May

Well the time has come the walrus said.....I have decided as of May 10th to stay another year....haven't signed the actual contract yet but I think that will be just a formality......it is especially difficult for my mother to understand but we talk so she is ok with it..

I start playing softball Sunday May 13th....the Canadian ambassador will throw out the first pitch and I may have something to say to him after my Friday experience....listen to this.....I had a few hours to spare so I decided to go to see our Canadian Embassy....I showed up at the front gates.....locked of course.... and presented my passport and asked to see someone from the embassy....not for any particular reason..just to talk to someone from Canada perhaps...I had also heard that they had a library and that maybe I could borrow some books or pictures to show the kids at Shanhaiguan ( the place I was going to teach??? for the weekend).....The guard...nice....do you have an appointment..no I would just like to see someone ...I am afraid you can't see someone.....but I will phone my boss to see if you can get in....then he did and he told me after about 3 minutes of conversation that I would have to make an appointment to see someone...I was a little miffed...but since it really wasn't a emergency or I wasn't under arrest or anything to leave but I left with a little note....I will be contacting my MP oh, that means my Member of Parliament.....and I did and I am waiting for a return message from David Anderson...to see what the heck went wrong here.....

Spent the week sort of recuperating....went to the Water Museum.....we will be taking some students there as part of the Water/Wetlands project that they are in.....not much there....I think the kids will be bored in about 10 minutes.....of well..a chance for them to get off campus....

Also got all my shopping done that I had put off for a while....and all the stuff that was in my room that I had accumulated over some months.....sent it all to Jennifer....it was a very good and quick time at the Post office...I didn't know it but the next day was a holiday and I arrived at 5 to four......they closed at 4 that day.....I tell you, that was the quickest that I have ever seen anyone in any post office work....we were out of there at 4:05...all the paper work done, all the wrapping done, the weighing done, the paying done and the labeling....they helped with all of that....I only hope that everything gets there in one piece Jay..

Also went out to the driving range and hit some golf balls....we have a package deal of 12,000 balls for RMB 3000. ....we hope to have a weekly hitting of balls for the group here....Don, Bob and I have paid and we are hoping that another teacher, Matthew, will do this as well...anyway, another thing to break up a week.

Teaching was a blast on the weekend...Zest (the Chinese English teacher) had asked me to go with him for a day of teaching and some sightseeing....He wanted a couple to people to go but no one was able to go from here....I asked if Rosamund (the lady from the Italian Embassy) would be ok ...since she did speak English and she was available...he said it would be ok so she came with us and it was interesting to watch as she became a teacher.....

The trip started off poorly as on Friday.....we go our tickets and there were no seats left so the 4-5 hour trip would have to be done standing up....not a good start...but by the third stop Rosamund had a seat and after the 4th I had a seat so we were good for the last 1/2 of the trip.

Some interesting things about the trip.....about RMB 25 ($4)for the trip of about 300km...and it was packed as I said....no air conditioning...only fans that did not run...and they just packed the people onto the train....after the seats were taken....I really noticed the poverty again.....cows pulling the plows or the wagons...people actually hoeing large plots of land......the houses.....geez....one thing I noticed and I asked a journalist who I had made friends with, what were the small mounds in the fields...you would see the field with the nice rows and then see a small mound of dirt with some little ceramic or stone on the top... that was where they had buried someone..just make a pile of dirt and the body was inside it....the bigger the pile the more important the person..... the government has forbidden that from now on but they don't seem to care

The trees have been replanted and they are in neat rows....kind of weird to see...

Had a great time with the people on the train...was sitting with an old lady who was going home to a wedding and was taking some food home.....kind of like an Ukrainian wedding...we kidded around a little...the journalist being my interpreter....also a young girl who was going to become a teacher....really noticed being stared at and listened to....we were the only whites I think on the whole train.....getting out was a sea of humanity.....all the black hair and me with none and Rosamund with light brown...weird

Got through the teaching on the weekend without losing any sanity ......went in to the kindergarten through to grade 9 ish and fielded questions from Do you like China, strawberries, grapes, dumplings, to what is your favourite colour, animal, food, fruit etc to What happened to your hair and to what does a typical Canadian student do in a day.....and I had to show some flags and pictures and Go Riders Go chant....some more potential fans....very polite and automatons at times.....school was a private one...still haven't been to a public one.....need to do that.....because they are getting some English instruction and of course a guest lecturer from Canada...... they pay extra for the education....had a great time with the staff and some friends .....after school and for dinner.....man some of them like to drink.....and we did...I think I held my own but did not get into the rocket fuel they call Bijoe..and it will clean out your innards too...just stuck to the low alcohol beer and was able to survive...the food was excellent.....had to try Donkey dumpling.....somewhat coarse meat...not anything to write home about but I guess I am writing home about it....visited the place where the Great Wall meets the sea...a tourist attraction of course....had a lady with us as a guide helper...very funny lady....she bargained for me and then went down the wall a little further and found what we had for a cheaper price.....about 20 cents......we laughed about that.....lots of stuff.....all made in China.....hahaha

Had an interesting incident on the way home.....we were given a car ride home as the principal, a former gymnast, did not want us riding on the train that was going to be packed with people coming home from the holidays....so she got us a car and a driver to take us back....one stop he got out to get some smokes and then did smoke in the car.....unusual for us to have smoking in the car.....most interesting was the second stop...he gets out of the car and walks to the trunk....rustles around and then changes the license plate on the back and gets another one and changes the license plate on the front........I have no idea why and no one was offering up any reason and the trip just kept right on going.....hmmmmmmm.....recently....just an addition..apparently it may have something to do with speeding tickets....or illegal plates...or both.....the guy was going 140 kph at times....so maybe????

Remember what I said about a place of contrast......we were traveling along a 6 lane highway with speeds of over 150 km and right beside us in the fields were carts being pulled by cow and donkeys.....and that is the stark reality.....

Returned to BCCSC...got my laundry started....sent over some dry cleaning...tried to get some work started...failed.....and am trying to get my mind around stating u[p for the final jog into July...35 degrees today and it is supposed to get hotter.....woohoo....room is somewhat cleaner without the 6 sets of clubs and also the other stuff...will try to keep it that way...only 3 sets of left handed clubs and they are mine...will be bringing at least 2 sets home in July when I come.....beginning to see that as a very important date...will do some last minute shopping and then stuff all of it in my suitcases and get home in one piece I hope.....Jennifer is getting tickets to Craven weekend to see Reba McIntire so that will be a good start...

Will try to get some pictures on this one.....can't download any of my own for some reason so I ask Don to put them on the flash disk and then I fiddle around with them from there...a bit of a pain in the buttocks

Have helped a Korean boy with his math...and he is very appreciative....also had to deal with an incident he was involved in...I hope I set him straight....got a letter from his mom......was quite surprised and she also was quite happy that I had helped him.....I think that is the most satisfying aspect of teaching....forget about the other bull....he still is coming for help and I really enjoy his company....he has a sense of humour.....

Will sign off and try to get a complete set of pictures on the next blog