The Hong Kong/Guangzhou trip

 (Monday, December 17 - Thursday, December 20)

It'll be a long post, but enjoy the photos! If you want to see more, I've posted an album on Facebook. 

Two days into my winter break, and I was out the door by 6am on Monday, December 17, on my way to the Ningbo airport. I was through security and checked with no issues, other than for the fact that officers strangely opened my umbrella after it went through the scanner in security, revising it as if it were a threat or weapon. I conked out on the window and didn't even notice we took off. I slept hard until awakened by the puffy-jacketed lady on my left. 

Flying into Hong Kong

The plane flew into the Hong Kong bay area, nearly scraping the water just before hovering over the tarmac just along shore, landing at 10:40am. I waltzed through customs and immigration and then walked through the terminals (the air was a humid 75ºF). Before leaving the airport, I purchased a roundtrip bus ticket to Guangzhou. I was going to visit the parents of one of my Whitworth CRC (Costa Rica Center) former students/friend, Nanda. Their family leads an international lifestyle, as her parents are teachers in the international circuit. She spent her high school years at HK International School, and then her parents moved about two hours northwest to GZ, China's third largest city, to teach at the American International School of Guangzhou (AISGz). 

Hong Kong border crossing back to mainland China.

By 11am, I was in a van, headed across the HK border back to mainland China. For those of you who are wondering, Hong Kong is technically a special administrative region that's associated with the PRC (People's Republic of China), but is now, after about 150 years of British rule, it is an independent "state,"politically and economically. Therefore, passports must be stamped when going in and out of HK.

Leaving HK and re-entering China mainland went fairly quickly; altogether I'd say it took about 40 minutes to get from the airport to the border, and another 10 to cross the border. Identified by the sticker that had been slapped on my shoulder by the ladies at the ticketing desk at the airport, I walked to my next coach-sized bus, and was checked off and conveniently given a window seat. I love window seats. Just over two hours later via bus, I arrived in Guangzhou. 

Bus Sticker

Consulting my Google Maps app (while in China, I had Chinese 3G and cell service), I stretched my legs as I walked in the general direction of Er Sha Dao, the island where the American school's elementary campus is located. I eventually flagged down a taxi and arrived at a meeting location (Starbucks), where Nanda's mom, Darlene, met me ...after I purchased an all too exorbitantly-priced iced holiday latte at the Starbucks where I met her, for 32rmb (>$5!). Probably equivalent caloric exorbitance trickled from the straw into my mouth.

AISG

Darlene gave me a full tour of the elementary campus. They hosted me on Monday night, and I thoroughly enjoyed their company and the conversations we shared. They also gave me some tips for my next couple days to be spent in HK. The skies opened up and it poured hard that night, the temps dropping to the lower 60s, with wind and wetness. 

Early Tuesday morning, I went to work with Dave, to the middle school/high school campus that is about 45 minutes away. Observing classes and school daily operations, it was interesting to see the American school of GZ, comparing it to my experience with AIAN, the small international school where I teach. 

Tuesday afternoon, I figured out where the bus pick up was to get me back across the border to HK. I arrived to check in around 12:15pm, at which time I was advised that the next bus wouldn't come for at least anther hour (1:30). So after getting my sticker and seat assignment, I went out and wandered.

The tallest telecommunications tower in the world is in GZ. 

Here is a not-so-quality image of the tower at night;
It has a pattern of entertaining lights all around the building.

My taobao-purchased black knee-high boots had, in true Chinese-made/purchased fashion, signs of wear and tear, though I've only had them for less than a few weeks. The toe of the left shoe had begun to flap, the red insides of the sole sticking out like a tongue with every step. So I made it my informal mission to find a way to at least temporarily repair the damage. I went to a 7-Eleven mart and purchased some really sticky tape for less than 50 cents. Fail. Then I walked by a home repairs/supplies sort of store, where I was able to translate and gesture/mine my apparent need for super glue. Another 50 cents later, I had a semi-fixed flap.

Putzing around GZ.

After some more wandering, I caught the 1:30 bus and headed out of Guangzhou just in time, as it started raining hard again. I was dropped off at the border by around 3:15, and a CTS Coach (transport company) minivan driver picked up a group of us who were airport-bound. (My roundtrip bus ticket was to and from the airport, which was fine, since I had directions to get to downtown HK best coming from the airport). 

