Upon arrival in Beijing, about 6 weeks ago now, I could still see many Beijing Olympics 2008 related signs, notices and shops. While visiting Qingdao, a week and a half or so ago, the same thing.

SC and I walked the pedestrians path along the shore, from the Old City to the Olympic Marina (as they still call it and probably will call it forever) and further. The area around the Olympic Marina had banners out for the Volvo Ocean Race that had a stopover there at that time, but also banners and other memorabilia from the BJO 2008. Especially in the Marina itself. Walking around the Marina we saw many buildings that were especially built for the Olympics and all of them were empty and seemed to slowly fall apart. Some of them were actually being torn down! Can you imagine… so much money spent on building these amazing facilities and within 4 to 5 months half of them are being demolished or will fall apart sooner or later.

Seeing this, I wondered if it has been worth hosting the Olympics. People were driven from their homes, billions of yuan were spent on new facilities, factories were shut down, special measures taken to reduce pollution and all else China did to make it the most successful Olympics ever. At that time I think they really did a good job and it seemed that it was mostly good for China and for the rest of the world. Now, seeing how much is still left of the BJO as a good memory (?), or as proof of what was achieved, seeing how much is being demolished and wiped out and with the worldwide financial crisis, I can only hope that China will be able to earn back all the money spent, that the Chinese stay proud of their country and can continue to welcome travellers from all over the world.

Upon arrival in China, about 6 weeks ago now, the airport was quiet, no long lines at the customs desk, no huge groups of foreigners as were there in the years before. All around me it seems I see less foreigners, I hear about people losing their jobs (both in China and abroad), Hillary Clinton will have a talk with Hu Jintao and one of the keypoints will be the financial crisis, I hear less Chinese talking about China as passionately as they did over the last few years. So…. has it all been worth it, or will the world focus her attention on another country? Will the world critisize another country as she did China? Will China go under or has she become stronger?

Only the future can tell……

  VOR 2008-2009   Olympic torch

Upon arrival in Beijing, about 6 weeks ago now, I could still see many Beijing Olympics 2008 related signs, notices and shops. While visiting Qingdao, a week and a half or so ago, the same thing.

SC and I walked the pedestrians path along the shore, from the Old City to the Olympic Marina (as they still call it and probably will call it forever) and further. The area around the Olympic Marina had banners out for the Volvo Ocean Race that had a stopover there at that time, but also banners and other memorabilia from the BJO 2008. Especially in the Marina itself. Walking around the Marina we saw many buildings that were especially built for the Olympics and all of them were empty and seemed to slowly fall apart. Some of them were actually being torn down! Can you imagine… so much money spent on building these amazing facilities and within 4 to 5 months half of them are being demolished or will fall apart sooner or later.

Seeing this, I wondered if it has been worth hosting the Olympics. People were driven from their homes, billions of yuan were spent on new facilities, factories were shut down, special measures taken to reduce pollution and all else China did to make it the most successful Olympics ever. At that time I think they really did a good job and it seemed that it was mostly good for China and for the rest of the world. Now, seeing how much is still left of the BJO as a good memory (?), or as proof of what was achieved, seeing how much is being demolished and wiped out and with the worldwide financial crisis, I can only hope that China will be able to earn back all the money spent, that the Chinese stay proud of their country and can continue to welcome travellers from all over the world.

Upon arrival in China, about 6 weeks ago now, the airport was quiet, no long lines at the customs desk, no huge groups of foreigners as were there in the years before. All around me it seems I see less foreigners, I hear about people losing their jobs (both in China and abroad), Hillary Clinton will have a talk with Hu Jintao and one of the keypoints will be the financial crisis, I hear less Chinese talking about China as passionately as they did over the last few year. So…. has it all been worth it, or will the world focus her attention on another country? Will the world critisize another country as she did China? Will China go under or has she become stronger?

Only the future can tell……

Every day we would have at least one family visit for an extensive meal (I was excused for the second meal of the day ). One day we would be playing mahjiang at a cousin’s house, when suddenly I was summoned to the uncle’s house right next door. However much we protested and said we came here for the cousins, there was no stopping it. We had to have a meal with the uncle and all the ‘important’ people of the town he had been able to get together for lunch. I was seated on the guest of honour’s seat and then the men showed up, 1 by 1, and I was supposed to be smiling, to be witty and to communicate through my personal friend and interpreter (who hated being there as much as I did…). It was very clear from the first moment that it was ‘monkey time’. The uncle had invited these people and me, the only woman and of course foreigner, to show me off. Knowing a foreigner and especially being able to say it’s your nephew’s close friend can earn you a lot of respect still, in some places. Well, we sat through the meal trying not to look too grumpy and trying to ignore the fact that the conversation wasn’t a very polite one. We made it, but we escaped as soon as we could without being impolite. On the short walk afterwards we both agreed this definitely was ’monkey time’ and showing off the ‘waiguoren’. SC hates it, because he considers me his friend and not a prize to show off with.

