Spring is almost here!

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It has been a long time since we have sent an e-mail; life has been speeding along here, and it seems like time for an update. April is here and it should be spring, but we are still waiting for it to warm up. We hear reports of warm weather in all the places that we have friends and family, but we feel like the giant behind the wall (Selfish giant garden wasn't it...or was it the Great wall??)


It has been an interesting month (aren’t they all) at work, with many budget and job cuts happening. Rick was initially quite concerned about where he would end up in this major shakeup, with teaching being the only option offered. He was initially ,needless to say, reluctant after being away from the classroom for almost 30 years. But, as fate would have it, he has been teaching a math-science class to grade 9 girls for the 4 weeks and just loves it. They love him too, so the thought of teaching again is actually appealing to him. Who knows what will shake down by fall, but both of us have jobs somewhere in the school - assignments will likely change several times before classes start in August.


I am still enjoying my job and have included a couple of pictures of my current students. The boys are so great; although they are teenage boys, there is such little 'attitude'. We were doing a unit on Common Complaints and that lead to a discussion about things that you do that bug your parents, or things they do that bug you. Not one could come up with any complaints about their family - a couple were maybe holding back, but in general, I could see them mostly being truthful. Because they are only children, they are treated like royalty (especially the boys) and because of the nature of society, they have such love and respect for their families (filial piety is a recurring theme in a lot of writing).


This past weekend we went to church in Dalian for Easter Sunday. Being a communist country, religious holidays are not celebrated; Easter is not even known to most of the population. There is a good core of Christian and some Catholic staff though, so church is accessible if you are interested in it. It is also Tomb Sweeping week, so that is a much more important celebration showing respect to people's ancestors. They traditionally go to the graveyards of their loved ones, prepare food and drink (all cold because you are not supposed to cook on that day), and burn 'money'as offerings that they will be well off in their afterlife. Those not near home may celebrate at military or revolutionary heros memorials, but as many traditions go, a lot of young people do not adhere to the celebrations as was done in past days.


Speaking of revolutionary heros, a couple of weeks ago we spent a weekend with our friend and apartment neighbour, Thomas and his wife Feng Wei. They often rent a car for the weekend, so offered us and Wilsons (other apartment neighbours) a weekend trip to a city called Dandong. It is a about a 3 hour drive from here and has 2 claims to fame. One is that it is the site Hushan Great Wall, which marks the eastern end of the start of the Ming Dynasty's extension to the Great Wall.; the other is that it is literally a stone's throw across the Yalu river to North Korea. The Great wall is only a short section that has been restored; fairly steep and it was quite icy the day we went. There were very few tourists the day that we went because it was early season and quite cool still. The riverfront was interesting at night to see the Chinese side lit up with activity, and pitch black l on the North Korean side.


Unfortunately it was quite cold and windy, so we didn't see as much as we had hoped. One of the outings was to the ''War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea'' museum. Americans are definitely not the good guys on this side of the Korean War! The Chinese had millions of volunteers in the fight against the 'American agressors' and have an impressive museum with artifacts and displays. There is a bridge that goes only half way across the river which was bombed by the Americans to cut off the chinese supply line to N Korea. It has remained in the same state as as reminder to all, as well as a new bridge beside it. We ate at a couple of great restaurants- a Korean barbecue and a chinese hot pot -and stayed in a wonderful hotel, so all in all a good weekend.


We are expecting Chris and Geoff in about 2 weeks, so are very excited about that. They will spend a couple of days here in Jinshitan, and then we will fly to Beijing and spend 5 days exploring the sights. From there, they will continue for 3 weeks to Southeast Asia. It will be great that they can have the travel together. Geoff is just finishing his third year at Dalhousie - hard to believe he has only one year left (well maybe only one). Chris is still in Whistler and loving it. Such a good fit for him - he has a great job and loves the outdoors. All season seem to have something to offer. We sure hope to make it there for a few days again to visit either at the beginning or end of our summer since we fly in and back from Vancouver.

Rick achilles continues to heal, although he has developed quite a limp. He does stretches faithfully, so it is strengthening and hopefully will have a full recovery. There are no facilities for physiotherapy here, so the internet has come in handy for recommendations. Hopefully he can get in a few physio sessions in Calgary when we are back for the summer.

