A Note Regarding Favorite Flavors

While it is safe to say that chocolate (unless you are Eric), vanilla, mint, coffee, and peanut butter probably top the list of America’s favorite flavors, the same list does not apply to China. I spent the first few weeks here searching out a plain dark chocolate bar, only to be disappointed. Chocolate is not that common. When I wanted something that tasted like home I reached for what I thought was a package of mint Oreos, only to be told that anytime I think something is mint that I should just assume it is actually green tea flavored.  The filling for most desserts and ice cream bars is not chocolate or peanut butter, but red bean, a decided favorite favor in our new home. The cultural favorites here are certainly different. Green tea, red bean, milk, and green pea flavors dominate most snacks and desserts. I have seen cucumber flavored potato chips, red pepper flavored snack bars, and chocolate ice cream bars filled with milk, red bean, and green pea custards. I am currently chewing lemongrass gum (it came in a combo pack with cucumber and lavender.) This will take some getting used to.

Tensions

Our adopted home country is in the midst of a territorial dispute with Japan. The islands in question have a long and controversial past and for whatever reason they are at the middle of today’s conflict. There have been numerous protests around the city and we have been told to stay away from the downtown area. There are a few families at school who are very concerned about the future of Japanese citizens living here. We know one family where the wife is Japanese, the children are citizens, but the husband is an American. They fear if the tensions continue that she and the kids could be deported. Monday we were greeted by two huge banners hanging on the Chinese school that said something like “The islands are ours and we have the sovereign right to protect them.” I, in my ignorance, didn’t even notice the banners and had no clue what they were about until that evening someone was talking about them. I tend to not even register things that I don’t understand, so you can imagine that there are a million things my brain just blocks out throughout the day!  We commit this to our Father and ask that you lift it up as well.

Spirit Week

This week was spirit week at school so we were able to take advantage of the dress code freedom that the week had to offer. On Multiplicity Monday we wore matching outfits with a bunch of other teachers. The white shirt and black pants/skirt combo resulted in us looking like Jehovah’s Witnesses riding our bikes to school. Or, participants in an Amway convention, as our Director pointed out.



Our Multiplicity Monday outfits.



For Toddler Tuesday we wore pajamas to school. I was so sleepy all day due to the extreme comfort. Eric commented that in reality, our pajamas would be considered normal attire to some Chinese people because they tend to wear odd clothes regularly. Wacky Wednesday was not too imaginative on our part. We wore mismatched clothes. Crazy, I know. Thursday was Time Travel Thursday- Eric wore a suit and either passed it off as classic 1950’s attire or future business meeting attire. I was a 1960’s French academic with a black beret and navy/white striped shirt. Today was Flying Tiger Friday (school mascot)/KIA Colors day.  The students loved spirit week. The atmosphere seemed a little more relaxed and they enjoyed seeing all of the teachers participate, even if some of our outfits were a little lame. Each day started off with a 1980’s rock song over the PA system and that seemed to make everything fun. There was no big event at the end of spirit week. No football game, no sporting event of any kind, just an awards ceremony out front for whoever showed the most school spirit. It was a good week.

Last Saturday

I don’t have any photos of it, but last Saturday we had a staff retreat at Fu Bao, a large indoor water park here in Kunming. Although, it was not the tropical paradise pictured in their advertising, it was a lot of fun. There were a few huge pools, a bunch of smaller hot tubs, a lazy river, a few water slides, and even a small zip line. In addition to water attractions, there were mahjong (Chinese card game) tables, a big resting room (literally a room of recliners to sleep in), and a mini spa of sorts to get massages. We had a great time playing and getting to know the rest of the staff a little better.

We returned home to our most frustrating China first- Eric’s bike was missing from the bike lot at school. Although it was locked up, under video surveillance, only about 20 yards from a security booth, and among about 50 or so other bikes, it apparently was a hot item. It was so frustrating to come home to that.

Having gotten used to how much easier life is with a bike, it was crucial to quickly replace it. Eric purchased a new bike on Sunday and we now double lock our bikes and will do our best to never park in the bike lot on weekends again.



Eric's new bike.



Fireworks

The sound of fireworks ringing off of buildings and interrupting classes is almost a daily occurrence here in Kunming. These fireworks are not the big, colorful, light up the sky kind; they are the noisy, cracking kind. We are surrounded by new construction and when buildings reach a certain point in the construction phase it is necessary to light off fireworks to scare away the evil spirits. This can occur at any time, day or night.

A Word on Smoking

Holy cow, there are a lot of people who smoke here. Tobacco is big business in Yunnan and the government does absolutely nothing to curb the addiction. It is odd to go into any shop and see a huge selection of cigarettes prominently displayed by the counter. Eric told me that earlier this week he saw the Chinese school P.E. teacher leaning on the third floor balcony smoking a cigarette between classes. Oh, sweet irony.

Happenings: A Random Telling of What is Going On

Twice a week I am involved in Beth Moore studies of Paul and Esther. On Monday’s I meet with a group of KIA staff in our Xiao Qu (neighborhood) and we study Paul. On Wednesday’s I bike with two friends to the center of the city and meet with mostly non-KIA people.  It is nice to get out of the bubble sometimes! The girls I meet with on Wednesday’s are involved in a variety of NGO’s: they work for groups that provide housing and job training for former prostitutes, bring clean water to remote villages, and teach art and music to children. Two of the girls work with the expat youth group. They are a diverse group and I really enjoy my time with them studying Esther.

