connie's space

             I had forgotten just how small and “out there” Luzhou is compared to Chengdu.  

            My bus ride uptown today on the 201 hugged the river, then entered the city to wind through narrow streets lined with trees.  To the right and left, hundreds of little family-run shops overtook the broken sidewalks.  The bus passed by tiny one-room furniture stores and tool shops, their cement fronts hiding the wooden structures underneath.  Many of these structures have been here for 100 years, repaired so many times that it’s hard to tell their original appearances.  Only their ancient Chinese tiled roofs betrayed their age.

            Alleyways snaked upwards toward the city center or downwards toward the river. 

            Luzhou is a very hilly place, unlike Chengdu.  You’ll rarely see a bicycle anywhere on these streets, which is a strange sight coming from China.  Too much huffing and puffing to pedal your way through this terrain.

            What you will see in such rural cities as this one are “pull workers.”  Pull workers are those who haul furniture, store items, blocks of coal, lumber, construction supplies or anything else one needs moving from one part of the city to another.  They pull their heavy loads on a cart composed of a wide, long wooden plank balanced on two wheels.

            You can find most of the pull workers at the sports’ stadium where they are lined up, one after the other, waiting for business.  The outside stadium stalls house a number of cheap furniture shops.  A majority buying furniture will hire these leathery-skinned, thin and muscular men to drag their new buys back to their apartment buildings.   

           They do a fairly good business around the stadium, which is located in old Luzhou.  They’re a lot cheaper than hiring a truck although it might be awhile before your things arrive.  Pull workers can cost as little as 50 cents for a few blocks to $5.00 for a longer, tedious ones.  
            Like I said, Luzhou is a very hilly place with steep inclines and weaving roads.  It’s not an easy task to lug wardrobes, beds, mattresses and cabinets around this city.  It pains me watching these men strain, struggle and sweat with their loads while slowly making their way up our Luzhou streets.                            

           Luzhou’s business district is still fairly vacant of giant department stores with spiffy entrances and sparkling floors.  We have some but they are far from the beautiful, modern ones in the capital city.  I did notice, however, that Luzhou is trying to step things up a bit.  There are two very large buildings being erected, making our pretty downtown a muddy mess in some places.          

             From the looming scaffolding and central location, I’m guessing these will be department stores, not the hundreds of apartment complexes enlarging the city at every turn.   This new shopping center covers an entire block and happens to be right next to the church.  I’m guessing when it’s completed, it will be the crowning glory of an up-and-coming city which is trying to look more like modern China and less like a backwards river town.

            Personally, I like the backwards river town image.

            The best part of Luzhou is, of course, the waterfront.  We have a lovely area alongside the Yangtze River called Binshan Road.  Binshan Road is blanketed by a canopy of trees lining the wide walkway.  Lots of little sitting places surrounded by landscaping allow strollers a pleasant view of the river.  There’s also the many tea houses along the road as well.

            My camera’s rechargeable batteries went dead on me today when I was walking along Bing Shan Road.  I promise pictures of this area of Luzhou another time.  No visit would be complete without it.

            Stay tuned for other Luzhou entries soon. Classes have had me pretty busy this week but I’ll try not to slow down too much on the blogs.

          From Luzhou, here’s wishing you “Ping An” (Peace) for your day

            My Mid-autumn Festival Sunday began not with a purchase of more moon cakes, but with a great pork loin laid out carefully on the butcher’s board.

             For us Christians in Luzhou, these are the perks of having an outdoor market leading up to and around the church building.  Our alleyway hosts the freshest meat and vegetables of the day on an early Sunday morning.  You’ll see many in the congregation with their baskets already full, trying to maneuver their things along the pews to find a place to sit for worship.  I have my book bag instead, heavy enough with my Chinese-English Bible, Chinese hymnal, and pinyin hymnal (English lettering to pronounce the characters) without stuffing it full of market items.  But this particular morning, the freshly-butchered pork selections grandly displayed on the market’s meat tables  were just too good to pass up. 

