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Wednesday is winding down in our little corner of the planet and we decided to make a Wu-mart run before dinner to stock up on some essentials (snacks and beer) for the rest of the week and our upcoming trip to Qingdao over the May Day holiday.  On Thursdays we go to our branch schools and while Julie does have, her words, little angels for students there she has never been all that impressed with the lunch offering.  While I've never used the term angels to describe my Thursday students I do have one incredible cook.  Tradeoffs, get used to 'em.  Julie is taking matters into her own hands and stocking up on bowls of ramen noodles to take with her.  Lucky girl, it's not like I can bring substitute children to teach (or the kids could sub in another teacher for that matter).

Back to our trip.  We left the school building and as it was about quarter till five there was still a big crowd milling around the street in front of our school but we did notice a larger than usual crowd congregating around what appeared to be a new sign about 50m from the entrance to our school (and home).  What was on this sign?  A bus number!

Beijing city bus signs are in green and white with a dash of red thrown in.  The first and last stops of the line are written in Pin Yin (Chinese words spelled out with the Roman alphabet) and the beginning and ending hours are listed just below.  Running horizontally the entire route is written, but only in Chinese with the characters falling vertically in white on a green field.  Why all this fuss about a bus stop?  Well, we spend a lot of time on buses and we spend a lot of time walking to buses.  The next closest bus stop is just under a KM from our school gates and while we appreciate the exercise after eight months the route has become less than thrilling. 

As you may have deciphered, Julie and I have no clue where this bus actually goes and therefore, whether it will have any grand benefit to us.  We do have hope that it will and Andy Dufresne taught me over and over "hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things."

Seems like a good place to call it a day.
-Ryan

The week that was.

Field trips, birthday parties and sports meeting practice.  They all add up to one busy week.  The long work week has taken on a new meaning since we came to China.  Julie and I definitely were not expecting how the school schedule adapts to vacations.  This adaptation involves shifting the school days from the week to the weekend.  Next week we will have a seven day school week then get Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off for May Day.  While a seven day week sounds bad, the seventh day will consist of the students sports meeting.  I'm not sure if actual sports will take place or if each class will just perform.  What I do know is that Julie and I have had at least a handful of classes cancelled so that students could practice for their class performance. 

In addition to our lessened week due to the practice we also found out that on Wednesday the entire school would be going on the Spring field trip.  So at 7:40 on Wednesday we all piled onto buses and first we were headed to the Beijing Capital Museum:

This is a replica of the city gate from Jingde which was the 'Mecca' of porcelain making for the royalty living in Beijing.  The museum had an incredible collection of Empress Dowager Cixi's - the Emelda Marcos of porcelain - collection.  The skill level is quite amazing and so this is why all those dishes we eat off of are called china.

One of my favorite displays were this 2 foot tall replica's of 'Hutong' - alley's that used to make up the streets of Beijing - life at the turn of the century, the 20th century that is.

I did get several pictures of Julie.  Some with some camels, but our camera wasn't in a very good mood  and this is the only one where she doesn't look like she is dissolving.

The second half of the field trip took us to a botanical garden.  We visited an impressive garden in Thailand but this one clearly had a much bigger budget and was quite impressive.  Then we were told there is a much better one if we have time to visit it.  Julie took a ton of flower pictures and I'll her decide if she wants to post any, but here are a few of my selections:

So this is how I should have planted my zucchini.

I wasn't expecting to see these craving and clearly I got distracted about where I was placing my hand.

What animal is this?

 Now to the pretty pictures:

Julie couldn't pass up a chance to get a photo with Minnie.

Ahh ... Spring is here.

Thursday we actually had to work again and were off to our branch schools.  Julie got a surprise and a unique opportunity to teach without power.  She said the lights came back on just as she was finishing her final class.  Electricity, who needs it?

Friday mornings mean it's time for kindergarten.  Kindergarten is of course a bit more chaotic than the rest of our week but the last two weeks it seems like the teachers are taking a queue from the students.  The last two weeks it seems like no is sure what classes we are supposed to teach and Julie and I walk around aimlessly until we finally arrive a class that seems to say, "sure, let's do English now."  After our customary stroll around the building we both found classes and even then found second classes. I got lucky and found a birthday party.  It was quite interesting as me and teacher Snow improvised a class based around singing happy birthday and eating birthday cake.  Take a look:

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Here is the birthday girl making her wish. The candle was amazing.  I have been to many kid's birthday parties in the last several years but this candle was in the shape of a flower.  Then it would open up and each petal had a candle on it and a candle in the center.  The petals would spin around the center and the candle would play happy birthday.

