Packing up

 Today is my last night in Yongjia as I fly north to Tianjin ("bright lights, big city") at 12.35pm tomorrow.  As I could only take one bag of 20kg and one piece of hand luggage with me on the plane, my friend May suggested that we courier one of my bags up to my new school. This was going to cost me a lot less than having to pay for the excess baggage at the airport.

This is Greensuitcase (Kerryn's nickname for the bag she gave me) getting packed, then on the little courier truck ready for its next big trek. It weighed 25kgs and cost me $30. They said it will arrive in Tianjin on Thursday, the same day I start working at English First. Fingers crossed it arrives in one piece! 

It's getting hot in here....

It can get really hot and muggy here that it feels like you are living in a sauna.  But this is how most middle aged men deal with the heat in Yongjia. Yep, it's the old, roll your t-shirt up over your puku technique. 

So funny!

Spa Day

 On Monday, I met with my American friend Stephanie living in Wenzhou for a girls spa day. My classes were slowly being cancelled and used as revision time for the end of year exams next week so I had plenty of time to spare. Of course, I was fine with that so off I went to catch the bus into the city and to meet at our usual spot - Starbucks. After a quick coffee we caught bus 92 to the spa. As the bus was full, I ended up sitting next to an elderly lady.  She could tell we were foreigners and insisted on talking with me. My Chinese is still very poor so we only had a short conversation but it was still good to practice.

Fifteen minutes later we were at our stop and walked in the 33 degree heat (sweat dripping off us) to the ladies only spa just minutes from Stephanie's apartment. Once inside, we were given a towel and Chinese style pyjamas to put We showered, changed and then met in the sauna with the rest of the staff. They probably don't see many foreigners so they all came in with us, in their work clothes, while we tried to talk to each other - us trying to speak Chinese and them English. They had brought us in cups of hot tea to drink as we sat there chatting about the treatments we wanted.

After the sauna we were moved to the massage room and we laid face down on the tables. We were having back massages first and then facials (yay!). Once we were comfortable the massages began, but 5 minutes later the rest of the staff came back in to talk to us again. So much for the relaxation! This time they had their smart phones with them, and they had apps that they could speak Chinese into, and would translate back into English. Sometimes it worked but other times, it was hit and miss, but that was ok.

The massage was deep tissue and after about 5 minutes, I was wondering what the heck I had got myself into. This was painful! Every now and again they would talk to us about our health. "You need to eat more black food", they said to Stephanie, "it is good for your kidneys". I was told, "your back channels are clear, very good". It would've great to get more information but I will have to do that another time when my Chinese is better. As time went on, the massages became more comfortable, and the initial pain had vanished. After about 2 hours we had our facials and it was so good that I'm sure I had a wee nana nap for a few minutes.

Just over 3 hours later, we were done. Totally relaxed and feeling great. We slowly got changed and went out into the reception and paid our $60.  Then they sat us down and gave us a small cup of red bean soup. After a few photos, Steph headed home and I caught the bus back into the city to catch the ferry home. I got stuck in the rush hour traffic so it took me around 2 hours to get back to Yongjia. But at least I felt relaxed and  happy!

The sauna

The massage room

Getting to grips with the money

I have to admit, it did take me a little while, probably  a month, before I starting becoming familiar with Chinese money and that was only because another teacher sat me down one day and explained it.  The official currency in the People's Republic of China is the renminbi 人民币 and literally means the people's currency. It's basic unit is the Yuan (¥) and this term is probably more wildly known internationally. But out here on the streets of Yongjia we generally use the word kuai, which you could say was a nickname.

Today, according to my trusty little iPhone app, $1NZ dollar is equal to 4.43 Chinese Yuan. To put it in perspective, that can buy me a big steamed pork dumpling and a cup or hot soy milk for a very yummy and filling breakfast, or five fried dumplings, or almost five small cartons of juice.

