Friday began with getting up early, and getting on the bus to Heat Transfer. Robert had asked me to join him in proctoring an electronics exam right afterwards, so I joined him for that.
Pablo then wanted to go get lunch, and Robert took us to one of his favorite restaurants in Sanxia Square. It was up above the main area on the 6th floor above Starbucks. Robert said that he took his girlfriend to this restaurant all the time before they got together, and that it had lots of unique Chinese dishes.
We got in, chatting about our significant others, and Robert ordered us a few different dishes. The first two that came out were the bread box with ice cream on top and the vegetables that Robert had ordered. An explanation of these two dishes for you guys: The first one was a bread bowl with cubes of sweet bread that you skewered and rubbed into the lump of ice cream on top of it. The second dish was lettuce with some sort of sauce on top. Tasting it, Pablo and I found out that it was peanut butter, which we both found hilarious. It was pretty good, though, and was reminiscent of celery and peanut butter that I would have for lunch as an elementary school kid.
More dishes came out, including a bunch of tinfoil wrapped shrimp that the waiter put over fire right on the plate (due to oil on the plate), a tofu and pidan dish (with pidan being a black substance made with some sort of vegetable and egg), pork with spices, and Chinese white yams with blueberry sauce. The others ate lots of the bread, and I ended up eating a lot of shrimp (I joked that I was murdering a whole family of shrimp) and the peanut butter lettuce. We finished the pork and yams, but we didn't really touch the tofu too much.
We talked to Robert about what food he thought he would like in the US, and he was astonished to hear that pizza was "spicy" in the US, although we clarified it wasn't spicy, it just had spices, such as oregano, and wasn't sweet like it is in China.
After we ate, Pablo and I had decided to go see the new Beauty and the Beast movie. The others were trying to make a group outing out of it, but they had changed the time from Friday to Saturday, and as I had plans tomorrow, I couldn't go. Robert helped us order tickets for the cheaper movie theatre (the one we saw Wolverine at), and we headed there, walking out of Sanxia Square.
In the theatre, I ordered a popcorn and Coke with Robert's help. The lady was insisting that I take the water bottle too, and Robert explained that it was cheaper to get the water along with the combo, for some odd reason. I took the water, putting it in my backpack for later.
Robert headed out (since he was going to see the movie the next day with Suri and the others), and Pablo and I sat down to wait to be allowed into the theater. I talked to him about a couple different things, including the Wonder Woman movie that was coming out soon after we returned to the US. He wasn't aware of the backstory, so I (a Wonder Woman fan) informed him.
We went into the theatre, and had a bit of trouble finding our seats. Pablo showed the ticket to a Chinese couple, and they pointed us in the right direction. I realized that it was by seat and by row, and I figured out where we were supposed to sit. It was a 3d movie and we were very excited. To my astonishment, Pablo had never watched the cartoon version of Beauty and the Beast, so it was all new to him. At showtime, commercials started, but there was nothing on the screen. Pablo thought that they were meant to be audio ads, but even when the Disney music started playing, there was nothing on the screen! Lots of people in the theatre started laughing, and I wondered if anyone was going to get up and say anything, but no one even moved a muscle. To my relief, the movie quickly started, and I sat back to enjoy the show.
It was amazing, and took its cues straight from the animated version. Any Disney aficionado has to go see it!
Afterwards, Pablo went back to his apartment in Campus B to do some work, and I went back to Campus A to draw a bit before heading back. I went back to the pagoda area that I had started drawing at the day before, and settled in. After about 20 minutes, a group of kids started playing in my general area. One of them came over to me, curious about the foreigner. I told her hello with a smile, and continued drawing. She stood there for a while, and then ran off. A couple minutes later, she came back with a friend. She did this a couple more times, until there was a group of 8 children around me.
The children tried to talk to me, but as they didn't know English, and I don't know Chinese, it was pretty hard. They said stuff to me, and I nodded and smiled, but when they asked questions, I shook my head no, and apologized. They talked amongst themselves in Chinese, saying English words included words that suspiciously sounded like "English" and "stupid", but they were friendly enough, and I didn't mind them. One of the girls was sharing her chive crackers with everyone. I took one, and it was pretty good, and after the children all grabbed one, she tried to give me the last one. I refused, but she insisted, so I took it.
