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Published: February 5th 2012
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VIRGINIA, SANDY, LUCINDA, SHALLY, LINDA, ME & KATIE. CHINESE ENGLISH TEACHERS I MET WHEN I WAS TEACHING CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH WITH GLOBAL VOLUNTEERSAfter 3 years, I returned to Haikou City to visit with many friends I made while teaching conversational English with Global Volunteers. Due to fog & low visability, my flight arrived 12 hours later & I endured a night sleeping at Hong Kong Airport, a new experience! Friends, Jennifer & Hans, (Hans from Hans' Dynasty) met me at Haikou airport & I was whisked away to a restaurant owned by friend, Linda & her family. I was treated to a most delicious 'Hot Pot' lunch, which is meat & vegetables cooked in hot broth. It was cool in Haikou & the Hot Pot was most welcome. Shrimp & mutton were also included in the lunch. After a much needed rest & shower, I was invited to have dinner at Jennifer & Hans' house & enjoyed having a traditional Chinese diinner, consisting of chicken soup, fried fish, sausage, mushrooms & greens. Their daughter, Jessica, in her last year of middle school, joined us. She will go to the university in June. Back to my Chinese hotel, which is very modern & comfortable, for a good night of rest!
Following day, I was picked up & spent the day shopping with Chinese
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YEAR OF THE DRAGON English teacher friends, I met several years ago when I was teaching converational English with Global Volunteers. I needed a coat & other miscelaneous things, a big difference in the weather from Philippines to China, Philippines being very warm & Hainan in their winter months. The weather so far, has been overcast, misty & cool..........my friends bought me a down jacket, a gift for visiting them. They told me, 'it was their honor'. A fun day, including Hainan Noodles for lunch, which is one of my favs. A restful night at the hotel, was exactly what I needed & got!
Following day, before checking out of my hotel, friends, Jennifer & Hans, took me to lunch with the manager of the hotel. Following lunch, we drove 1 hour to 'Wenchang Village' where Jennifer's parents have just built a very new, modern home. I learned the population of this village is about 100. As they are farmers, they are allowed 2 children, as opposed to the one child China policy. However, if the first 2 children are girls, they are allowed one more, hoping for a son, which every Chinese family prays for. One of the villagers, who now lives
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JENNIFER'S MOTHER, JENNIFER, HER FATHER & HANS IN WENCHANG VILLAGE & works in Shanghai, brought his wife & 1 month old son back to the village to have a big celebration of his son's first month. He had a Buddist ceremony, big catered lunch & dinner, which I went to, followed by a Chinese Oprah, which was quite lengthy, but had a happy ending! Costumes were very beautiful & it was a nice cultural experience. It was held outdoors & all the little children clustered around the front of the stage fascinated by the performance!
I spent my very first night sleeping on a traditional Chinese bed..........wooden bed with no matress. Fortunately, my friend put down several blankets, one being a heated blanket, for my comfort, which was greatly appreciated. Following day, we left for Danzhou, 3rd largest city on Hainan Island, over 1 million live there. Jennifer's brother, who is head of China Postal Bank, welcomed us to his condo, where Jennifer prepared a traditional lunch......chicken soup, shrimp, vegetables & rice. I learned that Hainan Island grows a lot of sugar cane, which is exported, once turned into sugar & also has the largest rubber tree export in China. In the evening, after we had a long nap,
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JENNIFER'S MOTHER & FATHER'S NEWLY BUILT HOME we drove back to Haikou City for my early flight departure in the morning.
I wrote this blog at the Hong Kong airport, waiting for my flight to JFK. I've had many wonderful, exhilerating, white knuckle, fun, exciting & educatual experiences during this month of traveling. I did love Dumaguete, the warmth of the people, climate & a more Western culture, then other Asian countries I've visited. The best part was getting to meet Damiel Xander & his mom, Michele, he stole my heart, as do Tye & Keane in the USA!
Traveling in Asia is challenging, to say the least--now that I'm home, I'm happy I made the trip. I have learned much about Philippines & Chinese culture & allowing A LOT of time inbetween flights......AMERICA is still the best..............(Be sure to scroll down to page 2 to see all photos.)
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Warren McCandless
non-member comment
Good photos, especially of the children, Warren and Judy