Time is just flying by here - the year will be over before we know it. We already have our flights booked back to Vancouver on July 1st - we leave here July 1 and get in July 1! - and plan on spending most of the summer in Calgary staying with mom. We look forward to seeing as many of our friends and family as we can before heading back on August 21 (start work on August 24). Bye for now.

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Photos

Easter Sunday with Fr. Kim
We took the train in to Dalian on Sunday morning and had adelicious brunch at the I-55, a restaurant catering to westerners. From there we walked to the Catholic Church (Korean) for their Easter service. We were the only white foreigners, and although the mass was entirely in Korean, it was still a treat to watch the rituals and customs, most of which were very similar to ours. There was even one hymn that we recognized and could sing along to the chorus.

April!!
Can you believe that this picture was taken on April 9? Carrie and Jim came over to play bridge with us and this is how they were dressed. They rode their motorbike over, so Jim wears the goggles because when it is windy, it is so hard to see, especially on the bike with tears running down your faace!
The heat is turned off in our apartments, so we have 2 small plug in heaters - one for the living room and one for the bedroom, so it is not too bad. They have no heaters, so Carrie was saying that they usually wear their coats inside and sleep with toques on. Hmmm - spring must be close! There are signs of green grass and the trees are ready to bud. Spring is trying to come!

Great Wall
This is a very small section of the Great wall, not connected any more to the major portion starting in Beijing. We had a cold day, so the steep part of the stairs were icy, but it was a great view from the top. We stopped in the local market on the way home and got a good number of stares and chuckles from the locals as we purchased some produce and bumbled our way around in botched Mandarin!

Friendship Bridge
The Friendship Bridge joins China and North Korea. There is second bridge adjacent to the one you can see lit up, that only goes half way across the river. It was bombed by the Americans during the Korean War and remains a monument to the 'Imperialist Aggressors"

North Korea
Directly across from Dandong is North Korea. It is a distinct contrast the Chinese side - very poor, drab and industrial. In the evening, there is almost total darkness compared to the brightly lit lits, restaurants and popular riverfront walk. As you get out of the city and into the farmland, there are large concrete guard towers and you can imagine yourself being watched!

Korean Barbecue
We enjoyed a couple of great meals here. Thomas and FengWei have been here many times, so were great tour guides. This was a delicious Korean barbecue with two 'barbecues' built into the table. Food was cooked for you over the hot coals- vegetables, meat, mushrooms, seafood. We didn't come away hungry, thats for sure.

Making Dumplings
Another great meal! One of our ESL units was on cooking, so I wanted to cook with the boys. They are not into our traditional sweets like cookies, so one of the Chinese teachers suggested dumplings. They are very similar to making pyrogys. I had 4 groups of 6 boys each over to our apartment and they showed me how to make the 'jaozi'. Here is one group enjoying their food.

My Class
These are the boys in my current class. I love them all but one-you will have to guess the thorn in my side!

Chicken Lady
This is our 'chicken lady' and you can tell that she is good at chickens! Everypart of the chicken is used in China except for the breast. They love the bones, feet, neck, wings - anything that you can suck juicy little morsels of. The breast is way too much meat for them. Of course when anyone from the school comes, she has a great smile and pulls out the chicken breasts. We can get 6 large double breasts for about $6.00 so we eat a lot of chicken.

Egg Lady
This used to be our fruit lady, but her fruit is not as nice as that in the outdoor market, especially with the weather getting nicer, so now she is just the egg lady. We feel a little guilty with having abandoned her, but she still has a big smile when we go there.

Beef Lady
This is the beef lady and of course there is a pork lady too, in the next stall. We try to go shopping as early as we can on the weekend because all of the meat sits out all day. Not too bad in the cold weather, but not too appealing in the warmer months. We used to get beef in chunks - there is no such thing as any identifiable cuts - but now we get it all ground as it is so tough. Stewing is the only way to cook it. Makes great hamburgers and pasta sauce.

Comments

[Dennis Baxendale]

another great blog
Txs for the great blog. Great to hear you are still enjoying it all. Always welcome in the summer dennis

[Dana]

Notes from Spirit
Hi, Rick and Gail. Been swamped...Jacson is getting married June 18th...gave us lots of notice:) so life is hectic. Work is nuts. Did you hear Dave has left? Rog has been out a few times on his motorbike but still too cold most of the time. George Murphy passed away this week so we are singing at the funeral. Wish we could see you guys when you are in Calgary. Jacson just bought a condo there so we may be popping down then. Talk to you soon.