LEAF-go-VSO
Journal 2007-2008
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Journal 2007-2008 |
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As of 2009 the Journal pages are redundant. For our latest news please refer to the blog. April 2007 -December 2008 5th December 2008 The last month has been a whirlwind of activity: new family members, surprise parcels, school routine, birthdays, visitors and a wedding.
From left to right: a wonderful parcel from friends in Inverness containing nothing but mini-variety-pack cereal - now that really is a treat! Edie is seen here naming and numbering her hoard (!); Freda and two of her classmates enjoying a lesson which involved a minor riot at the end of which the children seemed to have miraculously prepared beautiful fruit salad platters (how's that, Jamie Oliver?!). Ali was invited along to "help" (take photos, prevent knife injuries); Edie indulging her fetish for sweeping; Freda in new jacket, boots and Young Pioneer red neckerchief; Paul visited from Kunming - we took him out to the Aini Shan Zhuang restaurant for a birthday (his) dinner, but he ended up paying; at a College friend, Xixi's wedding banquet, the final act in the drawn out (many months!) affair that is a Chinese wedding (registration, photos, drive around town in convoy of black limousines, final celebration meal).
Left: Our hamsters Dougal and Snowy categorically proved
that they really are a male and a female (there had been some doubt...)
by producing a litter of pups on the 18th November. Here are the four cute
little monsters at about 2 weeks old. Dougal was straight back on the job and
now Snowy is looking ominously fat again, with the first lot of pups only just
weaning now. Time for a trial separation! (Them, not us.) 8th November 2008 The Jingdong PIE middle school teachers have just left after a month of intensive training. But the VSO study visit is still in progress, so Lesley still has plenty of work to do! Not long to go before we can start taking it easy again...
What about work? Lesley is currently organising two PIE projects that are taking place from August to December 2008. The College will be working with two counties - Zhengyuan (September) and Jingdong (October) - 80 teachers in total and a corresponding number of students filling those teachers' shoes in the middle schools. This means she is currently supporting teaching practice placements, training trainers and cooperating with the three other departments (Maths, Chinese and Computer Science) who are running their very first PIEs this term. VSO are visiting in November, the a Study Visit to share the work of PIE with the view to replicating it in other placements. 1st October 2008
Today is the 59th birthday of the PR China, so everyone has 3 days holiday. We're off on a wee jaunt into the countryside for a couple of nights. The parents of one of our student babysitter's tutees is taking us to Da Lu Shan, in the far northwest corner of Simao County. It should be fun! Now the cooler weather is here it's the bamboo rice season (left) - see Eighteen Yunnan Oddities for more details. The other picture was taken the other day in our local market...the weather has been pretty wet recently; nice weather for ducks. We seem to be getting the tail ends of a typhoon which hit the south coast of China recently. June 2008 PEN PALS and PRIZES
Another project on the go is to find pen pals for some children in Simao who are eager to use their newly acquired English skills to communicate with the outside world. Their English text book is called Go For It and the title of one unit is: Where's your pen pal from? This happens to be completely meaningless for the majority of the children I've come into contact with in Yunnan, especially in remoter parts, where the prospect of finding a foreign pen pal is very slim. After teaching the new words for this unit in a model lesson (country names, mostly) Lesley decided to help the children find pen pals. She said that if anyone was interested they just had to write a letter and include a photo of themselves. Over 45 children responded - hoping from pen pals from the UK as well as the USA, Australia, Korea, Japan and France. Please help me find pen pals for these hopeful young Chinese boys and girls - you'll really make their day!' UPDATE March 2008 UPDATE We returned to Simao late February after spending the Spring Festival travelling around a little. We had a week in Hong Kong after our air tickets to New Zealand turned out to be non-existent (miserable con-woman tale available on special request), a fabulous week in North Yunnan with an ex-student and her family followed by a week in Chang Mai, Northern Thailand. The second term began with Mojiang-PIE 2008, with the arrival of 39 teachers from Mojiang County for a one-month teacher training course and the departure of 40 of our students to fill their teaching shoes for that period. As with Jinggu-PIE 2007 this month is intense and challenging. The timetable was more varied this time round with additional model lessons in Simao No 4 Middle School. Despite the extra preparation required for this element of the course Lesley loves it. She teaches the same pupils for the model lessons so they are used to Lesley's classroom English and communicative methods. This means the model lessons usually go smoothly. One of the text book units Lesley taught in March is called, "Where is your pen pal from?" For most of the majority of pupils in rural schools in China this is a meaningless question - a mere grammar exercise. One of the challenges to teachers is making the language seem interesting and useful in the children's day to day lives. Thus, Lesley told the class that if they write a letter and pop it in an envelope with a photo of themselves she would try to find them a pen pal. 42 of the 75 pupils in the class gave Lesley a letter the following week and now we NEED YOUR HELP! If you have a link with a primary or secondary school (UK, USA, Canada, France, Japan.....) then PLEASE help us find pen pals for these lovely Chinese Middle School pupils. We'll post a photo here soon to give you a taste of their letters. Now the Mojiang teachers have returned to their schools and the students are trying to readjust to College life after giving themselves to teaching for a month. Ali is still teaching Vision and Listening to Grade 2 this year and Lesley is devoting the rest of the term to upgrading training materials and training the INSETT Team to stand on its own two feet next term. More to follow soon.....