Border crossing at Shenzhen, leaving China and going back into Hong Kong.

Crossing the border to China and come into HK customs and immigration got us stuck in traffic. Our driver took advantage of the wait time and took a little smoke break, chatting with other transfer bus drivers. I people-watched, of course. The other people-with what I observed to be Russian, Ghanian (or Nigerian?), Chinese, and HK passports-just looked on and spaced out as well. Finally, rolling up to the checkpoint into HK, a little man in uniform came up and shot his electronic laser gun at our heads (painless), clicking and taking data, I'm guessing taking our temperatures.

We were finally over the border by 4:15, and at the airport just before 5pm. I stood and waited for a bus to take me, through rush hour traffic, into the HK centre. Crossing into the western HK Harbour, coming in at dusk, the evening haze was filled with with millions of city lights, twinkling and glittering across the water. I saw more cargo containers than I think I have ever seen in my life. And I have seen many a port city in my (short) lifetime!

The Yesinn hostel, on the busy Hennessy Street,
right above NCB bank 

The view looking down on Hennessy Street from my hostel window

The hostel lock cabinet was

much fancier and more high-tech

than Latin American hostels'

wooden-boxed, bring-your-own-lock ones

I finally arrived around 7pm at the Yesinn hostel, in a very central location of the island, in Causeway Bay. After checking in, I went out walking, in search of food. I finally settled on an Asian rice place for some tomato egg rice dish and frothy almond and egg white (yummy, and probably quite fattening). I found a cineplex theatre to watch The Hobbit. In the time before the showing began, I went to a grocery store to purchase some items for breakfasts and snacks, as well as some treats for the 3-hour movie. The Hobbit was long but epic in this grand theater. However, I don't like 3-D! I had to wear two glasses in order for the animation to be in focus!

I was back at the hostel by around 2am. HK never sleeps, though the streets had less people at that hour than at 10pm. I returned to my communal room, where six of the eight beds were filled with sleeping ladies. I tried to quietly stow my things, but the crackling plastic bag obstructed my intentions to leave my roommates undisturbed. I was thankful I had left everything all set up in my locker for my anticipated late night return. I slipped off my boots and stinky socks and crawled up to the very top bunk (triple decker) into bed.

My bed was #7,
on the top of the triple-decker bunks.

Wednesday, after just a few hours of sleep and perusing maps for ideas of where to go, I headed out from the hostel around 10am. I went out sightseeing to do some things that friends had recommended, and also spend some time doing just whatever I fancied, looking up attractions in guides and such. I caught the MTR (HK's metro underground system) and then a bus, up to Victoria Peak to see a more aerial view of the metropolis. I walked the trails for more than an hour in the foggy, windy, misty weather. 

The trails p at "The Peak"
I walked the large loop, as well as some other trails.

The mall up at Victoria Peak

Panoramic behind foliage.

City Scape, view of the island in the foreground, and the northern bay and mainland in the distance.

More city scape, looking down the mountainside.

Dog holds leash in mouth

and follows lady across the street

I ate a late lunch up at the Peak after a couple hours of hiking around. Then, with a mocha in my belly to warm me, the jerky bus ride was hard to enjoy from the less-stabile upper deck of the bus, as it wound back down around the mountain's slopes, with a pedal-pushing driver, and a lady who sprayed a ton of perfume she had just ought at the mall at the top of the peak. I felt pretty nauseated.

Temple in the city

Getting off the bus in the central part of the city, I meandered and regained my constitution as I walked around the city. It was around 3pm. I wandered and saw some awesome architecture, window-shopped around posh, international stores, found the post office, and then decided that I wanted to take a ferry ride to one of the islands to see some temples. I chose the island that seemed to have the next ferry out, even though initially I would've preferred to go to an island with an older temple that housed a good-luck dragon. 

City colors and apartment buildings

This building had interesting architecture.
It's not distorted by my camera;
it actually looked cock-eyed in real life as well! 

