Still recovering from our journey through Vietnam and southern China, our two week training in Chengdu was another shockingly emotional journey. After the excitement of seeing some of our friends from pre-service training that we hadn't seen in months, we started our first training session by hearing the terrible news from our country director that one of our fellow Chongqing volunteers had died (official Peace Corps statement here). We didn't know him well, but empathized with our fellow volunteers who did, unable to imagine what his family must have been going through. It was also a stark reminder of our own mortality, and how important it is to take care of each other and ourselves during our service. With that dark cloud hanging over the group, we kept up a brisk pace of training sessions, including language, TEFL training, safety and security, and health. Colds started going around, health issues started springing up, and people generally were feeling run down after all the sessions, particularly since many people were arriving at training after keeping intense vacation travel schedules (and it was hard to go to bed at a decent hour when there was so much socializing to be done with all our training pals). But despite it all, some of the sessions were really helpful and got us thinking more critically about how to improve our teaching for the upcoming term and how to create secondary projects that might have a lasting impact in our site communities. It was particularly exciting to have guest speaker Rob Gifford (NPR correspondent and author of China Road) come and talk to the group, and even more exciting when he showed up at the bar that evening to continue his discussions with volunteers. We ended our training with a touching candlelight memorial for Cannon, and after our goodbyes with friends from far flung sites, headed back to Chongqing exhausted, but ready to get back to work.
Our first week of classes started right away. I was pleased to be assigned all English-major writing classes, and Richy seemed content with his oral English workload. Starting with our usual introduction lessons, we have been working on streamlining our classroom rules and expectations to avoid some of the pitfalls we ran into last term - such as the several students who freaked out (channeling their frustration into incessant phone calls) when they didn't pass my oral English class, even though they had only attended a fraction of the classes. Luckily I found myself sitting next to the English department head one morning on the bus and he was able to explain to me the English department policies in more detail (we were provided an English translation of the policies at the beginning of the term, but they didn't make much sense at the time). Apparently if students miss more than 1/3 of classes for the term, I shouldn't allow them to take the final, because if I let them take the final, they have the right to a retake the following term. If I don't give them the final, they get a zero and have to retake the class. Although hopefully I won't have that problem with my writing classes this term, as English majors are much more engaged in their English classes (surprise, surprise) and have much fewer problems with attendance.
We are still waiting for word about the on-campus apartment situation, although it seems like something will definitely happen this term. In the meantime, I am planting up every container I can find and fit into our window-cages (our 5th floor apartment features cages around all the windows for security), keeping myself busy with craft projects, reading student papers, daydreaming about secondary projects (my students seem way more excited about cooking club than a resource room or anything else), and trying to keep the construction dust from building up on everything. We are ready to enjoy the Chongqing springtime as we know all too well that the sweltering Chongqing summer is on its way.
~ Katie
27.2.11
3.2.11
Last legs in Vietnam and a Happy New Year Homecoming
We arrived from a long, suffocating bus ride in Nha Trang 5 hours late due to traffic, only to be met with the disappointment of gray, drizzly skies over a beautiful beach and canceled hotel reservations. We were all running on our last nerves and it took considerable willpower not to freak out at the hotel desk lady who seemed to insinuate that the bus being late was something we could have foreseen or controlled. At last she found us a room for the night, one suspiciously cheaper than the one we originally booked (we later found out she had automatically booked us more expensive air-conditioned rooms the first time, although unnecessary without warm weather).
With the weather uncooperative for beach-side lounging, we decided instead to wander the town and sample its unusually cheap and delicious international food selection, particularly the Indian food and the gelato. On the second day, we decided we needed to take drastic measures in order to find some semblance of vacation-like fun and excitement under the overcast sky. Those drastic measures meant buying tickets from the hotel desk for a theme park situated on an island across the bay. It was a hard core tourist move and one we had hoped to avoid, but one that paid off in a day of hedonistic enjoyment. For about 15 dollars, we took a 3311 meter cable car to an island which has been turned into a resort/amusement park/water park and spent the entire day riding amusement park rides, playing arcade games and splashing around in the water park. Everything but the food was free and unlimited. It was a bit of a harrowing ride back after dark on the cable car as the winds picked up, but we kept ourselves occupied trying to come up with the most horrific disaster scenarios we could think of.