January 2008 As the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) approaches we are heading off on holiday for 5 weeks - our main annual break corrsponding with the Antipodean summer holiday. That's a big clue as to where we hope to be for February. This term has ended quietly, a post-teaching week or too allowing prep time (final touches to teacher training materials, timetables etc) for next term. Freda sailed through her mid-year exams for Chinese and Maths and Edie hasn't looked back, even for her sweetheart (scroll down). It's been an exhausting but satisfying term, with regard to work (Lesley's Jinggu training; Ali's teaching debut) and school (Freda thriving in the Chinese education system, what a relief). In terms of play, there's little to report. We've been ill since June with colds, viruses, eye infections, chest infections, back problems, headaches....far too much for the reflexologist to solve alone. We are, nevertheless, feeling positive about next term. The shift in work focus for Lesley should mean we've got a bit more family and free time. Various New Year resolutions include: more running; setting up a running club; re-instating the daily tai qi routine; joining students for wu shu (kung fu) classes; completing dormant wood block prints; reinstating weekend cycle/walking/bus trips; helping with cleaning/bins/sweeping (Edie) and early morning (6:30) running before school (Freda). I'm sure there are more..... ...not to mention the addition of new projects, such as the teacher training, trainer-training and fundraising for rural primary and middle schools. This may well be our last term so if you want to visit, make it quick. If we do apply to extend until VSO withdraws from English language teaching and training in 2009, we'll have that news in March. Meantime, Happy Spring Festival (7th February) and all the very best for the year of the rat! Rats, don't forget to buy red undies and wear them all year round!
25th September 2007
You can always tell when it's festival day in Simao because it seems that everyone is walking around holding a struggling chicken by the ankles, destined for the pot tonight. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, so the full moon will be shining bright in the clear night sky. The moon symbolises reunion in Chinese culture, and this festival is second only to the Spring Festival for getting together as a family and celebrating togetherness. In addition, the Chinese like to indulge in a spot of midnight moon-watching, remembering absent friends and family (who might well be gazing fondly at the same full moon elsewhere in the world). It's a poignant time for us too as we think of folk back home in Scotland. A long time ago, the famous Chinese poet Li Bai (701-762) wrote this ode to the moon: I observe the bright
moonlight in front of my bed: It must have all gone to the poor fellow's head though, as he is reported to have met his (drunken) fate by drowning while moon-watching on a lake.
The Mid-Autumn Festival also means giving and receiving moon cakes, circular pastry cakes with all sorts of fillings: sweet, savoury, or both at once! Some of them are quite tasty, but after a week of overindulgence we've usually had enough. This year, as in the last two, we've received more than our fare share of indulgently over-packaged gift boxes. Not surprisingly, it is a great concern to some that moon cake packaging is such a major input to landfill sites at this time of year. But at least the Chinese don't go for disposable nappies with such enthusiasm...yet!
Friday 14th September 2007
Summer 2007
On 27th July we wrote: After 10 days of bright weather the rain has returned. Scotland has stayed remarkably dry but England is still experiencing severe floods. We were fortunate on Skye to be out of doors nearly every day, without waterproof jackets (it's usually too windy for umbrellas - another difference between Simao and Scotland!). While on Skye we did some work around the cottage, played on the beach, went exploring by foot and boat then made sculptures from drift wood and shells. The beauty of the island, particularly the mountains and coastal scenery, seemed even more striking after so long away. Even the midges - Scotland's equivalent to mosquitoes - weren't too bad.
