Hubei for the Holidays - Thanksgiving Part 2

This holiday business is now a little ridiculous, I understand, but I feel a need to finish what I have started.   Thanksgiving Part 2!

We hosted!  We may have had more people at our house for Thanksgiving than you did at yours (12 at it's peak, 10 who stayed for dinner)!  We didn't have turkey (chicken had to do), but we had just about everything else: mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, etc.  Yours truly even made her first pumpkin pie ALL.BY.HERSELF.  I had no idea moving to China would make me so domesticated!  Move over Emily Richardson.  Next holiday season I'm bringing a pie to your dinner party and I'm NOT going to buy it from a store.

Apps: Brad's homemade salsa and avocado dip.  YUM

DINNER!

Kevin, Amber, Charlene, Lesley, Watermelon, Camille

In this photo Brad shows how using a small plate is the trick to not overeating.

Not quite as pretty as my mom's, but equally as exciting and HOMEMADE!

 Meanwhile, Back at San Zhong - #3 High School

It turns out that no one is too old for the traditional and ever so labor intensive turkey hand.   After the usual warm-up and a brief history of Thanksgiving (during which time I mimicked being tossed from side to side on a ship, then grieved the loss of 1/2 of my fellow pilgrims to the terrible winter of 1621),  I wowed my students by creating a perfectly drawn turkey with the help of my little left hand. 

I explained that on Thanksgiving people eat a big feast (key vocabulary word), spend time with family and friends, and think about what they are so thankful for and happy about in their own lives. 

As the bell rings, a few students jump up
to get another good look at my family. 

Jeff rocks the turkey.

Perfect Man rocks the turkey.

Hubei for the Holidays - Thanksgiving Part 1

2011 Thanksgiving - JUST ENGLISH SCHOOL:

Reflecting back on last year I realize I have mixed emotions.   I loved the school where we taught and the people with whom we worked, but we were in a small city and were the only two Americans. (There were two Ghanaians that Brad met, of course, when I was home to have Leila.  CRAZY!) We were the 'test run'  as to how this foreign teacher thing worked.   Sometimes our Western culture and ideas weren't totally embraced.  It was a great year, but it was hard as well. 

For example, we had been told that we were completely in charge of the Halloween party, but then ended up being handed the itinerary for the party by Amy, the school's head manager.  We were kindly allowed to give our input, but not much was modified.  Brad had an MC type of role, though I was not given a job because being pregnant, I obviously was very tired. 

Right after Halloween things got rolling for the Thanksgiving party. Again we were told that we would have complete control.  About 90 kids came to the Halloween party so I wanted to try to break that large group up into smaller sections.  I designed a party plan that would have groups of students doing things in different classrooms.  After 15 minutes they would change rooms so that all students would do all activities.   

In the initial meeting with the teachers my plan was met with some hesitation.  It felt like a lot of hesitation.  I was confident that it would work so I positively pushed forward.  After a few more meetings and  some negotiations, Brad and I got our way.    There would be three classrooms of games and then a (whole group) feast in the dining hall.  Everything in the plan, including all transitional procedures were typed, printed, and given to the teachers. 

The day of the party Amy made modifications to the plan.   Those changes weren't mentioned to me ahead of time.   I didn't understand why our ideas weren't being trusted.  I wanted JUST to see that western ideas could work in a Chinese school, but was worried that would never be possible since our original plan kept being adjusted.

All in all it was a fun party and the students really had a great time. In one room Emma and I taught Thanksgiving vocabulary and then had students try to race their competitors to put together a turkey while being blindfolded.  It was hilarious and fun.  The winner received candy.  In another room students made Native American headbands and then reached into a box turned stuffed turkey (created by Brad) and tried to feel around for a directed item (ping pong ball, apple, etc.).  In a third class the traditional turkey hand was drawn and colored after which students participated in a quick round of Pin the Feather on the Turkey. 

Blindfolded Turkey Assembly

Competitors sat down one side of the table
while the others cheered from behind.
  

Making Native American Headbands

Proud Artist

My sample turkey hand and
Stick the Feather on the Turkey

Post-Activity, Pre-Feast Wrap-Up in Dining Hall

Sweet Lucy.  Mentioned aloud to others
 that she was "Thankful for Dana." :)

A FEAST IT WAS!
Included: pumpkin pastries - supposed to be pumpkin pie,
corn on the cob, fried chicken legs, fruit, popcorn, chips, candy.
They GOBBLED it up!! (comment made by Brad)

Best part of the night. 

Brad and I bought a couple apple pies
from an American restaurant in Wuhan.
We cut each teacher a piece after the party.
 I was so excited!
Lisa was the ONLY teacher who liked it!
BOOOOOO to the other teachers!
More pie for ME!

2012 Just English Thanksgiving:
So this year the deal is that every Saturday I go back to teach at JUST School.  It was actually something that helped me feel better about returning to China this year, the chance to continue those relationships.  Amy is currently on pregnancy leave (her beautiful baby girl was born in December) and Lisa has taken on her leadership role.  

