Away on Holiday

So recently I've been away on Holiday...
 

Jaime, Beth, and I in Tianjin

The first month has passed like a blur and the autumn term is underway.  However, before the month of October really gets going the good people of China have a two-week holiday period associated around the Mid-Autumn festival and National Day.  It’s a two-week period of rest and relaxation.  Most of the student here at Langfang either travel home to see family during this holiday period or they find part-time jobs to help them earn a little money.  The university empties out, the doors are locked, and the teachers have off.  It seems a little odd to me to have two-weeks off right after only one month of teaching but there will be no more days off until February so it makes up for itself in the end.  Nevertheless, it does leave me in a position of trying to decide what to do for two-weeks.  But it all worked out.  The IECS teachers in Tianjin invited Jaime and I to come and spend the holiday with them in the city of Tianjin.  Jaime and I accepted their gracious invitation.
 

The City of Tianjin at Night

I’ve writing about Tianjin before, but just a reminder, Tianjin is a modernized city of 9-million people living in a space that’s half the size of New York City.  Tall elegant skyscrapers reach to the sky with their decorum of different colored windows arranged in a checker board pattern.  Streets are filled with stop lights that actually have large counters so you can see how long the red or green light will last.  People dressed in the latest fashions make their way busily between the window shops with loads of bags in the arms.  Tianjin is a hustling and bustling city.  There are also a lot of foreigners in Tianjin.  The foreigners are mostly European trades here to tap into the growing economic development of China and Tianjin is where it’s all made possible.

 

Apple, Sarah, and I Lighting Sparklers

A lot of money flows through the city of Tianjin and the city’s development committee have dumped a lot of money into making the city a nice place.  The city is actually clean, which isn’t normal for China.  There is a beautiful river that flows through the center of the city (that doesn’t smell) and a large area around the river has been developed using European influence.  This area is known as the Italian Style Town.  It’s really odd to be riding a bus through the city, looking out the window and seeing Chinese architecture suddenly replaced by what looks like Venice.  The houses in the Italian Style Town are built in a Venetian style, the restaurants are all Italian, and there is even a European castle centered near the central bus station. 

 

A Father and his Daughter are Preparing a Wishing Lantern

The Tianjin teachers (Jim, Nikki, Sarah, and Beth) took us into the city twice and both times we went to the Italian Style Town.  The first night we ended up getting lost but it worked out.  We walked around the castle for a while, wondered up and down the streets, and eventually found our way to the restaurants.  We ended up eating at this outdoor restaurant where one could hear live Italian style music being played in the street.  It really is a different atmosphere then what I’m used to here in China.  The trees along the streets are filled with halogen lights that look like bright white raindrops descending through the leaves.  Mandolins and guitars are being played at every street corner.  Iron sculptures full of small lights look like horses and carriages making their way with gentry down the streets.  People fly electric kites that are lit up like Christmas trees in the night sky.

 

The Sky is Full of Wishing Lanterns

The second night we went to Tianjin we actually brought with us one of the students from the Tianjin Vocational Institute.  Our guide, whose English name is Apple (but not the Apple from Langfang), helped us find our way through the city so we wouldn’t get lost.  We went to a tall eight-story shopping mall where we found an eatery that served authentic spaghetti…  Yummy!  Yes, we eat a lot of Italian food this holiday.  Afterwards we went to the river walk to see the wishing lanterns.  All along this walkway we found couples, families and children who were writing special wishes on these balloon bags.  The people would then light a special brick in the bottom of the bag that would fill the lantern with hot air.  After a while the lantern would become lighter than air and would begin to lift high into the sky.  Hundreds of these wishing lanterns were raising high into the sky all night.  The last thing we did that evening was ride the Eye of Tianjin (a 394 foot tall giant Ferris wheel built above the Yongle Bridge).  From the top of the Ferris wheel we were actually able to look down on the city and the tall skyscrapers.

 

The Eye of Tianjin

Our time in Tianjin was really fun but soon it came to an end.  However, the holiday wasn’t over.  The Tianjin crew joined us in our journey to the next stop in the city of Boading.  We were meeting with the other IECS teams from Hebei Financial University and Hebei University.  It was a big team reunion with only four missing parties: Luke and Shannon where vacationing in the south, Jim was staying in Tianjin to do some work, and Regan was meeting with her Mom and Aunt in Beijing.  However, it was great seeing almost everyone together again.  Jaime spent the weekend with the girls while I stayed with our IECS man on the ground in China (Frank).  Frank, his wife Helen, and their son Caleb, are a huge part of what makes IECS work in China.  They are a Chinese family who work full-time keeping us Americans out of trouble and on the right path.  It is difficult living in a country where we can’t speak the language and Frank is a great help.
 

Frank and IECS Founder Newt

Spending time with Frank is always an encouragement.  He’s a great friend and a truly joyful person.  We spoke late into the evening swapping stories and playing the guitar.  Helen cooked breakfast for us on both days.  She is a good cook.  We had eggs, tomatoes and muffins each morning and it was delicious.  I got the privilege of being Caleb’s babysitter for the weekend and this little almost two-year old is such a bright kid.  He’s learning both English and Chinese so even I was able to communicate with him on a most basic level.  He grabbed my hand and led me over to his play area where we colored, played with balls, and I read him his favorite books.  By the end of the weekend Caleb was calling me, “叔叔 (Shūshu) Ben,” which means “Uncle Ben.”  It made me both happy and sad at the same time.  I was happy that Caleb liked me so much but it reminded me of my own nephews and how they would also call me, “Uncle Ben.”  I miss my nephews and niece very much. 

(Sorry... No pictures of the baby.  Maybe later.)

Eventually the holiday came to an end.  It was time for Jaime and I to make our way back to Langfang.  We crammed into the Boading bus station with the hundreds of other people making their way to their destination.  Thousands of people were traveling this weekend and the rule of Chinese bus stations is that you have to be the one who shoves in first or you’ll be left behind.  Someone needs to teach the people of China the principle of “waiting-in-line.”  But, we shoved our way onto the bus and we were headed back to Langfang.


As we traveled the final kilometers to Langfang I couldn’t help but reflect on the whole holiday.  Each of the schools looked like really nice places to teach.  They all had their ups and downs.  But Langfang is starting to feel like a second home.  I was happy to be back.  I couldn’t wait to see my students, to spend time with my new Chinese friends, and to have all sorts of new adventures in the city where I teach: The good city of Langfang.