Celebrating Purim in China

Happy Purim! Last night was "psyPurim" in Kunming: a "psychedelic rave-like" Purim costume party held by Jewish foreigners living here . I had the privilege of listening to the story of Purim recited in Chinese by a man wearing light-up horns and a cape. It felt more like Halloween than Purim but I appreciated the celebration and the spirit.

Sitting within "Stone Forest"

Day trip to Stone Forest or Shilin (in Chinese)


It's incredibly beautiful here. Unique natural formations lend themselves as romantic reflection spots. The weather is perfect- the large rocks buffer the sun and create a cooler breezy climate. From a distance the rocks appear to have a pattern of vertical stripes that distinguish this setting from anything I have ever seen before. As I weave through the rock structures, I find myself in a cave-like wonderland. The best part about being here is that I have taken off from my friends to explore on my own. Although Shilin is a tourist destination, I can wander on paths and hear no voices. It feels really refreshing to have this alone time. This coming Friday, the group will move out of the dorms and take a one week exploration trip before coming back to homestays in Kunming. Life has been wonderful and busy here, so enjoying some alone time in this magical setting is exactly what I need.

Making Use of English...opps?

I know I came to China to practice Chinese, but I am a hot commodity as a native English speaker. Just last week I fell into two paying jobs involving me speaking English. First, two friends and I decided to check out the prestigious local hospital where our group doctor works. We also all wanted to get acupuncture to check it out and help relax our muscles. Our doctor gave us a tour and then asked if we would be willingly to come back the next day to test possible English translators. We found ourselves with a very important job- deciding which candidates were best equipped to retell doctor’s medical instructions. There were three desks at the front of a big room, each with a hospital doctor behind it and either myself, Arielle, or Hallie. Then, one by one, young English students were called up to translate a medical check-up. Then we were requested to further engage them in conversion to test how freely they could communicate. I sat before shaking young women and men, trying to be as friendly as possible and communicate that I was unimportant and they should not be so worried. But in truth, I was actually the evaluator for their next possible job and they should try to perform well. I ended up feeling extremely helpful. All the candidates could speak English, but there were about half that struggled with important vocabulary and were difficult to understand. If I ever end up at that hospital (the main hospital in Kunming), I will be glad to face translators who can explain the doctor’s advice.

Later that week, on a Saturday afternoon, I had my second gig teaching English. The teacher had requested to my leader that two English speakers, a boy and a girl, come teach her class. I can understand why she wanted help- her English was poor and she was teaching from a book about robots and UFOs. She also wanted “the girl” to record a medical report for her daughter, the nurse, who was going to memorize the recording for some kind of competition for nurses in English and Chinese (not really sure the details, again her English was pretty bad). The actual class consisted of about ten 14 to 16 year olds and was a success. We blew off attempting to use the ridiculous topics of the chapters, and just focused on grammar, the past tense. We wrapped up our class teaching them “Lean on Me” and then asked them to sing us a popular song. One courageous boy immediately started belting out a song in a dialect of an ethnic minority group. The rest of the class fell into riotous laughter but the boy persisted and finished with loud applause. He paved the way for other students to give the spotlight a try. After we ended the class with picture taking, I had to make the recording. I had no idea it would be so difficult to pronounce medical terms. Let’s just say I gave it my best shot. I guess for now English is still my ticket to accessing more of Chinese culture. I need to just reiterate- Chinese is one difficult language.

Trip to the Market

Thoughts

I was handed a telescope.
What new sights, people, customs, smells.
I was forced to compare.
For the better I questioned my life
What is of real value?
The telescope helps me see my own image.
I return to focus.
Now I look longer to find stability
But I feel selfish,
How can I give thanks?

Squatters

I am well accustomed to Asian squatter toilets, but not the bathrooms by the classrooms in Yunnan Nationalities University. Tonight I went to use the bathroom and it happened to coincide with a break in the classes all along the hall. Let me first paint a picture of the bathroom set up- two rows of squatter toilets facing each other with no individual doors. As I walked into a dark bathroom, I first tried to find the light. If I had turned the light on I would have exposed rows of girls facing each other. But it was basically dark, except for dim cell phone lights that girls used to situate themselves. So I joined in the silent awkward party and only quietly laughed to myself.

Climbing the Western Hills

Yesterday the group took a short bus ride to see the Western Hills in Kunming. We learned about Buddhism's history and practices and then climbed these beautiful hills with shrines and temples along the way. From the hills we had the most beautiful views of the city. (We hiked up and took the chairlift down)