            If it’s already dead, I don’t mind shopping in the outdoor markets but I do feel a bit sad for the live ducks, chickens, pigeons and rabbits.  Of course, we eat them in the States but we don’t see them quacking or sweetly nibbling on greens before they reach the table.  Makes a difference when purchasing your Sunday dinner foods, that’s for sure.  It certainly makes a difference when attending services.  Live fowl, their heads peeking up over baskets, don’t pay attention to silence etiquette during prayers or sermons. 

Review Information: The Luzhou Protestant Three-Self Church

            Worship at the Luzhou Three-self Protestant church is held on Sundays from 8:30 – 11:00 a.m. in the original 1913 sanctuary, a project initiated by the Canadian Methodist Mission in the early part of the century.  In 1997, a somewhat palatial front was added with church offices and a large meeting room on the second floor.  Otherwise from that, the church building hasn’t changed much at all since its early beginnings. 

            Aside from offering city Christians a place to worship, the Luzhou church holds several floors in the adjacent apartment building.  From here, church staff and workers run a children’s preschool (Happy Children’s Gospel School), language classes for people wanting to learn English, Japanese and Korean, God’s Love Luzhou Christian Service Center (to coordinate the 15 other meeting points and Bible study groups around the area) and a senior center.  The senior citizens’ center is jointly funded by the church, the Amity Foundation and the local government.  It includes gym equipment, recreation and game facilities, meeting rooms and a dining area where meals are sometimes served.

            There are also two ground floor apartments which have been converted into a clinic facing the street.  Retired doctors are on call, many who have recently become Christians.  Nurses are also on hand to help with the sick and elderly who come in.  A small pharmacy is another addition to the medical facilities. 

            Funding for the clinic has come from Amity, the local government and a substantial contribution from the United Methodist Church.  This is, in fact, the first medical project the United Methodists have ever helped support in the modern Mainland China.  Amazingly enough, it would be here in the city where a United Methodist Amity teacher (myself) is serving.

A Mid-autumn Festival Worship

            It was a great way to begin a festival day by having worship once again with my Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ here in Luzhou. 

            Over the past 6 years, I have noticed quite a few interesting changes in our services.  This is all due to the modern ideas of Pastor Liao, a woman my age, her husband (also a pastor), two junior seminarian graduates, the dedicated church staff and our younger new believers.

            When I was in Taiwan 10 years ago, a new Christian movement was starting which has certainly affected our little church along the Yangtze. 

            For years, the overseas Christian missionary influence had made services other-worldly to those who were to be served in this part of Asia.   Our traditional Western hymns invaded the overseas’ sanctuary.  Their English words had been translated into Chinese.  No native music was used.  Only our very strange musical scale and melodies were sung. These were quite alien to the Chinese and difficult to sing. 

            Then we have the church building itself.  Churches looked Western in design and carried little color or flavor of the country itself.

              In Taiwan and mainland China, it’s easy to spot a church a mile away.  There is always the tall steeple with the cross on top, architecture that shouts “Foreign!”, and sanctuaries with standard pews, pianos and imported altars.  Walking through the doors of both Catholic or Protestant churches is often  like walking into a strange, eerie world.  No wonder for so many years, Christianity was considered the foreigners’ religion and looked upon as a sinister belief.

            In Taiwan’s Christian community, following after the States, things started to change during the past few decades. Hymns began to be composed by Taiwanese Christians.   Praise songs and uplifting modern Gospel numbers filtered over from America and were translated into Chinese.  Young people started up vibrant choirs and invited their friends to church.  They organized youth parties, Christian rallies and service outreach projects.  Powerpoint presentations began following sermons and guiding the congregation through Bible verses and songs.  Praise bands, liturgical dancers and lead singers started services off with a warm and welcoming spirit.

            Finally, the Christians in Taiwan had taken their faith to another level by building from the past and adding more of their own “personality” to the church movement.

            Now at our small Luzhou church, thanks to Pastor Liao and some very forward-thinking members, we are also moving away from the old, stale and un-enticing to try some different methods.  After years of only the elderly coming to church, the new changes have brought in a younger crowd.

            What sort of changes?

            Following in the US and Taiwan’s footsteps, as of last year, we now have powerpoint.  The small screen allows all hymns, special songs, Bible verses and sermon titles to be placed above for us to see.  Since we’ve never had bulletins, this method has been so easy now to follow the order of service.