* * * * * * * * * * * * OUR FIRST WEEK IN SCOTLAND
On 22nd July 2007 we wrote: It's hard to believe that a month has passed since we left Simao. We've spent most of that time on the Black Isle, where we've enjoyed catching up with old friends and exploring the Highlands. Ali and I had a great day in the hills last week with Annie (Lesley's mum) entertaining Freda and Edie. We packed our hill-running gear and headed over to the West where the forecast promised that better weather was on the way. We might be feeling the cold a bit on our return from Simao but it's certainly easier to be active in this climate. We've also done a bit of cycling, running and riding in the forest - Lesley and Annie going riding yesterday in the forest. Ali, Freda and Edie are currently at Elgol, on the Isle of Skye (West coast of Scotland) with Ali's parents, sister and Freda and Edie's cousins. They've been beach-combing, fishing and Scottish dancing at a village ceilidh. Simao is never far from our thoughts....mainly when we have to buy something and are shocked by the prices or when something shakes (e.g. washing machine) and we all think it's an earthquake. I also keep seeing things in the supermarket that I want to take back for cooking club. If you have any special requests there in Simao, just let us know! Meantime, we'll be attending various hospital, dental and optician's appointments for our full health overall. We'll try to update the web pages soon with more photos but we are experiencing a few technical difficulties so there'll be no more updates until the end of July. See you then!
On 1st July 2007 we wrote: Now 5 days into our UK visit we feel more rested and with-it. A rainy Sunday in Aberdeen encouraged us to do some sorting in the attic - only to discover that moths (and various offspring) had been munching on a suitcase of woollen jumpers and blankets for two years. The girls have been reading books that were in storage and rediscovering the Singing Kettle while Lesley and Ali put together some China photo albums to show people over the next 2 months. We'll be spending the next week on the Black Isle, waiting for the foal to arrive and looking after the B&B. First 'REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK' Impressions (after nearly 2 years away): It's
COLD! * * * * * * * * On 28th June 2007 we wrote: We arrived back in Scotland on Tuesday 26th to land at Inverness airport in glorious sunshine. We spent the first 3 days on the Black Isle with Lesley's parents, Annie and David, before taking the train to Aberdeen to visit Ali's parents, Alex and Elspeth. We had a short stop-over in Hong Kong with Ali's Aunt, Charlotte, so we weren't TOO tired on arriving in Scotland. We will be in Scotland for two months before returning to Simao for another year of English language teaching and teacher training. Even Ali will be taking on a Grade 2 course, Vision and Listening. Meantime, we're back in our 'hometowns'. Pu'er Earthquake 3rd June 2007 At 5.34 am on June 3rd we were rudely awoken by a very scary, half-minute long, rumbling and shaking of our accommodation block which sent numerous items crashing to the floor, and us flying down the stairs in a state of near panic. The epicentre of this Magnitude 6.3 earthquake (23.01 degrees N and 101.05 degrees E) was at a depth of 10 km under the old tea town of Pu'er, only 30 km north of us in Simao, and where the bulk of damage occurred. At least 3 people died in Pu'er and 313 were injured, 28 seriously. About 14 aftershocks were recorded in the morning, the strongest occurring at 10:49 a.m. with a magnitude of 5.1, driving us to shelter under the main door frame for the third time that morning. This also prompted us to decamp outside for the remainder of the day and the following night. Visit our Earthquake Alert page for more details of this terrifying experience. Our One is Enough FISHfund fundraising will be rescheduled. All money raised this week will go instead to earthquake relief in Pu'er, where 65,000 residents will be homeless for some time yet. More than 90,000 (mostly adobe brick) houses collapsed and 270,000 others were damaged. A direct economic loss of $327 million has been quoted. Central government have earmarked 27 million yuan ($3.5 million) for the affected people. The local government has allocated one million yuan for emergency relief. The provincial civil affairs department has sent 2,000 tents, 2,000 quilts and 2,000 items of clothes to help residents. The Ministry of Civil Affairs is also sending a working group (perhaps on one of the extra two flights that landed in Simao yesterday) and allotted 5,000 tents from neighboring Guangxi. The most difficult aspect of the disaster relief work is a water shortage - tap water pipes were damaged in the earthquake and the people of Pu'er are relying on bottled water for drinking. VSO conference, Beijing, May 2007
Lesley was very happy to travel to Beijing for 3 days to attend a VSO Conference along with another 40 volunteers from around China and their Chinese 'partners'. With VSO slowly winding down its work in China, this may be the last of such gatherings. As well as being a great opportunity to meet fellow volunteers, share ideas and experiences and feel invigorated with regards to our work in China, it was a chance to visit some Beijing sites. On arrival Jayne and Lesley headed straight for Tiananmen Square, at 40 hectares the largest square in the world. With the 4th June approaching, the anniversary of the 1989 demonstrations, there was a heavy police presence in the evenings and at 10.30 the square was cleared by officious officers.