Thankfully we were finally rewarded the next day with beautiful blue skies and sunshine to enjoy the beach with - which we did despite the wind and the sand blowing in our faces. I managed to get myself a hearty sunburn across my back, but otherwise we were able to head off to Saigon proud of our vacation-y accomplishments.
We found Saigon much warmer and more alluring than Hanoi, with its street side iced coffee, expansive markets and interesting historical sites. We visited the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum, which were both interesting contrasts to the Hanoi Hilton prison we visited previously, as they seemed to show the "American War" in a richer context and made more light of the lasting legacy of the conflict for Vietnamese people. We also enjoyed watching Vietnam's largest city prepare for Tet, the Lunar New Year. Yellow flowers and red lanterns were going up everywhere, while women stuffed fried tofu with minced pork in alleyways and men mounted ladders to scrub down the shop signs. On our last day in Saigon before catching our plane back to China, we regretted having to leave the warm weather, amazing food, and sassy shop ladies (who we found had a strange preoccupation with discussing marriage and baby-making) for the grit and grime of China.
But, China had a few tricks left up her sleeve. Even as our plane landed in Chongqing, we were dazzled by the array of New Year fireworks lighting up the night sky, and as we took the shuttle back into the city, we were even more dazzled by the transformation of the city streets. It seems that in our absence, every single tree in the city was covered with electric lights and lanterns and every roundabout became a spectacle of holiday displays. Between the bus stop and home, we bought ourselves some sparklers and firecrackers, and with our backpacks still strapped to our backs, rang in the year of the Rabbit (year of the Cat in Vietnam!) with our own little show in the apartment parking lot. As I sit writing this post, the sky around us on all sides is erupting with flashes, blasts and crackles of fireworks, while the neighborhood car (and motorbike) alarms sound from the vibrations. Xin Nian Kuai Le!
With the weather uncooperative for beach-side lounging, we decided instead to wander the town and sample its unusually cheap and delicious international food selection, particularly the Indian food and the gelato. On the second day, we decided we needed to take drastic measures in order to find some semblance of vacation-like fun and excitement under the overcast sky. Those drastic measures meant buying tickets from the hotel desk for a theme park situated on an island across the bay. It was a hard core tourist move and one we had hoped to avoid, but one that paid off in a day of hedonistic enjoyment. For about 15 dollars, we took a 3311 meter cable car to an island which has been turned into a resort/amusement park/water park and spent the entire day riding amusement park rides, playing arcade games and splashing around in the water park. Everything but the food was free and unlimited. It was a bit of a harrowing ride back after dark on the cable car as the winds picked up, but we kept ourselves occupied trying to come up with the most horrific disaster scenarios we could think of.
Thankfully we were finally rewarded the next day with beautiful blue skies and sunshine to enjoy the beach with - which we did despite the wind and the sand blowing in our faces. I managed to get myself a hearty sunburn across my back, but otherwise we were able to head off to Saigon proud of our vacation-y accomplishments.
We found Saigon much warmer and more alluring than Hanoi, with its street side iced coffee, expansive markets and interesting historical sites. We visited the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum, which were both interesting contrasts to the Hanoi Hilton prison we visited previously, as they seemed to show the "American War" in a richer context and made more light of the lasting legacy of the conflict for Vietnamese people. We also enjoyed watching Vietnam's largest city prepare for Tet, the Lunar New Year. Yellow flowers and red lanterns were going up everywhere, while women stuffed fried tofu with minced pork in alleyways and men mounted ladders to scrub down the shop signs. On our last day in Saigon before catching our plane back to China, we regretted having to leave the warm weather, amazing food, and sassy shop ladies (who we found had a strange preoccupation with discussing marriage and baby-making) for the grit and grime of China.
But, China had a few tricks left up her sleeve. Even as our plane landed in Chongqing, we were dazzled by the array of New Year fireworks lighting up the night sky, and as we took the shuttle back into the city, we were even more dazzled by the transformation of the city streets. It seems that in our absence, every single tree in the city was covered with electric lights and lanterns and every roundabout became a spectacle of holiday displays. Between the bus stop and home, we bought ourselves some sparklers and firecrackers, and with our backpacks still strapped to our backs, rang in the year of the Rabbit (year of the Cat in Vietnam!) with our own little show in the apartment parking lot. As I sit writing this post, the sky around us on all sides is erupting with flashes, blasts and crackles of fireworks, while the neighborhood car (and motorbike) alarms sound from the vibrations. Xin Nian Kuai Le!
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