at our hotel at 5 pm by the people from Suzhou so with some time on our hands decided to walk back to the hotel. One last visit to our old friends…hey lady, watches, handbags, shoes, good price!

Beijing

Soon there will be no girls left in Beijing. It seems there are tour busses filled with foreigners adopting babies every where we turn
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Today we walked the sacred rd. guarded on both sides by stone statues. Ancient emperors walked this rd. on the way to hold memorial ceremonies for their ancestors.
Stopped at the Ming Tomb then headed to the Great Wall. It was completely packed with tourists, mostly Chinese, and although the climb is not easy elderly people were doing it. Guess that tai chi in the park really works.
Along the climb there were many people selling post cards, statues, and loads of other crap. There were pit stops with camels and horses where many children were putting on Mongolian costumes and sitting on the camel for a photo op. We got to a plaque with a picture of Mao. Vendors were taking pictures of tourists here and selling certificates of achievement. When Raf asked Mona about it she said that according to Mao if you can make it to this point you are a true soldier. She also told us that this one was a fake and the real one was 3 towers up. The funny part is that President Bush didn’t even make it this far when he visited Beijing!
Note: next time hit the section that may be more difficult climb but does not have so many tourists


Tian’anmen Square: Really much bigger than what it looks like on TV. The Forbiden City is right across the street and also so huge it would take weeks to see it all. There are so many great stories and beautiful buildings. Much of it is being renovated to be ready for the 2008 Olympics. The number 9 and multiples of 9 appear everywhere and is a very lucky number in China. There is a long corridor for the concubines which makes for a very beautiful prison. How many rooms do you think are in the Forbidden City. (9,999 of course)

One of the most interesting things so far was a visit to the Hutongs.

The streets are so narrow we had to take a rickshaw through the area. It really showed what life must have been like before all the high-rises took over. Many families share an area of four small building put together with a communal shower and toilet. We stopped to visit a typical family, an older couple living in a small room. For more on hutongs http://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/hutong/hutong_beijing.htm



The Summer Palace was next and it the most beautiful we’ve been so far.



It is the largest royal garden in China, 800 yrs old. What a summer retreat! Puts the Hamptons to shame.
Dinner consisted of the famous Peking Duck. What a feast. There were so many courses and way too much food. It was quite delicious, but I couldn’t imagine doing this on a regular basis. Even with Raf, it looked like we didn’t make a dent in the mound.
Friday

Our last day in Beijing, before heading to the airport, we visited the Temple of Heaven where ancient emperors prayed for their ancestors. The grounds are kept better than the best golf course and once again filled with older people singing, playing musical instruments, playing Chinese chess, etc. There were many beautiful trees and sacrificial alters. A quick visit to a silk factory then the long drive to the airport. The security line would have moved very quickly had it not been for people carrying water bottles. Each water bottle was opened by security personnel perhaps checking for the local wine which is a clear alcohol made from rice, not really wine and about 54 proof. Talk about a party!

Pros and cons of tours
A word on tours. We don’t usually like them. Restaurants are selected because they have western toilets and forks. There are many stops thrown in to entice visitors to spend money, although some have been interesting mini lessons ex. silk factory, jade factory, etc. However, it has been quite convenient to have a private driver and not have to deal with making arrangements, especially for a first time visit to China. It is also important to know the right questions to ask as I am sure the guides have been trained to only give us specific information.
Where’s Miami???
It seems that everyone asks where we are from and no one know where Miami is. lol Couldn’t figure that one out until I realized that people in China are not able to travel freely and I guess not many people from Miami come here to visit.

Hutongs, Forbidden City, Great Wall

Going to visit the Hutongs

Funny Sign

Forbidden City

Great Wall

Beijing

Hey everyone, on our way to the Temple of Heaven. Here are some pics. Will write some more on the plane to Xi'an this afternoon.



Park near hotel.