            Powerpoint also provides a more convenient way for us to worship.   In China, all Christians have their own hymnals and Bibles which they bring to church every Sunday. Quite a few of the elderly have very poor eyesight. Trying to read the tiny print is difficult.  At least when they are placed on the screen, it’s easier to follow along due to the large print.  And we no longer have to haul around hymals to and from church, which is a nice way to lighten your load.  (Leaves more room for your market produce!)   

            Powerpoint furthermore allows the church more variety in what hymns and songs we do sing.  The official hymnal  of the Three-self Church is printed by the Amity Foundation Printing Press.  In it, you will find hundreds of our Western  hymns translated into Chinese.  As I mentioned before, the Chinese have great difficulty in singing these.  They stumble over the scales, sing the wrong notes and rarely get the timing right.

              With the powerpoint, Pastor Liao and other staff members now have a wider selection to use, such as translated praise songs, newly composed hymns by Chinese Christians and even traditional melodies from their own culture with Christian words attached.  A majority of these come from Taiwan and are so recently published that they can’t be found in our Amity hymnal.

            One of my favorite worship times is the 30-minute warm-up we have before worship begins at 9 a.m.  The church is packed as we all are led through hymns and praise songs.  These recent additions have us standing, clapping, waving our hands and wakening up the church. 

            The newest trend, also coming from Taiwan, is to sing and sign (sign language) at the same time.  Taiwanese, Hong Kong and Singapore pop stars began doing this 10 years ago and it caught on like wildfire.  At talent contests, beauty pageants, high school performances, and organized parties, everyone began singing modern songs and signing with great emotion at the same time.  

            Quite quickly, the Taiwanese church caught on to this. It certainly didn’t take much time for this to hit the mainland.   

            Now in Luzhou, we have a sign leader who guides us to taped music.  We sing our songs from the screen while following her sign language gestures.  She signs with such beauty, grace and heartfelt emotion.  Looking over the congregation, you will see all of us filling with the Lord’s spirit while we sign along with her. 

            I find this kind of call to worship extremely moving every time I participate.   

            Of course, change in any Christian community comes in very small steps.  Although we have our powerpoint presentations, our taped music, and our sing-signing openings, the service itself still basically follows the old.  Our piano player does her best to chord through hymns. (She doesn’t read music.)   We have our usual 1-hour sermons.   And the choir’s anthems continue with traditional Western hymn melodies, wrong notes and all.  

            Sure, it’s a bit old-fashioned but some sanctuary traditions are best left alone.  While I do like the new-age song selections, I also like a familiar, quiet service that isn’t too flashy or “busy”.  I think Pastor Liao has managed quite well in keeping  the elderly Christians, and the young ones, quite happy.  Hard task for any pastor to do.

            We didn’t end until 11 a.m. due to communion, which is 30 minutes over our usual 1 ½ hours.  I made sure to catch Pastor Liao and a few others for their moon cake presents for the holiday. 

            After that, it was into the city streets with the masses. 

            The stores were crowded with people, purchasing festive Mid-autumn goodie boxes for friends and family.  The back alleyways were filled with roadside sellers, always surrounded by holiday shoppers loading up on energy snack foods.  Lots of clothing sales going on as well.

             I even ran into three of my former students, our college graduates from 2 years ago.  They’re already beginning their 3^rd year of teaching English at primary and secondary schools in nearby towns.  Seeing them again brought back so many fond memories of my time as their teacher.  Now they’re all off on their own, already becoming seasoned professionals in their own classrooms.

            Time goes so quickly.

An End To The Day

            This Mid-autumn Festival evening, no moon shown down on us.  Overcast skies kept us mostly in the dark.  It also kept many students away from the sports’ field very late at night.  First of all, unlike everyone else in China, we had classes on Monday meaning many made it an early night.  (If you recall, I mentioned our leaders decided against giving us a 3-day weekend.)  And because all dorms are locked at 11 p.m., most were preparing for bed before the electricity was shut off at 11 p.m..  (Another rule of the school so as to save on utility costs.)

            Little Flower and I did take a turn around the field but that was about all the excitement we had.  I also was calling it an early night as I had a full day of teaching on Monday.

