The lack of posts has not been for the lack of stories, but rather the opposite - the abundance of life and activities has swept us away. Our arrival to Zhongshan was the complete opposite of arriving in Shantou - we were met with smiles, welcomes, and an apartment that was practically pristine and furnished with IKEA furniture. Instead of wielding bleach spray bottles and mops, we were able to unpack boxes and begin the process of turning the apartment into our sanctuary of a hutong.
In the nine weeks since then, so much has happened. Life, laughter, gatherings, friends, adventures, meeting new people, explorations - all the pieces we so greatly craved in Shantou have come in abundance here in Zhongshan. Here are the highlights...
We have loved returning to the land of palm trees and abundant humidity. Our first days of classes involved a lot of improv and patience, like dealing with no computers in the classroom. (Seriously, there are moments I feel as though I have returned to the 1950s.) The greatest surprise and delight was seeing only 20 students per class. Having such a small group is something I have always wanted for a speaking class, so to actually experience it has been wonderful. Granted, the English is still rough and they really do not practice to improve, but dealing with 20 people rather than 60 is nice.
Thanks to Tony, Zach is gradually checking off Chinese football teams to see. While I stayed in Zhongshan to attend a work meeting/dinner, Zach cheered for Guangzhou Evergrande in their quest to beat Beijing Guon. That evening, I joined him in Guangzhou so the next day we could see friends and frolic through IKEA.
Our week three began quite blustery and wet with gigantic Typhoon Morgansteen plummeting Hong Kong and Zhongshan. It was one for the records, and left massive damage in its wake. Our campus trees bore the brunt; there were times I thought a massive banyan was going to be in my kitchen by the end. After it had passed, I was surprised and impressed that instead of sawing all the fallen trees to sell as firewood, the campus workers actually made the effort to return the trees to standing. Saving trees is not a common sight in this country, so for such an effort to be mounted made me happy. Granted, on the bigger trees, they hacked off the tops before standing them, but I must commend that there were steps made towards saving the environment.
Our Mid-Autumn Festival was filled with activity thanks to our friend, Hins. A former student who has become a dear friend, happens to be a local Zhongshan boy. On our second day in town, he took us on an intensive walking tour around our campus. For this holiday, he came home from his master's work in Hong Kong to include us in his family's festivities. We joined a feast at a local vegetarian restaurant (which his mom is a shareholder), enjoyed morning tea with his grandparents - who were absolute bundles of happiness and hilarity, explored local parks and museums, and spent the holiday evening gazing at the moon while enjoying the traditional spread of fruit and mooncakes. It was the most quintessential Mid-Autumn we have experienced to date and we loved Hins' family.
On one of our explorations with Hins, we discovered two of the local museums - the Zhongshan Museum and the Zhongshan Radio Museum. The Zhongshan Museum was hosting an exhibit pertaining to lychee - rabbits holding lychee, bowls with lychee painted on them, poems about lychee, fake lychee, dried lychee, lychee art, etc. It was a bit underwhelming but comical. However, the radio museum next door was a bizarre collection of radios through the ages. It was fun to see how such an iconic item has progressed through the years and its variances from country to country. Though the DeWalt radio did seem a smidge out of place.
Our golden week holiday involved a very full house.
We had the honor to cat-sit for a Turkish couple as they gallivanted about Sri Lanka. Anouk was a plump, furry, ever-shedding, gray cat who made us laugh so much, yet reminded us that cats are angsty teenagers as he would poop in random spots to show his displeasure. By day, he was a one-paw-to-touch-a-human feline, by night he was a wrap-his-body-around-the-human's-head-and-use-whiskers-to-wake-up-the-human-for-petting feline. His antics were bizarre and quirky, yet we loved his presence so much.
Tony came to spend a mere 36 hours with us. His sole purpose was to eat my cooking and play football with Zach...hence why I have no photo to share of his visit.
Tiger was the perfect partner in crime for our jaunt to the Chubang soy sauce factory. Thanks to a quick google search of weird things to do in Zhongshan, we learned that our village by the sea is home to one of the largest soy sauce manufacturers. It seemed fitting that on October 1, the day to celebrate all things China, we spent it learning about the iconic sauce of life in these parts.
We actually expected the place to be closed due to the holiday, but were thrilled to discover it was open though the production lines were shut down. Nonetheless, we embraced the experience to it fullest, beginning with our shenanigans with the traditional soy sauce vats in front of the museum; which made the worker laugh and snap her own set of photos. (I suspect we may be on tourism material soon.) We were to be three of barely a dozen to visit at this time, practically giving us a private tour experience.