The highest valued banknote in China is the 100¥ and equates to just over $22.00NZD. It goes down from that to 50¥, 20¥, 10¥, 5¥ and then something weird happens. The 1¥ note also has a 1¥ coin and the 5 jiao note also has a matching 5 jiao coin (5 jiao is half of 1¥). Then there is the smaller 0.1 jiao coin. But the fact that some notes had a corresponding coin was confusing. There is also meant to be more bank notes of smaller denominations but these are from older circulations and therefore, harder to find nowadays.  The banknote at the bottom of the picture is an example of a 5 jiao note from the 1980's and part of the 4th series of banknotes published in China. These older notes proudly display the diverse group of people living in China such as the different ethnic Chinese and those from places like Taiwan, Korea and Tibet. They also had different leaders and types of workers on them (e.g. a professor, field worker and a miner).  A 5th series was subsequently introduced in 1999 and these groups were then replaced by the portrait of Mao Zedong.

A load of rubbish

Rubbish cart

Ever since I arrived here, the first thing that struck me was the way people would just throw their rubbish on the street.  It didn't matter whether there was a rubbish bin nearby or not, it would still end up on the ground. 

As I live on the school grounds, my window overlooks the one of the main streets and the school entrance.  On the street are a number of small discount shops that sell everything from school supplies to sweets and street vendors that set up early each morning to sell their breakfast items. Every day as the children come to school they pass by these shops, buy things and then the containers or wrappers are discarded onto the footpath. By the time the school bell goes, the street is absolutely covered with rubbish. 

But it doesn't sit around for too long, as we have an elderly lady that comes along with her cart and spends all day, from as early as 6.30am until late at night quietly sweeping everything up. There are several rubbish people who cover the town as they go backwards and forwards all day long, seven days a week, with their makeshift broom and shovel, putting everything into their cart and taking it away.

Sweeping the street

Food pictures!

Sichuan food - spicy

Beef noodle soup

Here is some of the food I have eaten over the last 5 days. Eating out is so cheap here for instance, my (new) favourite breakfast of a big dumpling and cup of hot soy milk costs $1.00. Then the meals at cafes and restaurants range between $3 - $6. I feel like I am in food heaven!

Not sure what I order but it was good

Bao zi - inside my morning dumpling

Buying my dumpling & hot soy milk

 

Class photo

Kids getting ready for their class photo yesterday afternoon. They all wear the little red scarfs here ('young pioneers') but once they leave and go onto high school they are no longer worn.

This is a 6th grade class and their teacher David is standing to the left with the red pattern shirt on. He is also one of the English teachers. I have been told there are about 50 Chinese English teachers at this school and two native speakers (me and my American colleague).

 

School lunches

This is one of the lunch ladies delivering lunch up to a class room. Inside the basket will be a large pot of rice, a pot of meat (normally pork), fried fish, boiled cabbage (and today some mung beans) and a hot soup. This was a sweet soup with grapes in it - quite nice!. 

I would say about 50% of the kids go home for lunch as we get a 2 hour lunch break, but the others who may live further away or whose parents are too busy will tend to eat at the school.

Some days the lunches are good but other days.......well they could be better. Last week I visited a friend who teaches at the local high school. They have two huge cafeterias (one for the teachers and one for the students) and the food is gourmet-like compared to mine. He also has all his meals provided as it is a boarding school. So lucky!

Delivering lunch to a class

Lunch placed outside the classroom

A normal school lunch

 

Happy Children's Day! 六一儿童节快乐!

Monday 1st June was Children's Day in China and even though there were no regular classes (I had the day off), the kids came to school and played games and competitions organised by the teachers.  It is a day where all children under the age of 14 (little emperors and emporesses) are celebrated.  Because I work in a public primary school this meant the whole school got into the festivities. 

In the morning there was an assembly for the young kids (grades 1-2) held out on the athletic field with lots of fanfare. Afterwards, each child was given a score card and they could go around to each of their grade 1 and 2 classes participating in the activities that the teachers had organised. Once they completed an activity, they would get their card signed and they could move onto the next class. Once they received enough signatures they could run off across to the other side of the school to pick up their prize.

I decided to attend in the afternoon to watch my grade 3 & 4 classes in action. The activities ranged from pin 'the nose on the clown', musical chairs, blowing out candles, skipping competitions and so on. There was a great atmopshere in the school as all the classrooms were decorated with colourful pictures, bunting and balloons. It was also good to watch hundreds of kids running around having fun with their teachers.

 

Morning assembly

Grade 3 kids decorating their class

Hopping with balloons between their legs

Little Sissy doing her pose

The score card

The prize - a plastic fan

A very competitive game of Muscial Chairs