On Tuesday night we went to a restaurant near our Xiao Qu that is lovingly named “Blessed Chicken” by the members of the KIA community because at one point there was a sign above the door with a chicken on it. As to the real name, no one knows.  Between Eric, Josalyn, Michael (another new teacher that just arrived in Kunming a week or so ago) and I, we were able to order a full meal. I knew two of the dishes by name; Eric used a toothpick to communicate that we wanted beef on a toothpick (common dish); and, Josalyn and I were able to point to a tomato and mime cracking eggs to communicate we wanted eggs with tomato. I am sure the poor waitress thought we were crazy, but the meal came and it was good! I am hoping to have this whole ordering thing figured out someday soon.

Earlier this week our living room and bedroom were painted! Our apartment is provided by the school and the walls hadn’t been painted in between the previous tenants moving out and us moving in, so the school painted them for us. What a blessing! We went crazy and had them painted white. Seriously.  It was previously pink/tan in the living room and purple in our bedroom. I think the white is out of character for us, but with such a mishmash of borrowed furniture and bright red couches, it was the only route we could take to create some sense of serenity.

Yesterday, Wednesday 5 Sept.,  we started our Mandarin classes. They are three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during our free periods. I am in a class with one other new teacher, Josalyn and Eric is in a class with another new teacher, Tom. We are learning the four tones of Mandarin (there are secretly five, but my teacher denies it- the fifth tone is “Natural tone” whatever that means). I felt like I was attending a voice lesson as Josalyn and I repeated the tones sing-song back to our teacher. At one point she told us we needed to open our mouths wider, “Like you are at the dentist! AAHHH! ” (Again, what do I do with that exclamation point and the quotes? My middle school grammar teacher would be ashamed of me). I am excited to have finally started the class, but am somewhat daunted by the enormity of learning a language like Mandarin. If you remember, please lift this up for us.

Eric walked in his Master’s degree graduation ceremony at SPU earlier this summer, but for the last few weeks he was still finishing up his final class. Good news:  last night (Wed.) he turned in his final paper! PTL, he is free! He feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders and is looking forward to enjoying some more free time (as much as there can be here).

This afternoon I met with our new Bao Mu, or house helper. She doesn’t speak any English so one of her other employers, a family here at school, introduced her to me. I have struggled with feeling guilty about having someone come into help me clean my own house and with the idea of spending money on something that in the U.S. would be an extreme luxury, but the reality here is different. House Helpers are very common and employing a Bao Mu is seen as a great way to provide usually single mothers with an honest living. Our Bao Mu is a single mom and she works for two other families at KIA. She also trains other Bao Mus which means she has a lot of experience. She will be at our house Tuesday and Thursday mornings for a few hours to clean and cook.

Tonight Eric and I are attempting to replicate a Chinese dish that we get at a noodle shop near here. It is noodles, eggs, cabbage, green onion, garlic, and peppers. We will see how that goes.

Tomorrow, 7 Sept., we have a Professional Development day at school. The kids get off and we get to go to school and attend meetings and workshops. Eric will be leading a workshop on benchmarks and standards in the social sciences. Eric is fast becoming a valuable asset in the secondary because of his experience and his Master’s training in Curriculum and Instruction. Our Secondary Coordinator (basically the principal) is trained in Chemistry and Biology, so having Eric trained in a subject where benchmarks are somewhat more abstract has been a huge blessing to him. Eric is just happy to be of service. I am so proud of him.

The Chinese School

Kunming International Academy shares a building with a local Chinese school. The building is split down the middle between KIA and the Chinese JK-8 school, with KIA occupying the entire top floor (this is where Eric and I teach). There is a large auditorium at the end of the building that we both share.

The front of our building. Excepting the fifth floor, the area to the right of the red Chinese characters on the white signs is the territory of the Chinese School.

The Chinese School.

Every morning we are greeted at the entry gate by a small delegation from the Chinese school with an enthusiastic, “Good morning, Teacher”! (I have to admit that grammatically speaking, I have no clue if that exclamation point is supposed to go in the quotes or outside the quotes). It was somewhat shocking at first to walk through the gauntlet and be yelled at by a bunch of kids in powder blue sweat suits and red scarves, but it is pretty routine now. The powder blue sweat suits with accompanying red scarves are their dress down uniforms. Every once in a while (I don’t know what days they are yet) they wear their dress up school uniforms which are a more traditional navy blue sweater and pants/skirt.

The Chinese students waiting to greet arriving students and teachers.

On Monday mornings the Chinese school starts the day off with their flag raising ceremony. The kids line up in perfect rows in our school courtyard and with the Chinese national anthem blasting, they raise the courtyard flag and then recite what I believe is their equivalent to the Pledge of Allegiance. It is actually quite cool to watch.

The Chinese school starts at roughly the same time we do (8am for KIA teachers, 8:30 for KIA students; 8am for the Chinese school), but they don’t get out until 6:30pm! The older kids start their school day off by cleaning the school for an hour or so. It is not uncommon to see a bunch of them mopping the corridors in the morning. The younger kids go straight to class.  After lunch the younger kids have nap time for an hour or two before returning to regular classes. KIA students get out at 3:30 and about the time Eric and I are eating dinner, the Chinese school kids are finally getting out of school.