But the island I ended up going to, Cheung Chau, was pretty cool. I took the slow ferry over to Cheung Chau Island (though the ticket price really was only about $1.50 cheaper). The scenery was pretty. Especially with the fog and rain and dark clouds and some clearer patches further out. I took lots of photos and enjoyed the scenery. As the ride was pretty smooth, I opted to perch myself atop the metal rope tying posts, instead of on chairs, also walking back and forth across the rear end of the boat to take photos. 

The central pier along the wharf/docks near the ferries.

At the ferry terminal, about to embark on the ride out to the islands; Hong Kong across the channel in the distance

Hello! 

My "perch" on the line-tying "stool" at the rear of the ferry boat 

Cruising. Helicopter overhead.

Leaving Hong Kong through the channel and out towards the southern islands.

Cheung Chau Island harbor/marina.

About 45 minutes later, we docked and I found myself on an island with warmer breezes than along the shores of HK/mainland, in the western seas of the Atlantic (the South China Sea, specifically in Dadong Bay). It was quite like many other wharf-front, marina-welcoming harbor that may welcome tourists and locals alike. Seafood restaurants, bikes, shops, groceries, markets, all with a small town feel and few non-Asians.

Street and stores

Produce market

Meat seller. A cat jumped up and stole a scrap of the meat
right off his cutting block just seconds later!

I meandered and found myself being called into a tea shop by a friendly middle-aged man who sat chatting with his mother. I admired all the tea cups and pots and sets that lined the walls on shelves. He offered me tea, and, in broken English and Mandarin, we talked about where the the herbal teas came from. He offered me sample cup after cup of the BEST jasmine tea I have ever tasted, as well as green tea (the leaves for which were grown by his father, who lives in a region of China just across from Taiwan). Also tasty and pure! I bought two tea cups/pots from him, and had to use the toilet many times as a result of those many cups of tea! 

Tea shop

The tea shop owner and his mother,
wrapping my newly purchased tea cups

I went to visit a temple and got there just before dusk. I snapped some photos and asked the older men who were sitting outside if it was alright for me to have a peek inside. They obliged, offering me a courtesy "guided" tour about the courtyard, demonstrating some rituals and ensuring that I saw every altar and offering to each deity.

On the temple stairs

a god or deity of some sort

temple altars

Statues outside the temple,
the doorman/temple keeper sits in the background.

This statue was overlooking the schoolchildren who were
playing basketball on the halogen-lit courts in front of the temple

After walking around the island for a few hours, I needed to grab something to eat and wasn't feeling like seafood or meat (big surprise there), so I tried some "egg puffs", which are basically just fluffy, doughy waffle balls with a bit more flavor (and sugar). 

Egg puffs

Waiting to board the ferry, I played hopscotch and "talked" with a little boy and his grandmother in the station. I taught him high and low five techniques, and he was delighted! 

On the ferry ride back to Central, I was amused by the English version of the ferry rules. One specific part commented, "Smoking is strictly prohibited and smokers will be PERSECUTED and charged fines starting at $5000 (HK)." 

In contrast to the open-air slow ferry that I took over to the island, the fast ferry was posh (seatbelt included on the cushy seats!). We arrived at the docks (Central/HK station) a half hour later. The ride, though 15-20 min shorter than the journey over, was MUCH more bumpy (up and down an back and forth). Returning to the hostel around 8/9pm, I met a new roommate, wrote some postcards, and packed for the next morning. 

Thursday, I awakened early as roommates woke up and began to get ready. I was checked out by 8, and made some detours on the way to the airport for my midday flight back to Ningbo. Grocery store, shopping, post office, and then I caught the train for the 30 minute journey back to the airport. Boarding around 11:30, we didn't take off until an hour later. Good thing I had a good book. We landed in Ningbo a bit late, and a driver picked me up to take me the 45 minutes home to Li Ren in Beilun, It was much colder in this more northern region. And dreary. 

But Jett puppy was there to greet me (a friend had been house/puppy sitting since Kari left for the States on Wednesday).

See more images from this trip in my Facebook album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151126089062030.428573.507112029&type=1&l=37d3e84ebc
(there are more panoramic shots and sights of HK and the islands)

Winter Break is Here!

...and so is 70ºF weather again, apparently!
It was in the upper 30s (Fahrenheit, for all you non-Celsius thinkers) for the last couple of weeks. In late November, we had a rainy and cold week, then followed by a windy/blustering and clear/cold first week of December. And now we have a week of 60º-75ºF?! I'll take it! It didn't feel much like the day before winter break, but we celebrated with our international students anyhow!

