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The trip from Chicago to Hengyang was long and hard. I left my home in Woodridge, Illinois at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, May 12. I was actually leaving an hour later than I should have. I thought my flight left at 6:20 p.m., when it actually left at 5:18 p.m. When I arrived at O’Hare Airport the line to check in was so long that I thought I would surely miss my flight.
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It’s about 7:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and I feel pretty good. It’s cool and cloudy here. I'm hoping with the day before us the sun will shine. Sunny, the Chinese assistant that met us at the airport, has taken very good care of us. She made sure we had everything at the apartment that we needed including what the Chinese call “fresh milk” and bread. I think I have Internet. It seems to be working correctly.
Sunday we had our first day of the week family meeting at Gary and Linda Gearhart’s apartment. They live one floor above me. I had met them about 10 years ago at Ted and Sylvia Craig's house in Illinois when their daughter Lisa was living with them while attending Med School at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois. They think that Sylvia Craig is an Angel from heaven!
My first class in Hengyang was actually a guest appearance in another teacher’s class. Aurelie LaMotte is a young French teacher that teaches English and French. Her students were always asking her about the American culture.
Tuesday was another good day here in China. I did not have any classes to teach myself, but two of the English teachers that are here wanted me to come to their class and talk to their students, one class at 8:00 a.m. and one at 10:00 a.m. I have a couple of photos from one of the classes posted here, and a few photos of the campus.
Wednesday morning, and as per usual, I was up early. My only class that day was at 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon. I walked into town just to look around. I bought some pastry for breakfast. I had already consumed two cups of coffee at my apartment. They DO NOT have ground coffee here - only instant, and almost no restaurant has coffee at all! Ed Mosby brought the Myers some ground coffee when he arrived on Sunday, and yesterday Mary Myers (knowing I had not had a good cup of coffee yet) made me some. But I must say the Nescafe coffee that I bought at the Supermarket is a lot better than I thought it would be.
Today was supposed to be rather slow, a no class to teach, no scheduled appointments kind of day... but it turned out to be really, really exhausting. I first met my two Harding Student guy team members, Daniel and Will, so I could go to class with them.
It’s still raining here. It has rained every day since I have been here with varying degrees of downpour. There seems to be a few hours each day when I think it’s finally done but then it rains again. I’ve learned not to leave my apartment without my newly purchased umbrella.
Saturday morning and it was raining, and then it rained it some more, and then it poured! I thought this was a good time to stay in and do my laundry. The washing machine in the apartment is very small and can only do a few items at a time. But I worked my way through my first week’s-worth of clothes and also washed my bed linens.
SUNSHINE! Finally a bright and beautiful day! Sunday morning was full of anticipation. For me at least, the arrival of a group of dignitaries from Harding was exciting to say the least. The visitors were
Monday was another beautiful day here, but I could tell it was going to be a warmer day than we’ve experienced to date. Sure enough, it got warm - then it got hot. I don’t know what the high temperature ended up being, but I’m not sure I want to know. The upside of that was the sunshine seemed to illuminate a beautiful day full of activity and life.
Look at this delightful email I got from one of my student-hosts, Mimzy.
May 25, 2010 Dear Mr. Shaner, The big decision has been made. My new Chinese friend who was deciding on what name to select from my choices… Well, read this email I received from ぁ綯气钸钉
Thursday was a slow day but one of anticipation, for the evening was to be my biggest presentation and maybe most important to date. Every Thursday evening the American professors have been presenting a series of lectures called “The American Culture.” The series has been an opportunity for us to tell a larger group of students about our way of life in America and more specifically the way of life about our weekly Sunday morning meetings. These lectures are volunteer attendance for the students, but there are usually between 250-300 students in attendance!
This day was to bring what the team later laughingly referred to as “The Amazing Race – China Now” edition. Our taxi was to arrive at 7:30 a.m., but at 7:00 a.m. the horn started blaring. The driver was there and wanted to get going. He did not speak any English and I had a very difficult time telling him he was early and we simply were not ready. I finally called Amy on the phone, explained the situation, and handed the phone to the driver for Amy to explain better. A few minutes later, Amy showed up in person. She told me that she thought she needed to be there!
The morning sun awoke me in my 17th floor Guangzhou hotel window. It was barely past dawn. I looked out the window to see a large city that was very quiet and still at the moment. I decided I should not waste the opportunity to get out and look around the city without the hustle and bustle of so many people.
