Looking In

Pagoda at Tianmu Lake

The Caves

Me and Jow Jow

Living here, even though it has only been 2 months, I have learned so much about myself and have gained a better perspective on the bigger picture. At home, I am a go-getter/do-er/fighter/activist in as many ways as I can... in China, I spend much of my time as an observer.

I am a participant when I teach and interact with students and colleagues, or when I am traveling with my friends or alone. Also with bargaining or eating or talking to people, but I don't know that I actually see as much when I am participating. I think there is something fantastic about being here, living life, and watching what is going on. It has taught me a lot about sitting back and watching before jumping in head first... not that it will last, but it does give me an appreciation, and it forces me to watch with no choices, which is very foreign to me.

The symphony of noises surrounds me. Honking cars, screaming children, bike bells, dogs barking... And I take a step back. I can watch people from all angles, and make up stories about them and their lives. I think it is because I block out so much of what actually is being said because I don't understand the language. I am noticing that as I understand more, I listen more, which is both good and bad. There is something cool about just watching the way people move and interact and not listening... using my other senses to pay attention to life, which is very difficult, because Chinese people are not the most demonstrative and emotional people around.

I especially felt like this over the weekend, when I went on a day trip with my school. We left the school at 6am on Sunday morning. All of the teachers went to a famous cave and then a lake for the day. It was a cool experience, but not necessarily something I would like to repeat. Chinese tourists spend a lot of time watching and waiting, and then all rushing the entrance and trying to do everything at the same time. I like to stroll and wander and chill when I go on trips, and that was not in the cards. We were on a strict itinerary! I spent much of the day doing the above; watching and listening and making up stories and tales.

The caves were in Anhui Province, and about 3 hours away from school. We had two buses full of teachers and some of their kids All the teachers went and we went about 3 hours away to these caves. The caves were all lit up in fluorescent lights and we went on a little boat ride thru part of it... The best part was the list of rules that was hanging near the boat ride.... #4 was "Drunken men are not allowed on board" and #7, "The excessive one forbids going by ship to get drunk." The rest were about not shaking the boat and not being able to ride it when it rains (even though we are in a cave....) but those two just cracked me up. We ended on the top of a mountain and then climbed down... Then we had lunch and got back on the bus to another place. Tianmu Lake which is outside of Changzhou. It is a big lake surrounded by a big cultural park, with different areas where you could pick tea leaves, learn about native animals and about Chinese history. It was very beautiful and there were many flowers and pagodas and we took a big boat ride across the island. Jow Jow is the daughter of my principal and she was there. She is in Grade 6 and her English is pretty bad. We spent the day trying to chat because her mum really wanted us to. In the middle of the park there was a 3D movie complete with a moving virtual reality ride. It featured dinosaurs climbing thru the Himalayas and then finding a forest and knocking down bee hives to run away from swarming insects. Not sure how correct the background information was, but it was surely amusing.

We then had another long bus ride home, arriving back at 7:30pm... It was a nice day, and nothing I would ever do while traveling alone, so it was a good experience... and pretty freaking funny...