            We did manage a bit of party fun for the evening.  LF received her birthday moon cake, complete with a candle on top.  I generously used one of the school’s specialty Macau moon cakes, straight from their gorgeous gift box.  Not that LF noticed the difference.  One moon cake to her is just like any other:  food!

            Our next big event will be October 1 – 6, which is China’s National Day holidays (the founding of the PRC in 1949).  This is one holiday week we won’t be cheated out of.  Everyone will receive their full 6 days, which I’m sure will be enjoyed by all of us.

            And on that last bit of happy news, I’ll close off for this evening.

            From Luzhou, here’s wishing you  “Ping an!”  (peace)

                 My in-box has been filling with good wishes all day.

              “Connie, Happy teachers’ Day!  Connie, my classmates want to know where you live because we want to give you a gift. Could you please tell me?   Sail.”

            “My dear teacher, it has been long since we last met. Happy Teachers’ Day!   My son is very big now and learn some English words.  I want him to go to kindergarten but the school disagree with me.  They say he is too little.  I want a private school but my wife says the condition is not good.  What to do?  I no longer teach English from this year.  I study law to pass the law test.  Where are you now?   Your student, Forest.”

            “Today is Teacher’s Day.  Happy Teachers’ Day!  I want to call you.  What’s your number?   Jalin.”

            In some countries, Teachers’ Days are intended to be special days for the appreciation of teachers.  Some of them are holidays while others are celebrated during working days.  Every country seems to have its own special day to commemorate teachers.  In a number of Islamic countries, Teachers’ Day is celebrated on February 28.  Other countries choose their own day, such as Chile on Oct. 16,  El Salvador on  June 22,  Thailand on January 16 or the United States on May 6.  China and Hong Kong have chosen their teacher appreciation day as September 10, which is today.

            It really depends on the school and the country what kind of appreciation is bestowed on teachers.  In Taiwan, our Teachers’ Day at Wesley Girls’ High School was especially delightful as we were all given a bonus ($100 each), beautiful hand-made cards from the students and the Parents’ Union presented us with food gifts, such as a cheesecake or a tin of butter cookies.  One year, everyone was raving about the packages of dried beef we were given, donated by one of the parents who ran a meat packing plant.

            Taiwan certainly went out of its way to recognize teachers.

            But in China, our appreciation moments are on a smaller scale and more heartfelt.  Thank yous are plentiful, either by email or by telephone.  Bouquets of flowers are presented by a class to a favorite teacher.  Small gifts, such as a mug or stuffed animal, are likewise common for students to give as a group. 

            As for the school making a fuss, that really depends on the leaders.  At Luzhou Vocational and Technical College, every year a department is put in charge of arranging something for Teachers’ Day.  One year, we were all given the afternoon off from teaching.  (Now that was a great appreciation gesture!)  Another year, we had a tug-of-war contest between departments with the winner taking a prize of $100 for 1^st place, $50 for second and $25 for third.  

            This year, our afternoon classes were cut short for us to attend a meeting.  I was quite excited to find out what our appreciation meeting would entail.  The Human Resources Department had put it together for us.  After dismissing my class 1-hour early from our 2-hour lesson, I headed over to the lecture hall to find out what was in store for us.

            As it so happened, the meeting was just like any other meeting.  Our 5 leaders sat in front of us on the stage and read directly from written speeches, their eyes glued to their papers with no interesting things to say at all.  It was deadly boring and tedious to sit through.  As is very common here, everyone was talking and not listening.  Some were texting friends on their cell phones.  Even President He was taking messages during Party Secretary Zhou’s talk. 

            After an hour of speech-giving, we finally came to the more interesting part of the program: handing out awards.  Excellent teacher awards, excellent department awards, excellent administration awards and a number of others were bestowed on the winners.  While celebratory marches played over the speaker, happy recipients raced down to accept their plaques or certificates and pose for a photo.  We had four in our English Department who received the excellent teachers’ award.   That says quite a lot about our department’s teachers, how hard they work and that the school recognizes their efforts.

            As for me, along with emails,  I was given a lovely bouquet of flowers from my sophomore English Class 3 students.  Unfortunately, those beautiful, fragrant flowers disappeared when I put them in the office for safe keeping while I attended the school meeting.  I’m not quite sure what happened to them but at least I have a photo to remember them by. I made sure to bring my camera to class today, just in case a photo opportunity arose.  And here one did!

