from the city of heavenly water

Ugh, we have been busy. On Sunday afternoon we got on a train with 11 other trainees for the long haul north, for us only 16.5 hours. We had a "hard sleeper," which means a bed somewhere in a triple bunk that is cushioned by a few covers. Really, it was similar to the mattresses here: pretty stiff. So we slept some, and arrived at 7:40 AM Monday morning. A representative from the foreign affairs office (FAO) named Z- Hui came to meet us, threw our stuff in the back of the extended cab truck, and off we went for the 25-minute ride from the train station (in Beidao) to Tianshui Normal College (in Qianzhou).

Then we went up to our 5th-floor apartment and rested a few hours before lunch in the city center. Our apartment is nice; it has many amenities such as a DVD player and a microwave, as well as high-speed internet. The Peace Corps volunteer who lived here left sometime early in 2007, so the place was vacant for about 6 months. Though there were some great renovations like new windows and a new stove vent, the place was so dusty! I have spent the last 3 days cleaning some each day, the highlight of which was the 2 hours it took to get the kitchen wiped down and disinfected. However, this cleaning has really allowed me to take ownership of the place and it is starting to feel like home. I don't know if that is a woman's touch or what, but the clean kitchen with the nice linen fabric I brought as a shelf liner has given me a deep sense of taking care of things. If you would like our address, please e-mail me and I can give it to you.

Lunch was great - I met my counterpart teacher, Mrs. Y- Hui Wen. She is young and very willing to talk to us about everything. We learned that many people in Tianshui attend the Catholic Church, but she cannot visit, as she is a member of the Party.

The past few days we have met the person in charge of English teaching, taken the bus downtown, bought food, and planned some aspects of our classes. There are a few highlights:

Classes:
Nick will teach 3 classes of Sophomore Oral English, 3 classes of Freshman Writing, and 2 classes of Freshman Oral English. I'll teach 4 classes of both Freshman Oral English and Freshman Writing. We're looking forward to having a positive impact on the students, no matter their levels coming in.

Other foreign teachers:
There are three other foreign teachers that have been here for at least a year, and at least two more are moving in at present. We've met two of the original three so far: Alex and Ron. Alex is half-Russian, half-British, and all frankness. Don't know much about Ron yet.

The bus:
The other night Nick and I were meandering around the road outside the campus East gate, and I heard a low rumbling sound. I thought it might be an electric motorcycle or some car coming slowly, so I didn't look up quickly. Nick, did, however, and he found that it was a city bus, going full speed toward us, with no lights on! We had enough time to move, but we'll have to remember: even at night, the bus has no lights. Also, the bus we took today still rolled along after it had "stopped," so we had to really watch our footing getting on and off.

Chinese encounters:
Today we had 2 encounters with Chinese people that were complete opposites. In both cases we attempted to speak Chinese, and with great accuracy I think. Case 1: We went downtown to find a tea house to do some class planning. Hui Wen told me that there were three of them, and pointed in the general directions. However, after getting lost in the computer store and asking two women, we ended up walking in circles without finding the shop. The third woman we asked refused to try and understand our Mandarin. It might have been a mistake to ask an older woman who had never spoken to foreigners. However, we were frustrated by the outcome, which was us getting back on the bus and working at home. Case 2: We went to a "dishes restaurant" around the corner from campus, Nick armed with a notebook of dishes we know how to order, and know what they are. We had backups and backups so that we'd be getting some food we knew, no matter what. Turns out that the owner spoke some English, though we ordered in Chinese, and the food was great. Toward the end of the meal, he came and sat at our table with a plate filled with various vegetables and meats. I initially thought he was going to eat his dinner with us, but really he wanted to tell us the names of all of the foods, and teach us how to say them. We did so with joy, already having learned some of them in Chinese class, and the new ones were helpful, like "carrot." He also gave us a taste of their "Da Pan Ji" or big plate o' chicken. We asked his name - "you can call me Little Lu." No problem, Little Lu, we'll be back. We felt so welcomed by his gesture and his care. So, as it is challenging for some of the Chinese to deal with us, so we are also challenged by them - I hope that with our work and our students' work, we can help to overcome some of these challenges. With understanding and patience.

That's all for now - tomorrow we'll ask some more questions about our classes, try to finagle a toaster oven, and see the English library. Friday night we hop the train back to Chengdu for two more weeks of training wrap-up, host-family appreciation, and our official swearing-in as Peace Corps Volunteers. So exciting!

I have some more pictures, but forgot the cord to transfer them, so some more pictures will be up on Sunday. Zaijian -