(Side note: for those of you who are wondering and would like to compare the latitudinal locations in North America that might be similar to where I'm at in China, check out this link.)

Not all of our international students celebrate Christmas (in fact, I'd say that at least 50% do not observe the holiday--whether in Christian or secular terms). But, as mentioned before in my blogs, we in the international community love any reason to gather and celebrate, partaking in music, food, song, dance, and general merriment.

A typical holiday production show: elementary school kids present
...and their parents look on... all with cameras.

Kindergarteners singing 

5th graders with their recorders and singing

Our Music Teacher, Elaine, and her SHOWTIME kids
performed Polar Express as a part of the holiday show

Sleeping kindergarten Elves :)

All I Want for Christmas is You, performed by the 8th grade girls

Holiday snowflakes and elves 

The Polar Express production by the SHOWTIME club

The Polar Express production by SHOWTIME club 

The Polar Express, by the SHOWTIME club

The atmosphere is light and bustling, and though Christmas and Western New Year's aren't observed in this culture, the students are still overjoyed at the prospect of a three-week winter break from school (yes, it is usually wintery and cold here, temps normally hover in the mid-40s (Fahrenheit) at this time of year, I hear). Students are bursting out of the doors and are lighthearted, despite the book report assignment and presentation and journal entries they will have as homework from me, to maintain their English skills over this long, 22-day span without the requirement of English-only at school. I hope my Elves don't forget/lose all that we have worked on--verbs, tenses, sentence structure, verb-subject agreement, prepositions, articles, punctuation, etc etc!!!!

And, with the blasting of Gangnam Style over the school's PA system, winter break has officially begun here at AIAN in Beilun, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.

I'll leave you with our "family Christmas card," comprised of images that we took Friday morning in honor of our little family's upcoming winter break--even though we will not be spending it all together (Kari and Kate go Stateside for a couple weeks, and I'll be staying in/visiting various of Asia for the next few weeks).

Staff Holiday Party

We had our staff and faculty Holiday Party last night (Saturday). It was hosted at the Brazilian BBQ restaurant (a popular fave this year). All you can eat buffet and table-side meat delivery (for those who are carnivores)... for less than $20. The holiday cheer was in full swing, and our ayis (cleaning staff) and kitchen staff were happy to be served as well! We played a version of bingo, ate far too much, and I even got to practice my conversational Portuguese a bit (this was my 3rd or 4th time at this restaurant, and the owner knows me and we like to practice a bit of Portuñol from time to time whenever we see each other around the international community).

I thought some of you might enjoy seeing the faces of some of my colleagues that I work with on a daily basis (and their families).

One side of the table:
On the left: our 5th grade teacher, Beth, and her Korean husband,
one of our bus drivers, and our art teacher, Elaine.
On my (right) side: our Head of School, Cavon, 4th grade teacher John,
and I'm in the far back on the right.

Brazilian BBQ... never-ending table-side meat service

This is Erich (owner/founder of Cup o' Joe café/Elementary School PE teacher)
and his wife Dana (AIAN Art Teacher)

Neema (MS/HS PE Teacher) and Naheed (one of my ELL Team colleagues)

Hossein (AIAN Video Editing/Media teacher) and his daughter
Hossein took many of these photos. He is opening a new photo studio nearby,
and is displaying images he took of me and Clara while she was here.

Some of our ayis (cleaning staff) on our school grounds.
The lady on the far right is the ayi who cleans my classroom.

From left to right: John (4th grade), Alex (HS Science/IT),
Cavon (Head of School) and his wife Nida (Kinder/Early Years)

We played a bingo game with all of our staff members.
Our ayis are in the foreground,
Naheed (ELL) and Kerina (1st grade) work on the left side,
and Alex (HS Science/IT) and I work in the background.

We work out!

My colleague, the middle school science teacher, Kate leads a dance aerobics class every Tuesday and Thursday evening for anyone who wants to come. Mostly it's just moms of our students (Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, Chilean, Spanish, American), but sometimes kids, ranging from ages pre-K to high school, jump in and get their bodies grooving as well. For the last 10 weeks, I have only missed a couple classes (one due to making a meal for Matt and Julie right after they had the babies, and another due to an important, impromptu meeting).