A guard outside the entrance to the Forbidden City allowed me to take his photograph, "quickly", although I imagine that in a tourist location like this it should be part of the job description! On our last evening in Beijing some of us went with Li Guo Zhi to the famous Lao She Tea House where we drank green tea while being entertained by a diverse range of acts from Beijing opera to Kung Fu. Lesley's favourite was the cat-like mask changer with her white cloak and devilish grace. Sorry, no photos available but you can see that a mask was among the goodies brought back to Simao!
On the second day of the conference we had enough free time in the afternoon to make a trip to The Great Wall at Badaling. Although it's a tourist attraction and much of the wall has been reconstructed, it was still a real delight to see it.
All in all it was a great trip. Lesley returned with new friendships and fresh hope for the coming weeks, months and year in China. Not only that but she's intent on dragging the whole family north to visit The Forbidden City, the Heavenly Palace and the Hu Tong, Beijing's old streets. Top bit of language acquired: 背娃娃找娃娃
(bei wawa, zhao wawa) meaning 'carrying baby, looking for
baby' which is the story of my life - looking for things that are 'right under
my nose'. Thank you Thad, the Dean of Lin Cang Teachers' College, for that one,
which I have already used 3 times since leaving Beijing! Latest News: 8th May 2007
We recently received confirmation from VSO Beijing that Lesley's application to extend as a volunteer at Simao Teachers' College has been approved. This means that we will all be spending an additional year in China, until July/August 2008. The decision to extend has followed a great deal of deliberation over the last ten months, as well as consultation with the Dean of English, the College President and VSO staff. To cut a long tale short, we feel that we still have something to do here; it's not yet time to come back. This is partly a result of work developments. At the end of last term the College was approached by Jinggu (a local county's) Education Bureau to provide intensive in-service training to Middle School English teachers. The request is to help teachers develop skills with which to deliver the New Curriculum, a challenging and important part of China's current educational reform. The 'Jinggu Project' is in the planning stage at the moment and the training is hoped to start at the beginning of next term, August 2007, with around 30 teachers. Lesley and Jayne will work together with 3 Chinese colleagues to plan, deliver and evaluate the project. Teacher training fits VSO's key principles of sustainability and empowerment. As well as work opportunities and commitments (funding has also been approved for research into the value of co-teaching to teachers and students) we are all quite settled. We miss Scotland enormously - our families and our friends; the mountains and the sea; hill running and camping - but we're hoping that our two month visit this summer will 'top us up' for the following 12 months. We've managed to find new interests to feed the heart and soul - wood block printing; photography; writing; track running (unbelievable); aerobics (!!) - and the students are always there for us in our times of need. Edie will carry on at Simao Yu Er Yuan (nursery) and Freda will start in the No2 Primary School of Simao, dressed in a navy blue sailor-style uniform. So, if you're around Scotland for July/August 2007, we'd love to see you. We're flying into Inverness at the end of June and will be spending a significant amount of time on the Black Isle (Tidmarsh residence), Aberdeen (Matthewson residence) and Skye. We may even turn up on your doorstep around dinner time.... we've got a feeling that our income of £125 pcm isn't going to go very far in the UK. How much is a cream egg these days? RECENT NEWS 10th April 2007
Congratulations to the town of Simao, which in true Chinese style has decided to change its name to Pu'er City (after the "World Famous" Tea) with effect from April 8th. Ali was bitterly disappointed to discover that last weekend's copious quantities of bunting, carnivals, tea festivals and firework displays (as well as furious street cleaning, road marking painting and new bus shelters) were in fact nothing to do with his birthday... Commiserations to the venerable town of Pu'er which now has to make do with the rather uninspiring and completely un-famous epithet of Ning'er. Tough luck Pu'er - you win some, you lose some... To commemorate this event we made our own little tea-related excursion on Easter Monday along the Cha Ma Gu Dao, the Ancient Tea Horse Trail between Pu'er and Simao; sorry...that should be between Ning'er and Pu'er City! Confused? Don't worry - you can see the photos here.
The end of the name-changing celebrations was marked by a slightly premature (the official dates are 13th-15th April) Water Splashing Festival held in Meizi Lake Park. This is a Dai festival, famous in Xishuangbanna (just south of Simao), held at the very end end of the dry season to herald the coming rains. The name is self-explanatory: everyone splashes water at each other for good luck - the wetter you get, the more good fortune you'll receive! Ali and Freda visited the Park and came away with a fair degree of good luck courtesy of these monks (above right). We also saw some spectacular Peacock Dances and some other performances involving pantomime elephants (above left) and horses. There was a great atmosphere and lots of smiling faces, despite the danger of a drenching...
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