Pic o' the Day #29

This is the Laughing Buddha. You can put your troubles in his belly and he will laugh them away.

He is actually the bambooda. This is carved from a piece of bamboo. It's from an area in southern Sichuan called the Bamboo Sea （竹海）. If you remember the end of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (卧虎藏龙）where two people are having a sword fight and long discussion while atop the bamboo, then you know the Bamboo Sea.

Dan K (of The Ks ), I have introduced students to Rubbin' the Buddha as well as some of your recent work. Just thinking of that song makes me want to wander down Bardstown Road to the Nanking Garden Chinese restaurant for a restorative lunch after a night on the town.

Listen to Rubbin' the Buddha

Pic o' the Day #28

There is always someone working on something here. Either a building needs to be torn down or put up. Maybe a road needs widening or repaving. Trenches need to to dug and pipes laid. I'm always amazed at the workers here. It's not uncommon to see someone welding at 1:00 AM.

These guys are working on the new fence surrounding the new basketball courts. The courts are beautiful, and there are nice new places to sit, but the ping pong tables are gone. Where did they go? Will they come back? I sure hope so.

Pic o' the Day #27

More exams today. These are freshman from Class 7.

Here's how it works: The students come in a group and roll the dice. There are twelve possible discussion questions on the test. The dice have chosen two questions. The students then choose which one of those two they want to discuss.

Only one group chose my favorite question on the exam: If your mobile phone fell in the toilet, what would you do?

Pic o' the Day #26

What's the caption? I dunno.

You write it.

A spare body part to the most creative.

Pic o' the Day #25

It gets a little foggy here in wintertime. This is the view from my window this morning. If you look real close, you can see Building 2. By January the winter is not so gray and the skies turn blue again, which is a welcome change.

Another view just outside my apartment building.

Pic o' the Day #24

It's Christmas Day and you know what that means.

You guessed it--exams.

While Christmas is celebrated here with lots of decorations, it not really a holiday here. So, since it's Monday and the term is ending very soon, why not a nice conversational English test?

This is a picture of the colored chalk. When I first got here, it took me a while to get used to the chalk. It's not the hypo-allergenic dustless, stuff I remembered from time in school. The stuff here is hyper dusty and snaps in half if you approach the blackboard. I've gotten much better with it. You'll hardly notice it on my cuffs at all any more.

Pic o' the Day #23

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the town,
Many people were stirring, like these elves in their gowns.

I had gotten a tip that the Mianzhou Hotel served a wonderful buffet including lots of western food that is not easily found in these parts.

And it was wonderful. The whole hotel was decked out for Christmas. There were carolers lining the staircase. There were lights and decorations everywhere. Everyone was dressed for the part. There was live music and seafood and steak and something I had not seen before or since in China--a real turkey.


If you'd like to stay at the Mianzhou Hotel during your visit to 绵阳 (Mianyang), check out their website.

Pic o' the Day #22

HO HO HO !

Today, I played 圣诞老人 Shengdan Laoren, Christmas Old Man.

We played games and sang songs. I gave out presents to all the kids. They seemed to have a nice time. I'm in the back row with 4 of the teachers at the school. They do a great job with the kids.

It was a bittersweet day.
This is one of the classes at Robert & Gina's school.

Pic o' the Day #21

Outside the school gate, there are always people making food or selling food.

There's lots and lots of good stuff to go around.



But sometimes, you gotta take a break. And what better way then with Sichuan's favorite card game, 斗地主 (dou dizhu), Beat the Landlord. It's a game for three players. One is the landlord, she gets more cards and gets to play first. The other two players team up to beat the landlord. Usually, you'll play for a little money.

This name is mostly a joke now, but 40 years ago, Beat the Landlord, or more correctly Struggle with the Landlord was not a game. It was part of a time of suffering and upheaval in China. The whole country was turned on its head. Universities closed for 10 years. Today, people, as well as the ruling party, see that time as a mistake. In my experience with people born in the early 1950s, there seem to be a lot of feelings that have never been fully expressed. Today, things are so good and the future looks so bright that people don't want to dig up these old pains.

So now, beat the landlord is just a way to pass the time.

Pic o' the Day #20

四川省2006年度优秀外籍教师
Sichuan shen 2006 niandu youxiu waiji jiaoshi

Sichuan Province 2006 Excellent Foreign Guest Teacher, that's me.

Well, me and 40-something other people, including about 8 other Peace Corps Volunteers.