We bust moves and get good cardio workouts, to the tunes of hits throughout the decades--from disco to 80s rock to 90s Madonna to 2000s hits to present day JBiebs and Glee hits. It's so fun, and really a good way to get the blood pumping. Clara even participated while she was here visiting!

So as an end-of-the-year thank you to Kate for her voluntary services (though she insists she really has the class as a way to hold herself accountable to get some hearty exercise), the moms suggested having a potluck! Contrary to the whole endeavor of getting together to BURN calories, we sure consumed a lot of international yummy dishes (sushi, pasta, rice, potato salad, breads, and yes, even some desserts!). Haha. Good times.

Here are a couple of photos from that potluck night on Wednesday. Needless to say, Kate really made us feel the burn in class the following day! (Cue song Disco Inferno... "burn, baby, burn!") my shoulders are so sore (my abs will probably feel more of the burn tomorrow, as a result of that extra long ab workout we had too!).

Some of the Moms, daughters, Kate, and me!

After we adopted Jett, we started bringing him to class, having him tied up in the back of the class, laying on his bed with a bone or a chew toy. At first, there were vocal protests and yelps and whining, and even the occasional howl, as if comoletely forlorn and neglected as we danced a few meters away, right in front of him and in plain sight. He soooo wanted to join in the fun! But over time, with training, he has come to know the routine and just resigns himself to laying patiently and waiting for water breaks, when we come to fawn our affections upon him.

When we have smaller sessions, Kate, Kari, and I let him roam around and "participate" in the workout fun. It's so cute. I wish I had video of it. He'll just sit himself down in front of one of us, as if to say, "I'm holding you accountable! Work harder!" Sometimes he will try to play with us while we are doing ab workouts or stretching on the floor. And sometimes he just plops himself down on his bed in the back of the class and literally tracks us as we traipse across the floor like silly ninnies.

This week, Kari was sick on Thursday, so she was at home with Jett during class. One of the moms asked me where Jett was, commenting that the energy level in the class just wasn't the same. (I didn't say anything then, but I think it was just the after effects of the potluck making us drag...) But they all truly look forward to fuzzling our pup and letting him give them kisses during our water breaks!

Here's to many more dance aerobics sessions!

Cue music...
...we're sexy and we know it!

Blurry... but you get the idea

Class discussions

It's been a while since I have posted about what's been going on at school, as far as classes and teaching go...

Every Friday, I have my students bring a current event news article to class. They are to circle and define any new vocabulary words they don't know (in English as well as in their native languages), and also share a summary of the article, in their own words (as opposed to reading directly from the text). One of today's news articles spurred a discussion about Doomsday (see our thoughts and notes from this discussion scrawled all over the board). It was weird to talk about Y2K, in reference to other "end of the world" scares, because none of these 7th were even born in the year 1999. Am I getting old?!

More about my students, classes and school stuff to come, but this is all for now.

Leaves

I'm watching students throw yellow leaves from the ground at each other as they leave school. I'm lovin' these vibrant colors, even though it's cold winter now, and the leaves are beginning to fall.

You can't see it in the photo, but the kids are behind that wall by the road,
throwing leaves and making piles of "yellow crunch"!

Photo link posted!

If you look to the menus at the right of the page, after the categories of "Blog Archive," "Subscribe," "Follow Blog," and "Where in the world is Lara?" you will find a new category entitled, "View My Photos!" Under this category, I will update links to my Facebook albums. Apparently, now you have to have a Facebook account to view these photos (signing in with a username and password). Sorry! However, that is the hosting site for my album of travel photos, documenting my time in China thus far (convenient and easy for most people to access). Let me know if you have problems viewing the album for some reason.

I will be updating this link list when/if I create other albums (because this one is getting pretty extensive with a couple hundred photos now). They have captions and stories, which gives more insight into life here. But a picture is worth a thousand words, as the old adage goes, so I figured having a link to photos tells many more stories than all the words on my blog could ever describe!

The album link follows, just for good measure, if you'd like to view the first album right now:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151008989177030.410697.507112029&type=1&l=fb88f83548