Goodbye, China~

Closing our China Chapter (by Inga)

One of our biggest life transitions as a married couple so far took place during the past several weeks. We packed up our lives in Wuhan, China, and returned to America on June 30. While we crammed full our suitcases, e-mails were flying back and forth regarding a potential job for Trevor and a couple housing leads. We landed in America on a Sunday, (a still-very-jetlagged) Trevor had a second interview for a job on that Tuesday, and the next day, he was offered the position (hurray!!!) and we signed the lease on our rental house. Add in three weeks of unpacking in our new town since then, and it’s finally time for us to catch our breath and post an update. Since this blog isn’t ‘Kingsleys in America,’ I’ll try to summarize for now just my thoughts about our final weeks in China.

The international school where I worked in China wrapped up classes in early June. A majority of the teachers and school families I called community left a few days later for summer plans in their home countries. Trevor’s contract kept him teaching almost until our June 30 departure date, so I had three weeks to knock out my ‘China bucket list.’ Many days I hopped on a bus and went exploring. I never knew when I’d run across things like this garlic peeling party. It was a joy to explore 'real Wuhan’—walking into areas where it was life as usual for Chinese people and where foreigners were few. 

'T' made sure we had matching Vera Bradley purses

During our time in China, I made a dear Chinese friend ‘T.’  I’ve lost track of the number of times she helped me with directions, translated in a situation or explained cultural nuances. Besides introducing me to many memorable places around Wuhan, ‘T’ went out of her way to help me--for example, meeting me at the dentist early one morning and translating for me so I could get my teeth cleaned, a big item on my China bucket list. It's not just any friend who will sit by your side while you get plaque scraped off your teeth! 'T' is a whiz at finding deals on the Chinese equivalent of amazon.com, and helped us order some special gifts to take back to America. She showed an interest in baking so we made many goodies together. We even made an apple pie for American Flag Day. June's weather was 90s with high humidity, which made staying indoors next to an air conditioner very appealing. Still, in those last few weeks, we met up at a zoo, toured her university campus and ate at Wuhan’s well-known ‘breakfast street.’ ‘T’s English is excellent, but she was always willing to patiently help me learn and use new Chinese vocabulary and expressions. Most touching of all, ‘T’ met Trevor and me at the airport to see us off on June 30. This was an especially hard good-bye for me. I really hope she will be able to come visit us in America in the near future.



Here's Paul with his Suzuki Book 1 words and illustrations

Another hard good-bye was to my young violin student Paul, his mom and little sister. Not only did I teach Paul a weekly lesson, but also saw him often in the hallway at the international school. “Mrs. Kingsley, tomorrow is violin class day!” he would often exclaim when he saw me. His mom did a wonderful job practicing at home with Paul, and involving Paul's little sister in the joy of music, too. I felt sad leaving Paul without an English-speaking violin teacher option to continue his studies in China. Paul had made some good progress during our two school-years together. Between his enthusiastic attitude, blond hair, blue eyes and French accent, he was one of the most charming little students I’ve ever taught.

 

The ex-pat and Chinese friends we made in Wuhan really made the two years a life-changing and incredibly meaningful experience. In our suitcases, we were able to bring back some objects that will remind us of China—our beautiful tailor-made clothes, green tea leaves and a personalized wall scroll. But it will be the memories in our hearts that will last much longer.  There were both frustrations and joys of living abroad. Being able to share and process these situations together with Trevor was a big blessing. I was a bit hesitant and unsure two years ago about moving to China, but now I am hopeful to return someday. We start our life now in America with new perspective. China helped make us more willing to try new things, eager to become friends with people from all over the world and to find joy in simple things.  

Thank you for supporting us on this journey to the Middle Kingdom and back~ 

 

<<Trevor's final thoughts coming soon...>>

The Discussion Bunny

As we are preparing to move, obviously we won’t be able to take back everything that we got while we were here. Some of the things we need to part with are trivial, some are more significant. The Discussion Bunny is one of the latter.

