As expected, our spring semester has zoomed past with us overwhelmed at the amount of life it has held. While there are still a handful of travel stories to tell, I wanted to pause a moment to reflect on a very full twelve weeks, post holiday.
Our return to Zhongshan was met with grand fanfare. The morning after our return, we joined the annual Lantern Festival parade. It is a huge affair, the culmination of a large donation drive by the local Red Cross. Hundreds of schools, organizations, government offices, and businesses brandish their banner and walk the main road in town. Some wear suits while others don traditional clothes. Some are the lions, others are the old sages of local opera. It was a wonderful event, which immediately captivated us. We took a lot of pictures and had a lot of pictures taken of us. After the parade, we enjoyed brunch with the leaders of the immigration and foreign affairs offices, as well as fellow expats. We made a couple of connections that have sparked new friendships for us. We realized that this event is akin to the annual mayor's banquet in Zhanjiang, thus we hope to return for it every year we are here.
The next day, we took a day trip to Guangzhou to see Nicole. This girl is integral to our story in China - she who walked up to us during our first days of GDOU and declared that she would be our friend. She did become our friend and we have loved seeing her grow, thrive, and achieve her dream of living in Canada. It was a quick day, but reunions of this kind are rare and precious.
A few days later, Loy came to spend a day with us in Zhongshan. Our day consisted of museum hopping, eating, and catching up on holiday adventures. This was to be our last meeting for a while as he has jaunted to Mexico for work.
School began the following week, a couple days later, so did March - my birthday month. This would be the month that began our hutong's journey as an inn, a revolving door of guests either for a night, a weekend, or a week. I cannot recall a time when I have washed our meager amount of sheets and blankets in such quick succession.
I had surprise visitors for my actual birthday weekend.
My students were sneaky, yet amazing. From a secret rendezvous on the football field for cake to handwritten birthday notes, from being gifted with no less than 70 mangoes to a class crowding into the hutong to bring cake and treats, it was a spectacular week.
My birthday month ended with the greatest gift - the Tos in China. This is a tale that will have its own post, but it must be mentioned here for it was and has been such a big part of our life this semester. It was epic and I am still stunned that it actually happened.
Four days after we bid farewell to the Tos and had wiped away our tears, Roger and Ada came to adventure in Zhongshan. Slow mornings, village meanderings, and great conversations - they are our kind of people.
Sprinkled throughout April were dinners with friends, class, football, and Tony showing up to eat my cooking and play football with Zach.
Our five-day May Day holiday began with a day trip to Guangzhou to see a group of friends we endearingly call the Kingdom Girls and watch Avengers: Endgame.
On day three of holiday, Jojo (who we have not seen for three years) came for a day; day four, Tony showed up to eat more food and play so many rounds of Dutch Blitz.
May has been a never ending monsoon, which has curbed our activity. Nonetheless, this past week, we (oh, so gratefully) signed contracts for the 2019-2020 school year. We are rejoicing in not having to pack the hutong for a third time.
While I am not a fan of compilation blog posts, the need for them are great at times. Our adopted motherland has and continues to cause havoc with internet connections this semester. It has been a great source of frustration, as it limits so much of life. Even accessing this blog has been futile most of the semester. Starbucks runs have been our technology sanctuary; a place to spend hours sipping our beverage and hurriedly doing all that must be done in a modern technological world. Thus, a post such as this is necessary. These moments were accumulating in abundance within my mind and I realized that to give each an individual post would bury me. There are so many small moments - the new temple found, the Chinglish objects I find endearing, the campus graduation antics - that I hope to share one day, but for now I will focus on finishing our travel tales and the week that involved our beloved family from Portland. Life is so good and so full, too bad our internet will not let me write about it as much as I want to now.
Our return to Zhongshan was met with grand fanfare. The morning after our return, we joined the annual Lantern Festival parade. It is a huge affair, the culmination of a large donation drive by the local Red Cross. Hundreds of schools, organizations, government offices, and businesses brandish their banner and walk the main road in town. Some wear suits while others don traditional clothes. Some are the lions, others are the old sages of local opera. It was a wonderful event, which immediately captivated us. We took a lot of pictures and had a lot of pictures taken of us. After the parade, we enjoyed brunch with the leaders of the immigration and foreign affairs offices, as well as fellow expats. We made a couple of connections that have sparked new friendships for us. We realized that this event is akin to the annual mayor's banquet in Zhanjiang, thus we hope to return for it every year we are here.
The next day, we took a day trip to Guangzhou to see Nicole. This girl is integral to our story in China - she who walked up to us during our first days of GDOU and declared that she would be our friend. She did become our friend and we have loved seeing her grow, thrive, and achieve her dream of living in Canada. It was a quick day, but reunions of this kind are rare and precious.
A few days later, Loy came to spend a day with us in Zhongshan. Our day consisted of museum hopping, eating, and catching up on holiday adventures. This was to be our last meeting for a while as he has jaunted to Mexico for work.
School began the following week, a couple days later, so did March - my birthday month. This would be the month that began our hutong's journey as an inn, a revolving door of guests either for a night, a weekend, or a week. I cannot recall a time when I have washed our meager amount of sheets and blankets in such quick succession.
I had surprise visitors for my actual birthday weekend.
My students were sneaky, yet amazing. From a secret rendezvous on the football field for cake to handwritten birthday notes, from being gifted with no less than 70 mangoes to a class crowding into the hutong to bring cake and treats, it was a spectacular week.
My birthday month ended with the greatest gift - the Tos in China. This is a tale that will have its own post, but it must be mentioned here for it was and has been such a big part of our life this semester. It was epic and I am still stunned that it actually happened.
Four days after we bid farewell to the Tos and had wiped away our tears, Roger and Ada came to adventure in Zhongshan. Slow mornings, village meanderings, and great conversations - they are our kind of people.
Sprinkled throughout April were dinners with friends, class, football, and Tony showing up to eat my cooking and play football with Zach.
Our five-day May Day holiday began with a day trip to Guangzhou to see a group of friends we endearingly call the Kingdom Girls and watch Avengers: Endgame.
On day three of holiday, Jojo (who we have not seen for three years) came for a day; day four, Tony showed up to eat more food and play so many rounds of Dutch Blitz.
May has been a never ending monsoon, which has curbed our activity. Nonetheless, this past week, we (oh, so gratefully) signed contracts for the 2019-2020 school year. We are rejoicing in not having to pack the hutong for a third time.
While I am not a fan of compilation blog posts, the need for them are great at times. Our adopted motherland has and continues to cause havoc with internet connections this semester. It has been a great source of frustration, as it limits so much of life. Even accessing this blog has been futile most of the semester. Starbucks runs have been our technology sanctuary; a place to spend hours sipping our beverage and hurriedly doing all that must be done in a modern technological world. Thus, a post such as this is necessary. These moments were accumulating in abundance within my mind and I realized that to give each an individual post would bury me. There are so many small moments - the new temple found, the Chinglish objects I find endearing, the campus graduation antics - that I hope to share one day, but for now I will focus on finishing our travel tales and the week that involved our beloved family from Portland. Life is so good and so full, too bad our internet will not let me write about it as much as I want to now.
