Monday 1 April 2013

I enjoy watching the grandfathers in China.

They can be seen pushing toddlers in strollers or gathering with friends at the bridge over the West Lake, always with their toddlers in tow.

Grandfathers babysit.  

There are a few reasons for this.  People in China tend to retire a few years earlier than in the West.  They often have an adult

child, with a spouse and child, living with them in a small apartment.  Both young parents typically have jobs because it is necessary.  

That leaves the babysitting to the grandparents.  The grandfathers, especially, seem to enjoy this duty.

One reason that the grandfathers are so visible is because people don't have backyards.  Almost everyone lives in an apartment

building.  So, the public spaces are used in ways that we would use our backyards.  The children are out playing in public parks,

entry plazas to buildings and such places.  Letting the child play outside always requires adult supervision.

Grandfathers all over the world love and care for their grandchildren, but in China it is often on a daily and personal basis.

In return, the grandchildren have intense and uncomplicated love for their grandparents.  I have seen this in their writing. Many students have written about the  lessons learned from illiterate grandparents:  to be brave, to defend your country, to be happy, to keep trying, to be honest, to be a man, to cook. Children have often spent a great

deal of time with them, when the parents were elsewhere working.

Here is a nice tribute written by a student from Gansu province, in the northwest of China.

My Earliest Memory

     Seeing this title, I just think of my grandpa, a hero in my heart.  He was a doctor for children.  When I was two years old, there was a kind

of communicable disease around our village.  Of course, my grandpa had the responsibility to save the children there.  He was busy working for

four days without sleeping and finally he got cerebral infarction and paralysation.  We were all very sad but proud of him.  That's my grandpa, my 

first memory.

This blog entry is in memory of Tak Takahashi, a kind and adoring grandfather, who died on Saturday March 30, 2013.

Monday 25 March 2013

Here are a few unrelated pictures.

The first is a picture of Alisa and Maria at our pearl shop in the wholesale pearl market. As usual, the shops are like
little cubby holes and there are literally thousands of them in this building. This shop was recommended as being
honest and we have found that they are very helpful even though most of the orders are wholesale orders. We have learned a lot
about different grades of pearls. The mother is always there stringing pearls and her son, who speaks very good English, is the main
salesman. Whenever we take the metro to this area, I feel like we are in Old Canton. The streets are narrow and the trees, which Don
thinks are a kind of ash, form a canopy over the streets. It feels like we are walking into an area and a business that has
been in Canton (Guangzhou) for hundreds of years, right in this district. If I were to write a novel about China, it would be centred
in these streets around the Pearl Market.

The second picture comes from another wholesale area called the Fashion District. They are iPhone covers. It may surprise you to
know that China has a lot of bling. It may be the bling capital of the world. Everything is cute and fancy.

The last photo shows the workers in the Foreign Office. They take care of us and are so kind and efficient. We haven't had any of the problems
that some of the teachers at other universities have experienced. They are perfect. Left to right, Susan, David, Maria, Don, Alisa, Kathy, Maggie and Wendy.
David is technically in another office but comes to all the dinners. He is interesting and has just returned from spending a few years in the Chinese
Embassy in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The three "girls" in the office gave a lovely gift each to Alisa and Maria. The office was closed
for the spring festival when Lily and Debby came to visit.

By the way, some of the problems experienced at the other universities are no schedule for times or finals, walking into a class and not knowing what
you will be teaching, or never getting a definite answer.

Monday 18 March 2013

One Friday evening in January, Don and I were invited over to the dorm room of our student helper, Michael Zhou.
Michael said that we were going to make dumplings, since making dumplings together is a traditional family activity
during the spring festival (Chinese New Year's). Michael is from the province of Hunan, and he said that his family
meets on New Year's eve and assembles and cooks and eats dumplings.

We walked to the dormitory, unsure of how this was going to work. It was soon apparent that we were going to do
the making, cooking and eating, right in Michael's room. Two other roommates were there, plus another friend that
was called down from upstairs, and Vicky, another student helper who has often helped Michael take care of us.
Most of the students had already left the campus to visit their families for the holidays. The dorm was quiet. As
it turned out, Michael had been assigned the oldest dormitory on campus. There were two bunk beds in a room and the
washroom was a community affair down the hall. There was one washing machine for laundry on each floor, to serve about
50 male students. There are no dryers. It was an extremely small and humble room. There was a small balcony off the end where a water
dispenser was placed (for clean drinking water), and a hot plate, which they said was illegal in the room. There were
no closets, which answered the question of why you always see clothing hanging on the balconies. It is not for drying clothes
as much as for a place to put them. Michael pays 600 yuan per year, which is $100. The girls dorms have a private
bathroom in each room and so they pay double. The foreign students have much better facilities.

The festive group had purchased 3 dumpling fillings and the wrappers. We would call them closest to won ton wrappers.
Michael made sure that we washed our hands and put on disposable plastic gloves. Then we made dumplings for about
one hour. It was fun. Don was a natural. After he told me to hold the dumpling in my hand, gently like a little baby,
I understood the need to be gentle, and my dumplings got much better. I am thinking that it is a point of pride among the
mothers in China to be able to make dumplings that look nice.

Then we heated up the water and boiled the dumplings, dipped them in sauce and had a very good meal. In the meantime, one of
the roommates was on the balcony making a nice soup. He used some meat for the broth and then added greens. It was all a
delicious memory.

This will be remembered as one of our most cherished memories from China. The invitation into the personal lives of students, the fun we had,
the joy from everyone's company and the affection that we felt, are precious to Don and I.

Friday 15 March 2013 (zoo #2)

Here are a few more photos of our day at the zoo.

They show just how close you can be to the animals.
Lily had a basketball shootout with a black bear.
We won't divulge who won. (The trainers were very
particular about where Lily stood and told her
sternly to not move around too much.)

Friday 15 March 2013

It may seem odd to travel half way around the world to go to a zoo, but that is exactly what Don and I
made Ian, Debby, Matt and Lily do. We went to the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou. We had been
told that it was "the best zoo in the world," and so we checked it out the week before our guests arrived.
Our assessment was, "This is the best zoo in the world!" Then, we only hoped that the others would agree.
They did. You can read in Matt and Lily's journal, "You can't even explain how wonderful it was."

Now, I am not a zoo-person, but the majesty of the white tigers won me over. The zoo is so well structured
that you feel as though you are among the animals. The safari area is thrilling. Some people say that they
saw more animals here than when they were on a real African safari. (This is sounding familiar. Perhaps I
have raved about the zoo before in the blog. Since I cannot check it, just excuse the repetition.)

It was freezing cold that day, under 10 degree C. We braved the cold, which wasn't forecast, and had a good
time with the animals. We saw real panda bears and felt that the experience was uniquely Chinese after all.

Wednesday 13 March 2013 #2

Alisa captured some of the beauty of China.

Wednesday 13 March 2013

The Pearl River has been central to Canton's (Guangzhou's) success and development.
For a few thousand years it has brought traders from Persia, Arabia and later the Western countries.
It is a broad river that runs through the centre of the city but also has many branches, since Guangzhou
is located on the Pearl River delta. This makes the city charming with waterways and bridges and
beautiful parks.

The Pearl River is still a working river and to the east of the city you can see barges loaded for
transport to the ocean. One of nicest things to do in the evening is take the Pearl River scenic
cruise, which we did with both of our family visitors. Both nights were chilly, but the cruise still
was enjoyable. The lights along the river are colourful and the Canton Tower is nothing short
of a world-class spectacle in the evening.