Park Observations

I went to the park this morning for a couple hours, and at the end of my time, I jotted down a collection of observations:

• Napping

  

  City and apartment buildings off in distance,
  park on the left of the river,
  houses/other businesses on the right.
• Practicing Tai Chi 
• (also, man yawning while doing tai chi)
• Boys watching man doing tai chi
• Stretching
• Hitting/slapping muscles
• A woman who was stretching approaches man doing tai chi, talks to him, joins in some movements, and walks away.
• Old man picking up fallen tree berries

  

  Motorboat

• Kissing (But girl makes sure no one is looking. I have sunglasses on. She has not yet seen me.)
• Art exhibits (paintings, characters, stone carvings, sculptures)
• Trash (bottles, bags, net, etc.) in the river
• Murkiness, algae/moss and plants in the river and ponds

  

  Algae-green pond

• Motorboat coming down the river with two men on it
• Half hour later, motorboat going back, with 5-6 men on it
• Empty stream beds in the park
• Breeze in the trees
• Crisp, browning leaves falling from trees
•  Children climbing trees
• Dancing/rehearsing
• Clapping
• Walking
• Two men walking a cat with a bell on its collar (and clapping at it)
• Washing clothes in the river
• Man painting
• Jumping rope
• Playing cards
• Fishing

• 

  Clothes-washing in the river

  Many trash and recycle bins 
• Sitting
• Eating
• Families picnicking
• Children playing on swings and playground equipment
• Men watching children
• Men and women playing with children
• Child pushing stroller

  

  Recycling/trash bins

• Riding bikes
• Riding mopeds/electric scooters
• Women carrying parasol umbrellas
• Butterflies
• Dragonflies
•  Birds
• Staring
• People watching other people
• Making noises
• Playing musical instruments (violin, clarinet, oboe, other wind instruments, drums)
• Singing
• Laughing

• 

  My Chinese workbooks

  Shouting
• Children's screams/playing
• Spitting
• Clearing throats
• Honking (in distance)
• Taking pictures
• Taking pictures in trees
• Taking pictures on rocks
• Taking pictures of me 
• I am the only caucasian person.
• I am sitting barefoot in the middle of a grassy patch, doing my Chinese character writing practice in workbooks. A man comes over to observe. He stands over my shoulder for about two minutes. Neither of us says a word. 
• An old man walks across the grassy patch, within centimeters of me, as I am sitting cross-legged in the grass. He is old and his shoes don't fit. 

...and the list goes on. Signs with rules like these are posted at nearly every entrance to the parks.
(Kathryn, I posted this with you in mind. You might enjoy reading the "Chingrish")
One of my faves is #4 (not because of the potty humor, but rather because of the irony;
spitting is exactly what everyone does EVERYWHERE!)
And #2's "climb the twig" is also a fave.
OK, so what CAN one do at a park?

Interpret: 

• Is this normal, everyday life? If not, what is abnormal? 
• Is it acceptable and common behavior for this rural/urban area? 
• Would such behaviors be out of sorts way out in the boonies?
• Would there be even more people doing the same sorts of things in larger cities?

Evaluation: People seem to do as they please.

I realized I just practiced a good exercise that I can have my ELL students conduct as well. I looked at all these observations and saw a bunch of verbs, in their many forms. This is what I will begin teaching my students this coming week. We are about to start a unit on verbs. It seems like I just found myself an activity for my lesson plans!