a full day

this morning at 8 o'clock i was invited to the opening ceremony of sports day (or track and field day, to be more precise.) i went out to the field wearing my nicest clothes. all the students were assembled in their classes, as were the teachers behind them. the kids all wore the track suits that are their uniforms and bright pairs of white gloves, and the teachers wore grey suits, which are theirs.

when the bell rang, they began marching around the track. when a class would arrive at the center of the track where the headmasters sat, they would stop, do something creative, and then move on. it was all very much like a military parade. one class did a neat hand salute with many flourishes, while another class performed a martial arts demonstration. their demonstration prompted me to move closer to the center, where i was spotted by mr. hu, the headmaster who is my boss.

he graciously gestured to sit down, so i joined the three headmasters at this red velvet covered table. me, a lowly english teacher. amazing. it was enjoyable, but at nine, i had to leave, for i had another appointment.

because it was sports day, mr. hu arranged for oliver to take us to huang long xi, an ancient chinese village about an hour and a half outside the city. the village is restored to its ancient grandeur, like it would be in crouching tiger, hidden dragon. but inside these beautifully restored buildings were only shops. shops and shops and shops. the commercialism of the scene quickly overpowered the feeling of ancientness that may have been there.

we were not the only foreign visitors huang long xi had that afternoon. while we were there, we saw lee hsien loong, the prime minister of singapore. he seemed nice.

after a lunch where the dishes did not seem to stop, we decided to take a boat ride. we boarded a gondala like boat loaded with tea-chairs. the two men who ran the boat pushed off, and i settled down in one of the two bamboo recliners positioned at the bow of the boat. we rowed slowly down the river, and quickly i was dozing, catching sight of the river, and dozing again. it was a quiet rest as we passed fisherman, geese, and tea-houses.

when we arrived back on land i was well rested and ready for more...sitting. we sat and had green tea as an endless stream of vendors came around pushing their wares--peanuts, pomolo, a rice cake snack specific to huang long xi, and massages. most of all massages. bu yao would have quickly come to my lips, had i been asked, but they must have sensed that, and stuck to the other waiguoren instead.

after tea we piled back in the minibus, and on the way back to school i picked oliver's brain about chinese characters i saw, and got from him a promise to teach me xiangqi, or chinese chess. i've decided i'm going to teach myself, and try to win the first game we play. i like to win.

it has been a great day for me...many different experiences, a lot of chinese speaking, and a lot of eating. 3 for 3 in my book.