Finishing Up In China

The 3rd of the camps I taught finished on the 10th of August. There was another camp on the 13th, but they had enough teachers for that. I decided to spend my last few days in China in the place where it all started – Dalian.

Although it was a shame to leave Beijing in the midst of Olympic fever, it was also nice to get away from it all! On arrival, Dalian seemed small and provincial. Well, in fairness, most cities on earth would seem small and provincial when compared to Beijing with its sweeping, wide streets, shining new towers and sheer massive sprawliness.

Seemed like nothing Changed there. I stayed with Jason, one of the lads I used to play music with before. Stayed in the exact same room as I did the year before when I stopped in Dalian on the way from Korea to Chengdu. A few bars and cafes have opened (including the much-touted Brooklyn, whose proprietor is the ever-popular and all-round nice bloke, Wayne Hou) but overall, Dalian is pretty much in the same state in which I left it last year.

Spent a few days catching up with old friends and having a few beers, even taking in a beach party, where I happened to meet a lot of people I knew from my time there. I also bumped into a few people I knew on the street – wow Dalian is small! It’s a good spot, Dalian but I still think Chengdu edges it by a nose. Chengdu would be the perfect spot if they moved it beside the sea!

It was back to Beijing again for a day before I would catch a flight home on the 20th. The new terminal in Beijing airport is yet another impressive jewel in the Beijing crown. It seems a lot brighter, airier and spacious that the other terminals. And it has Burger King!

This time leaving China is different from the previous times. Before, I knew that I would definitely return. This time, although I really want to come back, it is not certain that I can. It will depend on job opportunities.

Olympics

All the waiting is over – ever since I came to China, it has been Olympics, Olympics, Olympics. TV, radio, newspapers, billboards, product labels, clothes, toys, tattoos ... Unless you were living under a really heavy rock, it would have been hard to escape it all! As you would expect, the locals are really hyped about the whole thing!

I was never much of an Olympics fan. I never really watched it unless there was an Irish athlete taking part. I am more of a World Cup fan rather than an Olympics fan. So, because it was on my doorstep this time, I paid more attention. I watched the opening ceremony and was really impressed! Zhang Yimou certainly did an impressive job! I really liked the drummers at the start and the sort of matrix of people who rose and fell to form various pictures and Chinese characters. The performances did give an impressive account of Chinese history and culture. Performances like these are definitely something that China does well. Zhang Yimou allegedly remarked that Western countries couldn’t compete with China in putting on these types of shows because westerners don’t work as hard as Chinese people. He said that westerners wouldn’t work the long hours and unions would demand breaks etc. Well, he’s damn right! I can’t see London putting on as extravagant a show as China has.

Opening ceremony aside, the atmosphere in Beijing is great – and contagious. The Chinese are sport-crazy, eyes are glued to every TV screen! I’ve even watched things like diving and ping-pong, that I’ve never watched before!

The organisers seem to have done a good job and the city is looking very well for the games. A few new subway lines have opened, which greatly improves transport in the city. Since I hadn’t anticipated being in Beijing at the time of the games, I didn’t buy tickets for any of the events. The guy I stayed with in Beijing went to 7 events! Sort of makes me wish I’d bought a ticket for something!


What China has plenty of is people, and all around the city, you could see the familiar blue and white of the Olympic volunteers (above pic): mostly university students whose job it is to help out tourists and participants in the games. On a few occasions, confusing me for a tourist, I was asked if I needed help with something. Fair play to them anyway.

Baotou To Beijing

On July 31st, the 12-day camp in Baotou Number 9 Middle School (its sports field pictured above) finally came to an end. The camp was tiring, due to the early starts and late finishes but the students’ enthusiastic attitude made it worthwhile. They were patient and approached every piece of work with enthusiasm. These students also showed a great deal of creativity, which surprised me greatly. Students I have previously taught were middlingly (yeah, I know it’s not a word) creative but these guys broke new boundaries! Makes the job all the more enjoyable.

After the final day’s teaching, the principal of the school brought us all out to the “Genghis Khan Palace” restaurant for a feast of meat. He also managed to get pretty much everyone drunk – on Baijiu. What started off as a standard Chinese dinner ended up a chaotic booze-fest! Go on ya good thing!

This was the only bit of Mongolian-style culture that we witnessed during our stay. Most of the population of Baotou is, as I mentioned in a previous post, comprised of Han Chinese. I did notice that some street signs and shop signs did have Mongolian script (see below) to pay lip service to the fact that it is Inner Mongolia. Seems similar to the bilingual (English/Irish) signs in Ireland – the fact is that few people in Ireland can actually understand Irish)


Returned to Beijing to find it in the grip of Olympic fever! People were getting geared up for the impending arrival of the Games. We, on the other hand had a day to rest before starting another camp – no Olympics for us, I’m afraid!