INTRODUCTION:

The First week of November 2004 turned out to be a very interesting week for both myself, and for Judy, the Chinese American Foreign Teacher at No. 5 Middle School, and provided me with an opportunity to show you some more photographs.

During my last stay in Wuhan at the end of Summer, I was approached by the Human Resources Manager of a private company, and asked to consider a move to the Private sector, and for three months she maintained constant email and telephonic contact with me.

When I returned to school at the end of Summer, I was advised that the school had failed to find an extra foreign teacher, and that instead of teaching Grade One as had been arranged, I would be teaching Grade Two.

The result was that I gave tentative notice, promising only to stay for 2 months before considering if I would continue on to fulfill my contract. I gave no guarantees about renewing my contract in February. Well it turns out that I was right in my assessment of the current Grade Two students, and have considered whether or not to leave. These months have been very difficult for me, and I felt ambivalent both about my current position, and the one offered me in Wuhan.

As mid term exams had been scheduled for Thursday and Friday 4th and 5th of November, I made arrangements with Judy to go to Wuhan, and show her around, and in the process make possible a meeting with my prospective future employers.

THE BIRTHDAY

The week of interesting events commenced on Tuesday evening November 2nd, when I made my home available to a student, so that he could host his own birthday party. The party was supposed to be for him, and his three fellow boarders. They live with a teacher who would not permit the party. At 10:15 pm after their last class, the boys arrived, accompanied by two more friends, thus taking the total to 6 students and myself.

The boys gather for a private (messy) birthday party with the Birthday Boy making his solemn Birthday Wish

The party lasted 2 hours, and although by western standards, it was a boring event, we did have enough fun for a student next day to complain to me, that the noise coming from my house had stopped him from going to sleep.

It is hard to imagine western boys finding anything remotely "fun" about the party, except for that part of it when I gathered up a spatula of cream from the birthday cake, and slammed it into birthday boy's face.

I paid for that exercise dearly, for, as he stumbled back in shock, he knocked the soft drink and some of the cake and cream onto the floor, which, in the ensuing panic, was quickly transported all over the living room as students ran in different directions.

Some juvenile couldn't resist throwing cream into birthday boys face. (And he failed to get me back!)

And of course, being Chinese boys, when it was time to go, they just got up and left, leaving me with everything to clean up. Nevertheless I did have fun, and we did spend some real quality time talking.

The following evening, I set about putting my house into order, and packed my bags for the trip to Wuhan next day. During my sleep that night, something interesting happened. I had a vivid dream, the punchline to which woke me up.

I dreamed that I was leaving my first wife, and she began to cry and plead with me, and began trying to seduce me. I told her that while I loved her dearly, I was no longer going to allow myself to be manipulated by feelings of either love or guilt, and that I was definitely leaving. I immediately woke up, and knew that I had made my decision to leave this school.

The boys feast on sweets, cake and coke.

THE BRIEF HOLIDAY

At 11 am on Thursday, I met with Judy, who had just finished her last class, and at 12:30 pm we were on the bus and off to Wuhan. I had made a booking for myself to stay at the Qin Chuan hotel in HanYang, but Judy did not want to "waste" money staying in a tourist hotel, and decided that she would stay in a regular Chinese Hotel. The manager of the Qin Chuan had offered to book her into a hotel down the road for 180 RMB, but at the time he was advising me of this, I was out of contact with Judy and said I would call back Thursday morning. In the confusion of the morning, I forgot. So Judy and I arrived in Wuhan, without any booking for her.

One of countless old photographs in the Qin Chuan Pavilion which is beside the Qin Chuan Hotel. This was taken early last century and is of the Complex as seen from the river

At the Qin Chuan we were given details of the hotel, and we set off down the road to book her in. There were two problems with this. The first was that the cheapest room was 220 RMB, and the second was that no one spoke English.

Naturally when we walked in, they greeted us in Chinese, and immediately began to talk to Judy. Looking like a rabbit on the highway caught in someone's headlights, Judy froze. Enjoying this immensely, I held off speaking for a moment or two, before informing them in Chinese, that she was American and didn't speak Chinese. Then it was their turn to look like stunned mullets.

My Chinese is broken at best, but it was so reassuring to know that they understood everything I said. It was just a pity that the converse was not also true. In Hong Hu, I can speak Chinese anywhere, and people generally understand me. But at school, no one ever understands me when I speak Chinese. Not the Students, nor the Staff. Judy and I are both convinced that it is some sort of mental block on their part.