The Story of The Discussion Bunny

Early in my teaching last year, I realized that I needed another way of getting students to talk in class. Asking for volunteers didn’t work, and I was tired of just calling on them from the name cards I had made. So, I went out and bought a cheap (soft) bouncy ball that I could toss around class. The idea was that I would toss the ball to the first person (usually over my shoulder, so I wasn’t singling out any one student), and then after that student answered the question, they could toss the ball to the next student, and so on. The only problem was that the bouncy ball was too bouncy. Students would wait until the ball had completely stopped moving before deciding whom it was closest to. This was taking too much time. I needed something less bouncy.

Then, one day at Wal-Mart, there it was – a soft beige stuffed bunny for only ¥10. I dubbed it The Discussion Bunny (“the bunny doesn’t have a mouth, so it can’t talk for you, you have to talk for him”), and an inadvertent class mascot was born. Instead of just throwing the little guy away when we left – even though he was in rough shape after 18 months of being tossed around classrooms and repeatedly falling on the floor, I had grown attached to the little guy – I decided the fitting thing to do was put him up for adoption. I did this in the form of a contest, with students sending in their reasons why I should choose them as the adoptive parent. Below are the submissions, unedited, with translations and notes added as necessary.

The Adoption Request

This is what I posted on my QQ and Weibo (like Twitter/facebook):

Jianghan University Students: Because the Discussion Bunny is from China, he must stay here when I leave. Because of this, I need someone to adopt him. If you want him, please send me an email or private message telling me why I should chose you. I will choose a winner in about one week.

"Adopt Me!"

The Submissions

1) we want Bunny! 因为我们可以“抱”养它 [because we can adopt/cherish it]，we love it, we can it as our baby [This student and his girlfriend both major in teaching Chinese to foreigners, and were both my Chinese tutors at the end of this semester]

2) Hi Mr.King,I'd like to adopt the discussion bunny. Because when I was in your class,I was barely hit by him but I really want to stay with him for years. However,if you sent it to others then I'll be upset. I promiss I will take care of him really well. And if you come back Wuhan,you'll see him still "ALIVE"PLEASE LET ME ADOPT IT!

3) well , I'd like to adopt your discussion Bunny , I think It's really cute , and I can still remember the first time that I saw this rabbit , I want to take a close look at it , and I felt excited when my chance come to answer the question , that's  , someone threw it to me . I guess I don't know what I am saying , but this is all I want to say.

4) I want the cute bunny.because I like every cute thing just like me！！！

5) hello，Mr.King。 I wanted to take care of  Bunny。Because You are my first teacher into Jianghan University, I really like your. However，Because your class, I met it。 I'm very like Bunny。 And You use it to play games with us in the class，I always answer the questions will be very positive so i wanted to take care of Bunny。Would you choose me? Others，This is my last year, according to the photos, I've been saving it in my album. [this student attached some photos she had take of the bunny in class] I have a little tiger accompany me five years, last year it was I lost。I'm very miss it。So I will take care of Bunny。

6 ) 口语老师你真是太可爱了！   小兔子代表的是对老师的一个回忆和喜欢，每个喜欢小兔子的人应该都会对小兔子好的哦。老师回国你就放心吧。放心的交给我啦，哈哈。不过我英语太差啦，不过这和抱养小兔子好像没什么关系，是吧？老师祝你回国一路顺风  开开心心~~ [Oral English teacher, you are too cute! The bunny is representative of our memories of you and of fond times. Everyone who likes the bunny would be good [for adopting it]. When you return to America, you don’t need to worry – you don’t need to worry because you gave the bunny to me, ha ha. However, my English is really poor, but this doesn't have any relation to whether I can adopt the bunny, right? Teacher, I wish you safe and smooth travels, and happiness]

7) hello.I'd like to keep that lively bunny.
I swear i will treat it kind and regard it as my friend.I would be very happy if a can receive a discussion  bunny from a foreign teacher.

8) I want to adopt Bunny ,through the one year when I am your student ,I found Bunny like me very much .He always comes to me in the class ,  I believe that he is willing to be adopted by me . So I hope you let me adopt Bunny .In addition , wish you a smooth journey and come back early.

