Friday With Our Students

Friday was a good day. Though it is December, the sun was shining and we had temperatures in the mid-teens. The highlight of our day was Maureen's presentation on the campus. Of course the student interest was high as the presentation was about Canada and Canadian culture. After the presentation, the questions asked were interesting with only one question that didn't fit - that is unless you get to know Chinese students better - the wanted to know how she stays looking so young and beautiful.

With the presentation over, I remained on campus to work with two students as they prepare for open speech competitions while Maureen went grocery shopping with two of her students. When we got back together at the apartment, her two students got busy preparing us a great looking supper. The food was indeed as delicious as it looked. And, surprisingly, most of the food disappeared. We spent more than two hours at the table eating and chatting about all kinds of topics.

Contemporary Canadian Culture

Yes, Maureen is just hours away from being the featured speaker here at C.I.T. We expect a packed house, a different story from my time as the featured speaker for English Corner. All of the foreign teachers get their moment in the sun. Somehow, I think this will be the highlight of the season. I will post photos later of the event.

He Hai Lu

Just in front of our apartment there has been a lot of activity with the laying of underground large PVC pipes which will eventually be used for all the wires and cables and such. With all of the digging done, an access hole was made and now these men are hauling in cement blocks to cover these access holes for times of need. It's amazing how much "manpower" is used rather than heavy equipment. Notice the safety boots which are thin green sneakers.

A bit further down the street, the MingDu SuperMarket had been closed and already a new supermarket is taking its place. The new store is taking only four units rather than the eight originally used by MingDu. It appears as if the new supermarket will be ready with in a few days. It is nice having access to groceries just a half-block away.

And this is the Monkey King Restaurant, one of our favourite places to eat somewhat western food. For the past two weeks it has been undergoing renovations. Believe it or not, meals are still served using the second floor dining area while construction is still taking place.

This is just some of the highlights of life on our block in front of Sunshine Gardens/

Anticipating Another Excursion

This is a place we are hoping to visit on the week-end. Last week-end we just walked past the entrance of the building which is an exhibition-museum centre of sorts. One interesting thing was that behind the building was stadium seating which we assume must be for entertainments of a historical nature. We will see. This is located in YanCheng.

In front of this structure was a large series of displays featuring stone carving on miniature scale and progressing to some fairly large pieces. One piece that I really want is a pale green jade carving of an eagle to add to my collection at home. Maureen has larger ambitions as you can see.

Now that we are back in classes teaching, we are surprised at how fast the weeks are flying. Only four weeks left after this for most of the classes including exam week. Already, all of our course plans are tossed as we let students do and speak more in the classes. What we originally planned as a one-day class has often turned into a two-day set of lessons. It's a good thing no one actually checks what we do in the classroom with the original plan submitted to the office.

Now, back to getting ready for our afternoon classes.

Sunshine Community Police

We were able to spend an evening with the community police as we were told about the services offered to us as foreigners in the Sunshine Community. We first visited the local precinct house where we were shown the a map of the Sunshine community which took its name from Sunshine Gardens, the first residential compound in this new district. We also got to meet the officer in charge, Mr. Ruisheng Wang, and a new police officer, Ms Ning Zhou. Ms Zhou is our contact person as she speaks English.

Following the introductory session at the precinct house, we moved across the street to Jiandong University where we were entertained and given various gifts in the attempt to create a positive relationship between us as foreigners and the local police department. Mr. Wang proved to be a great PR man as all enjoyed a good evening, even the young ones in attendance.

One of the side benefits of the event was the opportunity to meet other foreigners who live close by in the Sunshine community in which there are between 100 and 200 foreigners in a population of about 15,000 for the community. People from France, Iran, England and Italy were part of the assembled group. I would have to say that we look forward to more of these kinds of activities that help foreigners feel welcome. This was a first ever event as some of those attending told us, some of them who have been living in Changzhou for fifteen years.

Of course, it is because of our FAO (Foreign Affairs Office) staff that we got to know about the event. We work with a good team that works hard to ensure that we feel at home so that we will make the choice to return to Changzhou and C. I. T.

YanCheng - Safari Park

YanCheng is a surprise waiting to be discovered in Changzhou. We always knew that the place existed, but we were always under the impression that it was not much more than canals and a museum with an old artifact that is evidence of people living here for more than 2,500 years. Located in the south of the city, in the Wujin District, Maureen and I took the B1 bus of the BRT system. Of course, the work of checking out the BRT system ahead of time so that we would get off at the right bus stop was done using the online system (see the online site for BRT maps in various cities in China). Thankfully, the bus had a digital display telling us the name of the various stops as it wasn't very easy to "hear" the bus stops as they were announced. With the name of the stop written down, we got off at the right stop. Of course, looking out the window of the bus would have given us enough notice about when to get off as there was a lot of evidence that we were in the YanCheng tourist area.