            Before closing, I just want to say for all you teachers out there, here’s wishing you a Happy Teachers’ Day from China, and Ping An (peace) as well.

            I didn’t have much time today after church to visit with the congregation or pastor so I’ll save my returning church story for another day.

            Instead, it was a quick dash by taxi to Tian Xi Ren He, a well-known restaurant here in Luzhou.

             Our former English Departmental dean, Cathy (Li Xiaolian), along with her husband Peter (Peng Tao) were throwing a big to-do for their son, Jack (Peng Mu Yan).  The occasion?  Jack’s matriculation into one of Beijing’s top universities for computer science and engineering.

            In China,  parents dream of sending their children to prestigious universities throughout the country. It guarantees their child a higher education with a good job after graduation.  The opportunities attending these schools are numerous, including better prospects for overseas’ study and meeting the right people for furthering job security. 

            Once in school, the students’ life completely changes.  The tension, fear, anxiety and sleepless, tedious high school years preparing for this national entrance exam are past.   Now they can relax, enjoy the independent life of a young adult student and concentrate only on the subject they’re interested in.

            The score which is received on university entrance exams determines where the high school  senior can apply.  If the score is too low, his top choice universities most likely will not accept him. 

            Cathy and Peter had very high hopes for Jack, who ranked first and second in his class for a number of subjects, including math, science and English.  Because he was attending Number 6 Senior High School, which is the best in the city, they expected his entrance exam scores to be higher than most.  For 3 years, he’d studied 7 days a week in school, like all of his classmates, leaving for school at 7:30 a.m. and returning at 10:30 p.m.  When studying for the entrance exams, there is no time to rest and no vacation, even during the summer holidays.  They are too busy pouring over their textbooks.

              Memorization is a must and a skill all Chinese students learn to master as best they can.  The university entrance tests they take depend on it.  If they don’t do well, they end up in lower ranked universities.  If they do extremely poorly, they may wind up at small vocational schools such as ours.   Rather depressing when your hopes were set on something better.  It’s especially disappointing when your parents were planning on you achieving high marks and you didn’t.

            When Jack’s test scores were posted on the Internet in June, Cathy and Peter eagerly went to see what they were.  They were crushed.  Jack hadn’t done as well as they thought.  Jack, too, felt miserable.  All that hard work and his scores were only adequate, setting him above some but not high enough to enter the university he had wanted in Beijing. 

            Yet a miracle occured, which gave us the grand and glorious dinner party today in his honor.      He was placed on the waiting list and, out of thousands of others, was chosen to be enrolled in his number one choice school. 

            When a child is accepted into a prestigious university, it is the custom for parents to throw a dinner party to celebrate their happiness with others.  Because Cathy and Peter have so many to thank, I was actually invited to their 3^rd big dinner.  The first had been for Peter’s circle. As director of a computer company, Peter had a number of colleagues and staff to share his happiness with.  The second dinner had been for friends of  Cathy, Peter and Jack, those not in the workplace.  And this last dinner, most likely the biggest of all, was for Cathy’s colleagues and school leaders:  Those from her former employment as the English dean at Luzhou Vocational and Technical College, and those from her current teaching position at Luzhou Police College. 

            I wasn’t sure of the custom when attending a celebration dinner so I had to ask.  Everyone invited should prepare a red envelope (used for celebration purposes) with money inside to give to the parents.  This money is congratulations for their child’s success and is used to pay for the dinner.

            It was suggested a 100 yuan note ($14.50) would be enough although if you are good friends of the family, you should give more.  Cathy and I are much like sisters, being about the same age and also quite close, so I gave 200 yuan in my red envelope.

            Upon my arrival at the restaurant, many people were milling about outside as Cathy excitedly greeted them in front of the building.  There were many words of congratulations extended, lots of handshakes and smiles, as red envelopes of 100 yuan notes were pressed into her hands.  These she quickly crumpled into her purse so as not to make a big deal out of the gifts.

            Cathy urged us all to go in while she continued to greet more guests coming to the banquet luncheon. 