9) Dear Mr TLKingsley:I’m writing this letter to tell u the truth that I really want to take care of the Bunny. When I see it at first sight, I think it may have some collectins with me. Actually , my girlfriend have a pink rabbit called punny, and it is as cute as bunny. I wan them to be a couple. In this way, bunny will never fell loney and can play with each other. I deeply belive that bunny will be very happy every day which is the situation that you want after you leave.So please give it me . I and my girlfriend will keep it very well. I and my girlfriend ,together with punny,will appreciation it if u give bunny to us.yours[name]

10) Dear teacher:    I am one of  your students. My name is [name]. That day I saw your massage in the QQ room. I saw that rabbit .it remind me back freshman. This rabbit accompanied us a term.    I want to adopt him not only get it,but also have several reason about it. In first place you are my first foreign teacher, you often took this rabbit in the class. I have a spacial feel about him. Second every time you used this rabbit instead of making a roll call. I think this rabbit is a messenger. It deliver a kind of frontal energy. When it appeared my desk,made me feel happy and fear. But happy alway defeat fear. I can daringly speak English in the classroom. Little by little, I like this rabbit.Third,every time teacher throw it to us,sometime this rabbit drop on the ground. I feel this rabbit is very pitiful. I imagined if this rabbit have a comfortable home. How wonderful it is!   Today I see this rabbit again. This idea present to my mind.And that,teacher want to look for student to adopt him.So I want to adopt him with all my heart. I like collecting some small dolls, such as bear,tortoise, blue demon and so on. I want to make a comfortable home for this rabbit. Let this rabbit find companion, and not feel lonely. For this reason I give consideration to this rabbit.

 My telephone number is [number]. If you feel me can adopt this rabbit.please send message to me . I am looking forward to you message.                                      Your student:[name]                                        Date:  2013.6.9

11) can i do? because of that it will stimulate me to learn English. I ' m afraid of it, but love it.
12) I want it！
13)  I want [there were some cute emoticons with this one, but they didn't come through on Blogger]

14) i really appreciate the time we shared together,discussion bunny^_^

The Winner

Last, but definitely not least, here is the submission I chose as the winner:

15) Dr.King: this is [name], im so happy that i didn't miss the notice, to be honest, im moved by the words: he must stay China cuz he is from here, maybe the master is more important than place for him, but if not, can i adopt him, i still remember that Bunny gave us so many chance to express ourselves in your class, he gave us guts, i believe this is the best way to make his life meaningful, if he stay with me, he will never stop working, just for my roommates, every week we have a presentation, then Bunny will be the first prize, and this will change  once a week, i want u know, Bunny will never lonely or be abandoned, cuz he is the only pet in my dormitory looking forward to ur replay, the number [phone number] will wait ur massage

It was a tough decision between this one and #10, even Inga was torn between these two.

It didn’t hurt that the student in #15 called me “Dr.,” but I especially liked that the Bunny would continue to inspire students to study, not just sit on a shelf. Though, I must say, “he will never stop working” does sound a bit like slave labor :)

The Adoption

The adoption "ceremony" (i.e. me delivering the Bunny to his adoptive mother) happened this morning. Apparently my student thought that this was an occasion deserving of her Sunday best, where as I was thinking more along the lines of it's-really-hot-outside-but-as-long-as-I'm-wearing-a-polo-I'm-still-dressed-up-right?. Oops.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the adoption. My student wanted to hold my hand, which was awkward - but then again - I have a lot of awkward interactions, so that's not so strange. :)

The Discussion Bunny joins his new family

Five Things We'll Miss Most About China

It's June, and at the end of the month, we'll be moving back to the U.S. Over the past weekend, we've started the good-bye process, and to be honest, it feels a little surreal. Some friends and students we may never ever see again so it's definitely more than a hug and a casual 'see you later.' With that sobering reality in mind, our intentions are to end well.

This post, we'll share five things that we'll both miss most about China (and that's we'll savor during the remaining time): 

1. Regularly enjoying great food served with sweet smiles within a ten minute walk from our apartment:

It's hard to see (and it's in Chinese, too), but my shirt says "Reganmian [Hot-Dry Noodles], Wuhan's Breakfast" and the owner always greets us with her warm smile.