At the entrance to the zoo called the YanCheng Safari Park, one quickly gets the idea that the zoo will be child friendly. Surprisingly, the zoo was quite large. Many small families rented little motorised carts so that little legs wouldn't tire out too soon. After each little zone, such as the monkey zone, there would be play areas.

After we had walked a few hours covering all of the zones available for those walking, we arrived at a checkpoint where we had to board a train that would take us out into the safari park area where large animals roamed in relative freedom. At this checkpoint area a number of rides for smaller children were available for entertainment as well as two outlets selling food for those who had worked up an appetite. Maureen and I decided it was time for some noodle soup.

I would have to say that the giraffe was Maureen's favourite animal at the zoo. I think the giraffe was just as interested in her as she was in it. We did get to see a lot of birds, monkeys, lions, tigers, wolves, deer, bears, snakes, and other things that one would expect to see in a zoo. We were impressed with the quality of the displays and the evident care that was taken with the animals. All looked healthy.

When we had finished with the zoo, we walked the edges of the YanCheng area so that we could decide where we would visit next. There is little doubt that there are a few more days of wandering to be had in YanCheng.

Care Packages From Home

While walking, we passed these students outside of He Hai University who are busy sorting through packages looking for theirs. A similar scene is often played out in front of our university gates several times a week. There is no way to have the driver enter the campus and deliver these packages for the students, so it is all about being contacted by mobile phones and rushing out to collect the parcel, either from home or from shopping on-line.

Parcels can't be delivered as the students share a dorm with five or seven other students making it next to impossible to ensure that a parcel actually gets delivered. This process makes sure that the owner actually collects the parcel.

Maureen and I get our mail delivered to an office in the Foreign Affairs section.

In front of our campus gates, there is an old couple who come just before noon hour (11:30 to 1:30) in order to offer convenience to the students who want good food for lunch. As in almost every university in the world, cafeteria food is despised and the students want breaks from the cafeteria food. Besides, who wouldn't appreciate some custom made food almost on your doorstep?

Haircut Adventures

Well, from time to time one does need to get a hair cut. Now, Maureen decided that she also wanted to get a "style" change at the same time. The first task was to find the "look" that she wanted and get the look printed so that it could be shown to the hairdresser. This is critical when language is an issue. Once we got to the local hair salon, we had to choose who would take care of her hair. There were three different levels of hairdressers with different costs to match. The plan, stick in the middle.

Maureen was lucky as just as the young man who was given the task of doing the laowai lady's hair, another woman was placed in the chair next to her - a lady who knew how to speak decent English. Needless to say, the comfort level for Maureen went up as there was a bridge over the barrier of not being able to speak Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese).

The results were just what we had been hoping for when we left the apartment for the haircutting adventure. Maureen left the photo print with the hairdresser so that he can fine-tune the haircut in another month or two.

Culture and Communication ESL Style

Another visit to yesterday's activity. After our morning walk to the market and then through the park, the afternoon was time for me to give a lecture at the university. Each of the foreign teachers are required to give a lecture lasting about an hour and a half during the fall term.

My lecture was about body language or non-verbal language. Maureen's lecture, in December, will be about multi-cultural Canada. Both of our lectures are based on photos. I used photos from Changzhou. Obviously, Maureen will be using photos from Canada.

Of course, both of us like to have the students in the audience do talking as well. It prevents them from getting too sleepy while it saves our throats from getting too sore. Besides getting the students and teachers involved in the lecture answering questions, it allows us to make sure that what we say actually is understood, at least at a basic level. Of course, since all are just learning English, likely a lot of what one says is not understood. That is why we use photos in the presentations.

Autumn on City Streets

Another walk down city streets rewards us with pictures that tell stories. This "mom" is busy with cleaning some "greens" destined for the soup pot or a veggie dish in her restaurant. Just a block from He Hai University near our apartment, the street where I took this photo is filled with tiny shops and a fair number of little mom and pop restaurants, popular with the students.

We went for a walk in this direction for a few different reasons. The first reason was to repair my new jacket (sewing issue) and to strengthen the straps on our larger backpack which we use for groceries. Of course we returned to a craftsman who sets up his shop on a corner beside the farmer's market, the same man we visited a few times in 2006 and 2007. This is one of the interesting things about China. People setting up businesses on street corners - businesses without walls.

