China

Okay to recoup - we were met when we arrived at our residence by our liaison person Matthew (who speaks good English) and shown to our apartment. We have a three room (living room, bedroom, kitchen (plus a bathroom)) apartment on the first level with windows on both sides, really quite neat and compact. We are bordered by streets on all four sides and we are convinced we will suffer some serious trauma when we return to the farm.

When we arrived, we were exhausted and still experiencing jet lag, the twelve hour swing in time zones and totally wired on exhaustion but we got settled, had some sleep and found some food.

We live in a community with Expiates from around the world (a good number are Canadians) - all ages, great company and great resources. We have little gathering area in the common patio, where any of us (during the good weather) congregate for 'happy hour' and lots of good comradeship and debriefing of the day. This is the best place for networking and where we learn how to run the microwave that has Chinese symbolic commands and a grilling function, how to make on campus phone calls, where to buy the best brandy (it is the only liquor that for the price is worth buying unless you want to buy imported stuff that is the same price as Canadian liquor) and great wine from Spain for just under $3 Can a bottle (Traders Joes has nothing on this).

We only taught our classes, for five days before the National Holiday. The holiday started on Wednesday October 1 and us to have the entire week off (and others in China, also) we had to work Saturday and Sunday. We started teaching on Wednesday and taught through until Sunday. Monday was the first day of the holiday and we did a little touring around Wuxi to get a flavour of the city where we will be living for the next few months. The city's economy has an industrial base and is a combination of old and new. Much of the historic tourist sites are within a bike ride from our apartment and we are anticipating that adventure over the next few weeks.

The campus is a little over four years old and the partnership between Lambton College (at Home) and Jiangnan University is about 6 years old. The students who are in the English speaking programs our quite jealous of our students who are enrolled in the programs from the Lambton College partnership because they all want to learn English from a foreign teacher and the Lambton College programs are well respected at this University. Jiangnan University is one of the highest ranking universities in China. The students we are teaching are 'freshmen' and we have the 'cream of the crop' so to speak (this does not mean that teaching English as a Foreign Language is not a challenge).

Since our move into the area, the neighbourhood is undergoing some severe revamping and the landscaping changes daily. Last week, when we embarked on our adventure, there was a residence for the migrant workers in the lot behind the apartments were we live; when we returned the building was demolished and the landscape was being tilled and planted with trees, shrubs and sod - several days later it has been completed. Although it is the northern hemisphere here and fall the trees and shrubs are all pruned back to sticks and the roots and tree trunks are bound in a sisal type of rope - the magnolia trees are budding up and flowering; this campus will be very beautiful next spring and very mature in a few short seasons. There has been an army of dump trucks and 4 hilos moving soil from the block next to ours and we are anticipating another block of apartments to be built before we leave here in January. This is just a flavour of what is changing in this city and truly a prime example of what manpower can do. China is not short on workforce and they know how to organize it effectively.

The transportation system is extremely effective. There are many new 4 lane roads throughout the city and many small narrow streets in the older parts; locally there are two taxi systems - the licensed taxis; the black taxis (which we think are the underground taxis) and most recommended by the locals and students; oh yeah and the taxis that give you a flat (inflated) rate and don't use meters to calculate mileage. Many people have cars with loud horns, motor scooters with not so loud horns, e scooters/e bikes with horns that no one uses because it will use up the battery; lots and lots of bikes with bells and some of us walk. - on the hierarchy pole, pedestrians are the least likely to have the right of way and horns are the music of travel. Upon crossing the street in China, it is not uncommon to cross the street one lane at a time and wait for a break in traffic from between the lanes of moving vehicles. In all the time that we have been here we have not seen one accident occur, come upon an accident or heard of an accident. The vehicles are in very good repair with no visible signs of damage and no signs of body repair shops anywhere.

We took a day trip by train to Suzhou;

it is the city of the Grand Canal the longest Canal on earth (1800 km) and one of the countries greatest engineering achievements; also, the city of silk and Marco Polo's silk road; the history in this country is so extensive and reaches far past that of anything the western world can brag. While here we visited the Silk Museum; saw Beisi Ta, the tallest pagoda in the province and it is tall; and had a lunch experience that we can only tell about in person (but we settled for Starbucks on the main intersection); visited the biggest book store (6 stories) we have ever seen and it was packed; took in the Museum of Opera and Theatre;

walked to Shuang Ta, the twin pagodas - looked for the recommended place to get a great hot dog and took a stroll in Canglang Ting (one of Suzhou’s gardens and what Suzhou is all about);

we settled on dinner at a place where we ordered noodles, chicken and a bowl of Italian Chicken soup (another story for when we get home) - thank goodness for KFC - French fries and soft ice cream.

The next day we were off to Shanghai, for our own adventure. We traveled by train, a trip of about 50 minutes, The trains are quite and comfortable and can travel in excess of 200 k/h, but if it were not for the LED signs indicating the speed you would never know it. Station stops are announced in Chinese and English as are the train departure times and platform boarding locations at the stations. Getting around is pretty simple. The Chinese are very helpful and if you ask you will generally find someone who can help you figure out what you need to know.

