The last three days were the Sweeping Tomb holiday in China.
Basically it’s a time when families honour their ancestors, and visit their
graves to bring flowers, etc. Because we had three days off from Monday to
Wednesday, everyone works Saturday and Sunday to make up for the days off.
Hmmm, doesn’t really make sense to me, but oh well! So last week was a bit
grueling with seven days in a row. By the last day, I gave up trying to teach
anything (you know it’s bad when more than 50% of the class has their heads on
the desk, asleep) and put on the first two episodes of Modern Family, with
Chinese subtitles. They loved it! Maybe not in the subtle kind of humour way
that I was laughing out loud at, but they definitely thought it was funny (and
probably really risqué).
On Sunday afternoon I took the train with Dion to Xuzhou,
her hometown. It was a two hour train ride, and pleasant enough, but the worst
was taking the subway to the train station. Seemed like half the city had the
same plan as us, and even though I’m not claustrophobic I was definitely not
having fun being stuffed like sardines in the hot subway cars.
I stayed with Dion and her family. It was a great
experience…although they don’t speak any English, it’s amazing how much we were
able to communicate through my broken Chinese, hand signals, and a lot of
laughing and pointing. It was also really nice to have a big home-cooked meal
after all the cafeteria food I’ve been eating.
Dion’s sister lives next door, and she has five-year-old twin daughters.
They loved me, and I had lots of fun singing English songs with them, doing
dances, and braiding their hair. They also taught me to teach to 100 in
Chinese!
The first night we arrived, we went for a walk around the
neighbourhood, and stumbled upon some ballroom dancing. Apparently ballroom
dancing is huge in China, especially with middle-aged and older people.
Basically every night a bunch of couples gather in a courtyard area, put on
some music, and do different dances. At first I was mesmerized just
watching…then Dion’s father asked me to dance. It was incredible! I just
followed his lead, and with no words exchanged, he taught me three different
dances. So much fun.
On Saturday I did some sightseeing while Dion and her family
visited their grandmother. I went to a mausoleum from the Han Dynasty, which
was an underground tomb from 300BC. There are also smaller versions of the
famous terra cotta warriors. They are all displayed in the same place they were
uncovered, so that was quite the sight to see. I met a Chinese student who was
somewhat enamored with me, and explored with him for a while. He told me I was
very elegant. I can’t say I’ve ever been told that before! Together we climbed
up a mountain to a large temple overlooking the whole city.
On the way back to Nanjing, I took the bullet train. It goes
over 300km an hour and was very cool. It was a little more expensive but worth
every penny!
I took tons of photos on my trip…but unfortunately I lost my
camera. I have the worst luck with cameras; I don’t know why I even bother!
What a great trip though. It was so nice to finally get out of Nanjing and
experience a new side of China. And it’s always so nice to get to stay with a
family and really experience their way of life. I was so grateful to meet Dion’s
family and be a part of their holiday. Let me tell you, any man that can teach
me to waltz has already won my heart over. Mike, you may have some competition!
The photos I am posting were actually just stolen off the Internet, but they can give you an idea of where I was.
The lake I walked around with Dion's family.
The miniature terra cotta warriors. It's amazing how well they are preserved.
The bullet train.
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