2. Enjoying some treats--like pedicures, flowers (at the wholesale market) and tailor-made clothing--that are really expensive in the U.S. but surprisingly cheap here:

3. Making meaningful connections with students both from China and from all over the world:

Clockwise, from upper-right: One of Trevor's best (and smallest) classes from last year; Trevor's former students / Chinese teachers; Inga's two young violin students after their recital

4. Feeling a sense of accomplishment from finding and exploring new parts of this ever-changing huge city via bus or metro (fare is about 30 cents U.S.)...but it's much more enjoyable when we aren't stuck in a muggy, pushy crowd:

Clockwise, from upper-right: Waiting for the train, with everyone else in Wuhan; Cherry Blossom Festival at Wuhan University, with everyone else in Wuhan; riding the (in)famous 208 bus, with everyone else in Wuhan

5. Living in a foreign culture where we often see funny things (or, things that don't quite seem 'normal' in our Western minds) almost everytime we go out:

"Advertisement" for a Good Cause

Hey everyone, this is a brief post, and not even really an update, but rather a plug for a friend and teammate of ours here in Wuhan.

Taylor recently started an ice cream company, and is looking to expand by opening up a retail location. However, this isn't just about yummy ice cream (and it is delicious, trust me) or making money - his desire is to use his business as a way to reach Chinese people from the poor rural areas, and change their lives for the better.

I hope that you can take 4:30 minutes to watch this video. If what he is doing resonates with you, please consider donating through the organization mentioned in the information under the video here.

or here:

Life, Lately

Birthday Sunset, view from our rooftop

As spring rolled into Wuhan these past few weeks, we've done a number of fun things aside from our usual teaching. 

We celebrated Inga's last birthday before the big 3-0 on March 27th. The day included sampling a 'toffee' birthday cake from a Chinese bakery and watching a take-your-breath-away sunset.

Chinese Cake (FYI, that's white chocolate on the right, not cheese)

The air quality has been decent (for Wuhan, at least) so we've taken lots of walks in the sunshine. Inga especially got a kick out of the new music-themed art in the walking street behind the nearby Wanda Plaza mall:

Is that what you'd call an eighth rest? And how about the bongo drum trash cans?

Over Easter weekend, we took the fast-train to Hunan Province to the city of Changsha. Our time there included a meaningful visit with a friend, visiting a fantastic zoo and Trevor's first experience eating 'stinky tofu.' One great surprise near the zoo exit was seeing a photo of WSU Cougar football on a poster display about animals as mascots. Go Cougs!

Eating "Stinky Tofu" in Changsha: Yes it really stinks (like an open sewer), but tastes good
.

WSU Surprise at the Changsha Zoo - "Go Timberwolves!"(?)

Trevor had some classes to teach the week after Easter but Inga enjoyed having a more than a week off for spring break. What happens when teachers get time off? Well, they wear silly matching shirts like this out in public: 

Inga and her best fellow-teacher friend:  "I'm not going to teach"

Besides plenty of tree blossoms around Wuhan, we heard there were imported tulips. So last Thursday we took advantage of a free afternoon and beautiful 70-degree weather to head across-town to the East Lake area. (And when we say 'across-town,' we mean riding buses for about an hour and fifteen minutes--we usually catch up on reading on these types of bus rides). 

The first garden we visited actually didn't have tulips, but still was a beautiful change of scenery from the usual construction cranes and traffic detour fences. That day we saw several couples getting wedding photos taken in these gardens. 

East Lake "Plum Garden" - Chairman Mao approves of this garden (upper right)

East Lake Botanical Gardens - Tulips (a bit out of their element, and fading fast, the flowers that is)

At the East Lake Gardens

Two-thumbs-up Tulips

Finally, this past Saturday we took two friends with us to begin some exciting 'projects.' Stay tuned to hear and see about those in a few weeks. Any guesses?

Thanks for catching up with our adventures lately, and we hope spring is lovely where you're at!

March & Music Men

"March winds bring April showers, which bring May flowers." In the past three weeks, we've had March winds, March showers and March flowers...so it may be safe to say spring is coming to Wuhan. Trevor and I haven't quite packed away our winter coats and layers, but if this weather keeps up, the transition will happen soon. Whenever it's a sunny day in Wuhan, this is what we've grown accustomed to seeing:

I also can tell spring is coming because the Chinese elementary school near where I teach ESOL part-time has resumed their outdoor morning exercises:

Another fun thing about spring is that it includes many birthdays. On March 10, we helped a friend celebrate her birthday with 'breakfast for dinner.' It was great to have an excuse to go all out making cinnamon rolls, cream cheese frosting, fruit salad and tons of pancakes (Trevor has definitely perfected his pancake-making skills here in China).

