Wonderful Weekend

Hello Everyone!

Things are going well here. We are currently on holiday from school. It is the 58th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China so everyone has the week off! We did teach this weekend, but it was easy. We just showed a movie. Anyway - onto the stories~

On Friday the 28th we had an easy day, just one morning class. Friday began well. It was a cloudy day and the temperature was perfect! It was probably around 75 degrees or so and it was amazing. It has been so hot and humid here and that day was like being home. All of our students thought it was too cold and wore jackets to class. Scott and I were in short sleeves. It was great.

That night we went to an Orchestra Concert held by the school. It was very interesting because it was a show for the Freshman. The freshman had just finished their month-long compulsory military training and this was in celebration of that. All freshman at Universities in China are required to complete this military training. They would march around campus and stand at attention on the fields and such. It was very interesting to watch. Now, after the holiday, they will actually start classes. The concert itself was fantastic. Really wonderful music.

On Sunday we had to teach another class in the morning, but it went really well. Scott played a movie in his classroom and most of my class went there but 4 guys stayed in my class. We just sat around and talked for over an hour and a half (the duration of the class). It was so interesting to talk to these guys.

One man, english name is Jack, is in his 30s and has a 14 year old daughter and a two year old son. He is from Southern China and he said that in his area they don't have to abide by the family planning rules. There are also many Muslims in his area and if he had the opportunity to chose a religion he would follow Islam. He lives at the school and his wife is 29 hours away by train.

Another man is probably in his later 20s. He is Jack's roommate and his name is Carmen. He is also married and has only been so since August 16th of this year. His wife is in Hunan Province which is about 14 hours from here by train. The next time he will see her is January 1st when she comes to visit him for the winter holiday.

Another man is probably in his mid to late 40s. His english name is Thomas. He told us that he got married because his parents encouraged him to. When he was 30 his parents told him he was getting too old and needed to get married. He made it clear that it was his choice but he wanted to be obdient to his parents. His wife is also in his hometown but I am not sure how far away it is. He also has a son. He was one of three children and being the oldest he had to be married before the other two could be married, so that was another factor in his being married.

It was just incredible to listen to these guys talk about their lives and their ideas about the world and about China. As most of you know, I could spend the rest of my life being a social historian and just collecting people's stories about their lives. It was fascinating. Mostly they asked each other questions about their lives and wives and I was just an observer. I wasn't sure what questions would be considered rude so I mostly spoke about life in the US and other not so personal topics.

After classes we were invited to a reception held by the government of Jiangsu Province. It was a really nice luncheon at a hotel. The governor of Jiangsu Province was there (like the governor of Colorado) and the Mayor of Nanjing amongst other important people. This is a picture of the stage:

It was an interesting place. The food was very good and some of the entertainment was good as well, and some was, interesting. If I had not been wearing jeans I would have tried to go up and intorduce myself to the Mayor of Nanjing. I have never been to any dinner or anything with the governor of Colorado or the Mayor of Denver, but I come to China and they invite me over in my first month here! It was really a reception to celebrate the holiday but also welcome and thank all the foreign teachers in the province. I saw a few people I knew and made some new friends!

I could continue to ramble but I'll halt for now. Monday we climbed Purple Mountain and that is a long story all in itself. I will save that for another post, and when I can get pictures from it!

:)