Before I got there, I really had no idea what was going to happen. I had no idea that there were other people getting the award. Frankly, I was really relieved to see so many other folks. It meant that I would not be expected to give a speech. Woo hoo!

I'm here with Locke, one of the great folks at my school's International Exchange & Cooperation center. He chose that English name after the character on the show Lost. I'm a little out of the loop these days, so I'm not 100% sure who that is. My TV watching lately has been focusing on the recently acquired Buffy DVD set.

I also got to hear my buddy Binzer's charming poem about life in China. See her pictured with another member of the Panzhihua crew, Amanda (on the left).

Pic o' the Day #19

The Night The Lights Went Out In Mianyang

There was a blackout tonight. I found my trusty green flashlight in it's special
emergency action spot. I dug up some candles from the back of the junk drawer and brought a little light to my happy home.

It was dark out, but still too early to call it a night. I tried to read, but I'm no Lincoln. I gave up pretty quickly.

So, I went outside the school gate where all the shops and restaurants are. I was hoping to find one open restaurant. Well, I found that every shop was open and running by candlelight. And they were doing great business. It seems that every student in the school had the same idea.


Up and down the streets, the students were buying all the great street food--baozi, bingzi, doufu, fruits, little cakes, naicha (bubble tea), smoked meats, and some things I still don't recognize.


A year ago, the power would go off sometimes in the afternoons for a few hours. Mianyang, like many parts of China, depends heavily on hydro power. When the river is low, you can't run the generators. Mianyang is also home to Science City, called the Los Alamos of China. Their work, as well as that of Changhong, China's largest TV producer and Mianyang's largest employer, take precedence over the needs of my part of town. To keep them going, we used to get shut down from time to time. It almost never happens any more.

Pic o' the Day #18

This is the center of my campus. It's a beautiful, serene place.

In the morning, it is surrounded by students reciting the lessons in their textbooks.

In the evening, students can be found smooching here. But they have to be careful. The university or the party sends out a team of intrepid students to take a walk around the campus and snuff out this sort of behavior. It doesn't stay snuffed for long though.

Spring is coming.

Pic o' the Day #17

Celebrating Christmas with freshman Class 8.

Every year, we have a few traditions. Every student get a strip of colored paper. They write one thing they want to hold onto from this year and one thing they are looking forward to in the coming year. If they want, students read these to the class and then they are joined together into a paper chain. Every year the chain begins with a piece from the previous year. That way, our memories and dreams are not only tied together with each other's ,but they are connected with prior Christmases as well as future ones.

This tradition started for me when I had no ornaments for my tree in the early 90s. I loved the look of paper chains and have watched the tradition grow to include many friends over the years.

At Christmas, we also do a gift exchange and sing 12 Days of Christmas. For the song, I separate the class into four groups. Group 1 has the first day of Christmas, Group 2 has day 2, etc. First, we listen to, I think John Denver and the Muppets. Then we all sing the song. There is a twist. When it's your group's time to sing, you must stand up. By the 12th day, students are bouncing up and down. And everyone gets up for "5 Goooolllldddden Rings"

It's a nice way to end the term and loosen students up before the exam.

Pic o' the Day #16

OK, I know this looks a bit like a previous post, but I really like the picture.

This is in front of Lisa's apartment on the night of our first ever International Potluck Dinner.

Chinese usually entertain at restaurants instead of at home for a few reasons. First, people's home in the past were not very large. Second, chinese food can be prepared quickly, but it cannot easily be timed to finish at one moment. The host would always be in the kitchen making the next dish. It's a delight at a restaurant to have a steady flow of new dishes.

The evening was a big hit with everyone and the food was amazing.

Four of the party goers: 骆海辉 Luo Hai Hui, the dean of the Foreign Languages department, 姜葵 Jiang Kui, my Chinese teacher, 黄鸣 Huang Ming, a professor in the Foreign Languages department, and 贝祥 Bei Xiang, a humble teacher.

Pic o' the Day #15

祝你生日快乐 (Zhu ni shengri kuai le)

Happy birthday to you...

What's this? A birthday party? At McDonald's?

You better believe it.

Mianyang has a McDo as well as 3 KFCs and a soon-to-be-opened Wal-mart (as soon as they get their ducks in a row with the government). Here KFC is called 肯德基 (kendeji). That's also the name of Kentucky here, so everyone gets a big laugh when I answer the question, "Where are you from?"

Pic o' the Day #14

What do you do with your radishes?

Dry them of course. Winter is coming.

This fine fellow was working on this project near the school gate.

