Bailey's and Britain
on Tina's Journal (China), 11/Dec/2009 04:05, 34 days ago
Walking around one of the local supermarkets this week I came across a bottle of Baileys. What with it being the festive season, I just had to buy it no matter what the price. Jianq Yun Qin doesn't drink alcohol that often but she did quite take to the good ole' Irish stuff which we shared round at Jayne's. I have never come across any Chinese liqueur, so there isn't anything you can compare it too here, therefore for Jiang Yun Qin, it was a real novelty. I went up to the new campus yesterday, which is still under construction, but the grade three students moved in about three weeks ago. Unfortunately, they do not have any hot water for washing and I heard from a few students that the canteen often runs out of food when there are still hungry mouths to feed. Apart from these problems and the fact it's still like a building site, they are happier in some ways. The dormitories are more spacious with only six to a dorm with it's own bathroom. The dorms over here, on the older campus, are much more cramped. I went to have a bit of a nosey and help out in Jayne's culture class. It was a fun lesson as the class was divided into groups where some participants acted as travel agents and had to sell holidays in the UK. I felt really nostalgic looking at all the materials and brochures, and it was nice to tell the students about Beautiful Britain. Most of the students have never been outside of Yunnan province, and to be honest, will probably never have the opportunityto in their lives. It makes me feel sad to realise that the students do not have the same opportunities in life that I have had. Many of them would love to have the chance to travel and even be able to see more of China. When they're at school, the education they receive is very Chinacentric and do not learn much about the rest of the world. They know very little about world geography, and history. That's one of the things I love when I go to the middle schools and introduce myself. I take photos of my family and a world map and teach them a little about Sardinia and England. It's amazing now that so many kids in these remote schools will know where Sardinia is on the map!