Blogs from Ji'Nan, Shandong, China, Asia - page 8

Some people celebrate Christmas on the 25th December. In other calendars, the 7th January. Some celebrate it in the snow and others the hot sun. But in China, Santa Claus and festive music will still be with you in late March with the blossom and warm afternoons. Now I'm aware of the arguments over His birth. Shepherds watched their flock that night which is something they'd do during the lambing season in Spring. But there is no such logic or foundation behind China wishing to continue the holiday past Dec/Jan. For them, Christmas is a recent discovery with irresistible gaudiness. So they tie it in with Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) and now even a month later, I walk down the street in a tshirt and see images of Santa smiling back at me from shop ... read more

So much for missing the big festivities in Boston -- we had St. Patrick's Day here in Jinan! we (the foreigners and a few locals too) went to Kiwi Corner, a restaurant run by Mimi, a fellow Westerner. There was no parade, but there was green beer! For dinner there was Irish stew (which I didn't have since I'm vegetarian!) and loads of cabbage dishes and slaws and yummy garlic bread and spinach quiche and carrot cake and fresh fruit. Everything was good. There were a lot of "old-timers" - folks in their senior years - out for the party. We were also celebrating B.J.'s 40th birthday, so there was birthday cake too. Very fun! Then the Aston teachers were off to Long Wei Fong's, our favorite bar/dance place. We bring the party every time we ... read more

I've been here about 2 weeks now, and I'm settling into a routine. I had teacher training the first weekend of March, and taught my first week of classes last weekend. I teach many ages and levels, from 5-year-olds to 17-year-olds. Class size is 19 students maximum, which is nice. A few classes are smaller, maybe 5-10 students. There are no desks, just chairs in a semi-circle. The emphasis is on speaking and listening, not reading and writing (since most students get very good at that at their public schools). There are several levels at Aston. The beginner classes are parents and children together (PC1-PC3), plus there is a Chinese teacher (CT). The children are adorable! The foreign teachers (FT) -- that's me and the other "Westerners" -- only teach 30 minutes of their 90 minute ... read more

I have slowly but steadily warmed to Jinan. Its face changes as the day lengthens. In the early morning it is still and very cool, local people perform Tai Chi in the parks as I pass on my way to work. My favourite bakery takes delivery of soft sponges and sweet breads and crossing the road isn't an operation. By afternoon, the city has hurried itself into a circus, crossing the road is an ambitious task, kites soar high above parks and squares and below everyone is in a hurry. The evenings are lively and atmospheric, the city is lit up by neon signs and fairy lights. Crossing the road is an ambitious task minus the daylight. Merchants' corners and street sellers do bustling trade from toilet rolls and handbags to tortoises and goldfish. There are ... read more

Well.... our little trip to Tai Shan was definitely one of the most interesting 24 hour periods of my life. Tai Shan... Taoist and Buddhist holy place, center of Chinese creation myths, and the most climbed mountain in the world. The plan went something like this... we would take the train to Jinan, take a bus to Tai an, hike Tai Shan all night, watch the sun rise, hike back down the mountain (eight hours of hiking in total), and then take a train back to Tianjin and be there for class on Monday. We rode on a sleeper train from Tianjin to Jinan on Saturday afternoon, and got in at about 10 to Jinan. The buses were all closed for the night, but our "friend" from the train promised to find us a taxi that ... read more