Pic o' the Day #13

Me with one of the Peace Corps drivers. We first met during my pre-service training in the summer of 2004. Because the program in China had been suspended for a year, they cut the staff. He was working as a freelance driver based at Sichuan Normal University. I remember we talked about the Korean War as he drove me to the hospital to get physical therapy.

My shoulder started to hurt a little. A few days later, I couldn't move my arm at all. Dr. Hu, our wonderful medical officer, took me to see the doctor who founded the hospital and a moment later I was diagnosed with "frozen shoulder". I was concerned that I had an ailment that would afflict someone like Grandpa Simpson. You know, dropsy, dum dum fever, nervous blood, exoskeletosis, etc.

Turns out its a real condition. Dr. Hu brought me back for treatment for four days. I had to leave early from my Chinese class. After those four days, I was back to my old self.

Hope you are well.

Pic o' the Day #12

Last week, my downstairs neighbor invited me into her apartment to show me the water damage on her wall. It was directly below my bathroom. Right away, I called the 外办 (waiban), or International Exchange and Cooperation Center, the group that takes care of all things foreign, including me. A few days later, a crew showed up to fix everything.


This is what it looked like at the end of day 1.

I say day 1 because it turned out to be a week before I had a toilet or shower in my apartment.

All is fine now, but that week drove me a little crazy. Instead of recounting the interesting path of this project, it makes me happier to let it all slip away.

By the way, this is my whole bathroom. The rubble section is where the toilet goes. The white circle on the right is the drain for the shower.

On a happier note, here's a pic of some kids clothes out to dry near the school gymnasium.

Pic o' the Day #11

Gotta keep the campus green.

This picture is near cafeteria #2.

This is how lots of things move here in China. I bought some furniture last year (chair, ottoman, dining table and 4 chairs) and the delivery came stacked up on a bike.

Pic o' the Day #10

春节 (Chun Jie), or Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year is coming. It's the biggest holiday of the year and to celebrate properly, you gotta have 香肠 (xiang chang), translated not only as "fragrant intestines" but also as yummy yummy Spring Festival sausage.

This is hanging from many a balcony here at the school. The sausage is prepared, then hung out to dry for a few weeks. Nowadays, they sell it at the stores, but the good stuff always comes from someone's grandma.

Pic o' the Day #9

This is the day I caught my first fish. It was a powerful adversary. We fought for what seemed like hours. Some said, "You're gonna need a bigger boat." But I finally managed to land this sea monster from before the dawn of time.

Then the folks at the restaurant cooked it up with the two fish that Edward caught. Yum!

Starla (smiling at you in the picture) and her buddy, Edward (off-screen preparing for battle) invited Lisa and I to go to 安县 (An Xian) for a day of fishing. It was really a lot of fun. I did learn that fish won't come around if you are talking about catching them. You have to be very, very quiet. I mean, Elmer Fudd quiet.

Pic o' the Day #8

This was a sad day.

A friend of mine, Robert Lenkart, had gone to Chicago for a couple months to start building partnerships for his English school in Mianyang. He had become a teacher several years ago, and had opened a school with his Chinese wife Gina, five years ago. He was hoping to find ways to start student exchanges.

While he was in America, I was helping out at the school on Saturdays.

Robert came back in early December and Gina was preparing to go to America for a few months to continue their work. She went to Guangdong (in the southeast of China, near Hong Kong) to meet his plane. He was sick when he got off the plane, so they stayed in Guangdong for a few days. Then they came back to Mianyang and he went into the hospital.

On Saturday, December 2nd, the teachers at his school asked me to teach the students about being sick in America. We talked about chicken soup and the kind of things you do for your family and friends when they are not feeling well. All the students made their first ever Get Well cards for their beloved teacher. They were beautiful. There were covered with warm wishes, drawings, and hopes for Robert to Get Well Soon.

He died during the week. This picture is from his funeral. On this day, many people went to a memorial hall. Robert's body was brought in in a silken casket. The room was filled with flowers; the get well cards surrounded Robert. A few people gave eulogies, then everyone bowed to the body.

After that, the body was wheeled out with his widow following. The flowers and get well cards were immediately taken out.

Robert's body was on it's way to be cremated immediately. All the things that surrounded him during his sickness and death were also to be burned. Clothes, his glasses, the flowers, the cards, everything that was touched by his death.

It seemed so strange to me at the time. I guess it's purpose is to make a clean break.

He was a good man. He had a big heart and big dreams.



