Still catching up on the Guilin Journey.....

Gentle Reader,

 

Still trying to catch up on the journey in Guilin, so here is an attempt to do so...

 

One of the most special and memorable mornings occurred when we wandered down to the riverfront quite early one morning.  Scott was looking for some kindred spirits to share Tai Chi with.  What we discovered was an beautiful array of many people doing all sorts of Tai Chi and dancing.  There was a group doing Tai Chi with swords, another with fans.   There were several different types of music, including Latin music, being played along the riverfront. 

 

An old Chinese man extended his hand, asking me to dance.  And yes, I joined him down by the river for a dance that I will never forget..

 

I hope when you are asked to dance, that you, too, will accept the invitation...

 

Namaste,

Bai Ling

A Poem from a Student

Gentle Reader,

 

Part of what we have been doing with students is have them keep journals in groups of 4's.  Nancy and I tried this in Bijie, with wonderful results. We are having good results here in Guiyang, too.

 

I divided my class into groups of four, starting off the journals with a letter to each of the groups.  Then, I asked them to respond with a letter, after which they were to pass the journal on to the next person listed on the cover of the journal.  Most students express themselves in prose in the journal, but one student included a poem he wrote for me.  This was a very special moment in reading the journals last night, so I would like to share David's poem with you, too...

 

 

David prefaced his poem by saying, "My respectable Ms. Marianna, because of your guide, I forget my all sadness and troubles.  In our country, many teachers don't give me a good suggestion, but you let me know a lot.  I am proud of your kindness and devotion.  My dear teacher, thanks for your honest teaching.  I give you a poem to express my honest feelings and emotion...

 

 

Far away your hometown,

you deeply devote on your love.

Your sweet words, your fluent action,

is in our hearts forever.

They give us strong power.

Let's conquer all difficulties.

 

You are a candle

for our future,

we become tired and water us

with your colorful knowledge. 

Your sweat appears at your face.

But you forget your existence.

 

You are like a breeze.

Touch our soul softly.

Your appearance and heart look like spring.

Grass is green for you.

Flower is colorful for you.

Water is clear for you.

 

                                           -David

 

 

Thank you, dear David. 

 

May you have many people who are "candles" in your life... and may you let them know of the light they give you...

 

Namaste,

Marianne/  Bai Ling

 

 

 

 

If I Were in Charge of the World July 27

 

Gentle Reader,

 

Ni Hao!   we are now about 3/4 through our teaching here in Guiyang, and I am finding that I must begin to plan the course of study even more carefully, as we only have a few class days left with our amazing students.

 

Two days ago, I shared Judith Viorst's poem "If I Were in Charge of the World" with my students.  I then asked them to "dream big" and pretend they were in charge, either as queen or king or president or premier, etc...  The results were all over the board, as far as what they would change.  Many talked about cleaning up the environment, making the world a less aggressive place, and having better relations between the countries and peoples of the world.  Several focused on what they would change in their families and especially in their jobs as teachers.  Some of the women wrote about wishes regarding choices that females have, including how they perceive themselves.  One man, 35 years old, wrote "If I were a dead man" for his poem.  This man is 35, unmarried, and very traditional in his views of relationships, role of women, job status, etc...  He has the soul of a poet and his writings are often laden with such sadness.  He seems to have been disappointed in love and writes about being lonely quite frequently.  His writing is very much his way of reaching out... 

 

So, below are a few of the poems students wrote in response to the Viorst prompt.  Enjoy...

 

 

If I were a dead man

I'd be relaxed

Every morning,

Day and night, and also

spring, summer fall and winter.

 

If I were a dead man

There'd be happier and sweeter life,

Sleeping body, and

All dreams becoming quieter and quieter.

 

if I were a dead man

You would be happy

You would be sweet

You would have a good future.

Or "Forget me forever."

you would even forget old times.

 

If I were a dead man

the sky would be blue.

The world would move every day.

And you who cheated me to smile happily

And sometimes forgot to miss my lonely soul.

A man shouldn't come to the world.

Let me be

A dead man.

 

                 -David

 

If I were in charge of the world

You wouldn't do many chores

You wouldn't have worries

You wouldn't have angers

or "the world in unfair."