Soon after that, I needed to head out to the bus stop, so I said goodbye, and started to leave. About halfway there, I decided to go back to take a picture with them, knowing it would make their day (and help me remember this encounter). I went back, and we tried to take a selfie, but my arms were too short. I motioned to a nearby person, and they ran to him to get him to take the picture. He took several pictures, and the children were very happy. I showed them the WeChat icon on my phone, and I tried to get them to scan it. They were saying QQ instead, but unfortunately, I didn't have QQ working on my Chinese phone. It took a while, but they got a person to take a picture of my QR code so they could add me later. (I thought that the next person who sent me a message request was them, but it turned out to be one of my students. These kids ended up never getting back to me.)
At this point, I thought I had missed the bus, and I rushed to find out if I had indeed missed it. Before I went though, one of the little boys gave me two branches with flower blossoms from a nearby tree, which was a thoughtful gift. I said my final farewells, and headed out. Speed walking up toward the bus stop, the buses were just pulling out. The first one was full, and the driver motioned that I should get on the second one, which luckily, had less people than the other one.
I headed home, resting the rest of the night, not doing much else besides a video call, philosophy homework, and other online things. I also had a pleasant conversation with Michael, Jessica's boyfriend, who was visiting from his co-op in Japan.
Saturday started off with a video call in the morning. At around 11, I headed out to meet my friend Heather, who had asked me to help teach an English class for small children. I met her at the subway station, and we headed out. We discussed what we were doing to do with the children. She had prepared some songs and nursery rhymes, and the place apparently had props and other things for us to use there.
Video while on the subway
We rode the subway for about 40 minutes, then transferred to line 2, the line on which Apollo had taken us to the zoo. We talked about various things to pass the time. I mentioned that I thought I had lost one of my hats, and she helped me by putting a message in the CQU lost and found chat. She said that it may not work because of the staff that cleared out the classrooms, but it was worth a try if I couldn't find it in either my apartment or the guys' apartment (which I thought was a possibility due to the meeting on Wednesday).
We were cutting it close, so after the subway station, she got a taxi, and we made our way there with her chatting in the front seat with the driver. We got out, and she directed me towards the school. It was an art school, and a very small place to boot. She chatted with the lady at the front desk, and found out that the bus had not left as she had worried about. We went to go upstairs, but as soon as we did, we were met by the headmaster of the art school and he directed me downstairs.
The school is on the right side
Outside, Heather talked to the headmaster, and he tried to talk to me as well. I was surprised that he didn't speak much English, because he organized this entire event. He asked her what I was doing in China and she told him. I looked away, since I couldn't participate in the conversation. He asked in English if I understood "Ni Hao", and I laughed, albeit a bit frustratingly. Of course I knew the most basic thing in Chinese!
A bunch of students, children ages 3 to 8, came up to us, and started trying to talk to me in Chinese. Heather served as translator, and they asked her if I did something to curl my hair. When she told me that's what they were wondering about, I was happy to take my hat off to show them that my hair was the same underneath, amazing them.
We boarded the bus, and went to the back, so Heather could open the windows and reduce motion sickness. I talked with the children who followed us to the back during the bus ride. I didn't speak much Chinese, but with Heather's help, and the bit of English they knew, we got along ok. They were astonished at my eyes, and started practicing their colors in English. I also sang the ABCs with them but quickly found out that they had a different tune for the song than America. Heather suspected it was the British version that they had been taught. We chatted for a while, and the children taught me the phrase "chang jiang hen piao liang", which meant "The Jiang River is very beautiful".
They also asked if I knew any Chinese poems. Through Heather's translations, I told them that I did not, but I wrote poetry in English myself. They were very impressed, so I read them some of my haikus and then Heather translated. Another thing that stuck out to me along the way was the snack that the children were eating. It was pre packaged, but Heather told me it was chicken feet. I was surprised it was that common here as a snack. She told the children, and they asked why I was surprised, and when she said that people in the US don't eat them, they asked why, to which the answer was, of course, they just don't. (Kids everywhere are definitely overly curious.).
It was only supposed to be an hour ride, but we were on there for about 2. My voice got tired about halfway through, so I tried to rest it, reading for most of the rest of the way.
Finally, we were at the area where the activity was going to happen, and we all filed out of the bus.
We went into the room, but just outside it, there was a gorgeous view of the river. Heather and I went outside, appreciating it for a while until we had to come inside.