Some of us couldn't stop eating our cake to take a picture.

That's all for now.
-Ryan

After the Great Wall

We climbed the Great Wall.  It took about 3 hours and a lot of energy so we were pretty hungry.  We got back to the hotel and we (by we, I mean Ryan) flooded the bathroom.  No big deal.  There were plenty of towels. 

Next, we are off the dinner.  We walk to the hotel restaurant and the lights were on... that is a big improvement from lunch time.  After watching at least a half dozen hotel staff personal and going back to the room to fetch a pen to fill out the room service menu (because that was translated into English so we figured that would help), we waited and waited.  We ended up proceeding to the front desk and handed the fellow behind the desk the room service menu.  After some body language gestures, pointing, and writing down our room number, we felt pretty good about putting in our order.  About 15 minutes later... success.  They delivered the food to our room.  It wasn't the best food I have had, but it hit the spot.

And then the next morning, we needed breakfast.  With most hotels in China, breakfast is included with a night's stay and this was no different.  However, it was a Chinese breakfast.  And this was a feast.  We were served fried rice, 10 slices of bread, eggs, a plate of Chinese ham, pickled vegetables, porridge, and coffee.  By coffee, I mean a sad attempt at coffee.  It was closely related to syrup.  It was nice of them to supply all that food, but the bread and rice was plenty.  Ryan went out to get me some "real" coffee.  I said if there was no cofffee, a Coke would do.  Good thing because the coffee shop was not yet open. 

Lesson learned, when going on an adventure, take snacks. Also, food is much more enjoyable if we have to work for it.  I definitely feel like we worked for our food this weekend.

Some notes from climbing the Great Wall.  Ryan and I are kinda like celebrities around here.  Over a dozen people asked me to take a picture with them.  At one point, Ryan and I sat down for a snack and a whole family took turns taking pictures with us for about 5 minutes.  I even had on my sunglasses... how did anyone recognize me? 

And the best part of the weekend: on the way to the Great Wall, we saw a man dresssed in a suit walking down the street carrying a pick-axe.  Where was he going??

So I'm really going to miss weekends like this when we head back home.  I feel like I should clarify.  I will miss the challeges, I won't miss climbing all the stairs.

Oh yeah, after all that, when we got back home.  I ate Chip Ahoy cookies for dinner.

:o)

Julie

"I feel like an old person." -Julie Stiens 4/14/2013

**So I may get in trouble for this one but given I'm the only English speaking person in the district I think I have a better chance than most to talk my way out of it.**

This weekend Julie and I went to the Juyongguan Pass which is a section of the Great Wall about 40km outside of downtown Beijing.  As with most of our trips I scout out how to get there and then we improvise. According to the great folks at travelchinaguide.com it was an easy ride up Line 13 on the Beijing Metro and then catch Changping bus no. 68 to the Wall.  Piece of cake, right?  Well upon getting off Line 13 (yes it was the correct stop) we were immediately the target of several taxi drivers.  There is nothing like trying to get your barrings and having several men asking you questions in some hybrid of English and Mandarin. 

After a quick scan of the area and no sight of the bus stop we needed an executive decision was made and the haggling began.  We walked away from the first driver and were quickly run down by a second offering 3/4 the price of the first.  That was good enough for us and a quick dart across four lanes of traffic and through the median and we were in the car and on the road.  After riding in the car - I would say taxi but I think that would be a lie, it was probably just a guy with a car would wanted to make some extra money, you gotta love the entrepreneurial spirit - for about a half hour we were feeling better and better about our price.  It turns out we were still about 30km from our destination, not bad for $25.

We got dropped off and didn't exactly know where we were supposed to go, as usual, but several nice people pointed us to the road and then to the right.  From the looks on their faces I was almost positive we didn't have that far of a walk in front of us.  Well, I was right.  It was just 200 hundred yards up the road to our hotel.  We got to reception and it wasn't yet 11, I thought there was no way they'd let us into our room.  Trying to explain that we were arriving too early to check-in may have been a bit advanced for the front desk staff or it could've been we were they only guests checking that day because we were quickly whisked to our room. 

After we got in the room and got settled we decided to try out the restaurant before tackling the Wall.  We walked down to the restaurant and it was about 11:30 but there were no lights on and all the chairs were leaned up against the tables.  This was the first time I got that what did you get me into look.  First time this trip that is, in general I get it pretty regularly. We circled back to reception and were able to communicate well enough to get one of the staff to accompany us down to the restaurant. They set-up two chairs and grabbed a waiter for us and then brought us the menu in Mandarin with no pictures.  Another minute, another challenge.  No problem, we know several dishes in Mandarin and even with our pathetic pronunciation we still manged to get a good meal. 