The beginning part of the tour delves into the traditional methods of soy sauce creation. In a well laid out museum, a variety of methods and tools are displayed. Though, with the lack of English, we had a grand time creating our own recipes based on the pictographs and tools displayed. I fear our soy sauce would have ended up being moonshine.
The traditional turns into the modern with a hallway into the development, manufacturing, and bottling part of the factory. It was quiet, but nice. I was impressed by the effort the company had put into the details - flooring that mimicked the label, large windows for viewing, and brand consistency throughout the walk.
The grand finale is the opportunity to taste soy sauce ice cream. The first bite is strange, but by the third bite, it tastes like chocolate. Tiger and Zach enjoyed it so much, they purchased a second round.
Tiger and Emma overlapped by a night and day. On our one day as a quartet, we explored local alleyways and local food.
With Emma, we enjoyed foot massages, Dongbei food, her birthday, and a jaunt to Sun Yat Sen's village area. We began the day by exploring a movie set - said to be one of the top ten in China for shooting movies. We quickly realized the lie and spent the time laughing and pointing out the discrepancies. The American street was hysterical - ramshackle buildings bearing Malaysian text and instant noodle shops. The church was scary - concreted windows complete with a huge mural including Caesar with Jesus and a dash of European royalty. We could not even fathom where the leaders could purchase such an artwork.
After TV town, we strolled over to Sun Yat Sen's home village; it was insane and we quickly admitted Chinese overload and retreated. Chinese are masters at creating bottlenecks and mayhem. We said we would return one day, sans holiday crowds.
A couple weeks after national holiday, Zach and I split for the weekend. He remained in Zhongshan to play football, while I went to Foshan to spend a weekend with Amy, Alice, and Kento. I continually say that one of the joys of teaching and working with uni students is the privilege of seeing them graduate and forge their paths. These guys are flourishing and I am so honored to see it.
Our weekend was so many things - touring, eating, laughing into the wee hours of the night. As a trio, we meandered the ZuMiao Temple and watched lion dancing. We ate Xibei food and sweet soup. We spent the evening in a spa so I could get my hair cut. We randomly met the leaders for the Coca-Cola collecting club of China - taking pictures and leaving with a goody bag.
The day Kento could join, we walked the Ancient Nanfeng Kiln. It is the haven for all things ceramic, home of beautiful water features, the setting for a Chinese version of Heat Miser (from A Year Without a Santa Claus), and a labyrinth of some beautiful alleyways and shops.
Hours could be spent meandering, and we did. We rested our feet that evening by enjoying Beijing hot pot and chocolate fondue.
Our final morning involved morning tea and a jaunt to the flower market. The day ended in a bit of a snafu when I missed my train to Zhongshan due to traffic, but Amy and Kento relished the opportunity to drive me to Zhongshan as Kento is a local boy and they had dinner with his parents.
While I was gallivanting in Foshan, Zach was spending some hours on the football pitch. He was asked to join the teachers team for the fall tournament season. The team has done well, though I suspect some of that is due to them upping their game to keep up with the foreigner. Along with playing, Zach has been helping to coach the foreign language team. As expected, football brings people together and Zach is finding his niche once again among the footballers of this campus.
We had our first outing with students last week. The nearby district of Guzhen is the mecca of Guangdong lighting manufacturing and distributing. The annual trade show coincides with a lighting festival, a time the town bedecks everything in string lights and places light features throughout the parks. It was a fun day, though we enjoyed the enthusiasm of the students moreso than the lights (as the lights were nothing more than the usual Christmas decorations of the west, still beautiful but nothing new for us.) Their excitement and exclamations of delight were the highlight for us.
We continued our annual trick-or-treat extravaganza this year. Dressed as Superman and a seahorse, we handed out loads of candy, took lots of pictures, and had a great time giving our students a small glimpse of American culture.
One of the most unexpected experience of living in Zhongshan has been random encounters with former students. Over the years, we knew we had students from here, but never realized the abundance. William works in the campus supermarket, so we see him a couple of times a week. Early September, I was leaving the restroom when I heard, "Amanda!" I looked up to see these guys, Jerry and Lesgora. Hugs, happy dances, and a plethora of wows filled this reunion, especially when we went to meet Zach. Jerry even teared up as he was so excited (in two days he was to move to Saipan, which has since been ravaged by a typhoon and the government is saying it will be five months before electricity is restored.) This moment was such a tangible reminder that it is such a privilege to live this life.