Two statuesque figures from ancient times at the QinChuan Pavilion

Anyway, we got her booked in, and I saw her to her room. As my appointment for the new job was at 6:30 pm, I left her at her hotel to unpack, with instructions to meet me at 5:15pm at the Muslim Restaurant beside my hotel. Fortunately, on my way back to my hotel, I called in at the restaurant to let them know we were coming. Just as well too, for after I had unpacked and showered, I went down to the restaurant to find it in a frenzy of activity in preparation for some party or feast to be held at 6 pm.

Their kindness to me put a strain on their preparations and that was obvious. Nevertheless, because I had called in to tell them I was coming, they were willing to prepare a nice dinner for us. I had told them to prepare whatever they felt like (because it is the easiest way to order, and they know my likes and dislikes).

After dinner, Judy and I headed off to my appointment, meeting with my prospective employers in the restaurant of the Qin Chuan Hotel. By 8:30 pm the meeting was over, and Judy and I went for a walk along the river. Later I took her to her hotel and then went back to mine.

Judy and Davy in the courtyard near the ticket office of the Qin Chuan Pavillion.

Two opposing views from atop the Qin Chuan archway over the Road. My hotel is behind those bushes on the right of the top photo. The Entrance to the Pavillion is through that building on the left of the bottom photo.

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Here's Judy at the Pavillion! She far enough away so that you don't see the silly face she always pulls when I try to take a photo of her.

Next morning Judy met me at the Qin Chuan Hotel for a 'Western style' breakfast. Oh how wonderful to eat Fried eggs and bacon, with grilled tomatoes and baked beans; to have real wheat toast with butter, and to eat cornflakes for breakfast (alas without that awful milk but rather fruit juice).

Judy ate like a sparrow, for which I berated her, for I was paying her 50 RMB bill, and for that I figured she had a duty to stuff her face with as much as possible.

Later in the morning, as per her arrangements, her friend Davy, a student at the music conservatory, arrived at the hotel to join us for the day. Although I had planned to take her to MoShan Park, the day being completely foggy, it was decided to instead to commence with a tour of Zhong Shan Park. As we were leaving the hotel, I asked Davy if he had ever been inside the Qin Chuan Pavilion, and finding that he had not, decided to first make a tour of that, since on my first trip there I had no camera, and on my second, the pavilion was closed. This would provide me an opportunity to take photos.

Four scenes within the Qin Chuan Pavilion

I just love the colour and decorative artwork on the ceilings of the old Chinese Buildings.

A clown in the pagoda and inside the room atop the archway.

The entrance fee is only 15 RMB per person, and while Davy insisted that he pay, fully realising that this on his part was just a custom, and that as a student he could not afford this, I paid. I am after all the rich foreigner.

We spent quite a long time exploring the pavilion, some of which was spent in the tower above the roadway, observing the train line of the No. 1 Bridge. It is said that there is not one single minute of the day that there is not a train travelling across this bridge. Sorry folks, we did manage to note that at one point there were no trains on the bridge for one and a half minutes. How Disappointing!

On both previous visits, I have crossed the roadway via the tower, and exited onto the hillside through another ticket office gateway, but on this occasion it was locked. As we went to double back, I saw an open doorway under the tower and went to investigate. What I found was Alladin's cave; a treasure trove of artifacts, paintings, jewelery and nick nacks.

A hidden treasure under the Qin Chuan archway above the road.

From the archway looking right toward the mountain top.

The very old with the very new. Now if only they had had telephones back then. Immediately above the telephone is an archway which leads to the treasure trove. The tower above it, sits astride the main road.

Judy and Davy on the avenue of statues atop the mountain and a colourful scene of a courtyard in the Qin Chuan Pavillion.

After a lengthy tour of Alladin's Cave, we backtracked to where we entered the Pavilion, crossed the road, and climbed the mountain to take a tour of some of its sites, to eventually exit at the other end of the mountain on the main road (in HanYang) that connects the No.1 bridge to the other bridge that crosses to HanKou.

In all we spent about 2 hours looking at both the Pavilion and the mountain top. I have not included photos from the mountain trip here, because they appear elsewhere in my stories.

When we reached the main road we caught a 703 bus across to Wuhan Plaza, which is directly opposite Zhong Shan Park. (Photos appear in earlier stories). We could also have taken the 519, 522 and many other buses. For those of you who have been or are intending to go to Wuhan, there is a subterranean passage way from the plaza to the park, which is a safer proposition than crossing the road.

