ChinaTeacher

DRAMA COMPETITION – Several weeks ago I had the honour of judging a drama competition at our university.  There was a bit of excitement after our arrival however.  Moments after being warmly welcomed and guided to our front-row seats, one of the overhead stage lights exploded and showered glass fragments all over us – it was a close call!  I am just glad none of us was looking UP at the time!

The competition itself was wonderful.  We saw a total of 10 plays, some good, some bad.  But, it was the last play that caught everyone’s interest.  It focused on an emotionally-charged conversation between a woman and her husband.  After years of torment, the woman wanted to leave him and was finally confronting him with her decision.  You could hear a pin drop in the theater as the two spoke their heart-felt feelings to one another.  Their pronunciation was far superior to any of the previous performers, and their ability to memorize reams of dialogue and express it with such intense emotion impressed me to no end.  I was chosen to present First Prize to this talented duo, one of whom was a student of mine from our last semester – I am so proud of her!

VOICE WORK – I recently completed some voice-work for a university here in Hangzhou.  I was delighted to receive an invitation to record some English dialogues for their facility’s Final Exams this year.  In China there are often opportunities for us to use our ‘native English voices’ to financial benefit.  But, this is the first time I have received payment for such work!  Earlier this year, I was quoted in several Chinese newspapers and had my picture appear – no payment.  And, last Fall HTV-2 did a 5-minute segment on me – I still can’t believe they made me sing!  The highlight of that program was joining a famous Chinese TV host to do a ‘celebrity-chefs’ spiel where we learned how to make Mooncakes, a popular local speciality.  I had a great time!  But, no money for that one either.


ZHOUSHAN – Two weeks ago a former Business English student of mine invited me to join his colleagues on a weekend adventure to the ZhuJiaJian Island which is located in the Zhoushan Archipelgo south of Shanghai.  It’s five kilometres long, lined with delightful beaches famous for their fine sand and crystal-clear waters. On the island’s southern coast is an area called the “Golden Beach of the East China Sea.” Every year the National Sand Sculpture Festival is held here. The beach is covered with many outstanding works of art, all made from sand.  Gone are the days of the ordinary ‘sandcastle’! 

18 of us set off in 4 cars and zigzagged our way to the ferry landing some 4 hours away.  While the boat trip itself was fairly short, it did provide me with an opportunity introduce myself to the others and make some new friends.  We got lost several times once on the island (hey, it was dark!) but eventually the owner of our hotel came and found us on his motorcycle – he guided us the rest of the way.  I don’t think we would ever have found this farmer’s home otherwise.  By this time it was after midnight, but the group was hungry, so the owner took us to a neighboring restaurant to order our first seafood meal (one of many!).  It doesn’t get any fresher than this – all the day’s catch of fish and shellfish are swimming around in large tubs of water – you choose what you want and only then do they cook it up for you.  It was 2:30am before we finally headed off to bed – 3 beds to a room for only RMB100 per night ($15)!         

        The next morning we drove to a place that had the most perfect ‘pebble beach’ that I have ever seen.  No sand, just pebbles.  From there, we split up into two groups so we could charter two fishing boats and head out to go fishing and catch our lunch.  We even hauled in our own catch of crab, cooked it onboard and ate until we couldn’t eat any more – there were still more crabs leftover! 

That afternoon I discovered our farmer’s guesthouse is located just ACROSS THE STREET from the beach!  But, a huge wall separates us, so I had no idea.  When we set off for the beach, I was told we could walk there.  Well, half a block away, we entered a gate and… there it was!  Nansha Beach is huge, clean and right now it also features a wonderful exhibit of exquisitely built ‘sand-sculptures’!  Thanks to a rather depressing weather forecast, fewer people than usual were enjoying this fabulous beach, for which I was very grateful!  Despite the lack of sunlight, mostly cloud, I still managed to get a sunburn by the end of the day.  The water was too cold for swimming, but our group was not daunted.  Many used the time to play football, run around, or rent huge plastic water bikes.  Others went for long walks, or simply lay down on the sand to sleep the afternoon away. 

        

Dinner was, you guessed it – seafood… again!  By this point I was getting really tired of seafood.  To be honest, I don’t like seafood, so I focused more on the rice and vegetables than usual.  But, I did make an attempt to try everything on the table. 
The highlight for me was Sunday morning when we found ourselves at a deserted beach.  I didn’t think that was possible to find here in China.  This place reminded me strongly of the west coast of California.  Finding gems like this just strengthens my resolve to visit as many areas of China as possible while I am lucky enough to be here!