Why the long silence?

Hi friends.  Any of the teachers reading this will understand. We're teaching.  With the unusual term times here, David has just started a new course about Creativity and Critical Thinking with all 225 fourth year students.  His courses from last quarter, Interpersonal Communication and Career Development finished with exams and boxes of projects. I am in the second week of EFL 200. New students.

All this is going very well, but we both are busy for many hours each week.

Weather still warmish, with only a few nights below zero so far.  The air quality is bad, but has never again reached the "scores" of a couple of weeks ago.

Our friends and mentors, Carol and Roy Kirby, returned to Canada today. They come for three months at a time.

Now a question for you! We are planning our 5 week vacation for  the end of January and the whole month of February.

Is there somewhere that you think we should go? A city or area or particular landmark that you or a friend recommends?  Please comment below. We would love to hear from you and consider your ideas for our itinerary.

(You have to sign up to comment, but it is not hard.)  We also have access to Facebook sporadically.

Love to all.  This is an amazing adventure, but we still think about our families and friends a lot.

Liz

Just pictures ...

Here are some random shots from the past week. More descriptions to follow.

The 315 bus paddock at the end of our alley.  This bus goes down to Guilin Lu, a popular shopping area.  Each bus is maintained by the drivers. Some are quite elegantly decorated with beads, lanterns and golden fringes.

Some Jilin University towers in the background. They are  landmarks when we go running or exploring.

 


University outdoor pool closed for the season. There is an indoor pool at one of the three other Jilin university campuses. There was an indoor pool about 10 minutes from the college until late July.  That building was gutted and is now set to re-open as .... who knows?                                                            

Students walking from their dormitories to class at Jilin University, south campus,  at 7am  on Sunday

Students practicing oral English.  Some days there are over one hundred, practising alone or in groups. Having met a few early in our stay, I am sometimes greeted from the stands when running on the track. "Hi Teacher Elton!"

Cloisters?

Group work - they really are good sports about
this kind of thing.

Ben, Bill, Nick and Harry

Danny, G.K., Bill and Edgar

Match the Antonyms

Lynn, Jessica, Kristin and Alice

Medicine

Our colleague E and her husband Zheng Yiu are so kind. Her mother-in law-taught her about a Chinese remedy for colds, especially the kind that people tend to get in late October. When I started coughing, she went to a traditional medicine store and bought packages of herbs. It is the kind of store where the herbs are stored in small wooden drawers. After two days of drinking this, and also hot water, I am feeling much, much better.  

"I thought I saw a chicken ....

"I thought  I saw a chicken, ...

... but it was really a small white dog wearing a yellow sweater." 

Yesterday the same dog was wearing a smart red plush coat with black trim.       

Magdelena and Mr. Jiang at the Vasa Nordicways Orienteering event at Jingyeun Park last weekend.

Smog

 Yes, that black substance is definitely coal  (with a nod to Beyond the Fringe.)

Heating plant for the south campus of Jilin University

What does smog look like? Hard to say, because you can't see anything. About 8 pm last night what looked like a heavy mist, then a fog, rolled in.  There was a slight smell of smoke in the air. When sun rose it looked like a heavy winter mist, not unreasonable as the temperature has been hovering around freezing.

A quick check of this web site  http://aqicn.org/map/china/  revealed that the air quality index in Changchun is very, very high. You might have seen the following news reports:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/record-high-smog-in-china-closes-schools-roads-1.2129037  and http://qz.com/137562/chinas-northeast-hit-by-air-pollution-so-bad-you-cant-see-your-own-fingers-in-front-of-you/   

First of all, to concerned family and friends:  we are being smart, not exercising outside and keeping the windows closed. This afternoon we are going out to buys some masks like in the articles and I have ordered some more that filter out more of the particulates.  We are also going to get an air cleaner or two for our apartment. We need our lungs for singing and paddling and biking, not to mention breathing.

This afternoon the sky is much clearer, not the bright blue that we have had most days since arriving two months ago, but with visibility back closer to normal.  Interesting to reflect that we can and will return to our relatively clean air in Ottawa.  How long until we face the same situation there? Will Nykka and other little ones in her generation have to buy masks to wear outside when they grow up?

The young teachers form California have been so concerned about cold weather, and of course this is  worse. You can always get warm with the right gear.  But there some funny moments. Both Tyler and Ryan wore scarves up over their faces to get to class (as did I.) We all managed to startle each other.

Brings to mind stories my dad Harry told of the big London smogs in the early 50's, when he had to follow the buses to walk home.

So, go outside and take some deep breaths.  And please take two extra ones for David and me.

XO EE

Another Changchun Blog

Hello blog friends,

We found another blog written about Changchun.  Some of the observations are so similar to ours and others different.  http://lifeinchangchun.blogspot.com/

EE

Happy Thanksgiving!

Meeting room and festive table. Carol and Roy Kirby
are on the right. We are here because of them,
wonderful educators, mentors and friends.

The Canadian members of staff organized a pot luck dinner tonight. It was held in our 6th floor meeting room. Good food and company, and we get to do it again for American Thanksgiving!

Fancy new clothes tailor-made in Chanchun. (The no smoking sign on the wall is about as effective with staff as it is with students.)

Turkey (think the Swedish Chef)

Some of our colleagues

Monica (left) from Central Michigan University,  Ruth (retired USAF) and Tyler from California

We are a lively and eclectic group.

s