On the Saturday before the 2012 JUST Thanksgiving celebration, our school's headmaster and my boss whom I love, Mei, sat me down to explain the details of the party.  She wanted to make sure that I understood the teacher's plan step-by-step.  She said that they had worked very hard and had done a very good job planning.  She explained that the students would be divided up into groups and that each group would be in different rooms completing different games.  (My initial emotional reaction was to stop her and let her know I already knew all about it because I designed it!  Instead I kept my mouth shut and let her finish.) 

After explaining all the details she wanted to know if I had any questions.  

"I got it," I said with a smile and a softened heart. 

I guess our ideas had been embraced after all.   

Hoping everyone's Thanksgiving was equally as meaningful. 

Hubei for the Holidays... Halloween, Part 2

Our high school classes at San Zhong 
(translated #3 Middle School):

Dana's classes:

One of Brad's classes hosted a vey special guest:

After LC's assistance in teaching the lesson she went out into the crowd to greet her fans.

  

Hubei for the Holidays... Halloween, Part 1

Just English School in Daye City, China opened up last year,  but we wouldn't have known that with all the hoopla and excitement over Halloween!  The halls were decorated with ghosts, skeletons, and witches and almost 90 students attended the party.  YIKES!   

English training schools in China love Halloween and think it is such an important American holiday! 

Here are some pictures from JUST school's party last year:

Pumpkin Carving was a HUGE hit!

Team games: Three legged-race

bobbing for apples

Just gave these out to all party-goers.  Brad and I tried to explain
what 'dressing up' was, but this was as far as it got.
 All masks had to be returned before leaving.

Teachers at JUST English School during the adult-only party. 

Everyone loved carving pumpkins!

This year JUST ENGLISH SCHOOL limited their numbers, added a talent show (very culturally Chinese), and a couple kids actually wore a costume!

DaYe = Big Smelter

Monday, October 1^st was National Day. Last year we were given a week off from work for this holiday, which was when we went to visit our friends in Hangzhou and heard the awesome house band sing “Enter Sandman” as close to perfectly as China can get. This year we were scheduled two days off. It seems our little school only closes for Spring Festival / Chinese New Year in late January; otherwise different teachers have off different holidays. (What, am I a nurse now?)

When public schools are not in session (i.e. summers, weekends and holidays) is when training schools like ours have their busy season. The plan was to have an outside, ‘public’ class on both Saturday and Sunday, the weekend preceding National Day. Instead, the rain started on Friday and didn’t stop for 3 days. Our outside classes were canceled and in turn so was our school. We were all given 4 days off, Sat-Tues., instead of two. Our actual class schedules were rearranged and the public classes were postponed until the following Wednesday. (They ended up being fun and hilarious at the same time.)

After we were told on Friday that we would have the next FOUR DAYS off from school Brad and I hit the internet in search of the most convenient and CHEAPEST trip possible. Many flights to nearby cities were full and everything not booked was so incredibly expensive. We were told by our sweet new friend and coworker Silla that buses and train tickets would be hard to access as well, unless we wanted to stand on the train the whole time which most Chinese do. We didn’t.

We were asked by a girl in charge late Friday afternoon, “So where will you go?” We disappointingly told her our findings and she then informed us many people travel during this holiday and we should have bought our tickets a month ago. She recommended that for Spring Festival we buy our tickets earlier. Thanks. This conversation was repeated almost exactly first thing Wednesday morning. Thanks again.

Mei, the school’s Chinese headmaster, who was actually in Beijing, felt badly we had so many days off in such a small city (a mere 800,000), so she contacted her brother, also the school’s driver, and scheduled things for us to do on Sunday and Monday. This was SO nice of her.

We were told to be ready and outside at the road by 8:30 Sunday morning in order to be picked up for the Daye Copper Museum. We were. A bit past 9:00 we walked back inside and thought there was a mix-up in communication. (Brad had tried to call Mei, but her phone was turned off.) I was secretly okay with this as it was a rainy day and I had a book to start reading (this is no offense to any Chinese, I found out last year I’m an introvert so it’s totally cool). I put on my comfy clothes and settled in for the morning. Then the phone rang and they were here. hmmmmm

Mr. Embree has bought this little matchbox van (how I envision it) for the school. He told Mei it looks like a toy car. She finds this comment hilarious and has repeated it to us on more than one occasion. It has four regular car doors, but the back seat doors open up to two bench seats, the first being a two-person seat, the back being for three. A huge JUST ENGLISH logo is able to be EASILY read over the red paint... by anyone a good mile away. :)

We assumed we were going to be taxied there and home. When Brad opened the door and stepped in, the car was full except for the two-person seat for us. The driver and his wife were in the front and there were three teens and one 6 year-old smashed all in the back.

Brad: Oh my! Shen-ma-ye-se??? (What is this?)

Reaction: giggling

Brad: (to the kids in the back) Who are you?

One of them: I am fine, thank you, and you?