            On the stairwell, there was our tall, handsome Jack busy talking to his friends on his cell phone while at the same time, welcoming his guests.  And inside, Peter with his parents (who live with the family) were  ushering people to tables or just thanking us for coming.

            It was a bit of a madhouse with people calling out to friends or colleagues to sit at their table.  There were a lot of shouts, handshakes, and pats on the back between workmates.  Young people were present as well, children of the invited guests, so there was a big fuss made over how so-and-so had grown so much or what a cute little girl this one had become.    Then we had our school leaders, Mr. Zhou (Party Secretary) and Mr. Ruan (retired Vice-President), along with several other important VIPs stationed at a table.  Being the returning foreign teacher, I hadn’t seen them in over a year so I descended upon them (along with quite a few others) to extend my good wishes and just say hello.

            The restaurant hall slowly began to fill. 

            We held the biggest room in the restaurant, with 14 tables of 10 people each.  We made quite a showing and quite a ruckus.  Lots of banter going on and playful teasing by the entire group.  We were all so happy to celebrate in Jack’s success and his parents’ joy.  For me, it was especially meaningful as I remember my first invitation to Cathy’s home 7 years ago, when Jack was celebrating his 11^th birthday.  Now look at him!  All grown up, off to college clear across the country and ready to start his new life away from home for the first time.

            While we waited, our 14 tables were already filling with appetizers and dishes from the kitchen:  blanched peanuts, cold sliced chicken, potato starch noodles in sauce, fish, rabbit, pork with green peppers, Chinese cabbage. . .   But our hosts hadn’t yet taken the stage so we could only sit, waiting for them while our stomachs growled in anticipation of the good food that lay before us.

            At 12:00, Cathy, Peter and Jack came before us with microphone in hand to do the official greetings and welcome.  Cathy spoke first, then her husband and finally, Jack with his hand-written speech.  All three expressed their thanks to us for sharing in their happiness.  They raised their glasses to toast Jack’s success and our being there.  Ours raised in return, and finally, it was time to dig in.

            For the guests, the meal was delightful.  So many fascinating, special food selections arrived one after another. We spent a great deal of time turning the lazy susan, sampling every dish that went by.   The table was stacked with them as the servers whipped them out again and again.  During the entire 1 ½ hours we were there, we must have had over 20 different menu items.

            While we were filling our stomachs, however, our hosts had little time to enjoy their meal.           Banquets such as these demand the hosts rotate from table to table, toasting everyone and thanking them for coming.  There are also individual toasts done by the parents to special guests.  In a Chinese banquet, there’s a lot of standing up and down as the toasters descend upon you to wish you well while lifting high their glasses.  Quickly stuffing in the meal in between these toasts is something Chinese are very adept at doing.  I, on the other hand, am a slow eater.  Fortunately for me, this particular celebration dinner didn’t require an outrageous number of toasts.  Cathy, Peter and Jack were too busy with other tables to toast us more than once.

            When it comes to toasting, guests are given a choice of drinks. In order to save money, those who are throwing these banquets bring in their own drinks for guests.   Rarely do customers buy from the restaurant as it’s too expensive.  Carrying in your own beverages is completely acceptable by Chinese restaurants, unlike America, and no extra fees are charged.

            When it comes to what’s selected, fruit juices, colas or coconut juice are the most common among the children and us women.  We ladies are not pushed into the hard liquor which the men are often forced to drink along with their buddies. 

            Among the men, it’s considered rude to refuse guzzling our famous Luzhou baijiu  (a strong whiskey), especially when you’re sitting with the leaders who are expected to drink it, whether they want to or not.  When you’re a guy, if the leaders drink, you drink.   If your friends drink, you drink.         Only official school drivers, always invited to the meal as well, are exempt.  Since they chauffer around the administrators to and from such dinners, it’s their job to remain sober enough to get everyone home safely.

            A cross between the hard stuff and fruit juice is an extremely weak red wine.  This has a 2% -3% alcohol level and tastes like sweetened water with a tinge of grape flavor.  This kind of wine was invented just for the Chinese banquet.   It’s a common substitute for other drinks when someone doesn’t want to get drunk but wants to do his or her duty by drinking spirits of some sort.