After lunch we head to the wall:

It was steep.  These pictures don't do it justice.

Okay, maybe this picture does it some justice.

and this one.

and this one.

 

We finally made it to the top!  There a few moments when some of us were a little unsure of whether we would get there or not but view was definitely worth it.  So was the $5, year old beer.  I'm not sure how they get all the merchandise up there but I wouldn't do it very often either.

Well that covers most of Saturday and I have to run so I'll be back with the rest before too long.

-Ryan

A string of gorgeous days

The weather outside has been incredible this week.  After the long winter where one couldn't determine whether you were seeing clouds or smog - and more than likely it was smog - this is a welcome sight.  This is probably what it looked like when Julie and I first arrived, but who can remember that far back.  While it may only be a short respite it is greatly welcome.

Taking a look at the calendar this morning it appears we (Julie and I) only have 50 more days of teaching before we are required to exit the country at the end of June.  Julie was lamenting last night that just as we are starting to near the finish line of our teaching contract she is getting finally getting it.  If only I could make the same lamentation :  ). 

Hope your Wednesday is as beautiful as this one.

-Ryan

More pictures

We managed to get a few pictures on the train from Xi'an back to Beijing.  If anyone can tell me what this is that would be terrific.  To me it looked like a siamese oil derrick, but clearly I'm no expert.

Moving pictures around on this blog is a pain so we aren't going in strictly chronological order.  Here is the picture with the fake warriors.  There was first a discussion on whether we should get the picture taken then we inadvertently scouted out all the 'tourist' picture spots before circling back to Pit 2 (the first pit we toured) to get our keepsake.

Beijing greeted with a stiff breeze as we got off.  If you zoom in on this shoot you see Julie and Mom Stiens barely opening their eyes.  If you had been there you would have heard complaining of the cold.  Clearly I couldn't empathize.

 Hang on Julie we'll get you out of here in a second!

 Mom kept getting left behind as she wanted to take pictures of Tian'anmen square (to the left) while the rest of us were make our way to the National Museum of China as we only had an hour till it was time to head out.

 Here the four of us posed in front of the National Musuem of China as a nice Chinese gentleman took our picture.  Funny how even though we often can't speak the same language I've never needed to explain how to use a camera.

 The Museum had numerous great artificats. 

I found this one the funniest so here you go:

 It's been great.  Fly safe!

Well there are a lot more pictures from our Sino-trip together so if you want to see them try this link:
Picture album

Have a great day,
Ryan

Once Mom & Dad Stiens had arrived in China the school had prepareda welcoming ceremony.  This picture has the guests of honor and all the performers from the ceremony.  Julie and Ryan have learned that performing is not an optional activity in China ... see below

The star of the show was this 2nd grade version of Michael Jackson.

... and as I mentioned above.



Some of us "got" to perform more than others.



Mom Stiens and Julie put on a class for all the English teachers and the AV teachers and their cameras.  Julie and Ryan probably should have know this was going to happen but they weren't sure that many people could fit into one classroom.

After the ceremony we were taken to dinner with several of the Enlgish teachers.  This picture features Rose, who is an English teacher and the prinicipal's assistant. 

 On Wednesday, the four of us headed to the Summer Palace and got some of the best weather Julie & Ryan have seen in China.  Those Stiens parents sure do make it dramtic getting there but once they do they know how to bring the weather.

 Thursday morning we jumped on train to Shanghai and then caught a river cruise.

 

 On Friday, we headed to Qibao, an ancient rivertown that is now inside the Shanghai city proper.  This is a bell that appeared in the town after a flood and they now call it, "the Big Bell that Floated from Afar."  You can't make this stuff up.

Here is the rivertown!

 

The following morning we hopped on the hop-on/hop-off bus and made our way around Shanghai and then back around to the Yuyuan Garden and the temple to the city gods.  This pic was in a different garden on the way to the other garden.

 Dad couldn't pass up this photo-op:

This picture is from 'the' garden.

Then we headed up to the Ritz for dinner.

 It was a little difficult to get a good shot with as you can see ...

 

 Mom & Dad Stiens then had a few days on their own and this is from their visit to the Great Wall.

Next we were off to Xi'an and the Terra-Cota Warriors exhibit.

 On our way back to the hotel we grabbed a pick picture in front of the Xi'an city wall.

 

 

It's dinner time and someone is getting impatient so we'll be back with more ... gotta go.

 

-Ryan