With that task done, we continued our walk to stroll around the Xin Bei Central Park, a pleasant way to spent an autumn morning. The trees are showing the colours of the season. At one point, the falling leaves gave us a shower as a gust of wind decided to pass through the branches of the trees as we passed them. We walked all around the park before returning to the farmer's market where we picked up some freshly made noodles. We then back headed back to the apartment for a lunch of Chinese dumplings.

Finding a New Home on the 'Net

Well, Wordpress™ is giving us headaches again in Changzhou. We aren't able to post anything at our blog site there at this time, so I am returning our posts to this old blog site of ours at Blogger™. On Monday evening we went back to the campus in order to watch the freshmen put on their annual performance for the upper year students. Since Maureen teaches two classes of freshmen, she had a number of her students taking part in the performances. Here Maureen waits with some of her students who were excited that she would actually want to watch their classmates perform. Somehow, they think teachers have more important things to do than to watch students have a "party."

This is one of Maureen's students in the final performance of the evening filled with dancing, skits, songs and comedy. We spent an enjoyable evening with the students. Maureen sat with her freshmen students while I was persuaded to join my second year students who were sitting closer to the action where I could take better photos. This is one of the keys to good student relationships - take an interest in their lives outside of the classroom and the level of respect goes up in the classroom.

Experiments with Camera Lens

I am trying out a different lens, the wide angle lens I got at the end of last summer. This picture looks good with no noticeable distortion. Why am I trying out my lenses? Well, I wanted to see if I would rather use the wide angle lens or the telephoto lens. As well, I wanted to try out the new mini tripod with the weight of the lenses on the camera. Success! The camera was stable, not the case with the thin mini tripods I got earlier. Good thing the last one rusted out in Mexico.

I've almost come to a standstill with the basement bathroom while waiting for electrical and plumbing. I will be able to put up a few panels of drywall where there won't be any interference for the work remaining. Every little bit counts. This evening we are watching Calgary and Chicago on TV - yes, we have television again. So far after one period, Calgary is down by three goals. It doesn't look good.

SoFoBoMo Project

Well, this is what the format for my photo book project will look like. I will begin working on this book when we get back from Tasha's. I have 31 days to do the complete book which must contain a minimum of 35 photos. I then must save the project as a PDF and upload it to the project site at SoFoBoMo. Of course I will also put it on the ISSUU site as well as it will then be officially published with copywrite safety built in.

Today Mom and I will be off for another golf game, likely our last game for a while as the weather turns terrible for the next week. I don't mind in the least as I will then find it easier to focus on the basement. Tomorrow I will finish framing in the walls (well, straightening out the wall is more what is really going on). Friday it is off to S'toon to buy materials and go the the CATS performance. Saturday I will either work on bathroom electrical or the flooring. The plumbing will have to wait for either Monday or Tuesday evening. Once that is done, it is wall finishing so that the plumbing fixtures can be hooked up to make the new bathroom useable. By the time this is all done, it will be golfing season for real. Woohoo!

Men's Night on the Golf Course

Mom is getting her haircut today (photo tomorrow - maybe) in Rosetown. She tells me it is going to be short - very short. Oh well, whatever makes her happy is fine by me. Today's photo was from last week when I joined the boys in trying to burn with magnifying glasses. No fires were started and we didn't have to call the fire department. It was a good way to occupy time while the boys had a few down moments when activity wasn't scheduled.

Today I go golfing with the men in hopes of winning a bit of money. Well, not really, but it would be nice. I am going with my regular crew for the most part. The basement is coming along well. When we go to the city on Friday, I will be buying the flooring, lighting and other things to help finish it off. I ordered the drywall and last bits of wood needed to finish building walls. With any luck, the bathroom will be done by mid-May. More news later ...

Spring Crocus

Spring and golf. They make a good pairing on some days. Yesterday was one of those rare days that saw the two together as they should be. Yes, there are still a few crocuses out to serve as proof that it is spring. And of course, a photo of mom on the last hole of the Sask Landing course, at the end of our first full round of golf for 2009.

Needless to say, golf took up most of the day as it meant a bit of visiting at the course with friends following the game. There was no time leftover for slipping down to the basement to pound a few nails. I did, however, continue the work of culling photos from the massive digital collection and burning the results on DVDs. Once this is done, it will be time to start scanning old photos (before the year 2002) so that all of our prized photos will be digitized for safekeeping, our heritage for you and the grandchildren. So many memories captured on film. So many stories. Truly, this is a work of love for both Mom and I.

Today, it is again beautiful with the promise of more such weather for tomorrow. Who knows, we might be golfing three days in a row.

Life is back to normal - finally!