You would be peaceful.

 

If I were in charge of the world

women would in charge of their looks

long hair, short hair, whatever they want.

tall or short, heavy or slim.

Looks like Anne Hathaway or Anelina Jolie.

All are in control by ourselves

And also, there'd never be

years or decrepitude.

 

                             -Sophia

 

If I were in charge of the time

I'd save my dear father,

many years,

healthy lives and also

happy and alive body.

 

If I were in charge of the time

i would study harder than before,

learn much more knowledge

understand much more hows and whys

become intelligent.

 

If I were in charge of the time

you wouldn't have vicious

you wouldn't be hostile to others.

You wouldn't have warfare

or:  don't be complain about everything.

You wouldn't even have worries.

 

If i were in charge of the time

many bad things would be disappeared

good things would be continued.

All students would be top students

and a person who sometimes forgot to be ready

for studying

and sometimes forgot to review

would still be allowed to

be in charge of the time.

 

                               -Tina

 

If I were a headmistress of a school

I'd cancel teachers useless work,

Monday mornings,

let teachers do some useful work.

 

If I were headmistress of a school

There's be happy teaching life.

Teachers students and

will hold colorful activities.

 

if i were a head mistress of a school

you wouldn't have nervous,

you wouldn't have uncomfortable,

you wouln't have to keep in school after class.

 

If I were headmistress of a school,

all teachers and students would be relaxed

and a teacher or student who will forget unhappiness

would still be allowed to be

an owner of the life.

 

                                  -Lily

 

If I were in charge of the world

THere'd be brighter future, powerful strength

no war exists.

no power disputes,

full of peace and harmony.

 

If I were in charge of the world

science and technology would replace labor,

management would be put at the first place

advance equipments were supplied everywhere.

no people died of lackkng of medical treatment.

No famine took place.

No poisonous food exists.

 

If I were in charge of the world,

i would attach importance to the education reform.

Treat teachers seriously.

Give more love and strength to them.

Improve the teaching quality.

Enhance integrated power of countries.

 

how hard it is!

But try and make it.

 

                         -Janya

Yuen Fun! A day filled with happy coincidences!!!

Gentle Reader,

 

This was a "yuen fun" day... a day filled with many happy coincidences.  It was a day, too, filled with the power of music as the universal language.  And as Scott put it on our way home, "Being in China is like being on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride over and over again!"  Yes!  Yes!

 

We said goodbye to Scott's student Li today, as he had to return to Foshon City.  He will be riding the train for 21 hours to get to his home.  We were so grateful to see him here, and we shared many adventures with him the last four days.  I will elaborate on these adventures in another blog entry.

 

Today... our first serendipitous adventure was in the downtown area, right after we had been to the Buddhist Temple.  We heard some clanging of cymbals outside, near a pavillion.  It was the hottest day yet here in Guiyang, so everyone was seeking shady spots.  The rhythmic cymbals were emanating from a group of very old women, all of whom were dancing in a circle around a tree.  They each held scarves or fans or pieces of cloth, and they waved the to the beat of the cymbals.  They were having one grand ole time!  Then, they moved underneath one of the pavillions and took turns singing into a microphone, with two people playing the Erhu, a popular two-stringed instrument in China.  They were clearly singing familiar songs, which we assumed might be popular folk songs.  There was such liveliness in this gathering, and they quickly motioned for us to join them under the pavillion.  Before I knew it, they were putting the microphone in my hands, pressing me toward the center of the pavillion to sing.  So...  I sang the old Irving Berlin tune, "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow."  Then, sensing they were craving something they could clap or tap their toes to, I sang a rousing chorus of "Skidamirink a dink a doo I love you."  Twas a real crowd pleaser, and the fact that we understood very little of what each other actually said, made no difference whatsoever.  We bonded over the music, and that made all the difference.

