Rich Writes

Tuesday, October 16

It is the unexpected which keeps us interested. It has made such a difference to me that the rain has stopped. I had no idea that my subjective feelings would be so affected by the weather. In southern California one takes the weather so much for granted, but with the first week of the adventure completed and the daily efforts not now being hampered by both the cold and the wet, the city has taken on a different ambiance altogether and our enthusiasm for this adventure has returned.

We are halfway on this three week jaunt, what will the second half be like?

The regular one hour ride that Darlene, Gladys, Marcia and I make to Rainbow School each day is an entirely different ride as without rain we can truly see out of the windows of our seven passenger van. There is a striking disconnect between the one and two story houses of brick and the 15 story, or more, gleaming buildings being constructed immediately next door. It would seem that in spots this country is literally jumping from the 12^th century to the 21^st century. The buildings being built may be for housing or for offices, or, as the building we saw over the weekend with Kim, may be a combination of both.

And what a pleasure it is to ride on the near-deserted roads to and from our school. Although this Californian wants to call them “freeways”, they are obviously not free, as a toll booth appears from time to time. The cost of use, if my reading of the signs is correct, is very low . . . it is about $3 for this daily trip to the school. The road is six lane, clean as a whistle (maybe it was just built recently) and there is hardly any traffic. What is going to happen here when this country’s population of millions each own a car? In the city there are many bicycles, and seeing the workers sweep the roads with the tree branch brooms makes sense as the bicycles certainly need a cleaner road than a car, but on the freeway there are no bicycles.

But today is not a normal day. Although in spots we have bright sunshine, as we approach the midpoint, we run into fog and at a freeway cloverleaf we suddenly come to a full stop. A policeman up ahead has stopped all traffic due to the fog and we sit for almost an hour. Now during that wait, humanity strikes me again. I am no longer a young man. When an old man drinks too much coffee in the morning and then waits for a period of time, the bladder calls. Why does fate invite my body to need to urinate while we sit in the fog on a freeway interchange in the middle of China? But what else can I do? To the joy of all the Chinese drivers who are milling around their cars waiting to be released, I become the focus of attention as I climb over the freeway railing, scamper down the slope, and find a convenient bush. How many cameras now have a very pissed off old American in them?

Our arrival at the school each day and today is a cause of celebration. The school guard greets us with a grand grin, and the enthusiastic students hover around our teacher’s room getting us tea and wanting to talk. We just finished breakfast and we’ve been on a one hour ride: we don’t want tea, we want the W.C. As now we are late, we have missed our first class, and as the rain has stopped, the students are to have their ten minute exercise period. We are invited to watch, and we do. All 2,500 students organize themselves in neat rows according to their class and swing their arms, kick their legs, and do jumping jacks with abandon. Some of the students who recognize us from our lectures wave and grin.

Truly, all this enthusiasm is frightening. During the week, the teachers take us to lunch on our two “English Corner” days, and tell us that we are V.I.P.’s. The students bubble with excitement before we go into the classrooms, before they turn into shy giesha’s when they are at their desks. We understand that they are getting us for free so that the school can offer “live time with an English speaker”, but they don’t truly understand our concept of “volunteering”, and so are happily confused about us. Gladys and Marcia, the trained teachers of our foursome, handle the enthusiasm well, but Darlene and I, more experienced out of the classroom, hang back with trepidation.

Of the Global Volunteer team 154, about half are trained teachers and the rest of us are winging it, learning as we go, trying out this idea or that, so that we make a good impression and live up to what we’ve been asked to do. An unusual pack of tourists, these self-selected folks are an extraordinary group of people: mostly highly educated, certainly highly experienced in life, and all with an open heart and willing hand. What a pleasure to be included.

So our day continues with our each presenting what we think will work with the ten to 25 students presented to us for the class period. The classrooms in which we talk are varied: a science lab with glass beakers in view, a small conference room with an oval table and a peeling blackboard, a music room with a piano, and the regular classrooms with fitted blue cloth covers over each desk. We often teach from a little concrete stage built under the blackboard which makes walking down through the rows of students a bit tricky, and I have stumbled, but not fallen, more than once.

When today’s classes are over we pose for pictures, say our “good byes” and head for the van. The sun is bright and pleasant, now, and we anticipate a quick drive back. It is not to be. As a further surprise to us, the van is slowed by both work party painting white lines on the road, and also by a herd of goats being sheparded across the freeway.

After lunch at the hotel where we sample Chinese pizza, Marcia and I decide to walk to the “Small Goose Pagoda” as our map shows that it is not far off, and one of the volunteers who has been here before said it is the best place to visit, bar none. So we head off only to learn that the map is deceiving, and we finally get there after an hour and a half’s walk. We stopped once at some hotel just to use the bathroom. The crowds are teaming around us, and the sights are fun, so the trip is still a kick.

The Pagoda site is lovely: a very large garden with a huge museum opened only in the last few months containing artifacts discovered on city grounds. Much on display is what we saw in the History Museum a few days ago, but there the items were things found in the entire state and not just within the city. After our look about, we meet the rest of the volunteers at the entrance, as our dinner restaurant is right next door.

At the dinner, our Chinese leader-guide from Global Volunteers, Hu Di, gives a 90 minute talk about the educational system and the politics of China. We are all fascinated and listen carefully. She pulls no punches and we all leave a lot more aware of the reasons behind some of the policies of this country. We are loving this trip.