After spending some time walking around this huge park of which I have written in other stories, we exited on Xin Hua Lu, and headed off to a nice little restaurant about 15 minutes walk down the street. I don't know the name, but it is located over the road from some type of little lake.

There I treated Judy and Davy to some Club Sandwiches and a drink, which all up cost 150 RMB. Davy once again offered to pay, and I told him, 'If you offer to pay, beware, the foreigner might say "OK!" and you will get stuck with the bill!

From the Qin Chuan Pavillion tower overlooking the rooves into one of the courtyards.

After lunch/dinner, we headed off by bus to HongShan park in WuChang. There was no point taking a taxi, because the traffic is so heavy at that time of day, that the bus doesn't take much longer than the taxi. Unfortunately, when we arrived at about 5:15 pm, the park was closing, and we were unable to see the one genuine Buddhist temple just inside the far gate.

Thinking that as it was getting dark, Davy would want to go home, we hopped a bus with the intention of going back to HanKou to the Carrefour store to buy some much needed supplies, like, Bacon, coffee, butter, candy, biscuits, decent peanut butter etc. Davy however decided that he would rather go shopping with us than go home, and so the three of us did a tour of the Carrefour Store together.

When we exited, there was some sort of promotional stage show outside the store, including a fire breather cum acrobat, that did manage to keep us enthralled for about half an hour.

From there we began our journey back to the Qin Chuan hotel. If Davy had not already been a little surprised with my familiarity with Wuhan, our trip back to the hotel was an eye opener.  For starters, I headed the wrong direction. I also did not bother to cross the road from whence I could take a bus. Instead, I was acting like a fool tourist, who for some strange reason kept ignoring local advice.

More intricate artwork

Finally we arrived at a side road, where I proceeded to hail a taxi. Davy was a little confused, because even this seemed to travel in the wrong direction, but within 60 seconds, the Qin Chuan bridge was in sight, and within another two, we were back at the hotel. All up cost of 6 RMB.

Back at the hotel we had coffee and crackers with cheese, a treat for all, as firstly there is no cheese in Hong Hu, and secondly, Davy had never tasted it before.

After Davy left at around 7:30 pm or so, Judy and I went for another walk along the river before I walked her back to her hotel, leaving her with explicit instructions not to call me before 10 am next morning.

Davy had arranged with us to attend a performance at the conservatory next evening (Saturday), but I bailed out. Instead I met with my friend Chen Yang who is studying in Wuhan. Judy for her part, met with her uncle who arrived from down south, and in his company, joined Davy for the performance that night.

From the archway looking left toward the river - with the No.1 Bridge in the Background

Next morning Judy met me at my hotel for the return trip to Hong Hu. I had to get back for a Three O'clock special class for the grade three students who do not have an oral English Teacher.

The whole trip was a nice little escapade for us both, and although Judy did not get to see too much of Wuhan, she did have some fun. But our few days of fun were not yet over.

Intricate patterns on the doors of the shrine.

THE SHOW PONY

Judy had previously invited me to attend an English Corner at Hong Hu Normal School (don't ask 'cause I don't know), where she does guest appearances every two weeks. Monday afternoon as I was preparing to go to class, a teacher from my school came banging on the door to tell me that I must go over to the school, because they wanted me to go to the English Corner at the Normal School.

I told him to go back and tell them where to stick it. Ten minutes later I got a call from a teacher at the Normal school informing me that I was to attend the English Corner with Judy and that it had all been arranged with my school, and that there was a car waiting for me at the gate.

I hit the roof, called my co-ordinator who informed me that this indeed was correct. Spitting chips and ready to knock off the first head that spoke an ill timed word, I graciously kept the car waiting at the gate for another 10 minutes or so before deigning to appear. I was greeted with profuse apologies for having failed to 'ask' in advance for my co-operation.

The long and the short of it was that the local television station was sending a camera crew to film the event, and a foreign clown was needed as icing on the cake. Judy of course doesn't count as foreign, because you can't spot the only foreigner in a crowd when she is the foreigner. (She's Chinese American!).

Well we both ended up having some fun, got taken to dinner, and promised (yeah yeah heard that one three times before) that they would give us a copy of the 'tape' that the film crew took.

So there you have it. A birthday, a brief holiday, and a show pony.

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into the lives of foreign teachers in China.

Three English and Chinese signs at Qin Chuan

R.P.Bendedek

Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com

Note: This file was amended August 2007.
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R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and he is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China. Other Stories can be found at:  http://www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=128

"The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls.