Adventures in Guilin...(Days 9 and 10)

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The waiban for Guangxi Normal's shi-da campus (Guo Yuanbing) met us at the train station and packed all our luggage into a tiny van...which we all proceeded to climb into. Thankfully it was a short ride We were taken to the international student and teacher apartments they have here on the shi-da campus, which are nothing like what I expected. The international dorms are similar to hotel rooms, in my apartment I have my own livingroom, office, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. The Foreign Language School Attached to Guangxi Normal University (where I am working) provided me with a rice cooker and several pots and pans (however I have been here in Guilin for nearly 2 weeks now, and I haven't used the stove). Our waiban at the Middle School gave those of us who are teaching at the FL School a tour of the campus, and told us we would have a meeting the next morning at 9am.

The meeting was all in Chinese with the exception of when the Principal introduced the foreign English teachers (Jordan, Phil and me…and Martin a 30-something, tan French Canadian). After they got through what I am assuming were more introductions of the Science, Math and Geography departments, they began passing out little, red envelopes. They called it “Good Luck Money” - ¥1,200. That is more than one-third of my monthly salary. We apparently get this bonus at the start of each semester. We only had to stay for 30 minutes, then were told that we could leave. Phil, Jordan and I went back to our apartments to change, then our waiban (Mr. Li) helped us buy our cellphones. The phone, simcard and 2 months worth of minutes came to less than ¥500. After that, we hopped on bus #30 for ¥1 and went downtown. We explored the streets for half an hour before we found Elephant Trunk Park. It took a little coaxing, but I talked the guys into spending ¥35 to go in. The park was beautiful. There were palm trees and colorful bushes surrounding a little pathway that wove through green grass, just up from the Li. Finally, we reached what the park was built to pay homage to… Elephant Trunk Hill, which is a large karst mountain shaped like an elephant dipping its trunk into the Li River for a drink. We posed for typical tourist pictures, and stopped for some ice cream. I got a painted silk fan at one of the tents set up along the side of the mountain. When the artist was finished painting characters along the side of the fan, we set off for the mountain. There was a narrow winding staircase that had been cut into the side of it, so we started climbing. I think originally, we just wanted the photo-op, but the higher we got, the more motivated we were to reach the top. Karst mountains; in pictures, seem to be covered with moss…but in reality…they are small jungles, with a thick canopy of twisting trees. We kept climbing higher and higher, stopping periodically in clearings to take photos of the river, and the path. Just below the peak, we found a brick pagoda that looked to be at least a few hundred years old. After taking a few more photos, and rubbing our hands across the sides of the pagoda, we went on. We took countless pictures and stood at the top as a light rain fell. It was warmly welcomed because the temperature was in the mid 90s, and the humidity level had been really high all day. On the way back down we visited Elephant Eye Cave, and stopped at a look-out point for Moon Crest Mountain. Everything here has such ethereal names. We were able to walk through the trunk, and when we walked back around to leave, we found a small outdoor Buddhist temple with small figurines placed in an outcropping in the side of the mountain. When we each donated a few mao, a man hit a small gong and the sound seemed to fill the garden.
We walked back to the bus stop and caught the next #30 bus back to campus. I took a quick shower, and then met with the boys (including Max, a 48 year-old Moroccan from Quebec who lives across the hall from me; and Florian, a 24 year-old French man). Florian is awkwardly handsome. He is about 5’10” - 6’00”, thin, fair skinned, blond haired…blue eyed, however he has eyes for a French girl who arrived in Guilin yesterday and is teaching at the other University. It’s just as well; Florian’s English isn’t very good. We found a food stall on the strip just outside campus, sat down, ordered a round and several courses of grilled meats and vegetables. My favorite course was the eggplant. It had been cut open, and the insides had been shredded and mashed with garlic and green onions. It was absolutely delicious!
After dinner, we split up, and half of us went to Feitz’s - a Euro-pub owned by a Swiss man who has taken up residence here in Guilin. On my way to the restroom, the VIP booth full of 6 Chinese men started cat-calling me. When I got back to the guys, one of the Chinese men came up and asked us to join them in the VIP booth for drinks. Cheap bottles of beer were ¥15 a piece, so we accepted their offer, and they bought a round of beers for us.
On the walk home around 10, Max got a little inappropriate and was flirting shamelessly with me. It was awkward. Everyone but Max had to meet our waiban in the morning for our Medical examination, so we all went straight to bed when we got back.

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