Xiamen

After settling in to our aparments, we taught our Chinese teachers of English. The first weekend we spent in Xiamen consisted of straightening out our apartments. On Sunday, we took a ferry boat ( again - way crowded!) to a small island across from Xiamen called Gulang Yu. We attended Mass there.

Teaching in Xiamen

Courtyard of our school



My teaching console





One of my primary teacher groups




My first period primary teachers




Entrance to our school and the van that took us door to door




The school




The school is on the right side of the street - isn't it lovely?




My secondary teachers




More secondary teachers




Entrance to the school

 We were treated royally by our host school which is a training school for teachers. The Academy for Education Science and Research is a lovely school. The classrooms and our office were air conditioned. In addition, school staff prepared tea for us every morning!  We were taken to lunch every day to various excellent restaurants throughout Xiamen by administrative hosts who were outstanding guides. William, Kathy, Jane, Tom, Jackie were absolutely wonderful. They - to make life easier - took English names - as did our students! Mr. Zhan was our driver - and he was the best! We were driven to and from school and lunch every day - which made our commute delightful. We even had a wonderful woman whose job was to run off any handouts we needed!

We taught primary teachers during our first two weeks. This was followed by teaching secondary teachers - which is related to our junior high - during the final two week period. We thought it was wise to divide the discipline of English into distinctive areas: Curtis focused on writing, Alex focused on pronunciation, and I focused on literature - more specifically on Greek mythology with the secondary teachers and fairy tales with the primary teachers. Our students were a complete delight. They were ambitious, friendly, and truly wanted to learn.

On to Xiamen!

After completing our tours of Xian, we flew about two and a half hours to Xiamen. This city of three million people is located on the East China Sea - almost directly across from Taiwan. It is an island and also has a smaller island near it - Gulang Yu. The weather is tropical - Xiamen is as far south as Cuba or the middle of Mexico! It is hot - usually 90 degrees and quite humid.

The housing is similar to the apartment high rises we saw in Beijing - but not as plentiful. There are numerous parks in the city - almost on every corner. Our apartment complex was near "Coffee Street' which has numerous small restaurants and coffee and tea houses - which face a gorgeous lake. It was about a 20 minute walk to that area.

We were also walking distance to the sea and the area known as "Old Xiamen" - an area made up of many tiny stores and restaurants - with many bargains. There is a street that is closed to cars - which is usually filled with pedestrians - at all hours of the day and night ! Really fun.

The city is beautiful! The coastal drive would remind you of a resort area in Florida. I called it the "Chinese Riviera"!  The food is outstanding - Xiamen is noted for spicy dishes and of course, fresh sea food. In that I am allergic to shellfish, I was unable to taste some of the dishes - which I was longing to! However, I was always more than filled at meal times with the quantity and quality of the food - which is very different from Chinese food I have had in the States. The sauces in China are complex and light. The vegetables are fresh and the meats are prepared in a delicate way. In a word, "yum"!




This is one of the many high rises apartment buildings in Xiamen




Time to read the paper before work!




I thought this was interesting in that it showed the contrast between "Old" China and "New" China.

 The residents of Xiamen are quite friendly. Though I don't speak Chinese, many could speak some English. My job was to teach Chinese teachers of English various methods of how to teach English. This is where the "Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm" came in most handy. In addition, the time I spent studying with Dr. Howard Gardner was a tremendous help.


This is the apartment building that we occupied on Hubin Xi Lu Street!



The Ancient Tablets

Many of the tablets are housed in these small "houses"



One of the ancient stone tablets




This is the actual tablet upon which Confucius wrote! This is a copy of the Analects.





This young woman is dressed in traditional clothing. She was a hostess at our luncheon restaurant.

 These are photos of the ancient tablets - some are original writing from Confucius himself! They are kept in a garden area in Xiamen. It is quite amazing!

The Concubine's Palace in Xian

You can see the stage submerged in the water - it is raised for theater productions

One of the emperors in the Ming Dynasty kept a favorite concubine. She was quite 'zaftig' for an Asian woman ( read Ana Nicole Smith's body). The photos are of the palace/estate he built for her. It is now used as an outdoor venue for theater productions.

The Terra Cotta Warriors

About 45 minutes outside of Xian is the rural area that holds the Terra Cotta warriors. They were found in the 1970s during a drought by two farmers who were digging a well. The Emperor who had these made for his burial mound was a bit crazy and was trecherous. He had the workers who created his burial mound killed.  Talk about excessive!


Excavation site

 The area is not completely excavated. It is enormous - about the size of four football fields. It is  most impressive - especially when I viewed the incredible work the archeologists have accomplished. It is important to note that not one warrior looks like another. Each has a different facial expression, clothing, and hair style.

There are many burial mounds in the area surrounding the area which holds the warriors. They have not been excavated. I must admit that these photos truly do not indicate the immensity of this place.

The Forbidden City and Tianamen Square

Curtis at one of the buildings



Moving on to another building




This is the "sidewalk" where only the Emperor can walk



The Forbidden City is made up of 18 separate buildings and many side buildings. The numbers 9 is an auspicious number. You will note that there are no trees, bushes, or flowers in the F.C. - the reason is that the emperors were afraid of assassination - with good reason. The emperor's family was kept away from the population. Many eunuchs gained power during various dynasties. It is a huge area. One interesting aspect I noted: when we walked out of the Forbidden City, we walked directly into Tianamen Square. There was a huge portrait of Mao and his masoleum is on the Square. It was closed the day we were there, so we were unable to go into it.