We went in, and I taught them "Row, Row Your Boat", mostly line by line, having them repeat it back to me. Heather told me to slow down a couple times, which I tried to do. However, I was unable to get their attention without knowing the Chinese words for that.....so it was mostly repeating the Chinese words over and over again. There was then letter cards with animals that I had to teach the students, and the headmaster wanted me to do it on my own. I had a bit of trouble getting their attention, but we made it. They then played a game in which they passed the words down the line as quickly as possible to test their knowledge.
After that, they made windmills, and I helped a couple children make them to their delight.
Everything over, we went outside to enjoy the beautiful weather, and the children played along the riverside after going down an elevator. We took a couple group pictures with the children and enjoyed the day.
There was a playground with things such as a small zip line, and a trampoline (which tempted me, but I abstained), as well as an overlook where I went to to enjoy the view. Heather came over to talk to me, and I told her about how the people nearby were actively staring at me without regard. Soon after, they offered us orange juice (and then meat crackers). Boldened by this, the first lady had me take pictures with her child. And then, the strangest thing happened! Another lady came up to me, putting her baby in my arms, and taking a picture of me holding it! (This had happened to another friend of mine when I was in China, but I didn't think it would happen to me). The baby started crying, and I handed it back to its mother. The other lady took a couple more pictures, and we left.
The place where we were was a place to sell homes, and they had a model of where all the homes were, to the fascination of both the children and myself.
We headed out, and Heather asked the headmaster if we would be able to get dropped off somewhere else rather than heading all the way back to the school and then all the way back on the subway. After about 30 minutes, the driver dropped us off at a bus stop. We crossed the street in order to get to, of all places, Shapingba and Sanxia Square. We stood at the bus stop a while, and the buses that kept coming were the ones that we didn't need. Eventually, one came that was extremely crowded, and we let it go by. This repeated, and eventually another small, crowded bus came by. Heather said that this bus wouldn't take as long, so I thought it would be fine to get on it. About 15 cramped minutes later (in which I watched the Chinese advertisements, including one for the restaurant we were going to, and an honest citizen who got on the back passed their bus fare up to the front), we were at Shapingba.
Walking towards the front of the square, I told Heather that my other friends were watching Beauty and the Beast, and getting dinner there as well, and if we ran into them, that would be a great coincidence. As soon as I said that (it's almost as if someone planned it), someone walked up to me, saying my name. I turned around in astonishment to see them, and it was Lillian, one of my students from Heat Transfer. She asked what I was doing there, and I told her, and made introductions. She ran off soon after, having to meet her friend (and another student of mine), Helen.
We stopped for a second, and looked at the band that was setting up. They weren't playing yet, but I admired the impressive dreadlocks of the guitarist (the only dreadlocks I've seen on a Chinese guy in China), and we decided to come back later.
We went into the mall that had "Happy New Year" structures with the chickens in front of it, and made our way to the restaurant. There was only a 15 minute wait, so we decided to stay. We used the time to decide what to order. We ended up deciding on a rabbit dish, along with the famous fish soup (without bones!) that the restaurant had. When she ordered from the server, the server recommended another dish, so she also got a vegetable.
When they called our number, we had to go in and find our own seats, and the waiter brought out a box of snacks to munch on, including green raisins, almonds, candied dates, and tiny cookies that reminded me of Fig Newtons. They had been around in China for a long time, and I wondered, talking to Heather, if these cookies were the inspiration for Fig Newtons.
The vegetable dish was simply lettuce with soy sauce, and the rabbit dish was somewhat spicy, containing lots of peppers (as well as lots of bones), but the meat tasted pretty good.
The fish soup was very good, but very spicy. At some point, Heather had asked if I wanted rice. I refused at first, thinking it was more money, but relented. Apparently it was free, in a large bowl, and she got up and got it for me. It helped a bit with the spice, but it took a while to eat.
They eventually brought flower tea to our table too. I had wanted some juice, but the only other drinks that they served were alcoholic. When we were finishing up our meal, there was a small insect that I saw on the lettuce, and I told Heather. She complained, and she got the dish free.
Wrapping up our meal, we went out to explore the nearby grocery store she claimed was cheaper.