And now for the musical part of this entry....
Last Saturday, I was walking around the nearby fancy mall with my friend when I saw this:

I froze in excitement at such a great music window display. I mean, really, how often do you see a clothing store use classical music to sell their products? On the teal poster, most of the composer and conductor pictures were matched correctly with their last names. 'What if I could buy this poster and use it to decorate my future violin studio?' I thought to myself excitedly [not exactly thinking how in the world I could take something that big back to America.]

I knew I had to go into the store to ask if I could have/buy the poster. Somewhere between using my broken Chinese about being a violin teacher and the bewildered store associate trying to explain in simple terms that the decorations were not for sale, another store associate came around the corner with a t-shirt with the composers and conductors. I gasped because I knew the shirt had to come home with me...and gasped again when I looked at the price. [Yikes the price of about three violin lessons here!] My friend and I doubled over laughing at the situation--I couldn't have the poster but the t-shirt was definitely for sale. I tried on a [Chinese] men's size small, which strangely, fit great. And I guess you could say that the rest is [music] history:

One very happy music nerd

 

Spring Festival Trip

This year for our Spring Festival (a.k.a. Chinese New Year) vacation, we headed south (a.k.a. "somewhere-warm-unlike-bone-chilling-Beijing-like-last-year") to a wonderful retreat center on Cheung Chau (长洲) island, near Hong Kong. So...instead of trying to make a few days of R&R into a action-packed blog post, we'll just let the pictures do (most of) the talking. [Note: you can click to enlarge any of the collages]

Day 1: Cheung Chau

Clockwise, starting upper-left: Trevor reading his Valentine's Day note from Inga; random cute old couple on Cheung Chau; viewpoint along the (unimpressive) Little Great Wall; loving the fresh Pad Thai; Cheung Chau; "fire beaters," for your safety and convenience; sugary goodies that can't be easily found in mainland China 

Day 2: Hong Kong Island

Clockwise, starting upper-left: One(!) of the malls on Victoria Peak; view across Victoria Harbor; (quiet) downtown HK on the way to the Peak; can't pass up a chance for an Ikea visit!; view from the Peak

Day 3: Cheung Chau

Clockwise, starting upper-left: "Waiter, there's a person in my straw!"; pretty flowers; bulk foods and a lazy cat (health code, what?); Cheung Chau harbor; fresh from the sea; happy laowai on the windy beach

Kite Surfing - looks like fun, looks like hard work!

Day 4 (morning): Marveling at seashells on a quiet beach

Fishing Fun/Tiny silver fish no longer having fun

Things to blog home about:

Clockwise, starting upper-left: a quiet lane and a giant tree (Cheung Chau); "don't do it...just don't" (Cheung Chau); city busses of the water; drivers in their lanes, waiting for pedestrians(!); doggy litter box (Cheung Chau)

Apple products are cheaper in HK than in mainland China - apparently this isn't a secret...

Best apples in the world! Sign on right says "Fuji Apples"

Can't even imagine how much money is sitting here...or where it all those containers came from...or are going to...

Evening light show, from Kowloon

Huangshi Trip and Everyday China Photos

In mid-January, we decided to get out of Wuhan's recently very-bad smog by taking a trip to the nearby city of Huangshi. This smaller city is a couple hours away and is where several other members of our Zhong Relations team live and teach. Actually, Trevor and I took a trip to Huangshi around this same time last year with one of Inga's tutoring students (part 1 and part 2). But we have to say, this most recent weekend trip was much more fun.

Getting to Huangshi in the first place was a bit of an adventure. By the look of this photo, it might appear that we hitch-hiked along a busy highway to find a ride...which indeed we did. But don't worry, moms, our Chinese friend helped us find a safe driver. :)

We stayed with our friends, Brad and Dana and their adorable almost-one-year-old baby. Their home was such a welcoming place, and baby Leila's funny antics kept up laughing all weekend. Dana whipped up delicious breakfasts both mornings. Especially after living in China for a year and a half, treats like pancakes and coffee cake are indeed treats.

On Saturday, Trevor spent time with the guys. They spent most of their time hanging out in downtown Huangshi, though they also got to see the Huangshi "Fight Club" in action. These tough guys melted, however, when Brad and baby Leila showed up. Instead of trying to best each other in kungfu matches or wrestling, they turned to "fighting" for a chance to get a picture of the laowai baby.