Dana: (thinking I was being polite, I posed Brad’s question my way, with a smile. My mom would have been so proud.) Hi, I’m Dana.

Girl teen: I know (sweet, alright... your name's top secret. i get it.)

Turned out Mei’s son (16) was with us as well as her niece and niece’s boyfriend (both 20) home from college for the week. The 6-yr-old was the driver’s son. We were dropped off for the museum tour with the kids, as the parents stayed behind in the car. It worked out well actually, because they knew their way around the grounds of the museum and knew enough English to help explain a few things.

I thought the museum was pretty cool. I was a dork and took down notes. The others must have been wondering what I was doing for I overheard Brad explain to them, “We’re history teachers in America… blah, blah blah,” but even he laughed at me and took a picture to prove my nerdiness. (No worries, I’m totally cool with my inner nerd as well.)

Did you know that there’s a special kind of plant nicknamed “copper grass” that grows over copper mines? That was one of three ways ancient Chinese knew there was copper underground. How cool is that? Something else that’s cool is that it turns out Daye was the “original site of the Chinese bronze culture.” The first copper mine in ancient China may have been this one in Daye! It seems that archeologists found the site in 1976 and excavated it which then “explained important historic puzzles about …copper in the Chinese bronze dynasty.” Who knew?

After the museum we were taken to Mei’s sister’s house for lunch. They made sure I ate veggies, fish, and tofu because it was good for the baby. Not too long after lunch they sent us home so the baby could rest. Nice – this baby thing’s not too shabby…and totally helps out my inner introvert!

The next day the same group (minus a son in exchange for a cousin) went climbing (as much climbing as one does walking up stairs) up the small mountain in the city.This of course was wonderful.
We climbed to the top of this tower looking thing. They forgot to install an elevator. On the way down I tried to count the stairs, I got distracted somewhere after 100 and lost count.

Highlight of the day was when we tried to get the lady selling snacks to eat one of our apples with peanut butter on it. She was very hesitant and had to think about it for a while. I looked away to give her some privacy for her tough decision. When I snuck a peak a few seconds later half the apple was gone.

Great Success.

Not too shabby of a vacay. Shout out to Mao, and a big thanks to Mei and her sweet family.

Shanghai

We were able to spend a few days in Shanghai on the way into Wuhan. The hotel where we stayed was conveniently located in the middle of the airport. We picked up our luggage, divided them onto two carts, and rolled them straight into our hotel room. Nice!

We got to our room between 2-3 PM and immediately crashed. I woke up somewhere between 1-3 AM (Brad of course continued sleeping peacefully) and read a little out of my What to Expect When You’re Expecting book. Unfortunately, I read a long excerpt on the importance of healthy eating as I snacked on a bag of candy corn. It wasn’t enough to make me part with the candy corn, as the Halloween sweet was my source of American comfort in a faraway place, but I at least started to take smaller itty-bitty bites and let each morsel hang out in my mouth just a tad bit longer.

The next two days we spent touring the city. A tram / subway stop was right at our hotel in the airport.

Overview:

• Shanghai was HOT.
• There were SO.MANY.PEOPLE. everywhere.
• There were a lot of foreigners walking around so no special attention was on us; we were still treated as being somewhat normal.
• There were just as many Starbucks in Shanghai as any big US city. I rationed my preggo-daily caffeine intake to be a tall (small) coffee (light) frappachino. Oh how that was the very best part of both days…. I’m closing my eyes and remembering my last tastes of real coffee… please excuse for a minute…. Any ideas on how to send me a smokin’ hot Starbucks pumkin spice skim latte? I’ll be your best friend…. Can you wrap it up in a football game-day schedule?
• Starbucks was our only refuge. It was still hard for us to find western-style food to eat the second day. We were told by one China door man that the city had no western food. I didn't 100% believe him, but I was tired, hungry and preggo. Hungry won out.

The days in Shanghai really were great, the first especially. We got on the tram and traveled close to an hour I would say to the center of the city, but at least we had a seat since we were an early stop. We walked down touristy streets, filled with Chinese and non-Chinese faces and strolled into whatever shop we wished. The streets were clean, there was a blue sky overhead (which amazed Brad the most), and the air was devoid of the overwhelming aromas that often plague a busy Chinese city or small town. I allowed my nose to breath at will.

We got back on the tram after dinner each night. OH.MY.LADY.GAGA. there were so many people. About 2/3rds of the way back to the hotel everyone (practically) on the tram had to get off, walk across and get on the opposite one to continue going in the right direction. If you ran fast enough and pushed your way around the crowd, you could hopefully find a seat on tram #2. Night #1, I waited patiently to get off the subway and board the next. Night #2, I knew better and my feet thanked me immensely. Brad finally found a seat next to me about 3/4ths of the way back home at which time I promptly fall asleep on his shoulder.

The airport was the last stop at which time our weary feet made the final trek up the subway stairs and toward the direction of our room. We crashed immediately by 8PM or so… and then I woke up somewhere between 1-3 AM.

Will someone please send me a new bag of candy corn? I promise to take super small bites.