From Ningbo, a seaside port

The title for this blog came from a fortune cookie. It seems to fit this curious adventure. I landed in Shanghai on July 2, after an uneventful (the best kind) flight over the Pacific. Today is July 7, and I am at last in one city for long enough to unpack my suitcase. Perhaps the most curious thing about my arrival in Shanghai was how unexpectedly familiar it seemed! I felt perhaps it was New York City for the number of skyscrapers, or Chicago for the number of people out walking on the streets, or Los Angeles for the wide blvds. filled with quite contemporary cars, including Hondas, Toyotas, Chevrolets. Even in the hotel, my Chinese greeting was answered in English (what a relief--as I wasn't sure what I'd have said next otherwise).

To find the China that I have read about in books for years and years, I had to look down alleyways or small side streets. There I could still catch a glimpse of the straw bamboo hat with the pointed top and what I call the Chinese shuffle, where an elderly person seems never to completely pick up their shoe from the ground, and definitely puts toe before heel to ground.

Out on the main street the men and women both walk with a gait that is comfortable and thoroughly western. Shao Hongwei,who lives in Shanghai and is a friend of my Chinese teacher, Hong Li and her husband, was a most gracious host. He made sure that I didn't wander too far from my hotel as to reach a point of no return. He and his wife took me out to dinner in an old section of Shanghai that has been preserved with its traditional Chinese upturned rooves and small alleys. The food is to die for! I may never come home. Steamed dumplings, vegetables in rich sauces, with just a bit of meat, cucumbers in Chinese sweet wine vinegar. A bowl of rice arrived, but after the meal -- perhaps in imitation of the French custom of serving salad at the end of a meal.

The next morning, Shao's son and I spent the morning "practicing English with a native speaker." After Blake warmed to the task, he was impressive. We mostly did computer stores -- something a 17-year old knows a lot about -- but on floor after another he explained the differences in the computers, the different softwares, the new styles of i-Pods (very popular here) and MP players (MP4s are now out I've learned).

Then on to the high speed bullet train for a two hour ride to Hangzhou. We had not even enough time there to see the town and we were shuffled off to several other cities where we are now teaching (No, I didn't know we were going to other cities -- I tried to maintain my spirit of adventure through the confusion. I wouldn't give myself more than a C+, though. Maybe that is part of the Chinese way --maybe it was just a bit of poor planning.) There are five us now in the seaport city of Nimbo. The air has the definite feel of the air at Emerald Isle or Carolina Beach, a nice breeze, but a bit of sticky salt in the air

Classes began today. We are teaching at Xiang Shan High School, reputed to be the top high school in the city. During the school year, 2000 students attend classes at Xiang Shan.

Now it is "Summer Camp." One of the headmasters of the school said, "We call it summer camp, but we actually keep them in their same classes!" Each of the 5 of us have 5 classes of 40 minutes each. That's fine. However, I counted 56 students in each of my classes. So if everyone gets a chance to speak, ... a class can go pretty quickly! The students are shy, but brave -- that means they are willing to try to speak English. They are really quite good. Amazing, really. For the most part they are just as dear as they can be ... although there are a few who look like they might like a little mischief if it were allowed.

Today, they gathered in groups to decide what I should know about their city. Then, they cautiously volunteered to tell me about the city famous for its fish, for its beach, for its traditional foods, for the very special zoo and for the park on the mountain top with the pagoda (this one I can see from my pretty nice (and air conditioned) hotel room).

Tomorrow, I promised to show them some pictures of my family. They too seem curious to know more about who I am...who we are ... though they were all quite excited to know that we were from the United States. In one class they cheered. Its been a long time since I've been cheered for my citizenship!

I look forward to working with these young people. They are so enthusiastic; so engaged ... and seemingly quite talented. Today was super; it made me smile as I remembered the Chinese fortune that I found in my cookie two years ago, "Curiosity is life."