Well, the first day of work in the basement has gone well with the hole in the floor now filled with new cement. It took a bit more than eight bags of cement (all you add is water variety) to do the job. Now it has to sit and cure for a while. So while it dries, I will be working on building a wall and a half so that I can get it ready for a bit of work running wires and pipes. So, building walls is today's task. In between spurts of work in the basement, I am busy with cleaning up photos on the computer, burning DVDs for backup purposes. This will speed up virus scans on our laptops as well as giving more storage space which I really don't need as there aren't a lot of programs I want to add to the collection.

We had Sweets over for supper last night and listened to more stories of their grandchildren and their children. Obviously we didn't go golfing yesterday - we enjoyed a few flakes of snow instead. Golf isn't in the picture for today either because of strong winds (and the need to do a bit more work in the basement). I'm not sure about Sunday yet - it depends on the weather.

Harlem Globetrotters

This is Sweat Pea up in the air. The evening was well spent at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon with Devon and Hunter as part of our birthday presents to the two boys. Before the game we took the boys to do some shopping at Toys R Us and at Home Depot (so that I could check out flooring and lighting for the new bathroom downstairs) with a final stop at Golf Town so that we could all try out swinging some clubs that we had no intention of buying. Like I said, a good time spent in Saskatoon.

This morning it is making a feeble attempt at snowing with a few flakes falling here and there. We don't expect very much moisture from the clouds, but it is better than nothing. Of course that means it is quite cool and suggests that today will not be one for sun tanning. Today Noelle and the boys will be going home and I will become better focused on basement work activity. We won't be going golfing until the weekend because of cold weather. Ah, so sad. Oh well, them's the breaks.

Home-made Science Experiments

Well, the boys have been busy searching the Internet for various kitchen science experiments to do thanks to prodding from Grandma. Good time spent in the search and then deciding what could they actually do given what we have here in our house and garage.

Hunter settled on making a hard-boiled egg go into a bottle due to a vacuum created by heat. Devon decided on a project to show how water convection kept a balloon cool enough to resist being burned by a flame. Both experiments were a success, and will be repeated when all are here for the Canada Day weekend.

Almost all of the lego pieces have been used on creations so far. Hopefully it will be finished by tomorrow morning before the boys leave for home. I will take a photo of the finished results and post it here. This afternoon we are heading to Saskatoon for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Dustin is probably waking up from his surgery this morning as I write this. I hope all went well and that it is all back to normal very soon.

Easter 2009

It's early morning and Collin and Noelle have just headed out for home leaving Devon and Hunter with us. Noelle will return on Tuesday and likely she will take the boys home on Thursday. Yesterday was our Easter meal together. In the morning we all took turns trying to start a fire using a magnifying glass and other ancient ways - without success. In the afternoon it was time for swimming and building with Lego blocks. Of course, there were games of Old Maid, Golf, Tee Wars and such to help fill in the almost quiet times. Bedtime came up and there wasn't a single person protesting. It was a good, full day. On a sad note, Ottawa lost to Toronto in their final game of the year. Hockey season is officially over at our house. Like the Senators, we switch to golf season at this point.

In a while, I will be going out with clue cards and treasures for the traditional Easter Morning Treasure Hunt so that the boys get to have some Easter fun. Yesterday evening they got to decorate eggs. Even Collin got into the act. Some family traditions are likely to endure when they get good participation even as children approach the teenage years. The one tradition that is missing is having all the grandchildren together for the treasure hunt. Maybe next year.

It's still staying above zero as far as the weather is concerned. We got a brief shower late yesterday and it looks as though more might be on the way during the next week - April showers ... With any luck, we might even be able to get the boys on the golf course as it opened up on Friday. Today's agenda is still undetermined. If it gets sunny and warm there might be some golf. If not, the pool is open in the afternoon. More later.

Easter Saturday

Well, this makes post number 125. I guess this is the real thing, something that I am actually sticking to rather than just playing with and dumping for something new. Today's photo is of Hunter who is down visiting with the family. Devon was still sleeping at the time I took the photo. I am posting this from the old HP laptop as my newer Vaio is having wireless issues that I will get Lawrence to cope with later. This machine is definitely slower, one of the reasons I got the newer Sony Vaio.

It's a sunny day and we are planning a few outdoor activities as well as an afternoon swim at the local pool. Ham and scalloped potatoes for supper, our Easter meal as Noelle and Collin will return to Provost very early tomorrow for Collin's work. Noelle will return after a few days to spend more time with us. We did get to talk with Tasha and family for a bit this morning, a good online visit.

Been doing some thinking about the photo project and have decided that one of the options is a book with "tunnel vision" photos, those photos with a circle surrounded by black which look as if one is looking through a telescope (or microscope). If this is the way I go, it will likely be matched with poetry, possibly haikus, to fit the photo. Oh well, I likely will change my mind a gazillion times before I actually get started sometime in May.