 

When I was first moving toward the pavillion of dancing/singing women, Scott was approached by a man from Guiyang.  He just chatted him up a bit, as many do when they see "foreigners" here in Guiyang.  Keep in mind that Guiyang is not a touristy place at all.  We are living amongst the locals, experiencing life day to day in a pretty darn genuine fashion.  This man then showed Scott a laminated card and a box.  Our first thought was that this was a sales pitch of some sort.  However, the man just opened the box, revealing a beautiful jade piece of jewelry.  He gave some happy-to-meet you kinds of gestures, and gave Scott every indication that the jade was his to keep.  Another adventure on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride today!

 

After our meanderings through the park, we went to Highlands Coffee Shoppe, which is run by an American named Chris.  He became our buddy the last time we stopped in at the coffee shoppe, offering us restaurant suggestions which both proved to be excellent.  While waiting for our coffee and mocha smoothie, a young Chinese woman and her mother began to chat us up.  The mother spoke no English, but she kept feeding questions to the daughter, who spoke quite good English, to ask us.  We discovered her name was Claire and that she was a university student in Beijing, home for the summer.  She was happy for the opportunity to practice her English.  Her major has something to do with working on translations for Chinese soap operas and film.  Anyway, we talked for a long time, and then her mother invited us to dinner.  We assumed this was an invitation to her home, but we learned a bit later that she wanted to take us out to a restaurant.  Although Scott was a bit hesitant, as he didn't want to impose, I encouraged us to respond with a "yes" to this most generous invitation to strangers.

 

Sidenote:  Scott then referred to this as my "zipline moment."  His zipline moment occurred on Saturday when he took the plunge on a zipline across the landscape of the Cave Park we visited.  He flew across in nothing but a barebones sort of harness.  To say that my heart was plunged into my stomach is an understatement.  And yes, indeed, he was waving as he flew across the zipline.  He was joined by Li on the zipline, and both of them were completely exhilarated after this wild ride!

 

Anyway... back to today... We ended up going to a restaurant with Claire and her mother.  Her father and two other friends, one of whom was Claire's former English teacher, also showed up at the restaurant.  The food was tremendous, but the company was even more fabulous!  Claire's father sang for us in this deeply resonant, lyrical voice:  Chinese songs as well as Russian songs.  They then asked me to sing, and the evening turned into a wonderful swapfest of songs.  We all knew "Eidelweiss" and "Do Re Mi, " which turned into a beautiful collection of voices.  The father even sang a love song to the mother.  Scott and I harmonized singing "You are my Sunshine."   Again, the power of song to build bridges and to truly be the universal language.  This was a most lovely evening... and after an exchange of email address, we now have many new friends.

 

I will talk about the issues we discussed at the table in the next blog.  Questions about human rights were raised by the father, as well as Scott and Claire discovering that they are both jazz percussionists.  A day filled with Yuen Fun... happy coincidences of people meeting!

 

May you, too have moments of Yuen Fun today and everyday...

 

Namaste,

Bai Ling

 

 

 

 

 

Backtracking to Guilin Again... July 4-6 Elephant Trunk Park

Gentle Reader...

 

Just trying to catch up on blog entries missed when we had a period of no internet.  So, we're going back in time to July 4-6 in Guilin again.  This time I'll chat a bit about our experiences in Elephant Trunk Park...

 

This is a beautiful space, with scenic spots, picnic areas, and bursts of cultural dance.  There is a rock formation that looks like an elephant trunk, which is a popular place for picture taking.  There are also several fishermen and fisherwoman in the area with the comorant birds, which I am familiar with from children's stories when I was young.  The birds necks are tied off with a ring, and the birds go diving for large fish that they cannot swallow.  They are rewarded with smaller fish that can pass by the ring around their necks.  We also enjoyed a dance presentation by three of the minority groups:  Miao, Dong, and another group that begins with a "b," whose names escapes me at the moment.  Near the end of the performance, they grabbed people from the audience to participate in the dance.  Obviously, no hesitation of the part of Scott and me!  We had a musical blast dancing with the troupe!

 

There were numerous sculptures in the park, including a beautiful one of mother and child.  We also noted a uniquely Chinese "keep off the grass" sign, which read:  "We can''t stand the sight of mattress fragrant grass." 

 

A lovely adventure, with singing and dancing!

 

Namaste,

Bai Ling