A few days later I was swept off to another meal. Some of the people there were still quite important, others a lot less. Main thing was, they were nice and had some interesting things to talk about. No ‘monkey time’, but genuine interest and nice conversation. As always it was a meal with way too much delicious food. During this holiday, I had already eaten quite a few things I hadn’t had before….. chicken feet, pig ears, sheep hooves (!!!), stomach and intestines. Delicacies for everyone, except me; but I was brave and I tried it all (tried not always to ‘taste’ it though), put it in my mouth, chewed it, swallowed it and actually never felt sick to my stomach. But this was the meal where I drew the line… As the guest of honour (yep! again!) I had to take the first try of each dish that was served. After about 10 different dishes, suddenly a bowl of soup appeared. At least…. that was what it looked like from a distance….. As soon as they put it on the table I kindly but resolutely refused to eat what was in it. They were serving turtle soup, with a whole turtle floating in the bowl (no worries, it didn’t move anymore…)!!!! This is where I drew the line and fortunately it was commonly accepted (pfew!). Had I not been the guest of honour, I wouldn’t have had to refuse out loud, I just wouldn’t have taken any without a word. As did SC…..

I survived it all, I still love Chinese food, the Chinese and China and please don’t let this silly little story scare you off to ever come to China yourself

Three weeks have gone by now and they were busy weeks, with many visits to my friends and their families, visiting the orphanage and some fosterfamilies, learning to play mahjiang, celebrating Guo Nian, travelling back and forth between Yulin and other places and still much more ahead of me!

My first week here I spent with my friend ZD and her parents as ‘my’ house was still occupied at that moment. It’s always interesting staying with people, as you get a wonderful insight of their daily lives. The nice things and the nasty things. It’s a nice but simple house they have; a proper toilet, no shower and central heating that doesn’t work well. Pretty hard when temperatures are down to -25C during the day! The windows are beautifully decorated with ice ’paintings’ in the mornings…. You live with your coat on in houses like that and you wash as fast as you can in the morning to make sure you don’t freeze to the bones. But…. at night you share a bed and that’s really comfortable and cosy. The good things definitely outweigh the bad things.

It was actually a bit sad to say goodbye and move to my own house after a week.

Walking around Yulin, visiting the orphanage, the fosterfamilies, my friends’ families; everywhere I meet people for the first time since my return, they start smiling, look happy (haven’t got a clue why ), say hello, shake my hand or even give me big hugs and of course… the food comes out! Even the people at the supermarket or at the outdoor market and the restaurants recognize me and seem to be genuinly happy I’m back. One student of mine we unexpectedly bumped into actually almost started hyperventilating! It took about 15 minutes to calm her down and before she could talk and breath properly again. Goodness, it’s really weird to see what impact one can have one people. Ridiculous! I’m glad I’m not a celebrity with people fainting in front of me

Anyway, I’m home and I have lots to tell. That’s for another time though….

Take care!

 Over the last week it froze moderately, but since last night someone decided I should get really used to the cold of Yulin before leaving for Yulin It froze 15 degrees and it will be even colder tonight! As some of you may know….. the Dutch lOOOOOve ice. There are 3 things we learn while growing up: swimming, biking and ice skating. Even though we haven’t had a lot of natural ice over the last years, I see people of all ages skating on the ponds, canals and soon they will also be skating on the small lakes. I see people passing in the street with old skates, new skates, hockey sticks and with or without a chair to hold on to. It looks like pictures and paintings from a past long gone…… (you do need a bit of imagination for that ‘ long gone’ part )

It seems many people are getting really excited now that winter has really started. Almost all the Dutch are talking about the most famous and infamous tour on ice we have; the “Elfstedentocht”, meaning the tour of 11 cities. It is a skating tour on natural ice in the northernmost province of Holland, Friesland. It’s famous, because if you manage to finish this tour you are famous forever and you’re a real toughy. It’s infamous, because only very few people actually manage to finish the tour, because it’s an horrendous tour with many obstacles, people who suffer from the cold, who suffer from frozen noses, fingers or toes, people who have blisters but do not want to give up and most of all because people cross the finish line in piece as they are so determined to get that medal and instant fame. Nevertheless, almost every man, woman and child in Holland can’t wait for the “Elfstedentocht” to get started.