I awoke early as I usually do. The sun was up and I, for the first time, got a glimpse of the neighborhood in the daylight. Jing Jing lived in a beautiful neighborhood of somewhat exclusives homes, at least for that area. I went downstairs and sat in one of the large wooden living room chairs. It became uncomfortable very fast. I then realized that they did not have a single cushion in the house.
Monday brought upon me the start of the third week. Two weeks down and two weeks to go! I am planning on having a slower week, but I learned a long time ago to be prepared for the unexpected, so who knows? While today was slower it was still fruitful.
This was to be a day when I could get caught up in my writing for my journal. I did not write for the three days that I was away for the weekend visiting Mia and Jing Jing. I did get caught up a little. The Internet here is really suspect from time to time. Sometimes it’s fine and sometimes it’s either slow or non-existent. I think the weather has a lot to do with this and it has been raining a lot since I’ve been here. To date I have been here for 19 days and I think it has rained for 15 of those days. Often the rain has been hard and often it has been all day and night. I am so hoping that we have a few nicer weather days before we leave.
It’s been taking me longer and longer to journal but I have no regrets. It’s really been a labor that I have enjoyed. With the length of my entries, I’ve about decided that this is not a journal but a book!
Thursday was to be a slow day for me but I’ve said that before on days that did not turn out that way. Fortunately, while the day ended up with something very new, it was still relatively slow and a welcomed one at that.
We were to be ready to go with breakfast eaten by 7:00 a.m.! Those were the strict instructions from Sunny. The University of South China had planned a special tourism weekend for all of the foreign language teachers from America (and Aurelie from France). A bus was chartered to transport the group that consisted of our eleven; plus four Chinese staff members: Sunny, Alma, Hoasn (a young male student worker), and another Chinese woman that spoke no English and couldn’t even tell us her name; and Asher, the ten-year-old son of Sunny.
I was up early. Partially because it was very hot and uncomfortable in the room and partially because I’m always up early. I learned a long time ago the sunrises are so much more peaceful and beautiful than the sunsets. The best thing about our lodging was the view from the outdoor deck that was a part of the room. The view overlooked the Riverwalk that went throughout the city, and while it was wonderful the evening before because of the nightlights and decoration, the simple sunrise was even more spectacular.
The next morning came with a renewed vigor. I popped out of bed like a piece of toast! I was back! Everybody in my group that saw me that morning even commented on how much better I looked, and how much pep I seemed to have back in my step. I slept very well. The air conditioning was not cut off in the middle of the night. When I commented on such, I discovered that my roommate Hoasn had spoken to the Hotel management the evening before explaining that I was not feeling well and could they not cut off the electricity to our room that night – something for which they obliged!
I awoke and realized that I had houseguests! Mia and Jessie were asleep in the guest bedroom. I walked by their room and closed the door so as not to disturb them as I started my day. This day I did not forget that I had an English class coming at 8:30 a.m. After checking my email from which I had been away for three days I returned a few responses but mainly waited to call Donna at our appointed time. It was Sunday evening at home. She had two Chinese new friends at our house in Woodridge, Andy and Sarah, and so I had the chance to speak to them and say “Ni Hao, Ni Hao Ma” with the little Chinese I had learned.
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AuthorSteve Shaner, also known as Xie Yeye, is a professional story teller that delights in traveling to meet new and old friends. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Blog ContentsMay 12-14, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010 Sunday, May 16, 2010 Monday, May 17, 2010 Tuesday, May 18, 2010 Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Thursday, May 20, 2010 Friday, May 21, 2010 Saturday, May 22, 2010 Sunday, May 23, 2010 Monday, May 24, 2010 Tuesday, May 25, 2010 Wednesday, May 26, 2010 Thursday, May 27, 2010 Friday, May 28, 2010 Saturday, May 29, 2010 Sunday, May 30, 2010 Monday, May 31, 2010 Tuesday, June 1, 2010 Wednesday, June 2, 2010 Thursday, June 3, 2010 Friday, June 4, 2010 Saturday, June 5, 2010 Sunday, June 6, 2010 Monday, June 7, 2010 Tuesday, June 8, 2010 Wednesday, June 9, 2010 Thursday, June 10, 2010 Friday, June 11, 2010 Saturday, June 12, 2010 Sunday, June 13, 2010 Monday, June 14, 2010 Tuesday, June 15, 2010 Wednesday, June 16, 2010 Thursday, June 17, 2010 Friday, June 18, 2010 Saturday, June 19, 2010 Sunday, June 20, 2010 |
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