            During our toasting from our hosts, I noticed all three (Cathy, Peter and Jack) were using the wine.  Jack’s job was to carry the bottle and refill their glasses as they walked to every table.  At the leaders’ table, however, I did notice that Cathy and Peter both changed to the Luzhou whiskey as a show of respect to the higher ups.  And, yes, Cathy was a bit tipsy toward the end of our meal.

            The banquet luncheon ended with the final dessert of sliced fruit being placed at every table.  After that, people began dispersing on their own.

             But this actually wasn’t the end.  Cathy enthusiastically grabbed up a number of people to accompany her to a nearby mahjong parlor.  This is a common Sichuan custom, to play mahjong (a tile game) for the rest of the afternoon after gathering all your friends together. 

            Not only that, but a second dinner banquet was arranged that evening at 6:30 p.m.  We were all invited back after our afternoon outings (mahjong, shopping, rest at home) to once again participate in the family’s happiness.

            While Cathy was keen to have me return, one banquet was enough for me.  I also have classes to prepare for tomorrow, and a full day of teaching from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., so I skipped the evening gathering.  There’ll be plenty of other chances for me and Cathy to get together during my year back.   Now is her time to be attentive to others, not me.

            I must admit I was very curious about the price of this huge meal.  When the staff whisked Cathy the bill to sign, which she charged to her credit card, I took a peek at the total:  14 tables at 600 yuan ($89) each, plus service and some drinks, brought the total to 9,050 yuan ($1,310).  While the amount sounds like a lot, remember that we each gave a gift of at least 100 yuan to celebrate in their happiness.  Our gifts covered not only the cost of the banquet but the cost of the beverages Cathy had purchased as well.  This same sort of custom is also used for weddings, in which banquet guests present envelopes of money to the happy couple who in return don’t have to go into debt to feed everyone.

            It may sound a little strange to us but in my mind, it makes practical sense. We give a gift to the hosts, the hosts in return give a gift to us.  No one loses out.  Not only that, but we all get to participate in the joyful occasion together.

            Now that’s a great celebration in honor of a young person going off to the university of his choice.

            Congratulations, Jack!  Congratulations, Cathy and Peter!

            It was a great banquet which many of us will remember for years to come.

From Luzhou, here’s wishing you a Sunday’s “Ping An” (peace)

             Two weeks ago, Jalin and I were watching the Olympics in my apartment.  It would be our last Friday together before I left for Luzhou and she was feeling a bit down.

            “Do you want to go to the English Corner?” she suddenly said with excitement.  “It’s at the university.”

            There had been several times during the year Jalin had asked me if I was interested in going to Sichuan University’s English language corner. 

            English corners in China are quite popular.  They pop up in city parks, university campuses, town squares, high schools and numerous other public places.  English corner gatherings are just that:  crowds of people, all ages and walks of life, coming together at a fixed time and place to practice their English.  They create small standing circles and begin speaking on any subject.  They discuss issues, tell stories, share family information, debate hot topics, or just join a small group to listen.  They are students, businessmen, teachers, parents, secretaries, managers  and the list goes on.  Everyone comes for one reason:  To practice their English.  Some use English in their daily lives, such as for overseas’ business ventures,  guiding English speakers  on tours or manning international hotels’ front desks.  Others have taken up English as a hobby, something they enjoy doing in their spare time.

            English corners can be found in any city, large or small, all across China.   Of course, the most popular and well-attended are those on university campuses. Sichuan University, according to Jalin, was no exception.

             Since this would most likely be one of our last opportunities to go to an English corner together, I said yes.  Although it was going on 8:30 p.m., and the English corner had already started at 7:30, Jalin insisted there wouldn’t be a problem.  People dispersed around 11 because they were so into speaking with one another.  I wasn’t about to stay so late but at least one hour would be fair, I thought.

            English corners in China tend to have only Chinese.  Most  foreigners who are teachers are too exhausted after a week of lessons to be “on stage” yet again at an English corner.   If a foreigner does happen to step into the crowds, he or she is usually surrounded by excited people, wanting to practice with a native speaker.  They press in close, straining to hear what’s being said. 