Kevin and the "Fight Club," before baby Leila arrived

Inga met up with Lesley and Camille for some shopping and coffee (at one of Huangshi's cool new coffee shops!). After Dana returned from her Saturday teaching job, she met up with us a little later at Huangshi's newest malls before the four of us headed off for manicures. Coming from Wuhan where most activities include a lengthy bus ride, I was pretty impressed how much we could do in the downtown area of Huangshi in one day, all on foot.

There was definitely commotion at the new mall that Saturday. A food fair stretched across the entrance and there were competing sound systems at the booths which made the whole experience a little bit overwhelming. Giant Transformers 'guarded' the entrance (see Camille in the photo collage above for scale) and there was a man dressed up in a pig costume (one of the main characters in a classic Chinese story). My favorite part were the misspelled signs hung every ten feet or so: 'Crnand Open.'

The next week in January, I went to get a flu shot at a Chinese CDC clinic. It was located in a very 'normal' neighborhood of Hanyang, not too far from where I taught kindergarten last fall. While waiting for my Chinese friend to arrive on bus to help with the translating, I walked around and took some pictures of everyday China: 

This lady mends clothes with an old-fashioned sewing machine.
What caught my eye were the white numbered cloth tags hanging from each job.

This florist waited for customers while soaking up the (rare) sunshine.

On the left, this man makes what we call 'trash can bread' (flavored flatbread made by sticking dough onto the inner wall of a converted steel drum). On the right, this man sells (probably) home-grown vegetables.

This photo of 'everyday China' is actually from Huangshi, but is a common sight around Wuhan's malls, too. It's especially fun to see these balloon vendors ride their bikes or scooters while hanging onto their merchandise. 

The final detail of 'everyday China' is something I observed (with a bit of disgust) last winter, and have grown to accept as 'normal' this year. I've dubbed January as 'the month of seeing meat.' (Meat is pretty spendy here so buying chicken or ground beef is more of an occasional thing for us.) Many Chinese take advantage of the winter temperatures to cure meat, mainly sausages and fish. Most of this is eaten during Chinese New Year. We'll see the meat hanging up on just about any available wire. Sometimes it'll be curing right next to someone's laundry. There was plenty of sausages for sale at the Huangshi mall food fair, as well as a quick 'eat and run' chicken place. For the strong of stomach...here's a look:






If you don't like meat very much, don't say we didn't warn you!

Well, now you're probably either strongly craving some beef jerky or not, and we'll leave you to it. Chinese New Year is coming up soon, and we'll be sure to have some adventures to write about from that. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned~

Dumpling TIme!

Hello, just a quick update to let you all know that we are still around. Classes at the university finished up for me earlier this week, and thus I begins my 6'ish weeks of vacation - well, the month-long vacation officially begins in two weeks, but with no more classes, it's effectively vacation time now. What could spoil this time of rest and repose? How about a mild flu? :) Don't worry, though, I'm on the uptick.

Tonight we went out to our favorite local jiaozi (dumpling) restaurant. For those of you who aren't familiar with jiaozi, they are what "potstickers" (think Safeway's China Express, but smaller) want to be when they grow up. They are also much cheaper than Safeway's - we bough 50 jiaozi for less than $4. These tasty morsels are terribly addicting, and come in various flavors. I prefer the pork and chive kind, Inga leans toward the beef and white carrot ones. Jiaozi can be boiled or fried, depending on one's tastes or current gastronomic condition. Fried jiaozi can scoop up more sauce (once you bite the end off, though that might be a breach of Chinese etiquette), whereas the boiled ones sit a bit easier on the stomach.

The outside, or "skin" of the jiaozi is basically just a flour and water mixture (2:1, if you're keeping score at home), rolled out in the shape of a mini tortilla. The filling is made from minced/ground meat, and vegetables. The skin is pressed close on top, and voila! ready to go.

Below is a video of our "jiaozi lady" and "jiaozi grandma" (sorry, but yes, we give names to these people since we don't bother to ask their real names) making some jiaozi tonight. They thought it was quite funny that we were interested in this, since, well, in China not knowing how to make jiaozi is like not knowing how to make pancakes in the States.

Enjoy!