After Robert's funeral, I came across this little girl. She helped remind me on this somber day that the world is brimming with life and possibility.

Pic o' the Day #7

The folks that I had lunch with before my picture of the pedicabs at the bus stop (PotD#3) invited me to 江油 (Jiangyou) , the home of China's greatest poet, 李白 (Li Bai).

There is a beautiful culture park there to celebrate his life in 1300 years ago as well as his poetry. In April 2006, my site mate, Michele and I went there to perform a poem at the opening ceremony. While it was well received by the crowd of 1000 or more, we saw truly beautiful renditions of his poems by several Chinese masters as well as a visiting Japanese group.

Well, after our visit to the Li Bai park and a wonderful lunch, we were invited to visit a friend's English school. They were hoping to sign up new students that day and we were invited to provide an air of authenticity, I suppose. The kids went bananas when we got there. Then when they saw then camera, they really went nuts. This is an accidental shot that I really love. I hope these countryside kids will stand up and be counted and have their voice in making the future of this place.

Pic o' the Day #6

This is the Crazy English Speech Contest. Crazy English is a whole franchise of products for students learning English. The methods are different from traditional methods used in China and lots of students use it in one way or another.

I took this picture through the window. I wanted to pop in for a moment, but knew that if I did, I would end up being a judge and then giving a speech myself at the end of the night. I was coming back from my classes on the new campus and was really tired. I leave my apartment at 2:00 pm, arrive at the new campus at 3:00 pm, teach from 3:50-6:15 and then arrive home at 7:15pm. I guess I'm getting soft, but that commute wears me out.

The student speaking is Edward, a sophomore from Class 12. The man under the balloons is the Party leader for the Foreign Languages department, the largest department at our university.

Pic o' the Day #5

I took this picture on my way to my Chinese class. My tutor, 姜葵 (Jiang Kui), is a terrific teacher and a wonderful friend. When I think of my strongest connections with China and Chinese people, I often think of my time studying with her. Yesterday, I celebrated the Chinese New Year (Happy Pig year everybody!) with her, her family and friends.

This picture was taken near some of the dormitories. From time to time, people will come into the campus and buy cardboard, plastic, and glass bottles to be recycled.

Recycling in China is amazing. Everything of use is recovered. Not with some curbside recycling bin, but often by poor people picking through the trash. When I first saw this, I felt so sad. I still do, but it also reminds me always of how tough the Chinese are. The older people here grew up hard in ways I cannot comprehend. They don't let it consume them. They bounce back and work through whatever situation life hands them.

Pic o' the Day #4

On the way to taiji (tai chi) class, I stopped to smell the roses. Then I took a picture of these flowers. Our teacher is a student and a national taiji champion. There are 4 foreign teachers in the class and a rotating gallery of observers. As much attention as we draw in our ordinary lives, practicing taiji is a special show. I'm still awful at it, but it does have a calming effect. I hope you can try it out someday.

Pic o' the Day #3

The next day, I was invited out for a different kind of hotpot lunch with a few friends who have a English school on the edge of the city. Afterwards, I had to get the bus to our school's new campus (pictures coming). This was my view while I waited for the #72 bus.

After the Liberation, rickshaws were outlawed in China. The new government thought they were degrading. These pedicabs are common on the streets of Mianyang and are a cheap alternative to a taxi.

One of my students told me that his father pedals a pedicab and makes 1000 RMB each month. That is about $4.25 a day. His school costs are 6000 RMB each year.

在72路汽车站

Pic o' the Day #2

This is a picture of a good friend here, Alan. He and Lisa and I had a wonderful hotpot dinner. It's basically a boiling pot of oil and spices in the middle of you table which you fill with all sorts of yummy stuff. Goes best with beer.

After the meal, we had a few toasts with the good guys at the table next to ours (including the cultural minister for Mianyang).

A few hours later we found ourselves inside a club. Instead of the dancing we expected, we found a show with about 15 different performers.

Pic o' the Day #1

My first Picture of the Day! Woo hoo!


This picture was taken at a wedding in the countryside. More than 100 people were sitting outside enjoying a nice feast.

I wondered what these guys were up to. My friend told me that this was the gift register. The man with the cigarette was accepting the cash, and the other fellow was writing down who gave what.

These kids were obviously more interested in playing in the field than hanging out with the adults.

I love these old-fashioned bikes. I think this might be the famous "Flying Pigeon" models that have carried Chinese to work and play for generations.

OK, so it's two pictures, not one. But I like them both.