            Often times, one strong-willed individual will hog the entire conversation, inundating the overseas’ guest with questions or rudely butt in to interrupt others who are trying to talk.  If you’ve ever been to an English corner, as I have, you honestly have to be up for it with a smile on your face and a good dose of caffeine to keep you going for at least an hour.  Anyone in a bad mood, stay away or you’ll most likely be sour and terse when speaking with everyone.  Not at all a good image to portray to those eager to talk with a foreign English speaker.

            True, I was tired and still packing to leave for Luzhou that Friday night but I wanted to go with Jalin. I did it for her.

            Jalin and I made our way across the darkened campus toward the sports stadium where the English corner had already begun.  When we arrived, I was quite surprised by the vast number of people gathered.  There must have been 150 with only one other foreigner in sight that I could see.  But what truly surprised me were the children.  I  noticed two small boys in gradeschool talking to each other while adults were off in their own groups enjoying their chat time.          

           One thing that I am truly keen on is always encouraging young people to speak in English. I quickly went up to the boys and we began.

            Both had English names, Jake and John. Jake was 9 years old (the bigger boy) and John was 11 (the smaller).  Jake’s dad was an English teacher who was nearby.  John’s parents were in the car, waiting for him to finish. 

            Although I started with simple phrases, it was quite clear after a few minutes that these boys were at a higher level than quite a few of my Luzhou students.  Some of them couldn’t even say a sentence or understand a single word I said.  These boys were asking questions about the Olympics, my favorite sports, what I did on the weekend, and where I was from.  When I threw back at them different topics, they had no problem in understanding my meaning.

            When we were joined by a very tall 11-year-old girl, almost as tall as 9-year-old Jake,   I jokingly asked John, "Why are you so much shorter than these two?"

            John, not missing a beat, replied cheerfully,  "I am shorter but you see my English is better.  I’m smarter!"

            We all laughed but John wasn’t yet to be outdone.

           "Also," he said with seriousness, "we know that girls mature faster than boys.  Of course, she is taller but soon, I will be taller, too."

             I guess we know who was put in their place during that question-answer time. 

            I would have loved spending my entire evening with these two boys as they were so bright (and awful cute) but with a foreigner around, the adults were onto me pretty darn quick. 

            Adults are a different category of speakers because they tend to be pushy.  Taking turns is not exactly in the Chinese culture when it comes to conversation.  Everyone usually jumps right into the fray, interrupting one another or shouting over each other.  If you are experienced in English corners, you have to play a good hostess. 

            Make sure you address everyone individually in your circle.  Make sure everyone gets to say something.  Pull in the shy, hovering outsiders with a friendly question. Don’t let someone monopolize the conversation.  Move to another group if at all possible.

            The last public English corner I attended was 17 years ago in the city park in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province.  At that time, only the elderly or university students were in attendance.  Now the range has grown. So many different ages and professions were represented. 

            Jalin didn’t even join me.  She was too busy searching out the good-looking high school boys.  Later, however, she told me she met up with a Chinese pilot who had flown to many different countries.  He told her about his travels to America, Australia, Britain, Europe and Japan.   I also had some interesting representatives of the Chinese working world:  a bank teller, an artist, a newspaper reporter, a TV anchorwoman. 

            When I finally called it quits at 10 p.m., I had learned a great deal about the personal lives of many interesting individuals.  I had forgotten how much fun English Corner can be with those who have enough language ability to express themselves, their thoughts and their feelings.  It was a very eye-opening experience and one which I was so happy to have shared with Jalin our last Friday as neighbors.

            Back to my Luzhou vocational college, I had tried for several years  to start up an English Corner but it always failed.  The students would gather but they wouldn’t speak English with one another, only with me.

            “We have nothing to say,” they replied sadly.  “Our English is so bad.” 

            Their English spoken skills were so limited that they felt defeated before they even opened their mouths. 

            Despite this, I’m going to try organizing a campus English Corner this year and give it another go.  Out of  7,000 students, surely we have those who can speak English enough to help lead the less confident others. 

            Look at my little Chengdu friends, Jake and John.  If they can do it, surely these Luzhou college kids can.

            Wish us luck, everyone!  Maybe my next English Corner blog will be all about students here alongside the Yangtze river, enjoying an evening of  fun, productive language time together with one another and their foreign teacher, Connie.

           From beside the Yangtze River, here’s wishing you Ping An (peace) for your weekend.