No confirmation on that yet, but…… we will have our first Dutch Championship marathon on natural ice (in Holland!!!) since 12 years, coming Thursday. The news is broadcasting it, it’s in the newspapers and you can hear people talk about it in the streets. Yes, the Dutch are getting nervous, jumpy and some even seem to be in higher spirits. I very much enjoy watching all of this - on shore -. Below some pictures from last week’s skating. If possible I will add some more of the skating fun later on….. 

My last few days in Yulin were full; full with visits to the YWI, full with visits to various fosterparents, full with lunches and dinners with people I care about, full with odd jobs to make time pass and keep my mind off tomorrow’s goodbye. My travel bags are full and my heart is full with all that has happened to me in the past two years, full of all the impressions that China has left with me, full…… with tears, but also a lot of happiness and joy. There is so much I leave behind, which means there is also so much to go back to. One of my students said in his goodbye letter: ‘ The earth is round, so we will definitely meet again!’ That’s a nice way to say it, I think.

Tonight the house will be full again, with many of my students who come to say goodbye, with some of my colleagues, who come to say goodbye, with so many people I care about, and who, unbelievably, also seem to care about me. More memories to take home, more reasons to come back again!

Goodbye, wo huilai le!!!!

But… I’ll be back as I am now definitely in the process of setting up a project for the YWI. Focused on the ‘disabled’ children, to make their lives better, to try and improve their living circumstances and for some even to make them more independent. Of course I need help for this and money. All the people in the YWI are very eager to get this project running, because they have seen over the last year what can be done and they realise what still needs to be done. They, more or less, put the fate of the children in my hands; they gave me their trust and I will put my heart and soul into making this project work, together with the YWI and some of my students who are very much involved. So today’s goodbye is not a farewell…..

As the big guy said: “I’ll be back!”

   screamin’ and kickin’

   kids, caretakers and us

   hugs and kisses

Having arrived at the Bell Tower it starts to rain; not just a bit, no, it rains heavily….. ‘The angels are crying’ is the expression that comes to my mind. At the airport bus stop it’s not really clear as to when the present bus will leave and when the next one will. After some discussion back and forth, Marcel takes the decision and says we will take the bus available now. When I tell SC we will leave on this one, he suddenly seems to realise we’re really leaving and that it’s time to say goodbye. ‘You’re leaving!? Now? On this bus!?’ It breaks my heart, but we have to leave anyway. The longer we stay and linger, the harder the goodbye will be. I get a shy and public hug (very rare!!) and he follows us on the bus. I already feel like I’m choking, but I don’t want to cry in his presence. As I turn around to say goodbye once more, he says ‘I will send you a message..’ All I can do is nod as the words get stuck in my throat. When I sit down in my seat and look out of the window, I see him there together with his classmate (whom I suspect he brought for support..), under an umbrella. The tears just start running and I can’t stop them, I can’t look at him any longer. How do you say goodbye to someone who has become so close over the last two years, someone who opened up to me and let me into his heart and his life, someone I hope to keep in touch with and see again sometime soon, someone…..

On the way to the airport I get his message:’It’s always hard to say goodbye, take care!’ He doesn’t show his feelings easily, this is the most I can expect by a text message. Leaving him has left me with a hole in my heart and I couldn’t stop crying for the rest of the day. Even now I can feel the pain and the tears easily start running again.

He was just 1 of the little group of close friends I have gathered around me. Thinking about saying goodbye to them and my “final” goodbye to China …… I could probably fill an ocean with my tears.

One of my other dear friends sent me a message saying:’DON’T BE SAD, IF WE DIDN’T HAVE SAD TIME TO SAY GOODBYE, THEN WE’LL NOT HAVE THE HAPPY TIME TO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN.’

 Happy Days

The welcome was heartwarming and interesting at the same time. On getting off the car, we obviously attracted a lot of attention, but to be honest, it was just friendly curiousity and no “HELLLLOOOO” this time. We had met SC’s dad and uncle on the train already and now met up with his mum. Finally we got to meet each other! After having been friends for 2 years and having been invited several times to come and visit his home. He comes from a reasonably good family, so no horror stories about our living conditions About an hour after our arrival, perhaps even half an hour, SC got a phone call from the one-and-only policeman in town. He had heard from the people in the street that ‘laowai’ had arrived and he wanted to have some information and drop by the house. To me, it was quite funny to see the official on top of everything and explaining that he had to do this and ask for all this information because of tighter rules from Beijing Government, due to the Olympic Games. To SC it seemed to set off a lot of annoyance; the official showing off his power… Interesting to compare his reaction to ours.