On our way there, we saw people square dancing, which she claimed was pretty common in China. This time, it was Uptown Funk. The square dancing reminded me of the International Student Retreat this past fall, in which I was an Ipal, volunteering with UC International, and our time doing the same. Cheered up, we went into the store, which Heather said was strangely empty. We discovered it was because they had raised their prices. We went to leave, me trying some sample chive crackers on the way (and not really liking them).
We went home on the subway, and at the station, she paid for a three wheeled taxi. We said our goodbyes, and I talked to Will about some statics stuff before heading in my room for the night.
On Sunday, I was feeling a bit homesick. In the morning, I had bible study with Jessica and Michael, and then hung around the apartment for a bit. When I could stand to be in the apartment no longer, I went out to try to find an area on campus to work.
I ran into Greg, who was back for only two weeks to get some work done in China, and we chatted for a while. I hadn't seen him since before the break, and he commented that I looked healthy, and liked my goldfish keychain. He also said that my academic advisor said hi back home. He had brought the computer science advisor for a week, who had also been there before, so they could get some meetings finished.We headed our separate ways, so he could take a nap due to jet lag, and I could get some work done.
I went to the library first and foremost, but I didn't have card access for the library, and I wasn't in the mood to try to use the translate app to get in. I biked around, trying to find another building in the back of campus, and I found one that looked relatively inviting.
I walked up the steps, and the guard greeted me. As I went further, she started yelling at me about something. Not understanding her, and having run out of patience already for the day, I just shook my head no at her, and left.
I continued to bike around, somewhat frustrated, and found a couple other buildings toward the back. Some of them looked locked, but the physics building was open.
I went inside, and found that the classrooms were locked on the ground floor, so I went upstairs, finding a study lounge. I pulled out my computer, getting ready to work, but the campus Wifi didn't show up on my laptop. After trying to connect to the other wifi in the building and failing, I gave up.
I headed outside, going toward the beautiful hill over a pond that I saw behind the red building. Looking down upon the pond, I decided to sit on the hill, reading, and watching offline Doctor Who on my computer for a while. Sitting there, eating chocolate and relaxing, helped my impatience melt away little by little.
After an hour, I went along the path towards the back of the campus. I wandered down some steps, and found a pavilion. I sat there for a while to rest, watching more Doctor Who until I got tired, and continued exploring.
Continuing on, I found a pathway down to a pond, which reminded me of a pond by the university back home. It turned out to be the pond that the geese who say "nee" live at, although that day, there were only ducks on the water.
I
I walked around, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and saw the geese house on this pond as well. I love how this campus incorporates natural beauty so seamlessly. Walking back further, there was a sign for a Lotus Garden, which I would have loved to see in full bloom, but the sign said that the flowers bloomed in June through August.
Around the edges of the pond, there was lots and lots of bamboo, and toward the back of the pond, I spotted that there was a grassy field with lots of ancient trees, some blossoming, and some not, with couples and best friends lounging, enjoying the day.
There was a path downwards, which I went halfway down, only to find a basketball court, and some dormitories, as well as another large grassy field. I went back up, eager to explore the rest of the garden area.
Wandering farther, I found yet another garden, called the Camellia Garden, with lots of gorgeous flowers to delight my sense of aestheticism.
Going up even further, I found the pagoda that I had seen on the hill that Jessica had told me that she had previously found. I stared up at it in wonder, going up the steps and looking around in the middle of it. The people sitting inside looked on curiously, but were quickly distracted by the fussing infant who didn't want to take a picture with her parents.
After the pagoda, it was around 4:30, and I decided to go back to where I had parked my bike and get something to eat, taking lots of pictures along the way.
I biked to the dining hall near the red building, and got the fried chicken, rice and vegetable meal I had gotten the other time I had been there. I watched some more Doctor Who, and worked on an old blog post while I was there (finally having found the wifi).
After a bit, I biked down to Sunny Block to get the groceries for the week. Jessica didn't come with me because she was showing Michael around the city. I got a cappuccino float to reward myself while I was shopping at the same little store I had gotten one at last time. I got all the groceries, bagged it up, and came out quickly, trying my best to keep the eggs intact. I also stopped by the little convenience store near our apartment for juice and Pepsi, walking my bike the rest of the way.
One egg had broken on the way, but its innards were in the container, so I dumped it into the pan and cooked it right away. I settled in for a restful night, reading, working on philosophy homework, and watching anime.
-Zoe
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