Ode to Chineider

Happy Birthday Katey Kneider, Krystle Barker and all you other April babies!

As previously promised, I will post pics from my wonderful time here with Katey. Although she left me a month ago, I already miss her!

First off, here are a select few of our lovely Cheesy Chinese Glamour Shots! This was quite the day of giggles, Chinese poses, and white tuxedos! The final outcome is quite impressive...



These were the ugliest dresses available!

One Saturday morning, Katey's students took us to a famous street in Wuhan where you can get several different types of food from many regions in China, it was delicious, filling, and cheap!
This is a picture of the beginning of the street.
mmmm jiaozi! steamed dumplings in bamboo trays

Hero bought us some snails, not too bad, a bit peppery.

Some of the available delicacies (I didn't try any of these)

Cooking up their specialty.

And last but not least, here is Kneider being a rebel!! The police had to hold back pedestrians with this rope at this busy intersection because traffic signals are rarely obeyed here in Wuhan.

May 1st is a national holiday (China Labour Day) and the Chinese get the whole week off! So, I plan to relax, attend some Chinese friends' hometowns, and of course some pampering! I just can't pass up those 60 minute, 30yuan ($4.30) foot massages!

Life of the rich and famous

So, since Diddy has been nagging me, here is an update! First of all, it's difficult to find free time now that I am rich and famous haha (well...not so much rich, but definitely famous). Last night I went to a dance show/competition between the first year business classes, which included some of my students. I told no one I was going, it was a spur of the moment thing. After a lovely meal of spicy tofu & beef, noodle old egg & fish soup, corn, han tsay (like spinach) and of course rice (by the way it's free with every meal), myself and a Chinese friend headed over to the gymnasium for the big show (and by big I mean the good ol' CP elementary dance show days). We got to sit in the good seats behind the judges which I thought was pretty VIP, but then, during the opening introduction of the judges, they also introduced me!! However, I had no clue as "Amy" sounds Chinese unless said alone, and since I still can't understand a lick of chinese beyond numbers and counting, hello, goodbye, and how to yell at my students to be quiet my chinese friend elbowed me and said "that's you!" So low and behold, I had suddenly become the special guest of the evening...."....our foreign friend Amy..." is what they usually say at such organized events. Luckily I didn't have to do any song or dance as is so often expected from 'our special foreign friend'. The show was pretty good, lots of Chinese dance music, colourful and strange outfits, and push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks. Actually, I think most of the groups stole some moves from the aerobics classes I used to take at the Y, it was pretty cute. The pic below is of one group of girls that I teach that did a special performance at the end because they are skilled dancers...and it was very impressive! I was like a proud mother, snapping pictures like crazy! Unfortunately the picture doesn't do the dance justice, but have a look. (FYI Kneider, their dance was to a Jay Zhou song)


The other reminder of my new found fame happened a few days before the dance showcase. Erin and I were invited to a bar grand re-opening that our friend Yi (pronounced E) was having. Yi also has a fruit shop on campus where he makes the best milk tea I have tasted thus far. So, as it is rude to turn down any invitation or similar gesture, Erin and I went to this bar opening, which reminded me more of a shack party back in those highschool days. The bar was made of bamboo and was off the main road between a university campus and some houses in the middle of a field. What an interesting evening we had! There was karaoke, a Beijing Opera singer, cake, LOTS of pictures, a Chinese and English speaking MC, and free virgin cocktails specially made by Yi. The cocktails were interesting, mine was made with a mint syrup and 7-Up and something else I couldn't quite put my tastebuds on. Erin and I were the special foreign friends, and as such, we got to put the first pieces of fruit on a sheet cake, then everyone else followed. By the end, the cake was decorated with lots of fruit, the flags of the country's in the upcoming world soccer cup in germany, and a milk icing. This cake was a symbol of something, Erin and I have yet to figure out what. Between the 2 of us, we had our pictures taken with every single person at the party and standing behind the symbolic cake. Below is Erin with the cake and Yi (the scrawny guy holding the knife). It was definitely a strange and hilarious experience.


Look at this picture! Even Mom is famous in China!! How did they know you love coffee?



And last, but not least, I have become friends with the famous Traditional Chinese doctor on campus, Fan Jiao Shou, or Dr. Fan in English. He is a great man! He is very jovial and very friendly! He is well recognized by most students on campus. I visited him during my short bout of illness and he has given me some traditional medicine that is apparently made from rare (and apparently expensive!) herbs. He has invited myself and my fellow Canadian teachers into his home/office for dinner once a week. He says that Canada and China are one, are friends, are a family. He says that since our home is so far away in Canada that we can consider his home our home in China. His groundskeeper Miss Wu has prepared 2 delicious and large meals for us. Below is a picture of Alex, from Ottawa, and Fan Jiao Shou enjoying a cigarette in the doctor's office, which is also where we dine (doctor-patient confidentiality is non-existent). Fan Jiao Shou also provided plenty of beer and Chinese vodka for the evening, however he would not let me drink much beer and so the boys enjoyed the booze. I should mention that Fan Jiao Shou does not drink, and he does not think that smoking is good. It is a habit he picked up during the Cultural Revolution when he was in jail for being a suspected spy. He is a very interesting man!

Pics for thought

Check out the pics below!

This is of the back blackboard in my classroom, the picture I tried to unsuccessfully upload last time.

I know I said before that there are street vendors everywhere that I would never eat from, however, that has been thrown out the window! This little guy below makes a mean chow mian! (fried noodles with lots of veggies....mmm delicious!)

This is common living for a lot of people in the city....and not the poor. Notice the posh looking man in the business suit? Every inch of the city is used in some way. It is very common to look down an alleyway and see something like this.

After playing ping pong in a rec. centre one Sunday afternoon (which was incredible...think Forrest Gump pros, young and old!) we came outside to find this sight below. Kids can ride on these mechanical horses along the street for less than a dollar! I was so enthralled by them, the woman thought I should give it a try. I declined, as that would've brought more stares than what I already get (since Wuhan is not on the tourist trail, foreigners are not common...old Chinese people will stop and stare all the time)

Apparently the man being arrested below did not have a permit to sell pineapple on a stick on the university campus. The man was running down a busy street into oncoming traffic pushing his pineapple cart while 2 vans pulled up and out jumped loads of Wuhan security men (apparently Wuhan has an army, a police force, and a security force) and chased after him. We saw the poor man being thrown onto the street and roughed up a bit...all for selling pineapple illegally.

I joined the Chinese rat race and purchased a bike! It is a lovely bike with a basket and a rack at the back which is often used as a 2nd seat, like below, where one of my students Lydia is riding with me. I paid 100 yuan, or about 15cdn, which is a steal by chinese standards since my bike is such a beaut!

I asked one of my classes one day where I could get a bike from and one of my students, Morgan, told me he would get me one. Low and behold within a week Morgan showed up at class with my bike. He is the one at the back on the left, with my other students.

This pic was taken on one of the bridges over the Yangtze river. It's hard to see but there are Army men who stand perfectly tall and straight, eyes forward, in these little booths on the bridge. It is very impressive. Everytime I have crossed they have been in this perfect stance. I have no clue why they are there, I'm guessing it's more as a 'big brother' type of presence.