Anyway, after this interval we really had a splendid time. We swam in the river, we visited (were shown off to) many relatives, we hiked in beautiful surroundings, we were fed as if we hadn’t had food for months and we were part of family life in general. I know the Chinese are heartwarming and generous; I’ve been invited to students’ homes before, but here it got a bit embarassing at times. I do not want to be treated as a special person, just because I’m a foreigner or a teacher, I want to be treated as any other person, but that is something impossible I guess. At times I felt there was ’a clash of cultures’; me wanting to do the dishes, me not wanting SC’s mum to do MY laundry, me wanting to do things in my own stubborn way. I managed to get some of those things done, except for cutting down on the food. At times I really wanted to cry, because they never seemed to stop eating. Had we just finished one meal, they were already talking about the next and during the meals they just kept feeding me and scooping food into my bowl or onto my plate. However many times I said ‘bu you’ or ‘bu chi le’, it really didn’t help and at times I really had to get angry or I almost cried out of despair. I now understand that people can eat themselves to death, it could actually be corporal punishment!!! During this stay, SC’s mother asked me several times to please, please, please come and celebrate ‘Guo Nian’ (Spring Festival/Chinese New Year) with them. I would love to, I would love to celebrate a traditional festival at a family’s home, I would love to meet SC again and his family, but….. I know what my students look like after Spring Festival holiday. They all gain soooo much wait, I wish I had ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures to prove it. This is my only doubt, for now, about coming back for Spring Festival.

Besides the food I had only one other frustration during these days; my lack of Chinese! I really hated myself for not having been a good student and not having studied harder. I would have loved to communicate with both SC’s mum and dad; talk about many different things and show them my appreciation. Ofcourse one doesn’t always need words to communicate, but it would have made the stay even better. The good thing about this? I will definitely study Chinese when I get back to Holland, so that next time I WILL be able to talk to them myself and I will be able to tell them what wonderful son they have and what wonderful people they are, perhaps even talk more in-depth about certain issues.

On the night before we left Shuhe, we had a talk with SC’s mum and dad (with SC interpreting of course). 2 Things they said rally touched my heart. I was told that as a teacher we were at the same level and after this week we spent together they wanted me to call them Jiejie and Gege (older sister and older brother). I told them I was honoured, but that I couldn’t do that. SC asked me why and I really couldn’t answer that question. Because his mum and dad are quite a few years older? Because I do not feel I deserve that much credit just because I am a teacher? Because it’s too close? I really do not know. To the question what I would like to call them then, I also didn’t know what to say. Probably just SCde baba and SCde mama.. The next thing that got to me was something SC’s mum said during a short talk. She told me I was ‘Jia ren’, which means something like ‘you are one of us’. What more could I wish for? What can make you feel more welcome than people saying that? I was touched beyond words…..

  Gege/SCde baba  

 Jiejie/SCde mama

1 of them has locked himself up in the College library for over a week to study vocab and practise old exams (something I didn’t advise him to do, just so you know…) and we could only get him out for lunch or dinner or for 1 evening of relaxing and watching an English movie with English subtitles (good practise!!). The other student, at an unexpected moment, told me she was not going to take the exam because she was going home to take an exam for one of her relative’s friends… I beg your pardon?! It shouldn’t have surprised me… This is something that happens quite often in China. People will ask other people to take an exam for them because they themselves do not have the abilities. Even teachers here at my College will ask students to do exams for friends or relatives! What’s worse, they pay for it. LL needs money because she is from a poor family and she will continue her studies in Xi’an next year. She has to give up her hard work and the possibility to pass the exam in order to make her relative happy.

I’ve had many discussions about this phenomena with my students. How will China ever be a super power when so many people cheat? They cheat by doing exams for other people, they cheat by buying the answers to exams, they cheat by copying. In short: cheating is a way of life in China. But…. 1st of all they cheat on themsleves. Once they cheated thier way through College and graduate, they will get that really nice job because it seems they did so well in College. Ofcourse they will accept the job, but then it’s too late. As they start working they realize they can’t do it because they always cheated and learned hardly anything. Oooops, what a loss of face that must be! Also, having all those fake graduates in China; how can a country become a super power with people who have know true knowledge, no original minds? No wonder this country is so good at copying, it equals the cheating they did in College!

It gets worse actually… Students will do exams for people who are already working, but who need to do certain exams to either keep a job or get promoted. Be it teachers or people in other functions. Can you imagine teachers doing this? What will become of the future generation? Our students who are to be teachers after graduation, cheat their way through College and they are incapable teachers. Then, they will continue cheating after they get a job, by having College students take exams for them. The result? The future generation will get even poorer education.

When I talk about (discuss) this with my students, they all agree to the arguments I give them, but….. I know they will still continue in this way. Perhaps by the time it’s too late, will they realise the effect of what they now do.