Train schedules can be found in English on the internet, so once you know the time of departure and the train you want, getting tickets is easy. Rumor has it that there are at least one million people on trains at all times in the country. They really do have a system that can move a lot of people around the country and keep on schedule.

Shanghai is a bustling city of 18 million people and during the Golden Week national holiday it mushrooms by many millions more. We spent three days there at the end of Golden Week. Through a friend of a friend we managed to get a great deal at the Astor House Hotel for three nights

and were able to stay in downtown Shanghai on the Bund, directly across from the Russian consulate. This hotel was the first hotel to be built in China from the western world and is very luxurious. A number of celebrity guests have stayed there including Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein and, Dwight D. Eisenhower and of course now yours truly. It is right down town within walking distance of the Bund which is the waterfront promenade where the contrast between the old and new Shanghai can be seen. It is a magnet for all tourists and the place was packed.

We met up with our friends Murray and Mary Covello and their girls. John went on a bicycle ride with Murray and a couple of his buddies around the area where he lives and traveled through a small community that backs onto the canals

and try some local cuisine of steamed dumplings at a local road side eatery. Sheila took a visit to the fabric market in the city centre with Mary and the girls where she is planning to have a cashmere coats made for each of us before we return. We also checked out the two “fake markets” where shopping for knockoff products from i-pods to sunglasses is the order of the day. Sheila picked up a pair of UGG boots for about the equivalent of $30 CAN (180 Yuan) (eat your heart out Lori and Sandra). The ticketed price was 600 Yuan. John got into a negotiation on some Taylor made golf clubs but couldn’t reach a deal. The sales girl’s friendly smile and courteous treatment quickly soured when offered her about 20% of her asking price. By the time we left she was down to 2500 Yuan from 5000. John plans to go back and try to continue the quest – hopefully she has cooled off by then. Of course the product quality at these markets is totally suspect and it is a good idea to remember that you are probably getting much less for your money than you paid. There are no guarantees, no refunds or returns so it is a good idea to bargain hard. It was good fun.

One of the markets is in the subway stop which was handy for travel as well. The subways, like the trains and buses, are busy and packed. We literally had to push each other out the door at one stop to get off the car. That was a good photo op missed – you’d never believe how crowded it was.

Wow we have been here two weeks to the day...when we got in to Shanghai two weeks ago (Sept 15) we had been in an airport or in the air for 24 hours (since Sept 14) and gained 12 hours in time; our friends were determined to get us in to China time and would not let us 'crash' to soon. So off we went to the bright lights and a beer at 'The Bund'; the following week ...

we were around Shanghia and saw 'The Bund' by daylight...

'The Former French Concession'...

...'The Old City' in Shanghai -

...the Bridge of Seven Turns -

...took a stroll through Shanghai - where the real Chinese people live

...took in a show ' ', directed by the Cirque du Solie

...had a great dinner downtown, followed by an awesome foot massage

...saw the newest, tallest building in the world -

We even managed to take a bicycle ride in Shanghai with out being killed. The heirarchy in China for street rules are motorized vehicles have priority, bicycles next, then pedestrians. We had lunch several times and dinner - always great food and very inexpensive. (...and for the faint of heart there is always McDonalds, KFC or Starbucks).

On Friday, we were met at the Shanghai, Pudong International Airport (interesting place and very very busy), by our hosts and employers for our contracts of Teaching English in China...; 3 of us hopped into a minivan and headed for Wuxi, what we had been told was a 3 hour trip - however, since that was not necessaryily true - Friday afternoon rush hour has nothing on Toronto...it has been said to us that recently China has been selling 1000 cars a week - I'm sure they are all in Shanghai. Enrout we stopped at a Chinese 'truck stop' were we had a purely Chinese meal and our first introduction to the use of chopsticks and the traditional (hole in the ground) Chinese toilet (that country living childhood has something to be said for it). We were some time getting to our residence, and it was dark when we arrived, but we felt quite safe knowing that our complex had a gate that was locked at night, that our building had a gate with a security gate and of course our apartment is locked and quite safe.

When we surfaced on Saturday morning, we had to get something to eat and find the bare essentials for survival in our own pad...

We got help to get a taxi and headed straight for Walmart (sorry Kathrny); it was a great relief to find the tried and true Equate and Great Value products ...

since then we have met several other people and had some great downtown excursions -

the *105 and the *77 gets us to other shopping centres, the bus station and the train station.

The campus at Jiangnan University is only 4 years old although the university itself is celebrating its 59th year, kinda like Confusious - celebrations are today, Sept 29, (2559 yrs) and John (same day as Confusious, but a little short of the years); it is very large and quite beautiful; and in the middle of most of the Tourist attractions for the city.

We walk 25 minutes or about 1 kilometre and back twice a day to class - which is quite a challenge when the tempurature is 30 degress Celcius at 7 a.m. (our classes start at 8 a.m.) and just increases as the day goes on.

We survived the first teaching week and this next week is the National Holiday week in China (well not actually). We started teaching on Wednesday and had to teach Saturday and Sunday to get Monday and Tuesday off so that we (and the students and many of the rest of the Chinese) could have a 7 holiday this week. We are off to Suzhou and Shanghai for the remainder of the week.