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on Ripsnorter Chinalife (China), 05/Apr/2009 08:34, 34 days ago
Hi Folks! - doesn't a week pass quickly?Tuesday - had a lie-in (because I could...) before trotting off for a walk, Sabine was working. I wandered through town, receiving more stares than you could shake a stick at although I'm beginning to purposely not look at people (unsociable?). Eventually I arrived at a large bookstore and perused the with English books for a while. I also discovered later (always the case) that they sell DVDs that contain a few films together at a very reasonable price - might nip back when circs allow.It was Bin zi and noodles for lunch. Supprisingly I'm not tiring of these staples.. yet. It's also good language practice buying lunch when the NVs aren't around.Met up with Tina, an ex-volunteer, for a visit to a comfortable tea house across town in the late afternoon. Twas a nice joint - the only place you can get yourself a real coffee apparently. After a few refills of my Chrysanthemum tea and some sunflower seeds we left to meander homeward. Sabine and Kiko, one of our NVs, were ahead of Emma (the other NV) and I and met acouple of voluteers working for an Aussie volunteer org. I say met, this was after they had watched them dancing for a few moments. Yeah, apparently a group of locals just turn up each evening at about 7pm and strut their stuff, in a 'middle of the road' sort of fashion (not literally), just on the pavement. The volunteers said it's a change and it helps keep them active - can't argue with that.The evening ended with all enjoying Beef noodles (except for Sabine, she had veg noodles) for supper. We couldn't find any tak-away food outlets near home as our area of town was devoid of lekky (they'd turned us off to do checks or something of the sort). Anyway it made for a pleasant end to the day.Wednesday saw us (Emm, Kiko, Tina and myself) take a bus to Heshuei to visit Susan, another VSO volunteer in the next county. Susan lives in the school, sort of in her office-cum-flat. She enlightened us with a quick tour, accompanied by Jester, her Chinese colleague befwe were treated to a long hot pot lunch in a local restaurant. Hot pots are brilliant. Everyone has an individual pot of (eventually) boiling 'soup', hence hot pot. The centre of the table, where invariably sits a lazy susan, slowly fills with a profusion of dishes, including tofu, thinly sliced raw beef and a variety of veg, etc. You then simply cook your own food; transporting whatever you fancy from the table to your pot. When it boils, you eat - simple (and tasty). After saying our goodbyes, and after advice from our hosts, we decided to hire a car for the return journey (easier on the posterior and quicker). On the way back our driver stopped at a house to collect some medecine for someone further along the road. Seems strange doesn't it? but that's just one of the quirky things particular to China.Decided to analyse the evaluation reports from our first training session on Thursday. I met Emma at the Teacher Development Centre (TDC) at 9am and we pottered through this and some other jobs. The afternoon saw me visit the laundry and pick up some shopping before Sabine and I had our first in-placement Chinese lesson with Kiko. We combined it with our evening meal in a noodle bar nearby as the heating in our block has now been turned off. It's usually warmer out than in during the daytime!Xing qi wu (that's Friday to you) signalled the beginning of Tomb-sweeping holiday. Although it signalled kitchen-cleaning for me (well someone has to do it!). Nevertheless, after this and some paperwork, I met Tina and Emma for a stroll up through the market. I say market, it's actually quite a large labyrinth of streets and alleyways, each seeminly themed; each street or part thereof sells different products. There's a furniture part, a stationary part, a bridalwear part and so on. The best bit for me was the large covered meat 'n' veg market. Its roof (well actually it only really consists of a roof and stantions) resmbles that of St Pancras station in London! There was strange looking machine at one corner, rather like a metal cylinder about 2 foot across with what looked like womens' hair curlers attached to the inside. Any road up Emma explained that it is turned on before a live chicken is dropped/thrown in and duly has its 'coat' removed and unsuprisingly its life terminated at the same time, it's another world...The evening went with a bang as it was Emma's birthday bash. The four of us found a nice eatery and devoured another hotpot!I assumed the weekend would be quiet but not so on 2 accounts. Firstly, Sabine prised me from my slumber to gain assistance in fixing the bathroom tap - it wouldn't turn off. Ten minutes, a trimmed wine cork and a length of cord later the water flowed no more. Secondly, as it was a public holiday I assumed a slower pace on the street outside. No, nothing had really changed; folks were going about their business as usual. Things did happen for us though. We met Qin Hai Peng or Happy for short (our third part time NV) and his son, Emma, Kiko and Tina for a wander into the country. We caught a bus to the edge of town then walked towards the edge of the plateau where the ground quite sharply drops away into a dramaitc stepped valley. After photos, a 'pineapple lolly' and a dusty bus ride back into town, we walked home for a nap before tea.Had a lie-in on Sunday as my back was painful (from the walk?). Sabine went for a run. Yes, I know, Sabine... run! in the local school yard and then made breakfast on her return (int she a good un?). At dinnertime we travelled via bus and car to the Northern Grottoes (Beishiku). It's one of 4 sites in China where there are very old (1300 years) statues of Bhudda inside small caverns. No phots allowed (but we sneaked a couple). In the evening Sabine, Emma and I visited Long Dong teacher training college in Xifeng for a wander around the campus.We rounded the week off with a stir-fry for tea - I still feel full now!Okay peeps - see you next timeRegards Sabine& Phil